‘Neath The Old Tree
FEATURED IN: Women of the Woods from Fabled Collective
- Publication date: October 2020
- Editor: Vanessa K. Eccles
ABOUT ‘NEATH THE OLD TREE
In Cilcain, the fields are as barren as the village women until Elen Bowen realizes she is with child. Convinced she has conjured evil forces to bless her this way, Elen’s neighbors lash out with a punishment that will rob her of this gift. Rather than allow her child to be born into such hostility, Elen takes drastic measures to protect it in a way that will be an everlasting reminder for the entire village.
PUBLICATION DETAILS
Only the brave enter the woods—those who aren’t afraid of witches, shapeshifters, curses, and darkness. In this delightfully eerie anthology, only the fearless survive. These spooky, fantastic, and gothic tales will remind you that bedtime stories—those read in the dark—are for adults too.Women of the Woods promises to keep you up at night while introducing you to more than a dozen talented authors. From dark fantasy to folk horror, Women of the Woods has a mix of frightening stories reminiscent of those by Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Washington Irving but with a modern touch.Enter the woods… if you dare.
CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS
- ‘Neath the Old Tree” by Mary Rajotte – A storm brews overhead, and its winds rend leaves down around their feet. They will come for her.
- “Gingerbread” by Marshall Moore – Hunger nestles in her stomach like a worm, constantly whispering its eternal demand: feed me.
- “Necromancing Over Coffee” by A. R. Cook – The necromancer learns the one thing that changes everything—the thing that stops a raging god from devouring the world and can never die.
- “The Rebirth of Joy” by Arwen Spicer – Dark magic dwells in the Forest of Forgetting. If sunset catches you in the woods, the Old Woman Ovla will make you forget—your loves, your life, your own precious self.
- “Lighted Feather, Hollowed Bone” by Caitlin E. Jones – Sometimes we are born into the world, too fragile for the place we find.
- “Myrtha” by Victoria Audley – The heart of the forest is dead, and the dead keep it.
- “Saiya” by Katie Brittle – When the news reports that a virus is infecting the world, Saiya packs her bags and heads for the safety of the woods. • “My Lady in the War” by Whitney Zahar – Uncertainty and death are the two constants of the war and the woods.
- “The Magpie” by M. Regan – The bird thinks her soul is very pretty, and he wants it for himself.
- “The Winds of Old Hulter” by H. Parsons – The forest girl stares at her with this brilliantly intense gaze. Can you feel the storm?
- “Alina’s Well” by Katie Coughran – Alina must stand guard of the well the rest of her life. Or else. • “Roots” by Jennifer Cizl – Without the mountains, the animals, the woods… she will cease to exist.
- “The Witch of Willow Wood” by Ashley Weaver – What really happened in the marshes of the wood? How much power does the witch have over the town?
- “Of Fire and Ice” by Vanessa K. Eccles – She will never become accustomed to that part of herself—the part that turns into a beast at the first sight of anger. They made her this way.
AN EXCERPT
© MARY RAJOTTE
Desperation is the only thing that takes root in Cilcain’s rocky terrain that spring. Across the hillside, when sunset exposes every parched acre, setting the land starkly alight, Elen Bowen wonders if she can endure living there much longer.
The season of plenty approaches, but outside Elen’s window, the fields lay barren. The crops have failed to sprout but for a few rotten new potatoes and withered stalks of rhubarb. Even the houseleeks growing between the roof slates have suffered. Most have gone dormant, with their leaves turned brown, cupped, and drawn in from the elements as though they, too, can’t bear to exist here. Hopelessness slides its teeth into everything—the earth, the air, the lives of all it touches—and feeds until sated.
READER REVIEWS
“I haven’t been so impressed by a collection of short stories in a long time. If I could give this a 6/5, I would! Each story is polished, well-paced, with great character development, and awesome stories.
We’ve got it all in this anthology—witches, shapeshifters, curses, darkness, and more. Also, birds. Lots of birds. I haven’t read many bird-centered stories, and these were interesting.”
“I thoroughly enjoyed all the stories in this collection. The tales ranged from fairytale retellings to historical fiction with a supernatural twist to reimaginings of myth and folklore. Many of the stories were satisfying, but a few left me wanting more. Definitely a must read!“
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