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The Devil's Playground, Vol. 5: 20 Tales of Terror to Keep You Up At Night
Welcome to volume five of The Devil's Playground, a gruesome celebration of horror in all its forms.These twenty terrifying tales will plunge you into a living nightmare complete with maniacal clowns, sadistic killers, haunted houses, and demonic entities.
Enter at your own risk. This playground offers no escape. Crafted for maximum terror, each tale delivers bone-chilling scares and unrelenting suspense.
Story 1: A man desperate to provide for his daughter takes a job in a haunted mansion.
Story 2: A woman disappears in the wilds of Alaska, and the only clues are the monstrous footprints around her campsite.
Story 3: A viral plague rips through a high-rise apartment building, mutating tenants into ravening, bloodthirsty clowns.
Story 4: A brother and sister move into an apartment together, but there are few other tenants, and they soon learn that previous renters have disappeared without a trace.
Story 5: A harmless prank quickly becomes a massacre inside a house that swallows intruders whole.
And fifteen more tales of terror to keep you up at night in The Devil’s Playground, Vol. 5. Available in eBook and paperback.
***These stories were originally aired on the Dr. NoSleep podcast and/or the Dr. NoSleep YouTube channel.**
Enter at your own risk. This playground offers no escape. Crafted for maximum terror, each tale delivers bone-chilling scares and unrelenting suspense.
Story 1: A man desperate to provide for his daughter takes a job in a haunted mansion.
Story 2: A woman disappears in the wilds of Alaska, and the only clues are the monstrous footprints around her campsite.
Story 3: A viral plague rips through a high-rise apartment building, mutating tenants into ravening, bloodthirsty clowns.
Story 4: A brother and sister move into an apartment together, but there are few other tenants, and they soon learn that previous renters have disappeared without a trace.
Story 5: A harmless prank quickly becomes a massacre inside a house that swallows intruders whole.
And fifteen more tales of terror to keep you up at night in The Devil’s Playground, Vol. 5. Available in eBook and paperback.
***These stories were originally aired on the Dr. NoSleep podcast and/or the Dr. NoSleep YouTube channel.**
423 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 10, 2025
About the author
Matthew Doggett
79 books58 followersMatthew Doggett writes in the thriller and horror genres, penning tales about unlikely heroes and blood-curdling monsters.
He's the author of seventeen novels, three novellas, and over 200 published short stories. He's also a proud member of the Horror Writers Association. You can find his work featured on the Dr. NoSleep podcast and the SCP Experience podcast.
Despite the recent rise in AI-based writing tools some authors are using to "write" their stories, all of Matthew's books and stories are written entirely by him. He does not use AI tools to assist his writing, and has no plans to do so in the future.
He's currently living in the American South, working on his next novel.
He's the author of seventeen novels, three novellas, and over 200 published short stories. He's also a proud member of the Horror Writers Association. You can find his work featured on the Dr. NoSleep podcast and the SCP Experience podcast.
Despite the recent rise in AI-based writing tools some authors are using to "write" their stories, all of Matthew's books and stories are written entirely by him. He does not use AI tools to assist his writing, and has no plans to do so in the future.
He's currently living in the American South, working on his next novel.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 11, 2025
A haunted house tale that is all too real. A horrifying clown and other tales to s Arya you senseless.
September 15, 2025
Full 5 stars
Another excellent anthology. This time, the book was longer with short stories that had decent length, portraying characters clearly. Some stories were just excellent. Some were decent. Yet, the placement of these stories was really good, not creating a boredom in reading but motivating us to want more.
On the other hand, the diverse topics that the author wrote about simply proved that he was indeed a very talented writer. In this book, no theme dominated others and everything, from Mars to Earth, demons to mortals, killers to witches, etc. they all had their own story, some more beautiful and memorable than others. Yet, they were all good!
Never before have I ever read an author in the horror short-story genre that I wanted to read more and more. Matthew is the only one until now. Another excellent author could be Calvin Demmer, but Matthew Doggett enthralled me with his talent in diversity and consistent strength in his writing: no haste, no mediocrity, no abrupt and quick ending, no writing for the sake of selling books, and no overflown words (though certain sentences were a bit repetitive with one or two words). Everything was just compact and compelling.
May many more readers know about this talent! I pray that your excellence will even reach High Heaven.
Best wishes to Matthew!
Another excellent anthology. This time, the book was longer with short stories that had decent length, portraying characters clearly. Some stories were just excellent. Some were decent. Yet, the placement of these stories was really good, not creating a boredom in reading but motivating us to want more.
On the other hand, the diverse topics that the author wrote about simply proved that he was indeed a very talented writer. In this book, no theme dominated others and everything, from Mars to Earth, demons to mortals, killers to witches, etc. they all had their own story, some more beautiful and memorable than others. Yet, they were all good!
Never before have I ever read an author in the horror short-story genre that I wanted to read more and more. Matthew is the only one until now. Another excellent author could be Calvin Demmer, but Matthew Doggett enthralled me with his talent in diversity and consistent strength in his writing: no haste, no mediocrity, no abrupt and quick ending, no writing for the sake of selling books, and no overflown words (though certain sentences were a bit repetitive with one or two words). Everything was just compact and compelling.
May many more readers know about this talent! I pray that your excellence will even reach High Heaven.
Best wishes to Matthew!
June 19, 2025
This is a Horror filled book with 20 tales of short stories. Each one unique and filled with tales that could keep you up long after reading. Once I started reading I didn't want to stop until I turned the very last page. Matthew is a great Horror Author. And this book is proof of his great talent. Some are more frightening than others. But all equally filled with nail biting horror stories. This is my first Devil's Playground Tales of Terror and I am ready to dive into the first 4. Some of the stories completely derailed what I thought was going to happen to an even more sinister outcome than what I suspected was going to happen. Bravo Matthew. This is a must read for all you Horror lovers out there. Enjoy!
June 22, 2025
rounding up from 4.5 stars
With 20 nightmarish stories in this collection, there is definitely something in here for everyone that will keep you up at night. For me it's the ones that have every certain possibility of actually happening in the near future. Then there were the zombie clowns. Clowns don't scare me, but zombie clowns? That was pretty messed up! I definitely want to get the other volumes to see if they similarly freak me out.
With 20 nightmarish stories in this collection, there is definitely something in here for everyone that will keep you up at night. For me it's the ones that have every certain possibility of actually happening in the near future. Then there were the zombie clowns. Clowns don't scare me, but zombie clowns? That was pretty messed up! I definitely want to get the other volumes to see if they similarly freak me out.
June 12, 2025
This is a really great selection of short stories. A good choice of themes, something for all moods or tastes! I really enjoyed that some of the characters did survive, which makes a nice change for a horror story. Don't be put off by this though as there are some really nasty moments too! A great way to while away the long summer evening!
July 6, 2025
This author dose not disappoint with his writing story telling. This book of short stories brings the reader in causing you to continue to think about the story after you are done reading it. I would like to say I have a favorite story in this book, but everytime I thought I had one it was replaced by the next one I read.
March 6, 2026
Some Really Creepy Stories
Some of these stories take you by your throat and don't let go. Some stories you want to read again someday. Even the free that are a pass the time away reads aren't horrible.. They're still good short horror stories.
Some of these stories take you by your throat and don't let go. Some stories you want to read again someday. Even the free that are a pass the time away reads aren't horrible.. They're still good short horror stories.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews