The Lavender Fields

by Derek Mola, Nicholas Carter (editor), Kayleigh Sorrentino (illustrator)

In the heart of the cosmos lies a dimension unlike any other—a realm of shimmering lavender fields where every possible universe is visible in the tapestry of existence. When an astronaut accidentally teleports to this mysterious plane, he finds himself in a front-row seat to the bizarre and terrifying narratives of alternate realities.

The Lavender Fields invites readers to journey as the astronaut recounts six chilling and fantastical stories from the multiverse. From eldritch cults that worship ancient deities to a drug that can freeze time itself, each tale plunges into the cosmic and supernatural horrors lurking at the edges of reality. Witness a meteor that incites unbridled rage, a shapeshifting prostitute who blurs the line between pleasure and peril, possessed pigs with unfinished business, and a witch mother whose dark magic has evil plans for her daughter.

Prepare for a mind-bending adventure through worlds where the unimaginable becomes real, and the only certainty is that fear transcends dimensions.

125 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 19, 2024

Reviews

[Kelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good collection of horrific short stories! Very descriptive writing; it was so easy to picture everything when I was reading. Lots of irony throughout the collection. My favorite story was If Memory Serves Me -- gotta love a good cult! The overarching story of finding the lavender fields was was good too🪻I wish there was more about the astronaut's journey to dig into!

Loved the HP Lovecraft quote in the beginning. It's very relatable right now 👀

Thanks so much to the author and RR Book Tours for my copy 🪻🩶

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review from my blog, "This Writer Reads"

This sci-fi horror collection of tales from alternate realities was a chilling, thought-provoking read that felt like Rod Serling was narrating it.

An astronaut winds up in a strange dimension when something goes wrong aboard his crew’s ship. He’s left alone, without his memory, and discovers countless purple elements on a single plane, which reminds him of a field of lavender flowers. Looking into each one, he sees a person or animal’s life play out. When they die, the “lavender” dusts off like Thanos snapped it away. Six of the stories within the “lavender flowers” are told on these pages, while the astronaut regains snippets of his memory and his own story unfolds.

This is the second book by Mola, an independently published author. I reviewed his first book, Anansi’s Web, last year, which is another short story collection I enjoyed.

There are some content warnings for you to consider before reading this book. While its size makes for light reading, this book does handle some heavy topics. This collection contains depictions of suicidal acts, suicidal ideation, violence towards animals, and graphic scenes.

The book intermingles the astronaut’s personal log, counting the days that he’s been in the lavender fields, with the six stories. The book is short, but it’s filled with fascinating—albeit terrifying—ideas and worlds. The alternate universes of these stories work well in the current popular trend of multiverses and it’s interesting to see Mola’s take on them.

The tales include a pair of sisters in a perfectionist town striving to appease a horrifying god of forgetfulness, an addict who takes heroin that stops time for everyone but him, an approaching meteor that showers the earth with a rage virus, a chameleon prostitute who can become any woman for her client to enjoy, a pig farmer with compassion for his pigs and an unusual diet, and a woman who visits the witch rich mother she hates.

This book fascinated me. The stories—even the one of the astronaut—were akin to The Twilight Zone and Amazing Stories, which I watched as a child. The reader is dropped into a world that appears just like our own, except for one aspect. That’s what makes it so chilling—it’s not a fantasy or takes place on a different planet or time, it’s similar to ours and it’s unnerving.

While this collection has the same fascinating creativity as Anansi’s Web, the editing has vastly improved. One of the issues I had with Mola’s previous book was the lack of editing, which led to multiple typos and KDP publishing errors. This book was much more polished than its predecessor.

I highly recommend this collection to those who love The Twilight Zone and other sci-fi horror short story anthologies. I had to read it in a single sitting because I couldn’t put it down. I enjoy Mola’s captivating creativity and skillful worldbuilding in just a few pages. While not an uplifting read, this short story collection was quite entertaining and left me with many philosophical questions.


Spoiler-Filled Discussion

It was brilliant to have the astronaut look at these stories while having his own story unfold. It gave an overarching narrative to the collection that was fascinating and pulled the various stories together. The twist that he killed his crew and died in prison was surprising. I wonder if the rage virus meteor was in his world, too, and was part of the collision at the black hole that started it all.

When did the astronaut leave the lavender fields and end up in prison? How did he get back? He wanted to stay isolated from humanity—hence the brutal murder of his crewmates. Was he watching his own death happen from the lavender fields? Did it all happen in his mind?

I wished we learned more about this astronaut since his storyline was intriguing.

Alice has an amazing arm to throw the rock up at her sister 1200 feet in the air. It’s possible that gravity was different in this world, though. Physics doesn’t have to work the same in every universe.

The service in which the person chosen to be taken by the Oblivio is announced and everyone gathers to watch them leave reminded me heavily of Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery.”

I’m curious how the deletion of a person’s existence worked. Were there no pictures or written proof that the forgotten individual existed? Nathan was the town’s veterinarian, so when he disappeared, what happened to his office and the medical records he wrote for his clients?

Why were the Chamber Sisters aging? We never found out the reason for that. Does it have to do the amount of people Oblivio takes for himself over time?

I adored how Lucky lived in the library, reading and increasing his knowledge. That’s living the dream right there! He really is lucky, as I wish I could spend 15 years reading in a library for hours on end.

His story reminded me of The Twilight Zone episode, “Time Enough at Last,” where the character has the chance to read all he wants, but, of course, tragedy strikes. At the same time, Lucky’s use of the time freeze to gain knowledge was reminiscent of the movie Groundhog Day, when Phil uses the repeating day to learn and master new skills.

Lucky’s story raises an interesting question: is intelligence without anyone to witness or benefit from it, other than yourself, worthless? I think that if you yourself are aware that you know more than you did, that does give value to the knowledge you’ve gained, even if you can’t prove it to anyone else.

We had a version of the rage virus in our reality, but it wasn’t a meteor that brought it on. The results were the same, though, oddly enough. *sigh* There are some things in this world I wish were only found in fiction.

Of course the guy’s work still required him to come in, even with a worldwide epidemic happening. I worked for a company that did that to me, too.

Getting quartered and decapitated, then retaining consciousness and thought when you’re just a head for thirty more seconds is a terrible way to go. Yeesh.

So the shapeshifting prostitute wasn’t a newbie after all. The casualness of the end of that story, with Al’s remarks to the prostitute about always hating her client, made me laugh.

I am curious what the prostitute was. She wasn’t human, that’s for sure. The way she repeated her question made me think that she was an android at first. But when she absorbed her client, I thought that maybe she was an alien. I know we’re not meant to find out, but I’d love to know what her origin and purpose are.

And how did she know to turn into Hannah and his mother? Telepathy? Did she know the man through his life and followed him?

The pig-farming cannibal story was brutal. I just want to say, as much as I—a vegetarian—would love for people not to eat animals, eating other people is not the solution. However, this story was clever, and having the souls of the people Oswaldo IV has eaten temporarily possess his pigs was brilliant.

Part of me wonders if Nathan from the first story was the Nathan in the pig farmer story. Sure, they had different last names, but what if he was eradicated from existence by Oblivio and sent to Oswaldo IV’s world, just to get murdered and cannibalized? Poor guy.

The German witch who swaps bodies with her daughter was an important lesson in never visiting relatives who have a history of evil, hate you as much as you hate them, and simply want to settle paperwork for you to get everything they own. Electronic wills, people! This story was a great advertisement for Docusign.

[Country Mama · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really wanted to read this book, Lavender Fields, for two reasons. The first is that I have read the author before and like his work. The second is I liked the premise of the book, several stories involving different or alternate realities. That intrigued me as a reader. The first chapter/ pre day 1 was a great introduction to our stories. It gave me such a feeling of the views of life and death. Very accurate, well written, and researched.

I love the drawings that follow the quotes for each of the stories. There are 6 stories in this book. I'll talk about a few of them. One of my fav stories is entitled, If Memory Serves Me. This is a story about the town of Rayberg and the Chambers Sisters. The church in town plays a huge part in their town along with the Chambers Sisters who pick someone for The Forgotten Smile ceremony. Rayberg is a weird town as people want to move to the town, but it is closed to everyone, and people are decreasing in number...Overall, a truly interesting read with an ending I did not see coming!

The other story I really liked was called, La Petite Mort. This one had a great quote. "What do you want me to be?" The MC is working with pros and he finds one very specific one that can change into anyone or anything you want to be. That is a great message sometimes you get what you want but its not all that it's cracked up to be. LOVE that ending!

The stories in this collection are hugely compelling for the readers and I was reading through the entire book in mere minutes, it is that good. If you like unusual horror, sci-fi, and alternate realities you will really love this book and the author!

You should really check out this author if you love a taste of horror in your reading!

[Brooklyn Attic Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had a great time with this debut set of short stories by Derek Mola. The book is absolutely beautiful. Everything from the front cover to the illustrations before each story, the book is so well designed and thought out. It's impressive.

My favorite story was definitely 'Time Will Tell'. Maybe because of that Twilight Zone episode where people disappear off the planet and the guy finally has time to read all his books. This story has a very interesting concept and felt super sci-fi. Most of the stories were horror based and you had a variety of cosmic horror randomly occur throughout the novella with sub-genres ranging from occultism, border-line extreme horror, and over the top transgressive situations.

I purchased a signed copy from the author at Dark Reads in Rhode Island hosted by The Horror Depot. Definitely an event worth checking out as I am beyond impressed by the indie authors who showed up to the event.

Highly recommend!

[Lily · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightfully horrifying collection of short stories, from alternate realities, that will leave you grateful it wasn't our own. I love that there’s a larger story encompassing the short stories, where we get to watch as the astronaut discovers the fields, and watches the horror unfold in the different realities. Mola has a unique talent for bringing horror to life in front of you, like walking into the world’s most terrifying haunted house. There were a few moments that had my giggling, which was a pleasant surprise. I don’t know if I had a favorite story - they’re all unique and enjoyable in their own way. I will say, if you are a horror and short story fan, put this at the top of your TBR list!

[Amanda C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here we have a book of SciFi/Horror Short Stories.
I love adding books like this to my TBR since it's such a change from what I normally read.
This was a creepy breath of fresh air, so to speak 🤣
The author did such a good job at crafting relatable- adjacent stories to our reality but with an eerie unnatural spin.

Themes of religion, sex work, mental health issues, and substance abuse, so mind your triggers accordingly. I don't wanna go into specifics at the risk of spoiling any of the stories...so, I went into this one blind outside of the blurb on the back of the book and I'm glad I did.

The writing is good, pacing appropriate, and can we talk about this cover?! 😍
I want this on a black t-shirt.

[Jasmine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading the little stories within the boom. Each one was created unique and with fascination due to the horror stories. It wasn’t to the point that I wanted to cover myself under the blankets, it was bearable.

I was amazed at how all were tried together and brought the book to life.

I really did love that it was short, yet so full of details that will grasp your attention from the first page.

[nova · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of short horror stories was super fun to dive into. It was far too easy to lose myself in the stories, and picturing each crazy thing that happened. The idea of an astronaut discovering multi-dimensions within what already exists, and watching these stories unfold in front of him is super unique and really fascinating.

One of the stories was about an asteroid passing by earth that causes a virus that makes everyone on earth irrationally angry, and my favorite line has to be “I don’t have time for a virus, I’m late for work!” I was cracking up. There was so much well placed comedic relief within each story. I found it easy to devour this book in one sitting!

Thank you so much Derek and RR book tours for gifting me this book, I can’t wait for a spooky season reread 😍

[Krystal L · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent collection of short stories, all with incredibly descriptive prose and chilling twists. My two favorite stories are probably “Time Will Tell” and “A Herd of Pigs”

[Brenda Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic journey through alternate horrific realities.
This was by far one of the most imaginative short story anthologies l've ever read.

From supernatural cults to an anger inducing asteroid to dark witchy magic, each of the six chilling tales transports you to an unimaginable world. With vivid imagery that brings fear to the forefront, the reader is completely enveloped in the multiverse discovered in the glimmering lavender fields.

If you're looking for a blend of horror and humor, this is one quick read you won't want to pass up or put down.

Thank you Derek Mola and RR Book Tours for the gorgeous copy and the opportunity to be on this tour.