Rose Titus has a new paranormal vampire book out: Night Home.

When college student Muriel Aubrey inherits an old house in a small town, she imagines that moving into the rural community will be deathly dull. But the old house once belonged to her eccentric granduncle, a professor said to be researching something mysterious before his untimely death.

Then Muriel finds the research notes that had been hidden away in the old Victorian; and she discovers what the professor was researching: vampires. It isn’t long before Muriel meets residents of the small town who knew the professor almost a century ago, and learns that everything he wrote in the notes he kept is true.

And then she finds herself stalked by a vampire hunter.

Universal Buy Link | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Liminal Fiction

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Excerpt

There was the usual convenience store stuff on the rack: Tabloids, celebrity gossip, fashion magazines, newspapers. The store sold lottery tickets, junk food, candy, beer, a few grocery items, even a few small appliances. She noticed the guy who owned the place was watching her. It made her nervous. Not because he watched her, but because he was so pale. He did not look unhealthy. It was like he just never got out into the sun.

“You must be the new girl.”

“Huh?” She spun around to face him.

“You’re new in town. You just moved into that old house.”

“H-how do you know?”

“Well, how could I not know? I live across the field and saw the light was on for the first time in a long time.”

“Oh,” she felt silly. “Yeah. That’s right. I’m new in town. The house will need some work, but it’s not really that bad. My eccentric old uncle owned it a long time ago and—”

“I know. Professor Aubrey. He was a good man,” there was sadness in his voice.

“Yeah, that’s what they say—” how the hell would he know if he was a good man? This guy looked no more than thirty. The old guy had been dead for at least since 1936, according to the old newspaper clipping.

“Elton.” He seemed to smile as he introduced himself. “Elton Masaryk.”

“Muriel Aubrey.”

“That’s a pretty name.”

She went up to pay for the magazine she picked.

“You let me know if you need anything over there, all right? I live just across the field. If you need anything, don’t hesitate. Really.”

“Thank you.” She went for the door but turned around. “You sound as if you know something about Professor Aubrey?”

He hesitated. “A little. Why?”

“He was related to me, but I hardly know anything about him. I heard he was murdered by his colleague from the University and—”

“Yeah. That’s right. The same guy who murdered your uncle also killed three other people too. They gave him the chair. Bastard deserved it.” But then he was silent. He was beginning to sound as if he knew more than he could tell. As if it still angered him somehow. “Oh well.” Then he went silent.

“Okay. Thank you.” She left. She returned home as the sky began to brighten, and finally slept.

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Author Bio

Rose Titus resides somewhere in cold, dreary New England with two manipulative cats and a very out of date computer with which she creates horror and fantasy fiction. She also has a restored classic Buick to ride around in while in search of adventure.

For travel she has stayed the night in an allegedly haunted castle, has taken a boat ride on Loch Ness, and has visited the Bermuda Triangle — without getting lost.

Her work has previously appeared in Lost Worlds, Lynx Eye, Bog Gob, Mausoleum, Weird Terrain, Descend, The Dead River Review, and other literary magazines. She also writes regularly for Blood Moon Rising Magazine.

When she’s not working or writing or messing with her old car, she waits by the mailbox for her Fortean Times to arrive.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorRoseTitus

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B077RLWKN3

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9864680.Rose_Titus

PLEASE ENJOY THIS EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK!

After a long day at college and a long drive home, she spread her textbooks out on the table where she previously had her uncle’s notes, realizing she’d rather be reading his dusty old papers than the boring subject she was trying to plow through now. 

And a term paper was due next month, damn it. On what? She hadn’t decided on what to do for her term paper, but it needed to be twenty pages long, at least, with thirty items or more listed for the bibliography, and students were strictly warned by the instructor not to use too many internet sources… I know cut and paste when I see it. And some of you buy your papers online, he said. Believe me, I can tell which ones are real. 

And then she would be required to stand up before the class and give a presentation. She hated that. It dawned on her that she ought to buy a computer for home use, now that she could finally afford one. The computer room on campus was closed after hours, and the library in the small town only had five out-of-date computers for the public. She wondered if those were the only computers in the entire town.

And she wondered what her uncle would think of college life today. The classrooms weren’t heated very well, and people sat all morning in their coats. Cell phones rang all during the lecture, and the girl who sat next to her started a conversation with her boyfriend while everyone else was trying to pay attention. “But he’s calling from Aruba!”

Muriel thought it pretty juvenile when spitballs flew across the room. “Hey, this isn’t first grade! This is college! Knock it off!” People in class, including the instructor, applauded when she turned and said that, and so tonight she felt good about herself. Yeah, she thought, and if you do it again, my friends will come and bite your dumb ass. 

“So wow, you own a house?” She got that at least a couple of times in the cafeteria. “Is it like real run-down and stuff?”

“Nope. Not too bad. Pretty dusty, though. Had to clean it up real good. Almost everything works okay. The stuff in the kitchen is out of date, gotta buy a new refrigerator, new stove, fix a broken window and stuff. But it’s livable. The neighbors are pretty okay.” But she didn’t mention about the neighbors being vampires, or her stalker the boring accountant, or what she found hidden behind the cleanout door. But she also surprised herself to suddenly be discussing home repair issues like a grown-up, instead of talking about what happened last night at some club and who got drunk. “I want to get new curtains too. And get some electrical things fixed. Maybe I’ll even buy one of those books about how to fix stuff, and figure it out myself, just for the hell of it.”

She was glad to get back to see her friends Sheree, Akeem, and Lacey. Since she had moved into the old house the people she associated with were much older than her, even though they didn’t look it—all except for Josie. And seeing her friends took her mind off Darren…

The barely functioning doorbell rang.

“Who the hell could that be?” She put the book down and looked out the window into the driveway and saw her car, and an SUV. She knew no one locally with such a massive truck. “Damn it. It must be him, looking for his stupid notebook.” She really didn’t want to speak to him right now. She killed the lights back in kitchen, pulled the curtains, and hoped he would just go away.

She was used to the dark by now anyway.

“Miss Aubrey? Are you all right in there?”

Oh shit. This guy thinks he’s looking out for my welfare. If she answered the door he would demand to know why she turned the lights out, then demand his book back, and he’d probably follow her to where she kept it and try and get all the rest of the notes away from her…

“Miss Aubrey? Everything okay?”  She remained silent.

“Are you all alone?”

Oh God, what a freak this guy is.

There was a massive loud pounding on the door, then another.

“What the—” He was ramming his shoulder against the door, trying to break in. “He really is crazy—”

With a crash the door flew open. She screamed.

“Leave me alone! I’ll call the cops. Get the hell away from me—” she dashed around the kitchen, looking through where the knives were kept.

But he kept coming.

“Muriel!”

“Get the hell outta my house!”

“But, Muriel—”

Finally she found a knife. “Get away from me or I’ll—”

“Get the hell away from her, you crazy son of a bitch!” A new voice broke into the darkness. She almost didn’t recognize it through its rage.