Black Gate

Nick Setchfield is a writer and features editor for SFX, the British genre media magazine. His first novel is The War in the Dark, a moody thriller that blends dark fantasy with post-war noir, and explores a hidden world in the heart of Cold War Europe. I like the cover, and the spooky-spy vibe. Here’s the description.

Europe. 1963. And the true Cold War is fought on the borders of this world, at the edges of the light.

When the assassination of a traitor trading with the enemy goes terribly wrong, British Intelligence agent Christopher Winter must flee London. In a tense alliance with a lethal, mysterious woman named Karina Lazarova, he’s caught in a quest for hidden knowledge from centuries before, an occult secret written in a language of fire. A secret that will give supremacy to the nation that possesses it.

Racing against the Russians, the chase takes them from the demon-haunted Hungarian border to treasure-laden tunnels beneath Berlin, from an impossible house in Vienna to a bomb-blasted ruin in Bavaria where something unholy waits, born of the power of white fire and black glass . . .

It’s a world of treachery, blood and magic. A world at war in the dark.

Ian White at Starburst previewed the book back in April, saying

It’s 1963 and British Intelligence agent Christopher Winter is on a quest to obtain a powerful occult secret before it falls into the wrong nation’s hands… the Russians are the least of Winter’s problems because, between demon possession, runes bloodily inscribed on the body, photographs in which he doesn’t have a face, and monsters who assume the features of people Winter knew (and loved) who are now long since dead, our hero is about to discover that the war in the dark even rages within daylight… it’s basically a more stylish reboot of The Devil Rides Out… It’s a terrific adventure, and let’s hope there’s more like this to come.

The War in the Dark was published by Titan Books on July 17, 2018. It is 405 pages. The cover artist is uncredited. Read a brief excerpt at Ginger Nuts of Horror.

I was out to dinner with the delightful Patty Templeton last week — continuing a tour of the best ramen restaurants in Chicago — and when I got in her car I almost sat on a copy of a curious little book titled The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror. While Patty fearlessly navigated Chicago traffic to get me to the train station, I spent a few minutes figuring out what the heck it was. And what it was was a collection of contemporary horror stories with a whole lot of accolades on the back (and plenty more online, like BuzzFeed‘s “The 33 Most Exciting New Books Of 2018” and Publishers Weekly‘s “Most Anticipated Books of Spring 2018”). I don’t know why I didn’t know about it already, but this is why it pays to have cool friends. And here I am, telling you about it. Because I’m your cool friend.

From Mallory Ortberg comes a collection of darkly mischievous stories based on classic fairy tales. Adapted from the beloved Children’s Stories Made Horrific series, The Merry Spinster takes up the trademark wit that endeared Ortberg to readers of both The Toast and the best-selling debut Texts From Jane Eyre. The feature has become among the most popular on the site, with each entry bringing in tens of thousands of views, as the stories proved a perfect vehicle for Ortberg’s eye for deconstruction and destabilization. Sinister and inviting, familiar and alien all at the same time, The Merry Spinster updates traditional children’s stories and fairy tales with elements of psychological horror, emotional clarity, and a keen sense of feminist mischief.

Readers of The Toast will instantly recognize Ortberg’s boisterous good humor and uber-nerd swagger: those new to Ortberg’s oeuvre will delight in this collection’s unique spin on fiction, where something a bit mischievous and unsettling is always at work just beneath the surface.

Unfalteringly faithful to its beloved source material, The Merry Spinster also illuminates the unsuspected, and frequently, alarming emotional complexities at play in the stories we tell ourselves, and each other, as we tuck ourselves in for the night.

Bed time will never be the same.

The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror was published by Holt Paperbacks on March 13, 2018. It is 208 pages, priced at $17 in trade paperback and $9.99 for the digital version. See all our recent New Treasures here.

NEW READS!

The Road to Neozon is the latest collection of short stories by author Anna Tambour (Smoke, Paper, Mirrors; Crandolin; Spotted Lily; Monterra’s Deliciosa and Other Tales), and the latest publication of Obsidian Sky books.

Author Paul Di Filipo once wrote that Tambour will “register Richter-powerful on the delighted synapses of all patrons of weird, funny fabulism.” Her new book, Road to Neozon, invites “those who lack caution” to “proceed,” and offers its pages “to those who conjure. To those who wander. To those with a hopeful eye for things unseen.”

Neozon showcases eleven “distinctly Tambourian (7 special to this collection), typically slippery tales to celebrate life’s wondrous unease, and its unerring ability to attract the attention of forces that grin at the notion of human control.”

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