Phantom Effect

Jonathan Martin Delaware Deseronto is a six-foot-five serial killer with a problem. He’s stuck out on I-476 in a heavy November rainstorm with two flat tires and the dead bodies of a cop and a co-ed named Marissa Madison in his trunk. Desperate to get off the highway, he drives his car on its back rims towards Exit 6. The car stalls on the ramp and Deseronto uses the last of its momentum to plunge over the crest of a steep slope and crash into a length of concrete pipe below. The car comes to rest on the edge of a construction site where machines are positioned to tear down an old Motel 6.

For Deseronto, the worst is yet to come. Marissa Madison had been a psychic of sorts while alive, using her ability to assist people in their personal journeys. Now, the ghost of Marissa will utilize her strange gift, trapping Deseronto in the abandoned motel, and forcing him to live the last, fatal week of her own life as a passive passenger in her body . . . Soon, Deseronto will experience something truly horrific: the mind-numbing terror of being stalked by himself.

Skyhorse Publishing, under our Night Shade and Talos imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of titles for readers interested in science fiction (space opera, time travel, hard SF, alien invasion, near-future dystopia), fantasy (grimdark, sword and sorcery, contemporary urban fantasy, steampunk, alternative history), and horror (zombies, vampires, and the occult and supernatural), and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller, a national bestseller, or a Hugo or Nebula award-winner, we are committed to publishing quality books from a diverse group of authors.

Michael Aronovitz is the acclaimed author of two short story collections, Seven Deadly Pleasures and The Voices in Our Heads, and a novel, Alice Walks. Aronovitz lives in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania.

"Johnny Deseronoto makes Norman Bates look like a Boy Scout . . . Phantom Effect is ripe with beauty and terror—a thrill ride with the brakes gone out. You'll only open this book once."
—Thorne and Cross, authors of The Ghosts of Ravencrest and The Cliffhouse Haunting

"A philosophically rich fearfest that's recommended for readers who prefer their titillation to include some complexity ... a perverted parable that challenges traditional moral norms and reader expectations. A thriller designed to question as much as entertain."
—Publishers Weekly

"One of the most powerful and gripping horror novels I’ve read in years.Phantom Effect establishes Aronovitz as a prominent voice in contemporary weird fiction." —S. T. Joshi