Indie Spotlight Part 1: October 2020
There’s much to savor in this roundup of self-published horror and paranormal titles, including a sentient river, a rampaging Krampus, and ghosts from the past.
Awakening Macbeth
Carmen Amato
ISBN 978-1-5432-0980-8
About the book: Professor Brodie Macbeth is tormented by nightmarish scenes pulled from the pages of her deceased father’s British history books.
Author statement: “My grandmother gave me the idea for this book. When we granddaughters had children of our own, she cautioned us to always wake a child gently, never abruptly.‘The soul wanders while we sleep,’ she said. ‘It needs time to come back to us before we’re fully awake.’ But if evil steals a soul, what happens next? My grandmother never told me that part.”
The Black Parade
Kyoko M.
ASIN B00E3HLHIK
About the book: When Jordan Amador accidentally kills someone who can communicate with ghosts, her mistake comes with serious repercussions. She has to help 100 souls cross over to the afterlife. If she fails, her own soul won’t end up in the good place.
Author statement: “I am very passionate about diversity and inclusion, so I decided to focus the story on an Afro-Latina waitress and seer who has her own emotional and psychological damage on top of being responsible for the souls of the dead.”
Blind the Eyes (Threads of Dreams #1)
K.A. Wiggins
ASIN B07CSHPBGH
About the book: Seventeen-year-old Cole has to save a city plagued by monsters.
Author statement: “I meant to write a fun, action-packed YA fantasy, I really did. Instead, I got climate apocalypse, folkloric soul-sucking monsters, haunted nightmares, and repressive authoritarian regimes staffed by traumatized workers. But, hey, at least I added magic?”
Chapel Street
Sean Paul Murphy
ISBN 978-1-946920-97-3
About the book: A young man faces a demonic force that he believes is responsible for the generational suicides in his family.
Author statement: “I grew up in an actual haunted house in Northeast Baltimore and experienced the tragic suicides of two of my siblings. A few years ago my mother asked me if I thought the entity in the house could be responsible, in part, for their deaths. Chapel Street is my response to her question.”
Charleston Green
Stephanie Alexander
ASIN B08562Z171
About the book: An artist and clairvoyant recovering from a painful divorce moves into a historic house in Charleston, S.C. Unfortunately, the ghosts of the former owners are the primary residents.
Author statement: “My own experience rebuilding my life after divorce inspired Charleston Green. The novel incorporates metaphorical magical realism with everyday life to present a fresh, relatable take on life-changing transitions and personal growth.”
Crazy, Sexy, Ghoulish
G.G. Andrew
ASIN B015BMLPUA
About the book: Romance and scares collide as a haunted house worker encounters the now-hot horror nerd she bullied in middle school.
Author statement: “My book is a love letter to the haunted houses I visited growing up in the ’80s and ’90s.”
The Forger and the Thief
Kirsten McKenzie
ASIN B08B3T8Y9V
About the book: In this tense historical thriller set in Florence, five strangers each carry a dangerous secret. Meanwhile, an apocalyptic flood threatens to reveal everything.
Author statement: “After a family visit to Florence, where we stumbled upon an exhibition detailing the damage of the 1966 catastrophic floods, I knew I had my storyline. I just never expected to be writing the Arno River as one of my characters.”
