The Burning Ember Mission of Helldorado (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781956702156)

A collection of decadent, darksome Southwest tales by Manuel Arenas, author of Book of Shadows: Grim Tales and Gothic Fancies.

In The Burning Ember Mission of Helldorado, Manuel Arenas relates a series of Southwestern Gothic tales told from the perspective of the Latin diaspora. Ranging in time from the conquest of New Spain to modern-day Arizona, they feature diabolic missions, spectral monks, shapeshifting sorcerers, fantastical creatures, and grim deities, all lurking within the harsh, wondrous environs of the Sonoran Desert. In the title novelette-a supernatural conte cruel-we meet the sardonic Ba'al Adrian Zwartenberg, a sorcerer seeking to resurrect an abandoned beacon of evil-and who delights in horrific revenge for the slightest offense. The poems and stories that follow feature other dark icons from Arenas' Southwestern mythology: Lupe of the mirror black-a tlahuelpuchi (vampiric shapeshifter); the tragic Altagracia (who inherits a family curse); the demonic brujo Dimas Akelarre; and F?retrina, aka Coffin-Belly Mary-an emissary for La Santa Muerte.

Lavishly illustrated by Mutartis Boswell, this volume is a treat for the eye-as well as for the dark soul-of horror and weird fiction enthusiasts.