Most people don’t realize how deeply ingrained folklore is to our daily lives. Superstitious habits like tossing spilled salt over the shoulder seem silly now, but had grave implications a hundred or more years ago. I love books that draw lines between folklore and reality, that weave tales laced with superstition, especially through the lens of modern issues. Stories like these have always helped me to not only understand myself better, but the world around me. The things people do and say aren’t nearly as important as why. Folklore, like changeling stories, I’ve found, is the key to human understanding.
Little Darlingswas the first book I’d read in a long time that made me feel seen.
When Lauren came home from the hospital after delivering twins only to find her life had not become as picture perfect as she was led to believe, I felt a keen connection. Told with visceral desperation, Lauren’s story is one we can all relate to—a story of self-doubt and a mad scramble for validation.
I have a crazy theory. I believe that the worlds and characters created by writers are much more than just a product of someone’s imagination. We all possess unlimited creative power (something that most of us take for granted). So what if I told you that all the characters, worlds, realities, and dimensions, ever created in writing or other forms of art, came to life somewhere in this endless Universe? That’s what I write about. Fascinating worlds and realms that exist out there. Lucky travelers that were granted a chance to visit those worlds. It’s what I’m most drawn to as a reader. Because it makes me one of those lucky travelers.
Set in a small English village by an ancient forest, this book is unlike any story I have ever read.
And after reading it, you’ll probably never look at forests the same way again.
Masterfully written, filled with intricate immersive descriptions, The Forest takes you on a wild ride, dark and rather spooky at times. The ancient forests reveals its old tales and legends to the main characters, and we get to watch the story of an old curse unfold along with them. The curse that affected generations. The story that is full of secrets, betrayal, countless, heartbreaking moments; yet at the same time, the light of hope and faith shines through, all the way to the beautiful tear-jerking ending.
"I met a man made of leaves with roots for hair, who looked at me with eyes that burnt like fire."
An impenetrable forest that denies entry to all but a select few. A strange and isolated village whose residents never leave. A curse that reappears every generation, leaving death and despair in its wake.
What is lurking at the heart of the Forest? When the White Hind of legend is seen, the villagers know three of its young people will be left dead, victims of a triangle of love, murder and suicide.
My first book from Hall's Dorin Toth historical horror series but by no means my last. The world we are plunged into in Promise is grimy, war-ravaged and harsh. Toth is investigating a supernatural affliction on a town whose roads are out of bounds and, soon after his arrival, the evil that resides in this place begins to reveal itself. The main character, as well as the supporting cast, are fantastic. The sense of place and time are wonderfully, vividly realised. The research which has evidently gone into the story must have been enormous, but the value of that research is clear to see from the very first torchlit pages.
Two plagues rage in the countryside. One plague is smallpox, a torturous disease that ravages the body, turning homes into tombs. The other ailment is more mysterious, a scourge of occult origin, a plague that ravages the mind and consumes the soul. Here the deepest horrors are made manifest. Here the dead walk the shadowed wood. Here a spirit and its brood of changelings emerge from the earth to feed. Into this malefic maelstrom enters Dorin Toth, famed occultist and investigator. Accompanied by his faithful greyhound, Vinegar Tom, Toth must find the source of the eldritch epidemic. Will…
I can't stop thinking about this book! It's difficult to describe, but it perfectly captures this sense of dread we all felt at least once in our life when our mundane, everyday reality feels slightly off, like some other world is encroaching upon it, moving too close, its boundaries
scraping against the thin layer of fabric that separates us from the awful things
that dwell just beyond our reach.
The Changeling is a story about
strange disappearances, about things and feelings we can rarely explain, and
about what happens when the veil is pulled back from our eyes for the first
time, allowing us to see things as they are, however terrifying they are.
LaValle
takes a chilling metaphor, turns it on its head, and wraps it in ingenious
layers of social commentary on racism, sexism, and power. It's an absolutely
fascinating read!
When Apollo Kagwa was just a child, his father disappeared, leaving him with recurring nightmares and a box labelled 'Improbabilia'. Now a successful book dealer, Kagwa has a family of his own after meeting and falling in love with Emma, a librarian. The two marry and have a baby: so far so happy-ever-after.
However, as the pair settle into their new lives as parents, exhaustion and anxiety start to take their toll. Emma's behaviour becomes increasingly erratic, until one day she commits an unthinkable act, setting Apollo on a wild and fantastical quest through a suddenly otherworldly New York, in…
Most people don’t realize how deeply ingrained folklore is to our daily lives. Superstitious habits like tossing spilled salt over the shoulder seem silly now, but had grave implications a hundred or more years ago. I love books that draw lines between folklore and reality, that weave tales laced with superstition, especially through the lens of modern issues. Stories like these have always helped me to not only understand myself better, but the world around me. The things people do and say aren’t nearly as important as why. Folklore, like changeling stories, I’ve found, is the key to human understanding.
Bone China, on the surface, is a book about a woman looking to start over, but she is quickly pulled into a world of fantastical lore and superstition.
LikeThe Good People, a child who is other sits at the center, who forces Hester to confront everything she thought she knew about herself. I am always fascinated by books in which the past directly influences the present, lines drawn between choices and events.
Reading Bone China made me think about my own past, the influence it had on my present, and the kind of future each choice might bring.
A Daphne Du Maurier-esque chiller set on the mysterious Cornish coast, from the award-winning author of The Silent Companions.
'Du Maurier-tastic' GUARDIAN
'Deliciously sinister' HEAT
'A clever, creepy read' SUNDAY EXPRESS
Consumption has ravaged Louise Pinecroft's family, leaving her and her father alone and heartbroken.
But Dr Pinecroft has plans for a revolutionary experiment: convinced that sea air will prove to be the cure his wife and children needed, he arranges to house a group of prisoners suffering from the same disease in the cliffs beneath his new Cornish home.
Forty years later, Hester Why arrives at Morvoren House to…
My love of realms and fantastic imagination comes from growing up in the backwoods of Alabama. The woods inspired me and beckoned me to dance and build and imagine among the trees. I created characters and worlds and could be a witch, a fairy, a troll, or a girl lost in time. I owe my love of creating characters to the woods that built me and one day I will go back and thank them for the beautiful life they gave me.
Trylle is the story of a girl caught between realms. She discovers the mystery of her birthright and her mother's hatred of her. She is forced into an unknown future clinging to a traumatic childhood and faces dangers at every turn.
This book fed my soul and took me along with Wendy into realms unknown. Wendys inner dialouge and determination reminded me of myself and I related to her in magical ways.
Enter the magical world of the Trylle with the full e-book collection: Switched, Torn, and Ascend from New York Times bestselling author Amanda Hocking.
SWITCHED
When Wendy Everly was six years old, her mother was convinced she was a monster and tried to kill her. Eleven years later, Wendy discovers she is a changeling who was switched at birth. Now she is about to journey to a magical world she never knew existed, one that's both beautiful and frightening. Nothing is as it seems
TORN
Wendy knew her life would never be the same. Now she learns there is more…
I write and read werewolf novels because I love the blend of human and animal. Alphas make the existing dominance struggles of humans more palpable. Packs contain the best and worst parts of found families. Mate bonds are romance turned to maximum. And, as someone who prefers to be outside and barefoot whenever possible, running through the forest in wolf form is the perfect fantasy break.
It's hard to go wrong with any book by this husband and wife team, who fill every book with mystery, adventure, and heart. But Bayou Moon is definitely the best bet for fans of werewolves. Plus, the Edge is an intriguing world where characters shop at Walmart one day then battle magic the next. To ice the cake, the series is easy to dip into since there's a different set of main characters and storylines in each book. Give it a try, and if this isn't your favorite check out the feline shifter world of Magic Bites.
The Edge lies between worlds, on the border between the Broken, where people shop at Walmart and magic is a fairytale–and the Weird, where blueblood aristocrats rule, changelings roam, and the strength of your magic can change your destiny…
Cerise Mar and her unruly clan are cash poor but land rich, claiming a large swathe of the Mire, the Edge swamplands between the state of Louisiana and the Weird. When her parents vanish, her clan’s long-time rivals are suspect number one.
But all is not as it seems. Two nations of the Weird are waging a cold war fought by…
I've been reading Horror and Dark Fantasy books since I was twelve and prefer this genre over any other. The depths of the human psyche explored in these genres expose the core of storytelling itself and the themes that make the best stories really come alive!
For Fantasy readers who wonder why goblins are always at war with humans.
The three books together are epic in scale and the friendship between the leader of the humans and one of the old wise ones among the goblins will be awesome for Dark Fantasy readers who recognize that goblin culture is very different from humans.
Some recognizable mythology is worked into the story and makes perfect sense, especially the purpose of changelings. Also there are dragons, especially in the second book. A strange symbiotic relationship between dragons and goblins is very original and the diversity of different types of goblins makes this Fantasy world one of a kind!
The cult Fantasy book that started it all!Discover a dark world where legends begin and natural magic reignsThey say that the earth shifts on its axis every 200,000 years...When the planet shifted, most of the surface dwellers were destroyed. The few pockets of survivors were left without technology and little supplies, but they built a simple feudal society on the rubble of the city.Meanwhile the creatures in the deep places moved closer to the surface, taking over the old underground transport tunnels abandoned by the humans. Their own Shamanic way of life had survived only by staying out of sight…
Julian Friedmann is co-owner of the Blake Friedmann Literary Agency and was the publisher of ScriptWriter magazine. At the agency, he has represented both book and scriptwriters for over 40 years and also acts as Executive Producer for and with clients. Julian is a TEDx speaker and is the author of the Make Money Screenwriting series, co-author of The Insider’s Guide to Writing for Television, and editor of two volumes on Writing Long-Running Television series.
He has taught at universities and film schools all over the world. He designed the MA in Television Scriptwriting at De Montfort University, and PILOTS (for developing long-running television series) for the EU MEDIA Programme.
Lucy is a screenwriter and script consultant and has created a whole eco-system around supporting writers, with frequent blogs, courses, newsletters, and consistently good advice. It is almost like having a writing partner.
It may be drama features that win the most awards and kudos from critics, but in the current marketplace you're unlikely to sell a drama screenplay in the way you would a genre script.
Breaking down the nuts and bolts of what differentiates drama from genre, Writing and Selling Drama Screenplays will consider questions such as:
What is 'emotional truth'?
What separates stereotypical and authentic characters?
What are the different types of drama feature screenplay?
How do we make these films, when there's 'no money'?
What are the distribution opportunities for dramas?
Exploring the ways in which drama and authenticity…
Full disclosure: I am a fantasy world nerd! I treasure my visits to these imaginary places, and I love imagining how the world goes on after the last page. I’ve spent hours pondering what would happen in Narnia after the invention of the internal combustion engine, or in Middle Earth when populations reach levels requiring building codes and infrastructure planning. (I told you I was a nerd!) Advancing fantasy technologies creates new problems, new solutions, and new parallels to our own time. The books on this list redefine our assumptions of what a fantasy world is, and what stories they have to share.
I’m a sucker for fantasy blended with industrial strife. In Michael Swanwick’s Jane, we see a character trapped in an industrialized fairy-world, forced to work in a factory building bio-mechanical dragons. The Iron Dragon’s Daughter blends biting social commentary with a thoughtful coming-of-age narrative, resulting in a powerful story that’s accumulated a stack of award wins and nominations.
Named a NEW YORK TIMES notable book of 1994, THE IRON DRAGON'S DAUGHTER tells the heartrending story of a changeling child who is kidnapped to a realm of malls and machines and enslaved in a vast, infernal factory. Ultimately she escapes and attempts to educate herself about this alien world, while being tormented by visions of the life she was denied.
