This month we turn our attention to books in a series, for when one story just isn’t enough.
The Witch’s Backbone Part 1 – The Curse
Pamela Morris
It’s 1980 and the dog days of summer have settled over the small farming community of Meyer’s Knob. Five friends have spent their time at the local creek swimming and gathering crayfish, riding bikes, and mostly just trying to avoid boredom. When tomboy Tara Fielding reports she’s spotted what she believes to be the witch of their local urban legend, and is now subject to that legend’s deadly curse, her friends rally ‘round and decide they’re going to prove there’s no such thing. After lying to their parents about where they’ll be, the friends head out to The Witch’s Backbone where, the legend claims, the witch waits for foolish travelers who dare pass that way at night. What the group witnesses during this late summer field trip and what they find out after they return to civilization, does little to put anyone’s mind at ease, least of all Tara’s. Not only do they now believe this long-dead 19th century witch is real, but that she has friends who are still practicing the Black Arts, friends that will see to it that the legend’s curse is carried out. Are there evil witches stalking the woods and sun-starved ravines between Meyer’s Knob and the neighboring town of Barnesville? Or have the kids just let boredom, the oppressive summer heat, and their own imaginations get the better of them? Buy here
The Witch’s Backbone Part 2 – The Murder
Pamela Morris
The free-wheeling days of the summer of 1980 are over. September has inched into October and chilly autumn winds blow through the village of Meyer’s Knob. Four friends sit atop the highest hill they know of. What should be a joyful occasion is one of mourning and sadness, instead. If only they’d known the curse was true, they’d have stayed away. They’d not be standing here sending their friend postmortem birthday wishes. The curse and the witch that goes with it, are both real and by the end of this particular day, they are going to come to realize their nightmare is nowhere near over. While the friends struggle to overcome their grief, they search for ways to unbind themselves from the horror that seems inescapable. They call on their local priest and they delve deeper into the world of witchcraft – desperate and terrified. Cryptic whispers and messages from beyond the grave seem to be pointing them in a certain direction, but they don’t understand what the dead are asking them to do. Only one man knows the answer, the key that will end it once and for all, but his fear keeps him from revealing the secret to anyone, let alone a group of budding teenagers. He tried once and failed. Will the horrible knowledge passed down to him through his ancestors really work? Or is there truly only one way to end the witch’s curse, to let it play out and watch one child after another die? Buy here.
Elements of Horror Book One: Earth
Elements of Horror Book One: Earth, is the first in a series of four horror anthologies based on the Elements. Within these pages you will find a variety of stories from some of the best independent horror writers on the scene today, including Theresa Jacobs, R.C. Rumple, David F. Gray, and many more. Fall into sinkholes, brave the tales of witchcraft, grotesque creatures, and demons, and feel the terror of explorations gone wrong. Buy here.
Elements of Horror Book Two: Air
Elements of Horror Book Two: Air, is the second in a series of four horror anthologies based on the Elements. Within these pages you will find a variety of stories from some of the best independent horror writers on the scene today. Breathe deeply, as you experience the horrors of twisted serial killers, apocalyptic outbreaks, evil spirits, and much more. Buy here.
Elements of Horror Book Three: Fire
Elements of Horror Book Three: Fire, is the third in a series of four horror anthologies based on the Elements. Within these pages you will find a variety of stories from some of the best independent horror writers on the scene today. Feel the heat in tales of fire spirits, evil possessions, psychotic murderers, and much more. Buy here.
Elements of Horror Book Four: Water
Elements of Horror Book Four: Water, is the fourth in a series of four horror anthologies based on the Elements. Within these pages you will find a variety of stories from some of the best independent horror writers on the scene today. Immerse yourself in tales of shipwrecks, evil spirits, terrifying aquatic creatures, and much more. Buy here.
The Gift
Michael Keyton
An occult ‘Downton Abbey’ involving Satanists, aristocrats, and Nazis.
Born in a Liverpool slum, Lizzie McBride is the daughter of an Irish seer who dies when Lizzie is barely twelve, leaving her in charge of two younger sisters and a grieving father. When her father commits suicide, Lizzie is caught between two worlds.
An aunt and uncle decide the three orphans would be better off with them in America, but Lizzie has other ideas and her life changes forever.
Pursued by her aunt, Lizzie cannonades into the young and charismatic magician, Aleister Crowley who, for his own reasons, takes her under his wing.
He introduces her to Lady Gwyneth Morgan, daughter of the richest family in Wales and sister to the flamboyant occultist, Evan Morgan.
At this point Lizzie doesn’t realise her gift— the power to unlock Hell.
When the occult world discovers this, governments and powerful individuals seek her out.
Only one man can protect her: the magician John Grey.
The Gift is the first book of a trilogy, beginning in 1912 and ending in 1941. The three books trace the magical rivalry between two sisters, Elizabeth and Elsie McBride, interweaving between historical events. Buy UK and US
Bloodline (The Gift Book Two)
Michael Keyton
How long can a soul escape Satan?
Bloodline is the second book in The Gift Trilogy, which traces the occult rivalry between two sisters, Elizabeth and Elsie McBride. In the first book, Elizabeth escapes the forces that seek to corrupt her. In Bloodline, Elsie faces the same struggle—one even more intense with both her soul and the world at stake.
The struggle is played out against a backdrop of approaching war as magic manipulates key figures and real life events in the unseen shadow of Hell. Buy UK and US
Bloodfall (The Gift Book Three)
Michael Keyton
Blood.
Demons feed on it.
Set against the backdrop of appeasement, dark forces seek a never ending war and a world drenched in blood.
Two sisters fight, one corrupted and hating what she’s become, the other struggling against the inevitable.
The story of Elsie and Elizabeth McBride continues. Only one will survive. Buy UK and US
Academy for Lost Souls: Complete Collection (Books 1-4)
S.K. Gregory
Sanctuary
If they catch me, I’m dead…
Jade seeks Sanctuary when her pack want her dead. The Academy for Lost Souls is the only place where she will be safe. Jade is offered a second chance and as a wolf shifter without a pack, she does not have a lot of options. But when bodies start piling up at the Academy, Jade wonders if a wolf has gotten inside.
Asylum
Two Nephilim brothers are seeking asylum inside the Academy for Lost Souls, hiding from the hunters who want them dead. Jade and all the other girls cannot help but be attracted to them, but they may be hiding a deadly secret.
Tempus Fugit
Jade and Harry find themselves thrown back in time to 1958. With racist locals and a gangster after them and their abilities on the fritz, can they make it home in one piece?
Power Outage
Jade deals with her growing feelings for Harry and meeting her father for the first time. A dark secret is revealed about the Academy For Lost Souls and it could spell the end of Jade’s time there. A battle is coming and not everyone will survive.
An New Adult Urban Fantasy collection. 16+ Buy UK and US.
Beware the Demons Betrayed (Seldom Forgive the Sorcerers Book One)
Alan L. Perkins
To survive and stay a step ahead of the competition during the Wild West years, entrepreneurs had to cheat. So it was without compunction that one group of prospectors raised spirits of the dead to pinpoint the most profitable ore-bearing veins up for grabs in Colorado’s gold rush. But during one incantation they overstepped an unwritten rule, conjuring a demon that refused to go away.
Over a century later, the demon incarnate has resurfaced, only to wander the mountains while trying to regain its memory — and a purpose. But time is running out. The awakening has created a rift in the spiritual world, and to prevent a cataclysm, powerful magi converge on Colorado. But the one thing greater than the sorcerers’ fear of one of Hell’s mightiest roaming free is their hatred for one another, though little do they realize that the fiercest obstacle in their way is a sociopath high school teacher and Lorissa, a tough-minded woman who will do whatever necessary to protect her home and her family. Buy UK and US
While the Witch Whispered A Prayer (Seldom Forgive the Sorcerers Book Two)
Alan L. Perkins
In 1876, as Colorado awaits statehood, the greatest silver discovery in the western territories is up for grabs. A clique of Cornish wizards wants to prevent William Warden, seasoned investor and eminent Saxon sorcerer, from acquiring the ultra-lucrative vein. But what the adversaries do not realize is that a nomadic band of Native Americans, under an intrepid leader, She Speaks with the Gods, has already staked a claim.
A thousand miles away, Warden’s wife, Esclarmonde, foresees the impending doom as the Cornish wizards and Indians join forces to destroy her husband. She and her sidekick, the deformed midget Scab, make haste to Colorado, but she suddenly falls gravely ill. In her feverish visions, the Witch sees She Speaks with the Gods and understands she will encounter a force more powerful that any she has known.
While the Witch Whispers a Prayer is a horrifying journey into America’s past, replete with illustrious protagonists, lurid monsters, wicked necromancers, and a mind-blowing climax. Buy UK and US
Sleep, Think, Die (Mindless Trilogy Book One)
S.P. Oldham
Picture this: you’re sitting in a bar minding your own business, having a quiet drink or two, when trouble steps in off the street. A shambling wreck stumbles over the threshold, bloodied clothes torn, muttering incoherently. Just another idiot who doesn’t know when enough is too much. You raise your glass, take another slug. It’s okay, security can handle it. Buy UK and US
The Undertaking (Mindless Trilogy Book Two)
S.P. Oldham
For Lavender Gin and Carson, life has changed beyond all recognition. Determined to keep a promise made to an old friend, they have formed a new group of allies and are reduced to hunting down zombies and Thinkers alike in rat-infested sewers, armed only with whatever makeshift weapons they can lay their hands on. Things are already tough enough. When Carson goes missing, Lavender finds she not only faces the possibility of carrying on without him, but that she is also caught up in a head-to-head challenge for leadership. As if all of this was not enough, a twisted brand of evil watches them from the shadows, leaving a trail of calling-card corpses in its wake.
Slowly, Lavender realises she is also faced with another enemy; one she can neither see nor fight, but which threatens to take away completely all that she now holds dear. Will she and Carson ever be reunited and if they are, is it anyway too late to matter? Buy UK and US.
Brutal Truths (Mindless Trilogy Book Three)
S.P. Oldham
The zombies are still out there, a constant threat. Thinkers pose an even greater danger. Survival is the order of the day; in some ways, nothing much has changed for Lavender and Carson. Yet everything is changing, too. Lavender knows it in her heart, though she works hard to stop her mind from accepting it.
She has little choice but to face up to reality when they unwittingly fall in with a small group of survivors; a motley collection of teenagers and their erstwhile youth leader, Joel. Taking an instant dislike to the man, it is not long before Lavender and Carson move on, though this time, they are taking something of Joel’s with them.
Something Joel wants back.
Something Lavender is determined not to give him. Buy UK and US
The Broken Doll (Book One)
P.J. Blakey-Novis
In a small town in southern England, a chance encounter triggers a catastrophic series of events from which no one will emerge unchanged. When Sebastian Briggs meets Ella, she needs his help. The type of help required, however, is far from what he had expected; dragging him down a path of lust and violence. As a married father of three, Sebastian must fight between his loyalty to his family and the desire he feels for another woman, a woman full of secrets and with sinister intentions. What begins as a simple conversation between two strangers soon escalates beyond any expectations, tearing apart Sebastian’s home life and leaving death in its wake. The debut novel from P.J. Blakey-Novis is a fast-paced tale, full of twists, crimes and steamy passion. Buy here.
The Broken Doll: Shattered Pieces (Book Two)
P.J. Blakey-Novis
After trying to outrun his problems, Sebastian Briggs is pulled back to his home town to confront his past, with devastating consequences. Having to deal with his estranged wife, and the unstable woman who tore his life apart, Seb discovers that he is now a wanted man; the net quickly closing in with the threat of violence around every corner. Shattered Pieces is the nail-biting follow-up to The Broken Doll, bringing the twisting tale to a shocking climax. Buy here.
Red Cape Publishing 