FANTASY & HORROR AUTHOR       NATHAN WILSON

Shindara panted for breath. He was kicked in the ribs and dragged to his feet. He winced as fingers coiled around his throat. A demonic face peered back at him through the smog, scarred with deep ridges and furrows. As his pain subsided, he realized the face was wrought of metal, not flesh. The red mask was carved in the likeness of a demon or “yokai.” Fangs curled and protruded from the mask in an unnerving snarl.

Two pronged horns jutted from atop the man’s helmet. His narrow face was completely concealed except for his eyes.

Inside those twin...

Shindara couldn’t comprehend how the samurai reached the city as swiftly as they did. He ran through the temple compound, calling out for Aya.

His love had to be somewhere among the refugees seeking shelter. Damn Priest Kobo for not bringing her soon enough. If they outlasted the siege, he vowed to kill the monk himself.

“Aya!” he screamed.

Arrows arched over the walls and the monks before Shindara writhed and crumpled to the ground. He tumbled down the stairs as a second and third volley followed, blanketing the steps outside Nigatsu-Hall.

Shind...

The samurai were locked in battle with the warrior monks of Nara. Shindara was stunned by how well the monks were faring. That is, until he realized the Taira samurai were unarmed.

They couldn’t raise a sword or bow in their defense, otherwise they surely would have. Shindara’s masters were butchering the Emperor’s messengers at their doorstep. Those who weren’t quick to flee were forced to their knees and beheaded.

Once more, Shindara’s hand drifted to his sword. He often watched the monk soldiers train in the temple courtyard, so he knew how to h...

Shindara awoke with a start, staring wildly into the depths of the forest. The senseless void from his nightmares was replaced by the brilliant canopy of trees. A grey thrush twittered in the low hanging boughs. Sunlight splashed across his face from his perch in the knotted branches. His back rested comfortably against the trunk as fiery leaves spiraled past him in their serene dance. He vaguely recalled climbing the tallest tree in the forest and drifting off to a restless sleep. 

A feathered breeze ruffled his hair, stirring sensations in his h...

A dull ache stirred in the back of Elijah’s head. He opened his eyes and saw only blackness and a mesh of wire netting. A bucket smelling of waste had been deposited in the corner of his chain link enclosure.

Melancholy, gray light filtered into his prison through the grated ceiling. A fan spun overhead, warping the room into a melting pot of shadows and light. Through the flickers, he saw that his clothes had been stripped away.

Elijah felt panic for the first time in months. He tried to clutch his chest as an outpouring of pain set in. The handcu...

“I can’t believe we’re doing this.”

Vivian, Camilla, and Elijah whispered amongst themselves at the edge of the group. A guided tour of Bohnice’s psychiatric hospital cemetery was an unusual departure from the nights spent at the Toxic Mistress. That is not to say that Vivian wasn’t intrigued by the paranormal enthusiasts checking their equipment and setting up fixed cameras at points of interest.

The epicenter of activity centered around their tour guide, a delightful man named Hassan Sumbal. A headlamp was affixed above his forehead, allowing him...

An hour had passed since Keung Xu left Vivian at the crime scene. He couldn’t believe he was looking at the exterior of Pankrác Prison in southeast Prague. It was inconceivable that he needed someone who was locked away inside. The man in question should have been the last person he ever wanted to see again, let alone seek out for help.

Keung would be within every right to strangle him on sight for what he’d done to his family. How times have changed. Keung went through the process of checking in, passing through security, and filling out forms. H...

Elijah nervously glanced at Vivian as he followed the nurse down the hospital corridor.

“I’m beginning to have reservations about this ECT,” he grumbled.

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’ll lie down and wake up feeling better than ever.”

“I’m dead. Why can’t you accept that?”

“Haven’t you ever prescribed an ECT for someone before? It’s helpful for depression, bipolar, and a whole host of disorders like Cotard’s.”

“How do you know this is going to help me? Who’s to say this won’t make me feel worse?”

“If you don’t trust in the procedure, trust in me. Will that...

“It has to be cyanide.”

Vivian couldn’t stop shaking as she huddled outside the emergency room in the hospital. “I could smell it on his breath before they hauled him off to the ambulance.”

Her stomach quaked and she balled up her fists.

Camilla wasn’t there to assuage her worst fears. She became unstable and belligerent when she learned about Elijah’s condition. In fact, security was forced to intervene and remove her from the hospital grounds. It was unlike Camilla to lose control, but she would have done the same if Vivian was the one dying of ac...