Thank you for visiting us for our Dark Divinations Book Events. Did you miss any of this fab stuff? Read more about your favorite authors and get insight on the stories are each of these links.
Rie Sheridan Rose, author of “Broken Crystal” from our anthology Dark Divinations,
has done much research on each of the divination techniques used in our book.
She explores each one in this awesome series of blog posts.
Alan Fisher is an attorney living in Washington, D.C. He’s published two novellas, Servant of the Muses and A Pearl for Her Eyes, under the name Brad White. His story, “The Confession of Diego Stoessel,” was included in Alban Lake Publishing’s Lovecraftian anthology, City in the Ice. Another short story, “Pangloss,” was featured on the Hugo Award-winning podcast Starship Sofa. His favorite authors include John le Carré, William Gibson, Raymond Chandler, and Neal Stephenson. When not writing, he enjoys playing board games with his wife and sons and running role-playing games for his friends.
How did you become interested in the Victorian era?
I’ve always been a reader of history, with a particular focus on military history. The Victorian era was such a critical time for the shaping of the modern world that I naturally was interested in it. From the Great Game in Central Asia to the Scramble for Africa, you will find a lot of threads we’re still pulling at today started back in Victoria’s time.
What is your favorite Victorian horror story?
Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles. Probably not regarded as a horror story by many, but any beast that can make Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson freeze, even for a moment, is one to be reckoned with.
Do you have a favorite Victorian horror movie?
I can’t say I have a particular favorite.
Are your characters based on real people?
Not really. The Constable of the Tower could be seen as an echo of the classic Colonel Blimp stereotype, the aged colonial soldier with the big mustache, I suppose.
Do you use an outline to write? Or do you write by the seat of your pants?
I dislike the term ‘pantser,’ but it is what I am. My first work started simply from the idea that “my muse had left me,” which ended up as the first line – “My muse walked out of my life on a cool October morning . . . .” – in a noir urban fantasy novella. I really had nothing more to go from. Similarly, for The Moat House Cob, the story started with a quick check of Wikipedia’s list of divination methods, which led to arachnomancy, and from there the story unfolded.
Do your characters have free will? Or do you decide their fate?
How could they have free will? I created them and determine what will happen to them. That’s part of their horror!
What are you most afraid of?
These days all my fears seem horrifyingly mundane, but I’ve never been a fan of spiders (as my story attests).
What is your favorite form of divination?
I don’t believe any of them work, but I’ve always enjoyed Tarot decks for the art and the symbolism. A particular favorite is Edward Gorey’s Fantod pack. They’re interesting to study and, when you have no good ideas, tossing a few around might spark something.
Who is your favorite horror author?
I’m almost hesitant to say old Howard Philips Lovecraft, but I must give credit where it’s due. I’d also add early Steven King, Lord Dunsany, Neil Gaiman, and Charlie Stross.
What does the future hold for you? What books, short stories, or works do Horror Addicts have to look forward to?
Sadly, I haven’t done much writing lately. I’m about 50,000 words into an actual novel, but not a horror piece. I have about a dozen fragments and starts, some horrifying, and some just horrifically bad.
It’s the height of Queen Victoria’s rule. Fog swirls in the gas-lit streets, while in the parlor, hands are linked. Pale and expectant faces gaze upon a woman, her eyes closed and shoulders slumped. The medium speaks, her tone hollow and inhuman. The séance has begun.
Can the reading of tea leaves influence the future? Can dreams keep a soldier from death in the Crimea? Can a pocket watch foretell a deadly family curse? From entrail reading and fortune-telling machines to prophetic spiders and voodoo spells, sometimes the future is better left unknown.
Choose your fate.
Choose your DARK DIVINATION.
Join us as we explore fourteen frightening tales of Victorian horror, each centered around a method of divination.
“Power and Shadow” by Hannah Hulbert / A young woman, with the power to manipulate the future using tea leaves, teaches her friend a lesson at her mother’s behest.
“Copper and Cordite” by Ash Hartwell / On the eve of her fiance’s departure for the Crimea, a young Englishwoman discovers the power which lies in dreams. Can she use it to save him?
“Damnation in Venice” by Joe L. Murr / When a roguish fortuneteller counsels an aging writer, he ends up in danger of damning his own soul.
“The Pocket Watch” by Emerian Rich / When a young American bride returns to her husband’s English estate, she receives a present from his deceased mother that can foretell a deadly family curse.
“They Wound Like Worms” by Naching T. Kassa / A man writes his sister concerning a method of divination which reveals his true love. But, as his obsession grows, the method grows bloodier.
“Miroir de Vaugnac” by Michael Fassbender / A widowed seer, augmenting her skills through an antique scrying bowl, faces grim choices when she learns she is not fully in control of its power.
“The Bell” by Jon O’Bergh / A physical medium, who earned his fortune faking necromancy, finds he’s buried in a coffin and must call upon his powers to save himself.
“Romany Rose” by Stephanie Ellis / A penny gaff mysteriously appears outside a London shop, awaking a spirit with a terrible agenda.
“Miss Mae’s Prayers” by H.R.R. Gorman / A preacher seeks to rebuke an Appalachian witch for her use of the Bible to divine the future, but ignoring her warnings leads to dire consequences
“Broken Crystal” by Rie Sheridan Rose / A young, Irish fortuneteller discovers her true fate when she reads for a dangerous man who won’t accept her prophecy.
“Breaking Bread” by R.L. Merrill / A wife, suspecting her husband of infidelity, tests him with a magic loaf of bread, but her quest for knowledge might be more trouble than she asked for.
“The Ghost of St. John Lane” by Daphne Strasert / While conducting a seance to contact her dead husband, a woman discovers a girl with strange gifts and provokes a man who seeks to destroy her.
“The Moat House Cob” by Alan Fisher / In a tower of fortune-telling animals, a spider spins a web over London. What ominous force may be headed their way?
“Of Blood and Bones” by Jeremy Megargee / When a woman throws the bones in search of her sister’s murderer, she finds an unimaginable evil. Will she avenge her sister’s death? Or share her fate?
Welcome Horror Addicts, to the Dark Divinations Book Event Calendar. We have many delightful events planned for your enjoyment and edification. Be sure to join us for interviews, tales of inspiration, excerpts, and parties galore! We would be most honored by your presence.
It’s the height of Queen Victoria’s rule. Fog swirls in the gas-lit streets, while in the parlor, hands are linked. Pale and expectant faces gaze upon a woman, her eyes closed and shoulders slumped. The medium speaks, her tone hollow and inhuman. The séance has begun.
Can the reading of tea leaves influence the future? Can dreams keep a soldier from death in the Crimea? Can a pocket watch foretell a deadly family curse? From entrail reading and fortune-telling machines to prophetic spiders and voodoo spells, sometimes the future is better left unknown.
Choose your fate.
Choose your DARK DIVINATION.
Join us as we explore fourteen frightening tales of Victorian horror, each centered around a method of divination.
“Power and Shadow” by Hannah Hulbert
A young woman, with the power to manipulate the future using tea leaves, teaches her friend a lesson at her mother’s behest.
“Copper and Cordite” by Ash Hartwell
On the eve of her fiance’s departure for the Crimea, a young Englishwoman discovers the power which lies in dreams. Can she use it to save him?
“Damnation in Venice” by Joe L. Murr
When a roguish fortuneteller counsels an aging writer, he ends up in danger of damning his own soul.
“The Pocket Watch” by Emerian Rich
When a young American bride returns to her husband’s English estate, she receives a present from his deceased mother that can foretell a deadly family curse.
“They Wound Like Worms” by Naching T. Kassa
A man writes his sister concerning a method of divination which reveals his true love. But, as his obsession grows, the method grows bloodier.
“Miroir de Vaugnac” by Michael Fassbender
A widowed seer, augmenting her skills through an antique scrying bowl, faces grim choices when she learns she is not fully in control of its power.
“The Bell” by Jon O’Bergh
A physical medium, who earned his fortune faking necromancy, finds he’s buried in a coffin and must call upon his powers to save himself.
“Romany Rose” by Stephanie Ellis
A penny gaff mysteriously appears outside a London shop, awaking a spirit with a terrible agenda.
“Miss Mae’s Prayers” by H.R.R. Gorman
A preacher seeks to rebuke an Appalachian witch for her use of the Bible to divine the future, but ignoring her warnings leads to dire consequences
“Broken Crystal” by Rie Sheridan Rose
A young, Irish fortuneteller discovers her true fate when she reads for a dangerous man who won’t accept her prophecy.
“Breaking Bread” by R.L. Merrill
A wife, suspecting her husband of infidelity, tests him with a magic loaf of bread, but her quest for knowledge might be more trouble than she asked for.
“The Ghost of St. John Lane” by Daphne Strasert
While conducting a seance to contact her dead husband, a woman discovers a girl with strange gifts and provokes a man who seeks to destroy her.
“The Moat House Cob” by Alan Fisher
In a tower of fortune-telling animals, a spider spins a web over London. What ominous force may be headed their way?
“Of Blood and Bones” by Jeremy Megargee
When a woman throws the bones in search of her sister’s murderer, she finds an unimaginable evil. Will she avenge her sister’s death? Or share her fate?
Confession of Diego Stoessel,” was included in Alban Lake Publishing’s Lovecraftian anthology, City in the Ice. Another short story, “Pangloss,” was featured on the Hugo Award-winning podcast Starship Sofa. His favorite authors include John le Carré, William Gibson, Raymond Chandler, and Neal Stephenson. When not writing, he enjoys playing board games with his wife and sons and running role-playing games for his friends.
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