<h3>Death. A permanent end. Termination of life.</h3> Some embrace death as if reuniting with a long-missing old friend. Others fear it, try to outwit it, hide from it. And then there are those who are fascinated by it, mesmerized by it, chasing it down, taunting it, challenging it. In Ink Stains, Volume 1, eight authors explore death in all its facets in a collection of short stories that range from fantastical to gritty to supernaturally creepy. Join them in a journey through the darker side of fiction. Ink Stains, Volume 1 features stories by Michelle K. Bujnowski, Eddie Cantrell, John S. McFarland, Steph Minns, A. O'Neal Tamela J. Ritter, Aaron Vlek, and J. S. Watts.

Ink Stains: A Dark Fiction Literary Anthology

Literature & Fiction

Vlek, Aaron

McFarland, John S.

Ritter, Tamela J.

Watts, J. S.

Minns, Steph

Cantrell, Eddie

Bujnowski, Michelle K

O'Neal, A.

Short Stories & Anthologies

Dark Alley Press

Welcome to Gehenna &amp; Hinnom. Where things go bump in the night and dimensions fold within one another. Beasts lurk in shadows and nightmares take physical form. In this tome, you will find the most exciting horror and science fiction from the best up-and-coming authors in the genres. In this special double-sized issue, new fiction from P.L. McMillan, Max D. Stanton, Matthew Penwell, John S. McFarland, Ibai Canales, Charles D. Shell, Joanna Costello, Konstantine Paradias, Hugh McStay, Jeff Johnson, and Mark Mellon await your eyes and minds. An interview with dark fiction's most promising young voice, author T.E. Grau, awaits to compel your thoughts towards the macabre and morose. Last but not least, reviews for Neill Blomkamp's experimental short film series, OATS STUDIOS, request your undivided attention and opinions. Embrace the Unknown.

Hinnom Magazine Issue 002

Dunphey, C. P.

McMillan, P.L.

Stanton, Max D.

Penwell, Matthew

Canales, Ibai

Shell, Charles D.

Costello, Joanna

Genre Fiction

Gehenna Publishing House

Evan Nestor gasped when he realized the creature was slowly turning toward him. He had no place to run. Before he could move, the great face was looking at him. It's mouth was wide and thin-lipped and opened a little, showing several white, flat teeth. The eyebrow ridges were heavy like a gorilla's, and the top of its head was pointed. And sitting on the broad, flat nose was a pair of heart-shaped, bright pink sunglasses.

Annette a Big, Hairy Mom

Children's Books

Animals

Goose River Press

The year is 1882, and Perdita Badon-Reed, a sheltered Boston esthete, has just made the most momentous decision of her life. Having spurned a respectable suitor, she finds herself on a riverboat on the Mississippi River, steaming toward the strange French Colonial village of Ste. Odile to accept a teaching position at a girls' academy and pursue her dream of becoming a stone sculptor. Of the many hardships that await her, the one she least expects looms in the form of Orien Bastide, an incubus who has conducted his seductive and parasitic existence for two millennia. Perdita soon realizes the full horror of Bastide's intentions, and that she alone has the will to stop him. In order to defeat the treacherous Bastide and save future generations from his advances, Perdita must abandon her personal ambitions and, perhaps, her life.

The Black Garden

Patrice Press

The Dark Walk Forward

Dark Owl Publishing

"John McFarland has written a grand opera of a tale." ~ Elizabeth Donald, author of The Cold Ones, Nocturne, and Setting Suns\n"Richly imagined, this is an intricate, intelligent and absorbing tale of faith and sacrifice." ~ John Linwood Grant, author of Where All is Night, and Starless\nThe small town of St. Odile is about to host a new visitor.\nPerdita Badon-Reed has come to this place to hone her skills as a sculptress, but also to escape a life behind her, including a fiancé, that she isn’t sure she wants. For a woman in 1882, this is a huge risk, but her strong will determines she must take it. She believes staying at the home of her uncle, Father Condell, and taking on a commissioned sculpture will help clear her emotions and find meaning to her need for escape.\nBut all is not as it seems in this quiet community. Its secrets are dark and deep, and Perdita finds herself entangling in them. A young woman sentenced to death attaches herself to Perdita, an orphaned girl at the convent sees visions and illustrates them with a talent beyond her years, and a persistent strangeness hovers as to why Perdita’s fiancé’s sister lost her life in connection to this town. But the most mysterious of all is Orien Bastide, an extremely wealthy man who seems to be a benefactor to St. Odile but is an enigma, nearly a legend, to the residents.\nPerdita’s embroilment becomes an urgency to help those around her, to find answers to perplexing questions that continue to mystify. Her persistence and strength preserve, but will they be enough to save her from an unimaginable horror waiting in the shadows?\nJohn S. McFarland successfully weaves together history and fiction to create this gothic mystery novel, a tale with a chilling narrative sure to pique your interest while slipping beneath your skin. St. Odile will stay with you long after you’ve left the confines of the pages… come and learn why.\n"...McFarland sets the mood early and keeps you immersed in it until the end." ~ Debbie Monterrey, KMOX Radio

Annette: A Big, Hairy Mom

Mythology & Folk Tales

"John S. McFarland wrote with poetic brilliance while creating intriguing and sympathetic characters. A truly masterful story." Nella Warrent, author of Sin Full and Time Thief 1757. "You are an herbalist, a doctor, a midwife, and a seer, some have said. A protector of women." So is described Euphrosine, Meres des Sicles, the Mother of Centuries. Her age is unknown, but she knows her purpose: to protect women from the demon Balphoroth, a monstrous being who infects the bodies of men to carry out his lustful desires against innocent women. Euphrosine's journal from 1757 details her time in November of 1348 through January of 1349, her destiny leading her to gain the trust of young Seraphica to save her life. Back then, she knew the ancient demon was influencing Orien Bastide, an affluent man who was grateful for the immortal life he'd been granted, even though it was turning him into a living corpse. 1894. "I hoped you would not have the sight, but you do... and stronger than anyone before you." Anatolia Montes is a young woman gifted-or perhaps cursed-with prophetic abilities. In 1888, she was at St. Perpetua's school for girls in 1888 in Ste. Odile when she met Perdita Badon-Reed. Perdita sacrificed her own life but sadly failed to save Anatolia from Bastide, who has now attacked the young woman as his newest victim. Anatolia must now return to Ste. Odile to meet with Moira Keane Parnell, Perdita's dear friend. Moira has found Euphrosine's journal and believes Anatolia's life is at stake. When Anatolia discovers herself pregnant, she knows she is the key to stopping Bastide's evil reign and that she must find him. Her desperate search leads her to South Carolina, to meeting the Gullah people who understand the curse and can lead her on her journey. She must find the strength to get to Bastide, stop him, and banish the demon Balphoroth forever. McFarland has woven two time periods together in this gothic historical novel, the sequel to his highly praised work The Black Garden. Come learn the fate of the loving Anatolia, the history of the enigmatic Euphrosine, and how both women's lives will entwine to hopefully save countless women to come. "Masterfully written with the perfect blend of historical setting, folklore, suspense, and horror. I couldn't put it down." D. L. Andersen, author of Across Unstill Waters and That Far Distance Country

The Mother of Centuries

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Books by McFarland, John S.