Nine Candles of Deepest Black
YA Paranormal Horror
by Matthew S. Cox
She saw it coming. She knew it would happen—but no one believed her.
Almost a year after tragedy shattered her family, sixteen-year-old Paige Thomas can’t break free from her guilt. Her mother ignores her, doting on her clingy little sister, while her father is a barely-functioning shell. He hopes a move to the quiet little town of Shadesboro PA will help them heal, but Paige doesn’t believe in happiness anymore.
On her first day at school, a chance encounter with a bullied eighth grader reawakens a gift Paige had forgotten, and ingratiates her into a pack of local outcasts. For weeks, they’ve been trying to cast a ritual to fulfill their innermost desires, but all they’ve done is waste time. After witnessing Paige touch the Ouija board and trigger a paranormal event, the girls are convinced another try with their new fifth member will finally work.
Once the darkness is unleashed, it’s not long before they learn it will give them exactly what they asked for—whether they want it or not.
REVIEW
5 out of 5
This was a dark, chilling read, perfect for a dark, stormy, fall night. Cox does an excellent job getting you invested from the start, and it’s easy to see how much Paige is hurting. Although her whole family is reeling from a devastating loss, Paige was a bit lost in the shuffle to begin with, so it’s not surprising that she latches onto the group when given an opportunity to make friends. I appreciate that Cox makes the distinction between Wicca and Witchcraft – although a work of fiction, that’s one thing that always irked me, when the two are conflated as being the same thing. The characters themselves are unique, united in being outcasts desperately yearning for something, but each grappling with their own struggles, too. There was a bit of mystery mixed in as well, and the tension and curiosity as to what will happen next makes it hard to take a break once you start reading. Highly recommend for all YA horror lovers!
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born in a little town known as South Amboy NJ in 1973, Matthew has been creating science fiction and fantasy worlds for most of his reasoning life. Somewhere between fifteen to eighteen of them spent developing the world in which Division Zero, Virtual Immortality, and The Awakened Series take place. He has several other projects in the works as well as a collaborative science fiction endeavor with author Tony Healey.
Hobbies and Interests:
Matthew is an avid gamer, a recovered WoW addict, Gamemaster for two custom systems (Chronicles of Eldrinaath [Fantasy] and Divergent Fates [Sci Fi], and a fan of anime, British humour (<- deliberate), and intellectual science fiction that questions the nature of reality, life, and what happens after it.
He is also fond of cats.
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