Cruel Winter

Lock the doors. Close the windows. And prepare yourself for the heart-stopping debut of Anthony Izzo, a new master of horror who will chill you to the bone. . .

Jack Harding and his friends feel sorry for the new kid in town. His name is Ronnie Winter, and he's a bit of a weirdo. So when the local bullies try to beat him up, Jack and his friends step in to protect Ronnie--and that's their first mistake. Because Ronnie Winter is not like any other kid they've ever known. He lives at the old Steadman place, in the big creepy mansion that used to be a mental hospital. And his young, beautiful mother has a strange way of making Jack promise to be Ronnie's friend. . .forever.

The closer Jack and his friends get to Ronnie, the colder it gets. The town is plunged into a wave of brutal snowstorms--and plagued by a series of gruesome murders. And as the grisly death toll mounts, Jack realizes that Ronnie is surrounded by something far more powerful than a mother's love--he's guarded by a force of unspeakable evil that will torture and destroy everything in its path. . .

The Thing in the Tunnel

"Listen," Paul said.

Slow footsteps echoed, a soft-crunch in the dark. At first Jack thought Ronnie turned the flashlight off and snuck into the tunnel in order to scare them, but the footsteps were too heavy. They belonged to someone bigger.

"Reach out your hand, Paul."

"Okay."

They started to go but something found Paul first.

It jerked Paul back, and purely out of reflex, Jack clamped on to Paul's hand, this alone preventing him from being torn back into the tunnel by whatever was down there.

"It's got me hooked! Its arm is around me!"

Jack felt Paul leave his feet as his attacker hoisted him into the air, intent on dragging Paul back into the tunnel.

It pulled again, like a shark dragging a swimmer down, and it was too strong. Paul's hand slipped from Jack's, and Paul shrieked.

"Let me go! Bastard! Let me go! God, it smells bad!"

Jack charged ahead and slammed into someone as solid as a muscle man in a magazine. He wrapped his arms around the waist and pulled, but it was like trying to drag down a redwood tree. He was being dragged behind the guy like tin cans on a wedding car. It stank like old leaves or hair that's clogged in a drain, wet and dead.

What is it and why did we have to run into it?