Before the thorns taught me their sharp lessons and bled weakness from me I had but one brother, and I loved him well. But those days are gone and what is left of them lies in my mother’s tomb. Now I have many brothers, quick with knife and sword, and as evil as you please. We ride this broken empire and loot its corpse. They say these are violent times, the end of days when the dead roam and monsters haunt the night. All that’s true enough, but there’s something worse out there, in the dark. Much worse.
From being a privileged royal child, raised by a loving mother, Jorg Ancrath has become the Prince of Thorns, a charming, immoral boy leading a grim band of outlaws in a series of raids and atrocities. The world is in chaos: violence is rife, nightmares everywhere. Jorg has the ability to master the living and the dead, but there is still one thing that puts a chill in him. Returning to his father’s castle Jorg must confront horrors from his childhood and carve himself a future with all hands turned against him.
The protagonist Jorg, is the heir and prince to throne before witnessing the assassination of his mother and younger brother. While still a young adolescent, Jorg seeks revenge at any cost. Leading a band of highway men and mercenaries, Jorg’s reception with his father, the King is steely. Expected the fail, Jorg is set an impossible task.
Review
The Prince of Thorns has its own dark fascination made by Lawrence’s storytelling and prose. It is testament to Lawrence’s skill how the main characters are manoeuvred with the ease of a practiced chess player.
Lawrence conjures a dark fantasy world that is magical and brutal. Lawrence creates an enthralling plot and a host of highly unique characters make this grimdark novel stand the test of time. Lawrence gives the reader his unflinching gaze on morality and the spectrum of good and evil.
Conclusion
A highly recommended grimdark fantasy perfect for fans of Peter McLean, dark fantasy, epic fantasy, magical aspects and unique, strong characters with well-crafted storytelling.
** This is my personal opinion and does not reflect any judging decisions **
I’m very excited to help the Australian Fairy Tale Society celebrate 10 year anniversary with a free zoom storytelling concert on theme of “Lught and Love”.
Australian Fairy Tale Society celebrating 10years! Come join me and other storytellers live readings of work inspired by Love & Light:
“Please join us to hear stories of welcome firelight and new dawns, tales of what happens when there’s no light in the deep dark wood, where loves are found, lost, and muddled.”
I’m telling my reimagining of legend of Lady of Shallot – my dark tale aptly named “The Curse of Shalott”
Ellie Briar is the first non-witch to be born into her family for generations. The Briar family of witches run the town of Silverton, caring for its inhabitants with their skills and magic. In the usual scheme of things, they would be burnt for their sorcery, but the church has given them dispensation in return for their protection of the borders of the Darklands, where the much-feared Leech Lords hold sway.
Ellie is being trained as a steward, administering for the town, and warding off the insistent interest of the church. When her grandmother dies suddenly, Ellie’s cousin Audra rises to the position of Briar Witch, propelling Ellie into her new role. As she navigates fresh challenges, an unexpected new ability to see and speak to the dead leads her to uncover sinister family secrets, stories of burnings, lost grimoires and evil spells. Reeling from one revelation to the next, she seeks answers from the long dead and is forced to decide who to trust, as a devastating plot threatens to destroy everything the Briar witches have sacrificed so much to build.
Set in the same fantasy world as the Sourdough series of Slatter’s other works and her novels All The Murmuring Bones, The Path of a Thorns, The Briar Book of the Dead focuses on the town of Silverton and the surrounding regions which are protected and ruled by the Briar lineage of witches. The protagonist is Ellie Briar, the first witch with seemingly no magical powers born to her family but raised with the expectation to take on the stewardship role and support her cousin Audra when she becomes the next Briar Witch. Both motherless after a plague struck the town and took most of the inhabitants with it, Ellie and Audra have been raised by their grandmother and great-aunt, both trained to ascend to Stewardship and Briar Witch when their elders eventually pass.
Events happen much faster than Ellie or Audra had expected and soon Ellie and Audra take their positions in guiding the town of Silverton and in negotiations with the Church. This last point is thrown into chaos when a god-hound or priest arrives in Silverton for the first time in decades. The new priest is accepting of the Briar Witches and their role in the community of Silverton and seems unlikely to cause the devastation they had anticipated. At her grandmother’s funeral, Ellie hits her head and the red price that all Briar Witches pay for the use of magic – the give and take of power – is finally paid. Ellie is suddenly aware of the ghosts that Silverton apparently doesn’t have. She soon discovers webs of lies and half-truths told to protect the Briar Witches and the past misdeeds of their ancestors. Ellie Brair becomes the speaker for the Dead and the only witch able to see the ghosts and let them address whatever issues hold them to the world of the living still. Keeping this magical power that has no record in their family a secret, Ellie soon starts uncovering darker aspects of Silverton and the power of the red price that must be paid for all magic works. Awful deceptions and cruelties are revealed and Ellie struggles to keep the balance within the Briar Witches and Silverton and its inhabitants.
Review
Slatter writes with an engaging style that immediately draws the reader into this gothic fantasy world where deceptions and lies become like spiderwebs thick in an abandoned room. The unraveling of the history and truth of the Briar Witches lineage is masterfully done with skill and precise timing that keeps the story fresh and intriguing. The characters are each unique with their own voices clearly presented and the overall storytelling is spellbinding.
Conclusion
Highly recommended read for fans of Slatter’s Sourdough works, novels and for readers who enjoy reimagined gothic fairy tales, history and folklore reworked and a highly engaging dark fantasy novel. A must read!
** This is my personal opinion and does not reflect any judging decisions **
Many Indigenous people believe that one should never whistle at night. This belief takes many forms: for instance, Native Hawaiians believe it summons the Hukai’po, the spirits of ancient warriors, and Native Mexicans say it calls Lechuza, a witch that can transform into an owl. But what all these legends hold in common is the certainty that whistling at night can cause evil spirits to appear—and even follow you home.
These wholly original and shiver-inducing tales introduce readers to ghosts, curses, hauntings, monstrous creatures, complex family legacies, desperate deeds, and chilling acts of revenge. Introduced and contextualized by bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones, these stories are a celebration of Indigenous peoples’ survival and imagination, and a glorious reveling in all the things an ill-advised whistle might summon.
These are dark tales but beautifully told. There was a great selection and variety of stories ranging from dark fiction, paranormal and supernatural stories and psychological horror and thriller. It’s always hard choosing favourites but a few really resonated with me. “Kushtuka” by Mathilda Zeller, “White Hills” by Rebecca Roanhorse, “Navajos Don’t Wear Elk Teeth” by Conley Lyons, “Quantum” by Nick Medina, “Hunger” by Phoenix Boudreau, “Before I Go” by Norris Black, “Night in the Chrysalis” by Tiffany Morris, “Behind Colin’s Eyes” by Shane Hawk, “Human Eaters” by Royce K. Young Wolf, “Uncle Robert Rides the Lightning” by Kate Hart, “Eulogy for a Brother, Resurrected” by Carson Faust, “Night Moves” by Andrea L. Rogers and lastly “The Scientist’s Horror Story” by Darcie Little Badger.
Review
Hawk and van Alst Jr. have c produced an anthology with stories collected from some well-known indigenous authors and many new and upcoming voices. This is a masterpiece of dark fiction that resonates strongly with First Nations struggles, history, culture and doesn’t flinch away from the darkness. These are powerful tales and show some exciting new authors and talents to follow in the future. A masterpiece of an anthology!
Conclusion
A fantastic anthology for fans of North American indigenous dark fiction and First Nations literature and works that bring cultural and social awareness. These dark fiction tales span horror, speculative fiction, supernatural and psychological horror but are deeply rooted in the cultural traditions and fight for equality by indigenous peoples. This is highly recommended and a must-read!
** This is my personal opinion and does not reflect any judging decisions **
The Upiór is present in Slavic and Turkic folklore and resembles the vampire. The Upiór is depicted as a ravenous and insatiable creature with vampiric features. Belief in the Upiór may have spread across the Eurasian steppes through migrations with its origins in the regions surrounding the Volga River and the Pontic steppes.
An Upiór is created after the death of those who practised sorcery who undergo transformations in their graves and can assume animal forms. The Upiór is described as having an enlarged cranium and an elongated tail and also capable of flight.
Upiór can assume any form including human forms. Individuals under the sway of an Ubır are tormented by a ceaseless hunger and progressively become frail. An Upiór deprived of sustenance becomes aggressive and eventually driven to consume carrion and human blood.
Upiór are blamed for causing epidemic outbreaks, distress and madness in humans and animals.
Vampire Burials
In suspected Upiór cases, the grave is exhumed and nails driven into the coffin. This practice, reminiscent of contemporary vampire narratives, is widely regarded as effective.
In 2012, the discovery in Bulgaria of an 800-year-old skeleton with an iron rod stabbed through its chest, led to speculation of a vampire burial.
Upiór and Vampires
Immortality and Feeding off Life Essence:
The Upiór and the vampire both possess an insatiable hunger – whether blood, life essence, or energy. The Upiór is voracious and devours not only the flesh but also the life force of its victims leaving them weakened and dying. The vampire is also known for its hunger for human blood in order to prolong its existence.
Shape-shifting and Manipulation:
The Upiór is also a shape-shifter, which allows it to assume various forms including animals. Vampires are sometimes suggested to take the form of bats or wolves to enable them to blend into the night. This shared attribute with the Ubir suggests a link between folklore.
Dread and Vulnerability:
Both the Upiór and the vampire evoke a sense of dread and vulnerability in their victims. The ability of both Upiór and vampires to deceive the senses, blend with humanity and consume life energy strikes a common fear of violation that transcends cultural boundaries. The shared fear of deceitful danger hidden beneath a facade.
I’m really excited to announce I’ve been nominated for the Ditmar Awards for Best New Talent and Best Novella for Bluebells – an LGBTQI, disability dystopian alternate history horror.
I’m a recipient of the 2023 Horror Writers Association Diversity Grants to allow me to continue research for my HWA mentorship project with Lee Murray. The final piece will be an alternate history, gothic horror, GBTQI, disability with Fae versus gangsters in 1920s Sydney.
It’s a great time to be writing with my heart, soul and passion. Very excited to see where diversity in horror and dark fantasy can take us!
Welcome to Anoka, Minnesota, a small city just outside of the Twin Cities dubbed “The Halloween Capital of the World” since 1937. Here before you lie several tales involving bone collectors, pagan witches, werewolves, skeletal bison, and cloned children. It is up to you to decipher between fact and fiction as the author has woven historical facts into his narratives. With his debut horror collection, Cheyenne and Arapaho author Shane Hawk explores themes of family, grief, loneliness, and identity through the lens of indigenous life.
While it is hard to choose favourites from this collection which spans so many real-world themes, societal marginalisation, stigma and indigenous horror themes, there were several stories that really resonated with me.
The opening story ‘Soilborne’ was dark tale that really plunged its claws into me. ‘Wounded’ was a journey into the darkness of a mind and family. ‘Transfigured’ was a striking Halloween story that proved the perfect ending to this collection of the dark, haunting and macabre.
Review
Anoka was a fantastic collection of indigenous horror where Hawk delivered a host of genuine characters, masterful storytelling and a series of dark, weird and haunting horror in a well-written psychological horror collection.
Conclusion
Highly recommended read for fans of horror, dark fiction and psychological horror. A must read!
** This is my personal opinion and does not reflect any judging decisions **
Merlin is the archetypal wizard from Arthurian lore. Merlin is a Latinized version of the Welsh Myrddin. His exact origins are lost in myth and there is no concrete evidence, but there was possibly several individuals who were guardians to kings, prophets and bards existed toward in the late fifth century. What we have today has become the basis for the Arthurian lore about Merlin.
Merlin’s first appearances in the Latin works of Geoffrey of Monmouth, a 12th-century Welsh cleric. The Prophecies of Merlin written in the early 1130s and are verses apparently made by the fifth century prophet, Merlin. Monmouth did invent many of the prophecies himself which stretched beyond the 12th century. In the History of the Kings of Britain, Monmouth formed the foundations for the Arthurian legends where Merlin becomes a key character. Monmouth confuses the chronology placing Merlín in both the fifth and sixth centuries. He is allegedly a magical child born from a union between a mortal woman and a spirit (a daemon, which later Christian writers interpreted as the Devil) but he has great magical abilities with prophecy and matures quickly like many demi-gods from Classical mythology.
Accordingly, Merlin moves great stones from Ireland to the Salisbury Plain to construct Stonehenge (which actually much older than the fifth or sixth centuries CE). It is Merlín who organises for king Uther Pendragon to seduce Igraine. From the union is a son – the infant Arthur. Here, Monmouth’s story leaves Arthur and he doesn’t reappear until a third poetic workwhere The Life of Merlin continues the tale of Artur but instead focuses on Merlin sister- Ganieda. Vita Merlini written by Monmouth in about 1150, is a biography of sorts about the adult Merlin but it a written account of twelfth century oral lore, mythology, cosmography, cosmology and natural history.
In Vita Merlini, Merlin fights at the Battle of Camlann. Unlike many Arthurian stories and romantic poems, instead of glorifying war, the horrifying effects of trauma on individuals and their families are made plain. Merlin rules South Wales. Peredur of North Wales argues with Gwenddoleu, the King of Scotland and Merlin and King Rhydderch of Cumbria join with Peredur against the Scots in a savage battle. Arthur is wounded and taken from the battlefield to Avalon for healing.
The Britons finally rally their troops and force the Scots to retreat. Seeing victory ahead, Merlin instructs on the correct burial rites for all the dead before the trauma of war overwhelms him and he flees into the forest. There he exists as a hermit – naked and mad, he hunts animals and harvested nuts and wild fruit. He observes the animals and birds learning their ways and studying all the natural world around him.
After the Battle of Camlann and Merlín has fled to the woods, Queen Ganeida, Merlin’s sister and the wife of King Rhydderc worries for her brother’s well-being. She sends searchers into the woods to look for Merlin in hope of bringing him out of his madness. One of the searchers comes to a fountain hidden by hazel thickets. There he finds Merlin, naked and unkempt, talking to himself. The searcher doesn’t want to alarm Merlin with his presence so instead he softly plays the lyre and sings about the mourning of Guendoloena for her beloved husband, Metlin and of the worry of Ganieda for her brother.
The music was enough to sooth Merlin’s soul and he remembered who he was, and what he had been, and everyone he had set aside in his madness. He asks the searcher to take him to the court of his old friend King Rhydderch. There, Metlin walks through the city gates, and his sister Ganieda and wife Guenedolena run to meet him. In their love and joy at his return, they lead him to the royal court where King Rhydderch receives him with great honour. Suddenly surrounded by the vast crowd which he’s been unaccustomed to such human company, his madness returns and desperately, he tries to escape to the sanctuary of the woods.
Rhydderch refused to let his old friend go, fearing for his safety in the wild, he has Merlin chained whereupon he falls silent and morose, refusing to speak or acknowledge anyone.
Merlin bowed his head for a moment as if softening, but then the madness in him spoke, “I will be free of her, free of you, free of love and its binding chains, therefore it is right that she be allowed her chance of happiness and marry a man of her own choosing, but beware should that man ever come near! On her wedding day, I will come to her and give her my gifts.”
Metlin explained King Rhydderch’s wife – Merlín’s own sister- is having an affair. He prophecies three different deaths for the son. The king laughs at so many different prophesied deaths for the same boy and apologies for doubting his wife’s fidelity. Queen Ganieda is greatly relieved to have her secret affair kept hidden as a jest.
Merlin is granted freedom but neither his sister Ganieda or his wife can entreat him to stay in the city. Merlin’s sister and wife watch him leave for the solitude of the forest. Both were convinced his derangement had no truth to the three different predicted for the death of the queen’s son.
The boy in question grew into a young man, and one during a hunting expedition with friends and his horse throws him over the cliff but his boot snags a tree the branch suspending his body in the air while his head is submerged beneath the water and he drowns. This fulfils the three deaths for the son according to Merlin’s prophecy.
Merlin was freed and made his way the gates. His sister caught up with him there, telling of her love and begged him to at least see out the winter in comfort with her.
Merlin left and Ganieda built a lodge for him, where she brought him food and drink. Merlin thanked her for that and for her company. On one occasion, Merlín forts the death of the king she must to return quickly to court. He asks that when she return to him, she must bring Taliesin, who lord recently arrived after visiting Gildas in Brittany.
Ganieda returns to Merlín with Taliesin. Merlin explains how they’d taken the badly wounded King Arthur to the Avalon after the battle of Camlann, leaving him in the healing care of Morgan le Fay. He explains events from Vortigern to King Arthur and long period of Saxon domination which would eventually lead to a return to British ruler after a prolonged and bloody conflict.
Perhaps the best-known portrayal of Merlin comes from Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur written in 1485. This is romanticised tale of how the infant Arthur was raised in a stewardship until after on the death of his father, Uther Pendragon, Merlin presents the youth, Arthur to the knights of the land. Merlin sets a task to prove Arthur is Uthet’s true heir by if he can withdraw the sword Excalibur from the stone in which Merlín has embedded, he is the rightful ruler of Britain. Here, Merlin acts as Arthur’s adviser but disappears from the story early in Arthur’s reign. An unrequited passion for Nimue (or Viviane) the lady of the lake tricks Merlín into revealing how to construct a magical tower of hidden by mist which she then uses to imprison him.
Danu is one of the oldest Celtic goddess. She is represented by the earth and its abundance. Many place names in Ireland are associated with her, most notable the Paps of Anu in Kerry, which resemble the breasts of a large supine female, part of the land.
Danu is known as the ‘beantuathach’ (farmer) associating her with fertility. Rivers are also associated with her and in general, the fertility and abundance of the land.
Not many stories involving the Danu survive, but she appears is one story about Bile, the god of light and healing. Bile was represented as a sacred oak tree that was fed and nurtured by Danu resulting in the birth of Daghdha.
Danu is associated with the Tuatha Dé Danaan, the people of the goddess Danu. These were a group of people, descended from Nemed, who had been exiled from Ireland and scattered. Danu offered them her patronage allowing them to reunite, learning new magical skills and return to Ireland in a magical mist. The mist is Danu’s symbolic embrace. The Tuatha Dé Danaan are the clearest representatives in Irish myth of the powers of light and knowledge. The Tuatha Dé Danaan were associated with Craftsmanship, music, poetry and magic, as was Danu herself.
Meera and her twin sister Kai are Mades—part human and part not—bred in the Blood Temple cult, which only the teenage Meera will survive. Racked with grief and guilt, she lives in hiding with her mysterious rescuer, Narn—part witch and part not—who has lost a sister too, a connection that follows them to Meera’s enrollment years later in a college Redress Program. There she is recruited by Regulars for a starring role in a notorious reading series and is soon the darling of the lit set, finally whole, finally free of the idea that she should have died so Kai could have lived. Maybe Meera can be re-made after all, her life redressed. But the Regulars are not all they seem and there is a price to pay for belonging to something that you don’t understand. Time is closing in on all Meera holds dear—she stands afraid, not just for but of herself, on the bridge between worlds—fearful of what waits on the other side and of the cost of knowing what she truly is.
Summary
The Bridge by J.S. Breukelaar is an dystopian alternate future – in a world like Australia and not. Similar to the protagonist Meera – part human and not. She is bereaved after the death of her twin sister Kai and suffers survivors guilt. In meeting the mysterious witch figure Narn, who knows more than she says about Meera but shares the loss of her own sister, a strong connection to forged.
Encouraged by the future offered placement in the Redress Program. Meera finally sees this chance to belong to the Regulars as an opportunity to set aside her past, the grief of losing Kai and finally start living her own life. But be careful what you wish for because all transformations come at a cost and this one might be higher than Meera is willing to pay.
Review
In The Bridge, Breukelaar writes a stunning combination of the fantastic, futuristic and the metaphorical. The division between fate and desire, hope and reality are twisted and spun into an elegant futuristic dystopian fairy tale.
Conclusion
For fans of modern and futuristic fairy tale and folklore retellings and reimagining, contemporary dark fantasy and dystopian settings. A highly recommended read!
** This is my personal opinion and does not reflect any judging decisions **
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