Amaranthine and Other Stories serves up nine schlock horror slices, sprinkled with quirk and humor.
Forget vampires. Forget werewolves. Forget ghosts. Humans are the ultimate grotesques. Variant flavours of woe sift through these pages. The results are sometimes hilarious, sometimes outright hair-raising!
As a bonus, the collection also includes story notes, offering the reader a rare glimpse into the inspiration behind each tale.
A compelling anthology of horror and dark fantasy short stories, Amaranthine is an impressive collection from one of the new promising British horror authors, Erik Hofstatter.
Steady sales, well-known author.
Sean peeled a single strand of stringy, russet hair from his shoulder and caressed it between his wrinkled fingers. The bathroom tiles were decorated with grimy cracks. He stuck the hair on the tile, next to the others. Tilting his head, he studied the tokens with sorrow in his eyes. It seemed like the entwined hairs formed a mysterious map. A map to a better life, he wished. The hair did not belong to him, yet they lurked all over the cottage, sometimes in the most unlikely of places. Farewell gifts from Magda. How long has she been gone? Months? Years? Sean could hardly remember. She had robbed him of logic, as well as his heart. Nothing made sense anymore. Her departure created a void. The joy of living evaporated along with her. Time ceased to exist. Sean inhaled and submerged his head, bathing in the serenity of underwater silence. It brought him a temporary peace. He thought about Eli and how he was born in this very tub. Witnessing his birth was one of the happiest days of Sean’s life. He had to stay strong, if not for himself then for Eli. As long as he had Eli, he would find the strength to carry on living.
