Crimson Queen: Dark Novella 3, A Tales from the Afterworld Novella

by V.K. Pasanen

Five tales. Five harbingers. And Hell will follow with them.

Meet harbinger Anneliese Middleton…

Born into a world of want, Anneliese’s parents struggle to make ends meet and manage her psychiatric needs. Sadly, her family, once royalty, is now cursed because of the infamous deeds of her grand uncle Lester Ackerman.

But all dark clouds have fluffy bunnies with sharp pointy teeth… or something like that.

As bad and cruel as life might be, Anneliese has superpowers that doctors pawn off as schizophrenia. With the power to create worlds and bring the dead back to life, she is able to shield herself from ghastly reality and homicidal tendencies, as the holy and profane guide her toward her ultimate destiny to complete her Uncle Lester’s master plan.

Partly inspired by Stephen King’s Carrie, Crimson Queen combines elements of the Omen and the Exorcist for a tale of horror and madness not for the faint of heart.

57 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 13, 2025

About the author

V. K. lives in the Seattle area with his wife of over 30 years. He has 2 grown children, a daughter-in-law, a son-in-law, and 2 dogs―a lab-mix from Corsicana, Texas and a peach poodle from Cheng Du, China. Outside writing, he works as a relief veterinarian. His hobbies include snowboarding, hiking, music, traveling, and reading/listening to variety of genres that vary as much as his eclectic taste in music.

His inspirations included Ernest Hemingway, Stephen King, J.K. Rowling, J.R.R. Tolkien, Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, Tony Hillerman, Dan Brown, Erik Larson, David Grann and numerous other fiction and non-fiction authors. He loves origin stories and has long been a history buff. Additional inspirations include a history professor whose name has been forgotten and a one-semester professor at Texas A&M University, Pulitzer Prize finalist, H.W. Brands. Concerning writing, his style is a mix of supernatural fantasy, dark fantasy, urban fantasy, horror, and polymythology. While he dislikes comparisons, those that like Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, and Neal Shusterman might also enjoy his novels.