Hello!

It’s my birthday next week, and I’m excited to offer you a free gift.

For a limited time, Fire Dance is free for my newsletter readers. If you’ve ever wished to read it, grab your copy now as it won’t remain free for long. Fire Dance has Epic Fantasy vibes meshed with SF and Romance – perhaps not the most conventional of genre merges! So, please do drop me a line to let me know what you think of the story. Among other things, this could motivate me to write another book in the Fire Dance world as so far the story is just a stack of notes and ideas.

And now on to today’s Creature…

Z is for Zombie

Whether shuffling through graveyards or lumbering through post-apocalyptic cities, zombies are one of the most recognisable monsters in modern storytelling.

The concept of the zombie originates in Haitian folklore, where it was believed that a dead person could be revived by a sorcerer and forced to serve as a mindless slave. In this form, the zombie was not a flesh-eating monster, but a tragic figure—stripped of agency and trapped in a living death. This origin story gave rise to the modern zombie archetype: a creature whose humanity has been erased.

The zombie as we know it today—undead, flesh-hungry, often contagious—owes much to 20th-century horror fiction and cinema, especially George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1968), which introduced the idea of the zombie apocalypse and defined the creature as a symbol of societal collapse. In fantasy, zombies often appear as:

Necromancers’ minions – creatures raised from the dead to serve dark magic users in battles or rituals.Cursed beings – Victims of ancient plagues, forbidden spells, or divine punishments.Expendable armies – zombies are sent to march in hordes, overwhelming cities by sheer numbers and fear.

Unlike vampires or werewolves, zombies lack individuality. This makes them perfect antagonists in large-scale stories where the threat is not one monster but many.

Zombies are terrifying not just because they’re undead, but because they embody several primal fears such as the idea that one can die and return with no memory, soul, or purpose; another fear they project is zombie infections reflecting real-world fears of pandemics. Zombie stories often also involve the breakdown of order, which forces survivors to struggle in a lawless, brutal world.

In fantasy, zombies often remind us that playing with life and death can have horrific consequences. Whether cursed by a necromancer or risen by a viral outbreak, zombies ask an unsettling question: what happens when the body outlives the soul? And the answer, more often than not, is terrifying.

Reference: https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Zombie ; https://mythical-creatures.com/glossary/north-america/zombie/

Books You Might Like

For lovers of all things fantasy… FREE BOOKS

And Free through KU…

Audiobooks

Some self-promo!

The Hyllethan Gifts Trilogy: (Dawn of Purple and Grey, Days of Wind and Snow, Night of Rites and Wraiths)

When sixteen-year-old Shael helps a mortally wounded messenger, he entrusts her with delivering to the queen three magical statuettes stolen from the Hyllethans, her country’s feared enemies. But Shael accidentally cuts her fingers while handling the statuettes and magic links her to them—any breakage or pressure on the clay is felt on her flesh. Shael’s fate is now inexorably tied to the Hyllethans, the statuettes, and the political turmoil in the land.

Fire Dance

In the sacred temple of Basica, Maia is about to achieve everything she has worked for: becoming a Sentinel, one of the Goddess’s elite protectors. But she harbours a dangerous secret—fire bends to her will, a power that would see her condemned as demon-born if discovered. Worse still, the flames carry echoes of memories that are not her own, whispering of a past she cannot remember and a destiny she never chose.

When an Imperial envoy arrives for the Summer Solstice ceremony, he claims to know who she is and what she is capable of, threatening to unravel everything Maia has built. His knowledge could shatter her future—or unlock a destiny greater than she ever imagined.

Torn between the lure of safety and power within the temple and the dangerous truths hidden in her past, Maia must decide: will she cling to the life she has fought for, or risk everything to uncover the truth? And when the boy who has always stood by her offers a different kind of future, will she follow duty—or her heart?

Perfect for fans of An Ember in the Ashes and From Blood and Ash, Fire Dance is a tale of ambition, tainted love, and the fire that burns within.

Fire Storm

Haunted by memories that are not her own, Maia and her love, Ryse, are desperate to leave the world that has shaped her and return to Phaen. Only their presence there can stop their homelands from plunging into a devastating war. But duty comes at an unbearable cost: losing a brother who refuses to flee, a child who carries the past in his veins, and an enemy who wields a stolen weapon that could change the fate of civilizations.

But when she risks their cover to save a galley under attack, an Imperial princess and a ruthless general entangle Maia in a dangerous game of power and betrayal. In a world of shifting allegiances, hidden truths, and long-buried treachery, the race to escape turns into a battle of wits, deception, and impossible choices.

With time running out, Maia must choose: surrender to the lure of power which this world offers and risk losing those she loves, or reclaim the future that was stolen from her.

Perfect for fans of An Ember in the Ashes and From Blood and Ash, Fire Storm is a tale of fate, forbidden power, and the fire that binds past and future.

Colours of Fantasy (FREE DOWNLOAD)

Not enough time to read, but love fantasy?

Colours of Fantasy is an anthology of short stories that range from magical realism to sci-fi fantasy. They are short enough to be easily read while commuting or during a lunch break. Read about paintings that are truer than true-to-life, or the heart-wrenching decision Poseidon’s human son-in-law has to take, or perhaps you’ll prefer a glimpse of life after an apocalypse, or a story about a space pirate with an uncomfortable past. 

And if you like longer reads, Colours of Fantasy gives you a taste of Book One of two series: The Hyllethan Gifts Trilogy and Fire Dance Chronicles.

Till next time! Wishing you a great two weeks with a good book!

Caroline