Verlag: Babelcube
200,000 years ago, the first human beings showed their intelligence. And while that was happening, down the path of death and desolation, a man traced his destiny among the abysses of darkness.
Maggie McCready is a travelling tarot reader who offers spiritual advice over a cup of tea and a charmed biscuit or two. In The Angel Tea House Maggie arrives in Angel Street to support tea blender and café owner, Lucy Silverton who is being targeted by unknown sectors of the community, undermining her confidence and business. Maggie must find out who is bullying the businesses of Angel St Business Network while keeping herself safe. This is her first mission assisting Archangel Michael and the Legions of Light to protect the suburb from the encroaching dark forces. Armed for the fight with only her kind heart, tarot deck in hand and her entourage of mystic beings, she has a lot to learn about Spirit, the dark forces and herself before this adventure ends. Definitely something is brewing in Angel St, and it’s not just the tea!Zum Buch
Ligeia; Morella; The Oval Portrait are a short stories in the Gothic horror genre by 19th-century American author and critic Edgar Allan Poe. Poe's short story 'Ligeia' offers the account of an opium-addled narrator who believes that he has seen the resurrection of his beloved first wife, Ligeia, after the death of his second wife, Rowena. "Morella" by Edgar Allan Poe is about a woman who seemingly dies and gives birth to a daughter who looks just like her. Her husband loves the daughter, but she dies when he names her the same as her mother, implying that mother and daughter were the same person. Edgar Allan Poe's Gothic horror story "The Oval Portrait" is among his shortest narratives. As it recounts the story of the death of a painter's young wife,"The Oval Portrait" is actually the 1845 revision of a longer story, "Life in Death," which Poe wrote in 1842, shortly after his beloved young wife, Virginia, first fell ill with the tuberculosis that would kill her five years later. Poe was terrified at the prospect of losing Virginia, and the death of beautiful young women was a frequent topic in his work at this time. In his 1846 essay "The Philosophy of Composition," he even called this the most poetic of all subjects.Zum Buch
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce was born on 24th June 1842 at Horse Cave Creek in Meigs County, Ohio. His parents were poor but they introduced him to literature at an early age, instilling in him a deep appreciation of books, the written word and the elegance of language. Growing up in Koscuisko County, Indiana poverty and religion were defining features of his childhood, and he would later describe his parents as “unwashed savages” and fanatically religious, showing him little affection but always quick to punish. He came to resent religion, and his introduction to literature appears to be their only positive effect. At age 15 Bierce left home to become a printer’s devil, mixing ink and fetching type at The Northern Indian, a small Ohio paper. Falsely accused of theft he returned to his farm and spent time sending out work in the hopes of being published. His Uncle Lucius advised he be sent to the Kentucky Military Institute. A year later he was commissioned as an Officer. As the Civil War started Bierce enlisted in the 9th Indiana Infantry Regiment. In April 1862 Bierce fought at the Battle of Shiloh, an experience which, though terrifying, became the source of several short stories. Two years later he sustained a serious head wound and was off duty for several months. He was discharged in early 1865. A later expedition to inspect military outposts across the Great Plains took him all the way to San Francisco. He remained there to become involved with publishing and editing and to marry, Mary Ellen on Christmas Day 1871. They had a child, Day, the following year. In 1872 the family moved to England for 3 years where he wrote for Fun magazine. His son, Leigh, was born, and first book, ‘The Fiend’s Delight’, was published. They returned to San Francisco and to work for a number of papers where he gained admiration for his crime reporting. In 1887 he began a column at the William Randolph Hearst’s San Francisco Examiner. Bierce’s marriage fell apart when he discovered compromising letters to his wife from a secret admirer. The following year, 1889 his son Day committed suicide, depressed by romantic rejection. In 1891 Bierce wrote and published the collection of 26 short stories which included ‘An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge’. Success and further works including poetry followed. Bierce with Hearst’s resources helped uncover a financial plot by a railroad to turn 130 million dollars of loans into a handout. Confronted by the railroad and asked to name his price Bierce answered “my price is $130 million dollars. If, when you are ready to pay, I happen to be out of town, you may hand it over to my friend, the Treasurer of the United States”. He now began his first foray as a fabulist, publishing ‘Fantastic Fables’ in 1899. But tragedy again struck two years later when his second son Leigh died of pneumonia relating to his alcoholism. He continued to write short stories and poetry and also published ‘The Devil’s Dictionary’. At the age of 71, in 1913 Bierce departed from Washington, D.C., for a tour of the battlefields where he had fought during the civil war. At the city of Chihuahua he wrote his last known communication, a letter to a friend. It’s closing words were “as to me, I leave here tomorrow for an unknown destination,” Ambrose Bierce then vanished without trace.Zum Buch
How could they just let it happen? Why would someone let them in? Owen is constantly drawn to the terrifying, supernatural, and unexplainable mysteries of the world. He can always find a rational explanation, but new stories are always calling to him. Drawn to Birch Island by recent sightings of Black Eyed Kids, Owen hopes to make his journalist debut by cracking the case on this modern urban legend. But the longer he spends searching, the less sense everything makes. We’re just kids. We can’t hurt you. Can Owen remain a skeptic as the story he’s writing about becomes his own? Will he give in and open the door? Let us in! Find out in Dark Petition, the prequel novella to the Birch Island horror-thriller series.Zum Buch
A young child’s fate is at stake in a deadly battle between his deceased parents in this gripping and profoundly original psychological thriller, perfect for fans of What Have You Done and Middle of the Night. When a commercial flight crashes, all 184 people on board perish—with the singular exception of a two-year-old boy named Ethan, who’s entrusted to family friends Matthew and Nicole per his late parents’ wishes. From the afterlife, Ethan’s parents, Tag and Amanda, watch helplessly as Nicole’s secret addictions, the family’s financial struggles, and the public’s fascination with their story ignite events that threaten their son’s welfare. Soon, Amanda’s grief turns into an insidious obsession: Ethan belongs with her and no one else, and she sets out to reunite with her son by any means possible—including killing Ethan herself.After Amanda learns how to possess the living, only Tag stands in her way. He must protect his child, even if the consequences of his actions mean he may never see his wife or son again.What The Dead Can Do is a dark, psychological, speculative thriller tinged with horror, destined to keep readers’ minds spinning long after the final page.Zum Buch
Enter the icy grip of terror with Cool Air by H. P. Lovecraft, a haunting tale of science, obsession, and the fragile boundary between life and death. Set in a New York City boarding house, this chilling story follows an unnamed narrator who encounters the enigmatic Doctor Muñoz—a brilliant but reclusive physician whose reliance on cold temperatures hides a horrifying secret. As the doctor’s desperate battle against decay spirals into madness, the narrative builds toward a grotesque revelation that redefines mortality itself. Blending gothic atmosphere with early science fiction, Lovecraft delivers one of his most unsettling works, perfect for fans of horror, weird fiction, and tales that linger long after the last page is turned.Zum Buch
