Dark Occult

Christmastide. A time of feasting and good cheer. Gifts, cards, and blazing holly logs. Snow falls while family and friends trim the tree and kiss under the mistletoe. But it isn’t always joyful. It’s the coldest time of year. The days are short, the nights long. Chilling myths lie concealed behind the raucous revelry...The ghoulish events in the frozen workhouse...The undead presence at the costumed ball...The pantomime that became a massacre...The winter goddess with the heart of ice...The thieves who woke the dark side of the festive spirit...

From astronauts in deep space to the ghosts of the Civil War, New York Times best-selling author Alethea Kontis creates worlds of wonder and delight, of weirdness and despair, of whimsy and darkness. Here are 20 stories and poems that will transport you to the magical dangerous worlds you've always known should exist, but have never quite been able to find.

It’s Seb’s last day working in Turkey, but his friend Oz has been cursed. Superstition turns to terror as the effects of the ancient malediction spill over and the lives of Oz and his family hang in the balance. Can Seb find the answers to remove the hex before it’s too late?

One of Canada’s most acclaimed horror writers, Gemma Files presents a mosaic of interconnected stories about interconnected families. After fleeing Scotland, five clans settled in the fictional town of Dourvale in northern Ontario. Known as the Five-Family Coven, they are the descendants of witches and witch-children, none of whom were spared persecution in their native country. Now shamans, spellcasters, singers, and thieves, the members of the Devize, Druir, Glouwer, Roke, and Rusk families survive by trading their occult powers and talents.

After joining a gang of street kids, he rose to be their leader. Peter became a callous criminal, preying on the weak and defenseless, dreaming of bloodshed.

It's a nice house on a country road. Jack and Erika Harris expect to be happy there. It doesn't matter that they're living in a deserted suburb where, years ago, murders and mutilations destroyed the residents. It doesn't matter...until those that caused the deaths come back - those that sprang from the earth. Those that need. Those that are not human. The Harris's nice house stands between them and what they must have. Nothing has ever mattered more.

A hilarious, shocking, terrifying thrill ride across the American landscape, The Damned Highway combines two great flavors of weird: the gonzo journalism of Hunter S. Thompson and the uncanny terrors of H. P. Lovecraft. Horror legend Brian Keene and cult storytelling master Nick Mamatas dredge up a tale of drug-fueled eldritch madness from the blackest depths of the American nightmare.

Sorcerer Nate Garrett lost much in the battle that devastated Asgard, but the war against darkness is far from over. He’s spent a year searching for Arthur, hell-bent on stopping the evil leader of Avalon and rescuing his friend Tommy from his clutches. Nate’s investigation brings him to Washington, DC, where he finds the city under siege. Just when all hope seems lost, Layla Cassidy and her team arrive to join the fight, but Avalon’s deadly plan to conquer the earth realm is underway.

A mysterious force is seeking inroads: vulnerabilities to exploit, friendships to hijack, untapped rage to harness toward its own ends. Who will serve it best? Claire is abrasive and aimless, embarrassed by her privileged upbringing. Weak-willed David is consumed by a recent breakup and harbors fantasies of violent, cultish orgies.

The stakes are officially raised as Liam and his crew race against the clock to overpower the headmistress and uncover the secrets of the entity known as the Void.

What the Dark Brings is a collection of 19 short stories, beginning with "Literary Sweets," a tender jaunt into Christmastime that proves all is not lost for one jaded gentleman. But by the time you reach the final tale, "Come to Jesus Meeting," the darkness is all encompassing.

Saskia de la Cruz is a verity witch and investigative reporter for The Blood Web Chronicle, the biggest news outlet on the paranormal Blood Web. After escaping murderous vampires in snowy Moscow, Saskia can't imagine a more difficult or more dangerous mission. That is, until her editor sends her to Barcelona to investigate a high profile disappearance at the Mage Association, which just happens to be run by her evil mother Solina.

Set in the sixth century, this work of literature is designed to hold mystery and suspense. To an island west of mainland Norway, unusual trouble stirs. Ancient secrets are becoming ever apparent, and strange murders more prevalent. Out in open battle, forgotten forces will fight unseen by mortal eyes. Before any living man can remember, a war was waged between clans that faded into myth. Well, those myths are resurfacing.

In your last moments we all expect to see the faceless shadow of the Grim Reaper, that fearsome creature of the afterlife. What if he offered you a choice - a chance to redeem your life’s sins for servitude to the path of the Reaper? Christian Thomas faces his own death, consumed by the loss of his love Chris has given up all hope.

Xander Stryker thought he’d seen his fair share; thought there was nothing left to lose. He was wrong. Now, Xander finds himself living night-by-night in the forest with a pack of shape-shifters. It might not be much, but it’s all he has left. But even that, with the arrival of a ragtag group seeking his help, is put in jeopardy.

In a society that could be ours, or not, in a time that was, or not, there hunkers a stone castle. Inside is Bronwyn, a woman ruined, a woman with a wooden leg. She has a tarot deck able to manipulate destiny, and a list of names. Her time for payback has now come. Somewhere in the cold dark halls another stalks in stealth, cloak swirling, stripped of life, a man who waves crystals over a scarred table, binding each name to an attention-seeking card. Zanderin will play this game, for he, too, seeks something.

Twelve strangers from different realities are kidnapped and left stranded on an Earth where magic has supplanted technology and ancient empires have prospered for many centuries in this work of dark fantasy. Among some are a deadly assassin from the Canadian Armed Forces, a brilliant Irish trauma surgeon, a "nuclear winter" survivor, and a medical marvel whose augmented strength does little to compensate for his irreversible brain damage.

Merrick Whyte is the psychonaut, mind reader, master of the gateways, and destroyer of worlds. He is also bereft of power, stolen by Aiwass, the dark demigod, for reasons which are far from clear. But Aiwass is explicit about the impending uncreation of the multiverse - an atrocity machinated by Orthon, a first-order demon. To avert this abomination, Merrick is tasked with seeking out the Dancer - an emissary of Orthon and member of a swelling infestation of adepts called the Enclave. This will prove to be just the start of a treacherous road.

I've survived the quest that saw my women and I exploring the ancient planetoid where an Outer God took over the body of our friend. I navigated the treacherous terrain of having one of your girlfriends make a ghost out of another. I've been to hell and back—literally, and I had the scars to show for it.

A Mosca, in un afoso pomeriggio di primavera, due letterati stanno elencando le prove dell'inesistenza di Dio. Lo straniero che si intromette nella discussione è di tutt'altro parere. Non solo, ma è stato presente al processo di Gesù. Si tratta infatti del Diavolo, nei panni del mago Woland, e la sua spettacolare comparsa getterà nel caos il burocratismo sovietico e l'élite letteraria del tempo. Satira devastante e fantastica, il romanzo, in parte ambientato nella capitale sovietica e in parte nell'antica Gerusalemme, è uno dei massimi capolavori della letteratura.