I normally enjoy sending these out on Fridays, but I figure a lot of you will be too busy with the hustle and bustle of Christmas weekend to even think about checking your email, so let's have a holiday party here a little early, shall we? 💝🎄

This week's blog post is a fun one: Real-life grimdark schools. I'm claiming the creation of a new genre, Grimdark Academia. You probably know by now how much I love The Witcher. Well, do you dare me to attend a real-life Witcher school? Because there is one. How about becoming an actual Hogwart's-style wizard? You can do that. How about a mermaid? Yeah, this world is weird and wonderful. 

Also, for your winter fantasy and folklore fascination, did you know there's a Christmas vampire? Who says spooky season has to end in October? I think this weekly winter creature feature theme has proven by now that winter may be even spookier than autumn? 🤷🏻‍♂️

Finally, the Book Funnel specials are closing in - all of them end on New Year's Eve, so ICYMI in the last newsletter, I've got you covered in this edition, too. 🙌🏻📚

Keep scrolling for more...

Have a safe, healthy, happy and grandest of holidays! 

Until next time...

💝🔥😈

~Dave Reed

WEIRD REAL, GRIMDARK SCHOOLS

If you like to escape by jumping headfirst into a dark fantasy read, you’ll know that your trip to faraway lands is always too short. Far sooner than you’d like, you’re back to the prosaic reality of dishes in the sink, yardwork you’ve been postponing, and the knowledge that tomorrow will be exactly the same as today.

But what if there was a way to bring the fantastical into your everyday life?

What if, instead of dealing with dismal real-life problems, you could don a beard and some fur and battle monsters in the woods? Don some clamshells and a tail and learn how to be a real mermaid? Get sorted into a house and start learning divination, alchemy, and the dark arts?

Sadly, fantastically, amazingly—you can. And grown people do.

These institutions see no reason why we should keep the supernatural to the confines of fiction. If you would like to bring even more fantasy into your life, there are some very real and bizarre ways to do so.

Meet Kallikantzaros, the Christmas Vampire. This is a species of demon confined to the underworld, and its goal is to tear down the roots beneath the Tree of Life, which would result in Armageddon. 

How do you pacify an angry monster? Why, you let it come up to Earth and feed its rage on humans, of course! But only for a short time. 

These creatures come out on December 25th, and terrorize us for twelve days. How's that for The Twelve Days of Christmas? Stories about the kallikantzaros or similar critters can be found in Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Cyprus. 

This bloodsucking, destructive goblin may even be the inspiration for the creatures that flock to a small Alaskan town in the creeptastic horror film, Thirty Days of Night. 

Searching for your next favorite magical story?

Look no further! These bestselling authors - and more - have teamed up to offer a delightful selection of new books. Ends December 31st!

Searching for your next favorite fantasy read?

Look no further! These bestselling authors - and more - have teamed up to offer a delightful selection of new books. Ends December 31st!

Searching for your next favorite fantasy story this Christmas?

Look no further! These bestselling authors - and more - have teamed up to offer a delightful selection of new books. Available for a limited time. Ends December 31st!

Do you like your fantasy & sci-fi books a little darker than the average?

Then come check out this great selection of Dark and Bloody adventures. Available for a limited time. Ends December 31st!