By Dee Holloway 
In the aftermath of a dystopian drought, a widow ruthlessly fights against the final stages of grief by killing the unlucky souls left behind…
Dead Leaves, our library of the weird and horrifying, is proud to pull back the curtain on horror novelist Katherine Silva‘s newest book, Vulpine Curse! Arriving on April 30th, the latest entry in the Deadlands series promises a powerful punch of grief horror laced with dark magic. From publisher Strange Wilds Press…
Acceptance is impossible: a state of being that those left behind eventually stumble to through the haze of loss. For Hugh, it’s something to be held at arm’s-length. He can’t let go of his lost husband nor his stranded daughter. So, he cycles through the first four stages of grief over and over while killing in the name of a despicable man. The apathy keeps him alive.
Everyone suffers. Why should his next targets, an unlucky brother and sister, be any different? Because there is something stirring in the fathoms of Hugh’s sorrow. Waking dreams of hope and illusions of peace. But how much blood must be spilled before he can reach them? Or will the man holding his loyalty captive snuff them and him out for good?
Readers will follow one of the Deadland’s beloved characters on a desperate ascent for solace in a world where no one cares for the forgotten.
Feeling haunted yet? Authors including Ross Jeffery (The Devil’s Pocketbook) and Red Lagoe (In Excess of Dark) have called previous Deadlands entries “beautiful, powerful, and deeply original” and “unique explorations of grief and revenge.” Author Silva is particularly interested in marrying her local Maine landscapes with existentialist horror and otherworldly powers. This melding is echoed by the general bent of Strange Wilds, which prioritizes stories where the setting is a character and “man versus wild” is made brutally concrete.
Venture below the cut and meet Vulpine Curse:
Vulpine Curses will be available for direct purchase from Strange Wilds Press on April 30th–bookmark this link! Connect with author and editor Katherine Silva on Bluesky and Instagram, or her website. Happy reading, ghouls!
