Novelettes

The Devil & The Loch Ard Gorge

By Leanbh Pearson


Seána McKinnon, daughter of a well-to-do London businessman and his wife, finds love in the arms of a lowly artist. Her parent’s disapproval of their relationship lays heavy on her heart until, borne of frustration, she makes a bargain with the Devil that will be with her for all her years.

When she flees Gravesend on the ill-fated Loch Ard, dark shadows sail with her.

Will Seána ever be free of the horrors that defile her past and haunt her future?

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Praise for The Devil & the Loch Ard Gorge

🌊🖤💀🥀

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review

In the way of great gothic horror, this short novella oozes atmosphere and foreboding. Told through the eyes of Seána as she muses on her failings some years after the events that changed her life, we quickly learn things do not end well for her. But like all great stories, it’s about the journey rather than the destination; and once I was teased with the promise of a shipwreck and a pact with the Devil, discovering how these past events have played out was what drove me to turn the page.

In all, while you might finish this short, haunting read quite easily in one sitting, The Devil and the Loch Ard Gorge is one of those stories that will leave you musing on horrors of our own making and thinking (and maybe Googling) a long while after.

– Nikky Lee

⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️ Review

This novelette is a fine example of gothic horror. It involves a real ship, the Loch Ard, which sank off the coast of Victoria, Australia, and provides an alternate explanation for why the ship went down. Seána McKinnon is an engaging protagonist, even if the reader knows she is on the path to ruin from the prologue. Nonetheless, despite her dubious life choices, she remains determined to defeat the “Devil” who plagues her. Does she? You’ll have to read it yourself to find out.

-Karen Bayley

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review

Let me unburden myself, whisper my story to the wind, my final testament. The Devil can wait a little longer.

A short tale that defies you to put it down and can easily be read in one sitting. Pearson does a fantastic job with establishing the chilling setting from the first page (including the fantastic line above), and we follow the MC through a dreary and terrifying life as she resists the fate she herself set in motion.

What’s a little frustrating, perhaps due to its short length, is the MC’s actions, and while she can be admired for knowing what she wants and going after it, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the beginning of Frozen…you know, where Elsa chides her sister for recklessly throwing herself at a man she hasn’t known for long? I suppose it’s easy to judge as a reader sitting comfortably on the outside of a toxic relationship, but I found it difficult to empathise with the character when her decision-making was characterised by reckless, impulsive choices that brought instant gratification.

Yet I thoroughly enjoyed this little read, transported for a moment to its gloomy London streets and the creaking beams of the Loch Ard as it sailed to Melbourne, ignorant of its fate…

– K.B. Elijah

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review

A quick little seafaring horror to shiver your timbers…shipwreck with the devil!

– Clare E Rhoden

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review

This is gothic horror at its best. Pearson’s writing is richly evocative – romance and horror cheek to jowl. The story is an alternate telling of an historical shipwreck, which may explain its ability to wrap the reader in an engrossing and thoroughly believable sense of time and place. A short, dark, and totally satisfying read.

– Jeff Clulow

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review

This is gothic horror at its best. Pearson’s writing is richly evocative – romance and horror cheek to jowl. The story is an alternate telling of an historical shipwreck, which may explain its ability to wrap the reader in an engrossing and thoroughly believable sense of time and place. A short, dark, and totally satisfying read.

– Jeff Clulow

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review

 

This novelette is a fine example of gothic horror. It involves a real ship, the Loch Ard, which sank off the coast of Victoria, Australia, and provides an alternate explanation for why the ship went down. Seána McKinnon is an engaging protagonist, even if the reader knows she is on the path to ruin from the opening chapter. Nonetheless, despite her dubious life choices, she remains determined to defeat the “Devil” who plagues her. Does she? You’ll have to read it yourself to find out.


NOTE: Contains suicide and domestic violence triggers.

– Hyperion

Black Fox & Bitterbind


Bitterbind is a Fae outcast from her people after bonding with Black Fox – a creature considered a bad omen and harbinger of doom. They are exiled from Bitterbind’s Fae community and must learn to make their own way in the world where Fae are regarded with suspicion and dislike by the humans. Bitterbind and Black Fox share one soul and a mind and Black Fox’s sneaky intelligence and Bitterbind’s stealth are a perfect combination for royal thieves and spies.
This last job might earn them home of their own where they can stop running from persecution.

All they need to do first is succeed against the King’s treacherous enemies.

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Ragnarok: A Witch’s Curse


Before the battle of Ragnarok, the witch Gullveig entered Valhalla under guest-laws prohibiting the spilling of blood.

There she refused to teach Odin the talent of sedir – the weaving of fate and prophecy. Odin broke the sacred guest-laws and Gullveig was burnt to death three times, regenerating each time. A spear to her heart killed her.
Then, she burned and Loki and gods did nothing, she gave one final lesson in sedir. She cursed Odin and the gods, wove the fate of all at Ragnarok.

Now, Loki and Odin stand on opposing sides as the epic battle and Ragnarok is about the begin.

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