The Will of the Gods Book 1 by Ian Lancaster Book Tour! @SilverDaggerBookTours #TheWillOfTheGods #IanLancaster

Ancient Egypt was a time when people believed that

 everything that happened, for better or for worse, was

 determined by the will of the gods. 

The Will of the Gods

Book 1

by Ian Lancaster

Genre: Historical Egyptian Fiction

The Will of the Gods trilogy is a work of historical fiction set in Pharaonic Egypt during the time of the New Kingdom. It comprises eight stories which form a continuous narrative, following the same principal characters through interconnected adventures. The stories are told in the first person by the characters involved, and span a period of about fifty years and the reigns of four kings. There are many adult themes.

Part 1 contains:

Conspiracy in the Sands

A short story set in Ancient Egypt about a young man who loses a love and finds a mystery.

Treason on the Nile

The sequel to "Conspiracy in the Sands", this extended short story continues the adventures of the embalmer's son, now part of the king's family. Tasked by the king to go south to restore a desecrated tomb, neither would have believed the dangers that would follow for either of them - and even for the kingdom itself!

Valley of Secrets

The third part of a series set in Ancient Egypt: the king has been murdered and his family is in great danger. But who is the enemy?

Sceptre of the Gods

A royal tomb has been violated and a foreign power threatens the king. How are these connected and what can be done to save the kingdom?

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The Will of the Gods

Book 2

The Will of the Gods trilogy is a work of historical fiction set in Pharaonic Egypt during the time of the New Kingdom. It comprises eight stories which form a continuous narrative, following the same principal characters through interconnected adventures. The stories are told in the first person by the characters involved, and span a period of about fifty years and the reigns of four kings. There are many adult themes.

Part 2 contains:

Labyrinth of Fear

A novel set in Ancient Egypt and Minoan Crete at the time of the cataclysmic eruption of the island of Thera (Santorini).

An Alliance of Kings

Part six of the Egypt Saga. Set mainly on and around the island of Crete, where three kings meet to form an alliance against a mysterious enemy, known as The Sea People. Old passions are reignited and new relationships are formed, but an unpredictable encounter leads to a tragic outcome.

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The Will of the Gods

Book 3

The Will of the Gods trilogy is a work of historical fiction set in Pharaonic Egypt during the time of the New Kingdom. It comprises eight stories which form a continuous narrative, following the same principal characters through interconnected adventures. The stories are told in the first person by the characters involved, and span a period of about fifty years and the reigns of four kings. There are many adult themes.

Part 3 contains:

The Curse of the Sea People

Part seven of the Egypt Saga. The Sea People have returned and the island of Crete is in danger. A new king relies on family, where everyone has a role to play and each faces difficult challenges and adventures of their own.

Lord of the Two Lands

Afraid for the succession, a young king knows he must prove himself worthy before the gods. His chance comes in a most unexpected way when a new friend becomes a deadly enemy. This is the eighth and final part of the Egypt saga.

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TASTER

Will of the Gods – Part 1

The beginning: Conspiracy in the Sands – Chapter 1

She was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen and I had been in love with her for as long as I could remember. We were the same age and had grown up together – she on one side of the wall in luxury and me on the other in the dusty and filthy streets of the town. She didn’t even know I existed. I saw her once, close up, when we were both about ten, when my father was called to the Palace to see the vizier about the arrangements for embalming one of the king’s sons, but she was with her nurse and, although I smiled at her, I don’t think she noticed me and she quickly moved away out of my sight. This time, now seven summers later, was different.

The call had come late in the night, a banging on the door and a voice of authority telling me to open. There were several men, soldiers I think, and the figure I recognised as the vizier. Older now, of course, but still the unmistakable authority of one second only to the king. 

‘Where is your father? He is needed at the Palace. The king commands it.’

I explained as best I could, I was afraid by the urgency and by the presence of so many strangers in our small house at such a time.

‘He is away, up in the north, a family problem’.

‘You must come instead. Now.’

We made our way through the dark and empty streets to the gates of the Palace. Huge and intimidating enough in the day, even more sinister at night. 

‘Come, quickly’.

Endless passages, lit by guttering torches. Everywhere armed men at attention. Eventually into a small room, beautifully furnished with sumptuous cushions and curtains. At first I didn’t see him for the room was dark and only the area of the bed was lit by a small lamp. My attention was drawn to a figure on the bed, lying absolutely still. From the shadows a voice:

‘They tell me you have your father’s skills. You must use them all.’

I had never heard him speak before or seen him so close. He came into the pool of light and his voice almost broke with the weight of his emotion. 

‘She was found a while ago, like this, still and alone. The doctor could do nothing. We do not know what happened.’

It was only then, when I moved closer to the bed, that I saw it was her. If possible, she looked even more beautiful than I remembered with her long, lustrous hair spread out on the bed around her.

‘She will be brought to you in the morning. Prepare her for the afterlife. Give her the best, only the best. She was my favourite.’

With the utmost dignity he turned and left the room. All bowed and I hurriedly did the same. 

‘My Lord’ was all I managed to stammer and then he was gone. The vizier nodded to a guard to escort me away from the chamber and back through the maze of corridors to the street. 

I stumbled home in a thick fog of despair and confusion. She was dead and the greatest challenge of my all too young life would unfold with the rising sun. To prepare the king’s youngest daughter and the greatest love of my life for an eternity with the gods.

They came with the sun, a small procession led by the king’s first minister. She was placed on a small table in the workshop, a room with loose curtains to allow in the fresh air and having a view to the nearby river. 

‘You are aware of your responsibility? You will be guarded to make sure all is done as it should be. Call me when the day has come that we may take her to the royal tomb.’

I nodded and he left, leaving two men outside the door. Whether to guard the princess or me I was unsure. I could see them faintly through the cracks in the door but they made no sound and I soon forgot they were there. I took a deep breath and turned to my task. For someone so young to be given such a duty was unheard of. It can only be the reputation of my family that gave them such confidence. I was to work alone, this had been said to me firmly by the vizier, and no-one else was to enter the embalming room until the job was finished. This would be a hard task and I would have to take on roles normally allocated to several assistants but the instruction was clear. 

I removed the thin linen shroud that covered her and took a sharp breath. Her skin looked almost like alabaster, set off more starkly by her long black hair. I knew that royal and noble women were not usually sent to the embalmer’s workshop immediately after death in case of despicable practices being performed on them, but this was no more a possibility for me than my slapping the king. How could I defile the body of the one I loved so much?

I began by assembling my tools and then decided to arrange her hair into a bundle on top of her head to protect it from the oils I would have to use to keep her skin supple. It was then that I had to touch her for the first time. I knew she would be cold, of course, this was not my first body, but somehow the softness of her skin was unexpected. I was used to preparing the bodies of workers from the local villages, learning my skills on their coarse and often bloated corpses. She was as soft as though waiting for a lover’s caress. I took my hand away nervously. I closed my eyes to spare her the indignity of my staring at her nakedness and lifted up her hair. I had to look then, to gather it all together, and then I saw it. With her hair down it was not visible and not surprising that it had not been seen. The doctor must have given only a casual inspection, or perhaps the light was poor, but here it was clear. Behind her left ear was a small but obvious puncture wound. Made by a fine, needle-like blade which had penetrated her skull and undoubtedly killed her. The girl I loved most in the world had been murdered!

A lockdown project inspired by ancient Egypt.

Having been a passionate avocational Egyptologist for most of my life, I often wondered what it might have been like to live in those far-off times. During the Covid lockdown I started writing a short story to pass the time, and this eventually developed into a saga about just such a fantasy (at almost 400,000 words I think it counts as a saga anyway!).

It started as a mystery involving the son of a humble embalmer who is told to prepare the body of the king’s daughter for the afterlife. Unknown to anyone else, however, he has secretly loved the girl for as long as he could remember and, when he discovers that she had been murdered, sets out to solve the mystery and prevent a plot against the king himself. Then, in the way of all addictions, the story grew as new adventures presented themselves and new members of the extended family were introduced.

The eight stories which make up The Will of the Gods are set in Pharaonic (‘Ancient’) Egypt during the time of the New Kingdom. Although published in three volumes, they form a continuous narrative. They follow the same principal characters, told in the first person, through interconnected adventures spanning about fifty years and the reigns of four kings. This novel contains a number of adult themes.

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Acquittal? Stockholm Sleuth Series Book 5 by Christer Tholin Book Tour! @christer_tholin @christer.tholin.one @SilverDaggerBookTours

 A Swedish Crime Novel  

Acquittal?

Stockholm Sleuth Series Book 5

by Christer Tholin

Genre: Mystery, Crime

Umeå, Northern Sweden: 

Willmar Björkman has been incarcerated for five years after being found guilty on a murder charge; albeit unjustly convicted according to his claims. From the very start, he has adamantly maintained that he is innocent of the crime. Detectives Lars and Elin are hired to find new evidence that casts doubt upon the validity of the guilty verdict so that a retrial of his case can be requested. 

Is that even possible now that so much time has passed? The two detectives start asking around to dig up some new information but find themselves facing a wall of silence - nobody seems interested in reopening the case. In fact, they themselves are uncertain if Willmar is even innocent at all. But then the coincidences begin to pile up and ultimately the investigation spins completely out of control...

ACQUITTAL? is the fifth, standalone book from Christer Tholin’s Stockholm Sleuth Series.

If you like fast-paced action and surprising twists and turns, then you will love Christer Tholin's sleuth series.

Buy ACQUITTAL? to see how this suspenseful case is solved!

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**Don’t miss the rest of the series!**

Find them on Amazon 

Christer was raised in the North of Germany, Schleswig-Holstein. After having spent years in Berlin / Germany, Brighton /UK and Budapest / Hungary, he has now been living in Stockholm / Sweden for almost two decades.

As a crime-story aficionado of long standing, Christer always wanted to write detective stories of his own that would not only be exciting, but that would also be set against the backdrop of the natural beauty of Sweden - and that would afford him the opportunity to portray Swedish society as seen through the eyes of a foreigner. The result: his "Stockholm Sleuth Series."

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It had grown late; it was completely dark on the country road, there were no street lights out here. Tall trees stood to the right and left. The snow that lay under the trees did nothing to brighten it. The asphalt was glistening from the wetness, at least Elin hoped that it was water and not ice, because the temperature was around freezing. Once the sun set, the thermometer could quickly drop a few degrees, and then there could be black ice on the ground after the rain. She slowed down - forty-five miles per hour were allowed here. She preferred to go slower than that, especially around the curves.

The lights from oncoming vehicles were blinding. Every time a car came along, she had to concentrate to stay in her lane. She slowed down even further and now was only driving thirty-five miles per hour. That didn't suit the man behind, he flashed his lights at her several times. Now she was also blinded by the light from the side mirrors. Finally, he overtook after a curve. Well, at least he couldn't bother her anymore.

For a while everything went fine, she slowly began to relax, but she still maintained a reduced speed. After the idiot from before, there had been no more cars behind her, but now she noticed a car slowly getting closer. Judging from the lighting, it had to be a bigger vehicle. Why did he have to drive like that on this road? She fully understood that the locals knew this road well and could probably judge the weather conditions better than she could, but nevertheless, you should probably still be a little more careful when driving a truck. Well, she had to concede, if he was carrying a heavy load, he probably had little to worry about, even if it was a little slippery. In Stockholm, until recently, the buses didn't even have winter tires; they all had all-season tires to save costs. Only last year did they start to gradually change over the tires, because there had been a few accidents.

After each bend, the lights disappeared behind Elin, only to reappear on the next straight stretch, and a little faster each time - the distance between them was rapidly shrinking. Elin kept glancing nervously in the rearview mirror, she hated it when people tailgated. It was indeed a truck, one of those giant ones, and now he was driving close behind her, flashing his lights. Just what she had been afraid of. She felt compelled to drive a little faster, but she didn't go beyond forty. Unfortunately, it didn't help, the truck was still sticking like glue to her. If she had to brake for any reason now, he'd probably run her off the road. Elin hoped that after the next curve there was a clear stretch again so that the guy could pass her. She was uncomfortable with this brightly lit monster clinging to her tail. Trees on either side, blinding lights from the front, and that idiot with all the horsepower tailgating. Carefully she went around the bend - yes, there was a longer clear stretch coming up here, and at the moment there was no oncoming traffic.

Furthermore, there was now a small slope on the right side, which increased the distance to the forest and made the road look a little brighter. Elin could only hope that the driver of the truck would take this chance. She looked in the rearview mirror - yeah, he flashed his lights and pulled his vehicle into the left lane. Elin took her foot off the gas and the truck pulled alongside her. It was one of those trucks that transported lumber, fully loaded and with a trailer. They all sped through here like jackasses, the speed limits didn't seem to apply to them. Water splashed onto her car from the side, her vision was blurred for a brief moment, then the windshield wiper swept over it and she could see the road in front of her again. The truck was halfway past her now but seemed to be slowing down. Elin checked her speedometer, it was thirty-five, which made her wonder if the truck was running out of steam? Irritated, she looked ahead, luckily no oncoming traffic. She reduced her speed even more, which allowed the truck to move past her a bit more. But what was he doing now? What the hell, he was braking!

The red brake lights shone brightly. And now he pulled over towards her side. Why? The tree trunks were coming menacingly closer, Elin honked the horn and slammed down on her brake. She felt the rear of her car swerve, while all that was visible in front of her were wheels and wood. The truck cut her off! In a panic, she turned to the right. At that moment her Volvo got a bump in the front and was pushed even further towards the roadside. She pressed on the brakes with all her might, but despite this, she was still getting closer and closer to the downhill slope. She would bring the car to a stop in a moment, just in time. But then the Volvo got a bump from behind and slid down the slope. Snow, trees - Elin screamed. The Volvo spun, the wheels hitting some obstacle. Then the car overturned - the last thing Elin saw was her airbag deploying.

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Not Quite a Scandal Audacious Ladies of Audley Book 2 by Bliss Bennet Cover Reveal! @SilverDaggerBookTours #NotQuiteAScandal @blissbennetauthor @blissbennetwrites

 An inheritance lost. A betrothal threatened. A scandal brewing…  

Not Quite a Scandal

Audacious Ladies of Audley Book 2

by Bliss Bennet

Genre: Historical Regency Romance

An inheritance lost. A betrothal threatened. A scandal brewing…

Outspoken Quaker Bathsheba Honeychurch knows how difficult it is for an unmarried woman to successfully champion political change. Her solution? Wed best friend Ash Griffin as soon as he comes of age and begin remaking the world. But when Ash’s urbane, aloof cousin arrives with inconceivable news, Sheba’s future dreams are suddenly at risk…

The death of the Earl of Silliman reveals an appalling lie: it is not Noel Griffin, but his long-lost cousin Ash, who is the true heir to their grandfather’s title. Raised to place family above all, Noel accepts his grandmother’s bitter charge: find Ash, disentangle him from his religious community, and train him to take on the responsibilities and privileges of a title that Noel had been raised to believe was his. Noel certainly won’t allow a presumptuous, irritating Quakeress to thwart him in doing his duty—no matter how fascinating he finds her...

When scandal threatens both their reputations, can Sheba and Noel look beyond past dreams and imagine a new world—together?

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Bliss Bennet writes smart, edgy novels for readers who love history as much as they love romance. Despite being born and bred in New England, Bliss has always been fascinated by the history of that country across the pond, particularly the politically volatile period known as the English Regency. Though she's visited Britain several times, Bliss continues to make her home in the States, along with her spouse and an ever-multiplying collection of historical reference books.

Bliss's Regency-set historical romances have been praised as "savvy, sensual, and engrossing" by USA Today, "catnip for the Historical Romance reader" by Bookworlder, "romantic, funny, touching, and extremely well-researched" by All About Romance, and "everything you want in a great historical romance" by The Reading Wench. Bliss's latest book is Not Quite a Scandal, the second book in The Audacious Ladies of Audley series.

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Frenemies and Lovers by Michelle McCraw Review Tour! @indie_pen_pr #michellemccraw

When Carly Rose, a recent divorcee, needs a date to her ex’s wedding, she agrees to a deal with a devilishly handsome younger man—her frenemy’s son, Andrew, who happens to be her one-night stand. What could possibly go wrong? Readers who love vacation romances with long standing crushes will fall hard for Frenemies and Lovers by Michelle McCraw, a steamy, fake dating, age gap, one-night stand romantic comedy.

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#FakeDating 

Fake partnership, real attraction, and one hilariously haute disaster waiting to happen...buckle up for this age-gap rom-com.

Carly Rose, forty-five and fiercely independent, is rebuilding her life. Newly divorced, she's determined to make her stylist business blossom, even with the thorn in her side: Audrey, her frenemy with a tongue sharper than her designer stilettos. Enter Andrew, Audrey's son, a charming blend of geek energy and fierce loyalty. Who happens to be Carly’s completely off-limits secret one-night stand.

When a chance for Andrew's dream promotion hinges on a polished public image, he makes an unexpected proposition: a mutually beneficial charade. Carly, facing the gauntlet of her ex's destination wedding in Barcelona, agrees to become his pretend girlfriend. What starts as a carefully curated act evolves into stolen moments whispered over tapas, kisses in front of Gaudi fountains, and feelings as warm as a cashmere scarf on a crisp autumn day.

Caught between ambition and a forbidden yearning, Carly and Andrew navigate a minefield of sabotaged styling appointments; cringeworthy encounters with exes, bosses and disapproving mothers; plus the undeniable truth that attraction doesn't follow age brackets.

Swoon for this steamy standalone romantic comedy featuring fabulousness after forty, making friends with enemies, and finding love with a wildly inappropriate fake date.

(Shh, don't tell Audrey, but Andrew's dimples are definitely the hottest accessory this season.)

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Excerpt 

Copyright 2024 Michelle McCraw

A waft of fresh, clean air cut through the fog of perfume. An awareness made the back of my neck prickle.

My gaze locked on the back of a man standing nearby. Broad shoulders narrowed to a trim waist. His sharp black tuxedo pants hugged a taut behind. The suit itself was nothing special, a run-of-the-mill Brooks Brothers, but it fit him like a dream.

Oh, no.

I tipped my gaze up to his slightly too-long sandy-blond hair as he turned to face me.

I’d pulled fifteen hundred dollars out of my fuck-you-Brad account to attend this gala, and spiteful irony had thrown this man into my path again. I’d planned to dazzle the crowd with the old Carly magic and convince them I still belonged. More, that they needed me.

Hubris smacked me across the face like a Real Housewife.

Andrew Jones stood not six feet away, all muscular shoulders, chiseled jaw, and bottomless gray-blue eyes. His blond hair? I’d pulled it while he buried his face in my pussy. He had the power to upend my life by telling everyone I’d temporarily lost my sanity after a few glasses of chardonnay.

No styling client would take me seriously if they knew I’d slept with one of their sons.

I’d never meant to do it. Andrew had seemed sweet, someone you could trust to bring in your mail and water your plants while you were on vacation. Not that I’d ever asked him to do that. When I was married to Brad, our housekeeper took care of the plants and brought in the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times.

I’d never thought of him as anything more than the nicer of Audrey’s two sons until seven weeks ago when I’d spotted him across the bar in Monterey. He was no sweet kid that night. He’d gone and grown up in the ten or so years since I’d given him a purely platonic hug at his college graduation party.

When he’d peeled off his button-down shirt, I’d run a finger across his hard pecs. His voice went deep when he called me his fantasy come true. I’d been sore for two days, unused to a thirty-two-year-old’s impressively short refractory period.

I’d lost my mind.

It was the only way to explain how I’d hooked up with Andrew Jones, a man who was thirteen years younger than me and the son of my frenemy.

His handsome face split into a broad grin. Those dimples—my kryptonite—dented his cheeks. He’d laughed that night. I’d laughed, too, more than I had in the lonely year before.

In his hotel room, he’d made me feel powerful and adored, like I was the only woman he’d ever cared about. Something reckless inside me wanted to reach out to him, to touch him, to see if my skin still sparked when it met his. I felt my lips curving into a reflection of his smile.

But tonight, exposed here in the ballroom, those gentle hands were dangerous. Those soft lips threatened my plans. My heart hammered, demanding I flee. But my feet stayed firmly planted on the carpet. Maybe they were right. Running away would only draw attention.

Two of his long strides brought him in front of me. “Carly, you look amazing, as always.”

I focused on the sharp points of his bow tie. “Andrew, what are you doing here?”

“My mother asked me to come.” 

Ice coated my belly. Audrey Jones Hayes could not see me talking to her son. I glanced to the side, where a heavy curtain created an alcove by the window. But dragging Andrew behind a curtain would look more suspicious than talking to him in the middle of the ballroom.

I stared at the center of his tie, trying not to think about the hollow behind it where I’d dipped my tongue that night. “It’s great seeing you again, but—”

“That’s what you want? To be strangers? After that night? You left without saying goodbye, without saying anything at all. And I couldn’t call you because of the rules—”

“Shh!” I stepped closer and almost put a hand over his mouth. There were people everywhere, people who’d love to pocket the currency of a juicy bit of gossip like that. That’s why I’d made rule two: we’d never tell anyone, especially his mother, that we’d slept together. The one he was talking about was rule three: it could only be one night.

“Dance with me.” He held out a hand, palm up. “We should talk. No one will hear us on the dance floor.”

“No!” I made the mistake of looking into his eyes. They were the color of storm clouds in spring, dark and dangerous. If I danced with him, everyone would notice the indecent heat in his stare.

“Come on. I danced with Bianca Waddingworth. No one will think anything of it. It’ll look like we’re networking.”

My stomach clenched. I’d danced with dozens of Brad’s business colleagues over the years. But I hadn’t slept with any of them.

“One dance,” I said. “And then we go our separate ways.” I tore my gaze off his eyes. One dance was like rule three…with our clothes on.

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Michelle McCraw loves reading kissing books and working in tech. One day, she decided to combine her two interests, and now she writes steamy, nerdy contemporary romance that just might make you laugh. Her Synergy workplace romance series features characters who unashamedly love science, engineering, and technology. Her novels have been finalists in the RWA Vivian Contest, the Contemporary Romance Writers' Stiletto Contest, and the Windy City Romance Writers' Four Seasons Contest. 

A native Texan, Michelle has shoveled snow during nor’easters and knows the proper response when someone yells “O-H.” She now calls Georgia home, where she doesn’t miss snow AT ALL. She enjoys reading, traveling, drinking bourbon, and spoiling her extraordinarily ill-behaved but adorable dogs.

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 #40andfabulous #frenemiesandlovers #romanticcomedy #romcom #fakedating #agegap #vacationromance #onenightstand #steamyromance #TBR #mustread #nowavailable #newrelease

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Novus Monstrum The Midnight Zone Book 1 Edited by Douglas Gwilym & Ken MacGregor Book Tour! @SilverDaggerBookTours @douglas.gwilym #DouglasGwilym @macgregor2437 #KenMacGregorAuthor

These monsters are never-before-seen.

These monsters bite, and don’t let go.

These monsters aren’t your grandparents’ boogeymen, but they are not tame, and they want to climb right down into your nightmares and make you their own.

Novus Monstrum

The Midnight Zone Book 1

Edited by Douglas Gwilym & Ken MacGregor

Genre: Weird Creature Horror Anthology

 “Mysterious, merciless, mirthful. New favorites await you in this superb anthology.”

-Johnny Compton (author of Spite House, Esquire best horror book of 2023 and Stoker longlister)

This may look like just a book, but NOVUS MONSTRUM could infect your brain, shake your sense of what’s real, change you forever. This is twenty-two all-original new monster tales from the greats: Jonathan Maberry, Joe R. Lansdale, Gabino Iglesias, Gemma Files, Gaby Triana, Ramsey Campbell, Jeffrey Thomas, Gwendolyn Kiste, and Lucy A. Snyder, plus thirteen stories from new names (see below) destined to become some of your favorite authors.

These monsters are never-before-seen. These monsters bite, and don’t let go. These monsters aren’t your grandparents’ boogeymen, but they are not tame, and they want to climb right down into your nightmares and make you their own.

Welcome to the new anthology series The Midnight Zone.

Ken MacGregor, editor of the Shirley-Jackson-Award-nominated anthology Stitched Lips and the uproarious Burnt Fur, teamed up with Bram-Stoker-Award-nominated short story author Douglas Gwilym, editor of Appetites and Harmony & Dissonance, to take you to strange and dark new places. They’ll ask you to go deeper and weirder than The Twilight Zone, to a place (like the real-world midnight zone, a mile beneath the ocean’s surface) where no sunlight penetrates. Join us as we explore the inhospitable, surprising, uncomfortable, bizarre, and otherworldly.

Go on. Dive in. Lose yourself to The Midnight Zone.

Also Featuring:

Amanda M. Blake
Joshua Bartolome
Matt Brandenburg
R.A. Busby
Marco Cultrera
E.C. Dorgan
Douglas Ford
Sarah Hans
Jamie Lackey
Donna J.W. Munro
Frank Oreto
Tim Pieraccini
Pris Sears

Includes:

A Grace of Finer Form - Post-apocalyptic survival tale. The monsters are mutants: amalgams of living creatures, one so enormous it rivals the Titans of myth.

Brother Bone - A giant, living skeleton that feeds on the skeletons of its victims (by ripping away the flesh and meat) and using the bone fragments to expand itself, in return granting its family effective immortality.

First Day Jitters at Slappy’s - The monsters are living theme-park mascot characters. It’s far more disturbing than it sounds. This one is bonkers.

God Damn You to Hell, John Glenn - The monster is a massive, mutated, extremely hungry…sea monkey.

I Clean the Monster that Killed My Husband Every Morning - A vicious anti-pollution tale, the monsters are creatures that come up from below the earth and violently destroy any machine that creates pollutants, and whomever happens to be using them at the time.

Lizard War - Translucent giant lizards swarming across the alien landscape. The “astronauts” are all women, and the main character, Eliza, who was the cook before everything changed but is now in charge, loses her lover Joan in a climactic scene. She floats out into space, “her blood hanging in drops around her like falling rose petals, her hair fanned out like a peacock’s tail….”

Mother Ship - Machine/organic spaceship and her godspawn child.

The Path of Skulls - Sexless, cube-headed simulacra and deep arcane mystery.

Song of the Devil Trumpet - Quite lovely trees that trick you into eating their fruit so they can take over your body and repurpose you.

Wonce was a Woman - The monsters are human female/office machine hybrids. A woman goes looking for a mythical monster woman who is foretold as a sort of savior–and ultimately finds it is herself.

With an introduction by the amazing Jamie Flanagan, screenwriter for Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass, Creepshow, and Fall of the House of Usher, and original cover art by the astonishing Trevor Henderson, internet cult phenomenon, creator of Siren Head, and weaver of monsters!

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A Grace of Finer Form - Post-apocalyptic survival tale. The monsters are mutants: amalgams of living creatures, one so enormous it rivals the Titans of myth.

“She… remembered a time when the animals weren’t… distorted… with extra limbs, eyes in the wrong places, wings or tails that don’t belong. But, to me, the two-headed chipmunk-lizard hybrid that scrambled up my sleeve… was as natural as any other thing in the forest. These twisted animals were all I had ever known.”

“[T]he massive thing on the horizon was closer, resolving itself into a towering titan’s form, still hazy in the dawn light. It was a person, but with too many limbs, too many faces, pearlescent skin shimmering in the sunlight, horrible and wonderful to behold. It was so tall its faces were wreathed in clouds like a crown. Around the titan’s head, winged creatures wheeled and dipped like a god’s heralds. At its feet, a retinue followed, at this distance appearing like a seething mass.”

“Its faces turned and turned so that each pair of eyes could behold me there…. It stood over me, five-breasted and seven-armed, three phalluses dangling between its many legs. What I had taken for a pearlescent shimmer at a distance was actually the oscillation of the vegetation that sprouted from the titan’s skin, long-stemmed mushrooms and coiling vines and bell-shaped flowers the size of a dog waving and juddering with each of the giant’s steps.”

“The wings of an eagle combined with the body of a lynx, but also the eyes of an insect, the paws of a raccoon, the tail of a snake. Horrifying and miraculous all at once.”

“Amber and Kelly ran, screaming. I followed them, pursuing them doggedly into the trees. I was faster, now, the titan’s tears making me an ideal version of myself…. I enclosed them in my embrace, my arms lengthening and my flesh stretching to encompass them wholly in the love of the goddess…. The titan’s tears melted their skin and melded it with mine. Our bones snapped together into one skeleton, our hair braided itself into one wild tangle. Amber and Kelly and I became one creature with six legs and six arms and three faces, weeping with terrible joy.”

Douglas Gwilym has been known to compose a weird-fiction rock opera or two. His short story “Year Six” is on Ellen Datlow’s recommended reading list for Best Horror 14. He edited Triangulation for four years and now co-edits The Midnight Zone—forthcoming edition, Novus Monstrum, a collection of never-before-seen monsters, featuring original stories by greats, and new voices, in strange, dark fiction. He reads classics of the proto-Weird on YouTube and has been guest staff at Alpha Young Writers workshop. 

His short fiction appears in LampLight, Lucent Dreaming, Novel Noctule, Shelter of Daylight, Tales from the Moonlit Path, Penumbric Speculative Fiction Magazine, and Tales to Terrify.

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Ken MacGregor has written three story collections, an award winning young adult novella (Devil’s Bane), and has co-authored a novel (Headcase). He is a member of the Great Lakes Association of Horror Writers and an active member of the Horror Writers Association. He’s also written TV and radio commercials, sketch comedy, a music video, a one-act play, a scattering of poems, and a zombie movie. Ken has curated three original anthologies, one of which (Stitched Lips) was a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award. His third anthology, Novus Monstrum, was co-edited with Douglas Gwilym. It is the first installment in the Midnight Zone series for Dragon’s Roost Press.

Ken is also a part-time literary assassin: he will write you into an original short story and kill you for money. Ken drives the bookmobile and lives with his kids, a fierce-but-cuddly tiger cat, and the ashes of his wife.

He can be found at www.kenmacgregor.com.

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