S.J.Budd

  Nim is a master swimmer floating on waves of wet hope. His penance is to swim and carry, but his heart is held onboard a grieving ship in the aquamarine prison of her eyes. She is his sentence and he is hers. Will a mysterious humanoid jellyfish reunite the star-crossed lovers? This book contains graphic sex and violence, and is not suitable for readers under the age of 18. Praise: “Punishment by Hope is a wildly poetic and surreal odyssey through sexual obsession, murder and retribution, set in a bioluminescent Dantesque world of fiery and aquatic horrors.”—Barbie Wilde, Author (The Venus Complex, Voices of the Damned) and Actress (Hellbound: Hellraiser II) “A dreamlike seascape of desperate wishes, and a nightmarish vision of love’s life and death, this is a powerful, haunting tale.”—Tim Lebbon, Author of Eden “Punishment by Hope is a vivid and erotic fantasy mystery. Hofstatter weaves a memorable spell.”—James Bennett, Author of Chasing Embers “Punishment by Hope ebbs and flow...

  A quartet of established female horror writers from both sides of the Atlantic have joined supernatural forces to bring you - Daughters of Darkness - a publication from the women-run indie press Black Angel. These stories will take you across the centuries, from Whitechapel to New Orleans, from dark humour to Gothic, weaving the weird with the macabre. Within these pages, meet the myriad monsters these female writers have conjured, letting them loose to roam and cast long shadows. Beware - this is only the beginning... Daughters of Darkness was one of those anthologies that I read all too quickly as I couldn't wait to see what the next tale would be about. In these pages we have four female writers all hugely talented but all able to stand out with their tales of darkness.I had so much reaidng this and really hope there will be a Daughters of Darkness 2!!!!! Theresa Derwin starts off the anthology with her offering of 5 dark tales and poetry - Freaks and Geeks, Whitechapel Transf...

  Emily has been obsessed with the occult since her mum died, collecting every pagan curio and oddity she can find. Then on the night of her 16th birthday, her father gives her a piece of real magic; a beating human heart inside a wooden box. If the gift weren't strange enough, his instructions are even stranger; You'll need to feed it to keep it alive.  The box needs her blood, and in exchange, shows her wondrous and rousing things. Desires she never knew existed. But as Emily's father lapses into addiction, as she grows weak with blood loss she realizes all too late the box has desires of its own.  The Maker's Box is a contemporary dark fairy tale of magic, obsession and madness. The Maker's Box by David Barclay is a very dark tale about a dark heart. It is the second novella to be released by Aphotic Realm the home of dark and sinister fiction. I really enjoyed reading Nightcrawler by P.A.Sheppard and knew I was in for something really dark! On her 16th birthday ...