If you're like me, you're taking a hard look at your calendar and wondering how it was possible that it's nearly the end of October and you haven't seen Hocus Pocus or Halloweentown or carved a pumpkin or went on a haunted hayride. Considering how fun all those things are, I hope that's just me and you've all taken advantage of the autumnal opportunities about. 

But if you haven't gotten around to a scary read yet this fall, I've got you covered. 

The Wolf in the Woods is a collection of horror short stories by Benjamin Gray that I've been thoroughly enjoying. I was hooked from the opening line of the "Family Recipe" story. I mean, when a story opens with "The paper had to run something, of course, but there simply wasn’t much for Beck to go on," how can you not be immediately intrigued? And it only gets better from there. 

All the stories in the collection are frightening and have the level of suspense that will keep you hungry to know what's next. 

And you know what else is cool? I've known the author, Benjamin Gray, damn near a decade, but he's just Ben to me. 

So in addition to the fact that I genuinely love his writing and think you will too, you should also know that The Wolf in the Woods is entered in a horror writing competition over at Inkshares (a platform to help indie writers share their work with the world) and I really think Ben should win. And I'm confident that when you read his work, you'll agree. 

You can even read several of the short stories in the collection for FREE, including my favorite, "Family Recipe," by checking out The Wolf in the Woods on Inkshares and clicking the "Read" tab. 

Currently, Ben is in 5th place in the competition, but for every reader who follows his work and/or pre-orders The Wolf in the Woods, he gets a boost. On top of that, for every person who pre-orders the book before Halloween, Ben is donating $5 to Room to Read, a nonprofit that supports literacy for low-income children in developing countries. So when you buy The Wolf in the Woods, you get awesome short stories, kids get resources to help them read, and Ben wins the competition––it's a win-win all around! 

Seriously, what's not to love? Get your copy and leave a comment to let me know what you think!