Dark and Haunted Magic
Feb 03, 2024 6:30 pm
Giveaways and Deals
Strange Magic: An All-Genre Giveaway for Unusual Fantasy
Ends March 1st
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Adventures in Alternate History
Ends March 1st
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This Month's Books Shares
Horror
Creep by Lou Yardley
Welcome to the monstrous world of Venari... try not to get eaten...
Angus Rutland has been to war and now it’s time to go back home. Battle has changed him and he knows that life is going to change for him in Red Fern too.
And he’s absolutely right.
It’s just not going to change in the way he has planned. Angus expected independence from his parents, a house and maybe a new career. Instead, he’s found himself up to his neck in monsters, treachery, and an invading army.
This novella is a deliciously dark fantasy set in Lou Yardley’s monstrous world of Venari. Dive right in for monsters and gore!
“Creep” is part of a small series that introduces the wonderful, if monstrous, world of Venari.
Haunted Manor: A Twisted Tales Anthology
Nothing screams 'haunted' like a good ol' haunted mansion. Get spooked as you fall into these short stories bound to turn up the creep factor. It's the perfect topping for a night of fires and marshmallows.
Darkness Below by Barbara Cottrell
(This is a sample preview)
All Ellen Logan wants to do is pass her classes while holding down a bad job at a New Age bookstore.
But when a former roommate jumps to her death from the university clocktower and another friend vanishes, leaving her with a mysterious book, she embarks on her own investigation. With the help of renowned professor Andrew Carter, she uncovers evidence of a murderous cult, a terrifying creature, and a ghost who knows far too much about her. To survive, Ellen and Carter must descend into the Darkness Below to stop the forces that threaten to tear their world apart.
Paranormal/Supernatural
The Warden and the Witch by Steve Conoboy
‘Start at eight o’clock on the dot, not one minute later. The first Story won’t wait, and neither can you.’
Overmere is not the sleepy little town it first appears to be: it has its lake and its hills and more than its fair share of ghosts. The Wyrder’s job is to keep these spirits in check, to learn their Stories and tell them with truth and empathy, lest the ghosts feel forgotten and lash out in revenge.
The time has come for Hannah Warden to take on the mantle of Wyrder. And she’s nervous. Very nervous, even though she’s been training for this since she was little. She knows every single Story inside-out, has memorised the properties and uses of her crystals, knows the vital chants off by heart. But she’s been leading the Walks side-by-side with her father for months, which meant that if things went wrong there was an expert ready to cope. After her dad suffers one health scare too many, it’s Hannah’s turn to lead this evening’s Walk alone, whether she feels ready or not.
Whatever life throws at her, whatever the weather, she will have to do this every night from now on, without fail. That’s if she can survive the first…
Five people turn up for the infamous Overmere ghost walk; Derek Swanlea, a self-proclaimed and self-important expert in paranormal investigations, researching material for his next book; Ruby, a young woman sensitive to otherworldly happenings and her goofy boyfriend Tommo; and Kimi and Mae, a pair of tourists looking to finish off their holiday in style.
Little do any of them realise the dark and dangerous places this tour will lead to, and it all starts at an ancient stone circle known locally as Long Meg and her Daughters. Some in Overmere may believe the witch to be nothing more than a myth, but she’s far from finished with this secretive lakeside town…
Dark Thriller
Last Child by Edita A. Petrick
Kate McFarland was born into a crumbling regime of Soviet Russia. She didn’t have much as a child, but she had two parents who cared and protected her, and that was enough. Then Fate raked its rusty nail across a blackboard and her mother became a widow. For what seemed like eternity, life looked bleak. But then her mother met a man who was not only decent and kind but rich. It’s how Kate finished growing up in the US. It’s how her grassroots name became Kate and since her stepfather adopted her, she wanted to show respect by taking his last name.
She was not only allowed but encouraged to make her own decisions; even if one of those meant that at age twenty-five, Kate McFarland emerged from Quantico as Agent McFarland. She had two half-brothers, a half-sister she adored and her mother was happy. But her colleagues whispered behind her back that doors opened for her because she was a billionaire’s daughter. She tried to ignore such gossip but there was no denying that it hurt…a lot.
That’s why she spent four years behind a desk, doing excellent analytical work and little else. That’s why she’s defensive when she receives her first field assignment—and is put in charge in spite of her partner having years of seniority over her. For the first time since she came to America, she feels that maybe doors are opening for her too quickly, and easily. And it’s all because she is Court McFarland’s stepdaughter.
Someone else, however, is orchestrating her rise through the FBI ranks. Someone who is able to stand on the stage and hide in the shadows at the same time. Someone who needs Special Agent McFarland out there, following leads that have only one purpose—to lure the one who is on the run, into a trap.
Because Kate McFarland has no idea that she is someone else’s last child.
