Books
Those That Pursue Us Yet
A nightmarish novella
Buy Those That Pursue Us Yet online (UK) (Aus)
Parisian psychiatrist Madeline Diomande has known her share of peculiar and demanding clients. But Wander Paxton is something more. Wander has lived in seven countries and speaks four languages, and claims a dream life even more exotic. There, an entity she equates with Phobetor, the Roman god of nightmares, pursues her through a landscape of archetype and wild fantasy.
As her efforts to help Wander draw them closer together, Madeline's own old nightmares resurface. But strange things are happening in Paris. As the incidence of night terrors in children reaches plague proportions, adults become violent and suicidal. By the time she realises the truth of Phobetor's connection to her patient, it may be too late to save anyone.
"Kyla Lee Ward's utterly original, powerful voice courses through this stunning book. I was held mesmerized by the language and by the story."
— Kaaron Warren, multi-award-winning author of Slights, The Grief Hole and Sky.
"Kyla Lee Ward is one of the most exciting authors of dark and weird fiction writing today. Her knowledge of myths and legends, archetypes and ancient history is dazzling, and her work as action-packed and exciting as it is beautifully written. Those That Pursue Us Yet follows hot on the heels of Kyla's stunning short story collection This Attraction Now Open Till Late, and will delight seasoned fans of Kyla's wondrous tales and new readers alike."
— Anna Taborska, author of Bloody Britain and For Those Who Dream Monsters.
"A glorious gothic maelstrom of bondage and discipline, of deep psychology and dream logic, of present day Paris and ancient malevolence. Those That Pursue Us Yet is a heart-pounding nightmare, a lucid dreamscape of cosmic terrors that bleed from the page into the waking world."
— Joseph Ashley-Smith, Shirley Jackson Award-winning author of The Measure of Sorrow.
Independent Legions Publishing ISBN 979-1280713797
This Attraction Now Open Till Late
Strange Sights and Shadows
Buy This Attraction Now Open Till Late online (UK) (US)
Enter a dark carnival where nothing is as it seems, in this collection of thirteen tales by award-winning author KYLA LEE WARD. Each exhibit tantalises with a mix of horror, seduction and blackest humour.
A masked apparition tempts a struggling musician. Tourists in the City of Assassins seek a truly authentic experience. Gargoyles and angels battle for the future of a university. Firefighters confront the spectre of what has burned before. Actors in a funfair haunt realise where the true horror lies. A wax-working necromancer plots vengeance for the death of her lover.
This menagerie of stories represents twenty years of publication by a unique voice in contemporary weird and Gothic fiction, and will enthrall enthusiasts of thoughtful horror and dark fantasy, especially readers of Joyce Carol Oates and Tanith Lee. A cavalcade of artists and archetypes, mummies and masquers, vampires and voyeurs will sweep you away to distant times and places, and shock you with surprises closer to home. But be warned! For as the hour grows late, the difference between spectator and attraction blurs. After midnight, you'll never want to leave...
"No devotee of the truly weird will want to be without this book."
— S. T. Joshi, multiple award-winning literary critic, author of I Am Providence.
"Surreal nightmares may be a side effect of reading this collection. Beware! Kyla will have you in her spell, as she did me!"
— Marge Simon, multiple Stoker Award winner, co-author of Satan's Sweethearts
"An extraordinary collection of numinous curios..."
— Lee Murray, four-time Stoker Award-winner and author of Grotesque: Monster Stories
Independent Legions Publishing; ISBN 9791280713414
Prismatic
A contagious thriller
co-authored with David Carroll and Evan Paliatseas. Edwina Grey is our pseudonym
History is out to get you.
Jacqueline is a struggling academic. Unless she can kickstart her failed thesis, she will lose everything she's ever dreamed of.
A lucky find leads to the discovery of a lifetime--a cache of documents detailing a century-old murder. She can finish her thesis, and garner the prestige to make her career.
But as Jacqueline digs into the records, a mysterious plague strikes Sydney--identical to the mysterious illness detailed in the historical documents, causing unnatural outbreaks of violence and madness. And the man she made the discovery with--biologist Daniel O'Connor--may be the source of the infection. An ancient conspiracy surfaces, desperate to bury the ancient truth.
Threatened on all sides, Jacqueline must confront a dark legacy, or everything she knows and loves will be consumed by malevolent forces.
If you like If you like Stephen King's Cell and James Bradley's The Resurrectionist, you'll devour Edwina Grey's dark horror story that draws on Australia's blood-soaked past as a prison for Britain's most monstrous criminals.
"Dark suspense is one description, so is contemporary thriller. Gripping despite my flu (not plague)." – Lucy Sussex, The Age, 9th July, 2006.
"Edwina Grey's debut novel, Prismatic, is a soft-touch tale that braids three narratives into a stylish, sometimes chilling whole ... Grey's novel blends engaging period milieus and sound characterisation with visionary touches reminiscent with J.G. Ballard's The Crystal World." – Terry Dowling, The Australian, 21st October, 2006
"The perfect horror novel in terms of pacing, content, and bangs for your buck. Go get infected today!" – Scary Minds, 2006
Read the first chapter here.
The Macabre Modern and Other Morbidities
A collection of dark poetry and prose
Contains the Australian Shadows award-winning essay "The Danse Macabre" and "The Macabre Modern", third place long form in the 2020 Rhysling Awards.
A contemporary re-envisioning of the medieval "The Dance of Death", written for the twenty-first century onward. Defy death with the doctor, mourn with the soldier, chuckle at the grotesque and the fallible, but remember - the last laugh will be on you! Includes the Australian Shadows award winner, "Revenants of the Antipodes".
"With each new work she produces, Kyla Lee Ward--who, like William Blake and Clark Ashton Smith, has chosen to illustrate her own work--makes clear why she should be regarded as one of the preeminent exemplars of contemporary weird poetry."
--S. T. Joshi, author I Am Providence, The Weird Tale, editor Supernatural Literature of the World: An Encyclopedia
"Kyla Lee Ward puts satisfying meat on the Gothic's bones. Her well-honed metrical and narrative skills, enhanced by a deep sense of history, make this collection a must for aficionados of literary dark verse."
--Ann K. Schwader, author In the Yaddith Time, Twisted in Dream: The Collected Weird Poetry, Dark Energies
"Have your absinthe glass and your favourite memento mori at hand as you savour this, her breathtaking new volume of vers fantastique."
--Leigh Blackmore, author Spores from Sharnoth and Other Madnesses, Horrors of Sherlock Holmes
Available now from P'rea Press.
The Land of Bad Dreams
A collection of dark and fantastic poetry
Buy the Land of Bad Dreams online
A guidebook to old and new vistas of pandemonium, sumptuous gothic landscapes and the shadows of Faerie, by a darkly-shining poetic talent. But be warned - those who venture into the Land of Bad Dreams will always bring something back home. A bride, a bite, or a taste for herbal tea... Beautifully illustrated, this volume includes an introduction by Charles Lovecraft and an interview with the author.
"In The Land of Bad Dreams, Kyla Ward offers up a rich, eccentric miscellany of dark music, skilfully crafted and strangely wrought." – Ann Schwader
"Traditional poetic meter and verse forms serve as vehicles for macabre themes that challenge their restraint in Ward's captivating collection of weird poetry... Fans of the supernatural who like poetry in the classic Romantic tradition will enjoy this collection." – Publishers Weekly, 14 May 2012.
"...a wordsmith in love with words. They are the music to which she sings, and she also dances to the melody with enthusiasm... The multiple contents contained in this P'rea Press compilation display the talents of a writer spreading her creative wings – and soaring." – Sheila M. Merritt, Hellnotes, 4 November 2011.
Available now from Prea Press.
The Torturer's Confession, as performed by the author.