Category: Indie Authors

Women In Horror: Lou Yardley

Women in Horror Month: Featured Author: Lou Yardley.

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Lou Yardley is an Office Gremlin by day and an author by night – it’s the best time, really, as it’s when all the monsters come out to play. “The Other’s Voice” (published in 2016) was her first novel and she has discovered that this whole “writing thing” is quite addictive. Her aim is to write at least one full length novel each year, and as many short stories as possible. 2018 saw her publish a delightfully gory werewolf tale called “Hellhound”, as well as a short stories “When the Sun Sets” and “The Forest”.
She currently lives with her partner Mark, and their eight cats in Greater London. When she’s not performing spreadsheet alchemy in her day job, Lou likes playing the banjo, reading, listening to the kind of metal where the vocalists growl at you, and watching B-movies.

Lou writes gory horror that alternates between being humorous and thought-provoking.

Hellhound.

The Hound & The Philosopher Inn looks like your average pub, with only its mouthful of a name to separate it from any other. But, secrets lurk just beyond the ales, wines, spirits and bar snacks. Deadly secrets.

Kit pops into the pub following a dismal experience at a job interview. Christine visits the same pub whilst waiting for a cab. Both of their lives will be changed forever. Both will learn the pub’s secrets.

Peter is one of these secrets. Peter Smedley is a businessman, ruthless and cunning and co-owner of The Hound & The Philosopher Inn. He is also a werewolf, hellbent on changing the status quo.

HELLHOUND will draw you into the supernatural underbelly of Greater London with the promise of blood, guts and the realisation that the monsters may be closer than you think.”

* 2018 Independent Author Network Book of the Year Awards Finalist *

When The Sun Sets.

“What would you do if the sun set… Forever? 

Lexi finds herself a prisoner in her own home after the sun sets and refuses to rise again. At first, it was an inconvenience; now it’s downright dangerous. In the four weeks since the darkness descended, humanity has all but given up. Violent crime has become part of everyday life and everyone is a potential killer. No-one can be trusted. 

But, that’s not all Lexi has to worry about. The darkness has brought something with it. 

Something deadly…”

You can find and follow Lou Yardley on FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM |GOODREADS | AMAZON | 


Women in Horror: D.J. Doyle

Women in Horror Month: Featured Author: D.J. Doyle

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D.J. Doyle was raised by pot-smoking hippies and spent her days worshipping pagan deities in the HellFire Club and her nights watching horror movies and reading horror books. She now lives with her family in a treehouse, preying on unsuspecting travellers, and where she likes nothing better than coming up with ideas for new stories and plotting her next novel. Some of this might have been made up.

She has written many subgenres of horror from comedy to extreme to sci-fi. So far, her novels are based on Irish Mythology and Folklore, intertwining tales from the past and present. Her extreme horror stories go inside the minds of serial killers, which was not an easy task.

 Celtic Curse: Newgrange

Haunted for years by dreams of death and mysterious rituals, Jess Young travels to Ireland in search of answers. Her search becomes a race against time when her friend is abducted by Celtic Druids bent on resurrecting the Morrigan; the Celtic goddess of war and death. 

Reader Review – This is a dark, gritty and fatalistic story of ancient beliefs, rituals and powers that grapple for control of the future of the world as we know it. Doyle builds the story masterfully, complete with twists that take the reader’s breath away and a sense of urgency that grows as the action escalates. 

Christ On A Bike

Father Jack and his pontification of priests are on their travels to conduct an exorcism. Demons can lurk in every corner. 
Can Father Jack overcome the demons within?

Reader Review – Why can I not give 6 stars???? This unique little short was bloody brilliant! I have to say I have never laughed as hard as I did when reading how Fr. Jack referred to his team. This terrific little short is like the show Father Ted on steroids, it has all the humor, all the sass and a s**t load of horror with enough creep factor to give you the heebeegeebees. 

Red

Blurb – A depraved past has shaped a man into the twisted serial killer he is today. His obsession with the color Red, and his lust for blood, leads to inventive ways to kill his captives. Who is his next victim, and can she be his salvation? 

Review – This is extreme horror at its finest. It was a quick throat punch with a kick to the nuts finale. Violent and gory with a truly twisted psychopath at the helm, Red is a must read.

WordyNerdBird’s note:
I have read and thoroughly enjoyed many of D.J. Doyle’s horror books. My favourite is still A Celtic Curse: Banshee, so here is a bonus link!

You can find and follow D.J. Doyle on
FACEBOOK | TWITTER | GOODREADS | WEBSITE

Women in Horror: S.K. Gregory

Women in Horror Month: Featured Author: S.K. Gregory

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S. K. Gregory writes horror, urban fantasy and paranormal romance novels. When she isn’t writing, she works as an editor and promoter for indie authors. She resides in Northern Ireland and has been writing since she was a child.

Most of the horror she writes features supernatural creatures such as demons. She recently released a collection of short stories called Chills and Thrills Tales which feature everything from werewolves to ghosts, to killer cannibal demons.

Independence Day

July 4th – The infection begins…

When a town is overrun by zombies, Rachel and her family are caught in the chaos. The virus spreads fast and Rachel is left to defend herself and her little cousin. 

Gabe and Adam are two soldiers, tasked with finding the source of the infection and stopping it. But are they already too late?

Rachel joins the soldiers in a bid to survive, but with the army ready to drop a bomb on the town, they must figure out a way to escape before they are killed. 

Can it stop the spread of the infection though?

Contains adult content.

Trickster

A Small Town. An Ancient Evil…

For acting Sheriff, Kayla Thomas, most nights consist of breaking up bar fights and locking up drunks. That is until a local businessman decides to open up the old mine and gets more than he bargained for. 

Something evil resides in Silverville and he just let it out…

When the businessman is found murdered, Kayla faces a viral like disease which turns ordinary people into murderers, tapping into their worst fears. 

Who can she trust when anyone could be infected? 

With the town snowed in, Kayla and her deputies must find the source of the virus before the roads are cleared. If this evil escapes into the world, no one is safe.

Can Kayla defeat the Trickster?

Crashed

When Crystal crashes into Jax, she is worried that she will go to jail for drunk driving, but she has bigger things to worry about. Jax may seem like a normal teen, but he is hiding a secret. Injured in the crash, his wolf side is unleashed. Crystal is in danger, will she survive the night?

You can find and follow S.K. Gregory on
FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | GOODREADS | BOOKBUB | 
WEBSITE

WordyNerdBird’s note:
I have read ‘Trickster’ and the ‘Chills and Thrills Tales’ short story series by S.K. Gregory, and found them to be enjoyably dark and disturbing.

Women in Horror: Fiona Cooke

Women in Horror Month: Featured Author: Fiona Cooke

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Fiona Cooke is a writer, editor, poet and blogger living in the Midlands of Ireland. 

Fiona has four books published on Amazon and blogs at unusualfiction.wordpress.com about her work and anything that interests or inspires her. A Tolkien obsessive, she lives for music festivals and all things horror related. She hopes to  publish her latest horror novella – Death Dues in the near future.

Fiona Cooke writes gothic horror, contemporary horror, Literary horror prose and ghost stories. She is also compiling a collection of gothic poetry for release in October 2019.

You can follow Fiona Cooke on
FACEBOOK | TWITTER | WORDPRESS | AMAZON

WordyNerdBird’s note:
I have read and enjoyed Fiona’s books, and always appreciate the dark twists and turns that her horror stories take.

Women in Horror: Faith Marlow

Women in Horror Month Featured Author: Faith Marlow

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Faith Marlow is a dark fantasy/ paranormal/ horror author with Vamptasy Publishing, an imprint of CHBB. Her stories stir emotions and explore the thin veil between human and the inhuman. Dark, yet inviting and familiar, Faith seeks to deliver chills with a sense of class, and sometimes a bit of heat. With each story, she hopes to build exposure for fellow women authors and artists who create horror.

Being Mrs. Dracula

When Valeria’s hand was given in marriage to the handsome and powerful Count Vlad Dracula, she dreamed of happiness but instead her life was filled with longing for her absent husband, their country ravaged by war. When Vlad at last returned from the battlefield he was a changed man, an alluring and dangerous creature with a thirst for her blood…and for more wives. For over one hundred years, tales of Count Dracula have haunted and seduced the imagination of readers worldwide. Now experience the story of Dracula from a new perspective, as told by the three women who knew him best. Discover their stories, their secrets, and find out what it would be to love and be loved by history’s most powerful vampire in Being Mrs. Dracula. In a marriage that spans centuries, one man shared between three women, love may be eternal but happiness is not guaranteed.

Read a customer review of Being Mrs Dracula here.

Soul Syndicate

A soul is a heavy burden to bear.
There’s a gala celebrating the city and many notable celebrities are attending, including a rock star, a socialite, a baseball player, and an entertainment reporter. Each of them is notable in their own right, and each one holding a secret.
When they all get stuck in an elevator together after the gala is over, they think that that is the worst thing that could happen to them…until the doors finally open.
The world as they knew it has gone, now they have poppies attached to their chests and are facing down soulless friends, family, and strangers, including a crotchety old woman and a former drag queen.
It’s a battle for the ultimate prize: their souls and the souls of everyone else on Earth. Can they save the world, or will these disparate individuals kill each other first?

Read a customer review of Soul Syndicate here.

Another Beautiful Nightmare: Women of Horror Anthology (Book 2)

Witches brew and demons howl
Vampires lurk and zombies scowl
Full moon rising over shadow and sin
Thick fog and whispers on the wind
Welcome to our Beautiful Nightmare…again.

WordyNerdBird’s note:
Another Beautiful Nightmare is a new release anthology by excellent authors, some of whom are featured on this blog this month. I have read and thoroughly enjoyed the first anthology and some individual works by the authors included in this new collection, so I’m very keen to read this book!

You can find and follow Faith Marlow on
FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | AMAZON | GOODREADS

Women in Horror: Lucretia Stanhope

Women in Horror Month Featured Author: Lucretia Stanhope

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Lucretia Stanhope is the award-winning author of The Elemental Witch Trials series, featuring witches and vampires in an eternal struggle for power. She also writes horror, and paranormal romance. 

Lucretia writes the full range of horror from comedy (Rather Be Fishing) to extreme (God’s Teeth) and have even dipped into erotic horror (Beating Hearts). Her fantasy series, The Elemental Witch Trials and more so the Paranormal Peacekeepers have horror elements. She finds that she just can’t seem to leave that aspect out of her writing entirely. Especially hearts, ripping them out, chewing on them… you know, romantic stuff. 

Rather Be Fishing

No matter what the options are, Mike, a rough-tongued, reclusive southerner, with little patience for people, would rather be fishing. Every time he puts his hand on his rod, the phone rings with a new job to exterminate a monster.

‘Rather Be Fishing’ follows Mike on nine such delays as he battles a range of challenging creatures. His clients find themselves plagued by everything from well-known foes like vampires and werewolves, to more rare nuisances, like moss men and chupacabra. Adding to his headaches are the not-so-supernatural clients he needs to deal with in order to get a free day on the lake. 

Feral

Why are werewolves going missing? When a frustrated alpha requests the aid of the Paranormal Peacekeepers, a new partnership is formed. Alice and Amarok are assigned to get in and get answers before the pack problems bleed into the lives of the townspeople. 

Prisoner or ambassador? As a hybrid, Alice is still struggling with what her place is at the Paranormal Peacekeepers when she is assigned her first mission and given her permanent partner. Before she can find out who is responsible for the missing werewolves, she has to commit to the job and ignore the voice in her head telling her use the mission as a chance to escape. 

Loyal ambassador and former member of the para-military. Amarok is still broken from the death of his partner when he is assigned to work with new recruit, Alice. While he will vet her, and make sure she is safely returned to the Paranormal Peacekeepers, the bond of partnership means something to him that blurs the lines of following orders. 

The mission takes them to emotional places they never imagined and tests the limits of their supernatural abilities. To solve the mystery of where the werewolves have gone they will need to redefine themselves and come together as a team. 

Necrozmancy

What if Dorothy was a necromancer and the land of Oz wasn’t so wonderful? This is dark comedy re-imagining of a beloved classic. It is a horror short, with violence and foul language.

Lucretia can be found and followed on FACEBOOK | TWITTER | AMAZON | GOODREADS

WordyNerdBird’s note:
I have read NecrOzmancy, both books in the Paranormal Detectives series, and am currently up to book 9 in the Elemental Witch Trials series. I really enjoy Stanhope’s original and compelling stories and the great writing with which they are delivered.

Women In Horror: Lily Lamb aka A. Drew

Women in Horror Month Featured Author: Lily Lamb aka A. Drew

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Today’s featured author is Lily Lamb, who also writes as A. Drew.

Lily is a Turkish-Australian multi-genre Indie author. She works as a nurse by day where she feeds her soul by caring for others. At night she tends to her imaginative alter-ego by writing tales involving love, passion, mystery, and horror.

Lily’s stories like “The Awakening” oozes hope and empathy for the future of humanity. Carefully crafted with raw realism surrounding family trauma and dynamics whilst incorporating the draw of supernatural events, giving rise to a unique horror. The story is sensitively sprinkled with elements of horror, tempered with the tenderness and longing of a youth’s search for his own identity. Like all great stories, there is a twist in it, concealed from the reader until the very end. An engaging read, touching upon social issues in a modern world.

The Dowling House (Dark Terror Series 1)  

Since 1954, the Dowling House remained unoccupied until George and Melissa purchased it, hoping to renovate it for a profit. Their dream for a new lucrative business encounters a few challenges, but they can be easily overcome….or can they? Join George and Melissa on their amazing journey into the supernatural, but be warned, it is very engaging and you might not get out alive.  

The Awakening: Prequel to Dowling House (Dark Terror Book 2)  

A near-fatal incident stirs an awakening of an adolescent’s ability to connect with entities from the deep and dark hidden world, that which is beyond our natural awareness. A world of lost souls, both good and bad, all trying to reach out to the boy now that they are aware of his surreal capability. 
Coming to terms with his psychic ability that he neither asked for nor knew how to wield, he is unwittingly drawn into solving a grisly mystery from beyond the grave. This will become the greatest test of his faith in himself. 
Will he survive?  #Supernatural #Thiriller #Horror 

Born Into Chaos

 Many centuries ago, he was born into a chaotic world and was shunned by Gods and Mortals. Shunned by the gods and the humans because of his lineage. He lived in isolation and filled with shame. As his resentment grew he no longer cared for anyone but lived by his own rules.

One night, a feeling of wonderment reached every cell of his being. He didn’t understand his elation, until he sensed the gentle beat which beckoned him…giving him the will to wake up from a deep sleep. He sensed it was his last chance at redemption. It would lead to a deceptive fight for his sanity and future. Living has never been more deadly and costly… or fulfilling.

Born Into Chaos is a dark fantasy story, sprinkled with horror.

Lily can be found and followed online via
FACEBOOK | TWITTER | AMAZON | BOOKBUB |

WordyNerdBird’s note:
I’ve read all of Lily’s books, and thoroughly enjoyed them. Her story lines are original, her characters are relatable and realistic, and each of the books provides a great horror/dark read. They come highly recommended!