Book Spotlight: Dastardly Damsels

Today, I have a spotlight for the cool new anthology, Dastardly Damsels.

A transcendental anthology of women in horror, altering all you know by revamping traditional lore while exploring the unfathomable and the obscure.

 

Prepare yourself for a harrowing journey through Dastardly Damsels, an anthology that redefines horror with a powerful lineup of female authors. This collection dares to explore the darkest corners of the human psyche and the supernatural, presenting a diverse range of chilling narratives that will captivate and unsettle you.

 

From the Victorian Era’s haunted secrets to futuristic global disasters, Dastardly Damsels serves up an array of stories that blend psychological fear with mythological intrigue. Dive into tales of revenge with a twist, where women wield dark powers and confront terrifying entities, from cannibalistic horrors to vengeful ghosts. Experience the suspense of a secretive stripper turned avenger, a gladiatrix with a taste for brutality, and a peculiar elevator with a sinister personality.

 

If you’re ready for a blend of suspense and horror narratives that push the boundaries of traditional lore, Dastardly Damsels is your ticket to an unforgettable reading experience.

Book Link: https://getbook.at/DastardlyDamsels

About the Editor

Over a decade ago, Suzie Lockhart finally gave in to the gnawing urge to write. Her first story was published in 2011, and she’s never looked back. Since then, she's had numerous short stories published in a variety of genres.

Suzie has also edited over a half dozen anthologies, including the award-winning Killing It Softly Vols. 1 & 2. 

Book Spotlight: Bestiary of Blood

 I have a spotlight today for the epic new anthology, Bestiary of Blood. Enjoy.

Bestiary of Blood: Modern Fables & Dark Tales

We are all prey to this anthology of modern fables and dark tales.

Bestiary of Blood was conceived in a moment of revelation, born from the visceral experience of watching nature’s savage ballet—lions tearing into flesh, hyenas gnawing bones, sharks thrashing in crimson waters. These raw spectacles gave rise to a chilling epiphany: life and death are entwined in a grotesque dance, each feeding the other in a ceaseless cycle of transformation, creating…beauty.

This paradox is captured in its full glory in Bestiary of Blood, a modern anthology of predation’s horrors inspired by the timeless tales of Aesop’s Fables, modernized for a more complex, unforgiving world. Exploring the joy in our hurts, the wrongs in our rights, and the suffering in the shadows of our light, Bestiary of Blood invites you to the intersection of human and animal experience, crafting dark tales that resonate with life’s endless cycles of transformation.
Written by 37 of Horror’s greatest writers, including 18 Bram Stoker Award Winners, this anthology features diverse voices from every walk of life as they usher you through the darkest and most profound questions of the modern age.

Book Link: https://getbook.at/Bestiary

About the Editor

JAMAL HODGE is a multi-award-winning filmmaker, a native New Yorker, who grew up surrounded by the perils of poverty, the diversity of convergent cultures, and the harmonious circus of six siblings. His writing has been nominated for 2021 & 2022 Rhysling Awards and his poem “Colony” won 2nd place at the 2022 Dwarf Stars. He work appears in anthologies with such notable writers as Stephen King, Chuck Palahniuk, and Josh Malerman. His first collection The Dark Between the Twilight was released in 2024.

Book Spotlight: Draakensky

 Here's a new book spotlight for the dark fantasy, Draakensky by Paula Cappa. Enjoy.

Draakensky by Paula Cappa

A murder. A wind sorcerer. A dark spirit. On Draakensky, magick dictates destiny.

The Chief of Police discovers an elderly woman dead in the Mianus River. There is a ghost who resides here and flings its words through the spinning air. River magic too, streams across Draakensky Windmill estate, conjuring a secret in Bedford, New York.

Sketch artist Charlotte Knight arrives on Draakensky to a bright opportunity. She is hired to illustrate the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke under the direction of Jaa Morland, the recluse spinster of Draakensky. Jaa, a believer in ghosts, instructs Charlotte to ‘draw the ghosts.’

From the first night, Charlotte hears the watery voice of Draakensky’s ghost speak to her. Sinister dark eyes watch at the window. Fear mounts when a strange man stalks her through the village cemetery and shops. When a wicked force of nature strikes Charlotte, warning her to flee Draakensky, she is shaken to the bone.

Needing solid ground, Charlotte meets the local restaurant owner, Marc Sexton, who knows the ghostly Otherworld and the magickal practices from his Celtic ancestry; he sports a silver wolf amulet at his neck. Their romance takes Charlotte into a piercing adventure through darkness and doubt, passion and aching love.

As dark magick accelerates on Draakensky, Charlotte is driven into realms of owl magick, witchcraft, and necromancy. She battles her own fear of ghosts and wrestles with how to trust Marc Sexton, a man with hidden realities.

If magick is destiny, then Charlotte must survive the world of ghosts or surrender to a more powerful source in this literary tale of mystery, sorcery, and love.



Fans of ghostly and Gothic fiction like Susan Hill’s Woman in Black, or Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House will find Draakensky goes a step deeper into the powerful Otherworld, magickal realms, and folklore. Paula Cappa is a multi-award-winning author of supernatural tales, Greylock, Night Sea Journey, and The Dazzling Darkness, and many published short stories.

Book Link: https://getbook.at/Draakensky

About the Author

Paula Cappa is a multiple award-winning author of Greylock, The Dazzling Darkness, and Night Sea Journey—A Tale of the Supernatural, print editions published by Crispin Books, Milwaukee WI. She is known for her quiet horror stories, and as an Amazon best-selling author. 

Cappa’s short fiction has appeared in The Lorelei Signal, Scribes, ParABnormal Magazine, Coffin Bell Literary Journal, Unfading Daydream, Dark Gothic Resurrected Magazine, Whistling Shade Literary Journal, SmokeLong Quarterly, Sirens Call Ezine, Every Day Fiction, Fiction365, Twilight Times Ezine, and in anthologies Journals of Horror: Found Fiction, Mystery Time, and Human Writes Literary Journal. 

She is a freelance copy editor and writes a short story blog, Reading Fiction Blog, at https://paulacappa.wordpress.com. Cappa is Co-Chair of the Pound Ridge Authors Society in Pound Ridge, NY.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PaulaCappa1  

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/paula.cappa.94 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paula_cappa/  

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Paula-Cappa/e/B009P2HZ7A/ 

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/paulacappa.bsky.social 

Book Spotlight: The Medusa Psalms

 Another book spotlight today for the new horror collection by Kyle Toucher, The Medusa Psalms: Welcome to Walpurgis County. Enjoy.

The Medusa Psalms: Welcome to Walpurgis County by Kyle Toucher

Kyle Toucher invites you on a chilling journey through ten stories and two novellas that unveil the grim history and malevolent folklore of America's most cursed terrain. From haunted mountains to deranged cults, from cosmic horrors to ancestral vendettas, each tale plunges you deeper into a realm where monsters roam freely and secrets fester in the blood-soaked soil.

In this collection, exorcists battle ancient evils, time bends and distorts reality, and the unsuspecting collide with the macabre. Meet a father consumed by grief and vengeance, a woman trapped in a temporal abyss, and a conspiracy theorist facing an occult agenda that threatens humanity's very existence. Encounter witches burning from within, possessed souls seeking revenge, and hybrids born of unholy alliances.

The Medusa Psalms: Welcome to Walpurgis County is a symphony of horror, suspense, and the supernatural, weaving together tales of haunted houses, demonic possessions, and cosmic conspiracies. With echoes of alternative history and the looming specter of a new world order, Toucher's dark imagination transforms everyday landscapes into battlegrounds of madness and despair.

Embrace the terror that lurks beneath the surface of Walpurgis County. Dare to cross the county line and immerse yourself in a world where nightmares are reality and survival means confronting the darkest corners of the human soul.

Book Link: https://getbook.at/Walpurgis1

About the Author

Kyle Toucher (rhymes with voucher) is the author of the novel Live Wire, from Crystal Lake Publishing, the novella Life Returns, and the Black Hare Press Short Read, Southpaw.

He recently appeared in the anthologies Dead Letters: Episodes of Epistolary Horror and To Hell and Back, from Crystal Lake and Hellbound Books respectively.

Through his twenties, he fronted the influential Nardcore crossover band Dr. Know, made records and hit the road. Later, he moved into the Visual Effects field, where he bagged eight Emmy nominations and two awards for Firefly and Battlestar: Galactica.  

He lives with a lovely woman, five cats, two dogs, and several guitars in house built when Nosferatu first ran in theatres.

Website: kyletoucher.com

X: @kyletoucher

Instagram: @kyletoucher

Book Spotlight: The Exorcist’s House: Genesis

 Another book spotlight today on Nick Robert's new book, The Exorcist’s House: Genesis. Enjoy.

 

The Exorcist’s House: Genesis by Nick Roberts

In chasing devils, all roads lead to Hell.

1967: A brutal murder occurs at the Weston State Hospital in West Virginia. To amateur exorcist, Merle Blatty, this shocking story rings of the occult. Fueled by a desire to avenge the deaths of his wife and son, Merle investigates the case, unknowingly stepping into a sinister web spanning decades.

1997: It’s been three years since the Hill family left the nightmares of the farm behind them. Alice is off to college while Daniel and Nora are closer than ever, living in Ohio and raising their three-year-old daughter, Maren. Their high hopes for the future are quickly extinguished when they receive a call, learning of a plan by Adam, Daniel’s brother, to purchase the exorcist's former property and stage an Amityville-inspired haunting to profit from the story.

By alternating past and present narratives, The Exorcist’s House: Genesis is a multi-generational odyssey through Hell, giving birth to a new breed of horror.

Book Link: https://getbook.at/NickGenesis

About the Author

Nick Roberts is the author of Anathema, The Exorcist's House, It Haunts the Mind & Other Stories, and Mean Spirited. He is a native West Virginian, a doctoral graduate of Marshall University, and an active member of the Horror Writers Association.

Website: www.nickrobertsauthor.com