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DarkWinter Press
Where Can You Find Our Books?
All of the books published by DarkWinter Press are available on Amazon worldwide in both paperback and e-version for Kindle. For bulk purchases/discounts, please contact DarkWinter directly at darkwinterlit@gmail.com
Available now! Peeling Apples by Alan Parry
Martyn is ten years old, navigating a world of routines and quiet mysteries. His days unfold between school, his Nana Mavis’s small, familiar house, and the blurred presence of his overworked parents. But it’s the house next door that draws his attention, the one with the overgrown garden, the untidy porch, and Mrs. Joyce, a woman who seems set apart from everything and everyone. Peeling Apples is a meditation on childhood, loss, and the quiet imprints people leave on each other’s lives. Lyrical and intimate, it captures the bittersweet moment when a boy begins to understand the weight and inevitability of love.
Available now! Smatterings of Cerulean by Susan Richardson!
Smatterings of Cerulean is a collection of short poems by Susan Richardson, accompanied by the photographs of Ken Whytock. It is a collection, essentially, about love. In these poems, Richardson explores the trajectory of the human experience, and how in all its shapes, textures and colours, love is at the root of the myriads of internal landscapes people travel. There is darkness and loss in these pages, yes, but there is also strength, fierce feeling, and ultimately, hope. These poems are the fullness of life crafted into small spaces, a blending of intense emotion and compelling images that tell a story of what it means to love.
A New Release! Ghost Bride of Gum San by JF Garrard
In 1869, Pearl Ming Ju Wong and her sister, skilled yokai demon hunters, are sold to tong gangs in San Francisco by their gambling-addicted father. During their journey to America, they are thrown overboard as ghost brides for dead miners. Pearl is rescued by the Asgard alliance who task her with retrieving a piece of the legendary Crystal Armour from an all-girls convent in exchange for
her freedom.
However, she secretly plans to use this mission to gain information about her lost sister through a deal with an octopus yokai. This sets Pearl on a path where she must choose between saving her sister or protecting the people of Gum San from destruction. This thrilling xuanhuan adventure is a fascinating blend of Eastern and Western concepts rooted in Chinese Taoism and European Christianity.
her freedom.
However, she secretly plans to use this mission to gain information about her lost sister through a deal with an octopus yokai. This sets Pearl on a path where she must choose between saving her sister or protecting the people of Gum San from destruction. This thrilling xuanhuan adventure is a fascinating blend of Eastern and Western concepts rooted in Chinese Taoism and European Christianity.
Available now! Dantalion Is A Quiet Place by Mathew Gostelow!
This dark, twisting novella introduces a cast of bizarre characters beset by bleak and mysterious events, weirded, warped, and deformed by trauma. Through letters, diaries, court transcripts, and other artefacts assembled by a wayward academic, Dantalion is a Quiet Place tells the uncanny story of a town lost in time.
Available now! Vigils of the Night Office by Paul Edward Costa
The title Vigils of the Night Office comes from The Rule of St. Benedict, a book which outlines the duties for Benedictine monks. Documents describe the vigils of the Night Office as such: “The Office at night, right before dawn is a very ancient monastic prayer time…with the goal of breaking up the night and sanctifying those hours.” This collection evokes the idea of poems as private prayers speaking to both individual experiences as well as more general cultural themes. These vigils reflect on a variety of subjects using accessible, narrative forms which emphasise speech’s musicality while investigating large, powerful, and nefarious structures in our society.
Available now! Welcome To This Side Of Midnight by Jonathan R. Nightshade!
Do you remember a time when vampires were the bad guys?
In the spirit of Stephen King’s seminal works such as Nightmares and Dreamscapes and Night Shift, this debut collection from Jonathan R. Nightshade is a trip into a world seen through the eyes of the vampire, where the undead walk among us, hunting the living, their only concerns being the need to feed and to hide from daylight—and they rather enjoy being exactly what they are, thank you very much.
In the spirit of Stephen King’s seminal works such as Nightmares and Dreamscapes and Night Shift, this debut collection from Jonathan R. Nightshade is a trip into a world seen through the eyes of the vampire, where the undead walk among us, hunting the living, their only concerns being the need to feed and to hide from daylight—and they rather enjoy being exactly what they are, thank you very much.
Available today! Fringes of Grey by Lene McLeod!
Fringes of Grey is a collection of dark stories that explores themes of aging, death, grief, the supernatural, and spaces of liminality present on the fringes of the everyday. These stories will make you question things as ordinary as frost patterns on windows, pedestrian tunnels, craft beads, and bathroom stalls. There is no escape—there are fringes of grey everywhere and this collection reveals some of their strange tales.
Brian Michael Barbeito's Still Some Crazy Summer Wind Coming Through by Brian Michael Barbeito!
Still Some Crazy Summer Wind Coming Through is a collection of prose poems and photography by Canadian poet Brian Michael Barbeito. The writings combine the themes of the natural world and metaphysics in a braided and interwoven journey seen through the phantasmagoric lens of a world that is both physical and spiritual. They are accompanied by vivid photographs taken by the author.
Buy it today! The debut short story collection Knives All Blade by Bojana Stojcic!
Knives All Blade is a full-length collection of flash fiction and short stories which, although covering different topics—from motherhood, gender roles and peer pressure to relationship to death, religion and PTSD—are similar in the recurring theme of family ties, and loss and fears the protagonists face, as well as the overwhelming “feel(ing) like he could disappear, and no one would ever know.” Blurring the line between reality and fantasy, with most stories written in a first-person narrative, these character-driven journeys are universal stories that investigate the complexities of human action and relationships, and (almost) inevitable falls.
Chris Klassen's An Individual available now!
An anonymous man searches for truth and contentment. His examinations delve into religion, creativity, possessions and asceticism, communication, and childhood reflection. His search sometimes causes pain to others and sometimes pain to himself and, at times, his grip on reality is tenuous. But he continues on, possibly to tragedy, possibly to epiphany.
Ever Striding Edge by Paul Brookes!
Ever Striding Edge, the conclusion of Paul Brookes’, Ganders Septology, is an undeniably beautiful work of art that begins on a rock edge of silence. In these pages lives a collection of poems that explore the complexities of the inside of stillness, waiting, watching disappearance down long corridors. This is an offering of words steeped in memory, poured from the aching focus of a boyhood lens, reflected upon with the richness of a man’s expansive mind and heart.
Fighting For Decency by Gordon K. Jones now available!
After drone specialist and newly-licensed private investigator Cody Marshall assists police in preventing the kidnapping of a young boy, his first official case is being hired by the boy's father to delve into why the child was taken. Cody’s girlfriend, the level-headed Toronto Police Officer Taylor Brant, is also assigned to investigate who was behind the attempt.
In the Lair of the Kraken by Christopher Butt
What lies in the Lair of the Kraken? Darkness. The kind that fills our hearts, that we embrace, run from, challenge, triumph over, or surrender to. The kind that leads to tragedy, loneliness, bad decisions, narcissism, and good intentions.
Christopher Butt’s debut collection of nineteen stories delves into this madness and reveals monsters, both human and not, and cautions us to remember that when you gaze into the lair, the Kraken’s all-seeing eye stares back.
Tread carefully.
Christopher Butt’s debut collection of nineteen stories delves into this madness and reveals monsters, both human and not, and cautions us to remember that when you gaze into the lair, the Kraken’s all-seeing eye stares back.
Tread carefully.
Leacock Nominee Worsery Rhymes by Graham Kent!
If the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, Graham Kent gives his absolute best with this
collection of irreverent poetry not intended for the faint of heart. Part satire, part social
commentary, and all humour, Kent deftly combines cutting wit with dark sarcasm. This volume
of verse joins the likes of Edward Gorey and Adam Mansbach... even if they didn't invite him.
collection of irreverent poetry not intended for the faint of heart. Part satire, part social
commentary, and all humour, Kent deftly combines cutting wit with dark sarcasm. This volume
of verse joins the likes of Edward Gorey and Adam Mansbach... even if they didn't invite him.
The basement on Biella by Bill Garvey
The basement on Biella is a poetry collection that emanates from a blue-collar town in Massachusetts, then travels to New Hampshire, the Midwest, Nova Scotia, and finally to Toronto. Bill Garvey’s poetry captures moments along that journey which celebrate the wonder of familial relationships, chronicle the attempt to find solace in death, and explore the struggle to understand the torment of mental illness. The basement on Biella is a chronicle of Garvey’s experiences that resonates beyond his personal world into the greater human consciousness.
The Dogcatcher by Sean Patrick Carlin
Sean Patrick Carlin’s debut novel, an occult horror/dark comedy in the spirit of SHAUN OF THE DEAD, begins with a trio of college students savagely mauled on a hiking trail coming home from the bar. The next night, a pair of high-school sweethearts is stalked and massacred at a state park.
Something monstrous lurks in the woods of Upstate New York, setting the idyllic Finger Lakes community of Cornault on edge.
Investigating the wildlife attacks is beleaguered Animal Control Officer Frank Antony.
Misunderstood by his father, the mayor of Cornault, mistreated by his brother, chief of staff at City Hall, and mischaracterized as “the dogcatcher” by the newspaper’s op-ed columnist, Frank commands no one’s respect. Even his earnestly loyal sidekick, Animal Care Technician Steve “Waff” Pollywaffle, is too hopelessly irresponsible to ever be counted on.
Aided by world-weary forensic veterinarian Jessie Bartendale, Frank and Waff soon suspect the creature menacing their town is something far more horrifying than an ordinary wild animal... and the underestimated “dogcatcher” and his team might be the only ones who can stop it.
Something monstrous lurks in the woods of Upstate New York, setting the idyllic Finger Lakes community of Cornault on edge.
Investigating the wildlife attacks is beleaguered Animal Control Officer Frank Antony.
Misunderstood by his father, the mayor of Cornault, mistreated by his brother, chief of staff at City Hall, and mischaracterized as “the dogcatcher” by the newspaper’s op-ed columnist, Frank commands no one’s respect. Even his earnestly loyal sidekick, Animal Care Technician Steve “Waff” Pollywaffle, is too hopelessly irresponsible to ever be counted on.
Aided by world-weary forensic veterinarian Jessie Bartendale, Frank and Waff soon suspect the creature menacing their town is something far more horrifying than an ordinary wild animal... and the underestimated “dogcatcher” and his team might be the only ones who can stop it.
The Roach Family and Other Stories by Cindy Matthews
In this new collection of short fiction, the characters in The Roach Family and Other Stories share one thing in common: they strive to fit in. The Roach Family and Other Stories features richly drawn characters at odds with the conventions of society who seek unique and surprising ways to take charge of destiny.
Twenty-Four-Hour Shift by Cecilia Kennedy
Something lurks in the shadows at work, and it has a way of following us home, keeping us up late at night. The thoughts that accompany them go beyond worrying about the tasks left undone, the tense email sent right before 5:00 p.m. They creep past the barriers, slipping through the curtains: What was that shape on the wall that kept moving? What was really beneath the surface of the water that the lifeguard watched on shift? The twenty-four stories gathered here tell tales of not just work-related haunts and happenings, but also the roles that characters play at home as parents, friends, distant relatives—roles that come with all-night expectations and terrifying consequences. Indeed, the work never ends. These stories range from the truly sinister, such as a tale about a human vending machine restaurant, to horror-comedy, including a photoshoot with possessed bunnies. The shift, here, is more than a time-period, a punch in or out of the clock. It’s the portrait that seems to stretch and move—the lenticular view, that from just the right angle, reveals a pair of glowing eyes in the dark.
What Any Normal Person Would Do by Suzanne Craig-Whytock
This humour compilation from the author of the popular online blog Mydangblog was recently longlisted for the Leacock Medal for Humour!
Where Sands Run Finest by Vikki C.
Where Sands Run Finest is a lyrical tribute to the liminal landscapes of time, memory, reveries, spirituality and the human condition. Foregrounding the author's life experiences through an aesthetic and defamiliarized lens, the collection serves as an artistic awakening to themes of identity, heritage, generational trauma, motherhood, love, loss and existential querying.
From life's transient moments through to the metaphysical, Vikki C.’s poetry captures the lexicon of time's delicate rhythms both within the "temporal hourglass" and across "otherworlds" born of cosmic, esoteric and subconscious realms.
From life's transient moments through to the metaphysical, Vikki C.’s poetry captures the lexicon of time's delicate rhythms both within the "temporal hourglass" and across "otherworlds" born of cosmic, esoteric and subconscious realms.
Words On The Page by Zary Fekete!
Words on the page are powerful. They express love. They describe heroism and nobility. Could they also be the one thing that will save humanity from destruction?
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