Tag: urban fantasy

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Vampire Folkore

Vampires are one of the most common and popular themes in horror fiction. An enduring trope that continues to fascinate readers throughout the generation. But how do we imagine vampires? How do our ideals compare to the original vampires of folklore? The Succubi of Ancient Greece and Rome, and the haunting vampires of Slavic cultures throughout Eastern Europe.

Before the publication of Bram Stocker’s Dracula, the majority of vampires in prose or poetry were based on vampiric folklore, particularly from Slavic cultures, where vampires were almost always female. The recent popularisation of vampires in literary fiction and film has seen a reversal of the vampire identity where the vampire is now more often male and female vampires are a rarity.

Two of my recent microfictions will feature in Blood Lust by Black Ink Fiction. “The Hungering” focuses on a young female vampire, portraying her as the traditional vampire, a seductively dangerous predator but one who grapples to control her nature and blood lust. “The Burial” is a different look of vampiric folklore, instead focusing on an archaeological excavation and the discovery of a suspected vampire burial, the beliefs of the historical culture and the superstition of the modern cultures, a linking across time based on the strong belief and fear of vampires.

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Showcasing my Dark Fiction: Coming Soon

As the celebration of Women in Horror Month comes to an end, I’ve got a vampire themed dark micro-fiction coming soon in Blood Lust (Legends of the Night, #2) by Black Ink Fiction.

For a final hurrah, here’s a sneak peek at one of my most recent dark fiction works, the folklore, history and vampires in “The Hungering” . Enjoy!

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Forthcoming: Heroes & Villains Anthology

Avenge (Five Hundred Fiction, #2)

Pleased to announce my flash fiction story “The Hero of Silversmiths” will feature in Avenge (Five Hundred Fiction, #2) to be published in 2021 by Black Hare Press! All flash fiction in this anthology is inspired by the theme of heroes, anti-heroes or villains.

Release dates and how to purchase a copy of the Avenge (Five Hundred Fiction, #2) will be updated when available. Keep an eye on my publications page here.

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Women in Horror Month

February is Women in Horror Month! What began, and essentially still is, a movement to celebrate and highlight female creators in the horror genre. There has been a tradition of women writing horror long before Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein but female horror writers continue to remain in the shadows compared to their male counterparts.

There are many publishing events happening around the world this month. I am fortunate enough to to join an event hosted by Eerie River Publishing. There is a great schedule of Online events, blog interviews, story readings and more!

For me personally, there’ll be an upcoming author interview soon with Eerie River Publishing and I’m participating in a Live Author Chat and Q&A session on February 20th (21:00 GMT).

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Ivory’s Story

From the Blurb:

“Long ago, a good man transgressed and was brutally punished, his physical form killed and his soul split asunder. Now, one half of his ancient soul seeks to reunite with its lost twin, a search that leaves murder in its wake…
In the streets of modern day Sydney a killer stalks the night, slaughtering innocents, leaving bodies mutilated. The victims seem unconnected, yet Investigating Officer Ivory Tembo is convinced the killings are anything but random. The case soon leads Ivory into places she never imagined. In order to stop the killings and save the life of the man she loves, she must reach deep into her past, uncover secrets of her heritage, break a demon’s curse, and somehow unify two worlds.”

My Review:

I recently read Ivory’s Story by African-Australian author Eugen Bacon after readings several reviews and the description roused my interest in this unique speculative fiction novella set in Australia.

The protagonist of Ivory’s Story is female detective Ivory Tembo who has the unhappy task leading the failing investigation into a series of grisly murders of high-profile men in sexually explicit ways in Sydney, Australia. Raised as an orphan and without knolwedge of her family, Ivory has only the unusual opal amulet from her mother to link her to true heritage. Determined to solve the killings and discover her identity, Ivory is directed to a seer at Orange Crater in the northern-central Australia.

The long travel to Orange Crater, Ivory finds her mother also visited but finds no trace of any other family ties only a strong affiliation with a cranky medicine woman. Under the guidance of this medicine woman, Ivory learns how to defeat and stop the murders and the reasons behind the gruesome killings. The medicine woman explains a past tragedy involved an exiled son of a medicine man. This son harboured a rare gift of twin-souls but when accused of stealing a Chieftain’s daughter, his execution does not kill him but does separate his souls, causing one to remain forever within his body, the other to always seek to return. For Ivory, she must re-unite the twin souls after centuries and dimensional planes apart if she is to save the man she loves and stop the killings.

Final Thoughts:

A combination of beautifully written prose and vivid descriptions of the Australian and inter-dimensional landscapes, Ivory’s Story also features a cast of well-defined characters and refreshingly strong female characters. Although, there are sections of the novella that seem to drift from the central focus of the story and can detract from its purpose, leaving me wanting more about Ivory’s detective work and development as a seer, the strong weird fiction themes do not make this feel like a true flaw, more like a necessary element of the weird fiction style.

My Conclusion?

Ivory’s Story is recommended for its beautiful prose and strong female characters. Readers will be certain to enjoy a cultural odyssey for those familiar and new to both the weird and speculative fiction genres.

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Phantom 3 Anthology Release

December 2020 is proving a busy month. Excited to announce, the release of Paranormal anthology Phantom 3 (Lockdown Fiction Series, #14) published by Black Hare Press on 23rd December, 2020.

This paranormal anthology features my short story “Hunting Shadows”, in an eternal battle between good and evil, a poltergeist makes an unlikely union with the demon-hunting hound seeking to banish a demon from Melbourne. You can read about my research for this story here.

Interested in Phantom 3 (Lockdown Fiction Series, #14)? Free ebooks are available to download (except Amazon Kindle) and all paperback copies. More details on where to get your copy here

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Storm of Locusts

From the Blurb:

“It’s been four weeks since the bloody showdown at Black Mesa, and Maggie Hoskie, Diné monster hunter, is trying to make the best of things. Only her latest bounty hunt has gone sideways, she’s lost her only friend, Kai Arviso, and she’s somehow found herself responsible for a girl with a strange clan power.

Then the Goodacre twins show up at Maggie’s door with the news that Kai and the youngest Goodacre, Caleb, have fallen in with a mysterious cult, led by a figure out of Navajo legend called the White Locust. The Goodacres are convinced that Kai’s a true believer, but Maggie suspects there’s more to Kai’s new faith than meets the eye. She vows to track down the White Locust, then rescue Kai and make things right between them.

Her search leads her beyond the Walls of Dinétah and straight into the horrors of the Big Water world outside. With the aid of a motley collection of allies, Maggie must battle body harvesters, newborn casino gods and, ultimately, the White Locust himself. But the cult leader is nothing like she suspected, and Kai might not need rescuing after all. When the full scope of the White Locust’s plans are revealed, Maggie’s burgeoning trust in her friends, and herself, will be pushed to the breaking point, and not everyone will survive.”

Review:

Storm of Locusts by US author Rebecca Roanhorse is the second volume in the dystopian fantasy series The Sixth World inspired by Navajo legend and mythology.

Storm of Locusts follows from the dramatic ending of Trail of Lightning with a six month hiatus between the revelations shared by Maggie and Kai. Since then, Kai has not contacted Maggie and she has become the unlikely guardian for a young girl, recently orphaned but long-since in possession of her clan powers and the dark, violent history that often entails.

Maggie and her charge are enlisted to search for the missing youngest son of Maggie’s neighbours, the Goodacres. But Caleb Goodacre is feared abducted as part of a charismatic and dangerous doomsday cult, its leader proclaiming kinship with an ancient Navajo legend, the White Locust. Maggie quickly discovers that Caleb left willingly with Kai and she must trust her instinct that Kai is no monster. With the aid of her charge and the unusual clan powers for tracking, Maggie follows Kai and the White Locust beyond the safety of the Walls of Dinétah where the post-apocalyptic world of body harvesting challenge the horror Maggie has witnessed hunting Navajo monsters in Dinétah. But evidence continues to mount that Kai has willingly been helping the White Locust using his own clan powers of persuasion to grow the following and enable the White Locust in destroy the Sixth World. Maggie has only the untruthworhty advice of Mican to aid her and she must decide whether Kai is good or whether his clan powers have deceived her who is a friend or a monster.

Final Thoughts:

Storm of Locusts proved to be the sequel to Trail of Lightning that took the brutal Sixth World that Rebecca Roanhorse had masterfully created into another level. I found the story compelling in its honesty and the gritty sense of realism was refreshing for dystopian fantasy which often feels unauthentic in its envisioned future. Storm of Locusts perfectly captures a world of dwindling hope, selfishness and greed prevail as human society struggles to survive. It is a fertile place, where a cult promising new order and inclusion, could flourish.

My Conclusion:

A must-read if you enjoyed Trail of Lightning, fans of dystopian fantasy or those craving an original fantasy inspired by non-Celtic folklore. Highly recommended!

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Corpselight

From the Blurb:

Life in Brisbane is never simple for those who walk between the worlds.

Verity’s all about protecting her city, but right now that’s mostly running surveillance and handling the less exciting cases for the Weyrd Council – after all, it’s hard to chase the bad guys through the streets of Brisbane when you’re really, really pregnant.

An insurance investigation sounds pretty harmless, even if it is for ‘Unusual Happenstance’. That’s not usually a clause Normals use – it covers all-purpose hauntings, angry genii loci, ectoplasmic home invasion, demonic possession, that sort of thing – but Susan Beckett’s claimed three times in three months. Her house keeps getting inundated with mud, but she’s still insisting she doesn’t need or want help . . . until the dry-land drownings begin.

V’s first lead in takes her to Chinatown, where she is confronted by kitsune assassins. But when she suddenly goes into labour, it’s clear the fox spirits are not going to be helpful.

Review:

Corpselight is the second volume in the Verity Fassbinder series by Australian author Angela Slatter. The urban fantasy sequel follows almost directly from the events in Vigil with just over six months seeing protagonist Verity Fassbinder in the later stages of her pregnancy at the beginning of Corpselight.

About to begin maternity leave and already on light duties, Verity finds herself on a case in her role as liaison between the Weyrd and Normal communities of Brisneyland (alternate world of Brisbane). A series of inexplicable and frightening dry-land drownings seem to be striking at random, Normal and Weyrd victims alike and somehow a Normal lawyer’s insurance for an ‘Unusual Happenstance’ clause usually only employed by the Weyrd has Verity’s attention. But the lawyer isn’t interested in solving her repeat magical invasions and random deaths from dry-land drownings keep mounting. Amid the turmoil are a trio of deadly fox assassins sent after Verity and the arrival of someone from her past long thought lost to her.

Verity struggles to discover who is employing magic to murder random strangers with a complex drowning spell and why. In a race to save the lives of strangers while protect her new baby daughter, Verity is forced to make greater sacrifices than she thought possible. Revelations about the series of murders drives Verity to face the complex ties between past and present and the lengths she would go to in order to protect those she loves.

Final Thoughts:

I really enjoyed the first instalment in the Verity Fassbinder series, Vigil was unique and offered such a fresh perspective on urban fantasy genre. I was pleasantly surprised to find Corpselight was just as strong. There was more to be discovered about the alternate Weyrd world of Brisneyland and the detailed foundations of folklore and history that the characters, setting and plot were based allowed expansion. Corpselight still offered the uniqueness of Vigil with the feeling I now had the most basic of understandings in how to navigate this new world.

Conclusion?

Corpselight is a must-read urban fantasy, great world-building, dark humour and strong folklore foundations. Highly recommended for fans of urban fantasy!

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Dystopian Apocalyptic Fiction

Recently, I’ve finished writing a short story that was originally a novelette written for the Higher School Certificate Extension II English course when I was seventeen. Topical for 2020, the story is set in the near future, after the collapse of global nations, a Third World War and climate disasters. Speculative fiction at its core, a volatile figure, the veteran warrior and vampire suffering from post-traumatic stress holds the answers to reuniting two siblings who never thought to see each other again. I was interested in exploring parallels throughout history, the repetition of similar events, where in the story, the decimation of organised nations by governmental decay has a parallel in the fall of Ancient Rome and the beginning of the dark ages. Similarly, the effects of conscription on battlefield tactics and society has a parallel in the modern history throughout World War I and the Vietnam Wars. The addition of climate induced crisis and detrimental environmental impact is yet unprecedented on a global scale but seems possible for our future.

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Dark Currents

Dark Currents is the first instalment in a new urban fantasy series Agent of Hel by American author Jacqueline Carey.
Set in the picturesque Midwestern tourist town of Pemkowet, protagonist Daisy Johanssen is a hell-spawn, daughter of a demon and mortal mother and the chosen representative and enforcer for the Norse goddess Hel, ruler of the Underworld and the Fae community of Pemkowet. Daisy acts as an intermediary between the mortal community in her role as official Fae liaison for Pemkowet Police Department and the Fae creatures that call Pemkowet home, vampires, fairies, pixies, nymphs, ghouls, werewolves, brownies and many other eldritch beings drawn to the magical powers centered around Yggdrasil and the Underworld ruled by Hel. On initial appearance, Pemkowet is an ordinary tourist town but the sudden death of a wealthy college student and involvement of the Fae community requires Daisy to act as liaison and solve the issues quickly without disrupting the balance between mortal and Fae communities.
But Daisy has her own issues, not controlling her demonic heritage could have consequences for her ability to succeed as Hel’s liaison, where Daisy’s temptation to unleash her anger and high emotions often leads to unintended violent effects on the world around her. Daisy has a race against time to discover who murdered the human college student and the purportaitors of crimes against the Fae before the delicate balance of Pemkowet dissolves into chaos.
Dark Currents was an enjoyable urban fantasy with a well-researched folkloric and mythology background which provided great foundations for the unusual setting of the novel. It was a novel of opposites that matched the town it is set in: a story that was light and dark, amusing but also with serious undertones. I look forward to reading the other novels in the Agent of Hel Trilogy!