By the Bram Stoker Award Winning author of the Fisherman, this masterful and haunting blend of horror and fantasy sees a young Conan visit the cursed village where the ultimate crime took place. Where will this journey into the darkness take the young barbarian?
On the day he was born, warriors attacked Conan’s village in Cimmeria, kidnapping children before fleeing. The villagers pursued the raiders and exterminated them to a man. But they were too late. The children were already dead.
Fourteen years later, Conan and his cousin, Ruardih visit the site of the massacre, finding strange artefacts and feeling a dreadful unease as they near the cursed village. Upon their arrival, they are greeted by the corpses of the damned.
Despite the portents, Conan and Ruaridh continue exploring the village. Met with bizarre and arcane creatures, they will stumble upon darknesses that should not have been revisited. What is this strange place? Who were the mysterious raiders who attacked the village? And why did they sacrifice innocent children? The answers lie deeper in the mountains, and Conan will chase them into the dark, whatever the cost.
John Langan is the author of two novels, The Fisherman (Word Horde 2016) and House of Windows (Night Shade 2009), and two collections of stories, The Wide, Carnivorous Sky and Other Monstrous Geographies (Hippocampus 2013) and Mr. Gaunt and Other Uneasy Encounters (Prime 2008). With Paul Tremblay, he co-edited Creatures: Thirty Years of Monsters (Prime 2011). He's one of the founders of the Shirley Jackson Awards, for which he served as a juror during its first three years. Currently, he reviews horror and dark fantasy for Locus magazine.
By the Bram Stoker Award Winning author of the Fisherman, this masterful and haunting blend of horror and fantasy sees a young Conan visit the cursed village where the ultimate crime took place. Where will this journey into the darkness take the young barbarian?
On the day he was born, warriors attacked Conan’s village in Cimmeria, kidnapping children before fleeing. The villagers pursued the raiders and exterminated them to a man. But they were too late. The children were already dead.
Fourteen years later, Conan and his cousin, Ruardih visit the site of the massacre, finding strange artefacts and feeling a dreadful unease as they near the cursed village. Upon their arrival, they are greeted by the corpses of the damned.
Despite the portents, Conan and Ruaridh continue exploring the village. Met with bizarre and arcane creatures, they will stumble upon darknesses that should not have been revisited. What is this strange place? Who were the mysterious raiders who attacked the village? And why did they sacrifice innocent children? The answers lie deeper in the mountains, and Conan will chase them into the dark, whatever the cost.
Author
John Langan is the author of two novels, The Fisherman (Word Horde 2016) and House of Windows (Night Shade 2009), and two collections of stories, The Wide, Carnivorous Sky and Other Monstrous Geographies (Hippocampus 2013) and Mr. Gaunt and Other Uneasy Encounters (Prime 2008). With Paul Tremblay, he co-edited Creatures: Thirty Years of Monsters (Prime 2011). He's one of the founders of the Shirley Jackson Awards, for which he served as a juror during its first three years. Currently, he reviews horror and dark fantasy for Locus magazine.
