OF SPIRITS AND NIGHTMARES
Nathan's freshman year in college delivers alternative rock, relationship adventures-and a plague of waking nightmares. He flees campus for the Appalachian Trail, hoping to leave his personal demons behind. But a scream for help from a boy made of shadows rips his reality to pieces.
The rescue of the boy ends in a blood-soaked struggle that teaches Nathan monsters are real. And that he is one of them. Forgotten powers and hungers from his childhood manifest in claws that can tear apart flesh and spirit.
But wonders soon bring terrors as the revelation of Nathan's true nature exposes his existence to enemies he never knew he had. As he desperately seeks the ancestor who can unlock the secrets of his heritage, a shape-shifting mass murderer stalks close behind. And even worse things await him in the shadows of the spirit realm.
PRAISE FOR THE AUTHOR
“Trail of Shadows is a panic-laced, spider-paced, fanged beast of a horror novel, a coming-of-age in a world of monsters. Realities bleed into each other like a Dali painting as familiar landscapes yawn open into the surreal. You don’t need psychoactive substances to go tripping balls in Mike Allen’s Appalachia. All you have to do is read this book.” (C.S.E. Cooney, World Fantasy Award-winning author of Saint Death’s Daughter)
“Mike Allen has long been a force in fantasy and horror. With Trail of Shadows, he’s once again hit it out of the park. Beautiful prose and a haunting story combine to create a tale that will draw you in and refuse to let you go. Folk horror at its best.” (Gwendolyn Kiste, four-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Haunting of Velkwood and Reluctant Immortals)
“Hallucinatory, charcoal-dark, populated with ghosts, demons, and spiders, Mike Allen’s Trail of Shadows is a violent fantasy-horror that pulses with atmosphere and atavistic terror.” (Matthew M. Bartlett, author of Gateways to Abomination and The Obsecration)
“Trail of Shadows is a fast-paced psychedelic journey through Appalachia that’s also a tender coming of age story. Allen’s hallucinatory prose sears, full of wonder and terror, and his grasp of folklore and history shines throughout this Southern Gothic-meets-Weird-fiction novel.” (Craig Laurance Gidney, Lambda Award-nominated author of A Spectral Hue)
“Spry and sprawling by turns, Trail of Shadows overflows with potent action and hypnotic, horror-tinged imagery. When it comes to dream-quest acid trips, this one’s a hero dose.” (Rich Larson, Eugie Foster Memorial Award-winning author of Ymir and Changelog)
“Allen creates a vast, intricate, and darkly imaginative world that is a chilling joy to immerse yourself in.” (A.T. Sayre, author of The Last Days of Good People)
“Trail of Shadows is a tense, tight, and constantly surprising novel. A hike down the Appalachian Trail into a realm of shadows and surreal horror. I can’t recommend it enough. It will keep you up late, and it cements Mike Allen as a horror and suspense writer to keep your eye on.” (R.S. Belcher, author of The Six-Gun Tarot and The Brotherhood of the Wheel)
“Mike Allen’s Trail of Shadows, set in the communities that dot the Appalachian Trail, is interlaced with strands of folk horror, high fantasy, and the just plain weird, that coalesce into a singular and fascinating milieu. Reminiscent of Manly Wade Wellman’s Silver John stories, this pivotal novel firmly establishes Allen’s launching pad for future literary endeavors that readers of weird and speculative fiction are sure to devour.” (Pete Rawlik, author of Reanimatrix)
Trail of Shadows
New dark-fantasy, folk-horror novel, Trail of Shadows, by Mike Allen, uncovers the power of spirits and nightmares in Appalachia.
Two-time World Fantasy Award finalist Mike Allen spins a tale of spirit beings, serial killers, and supernatural horrors.