California. Close your eyes and say it: California. Images of perpetual sunshine, swaying palm trees, and blue waters lapping at sandy beaches. That one word conjures visions of gold and fame, luring dreamers to its mythic shores. The original peoples lived in an abundant paradise. The Spanish found a familiarity to their homeland. The Gold Rush, Hollywood, and Silicon Valley promised instant wealth. But the beaches are only a sliver of this vast land. Beyond it lie expanses of deserts, mountains, and rugged coastline cutting it off from reality. Isolated, California reveals a dark side–wraithlike fog of the northern coast, dense shadows in ancient forests, and hellish heat of vast deserts. It is to these places you will journey. Within these pages, you will find stories of primeval specters, soured fantasies, transplanted vampires, bizarre geography.

This is the reality of nightmares. This is California Screamin’.