{"product_id":"the-potion-and-other-perilous-matias-travieso-diaz-9781951716455","title":"The Potion and Other Perilous Libations","description":"\"Would you give up your mind and perhaps your freedom to add more months to your life?\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThis is the ultimate question posed in the title story of this collection of dark tales with settings around the world and times from the distant past to the terrifying future. We are taken to realms as remote as a bloody afternoon of games in the Roman Colosseum and as close as the addled mind of a drug addict, with characters and situations made more dreadful by being entirely plausible. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA warrior watches his captors appease the gods with human sacrifices during a solar eclipse; a man trades his smile for a night of pleasure during Venice's Carnival and tries to recover it; a pre-Columbian man from a city threatened by Aztec conquest seeks assistance from a cryptid, who offers help at a steep cost. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWe'll learn that no matter the time period or the location, horror is a part of every culture and is universal. It reminds us that anyone's life can be at risk, whether by accident, by chance, or personally chosen. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSo perhaps the question changes: \u003cbr\u003eWhat would you give up to survive these horrors?\u003cbr\u003eOr would you want to survive at all? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eThe Potion and Other Perilous Libations\u003c\/i\u003e, a selection of some of the best of Matias Travieso-Diaz's over one hundred and sixty published short stories, is the thinking person's collection of fantasy, horror, and science fiction tales... Matias Travieso-Diaz continues to distinguish himself as one of the leading short story writers in the United States.\" Alex Ferrate, peer review \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"No matter how bizarre, strange, or twisted the story, Travieso-Diaz's living, breathing characters are the life's blood of the tale... there's more than enough wonder and dread for any fan of horror or dark fantasy.\" Jason J. McCuiston, author of \u003ci\u003eProject Notebook\u003c\/i\u003e and The Last Star Warden series \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"[Matias Travieso-Diaz's] stories remind readers the world can be a very scary place indeed.\" Adrian Ludens, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Tension of a Coming Storm\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Mr. Travieso-Diaz's short stories are like the bloody news photograph you know you should not look at, but click on anyway... [he] leads you to the realization that terror begins in the familiar places, the hearth, the school, and the office, metastasizes into the terrors that haunt us collectively, and transforms banal, complacent souls into monsters.\" Alex Ferrate, peer review \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"The imagination that Matias brings to us through his stories is a treasure worth savoring.\" Paul Gaukler, peer review \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"The author has tucked a burr in our souls and left us itching and squirming. And that is as it should be.\" Stephen Kimmerling, peer review\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Matias Travieso-Diaz\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1951716450\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781951716455\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Dark Owl Publishing\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/09\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 216\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.48lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.00h x 5.00w x 0.49d","brand":"Matias Travieso-Diaz","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48800695189759,"sku":"9781951716455","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-potion-and-other-perilous-matias-travieso-diaz-9781951716455","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}