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Dark Gods by T.E.D. Klein

Trade Paperback – Drugstore Indian Press – Nov 2021 – 360 pages

T.E.D. Klein’s highly acclaimed first novel The Ceremonies—which Stephen King called “the most exciting novel in my field to come along since Straub’s Ghost Story—established him in the top rank of horror writers. Now, with the four novellas gathered here, Klein proves himself to be a master of this classic shorter form.

The collection opens with “Children of the Kingdom”, a beautifully crafted chiller that gradually reveals the horrors that lurk behind the shadows of the city. In “Petey”, George and Phyllis and the die-hards at their housewarming think that their new rural retreat is quite a steal—unaware that foreclosure, in a particularly monstrous form, is heading their way.

In the insidiously terrifying “Black Man with a Horn”, a homage to Lovecraft, a chance encounter with a missionary priest over the Atlantic lures a traveller into a web of ancient mystery and fiendish retribution. And in “Nadelman’s God”, the protagonist discovers, degree by shocking degree, that the demons of our imaginations are not always imaginary.