Truly great fantastical adventure is hard to find, and A Stranger to the Darklands fills that void with a vengeance. Not just one, but three creepy supernatural tales play out in this action-packed compilation of novellas from writer, actor, and filmmaker Stephen Blackehart. In the spirit of Stephen King’s widely varied, highly original novella and short story collections, Blackehart’s writing delivers buckets of dark fantasy bang for your buck.
The first story, “A Stranger to the Darklands,” takes you to WWII-era Romania, where a US operative encounters Nazi officials with a supernatural thirst for blood. “La Bruja” is the tale of a real estate agent who discovers a mysteriously magical old woman living in seclusion in the New Mexico hills. “Bizango” is every nerd’s dream turned potential nightmare: a puny state department hack transformed into a strange superhero and sent on a dramatic rescue mission to Brazil.
Through it all, the author’s quirky characters and inventive scenarios keep the tension building and the pages turning. Presenting his stories as if they were Hollywood screenplays, Blackehart takes you on a trip to the movies through the portal of your own imagination. A Stranger to the Darklands is the storybook equivalent of a good old-fashioned matinee marathon–three wildly imaginative tales for the price of one!
