Jamie Guillaume is the man your mother warned you about, and South Africa's wickedest man is about to raise more than hell. Haunted by the sinister Burning One and hunted by a pack of religious extremists, Jamie's neck-deep in trouble.Who does a black magician turn to when it seems like his carefully constructed world's about to disintegrate?

What is true evil? How do you fight it? Since she was little, Lada wanted to be part of the Order of Fennarin, one of the warrior-monks who are the last bastion in a war against the demons and insurgents that threaten her island home. Yet to achieve her dream, Lada turned blood traitor, her decision leading to the death and exile of her family. Her betrayal comes to haunt her now, ten years later, when her elders demand that she oversees her brother Ailas’s trial. Lada feared him lost fore...

A boy pursues a machine across a desert; a Grabouw butcher discovers a secret ingredient to make the best sausage in town; and a seamstress seeks fabric of an unconventional nature to stitch together the garment of her dreams.The South African Horrorfest Bloody Parchment anthology, edited by Nerine Dorman, returns with a dozen chilling stories featuring finalists from the 2016 short story competition: Brett Rex Bruton, Janine Milne, Stephen Embleton, William Burger, Shaun van Rensb...

The first time Lizzie dies is a learning experience. Then again, anyone new to an ancient Egyptian reincarnation cult would have no idea what to expect once they've made it past the Hall of Judgment.Now that she's been sent back to find out why her husband from her past life is missing, the last thing Lizzie expects is to wake up in the wrong body, stuck with the mess its previous tenant left behind. In fact, she's in agreement that whoever ran Ashton Kennedy over with a big shiny ...

In a peninsula splintered among feuding clans, power runs in blood — and magic answers to only a chosen few.Linnard is a highborn son raised behind castle walls: sheltered, soft, and wholly unready for the world sharpening its knives beyond them. When the fragile truce between the clans begins to fracture, he is thrown from the practice yard into the path of a widening war.Years on the march teach him the blade, the price of loyalty, and the weight of a name he never asked ...

How long have the stars been the same?Longer than weary eyes may count.Tonight, a wanderer burns on the surface of Khusu's pool, and soon all other lights will seem pale.How many ages have rolled since the gods have seen a sail from the world beyond? The rising sun shall rob them of their isolation.My time is coming. They called me fool, but none have known my pain. The pattern shifts; neither man nor god may know its final weaving.What some call madness,...

A class outing to a botanical garden goes horribly wrong; a vampire survives the zombiepocalypse in the Mother City; a woman confronts a child’s ghost in an empty house—these are but a few of Nerine Dorman’s stories that have drifted between the cracks and lodged themselves in dusty corners.

Benedetto de Lyse can pick nearly any lock in the delta city of Ardent. As a common thief and lowly henchman of one of the city's shadow princes, his options to move up in the world are limited. Which makes his fascination with the charming Alessandra all the more tragic. She's a daughter of one of the merchant princes, and there's no way he'll ever be able to unlock her heart. Hell, she doesn't even know that he exists.Yet when a rival organisation threatens to kidnap the princess...

Jamie Guillaume is the man your mother warned you about, and South Africa’s wickedest man is about to raise more than hell. Haunted by the sinister Burning One and hunted by a pack of religious extremists, Jamie’s neck-deep in trouble.Who does a black magician turn to when it seems like his carefully constructed world’s about to disintegrate?

What is true evil? How do you fight it?Since she was little, Lada wanted to be part of the Order of Fennarin, one of the warrior-monks who are the last bastion in a war against the demons and insurgents that threaten her island home. Yet to achieve her dream, Lada turned blood traitor, her decision leading to the death and exile of her family.Her betrayal comes to haunt her now, ten years later, when her elders demand that she oversees her brother Ailas's trial. Lada feared ...

A class outing to a botanical garden goes horribly wrong; a vampire survives the zombiepocalypse in the Mother City; a woman confronts a child's ghost in an empty house—these are but a few of Nerine Dorman's stories that have drifted between the cracks and lodged themselves in dusty corners.Step closer and take a seat. There's a warm fire, and the wind is rattling the windowpanes. Stay a while; let me whisper in your ear. Dream.

A boy pursues a machine across a desert; a Grabouw butcher discovers a secret ingredient to make the best sausage in town; and a seamstress seeks fabric of an unconventional nature to stitch together the garment of her dreams.The South African Horrorfest Bloody Parchment anthology, edited by Nerine Dorman, returns with a dozen chilling stories featuring finalists from the 2016 short story competition: Brett Rex Bruton, Janine Milne, Stephen Embleton, William Burger, Shaun van Rensb...