From the first time I saw the sitcoms of the 1960s that featured paranormal characters like Bewitched, The Munsters, and I Dream of Jeannie, I have been fascinated by what it would be like to have supernatural powers like telekinesis, teleportation, shapeshifting, and clairvoyance. When I started writing fictional novels, after a long career of writing fact-based scientific articles for the academic press, I knew the genre of paranormal fantasy was the one that I wanted to contribute to. Every one of my novels thus far has included characters with supernatural powers like those that I observed and studied on television as a child.
I love this book because it is about a family of witches, one of my favorite paranormal subjects, originating in old New Orleans, the creepiest, coolest city in America. Second, it is Anne Rice, my favorite author, bar none.
The protagonist, Rowan, is a doctor who learns that her superb medical skills are due in part to the supernatural abilities she has inherited from the Mayfair witches.
As a neuroanatomist, I can imagine what it would have been like if I had powers like telekinesis and clairvoyance and how that could have helped me in my brain mapping research as a PhD student. I also love the fact that the Mayfair witches owe their powers to a sexy male-presenting immortal being, Lasher, who is both lover and fiend.
SOON TO BE A MAJOR TV SHOW, FROM THE NETWORK BEHIND THE WALKING DEAD
'[W]hen I found Rice's work I absolutely loved how she took that genre and (...) made [it] feel so contemporary and relevant' Sarah Pinborough, bestselling author of Behind Her Eyes
'[Rice wrote] in the great tradition of the gothic' Ramsey Campbell, bestselling author of The Hungry Moon
On the veranda of a great New Orleans house, now faded, a mute and fragile woman sits rocking. And the witching hour begins...
Demonstrating once again her gift for spellbinding storytelling and the creation of legend, Anne Rice makes…
I love that a normal human being, Ig Perrish (awesome character name), wakes up one morning and notices he is physically transforming into a supernatural being. The progressive growth of the horns (excellent anatomical descriptions of their extension from the cranium) coinciding with his gradual distaste and rejection of all things Judeo-Christian is brilliant.
I also love that Joe Hill turned the idea of what a demon is on its head, that they are not inherently evil but become that way because they can detect the hypocrisy of human thought, which drives them mad. They are so mad that they want to harm the very beings that tell them one thing but believe in another. Something I believe is responsible for all that is truly evil in the natural world.
Now a major Hollywood film starring Daniel Radcliffe: read it first, if you dare ...
Ignatius Perrish spent the night drunk and doing terrible things. He woke up the next morning with one hell of a hangover, a raging headache ... and a pair of horns growing from his temples.
Once, Ig lived the life of the blessed: born into privilege, the second son of a renowned American musician, and the younger brother of a rising late-night TV star, Ig had security and wealth and a place in his community. Ig had it all, and more - he had the…
I love this novel because it features a witch and a vampire in a romantic and sexually active relationship—so hot! Since I was a little boy, I have dreamed that these extraordinary organisms could live in harmonious familial relationships, a la The Munsters.
I also love that both protagonists are academics and scientists, blending the laws of the natural world with the metaphysical, as I do in my own writing. When the scholar discovers an ancient alchemy book, it thrusts her into her familial legacy of witchcraft, and she becomes a type of savior for both the witch and vampire races.
The theme of discovering hibernating supernatural powers! Deborah Harkness remembered my name a year later when I attended a signing for her second book. Color me impressed.
In this tale of passion and obsession, Diana Bishop, a young scholar and a descendant of witches, discovers a long-lost and enchanted alchemical manuscript, Ashmole 782, deep in Oxford's Bodleian Library. Its reappearance summons a fantastical underworld, which she navigates with her leading man, vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont.
Poe's short stories The Tell-Tale Heart, The Black Cat, and The Cask of Amontillado greatly influenced me when I was young. While my peers were reading The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew mysteries, I was engrossed in the beautiful and twisted world of Poe.
Although it is questionable if there are any supernatural abilities exhibited in these tales, I found that the common theme of concealing a crime within household structures like floorboards or a wall inflicted a psychological trauma on me that I never completely recovered from.
I am grateful for this impression as it ignited my interest in psychology, leading to neuropsychology and finally to my doctoral studies in neuroscience. This theme of “hiding in plain sight” inspires me when writing about supernatural abilities.
Edgar Allan Poe is credited with having pioneered the short story, having perfected the tale of psychological horror, and having revolutionised modern poetics. The entirety of Poe's body of imaginative work encompasses detective tales, satires, fables, fantasies, science fiction, verse dramas, and some of the most evocative poetry in the English language. This omnibus edition collects all of Poe's fiction and poetry in a single volume, including The Fall of the House of Usher," "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Pit and the Pendulum,." "The Raven," "Annabel Lee," the full-length novel "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket", and much more.…
Lasher continues the Mayfair Witches saga by developing one of my favorite themes in speculative fiction: What’s “apparently” right or wrong, good or evil? This premise fascinates and charges me when I write my paranormal fantasies.
I love that Rowan falls for Lasher’s enchantment in the beginning when he promises her extraordinary powers by sharing his physical self sexually with her, but then the story pivots to the immortal itself and its end game. What started out as a dream became a nightmare.
I love when paranormal fantasy goes off the rails, and the happy ending is not necessarily realized in the story. It is a betrayal of the characters in your book to give them a happy ending when the circumstances don’t warrant it.
SOON TO BE A MAJOR TV SHOW, FROM THE NETWORK BEHIND THE WALKING DEAD
'[W]hen I found Rice's work I absolutely loved how she took that genre and (...) made [it] feel so contemporary and relevant' Sarah Pinborough, bestselling author of Behind Her Eyes
'[Rice wrote] in the great tradition of the gothic' Ramsey Campbell, bestselling author of The Hungry Moon
At the centre of Anne Rice's brilliant novel, the beautiful Rowan Mayfair, queen of the coven, must flee from the darkly brutal, yet irresistible demon known as Lasher. With a dreamlike power, this wickedly seductive entity draws us through…
Elias Doever, accused of being a warlock by the residents of the Village of Bedfordshire, Massachusetts in 1692, is executed via the “ducking chair” into a well of holy water. A force erupts from his chest, killing him and escaping the well. Three hundred years later, the force from the well, Beladon, contacts Dorian Leeves, a young man with supernatural abilities, and informs him that he possesses the same powers as Elias Doever. Dorian will accomplish his ascension into powers beyond his belief if he can re-unite the “three bloods” of Elias Doever, himself, and Beladon. However, the body was buried in secret unconsecrated ground. Dorian’s new love interest, Toby Blessing, creates complications for his quest to find the skeletal remains of Elias Doever for his ascension. Dorian must decide whether to abandon his ascension and power or embrace a life with Toby in the present day.
He’s riddled with guilt. She’s annoyed with the status quo.
The death of a crime boss’s daughter forces Detective Neil Caldera to leave NYC. He seeks refuge in the tranquil embrace of a small town, where he finds himself entangled in the labyrinth of a teenage girl’s murder. Tess Fleishman’s pale skin and extreme weight loss portrays a disease she wants others to see. While inside, a compulsion for Neil fuels her passion to have him or destroy him.
He's riddled with guilt. She's annoyed with the status quo. The death of a crime boss's daughter forces Detective Neil Caldera to leave NYC. He seeks refuge in the tranquil embrace of a small town, where he finds himself entangled in the labyrinth of a teenage girl's murder. Tess Fleishman's pale skin and extreme weight loss portrays a disease she wants others to see. While inside, a compulsion for Neil fuels her passion to have him or destroy him. As Neil delves into the heart of the town's secrets, will truth deliver solace? Or will Tess prevail?
