books
When Darkness Loves Us - Sally Ann and Martha. Two Women, searching for love. Finding Terror. During a terrifying storm, a gentle childhood is destroyed by a twisted man who promises love but delivers nightmare. In the lightless depths of an underground labyrinth, unseen creatures lie in wait for an innocent traveler, cold skeletal hands stretched out in welcome.
Two short novels, recently re-released by Valancourt Books, as part of their Paperbacks from Hell imprint. Introductions by Theodore Sturgeon and Grady Hendrix. Critics have said: “A moving story of redemption and love.” --West Coast Review of Books “A masterpiece, and one of the finest tragedies I've read in years.”--Horror Show Get it here. 
Guys Named Bob - Carjacked at gunpoint by a young female desperado, middle-aged Darlene Martin drives the girl far away from civilization to a place unlike anything in Darlene’s experience. The girl and her lover take Darlene’s car and leave her in the remote cabin with a very unusual man, also unlike anything in Darlene’s experience.
During a deep dive into the dark and disturbing, Darlene discovers survival techniques she didn’t know she had while her family at home frets, argues, and does everything in their power to find her and get her back. Pressed to their limits, each person makes decisions, some of which they live to regret. A powerful story of love, life, family, and consequences. Read the first chapter here. Get the book here. |
Benediction Denied - While hydrologist Adam Swan is engaged in humanitarian efforts to bring water to a small, isolated village in the Congo, he is kidnapped by rebel thugs and thrown into a makeshift prison. He is left to die—or worse—if his ransom is not paid.
In a surprising series of events, Adam escapes his brutal captors into an underground labyrinth where reality and sanity no longer rule. Armed with a limited amount of magic which he does not understand, he survives by employing it boldly, recklessly, desperate to return to the village above, homesick for Minnesota and normal life with his wife and daughters. Tested to the extreme limits of his endurance, Adam navigates the labyrinth with only the company of his past behavior, the baffling magic, and the seductive temptation to succumb to the mysterious and merciless gods of the underworld.
The consequences of his actions, past, present, and future, take him to the brink of death—and beyond. A fun, fast, thrilling ride, inspired by Matthew Lowes’ Dungeon Solitaire: Labyrinth of Souls card game.
Get it here.
In a surprising series of events, Adam escapes his brutal captors into an underground labyrinth where reality and sanity no longer rule. Armed with a limited amount of magic which he does not understand, he survives by employing it boldly, recklessly, desperate to return to the village above, homesick for Minnesota and normal life with his wife and daughters. Tested to the extreme limits of his endurance, Adam navigates the labyrinth with only the company of his past behavior, the baffling magic, and the seductive temptation to succumb to the mysterious and merciless gods of the underworld.
The consequences of his actions, past, present, and future, take him to the brink of death—and beyond. A fun, fast, thrilling ride, inspired by Matthew Lowes’ Dungeon Solitaire: Labyrinth of Souls card game.
Get it here.
Lizzie Borden - Must have been one hell of a pressure cooker those Bordens lived in, wouldn't you say? Uncommunicative, irritable, jealous, claustrophobic, lusty, intriguing. Something had to give, someone had to crack, something had to... spurt... on that hot August day.
Re-released by IFD Books as part of their Horror That Happened imprint.
Discussion Questions for your book club, literature class, or women's studies class are here.
Get it here.
Critics have said:
"Every door in the Borden house is metaphorically locked, and each room holds the terrible secrets of the occupant... Engstrom [moves] the reader inexorably toward the anticipated savage denouement."--Publishers Weekly
Re-released by IFD Books as part of their Horror That Happened imprint.
Discussion Questions for your book club, literature class, or women's studies class are here.
Get it here.
Critics have said:
"Every door in the Borden house is metaphorically locked, and each room holds the terrible secrets of the occupant... Engstrom [moves] the reader inexorably toward the anticipated savage denouement."--Publishers Weekly
The Northwoods Chronicles - White Pines Junction is a town with a dark secret. Those who live in the northwoods know that their community has a foot in two worlds—one in reality and one not—and they live contentedly, for the most part, with a few murderous secrets.
To all appearances, White Pines Junction is a normal small town with a lively summer fishing and tourism industry. It has a weekly newspaper, a fancy resort on the lake, a diner, a tackle shop, some nice stores, a wax museum, and a decrepit, abandoned amusement park.
One evening, a young boy goes missing—disappears right out of the arms of his babysitter—and his parents deal with their grief right along with the other residents, who are all mired in their own curious doings. The mother's quest for emotional solutions to these regular disappearances and the local computer geek's determination to discover the physical answers to them come together in the only conclusion that could occur in such an uncanny place.
Critics have said:
"Dark fantasy writer Engstrom (Black Leather) starts on familiar ground, but rapidly turns this 'novel in stories' into a genre-blending exploration of love, aging, grief and sacrifice. In Vargas County, children under 12 occasionally vanish, but the locals have long viewed this as a tithe taken by the town in exchange for the happiness of the other residents. This theme is explored directly in stories like 'House Odds,' in which real estate agent Julia has to decide if her grandchildren would be in greater danger in town or away with their drunken father. Other tales merely use the disappearances as a backdrop, such as 'Skytouch Fever,' in which aging Sadie Katherine is forced to choose between her steadfast beau and a rakish visitor, and the wittily ironic thriller 'One Quiet Evening in the Wax Museum.' Fast-paced, melancholy and beautiful, the overarching narrative binds a collection of good stories into a superb if unconventional novel." --Publishers Weekly
Get it here.
To all appearances, White Pines Junction is a normal small town with a lively summer fishing and tourism industry. It has a weekly newspaper, a fancy resort on the lake, a diner, a tackle shop, some nice stores, a wax museum, and a decrepit, abandoned amusement park.
One evening, a young boy goes missing—disappears right out of the arms of his babysitter—and his parents deal with their grief right along with the other residents, who are all mired in their own curious doings. The mother's quest for emotional solutions to these regular disappearances and the local computer geek's determination to discover the physical answers to them come together in the only conclusion that could occur in such an uncanny place.
Critics have said:
"Dark fantasy writer Engstrom (Black Leather) starts on familiar ground, but rapidly turns this 'novel in stories' into a genre-blending exploration of love, aging, grief and sacrifice. In Vargas County, children under 12 occasionally vanish, but the locals have long viewed this as a tithe taken by the town in exchange for the happiness of the other residents. This theme is explored directly in stories like 'House Odds,' in which real estate agent Julia has to decide if her grandchildren would be in greater danger in town or away with their drunken father. Other tales merely use the disappearances as a backdrop, such as 'Skytouch Fever,' in which aging Sadie Katherine is forced to choose between her steadfast beau and a rakish visitor, and the wittily ironic thriller 'One Quiet Evening in the Wax Museum.' Fast-paced, melancholy and beautiful, the overarching narrative binds a collection of good stories into a superb if unconventional novel." --Publishers Weekly
Get it here.
Lizard Wine - Three co-eds from the local university get fancied up and head to a mountain cowboy bar to generate some interest and perhaps some income, when their car breaks down outside a closed mountain campground. Arguing and unsettled, the girls enter the deserted campground looking for a phone, and find three heated men instead.
One girl unwisely elects to stay with the men rather than go along with the others' scheme, and a woman in the close confines of that car is exactly what the men don't need. Explosive tension builds with the addition of the sexual energy and the tequila she adds to fuel their fire.
The two girls get their car started and begin their own horrible adventures, and when they eventually run--wounded, scared, and dangerous--back to the campground to pick up their friend, what they find is not exactly what they expected. An internationally-acclaimed thriller.
Discussion Questions for your book club, literature class, or women's studies class are here.
Get it here.
Critics have said:
"Lizard Wine is the book your mother warned you about, sleek, nasty, perfectly focused, smart as hell, absolutely convincing, and utterly single-minded. This novel wants to buy you a drink, whisper in your ear, coax you into a dark room and there seriously mess you up. Because Elizabeth Engtrom is a magnificiently talented writer, her novel not only actually does these things, it leaves you grateful for the experience. Lizard Wine is the kind of book which enlarges and enriches the genre of the thriller."—Peter Straub
One girl unwisely elects to stay with the men rather than go along with the others' scheme, and a woman in the close confines of that car is exactly what the men don't need. Explosive tension builds with the addition of the sexual energy and the tequila she adds to fuel their fire.
The two girls get their car started and begin their own horrible adventures, and when they eventually run--wounded, scared, and dangerous--back to the campground to pick up their friend, what they find is not exactly what they expected. An internationally-acclaimed thriller.
Discussion Questions for your book club, literature class, or women's studies class are here.
Get it here.
Critics have said:
"Lizard Wine is the book your mother warned you about, sleek, nasty, perfectly focused, smart as hell, absolutely convincing, and utterly single-minded. This novel wants to buy you a drink, whisper in your ear, coax you into a dark room and there seriously mess you up. Because Elizabeth Engtrom is a magnificiently talented writer, her novel not only actually does these things, it leaves you grateful for the experience. Lizard Wine is the kind of book which enlarges and enriches the genre of the thriller."—Peter Straub
Black Leather - Two blonde sisters, one black husband, and one murdered Navajo. Reality becomes increasingly uncertain as a husband works to help his accused wife. Evidence isn't what it seems to be, neither woman is who she seems to be, and all three hold close their dark secrets. His long-repressed temptations resurface as he slides deeper and deeper into the sisters' sleazy world of black leather, racial preferences, razor-sharp implements and mistaken identities. Is he married to a murderer or just sleeping with one?
One thing is for sure—both women are trouble, and he can't stay away. A dark, erotic thriller.
Critics have said:
"...an artfully written and highly recommended erotic and psychological suspense from first page to last."--Midwest Book Review
Get it here.
One thing is for sure—both women are trouble, and he can't stay away. A dark, erotic thriller.
Critics have said:
"...an artfully written and highly recommended erotic and psychological suspense from first page to last."--Midwest Book Review
Get it here.
Suspicions - Twenty-five stories of the dark, the disturbing, the haunting, the sexy. Her favorites, hand picked from her archives.
Critics have said:
"Elizabeth Engstrom has selected twenty-five (four original to the collection) stories from the past twenty years of writing that reveal her as a suspicious sort. But then, aren't we all? We all suspect the unknown, death, sex, and "friends, family, love, work, technology, the government, and everything else." It's just that Elizabeth Engstrom can take her lack of trust and craft fine fiction from it. Like many fine writers, Engstrom's stories are across all genres. Some can be termed sf, others as mystery or fantasy or horror, still others are simply "fiction." A few are light and humorous. Most are quietly dark, slightly skewed, angled toward that indescribable place just at the edge of shadow. All are worth reading. Many are worth pondering. By the end, at least one suspicion will definitely be confirmed: Elizabeth Engstrom is one of the best. No doubts."--Cemetery Dance
“This is where she's at her best.”--Locus
Get it here.
Critics have said:
"Elizabeth Engstrom has selected twenty-five (four original to the collection) stories from the past twenty years of writing that reveal her as a suspicious sort. But then, aren't we all? We all suspect the unknown, death, sex, and "friends, family, love, work, technology, the government, and everything else." It's just that Elizabeth Engstrom can take her lack of trust and craft fine fiction from it. Like many fine writers, Engstrom's stories are across all genres. Some can be termed sf, others as mystery or fantasy or horror, still others are simply "fiction." A few are light and humorous. Most are quietly dark, slightly skewed, angled toward that indescribable place just at the edge of shadow. All are worth reading. Many are worth pondering. By the end, at least one suspicion will definitely be confirmed: Elizabeth Engstrom is one of the best. No doubts."--Cemetery Dance
“This is where she's at her best.”--Locus
Get it here.
York's Moon - When a dead guy falls off the train just yards from Yorktown, a hobo camp near West Wheaton, California, all manner of forces begin to collide.
Three men live in Yorktown: York, the old blind hobo and self-proclaimed mayor of his little enclave, Denny, the young rail rider, and Sly, the damaged Vietnam vet. When they are blamed for the murder, the town fathers are ready to bulldoze the camp that has existed there for forty years or more.
Clover, the girl who works at the donut shop and keeps the bums in day-old and toothpaste as her personal ministry, determines to save the camp and the harmless guys who live out in the open. She has the compassionate ear of the sheriff, but his deputy is a hothead, and in the pocket of the mayor who has shady business dealings he needs to have accomplished under dark of night.
When Clover and her boys discover who really killed the guy on the train, tensions ratchet up and a van full of thugs are hired to go clean up the hobo camp by the light of the full moon, but blind old York and his two inept sidekicks are ready for them in as unconventional a defensive posture as possible.
Eventually, everyone knows it’s the end of the era where rail riders can live out their freedoms, and the inevitable is going to happen, but before it does, those who wield unreasonable power must have their comeuppance, and those who have been doing good works all their lives must be rewarded.
York’s Moon is an unconventional murder mystery, a love story and the story of the little guy fighting city hall and winning. Sort of.
Critics have said:
"With quirky, engaging characters, York's Moon is as much about understanding the human condition as solving a murder mystery. I cannot imagine anyone but Liz Engstrom writing this fine novel."
--Terry Brooks, author of the Shannara series
Get it here.
Three men live in Yorktown: York, the old blind hobo and self-proclaimed mayor of his little enclave, Denny, the young rail rider, and Sly, the damaged Vietnam vet. When they are blamed for the murder, the town fathers are ready to bulldoze the camp that has existed there for forty years or more.
Clover, the girl who works at the donut shop and keeps the bums in day-old and toothpaste as her personal ministry, determines to save the camp and the harmless guys who live out in the open. She has the compassionate ear of the sheriff, but his deputy is a hothead, and in the pocket of the mayor who has shady business dealings he needs to have accomplished under dark of night.
When Clover and her boys discover who really killed the guy on the train, tensions ratchet up and a van full of thugs are hired to go clean up the hobo camp by the light of the full moon, but blind old York and his two inept sidekicks are ready for them in as unconventional a defensive posture as possible.
Eventually, everyone knows it’s the end of the era where rail riders can live out their freedoms, and the inevitable is going to happen, but before it does, those who wield unreasonable power must have their comeuppance, and those who have been doing good works all their lives must be rewarded.
York’s Moon is an unconventional murder mystery, a love story and the story of the little guy fighting city hall and winning. Sort of.
Critics have said:
"With quirky, engaging characters, York's Moon is as much about understanding the human condition as solving a murder mystery. I cannot imagine anyone but Liz Engstrom writing this fine novel."
--Terry Brooks, author of the Shannara series
Get it here.
Baggage Check - In this hard-hitting story, a young mom gets caught up in a complex web of drug smuggling and money laundering, unwittingly putting her son's life at risk. She bravely and courageously faces down the bad guys and finds love in an unexpected place with an unlikely partner. A riveting, hard-driving thriller about sex, drugs, treachery and, most dangerous of all: love.
Critics have said:
"The author is so deft at creating interesting, 3D characters that I was instantly hooked into Sweetann's plight (yes, Sweetann). Even the bad guys have depth and lives beyond the story. This is not a typical thriller which makes it much more interesting than the average shoot 'em up, and Sweetann is not a tpical heroine. A guaranteed fun time. --Christina Lay, Shadow Spinners Publishing.
Get it here.
Critics have said:
"The author is so deft at creating interesting, 3D characters that I was instantly hooked into Sweetann's plight (yes, Sweetann). Even the bad guys have depth and lives beyond the story. This is not a typical thriller which makes it much more interesting than the average shoot 'em up, and Sweetann is not a tpical heroine. A guaranteed fun time. --Christina Lay, Shadow Spinners Publishing.
Get it here.
Candyland - Peter and Tess, both damaged by their various encounters with family and love, meet in a bar and go back to his place for the night. There, they discover the freedom of unconditional love and acceptance, and retreat from the world to search for the meaning of life in each other.
Eventually, their experiment takes a very dark turn. A disturbing novel of love and obsession.
This short novel is available in the collection The Alchemy of Love or as a stand-alone book here.
Candiland is now a major motion picture from writer/director Rusty Nixon, starring Gary Busey, Chelah Horsdal, and James Clayton. View the trailer. Get the DVD here. Get the book here.
Eventually, their experiment takes a very dark turn. A disturbing novel of love and obsession.
This short novel is available in the collection The Alchemy of Love or as a stand-alone book here.
Candiland is now a major motion picture from writer/director Rusty Nixon, starring Gary Busey, Chelah Horsdal, and James Clayton. View the trailer. Get the DVD here. Get the book here.
How to Write a Sizzling Sex Scene - Good sex scenes are a must in today’s novel, and they don’t just happen on their own. There is a structure, a method, and boundaries to be drawn.
Whether you want to write for publication or your own enjoyment, whether you want to write sizzling sex scenes for your novel or erotic short stories, you’ll find the tools here.
This book is about recognizing the sensuality of our bodies, our minds, our lovers, our environment. Based on years of erotic weekends and riotous conference presentations, veteran author Elizabeth Engstrom presents in this book an awakening jolt for the senses. It is about recognizing and expressing the things that make us feel good about ourselves. It is about describing the indescribable. It is about writing.
Get it here.
Critics have said:
"All writers could benefit from reading this book, whether they're writing erotica or not. Fun to read and insightful. This book clearly shows how sex and sensuality can add zest and depth to any character's story." --Alexis Duran, author of the Masters and Mages and Edges of Night erotic fantasy series.
Whether you want to write for publication or your own enjoyment, whether you want to write sizzling sex scenes for your novel or erotic short stories, you’ll find the tools here.
This book is about recognizing the sensuality of our bodies, our minds, our lovers, our environment. Based on years of erotic weekends and riotous conference presentations, veteran author Elizabeth Engstrom presents in this book an awakening jolt for the senses. It is about recognizing and expressing the things that make us feel good about ourselves. It is about describing the indescribable. It is about writing.
Get it here.
Critics have said:
"All writers could benefit from reading this book, whether they're writing erotica or not. Fun to read and insightful. This book clearly shows how sex and sensuality can add zest and depth to any character's story." --Alexis Duran, author of the Masters and Mages and Edges of Night erotic fantasy series.
Candiland - The Movie - Based upon Elizabeth Engstrom's novel Candyland. New lovebirds Peter and Tess decide to isolate themselves from the world inside Peter's apartment, creating their own reality. Cut-off and tormented, Peter's father must fight to save them both before they completely disappear into madness.
Starring: Gary Busey, Chelah Horsdal, and James Clayton. View the trailer here.
Get the DVD here.
Starring: Gary Busey, Chelah Horsdal, and James Clayton. View the trailer here.
Get the DVD here.
Nightmare Flower - An eclectic collection of short fiction, some original, most previously published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Horror Show, American Fantasy Magazine, etc. Eighteen short stories, a novella and a short novel. Some horror, some science fiction, most psychologically twisted, all strange.
Get it here.
Critics have said:
"Indirection and subtle evocations of terror and evil are the hallmarks of this well-crafted collection of horror and fantasy stories. This is a genuinely imaginative and diverse collection; if one story doesn't seduce and horrify the reader, the next one surely will."--Publisher's Weekly
Get it here.
Critics have said:
"Indirection and subtle evocations of terror and evil are the hallmarks of this well-crafted collection of horror and fantasy stories. This is a genuinely imaginative and diverse collection; if one story doesn't seduce and horrify the reader, the next one surely will."--Publisher's Weekly
Black Ambrosia - Young Angelina Watson packs a backpack and heads out on her own, knowing that there is something a little bit different about her. Through her extraordinary travels and the strange things teenage girls can talk themselves into, Angelina believes herself to be a vampire. She willingly taps into the darkness that exists within each of us, embraces it, forges a lover's bond with it, and becomes one with it.
She is pursued by Boyd, an idealistic young man who can't decide if he loves her or hates her, and his obsession for doing "right" makes him a mirror of that for which he seeks.
Re-released by Valancourt Books as a part of their Paperbacks from Hell imprint, with an introduction by Grady Hendrix.
Get it here.
Critics have said:
"One of the best books I've read this decade. A novel of considerable suspense."—Charles L. Grant
"Engstrom gets close to poetic Anne Rice territory here."--Fangoria
"Engstrom has written a story that draws you in with every horrible detail and then shocks you with a surprise ending."--Voya
The Alchemy of Love - A collaborative endeavor between artist Alan M. Clark and author Elizabeth Engstrom, this volume fictionalizes the idealization of romantic love and how it translates to the reality of human experience.
A volume of eight pieces of fiction and eight paintings, Engstrom ”literates“ four of Clark's disturbing and surreal works of art, while Clark illustrates four of Engstrom's dark and haunting stories.
This is a hardcover collector's edition, signed and numbered.
Introduction by the late Jack Ketchum.
”Crosley,“ a short story contained in this volume was included in The Thirteenth Annual Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, edited by Ellen Datlow.
Candyland, a short novel from this collection, is available as a stand-alone book. It was made into a major motion picture starring Gary Busey, Chelah Horsdal, and James Clayton.
Get it here.
Critics have said:
"The Alchemy of Love is not for the faint of heart, or for readers with set ideas about genre boundaries, but anyone with an interest in exploring the farther reaches of art, fiction, and human behavior should find much here to ponder."--Locus
"The Alchemy of Love is a darkly imaginative and hallucinatory trip... Clark's art and Engstrom's prose inspire each other and each piece is a perfect match. Engstrom has been interested in erotic obsession from her earliest fiction, and The Alchemy of Love frees her to explore the subject in multiple permutations..."--Year's Best Fantasy and Horror
A volume of eight pieces of fiction and eight paintings, Engstrom ”literates“ four of Clark's disturbing and surreal works of art, while Clark illustrates four of Engstrom's dark and haunting stories.
This is a hardcover collector's edition, signed and numbered.
Introduction by the late Jack Ketchum.
”Crosley,“ a short story contained in this volume was included in The Thirteenth Annual Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, edited by Ellen Datlow.
Candyland, a short novel from this collection, is available as a stand-alone book. It was made into a major motion picture starring Gary Busey, Chelah Horsdal, and James Clayton.
Get it here.
Critics have said:
"The Alchemy of Love is not for the faint of heart, or for readers with set ideas about genre boundaries, but anyone with an interest in exploring the farther reaches of art, fiction, and human behavior should find much here to ponder."--Locus
"The Alchemy of Love is a darkly imaginative and hallucinatory trip... Clark's art and Engstrom's prose inspire each other and each piece is a perfect match. Engstrom has been interested in erotic obsession from her earliest fiction, and The Alchemy of Love frees her to explore the subject in multiple permutations..."--Year's Best Fantasy and Horror
Significant Maternal Elements in Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House - An academic treatise on the underlying psychology between Ms. Jackson and her mother, as portrayed in her uncompromising book, The Haunting of Hill House.
This was Elizabeth Engstrom's senior thesis for her degree in Literature with a concentration in Creative Writing from Marylhurst University.
Get it here.
This was Elizabeth Engstrom's senior thesis for her degree in Literature with a concentration in Creative Writing from Marylhurst University.
Get it here.
Spiritual Sustainability - A Personal and Social Imperative - An academic treatise. This is Engstrom's Master's thesis for her degree in Applied Theology from Marylhurst University.
Get it here.
Get it here.