Showing results by publisher "Isis Publishing Ltd" in Fantasy

Hakan, son of Haldan, chosen son of the lord of the Northern Jutes, swears loyalty to his father in fire, in iron and in blood. But when a terrible tragedy befalls Hakan's household, he is forced to leave his world behind and pledge his sword to a new king. Nameless and alone, he embarks on a journey to fulfil his destiny as a great warrior. Whispers of sinister forces in the north pull Hakan onwards to a kingdom plagued by mysterious and gruesome deaths.

Ruth's tireless research into the disease that killed her young daughter had an unexpected outcome: the discovery of a vaccine against old age. Just one jab a year reverses your biological clock, guaranteeing a long, healthy life. But Ruth's cure was hijacked by her colleague, Erik Grundleger, who hungers for immortality, and the SuperJuve—a premium upgrade—was created, driving human lifespan to a new high. The wealthy elite who take it are dubbed Supers, and the population begins to skyrocket. Then, a perilous side-effect of the SuperJuve emerges, with catastrophic consequences.

Post-Roman Britain. Thousands of desperate Saxon refugees are flooding the island, fleeing their homelands as the whole world warms and the waters rise, and worse, the mighty dragon Cythraul from the once-frozen North has been awoken by an evil sorceress. His lust for human flesh is insatiable, and he threatens to extinguish all human life.

"Find Malcolm. His safety is your safety." Threat or promise, I wasn't hanging around to find out. Not when the sorcerer making it had just yanked me out of my skin for a friendly chat. But with scheming magicians, lurking necromancers, and Callum's long-lost family all competing to make my next out of body experience a permanent one, having a sorcerer on our side seems like a pretty good option. There's just one problem. If we want her help, we need to find her dentist. And we've only got one lead. Weres. Mouth-breathing, ravening monsters with too many teeth and no affection for my kind.

After the events in Coldbay where they sealed the hell hole, Lucy is trying to learn more about it and how to save Murzzzz from eternal damnation. Yes, he's a demon, but he's also a part of the family. Lucy's turned to her diocese for guidance but they've gone strangely quiet so she persuades the Rooks to drive there so they can sort this out. On the way, they realise something is incredibly wrong with a motorway service station - it's empty except for lingering, sad ghosts and...oh no, another hell hole has opened and sucked in a load of people.

The Rook family run a little business: ghost hunting. And things have picked up recently. Something's wrong. It's been getting noticeably worse since, ooh, 2016? Bad spirits are abroad, and right now they're particularly common around Coldbay Island, which isn't even abroad, it's only 20 miles from Skegness. The Rooks' 'quick call out' to the island picks loose a thread that begins to unravel the whole place, and the world beyond. Is this the apocalypse? This might be the apocalypse. Who knew it would kick off in an off-season seaside resort off the Lincolnshire coast?

In a forgotten nook of Cambridge a little shop stands where thousands of sheets of beautiful paper and hundreds of exquisite pens wait for the next person who, with Clara Cohen's help, will express the love, despair and desire they feel to correspondents alive, estranged or dead. Clara knows better than most the power a letter can have to turn a person's life around, so when she discovers a cache of wartime love letters, she follows them on a profound journey of her own.

It's New Year's Eve, and the Rook family are at odds with one another. Unfortunately, not only is their psychic rival Aurora coming to their hometown, but there's another visitor - Death. The newly appointed Replacement Reaper, who is not grim at all, but a very cute Canadian. He's here to end the world - albeit ethically and politely. This time, Armageddon is coming home. Can the family overcome their differences in time to stop the ultimate New Year Countdown? Who is Aurora, really? And, is Death single?

London, Christmas 1999. The world is on edge. With the new millennium just days away, fears of the Millennium Bug are spiralling – warnings of computer failures, market crashes, even global catastrophe. But 50 miles east, on the frozen Blackwater Island, a different kind of mystery unfolds. A child's body is discovered on the bracken, untouched by footprints, with no sign of how he died. And no one has come forward to claim him. At the International Tribune, reporter Jonny Murphy senses something is off. Police are appealing for relatives, not suspects.

Written in 1881, ‘Winthrop’s Adventure’ is Vernon Lee’s first ghost story. Set in Florence, the story regales the story of young painter Julian Winthrop who becomes transfixed by a piece of music. He traces this haunting back to one of his previous paintings.

When Major Mercer visits his old friend Lionel Deacon and his family in the country, his visit is hampered with heavy rain. As soon as there is a break in the weather, though, he heads into the village for a walk. Across the river, he sees a mother and a child, but when he returns to the Deacons, they assure him that he cannot possibly have seen who he thinks he saw.

Written in diary entries from a Polish scholar, this short story features a mysterious femme fatale, Medea, who is responsible for the deaths of five men, including her husbands. The scholar is soon cast under her spell from behind the grave.

Amateur violinist and collector Herman Yorke is overjoyed when he is chosen to play first violin in the Amateur Orchestral Society. In the audience, however, he is distracted by a beautiful woman that is watching him. After several concerts, he decides to approach the woman, but Herman soon discovers that he is the only person who can see her.

A traditional psychological ghost story, ‘A Phantom Lover’ tells the story of an artist who is commissioned to paint eccentric couple Mr and Mrs Oke of Okehurst. But the Okes have a dark family history, and the fateful events of two centuries previous come back to haunt them.

When a broken effigy of Christ washes up on a beach in Flanders, it is displayed in the local church. Strange miracles start drawing people to the town to worship, but then these unexplainable events start to turn sinister.

'When Spirits Steal’ features regular protagonists from Philippa Forest: businessman Peter Carwell and artist Wilton. Wilton recalls a holiday in Somerset where they encountered Mary, a young girl with a nervous disposition whose sleepwalking and vivid dreams lead Carwell to believe she is being possessed by a spirit.

When a Londoner retreats to the Cornish Coast for a break, he encounters a veiled woman. Could it be the ghost of intrepid explorer Miss Alice Trellings, who disappeared whilst staying at the hotel?

Inspired by a sketch of a poor woman driven to madness by artist Cecchino, wealthy Madame Krasinska attends a ball in fancy dress mocking the old woman. But after the ball, she is overcome by severe depression. Could the old woman be haunting her as punishment?

When Carstone visits his old friend, Brendan, one night, he is intrigued by the empty house next door, which is said to be haunted. Despite his host telling him many of the spooky tales that surround the old house, he accepts a dare to spend the night at The Gables, but his bravado soon falters....

Written in 1905, this is Vernon Lee’s final genuinely weird tale, and it tells the 18th-century legend of Sister Benvenuta, a nun who wrote letters to a model of infant Christ. Whilst unexpectedly funny in places, this short story has dark undertones.