Overview: Black Magick: 13 Tales of Darkness, Horror & the Occult is an engaging occult fiction, featuring short stories by Storm Constantine, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Edgar Allan Poe, and others!

Verdict: Darkness is interpretive. It’s in our nature to explore the shadows. Through the 13 stories presented in Black Magick, compiled and edited by award-winning occult author Raven Digitalis, the reader is transported into mysterious settings that blur the line between fiction and reality.

Each story uniquely integrates occultism and magick, deepening the mysteries of the shadow. By acknowledging darkness through the written medium, we can better come to terms with the darkness within ourselves.

Black Magick is a distinctive collection of modern occult fiction. Esoteric themes permeate 13 engrossing stories, invoking a sense of wonder and terror. The stories within this anthology explore occult themes across eras and cultures, proving to be both entertaining and educational.

These haunting tales are finely crafted by a wide variety of writers, and each story is uniquely different from the other. When we bravely explore the darker aspects of life, we more accurately come to know what it means to be human.

The 13 stories included are:

1. Candle Magic by Storm Constantine - 2. Spanish Jones by Adele Cosgrove-Bray - 3. 3:33 by Rhea Troutman - 4. Entombed by Corvis Nocturnum - 5. Fata Morgana by S.M. Lomas - 6. Automatic Writing by Gabrielle Faust - 7. The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe - 8. Don’t Forget to Feed by Miranda S. Hewlett - 9. The Night Everything Changed by Raven Digitalis - 10. ReBound by Tracy Cross - 11. Captured by Jaclyn M. Ciminelli - 12. Red Gifts by Daniel Adam Rosser - 13. The Iconoclasts by Mona Fitzgerald-King.

A few of my own personal favorites here are, and in no particular order, save for the first one which has always been my personal favorite: The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe. Now this short story has been around for a long time, in fact it was first published in the August 19th, 1843 edition of The Saturday Evening Post. In the story, an unnamed narrator has a strong affection for pets until he perversely turns to abusing them and what follows, well, it is a darkly gothic tale for the generations.

The next would be Don’t Forget to Feed by Miranda S. Hewlett, which is an easy read, but don’t be fooled into thinking it is less of a deeply dark prose. This excellent, and highly original short story actually leads us down the Poe path ie: “The Pit and the Pendulum” and soon brings forth a story that engages within a very atmospheric setting; one drenched with palpable tension that only grows with each page turn.

The last one I would like to highlight is Automatic Writing by Gabrielle Faust, which is itself a most compelling supernatural séance story, combined with the underbelly of having a demonic presence. Unlike a few of the others here, this story doesn’t linger too long on expansive scenescaping, instead choosing to get to the point sooner rather than later. Full of imaginative prose, this is definitely one that will have you thinking outside the box come the end.

About the Author - Raven Digitalis (USA) is an award-winning author best known for his “empath’s trilogy,” consisting of The Empath’s Oracle, Esoteric Empathy, and The Everyday Empath, as well as the “shadow trilogy” of A Gothic Witch’s Oracle, A Witch’s Shadow Magick Compendium, and Goth Craft.

Originally trained in Georgian Witchcraft, Raven has been an earth-based practitioner since 1999, a Priest since 2003, a Freemason since 2012, and an empath all of his life. He holds a degree in cultural anthropology from the University of Montana, jointly operated a nonprofit Pagan temple for sixteen years, and is also a professional Tarot reader, editor, card-carrying magician, and animal rights advocate.

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