Books in Strange Matter® Series series

These oddball stories about real-life crimes will make you shake your head.Loaded with dozens of entertaining and amusing articles about actual crimes, this latest book from Portable Press will definitely leave you scratching your head. Dumb crooks, celebrities gone bad, unsolved mysteries, odd laws, and more—Strange Crime has plenty of stories that will make you ask yourself, “What could they possibly have been thinking?” This easily portable paperback book is ideal for readers on the go. Take it to school, to work, to jury duty!Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards Winner - 2018 BRONZE Winner for Humor (Adult Nonfiction)

Stephanie Meeker has a secret that's getting too dangerous to keep. Her cousin Daniel is determined to win the Fairfield Junior Science Competition, and he has been working on something in his room for days. Now Stephanie has discovered his shocking secret, the greatest science project in the world, but Daniel has sworn her to secrecy. Even as the project becomes more and more terrifying, Stephanie tells no one about the "Electronic Brain," a computer capable of thinking for itself. Daniel promises Stephanie he can keep it under control until he wins his award. The brain has other things on its mind...

Curtis Chatman and Shelly Miller didn't plan for trouble. They expected a quiet sixth period in the library reading their favorite supernatural tales after Mr. Mayfield's dull biology class. They didn't expect suspension. Fairfield Junior High welcomes Stacy Calhoun, the new substitute. He holds an unnatural power over his class. An appearance as unsettling as his lesson plan, his silvery eyes catch every movement, his pointy ears every whisper. After a terrifying encounter in the library, Curtis and Shelly discover a shocking secret about their temporary teacher, a secret that could cost them their lives. Now, after a lifetime of avoiding trouble, it howled outside their window, simply dying to get in.

Tyler Webb has been invited to attend a very special game. Someone has left him a ticket for a final showdown between two old football teams from Fairfield's past. The only problem is, the game is scheduled for midnight, and there's no way Tyler's parents will let him go. Curiosity gets the best of him, and Tyler sneaks out to see the game. Now he's sitting in the bleachers under the moonlight, waiting for the arrival of both sides. But the players are not running onto the field. They're crawling. Straight up from the ground. And they know they're being watched.

Skinny Joe Alister loves collecting rocks. He's a total fanatic about precious gems and rare stones. From kicking around fields, to scouring construction sites, Joe is always on the lookout for something special to add to his collection. Joe and his little brother Gary often prowl the underground walkways of Fairfield Caverns hunting for rocks, staying only in the areas open to the public. Today, Joe ignores his brother's warning and explores a dangerous, little-known section of Fairfield Caverns, a half-completed expansion site, far from the main path. Joe's heart pounds and his eyes widen as he unearths the horrible fate of the missing owner, and makes the most shocking discovery of all. Joe was looking for something special. He finds something rotten.

How could things get worse? First the frantic call from Mom saying that she and Dad would be late getting home, and that the clueless sitter would be over soon to watch us. Then the worst storm in Fairfield history pounds our house, knocking out our power, lights, and phone. And now a hideous man is lurking at our door and won't go away! He is frantically peering in the windows and ringing the doorbell over and over. . . It's a special, late night delivery for Simon and Sarah White. A deadly delivery. A package of disaster that sends them screaming through the wildest, scariest, most dangerous night of their lives. . . in their very own house. At least, it was their house. Then they opened the box, flipped the latches and peeked under the lid. Now it's loose and planning on a little. . . redecorating. And once it's out, getting it back in is murder.

A monster is coming after Shane Reece. An earthquake two hundred miles from Fairfield has unleashed something terrible - Clayton T. Motley, a zombie gunslinger looking for revenge. Back in the middle 1800s, one of Shane's ancestors ran Motley out of Fairfield by putting a bullet in his hide. A posse chased the fleeing bandit for weeks until Motley holed up in a cave, where he eventually succumbed to his gunshot wound. The bullet inside him, however, was made out of something . . . strange. Now, almost one hundred and fifty years later, the earthquake has freed the undead gunfighter from his rocky prison - and he wants revenge. He's coming after the only Reece left in Fairfield - Shane. . . . and this town's not big enough for the both of them.

Michelle Boyd enjoyed her first time water-skiing on beautiful Lake Wataga. She floated peacefully, waiting for the boat to rocket off, pulling her into another thrilling ride. Then her sister saw the dark shape gliding through the water, relentless, large and powerful. It broke the surface with a tremendous splash, a large brown hump as wrinkled as an elephant... and as fast as a ski boat. Watched through the sinister eyes of the oldest living resident of the lake, Michelle and Erin learn a dark and terrible secret. A secret submerged in the murky depths of Lake Wataga for forty years has returned to watch, to wait... and to feed.

On the outskirts of town, the Fairfield Starlight Drive-In waits silently in the dark. A long time ago the giant movie screen flickered with life, showing technicolor westerns, murky mobster flicks and monster movies, but not anymore. Now the giant screen is overgrown with vines while rows of rusted speakers line the barren field like grave markers. Jonathan Drake often wonders what it would have been like to see his favorite old horror movies on the big screen. He and his friends visit the Starlight Drive-In often. They wander around the dark, overgrown field, remembering their favorite scenes from horror movies and reciting lines by heart. Then Jon hears a strange noise, like the hiss and pop of an old movie. They watch in shock as the speakers begin to shake and a beam of light leaps from the projection booth on to the screen. Jon and his friends are about to make their scream debut in a special feature . . . a real creature feature . . . and their roles are to die for.

Something strange is moving into the house behind Rachel Pearson's - and only she knows it. While exploring the vacant house, Rachel comes across some weird looking plants. They are large, green shells that have blossomed. . . letting whatever was inside them out. Then, two months later, the Smith family moves into the empty house. They're very odd people. Not only do Mr. and Mrs. Smith and their two weird children, Jane and Richard, look unsettling, they act strange as well. Jane seems to have a taste for bugs, while Richard disappears late at night with a shovel in hand, only to return early the next morning. It's made Rachel very suspicious. But soon that suspicion turns to fear when strange things happen to those who come into contact with the Smiths. Kids get sick. Parents disappear. And plants come to life. Now no one's left to believe Rachel, except for the Smiths. . .

Darren Donaldson is staring out his bedroom window at 2 o'clock in the morning, panicked, looking down the street for any sign of his brother. His older brother, David, snuck out of the house at midnight, taking the car as usual, making Darren promise he wouldn't tell. He's been gone for three hours, the longest he's ever been gone. Something must have happened. Something dreadful. Wait! There's David now! The car is coming down the street. He's killed the engine, coasting toward the driveway. He's scrambling out of the car, pushing it from behind. He looks frantic, terrified! What's going on? He's signaling for help, looking over his shoulder as if. . . Headlights snap on at the end of the street as an engine roars to life. David is screaming! Something is chasing him. . . and it isn't stopping.