This Is Horror

News Round-up Week Ending 27 September 2024

  • 5 hours ago
  • 6 mins to read

Here’s a small selection of the horror and genre news that caught our eye during the last week …

Released today from author Paula Cappa and Crystal Lake Publishing, Draakensky

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. Available today in eBook and paperback, you can grab your copy here.

Arriving 1 October from writer Brian Asman and Blackstone Publishing, Good Dogs

No one ever said being a werewolf was easy. Take Delia, for instance. She’s spent much of her life fighting against her own nature, plagued by nightmares of childhood trauma, and trying to find her place in the world. Many werewolves are just like her: ostracized by their families, forced to live alone and in secret as they await those nights when the Change overtakes them.

Becoming the den mother to an odd bunch of lycanthropes in Southern California isn’t exactly the answer Delia was looking for. But under the strict rules of the house, they are able to manage the Change safely, and hunt without endangering their San Diego suburb. And they aren’t lone wolves anymore, they’re a pack–a family.

But when one member’s carelessness leads to the discovery of a severed leg in their backyard, Delia and the rest of her family are forced to confront the cold, hard fact they’ve known all along–they don’t belong here. Their only option is to cover up the kill and head into the wilderness, far from people. There, hopefully, they can live out their lives without posing a threat to anyone else.

At home, they might’ve been apex predators. But in the wilds around Talbot–a town abandoned for a century–Delia and her pack aren’t the only ones with a savage bite … Available for pre-order now in eBook, paperback and audiobook formats, you can guarantee your copy here.

Out now from writer Angela Sylvaine and Dark Matter Ink, Chopping Spree

Eden Hills, Minnesota, is famous for two things: its lucrative, ’80s-inspired fashion mall, and a missing-persons epidemic that has plagued the town’s youth and confounded officials for years. High school junior Penny has grown skeptical of the town’s official stance on the disappearances but has so far kept that to herself. See, she just started her first-ever job at one of the mall’s trendiest stores and doesn’t want to sound like a conspiracy nut to her cool friends and the popular guy who might just help her get over the dream girl who broke her heart. But when a late-night party in the mall turns deadly, Penny won’t have the luxury of playing it cool. A killer is on the loose, and the dark history of Eden Hills is about to be revealed. Available now in eBook and paperback, you can pick up yours here.

Released tomorrow from author Stephen Barnard, They Didn’t Know

Gary and Trisha Naylor allow their son, Dom, to have a 19th birthday party at the house. It passes without too much incident and all that’s left is to ensure that everyone leaves safely and happily. Except, that isn’t so easy when the final guest doesn’t want to go. He has an agenda, and he’ll do whatever it takes to achieve his aims, regardless of who gets in his way.
Who will survive the night? Available for pre-order now in eBook, you can pick up your copy here.

KEV HARRISON