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Goldilox and the Three Scares!
Author Interviews and Guest Posts
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I love Halloween! So I wrangled in some of my favorite authors and asked them to participate in this event. And they said yes! Plus, each day each author has a wonderful giveaway for you!
Day 3: Sandy Williams
The Curse of the Nalkin-Shom
In the Shadow Reader novels, the fae live in a world separate from ours. They have their own history, traditions, superstitions, and terrifying legends. Not all of those legends are old. The most recent one arose suddenly and spread across the Realm quicker than a fae can fissure across a room.
Fae have always been uncomfortable around humans - their touch is drugging and their tech poisonous - but no human has ever been feared as much as the nalkin-shom, the shadow-witch. The first whispers of her existence began ten years ago.
Fae are able to open fissures in the atmosphere. They step into slashes of white light, disappearing then reappearing any place that’s not protected by silver. They use this ability to travel, to fight, to escape anyone who might be pursuing them, but they can rarely escape the shadow-witch. She’s an extremely rare human. Not only does she have the Sight, but she’s able to track fae by reading the shadows their fissures leave behind.
When her dark-eyed gaze locks on someone’s shadows, few are able to escape detainment or death. But some meet worse fates. Rumor has it a single touch from the nalkin-shom will drain a fae’s magic, and not even the most noble of fae are immune to her lightning struck beauty.
Some say the Realm’s ruler can control her, wielding her like a weapon against his enemies. Others claim that it’s she who controls him, entrancing him as easily as she entrances wild kimkis. Those who believe she’s a plague and a poison say that she was brought to the Realm by a false-blood, one of the ruthless fae who have tried to overthrow the king. That, they say, is evidence that she’s evil. She doesn’t belong in the Realm any more than a fae belongs on Earth.
In the Realm, parents warn their children that the shadow-witch will sneak into their rooms at night if they’re disobedient - or if they don’t eat their veggies - and not even walls laced with silver will keep her out. She’ll slip in and steal their magic, cursing them for life.
People fear what they don’t understand, so the nalkin-shom has gained many enemies in one short decade. Some want her dead and others want to use her powers for their own gain, but no shackles can hold her. She’s as elusive as the shadows she draws.
Thank you Sandy!
Hmm.....does the shadow-witch sound like someone familiar.....?
Hmm.....does the shadow-witch sound like someone familiar.....?
Check out Sandy's giveaway below!
Enter to win a copy of either THE SHADOW READER or THE SHATTERED DARK below (US only please)!
Many of the classic Grimms' Fairy Tales gave me that delicious shiver down my spine. A particular favorite is The Juniper Tree. I will also admit to hiding behind the couch during the witch's castle scenes in The Wizard of Oz movie. Scary stuff when you're little!
ReplyDeleteGhost stories always scared me when I was little. I remember going to see Dawn of the Dead when I was young and it scared the crap out of me.
ReplyDeleteI've not read many fae books so I'm always on the look out for more. Fingers crossed.
ReplyDeleteI like watching scary movies this time of the year. It's fun to be scared in the safety of your home. LOL
I remember getting a little scared reading some of the Christopher Pike books I liked when I was young.
ReplyDeleteI hated the story about the wife with the ribbon on her neck. She tells her husband not to touch the ribbon but he can't resist. When he removes it one night while she sleeps her head falls off. Ugh! So traumatizing! That being said I read a ton of John Saul books and watched all manner of scary movie and never got spooked (except by the movie The Hitcher starring Ruetger Hauer, of that was just earth shatteringly scary).
ReplyDeleteI found The Headless Horseman terrifying. I still kind of do. LOL!
ReplyDeleteThanks for a great post and giveaway! Ummm... I honestly, really can't remember anything scaring me. My parents were the definition of practical/pragmatic and we "talked" about pretty much everything. So we logic'ed the fun out of being scared :)
ReplyDeleteThe first scary story I ever heard was about the man with the hook for a hand and that used to scare the you know what outta me, to this day when I see someone with a hook for a hand I still shiver :)
ReplyDeleteAll scary stories freaked me out! I am a huge wimp.
ReplyDeleteI would really love to read this series. It's been on my wishlist for a long time.
Stephen King and Dean Koonz
ReplyDeleteGreat question
Beckey
What's funny is that I've always been able to read scary stories (even when I was little) and not get very freaked out, but scary movies terrified me. Scream was the first scary movie I remember really watching (and I was in Jr. High) and I had a nightmare where I was in the opening scene afterwards.
ReplyDeleteCan't think of any that scared me
ReplyDeleteI am such a chicken, I can't really do scary stories. I remember reading a Stephen King once and I had to stop because I was freaked out.
ReplyDeleteOnly those stupid bloody mary stories and stuff like that. No real books or characters or anything.
ReplyDeleteBloody Mary!
ReplyDeleteAny ghost stories scare me when I was little!
ReplyDeleteI never really did scary stories growing up. I remember the movie Robin Hood scaring me at the beginning when they cut off somebody's hand.
ReplyDeleteMy grandfather and uncle would always scare me with the chupacabra! They would wear this mask and pop out and scare me at random moments all the time!
ReplyDelete