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Aeon of Chaos: Vol 1
Aeon of Chaos: Volume 1 collects all the Aeon of Chaos short stories and novellas published from the start of 2020 to the end of 2022
Cemetery Book Melbourne
Once the richest city in the world, Melbourne is now seen as a cultural melting pot that blends stunning architecture and vibrant street art with natural beauty. It is also home to some of the most captivating cemeteries in Australia. Historic tombs and crumbling graves detail the life and death of the person(s) laid below. Mementos, carvings, statues, and flowers create a unique and unforgettable landscape in which to roam.
Narseh the Slaver and the Lucre of Death: The Nefarious Journeys of Narseh the Slaver Book 2
The Nefarious Journeys of Narseh the Slaver continue!
Narseh is back with another greedy scam incorporating the necromantic powers of his girlfriend and accomplice, Wena of Khem. But in order to get to their payday, this pair of crooked lovers will have to get past a cabal of murderous conspirators and a sleepy-eyed assassin who wields the power of the demon arts of death. Get ready for another tale of treachery, greed, and gruesome slaughter!
Praise for the first Narseh the Slaver story, The Unwithering Flower:
“One of the best Novellas I've ever read. Swann's vision is dark, unrelenting and full of black humour.” - Simon McHardy, author of Jaga’s Bones and Mother Maggot
“... this book has it all. A really fun read and I must say, a unique, original storyline.” - River Dixon, author of The Smell of Cedar and The Stories In Between
“Undead prostitutes and necromancy… Really, what more does one need from a book!?” - Elizabeth Bedlam, author of People who are Lost and Rabbit Skin Glue
Narseh is back with another greedy scam incorporating the necromantic powers of his girlfriend and accomplice, Wena of Khem. But in order to get to their payday, this pair of crooked lovers will have to get past a cabal of murderous conspirators and a sleepy-eyed assassin who wields the power of the demon arts of death. Get ready for another tale of treachery, greed, and gruesome slaughter!
Praise for the first Narseh the Slaver story, The Unwithering Flower:
“One of the best Novellas I've ever read. Swann's vision is dark, unrelenting and full of black humour.” - Simon McHardy, author of Jaga’s Bones and Mother Maggot
“... this book has it all. A really fun read and I must say, a unique, original storyline.” - River Dixon, author of The Smell of Cedar and The Stories In Between
“Undead prostitutes and necromancy… Really, what more does one need from a book!?” - Elizabeth Bedlam, author of People who are Lost and Rabbit Skin Glue
Hell In A Handbasket : A collection of stories.
The Possessed Printer Blues: A woman buys a printer at a yard sale.
The Long Day Sun: A photography student helps out a friend.
Savory Taro Pudding: A short nightmare based on true events.
Billionaire Babies: It turns out you can't trust billionaires.
Bath Salts Vampire: Teen girls with low self-esteem + a drug dealer who thinks he's an ancient vampire. What could go wrong?
The Long Day Sun: A photography student helps out a friend.
Savory Taro Pudding: A short nightmare based on true events.
Billionaire Babies: It turns out you can't trust billionaires.
Bath Salts Vampire: Teen girls with low self-esteem + a drug dealer who thinks he's an ancient vampire. What could go wrong?
People Who Are Lost
Leann sells Volvos and recently had her Uncle Ron move in with her. She's having an affair with her boss, Ed, who claims to have an agoraphobic girlfriend, Kelly.
Leann decides Ed is a loser and ends the affair. She feels bad about it and decides to tell Kelly everything. But when she gets to Ed's house she finds Kelly behind a barred window claiming she's being held against her will.
Kelly ends up coming home with Leann, who doesn't know what to do with the stray girl. Everything Leann thought she knew about Ed, about Kelly, seems to be wrong. Kelly claims Ed is a sadistic murderer who kidnapped her years ago. Ed claims Kelly is a mentally ill nutcase and Leann would be insane for believing a word she said.
All of this and a 55-gallon oil drum is pulled out of the swamp. The news reports that a girl encased in concrete has been found inside. Kelly claims it was one of Ed's victims, that she saw it happen.
Leann doesn't know who to believe or what is going on with her life. She regrets she ever had an affair with Ed, sorry she ever let Uncle Ron talk her into bringing Kelly home. All the while Leann wonders who is Kelly? Who is the girl in the barrel? Could either be the missing Genie Fukuwaka, a girl taken six years ago and never found?
Leann decides Ed is a loser and ends the affair. She feels bad about it and decides to tell Kelly everything. But when she gets to Ed's house she finds Kelly behind a barred window claiming she's being held against her will.
Kelly ends up coming home with Leann, who doesn't know what to do with the stray girl. Everything Leann thought she knew about Ed, about Kelly, seems to be wrong. Kelly claims Ed is a sadistic murderer who kidnapped her years ago. Ed claims Kelly is a mentally ill nutcase and Leann would be insane for believing a word she said.
All of this and a 55-gallon oil drum is pulled out of the swamp. The news reports that a girl encased in concrete has been found inside. Kelly claims it was one of Ed's victims, that she saw it happen.
Leann doesn't know who to believe or what is going on with her life. She regrets she ever had an affair with Ed, sorry she ever let Uncle Ron talk her into bringing Kelly home. All the while Leann wonders who is Kelly? Who is the girl in the barrel? Could either be the missing Genie Fukuwaka, a girl taken six years ago and never found?
Rabbit Skin Glue
A woman comes to terms with the human condition.
On Human Hearts and Hog Parts
A schizophrenic teenage girl’s manic one-sided romantic obsession with a hog faced poet leads her down a path of confusion and paranoia; while she attempts to seek enlightenment and answers to her ever evolving state of mind, it feels to her, the people in her life will do anything to stop her journey towards becoming illuminated to the mysteries of the universe.
Drugs! Angst! Hospitalization! Suicide! Mental Isolation! Poetry and Pig Parts! Ah so is love.
In the case file, Ashley reported hearing voices as early as eight years old. The same year her birth mother tried to drown her in a bathtub. The same year the state took Ashley and put her into care. Since then Ashley had spent most of her life in hospitals. Her doctors and adopted mother felt it was time to get her out into the world. She was going to be fifteen and needed some real friends. Some normal life experiences...
Drugs! Angst! Hospitalization! Suicide! Mental Isolation! Poetry and Pig Parts! Ah so is love.
In the case file, Ashley reported hearing voices as early as eight years old. The same year her birth mother tried to drown her in a bathtub. The same year the state took Ashley and put her into care. Since then Ashley had spent most of her life in hospitals. Her doctors and adopted mother felt it was time to get her out into the world. She was going to be fifteen and needed some real friends. Some normal life experiences...
The Unwithering Flower (Aeon of Chaos)
Unbridled greed. Dark necromancy. Total Mayhem.
When Narseh the Slaver journeys to the infamous City of Whores, he thinks he’s about to make a fortune trading in nubile human flesh. Instead he finds the city’s population decimated by plague. His sordid mercantile venture looks utterly doomed – until a chance encounter with a beautiful sorceress changes everything. By combining her necromantic powers with his commercial know-how, the new allies use the site of the plague-ridden city to launch a money-making scheme so devious, so vile, so repulsive, that it will live on in infamy forever, and bring a storm of vengeance and bloodshed down upon their heads the likes of which the City of Whores has never seen.
When Narseh the Slaver journeys to the infamous City of Whores, he thinks he’s about to make a fortune trading in nubile human flesh. Instead he finds the city’s population decimated by plague. His sordid mercantile venture looks utterly doomed – until a chance encounter with a beautiful sorceress changes everything. By combining her necromantic powers with his commercial know-how, the new allies use the site of the plague-ridden city to launch a money-making scheme so devious, so vile, so repulsive, that it will live on in infamy forever, and bring a storm of vengeance and bloodshed down upon their heads the likes of which the City of Whores has never seen.
Beneath Still Waters: A novel
A little girl and her mother haunted by mental illness become entangled in the paranoia of the early 1990s Satanic Panic.
The Way the Light Falls
Shae’s life was routine and boring. She went to work, went home, saved her money. After being attacked and disfigured in an alley she was trying to be better. She tried to stop drinking, she stayed away from drugs. She went to work, went home, saved her pennies when she could. These days she carried around her hate, her fear, in the form of a scar across her face….Then along came Finn, offering her a job making a new breed of pornography. Soon she has a dead skinhead haunting her house, crashing on her sofa, listening to her records. Shae realizes Finn isn’t who she thought he was. She isn’t who she thought she was….
A novella exploring deceptive appearances
On the edge of the city, propped beside a wide brown river, there was dancing and drinking most nights. On a good night, there was blood. Fights between strangers, friends, and lovers, it didn’t matter. The glassy eyes of junkies, punks, and filthy youth stood by passively to watch for free. This site did not disturb Shae in the least. She’d been hanging out at The Cellar since she was fourteen. On this sultry night she’d brought Finn, and couldn’t tell how he felt about it. Whether he was horrified, fascinated, or indifferent to the scum rolling down the street.
The shithole club, the street outside, the alleyways, this entire part of the city was rough and poor. Half industrial and bleeding to projects, then burnt-out houses. Stray packs of dogs and skeletal cars buried in wild yards of poison ivy. She usually felt at ease here among these people. Her people. Dropouts, runaways, addicts and pushers, street artists, the occasional casual prostitute, if need be. But tonight she felt uncomfortable because she had brought Finn and he wasn’t any of those things.
A novella exploring deceptive appearances
On the edge of the city, propped beside a wide brown river, there was dancing and drinking most nights. On a good night, there was blood. Fights between strangers, friends, and lovers, it didn’t matter. The glassy eyes of junkies, punks, and filthy youth stood by passively to watch for free. This site did not disturb Shae in the least. She’d been hanging out at The Cellar since she was fourteen. On this sultry night she’d brought Finn, and couldn’t tell how he felt about it. Whether he was horrified, fascinated, or indifferent to the scum rolling down the street.
The shithole club, the street outside, the alleyways, this entire part of the city was rough and poor. Half industrial and bleeding to projects, then burnt-out houses. Stray packs of dogs and skeletal cars buried in wild yards of poison ivy. She usually felt at ease here among these people. Her people. Dropouts, runaways, addicts and pushers, street artists, the occasional casual prostitute, if need be. But tonight she felt uncomfortable because she had brought Finn and he wasn’t any of those things.
The Crimson Crown (Aeon of Chaos)
Inverted Dreams. Excoriated Hearts. Terror and Horror Sublime. The twin princesses Oda and Honey are as different as night and day. Oda is a child of the dark, obsessed with cruelty and death. Honey is as sweet as her name, filled with goodwill and compassion. It is therefore a remarkably revolting twist of fate when the royal astrologer orders Oda to be married to the mild-mannered King Armand, while Honey is betrothed to King Barbus of Gutgirt, the most brutal man in the world, who tears peasants apart with his bare hands and keeps his murdered brides’ bodies on display in his own bloody chamber. As the twins strive to wrest back their lives from the cruel hand of fate, they embark on a journey of self discovery that will twist them in unimaginable ways – and perhaps bare the secrets of their innermost selves. At the centre of their struggles, shining balefully over all, is the Crimson Crown of Gutgirt, a relic of terrible mystery and demonic power, whose secrets hold the key to salvation – and everlasting doom. The Crimson Crown is a Punk AF fantasy story set in the Aeon of Chaos. It contains graphic sex, violence, and disturbing material, and is not intended for the squeamish or the easily offended.
Hello Old Friend: A novella
Eve looked out the window. She wondered, why did she continue to come here? All the while her doctor drolled on and on about her goals for the week. Her depression lingered over her entire life, like a swarm of flies. Constantly ticking and buzzing in her ears, crawling over her skin, biting her where she couldn’t reach. She thought once she stopped taking chemical medication and moved on to talk therapy things would improve, so far they remained about the same. She just had more homework assignments...Plagued by irrational fears, anxiety, and depression; Eve, a mentally ill eccentric, turns to Dr. Eustace Gish, in hopes of navigating her inner wounds and reuniting her fractured self. She follows his program, a series of six esoteric self-help discs that are designed to help those struggling to ascend to their higher selves.
The Court of the Mushroom King (Aeon of Chaos)
Psychedelic strangeness. Demonic romance. Total mayhem.
In the kingdom of Myconia lies a forbidden garden filled with mushrooms whose flesh is said to bring ecstatic visions to some, to others a fate worse than death. Princess Ziqqora, whose only passion is dreaming, resolves to taste the illicit fungus and discover the truth. She finds herself in a realm of terror and wonder beyond even her wildest imaginings, a place filled with inhuman enemies and marvelous allies – allies who might just be able to save her from her doomed fate as the intended bride of the murderous Heinrich van Gruel and the monster he keeps in his codpiece.
In the kingdom of Myconia lies a forbidden garden filled with mushrooms whose flesh is said to bring ecstatic visions to some, to others a fate worse than death. Princess Ziqqora, whose only passion is dreaming, resolves to taste the illicit fungus and discover the truth. She finds herself in a realm of terror and wonder beyond even her wildest imaginings, a place filled with inhuman enemies and marvelous allies – allies who might just be able to save her from her doomed fate as the intended bride of the murderous Heinrich van Gruel and the monster he keeps in his codpiece.
While the Plants Were Dying
Terra knew she was lost in depression again when she saw three hours had passed and she hadn’t noticed. She’d been mindlessly scrolling through used clothes on eBay, thinking maybe if she got the bright yellow dress, or the striped red pants, things would change. Her mood and her life, things would happen so naturally, she wouldn’t even realize it.
After spending a life wandering around, confused, anxious and alone, Terra, a florist, acquires a series of six esoteric self-help discs that are designed to help those struggling to ascend to their higher selves from her sister’s yard sale.
...Terra looked down at them. She’d never seen DVDS in a leather case before. “Are they home movies or something? They just look... odd. I don’t know. It’s strange there’s no title, right? Were they Bryon’s?”
“Uh, no, one of those patients left them for me…” Her sister, Margo said, turning away.
Terra placed the leather folder down on the corner of the table beside the stack of DVDs. It seemed out of place there….It didn’t seem to belong anywhere, just like Terra.
After spending a life wandering around, confused, anxious and alone, Terra, a florist, acquires a series of six esoteric self-help discs that are designed to help those struggling to ascend to their higher selves from her sister’s yard sale.
...Terra looked down at them. She’d never seen DVDS in a leather case before. “Are they home movies or something? They just look... odd. I don’t know. It’s strange there’s no title, right? Were they Bryon’s?”
“Uh, no, one of those patients left them for me…” Her sister, Margo said, turning away.
Terra placed the leather folder down on the corner of the table beside the stack of DVDs. It seemed out of place there….It didn’t seem to belong anywhere, just like Terra.
The Second Wolf
Bestial Violence. Monstrous Lust. Total Mayhem.
A Beast stalks the forests and moors around the city of Stubbe, raping and killing by night, vanishing by day. As the bodies of mangled victims pile up, the citizens grow increasingly terrified – and violent. Unable to stop or trap the elusive Beast, or fathom the cause of its inhuman lusts, the local constabulary is forced to seek help from an outsider in the form of Rubria Caracalla, a beautiful monster hunter of vague but lethal reputation. But Rubria is no ordinary monster hunter, and her perverted plans for the Beast are not the same as those of her patrons.
A Beast stalks the forests and moors around the city of Stubbe, raping and killing by night, vanishing by day. As the bodies of mangled victims pile up, the citizens grow increasingly terrified – and violent. Unable to stop or trap the elusive Beast, or fathom the cause of its inhuman lusts, the local constabulary is forced to seek help from an outsider in the form of Rubria Caracalla, a beautiful monster hunter of vague but lethal reputation. But Rubria is no ordinary monster hunter, and her perverted plans for the Beast are not the same as those of her patrons.
Lucy the Satanist
A teenage girl meets Satan in the form of a dog. Mild acts of mayhem ensue.
The Magickal Goat Boy
The Magickal Goat boy is a very clever lad. He knows the names of the dead gods and the demons who slew them. He knows all the magick spells ever invented. He even knows the secrets of the Seventy Two Thousand demonic transformations! And yet, he’s missing one simple, vital piece of information: he doesn’t know who his father is. His quest to uncover his parentage will lead him through the strange reaches of his native fairyland, from encounters with talking mosquitoes and monstrous fish to an audience with the eldritch and terrible Turtle King.
The Bone House
n the center of a forsaken forest lies The Bone House. Built from the skeletons of giants slain in ages past, it serves as a mystical prison for a monster known only as The Beast, an ancient abomination fueled by infinite hunger, cruelty, and lust. Unable to be slain, the Beast has long been sealed away from mankind – at least, until now. A group of monster hunters are about to break into his jail. Their stated mission? To do the unthinkable, and kill the unkillable Beast once and for all. Unfortunately for the others, one of the monster hunters is not quite on the same page. She has her own plans for the hunting expedition, plans so sordid and gruesome very few would believe them. Her name is Rubria Caracalla, and she’s a monster hunter – with a difference.
Dead When We Met
A girl. Her neighbor. A skull named Frank. What could go wrong?
How could something Mona love cause her so much mental anguish? It wasn’t natural. That’s what she read. But it felt natural to her. The open arms, the willingness to take her every time. Never any violence, or putting his needs before hers. He would never break her heart. He would never make her feel uncomfortable. He would never reject her as she grew older and faded.
She would run just the tips of her fingers over fine cold bone wrapped in dry papery tissue. Inhaling sharply, a biting tang of chemical death. He wouldn’t move, just let her touch him, smell him. There was nothing else like it. Death was its own beast. One foot in this world, and one foot beyond. Nothing got Mona off like straddling that thin black line….
How could something Mona love cause her so much mental anguish? It wasn’t natural. That’s what she read. But it felt natural to her. The open arms, the willingness to take her every time. Never any violence, or putting his needs before hers. He would never break her heart. He would never make her feel uncomfortable. He would never reject her as she grew older and faded.
She would run just the tips of her fingers over fine cold bone wrapped in dry papery tissue. Inhaling sharply, a biting tang of chemical death. He wouldn’t move, just let her touch him, smell him. There was nothing else like it. Death was its own beast. One foot in this world, and one foot beyond. Nothing got Mona off like straddling that thin black line….
Lovers in Flame
Braidwood has been cheating on his wife for years. But his mistress isn’t like those of other men. She’s not a being of flesh and blood who lives in a house of wood and stone. She’s a creature of hunger and heat who lives in the fires Braidwood sets in the abandoned buildings dotting his small town of Ganderonne. He glimpses her beauty in pillars of flame and tongues of fire. He smells her perfume in woodsmoke and ashes. He hears her lusty whispers in the crackle of kindling. For years they’ve been flirting, but now it’s time for their love to be consummated.
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