Issue #133 of Beneath Ceaseless Skies online magazine, featuring stories by Matthew Kressel and Alan Baxter.

Edited by Craig Bezant, the ghostly Issue 10 is dedicated to all those things that go bump in the night. With more than 100 pages of fiction, art, interviews, book releases, comics, and more, we guarantee you'll be left feeling haunted long after you've read the final page. Literature: Lunch by Joseph A. Pinto Crybaby Bridge #25 by Gary A. Braunbeck Stillegeist by Martin Livings I Want to Go Home by A.J. Brown Tourist Trap by Richard Farren Barber Blood and Bone by Robert Mammone Exposure Compensation by Alan Baxter Stinson Way: A Southern Gothic by Jacob Lambert A Little Peace by Rebecca Fung Mother's House by Greg Chapman Comic: Allure of the Ancients; The Key to His Kingdom - story by Mark Farrugia, illustrations by Greg Chapman From the Vault: Benson’s Flutter For a Fortune - written by Arthur Bayldon, adapted by Pete Kempshall, illustrated by Colin Wells and edited by Mark Farrugia Special Features: An interview with Victor Miller AHWA Short Story and Flash Fiction Competition winners - It’s Always the Children Who Suffer by Alan Baxter Darker by Zena Shapter Moonlight Sonata by Tim Hawken Regular Features: A Word from the AHWA President - Geoff Brown Tartarus - Danny Lovecraft (poetry column) Pix and Panels – Mark Farrugia (comic column) Black Roads, Dark Highways #5 – Andrew McKiernan (column) Celluloid Nightmares – Mark Smith-Briggs Historica Horroris - Nathaniel Buchanan (new column on real-life hauntings!) Sinister Reads (all the latest releases from AHWA members)

David Johanssen's drinking problem goes beyond the usual need for self-medication. He sees things he shouldn’t be able to see, things no one could handle seeing. And he has no one but himself to blame. When a chance encounter offers the possibility of answers, he follows the bloody trail in spite of his own fears. It could be the big story he needs to keep his job. It could be the meaning of life. Or it could be the end of his world.

"Disquieting and at times terrifying, SUSPENDED IN DUSK shows that horror can, and should, have substance." ~ Kaaron Warren, Shirley Jackson Award winner, and author of Slights, Mystification, Walking the Tree. "SUSPENDED IN DUSK offers a delicious assortment of chills, frights, shocks and very dark delights!" ~ Jonathan Maberry, Bram Stoker Award winner and New York Times bestselling author of Fall of Night and V-Wars DUSK A time between times. A whore hides something monstrous and finds something special. A homeless man discovers the razor blade inside the apple. Unlikely love is found in the strangest of places. Secrets and dreams are kept... forever. Or was it all just a trick of the light? Suspended in Dusk brings together 19 stories by some of the finest minds in Dark Fiction: Ramsey Campbell, John Everson, Rayne Hall, Shane McKenzie, Angela Slatter, Alan Baxter, S.G Larner, Wendy Hammer, Sarah Read, Karen Runge, Toby Bennett, Benjamin Knox, Brett Rex Bruton, Icy Sedgwick, Tom Dullemond, Armand Rosamilia, Chris Limb, Anna Reith, J.C. Michael. Introduction by Bram Stoker Award Winner and World Horror Convention Grand Master, Jack Ketchum.

Edited by Geoff Brown, Midnight Echo Issue 9 features more than 100 pages of fiction, art, interviews, book releases, and more! Note: Print format is available from www.midnightechomagazine.com Table of Contents: Literature Changeling by Jonathan Maberry Black Train Blues by James A Moore Black Peter by Martin Livings The Road by Amanda J Spedding Coffee Rings by Kristin Dearborn The Wee Folk by JG Faherty From the Forebears by Steven Gepp Little Boy, Little Girl, Lost in the Woods by Mark Patrick Lynch The Fathomed Wreck to See by Alan Baxter Poetry ganesh by Talie Helene Comic Allure of the Ancients; The Key to His Kingdom - story by Mark Farrugia, illustrations by Greg Chapman Special Features The Mythology of Mid-World by Robin Furth (non-fiction) Russian Field of Mysteries by Tony Vilgotsky (non-fiction) An Interview with James A Moore An Interview with Mel Gannon Regular Features A Word from the AHWA President - Geoff Brown Tartarus - Danny Lovecraft (poetry column) Pix and Panels - Mark Farrugia (comic column) Black Roads, Dark Highways #4 - Andrew McKiernan (column) Celluloid Nightmares - Mark Smith-Briggs Sinister Reads (all the latest releases from AHWA members)

Dead of Night features the best of Midnight Echo magazine, as selected by Shane Jiraiya Cummings, former Australian Horror Writers Association vice-president and Midnight Echo editor. The anthology features twenty-five stories from issues one to eleven and is a showcase of Australia and New Zealand's darkest imaginations.

Bloodstones is the latest anthology edited by the award-winning Australian editor, Amanda Pillar. With Bloodstones, Amanda Pillar presents stories themed around myths and legends, in a dark urban fantasy setting. The anthology comprises 17 stories by a number of notable and up and coming writers: Dirk Flinthart, Nicole Murphy, Penelope Love, Jenny Blackford, Pete Kempshall, M.D. Curelas, Joanne Anderton, Richard Harland, Christine Morgan, Thoraiya Dyer, Kat Otis, Karen Maric, Dan Rabarts, Alan Baxter, Erin Underwood, Vivian Caethe, and Stephanie Gunn. Introduction by Seanan McGuire.

This anthology of speculative fiction short stories from exceptionally wily writers will take you from looking over your shoulder to pondering the wonders of the universe and back again. The WilyWriters.com podcast chooses only the best two stories per month from its submissions and records them for your listening pleasure. This volume collects Year #1’s best of the best.

On the [date redacted] of the [year redacted], [names redacted] of the [organisation redacted] discovered a hidden text that documented realities other than our own. Dark, weird realities. Within these pages they discovered monuments to a dying alien race, sentient islands caught like fish, a tree that grows pencils, a baby transformed into a hummingbird, and a steampunk Maori whaling crew. They were afraid, as you should be afraid. They saw life, death and the space between; metamorphosis, terrible choices and bitter regrets. [Names redacted] looked into the abyss, and what they saw within was nameless and terrible. This is that book. Enter if you dare. CONTENTS: 2B by Joanne Anderton Oil and Bone by Dan Rabarts Almost Days by DK Mok Collateral Damage by Dirk Flinthart Her Face Like Lightning by David McDonald Empty Monuments by Marissa Lingen & Alec Austin Beyond the Borders of All He Had Been Taught by Alan Baxter Circa by Caitlene Cooke Living in the Light by Sara Larner Always Another Point by Alexis Hunter Footprints in Venom by Robert Hood Salvatrix by Marianne de Pierres Ministry of Karma by Ian Creasey Reflections by Tamlyn Dreaver Sins of Meals Past by Matthew Morrison The Final Voyage of Saint Brendan by Tom Dullemond One Who Knows by Darren Goossens The Last Case of Detective Charlemagne by Kathleen Jennings The Winter Stream by Daniel Simpson The Falcon Races by Thoraiya Dyer The Art of Deception by Stephanie Burgis

Damnation and Dames Damnation & Dames is a collection of paranormal noir stories investigating the supernatural shadows surrounding classic crime. Inside this book are sixteen hand-picked stories, all original, featuring good guys, gumshoes, femme fatales, bootleggers, and gangsters: all your favourite noir characters mixed up with ghosts, giant monsters, faerie, vampires, and werewolves.

2010 was a great year for Australian fantasy and horror, with the World Science Fiction convention held in Melbourne serving as an impetus for many publishers, both large and small, to showcase the breadth and depth of Australian and New Zealand speculative fiction. Several hundred fantasy and horror stories by Antipodeans were published in 2010, contained in Australasian and international magazines, webzines, anthologies and collections. From this plethora of work, editors Liz Grzyb and Talie Helene have selected 33 tales of fantasy, dark fantasy, horror and paranormal romance for this volume. The editors also present an overview of the genre in Australia in 2010, including noting significant works, events, and the results of the major awards. Together with a recommended reading list this is both a book to be read and a valuable reference work. Published by a leading Australian independent publisher, this is first volume of an ambitious annual series that will document the state of health of the fantasy and horror genre throughout Australia and New Zealand. Includes stories by RJ Astruc, Peter M Ball, Alan Baxter, Jenny Blackford, Gitte Christensen, Matthew Chrulew, Bill Congreve, Rjurik Davidson, Felicity Dowker, Dale Elvy, Jason Fischer, Dirk Flinthart, Bob Franklin, Christopher Green, Paul Haines, Lisa L Hannett, Stephen Irwin, Gary Kemble, Pete Kempshall, Tessa Kum, Martin Livings, Maxine McArthur, Kirstyn McDermott, Andrew McKiernan, Ben Peek, Simon Petrie, Lezli Robyn, Angela Rega, Angela Slatter, Grant Stone, Kaaron Warren, and Janeen Webb.

The entire saga of Alan Baxter's dark urban fantasy series, The Balance, in one volume! This collection includes two novels and two short stories. RealmShift Isiah is having a bad day. Samuel Harrigan used ancient blood magic to escape a deal with the Devil and now Lucifer wants Sam’s soul more than ever. But Isiah has to protect the blood mage for a greater destiny, with the fate of humanity itself in the balance. MageSign In an effort to track down the evil Sorcerer, Samuel Harrigan’s mentor, Isiah uncovers a blood cult bigger than he ever imagined, with a plan more dangerous than anyone could have dreamed. Only Isiah stands between the cult and a world-shattering disaster. Running Wild From The Hunt A schoolboy is plagued by nightmares of being hunted until a strangely powerful man offers him assistance. Stand-Off A young man finds himself caught in a supernatural tug-of-war between two powerful beings.

The dark fantasy collection features 19 stories, including the Australian Shadows Award-winning "Shadows of the Lonely Dead"; and original title story "Crow Shine" in addition to two other never before published stories. "Alan Baxter is an accomplished storyteller who ably evokes magic and menace. Whether it’s stories of ghost-liquor and soul-draining blues, night club magicians, sinister western pastoral landscapes, or a suburban suicide–Crow Shine has a mean bite."—Laird Barron, author of Swift to Chase. "Crow Shine, by Alan Baxter, is a sweeping collection of horror and dark fantasy stories, packed with misfits and devils, repentant fathers and clockwork miracles. Throughout it all, Baxter keeps his focus on the universal problems of the human experience: the search for understanding, for justice, and for love. It’s an outstanding book."—Nathan Ballingrud, author of North American Lake Monsters. "Alan Baxter’s fiction is dark, disturbing, hard-hitting and heart-breakingly honest. He reflects on worlds known and unknown with compassion, and demonstrates an almost second-sight into human behaviour."—Kaaron Warren, Shirley Jackson Award-winner and author of The Grief Hole. "Buy your tickets, step up, and enter the world of Alan Baxter’s debut collection, Crow Shine. Here fates are brutal, justice is swift and merciless, yet even the most ruthless characters are sometimes – just sometimes – strangely touching. Crow Shine will terrify, surprise, and stun you."—Angela Slatter, World Fantasy and British Fantasy Award winning author.

Award winning independent Australian press coeur de lion publishing presents twenty-nine all new science fiction stories of humanity's adventures out there, anywhere but Earth, featuring original works by Margo Lanagan, Sean McMullen, Richard Harland, and Kim Westwood among a galaxy of new and established Australian and overseas speculative fiction authors.

The sixth annual compilation of the best fantasy and horror, covering work produced by Australian and New Zealand writers in 2015. Over 150,000 words of fiction from some of the genre's best and most awarded writers. Together with an annual genre overview and recommended reading list this is both a book to be read and a valuable reference work. This volume collects 31 stories by Joanne Anderton, Alan Baxter, Deborah Biancotti, Stephen Dedman, Erol Engin, Jason Fischer, Dirk Flinthart, Kim Gaal, Stephanie Gunn, Lisa Hannett, Robert Hood, Kathleen Jennings, Maree Kimberley, Jay Kristoff, Martin Livings, Danny Lovecraft, Kirstyn McDermott, Sally McLennan, DK Mok, Faith Mudge, Samantha Murray, Jason Nahrung, Garth Nix, Anthony Panegyres, Rivqa Rafael, Deborah Sheldon, Angela Slatter, Cat Sparks, Lucy Sussex, Anna Tambour, Kaaron Warren. Award-winning series.

Ghost is possibly the best bounty hunter in the universe and he always gets the job done. At least, that's the reputation that he rides on. When the DAP employ him to track down and capture a rogue Magicker that's running across the galaxy killing anyone that gets in his way, Ghost realises that this is a job that could cost him his reputation. It's also a job that could cost him his sanity. An action packed, noir sci-fi novella from Alan Baxter, author of dark fantasty novels RealmShift and MageSign.

Three years have passed since Isiah’s run in with Samuel Harrigan and the Devil. He has some time on his hands - a perfect opportunity to track down the evil Sorcerer, Harrigan’s mentor. It should have been a simple enough task, but the Sorcerer has more followers than Isiah ever imagined, and a plan bigger than anyone could have dreamed. With the help of some powerful new friends Isiah desperately tries to track down the Sorcerer and his cult of blood before they manage to change the world forever. In this long-awaited sequel to the highly acclaimed RealmShift, Baxter once again keeps a breathless pace and blistering intensity with gods, demons and humans entangled in magic and conflict. This is dark fantasy at its best.

16 Journeys on the Dark Streets of Urban Fantasy. The Fay. Bloodlines. Criminalities. The City. Original stories by Seanan McGuire, Joanne Anderton, Alan Baxter, Nathan Burrage, Dirk Flinthart, Rebecca Fung, Stephanie Gunn, Kelly Hoolihan, Kathleen Jennings, Pete Kempshall, Martin Livings, Anthony Panegyres, Jane Percival, Paul Starkey, Lyn Thorne-Alder and S. Zanne. Edited by the award-winning Amanda Pillar.

When the city suffers, everyone suffers. Steven Hines listened to the city and the city spoke. Cleveport told him she was sick. With his unnatural connection to her, that meant Hines was sick too. But when his friend, Detective Abby Jones, comes to him for help investigating a series of deaths with no discernible cause, Hines can’t say no. Then strange fungal growths begin to appear in the streets, affecting anyone who gets too close, turning them into violent lunatics. As the mayhem escalates and officials start to seal Cleveport off from the rest of the world, Hines knows the trouble has only just begun. Praise for Alan Baxter and Hidden City “A grim and gritty fantasy noir with razor-sharp humor. I loved it!” – Tim Waggoner, author of Teeth of the Sea. “Hidden City is a delicious supernatural noir, the song of a city of the lost with both Chandleresque and Lovecraftian undernotes and distant echoes of Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden. But it is very much its own thing, razor sharp, dark, compelling, cosmic and strangely touching all at once. Highly recommended.” – William Meikle, author of The Ghost Club “Poisonous fungi? Check. Murderous transformations? Check. Deep-down, bad-to-the bone evil? Check. Good old-fashioned horror? Check. Enter Hidden City at your peril.” - Angela Slatter, World Fantasy award-winning author of The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings. “Creepy. Visionary. Catastrophic. Apocalyptic. These are words occurring frequently in discussions of horror. But Alan Baxter’s Hidden City encapsulates them all to an unusually high degree.” – Michael R. Collings "Hidden City blends urban fantasy, noir and horror... imagine James Herbert’s The Fog mixed with Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files." - The Grim Reader "Hidden City definitely is Urban Fantasy, but sweet baby Cthulhu, Baxter brings the skin-crawl. This was a book that managed to keep me uncomfortable for most of the read. My skin crawled, my scalp prickled, and I was always just on the verge of putting the book down and doing something else to give my overactive imagination time to die down." - Sci-Fi & Scary "Hidden City is the kind of book that’s incredibly hard to put down- so consider hiding away for a few hours and savouring a reading binge. If you love fast paced action glimmering with magic and the supernatural, you’re going to want to put ‘Hidden City’ at the top of your TBR pile." - Reviewers of Oz "A tense, edge-of-your-seat ride through the streets of a city in chaos." - Hush Hush Biz “Action-packed from start to finish, layered with levels of subtle but deep backstory, lively, fast-paced, gripping, and fun, Hidden City is a definite winner. I’m thinking Netflix series. Somebody should get on that.” – Christine Morgan’s World of Words

The past often catches up with you, but when it's Alex Caine's past the results can be deadly. Alex Caine has been suffering the weight of the world, and some days it's hard to even get out of bed. Alone one night, a band of Fey overwhelm him and steal him away from the mortal realm. Silhouette, desperate to save her lover, calls in Armour, but the organization seems reluctant to help. Claude Darvill, his fragile alliance with Alex at an end, is still searching for the remains of his father, Robert Hood. In frozen wastes of Iceland, Darvill is driven by a deep-burning grudge and a need for revenge. His efforts are backed by all the considerable resources of Black Diamond Incorporated. Silhouette must overcome her greatest fears and use all her skills to locate Alex. Even if she can find him, that's just the start of their problems. In this third Alex Caine book, sequel to Bound and Obsidian, old enemies and new share a common goal. Alex Caine hates to be the center of attention, but he and Silhouette need to pull together as the world is threatened once more, and only Alex can save it.

A small mountain town hides a dark secret… When his father’s death brings Grant Shipman to the Appalachian town of Wallen’s Gap, he believes his biggest problem will be dealing with the slow pace and odd townsfolk. But something sinister is at work. A dark power rises, an echo of the town’s bloody past. A book of blood magic offers an unspeakable horror a gateway into the world of the living, and only Grant stands in the way of their Dark Rite. Praise for Dark Rite by David Wood and Alan Baxter “Wood and Baxter have delivered a stunning tale that reminds of an early Stephen King’s talent for the macabre with a pinch of Graham Masterton’s flair for witchcraft and terror. A sinister tale of black magic and horror – not for the faint hearted.” Greig Beck, bestselling author of Beneath the Dark Ice and Black Mountain “When Grant Shipman returns to Wallens' Gap for his father's funeral, he discovers a curious book and a supernatural relic hidden from the malevolent townsfolk, who shelter generations of malignant secrets. After his friend Cassie is kidnapped and his own life increasingly threatened, Grant must confront the powers of darkness, a demon summoned for the ultimate sacrifice. With mysterious rituals, macabre rites and superb supernatural action scenes, Wood and Baxter deliver a fast-paced horror thriller.” J.F.Penn, author of the bestselling ARKANE thriller series "Wood and Baxter have taken on the classic black magic/cult conspiracy subgenre, chucked in a toxic mix of weirdness, creepshow chills and action, and created a tale that reads like a latter-day Hammer Horror thriller. Nice, dark fun." Robert Hood, author of Immaterial and Fragments of a Broken Land: Valarl Undead

An ancient order. A deadly conspiracy. A race against time. When Jake Crowley rescues Rose Black from assailants on the streets of London, the two find themselves embroiled in a mystery that could cost them their lives. People are dying, and all the victims have one thing in common with Rose: a birthmark in the shape of an eagle. From beneath the streets of London, to castle dungeons, to the heart of Christendom and beyond, Jake and Rose must race to stay alive as they seek to unlock the secrets of the Blood Codex. Praise for David Wood and Alan Baxter “Blood Codex is a genuine up all night got to see what happens next thriller that grabs you from the first page and doesn't let go until the last.” Steven Savile “Rip roaring action from start to finish. Wit and humor throughout. Just one question - how soon until the next one? Because I can't wait.” Graham Brown “A page-turning yarn. Indiana Jones better watch his back!”Jeremy Robinson “A a story that thrills and makes one think beyond the boundaries of mere fiction and enter the world of 'why not'?” David Lynn Golemon, “A twisty tale of adventure and intrigue that never lets up and never lets go!” Robert Masello “A fast-paced storyline that holds the reader right from the start,. and a no-nonsense story-telling approach that lets the unfolding action speak for itself.” Van Ikin “With mysterious rituals, macabre rites and superb supernatural action scenes, Wood and Baxter deliver a fast-paced horror thriller.” J.F.Penn “Wood and Baxter have taken on the classic black magic/cult conspiracy subgenre, chucked in a toxic mix of weirdness, creepshow chills and action, and created a tale that reads like a latter-day Hammer Horror thriller. Nice, dark fun.” Robert Hood

Only light can drive out the darkness. Enlisted into a clandestine operation to head off an impending doom foreseen by the Seers, and pursued by a deadly enemy, Alex Caine is caught in a vortex and pulled through to a strange lost city, isolated in the void, Trapped in a place removed from everything they know, ruled by a hierarchy of monsters, Alex must find a way to escape OBSIDIAN. "If Stephen King and Jim Butcher ever had a love child, it would be Alan Baxter!"- Smashdragons

"I know your secret." Alex Caine is a martial artist fighting in illegal cage matches. His powerful secret weapon is an unnatural vision that allows him to see his opponents' moves before they know their intentions themselves. When enigmatic Englishman, Patrick Welby, shows Alex how to unleash a breathtaking realm of magic and power, Alex is drawn into a mind-bending adventure beyond his control. A cursed grimoire binds Alex to Uthentia, a chaotic Fey godling, who leads him towards chaos and murder, an urge Alex finds harder and harder to resist. Befriended by Silhouette, a monstrous Kin beauty, Alex sets out to recover the only things that will free him-the shards of the Darak. But that powerful stone also has the potential to unleash a catastrophe which could mean the end of the world as we know it. Bound is dark urban fantasy at its best! “Alan Baxter delivers a heady mix of magic, monsters and bloody fights to the death. Nobody does kick-ass brutality like Baxter.” —Greig Beck, bestselling author, Beneath the Dark Ice and Dark Rising (Alex Hunter series) "I had a lot of fun reading Alan Baxter’s Bound . . . It’s a teeth-gnashing, shadow-chasing, magesign-riddled sexy beast of a thing!” —Margo Lanagan, award-winning author, Sea Hearts and Tender Morsels "If Stephen King and Jim Butcher ever had a love child then it would be Alan Baxter." —Smash Dragons

A SUPERNATURAL CRIME THRILLER FROM THE AWARD-WINNING MASTER OF DARK FANTASY Following a psychotic break, Eli Carver finds himself on the run, behind the wheel of a car that’s not his own, and in the company of a terrified woman he doesn’t know. As layers of ugly truth are peeled back and dark secrets are revealed, the duo find themselves in a struggle for survival when they unravel a mystery that pits them against the most dangerous forces in their lives. A contemporary southern gothic thriller with frightening supernatural overtones, Alan Baxter’s Manifest Recall explores the tragic life of a hitman who finds himself on the wrong side of his criminal syndicate. Baxter’s adrenaline-fueled approach to storytelling draws readers into Eli Carver’s downward spiral of psychosis and through the darkest realms of lost memories, human guilt and the insurmountable quest for personal redemption. Praise for Alan Baxter: “Manifest Recall grabs you by the scruff of the neck from word one and doesn't let go. It's fast paced, bad people doing bad things to other bad people. I gobbled it down in two nights. You should, too. Highly recommended!” – John F.D. Taff, Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of The End in All Beginnings “Alan Baxter’s fiction is dark, disturbing, hard-hitting and heart-breakingly honest. He reflects on worlds known and unknown with compassion, and demonstrates an almost second-sight into human behaviour.” – Kaaron Warren, Shirley Jackson Award-winner and author of The Grief Hole “Alan Baxter is an accomplished storyteller who ably evokes magic and menace.” – Laird Barron, author of Swift to Chase “Alan’s work is reminiscent of that of Clive Barker and Jim C. Hines, but with a unique flavour all of its own.” – Angela Slatter, World Fantasy, British Fantasy and Aurealis Award winner Proudly presented by Grey Matter Press, the multiple Bram Stoker Award-nominated independent publisher. Grey Matter Press: Where Dark Thoughts Thrive

Sometimes, the legends are true. When eccentric billionaire, Ellis Holloway, hires renegade marine biologist, Sam Aston, to investigate the legend of a monster in a remote Finnish lake, Aston envisions an easy paycheck and a chance to clear his gambling debts. But he gets much more. There is something terrible living beneath the dark waters of Lake Kaarme and it is hungry. As the death toll mounts, Aston faces superstitious locals, a power-hungry police chief, and a benefactor’s descent into madness as he races to find the legendary beast of the lake. “Primordial has everything you’d want from a monster story – great characters, a remote location and a creature with bite! Mixing history and lore with science and action, David Wood and Alan Baxter have penned a thriller that is hard to put down.” —Jeremy Robinson, author, Island 731 “Bone-cracking terror from the stygian depths, Primordial explodes off the page. Taking an ancient lake monster, a small town shrouded in secrets, and a megalomaniac billionaire determined to get his own way, Wood and Baxter push the boat out to give us a creature thriller that is both intelligent and visceral. I could hear the Jaws soundtrack playing on repeat, although that might have been my heart pounding. Primordial is the catch of the day.” –Lee Murray, author, Into the Mist “Primordial proved to be one of the best, the most thoroughly delightful and satisfying, books that I've read in quite some time. A serious out-of-the-park type of home run hit.” —Christine Morgan, The Horror Fiction Review

SYNOPSIS Jason Wilkes s life takes a turn for the worse when his wife fails to come home from her book club. Jason calls Kate s book buddy , Dave, who assures him she left hours ago. Contacting the police, Jason finds them equal parts sympathetic and suspicious. He tells them almost everything, except that he s been hearing Kate s voice, calling as if from far away. He certainly doesn t mention that he s seeing shadows that reach for him. With the police getting nowhere fast, Jason takes matters into his own hands, even as nightmare images and Kate s distant cries continue to haunt his waking moments and his dreams, and the strange, grasping shadows persist. Jason begins to unravel the mystery, but he s at odds with the police, he s being lied to by Kate s book club friends, and his chances of finding Kate slip ever further away. It seems that everything is going to go as wrong as it possibly can.