Dark Chronicles (Steiner)

Is there something sinister about Madame Leona's dance troupe? When Melanie Clark's best friend, Pauline, dies in a car crash, the police write it off as an accident, but Melanie isn't so sure. Pauline was acting strange in the weeks before she died, and Melanie believes Pauline's dance teacher, Madame Leona, may have had something to do with that.   In order to learn more about the mysterious hold Madame Leona has on her students, Melanie joins the teacher's prestigious dance group. She's determined to find out the truth behind Pauline's death-no matter what it takes.   But as she becomes more involved, Melanie starts to forget why she joined in the first place, falling deeper and deeper under Madame Leona's spell. Can Melanie escape the woman's magnetic grip, or has she lost herself forever?

When a high schooler gets a job in the art department of a nearby university, she begins to suspect that the campus is haunted by a ghost-and maybe even a serial killer LaDonna Martindale hopes that her new job at the local college will help to inspire her own painting. But every night, in the art school basement, she sorts canvases for the upcoming gallery showing. And every night, she feels the same strange, comforting presence of someone in the basement with her-even if she can't see him.   When LaDonna suddenly discovers a beautiful painting on the basement wall that wasn't there before, she realizes that her ghost is an incredible artist. Maybe, just maybe, he can be the muse she's been lacking.   But when a string of murders on campus turns her small town upside down, LaDonna isn't sure whom to trust-her best friend, Johnny; the art school director; or even her ghost. LaDonna can sense someone stalking her whenever she's on campus, and she starts to wonder if she might be the serial killer's next victim.

Miki O'Ryan jumps at the chance to be part of a mysterious dance troupe-until she realizes its members may be more dangerous than they appear For several nights, Miki O'Ryan has snuck into the condemned Sullivan Theater to watch an enigmatic, shadowy group perform haunting routines that are part gymnastics, part dance, and part magic. When the director catches Miki spying one night, he invites her to join them.   The Theater of the Dead is a gothic troupe whose members all pretend to be vampires. Miki is thrilled to finally belong to a family, however odd it may be. When the gorgeous Davin is assigned to be her partner-and seems as if he may be interested in being more-Miki is ready to follow the Theater of the Dead anywhere.   But whenever Miki dances with them, she feels as if they are putting her under a spell with their sensuous movement and hypnotic eyes. Is it possible that these strange people are more than what they seem? Miki realizes she may be in danger of losing her life-and her soul-to the Theater of the Dead.