The Monster of Darkspell Comics

by S.J. Sanders

Welcome to Dark Spell Comics, where worlds come alive from Pashar’s pen. As a nightmare demon on sabbatical in the 80's, he’s enjoying his vacation in the human world tending to his little corner of Hellscape Mall while he tries to keep his demonic plant, Chewy, from eating the customers. He is pleased to provide one comic per customer per day, one unique nightmare to torment them. Everyone finds the nightmare they are secretly searching for… even if they are a human who breaks in after-hours.

But this human is a special treat who intrigues him like no other, and one he especially wants to savor. Perhaps even for the rest of time if he can evade the infernal paperwork and dispose of the male ruining his vacation.

***The Monster of Darkspell comics has been expanded to a 57k novella from the original 21k story that appeared in the Creepy Court anthology

Genres: Paranormal

193 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 3, 2025

About the author

S.J. Sanders is a mom of two toddlers and one adult living in Anchorage, Alaska. She has a BA degree in History, but spends most of her free time painting, sculpting, doing odd bits of historical research, and writing. While she has more research orientated writing under another pen name, her passion is sci-fi and paranormal romance of which she is an avid reader. After years of tinkering with the idea, and making her own stories up in her head, S.J has began to seriously pursue writing as an author of Sci-fi Romance utilizing her interests in how cultures diversify and what they would look like on a extraterrestrial platform to humans interacting with them and finding love.

She can be found on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Author-SJ-Sa...

And follow her blog at https://sjsandersromance.wordpress.com

Reviews

[꧁ᙏᗣᙃⱿꙆᗣ꧂ · Rating 5 out of 5]

My review is not visible on the public page of this book :
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
so I'll copy it here :
I read A Monster Romance Anthology because of S.J. SANDERS and Evangeline Priest.
14 authors took part in writing it and everyone will certainly find something for themselves.
I rate the whole thing 3.5 ⭐

Here are my ratings for each story~:
1.Clio Evans "PLAYING MANTIS" - 3.5 ⭐
2.Beatrix Hollow "FRANKIE FUNHOUSE" (MF) - 3⭐⭐⭐
3.Vera Valentine "LOST & FOUND" (MM) - 2⭐⭐
4.Latrexa Nova "FED AFTER MIDNIGHT" (MFM) -2.5⭐⭐
5.Sabrina Day "PLAY" (MF) - 2⭐⭐
~~~~~~~~~~
My rating hasn't changed, so I'm posting it here too :
𝟲. 𝗦.𝗝 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 "𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗢𝗙 𝗗𝗔𝗥𝗞𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗟𝗟 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗜𝗖𝗦" (𝗠𝗙) - 𝟱 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
~~~~~~~~~~
7.Evangeline Priest "CREEPY PASTA" (MF) - 4⭐⭐⭐⭐
8.Maeve Black "DREADFULL THINGS" (MF) - 3.5 ⭐
9.C. Rochelle "VAMPIRES TOTALLY SUCK" (MMF) - 3.5 ⭐
10.Wren K. Morris "THE BEST BOY"(MF) - 3⭐⭐⭐
11.Elle M. Drew "THE PHANTOM OF THE THEATER" (MF) - 3⭐⭐⭐
12.YD La Mar "THE GOOD CHAR" (MF) - 4.⭐⭐⭐⭐ - this one was the funniest, about a cook from hell and his Asian 'carcass' 😅
13.Ashley Bennett "MALL RAT"(FF) -1⭐ not my cup of tea 😏
14.Lily Mayne "DON'T EAT YOUR HUMAN BOYFRIEND" (MM) -1⭐ actually a DNF

If you like the atmosphere of the 80s, shopping malls full of monsters that 'prowl' at night, sometimes macabre situations, I recommend this set. You will be happy 😉👍
And this is something to listen to while reading 👋🤩
https://www.youtube.com/live/UedTcufy...

[Shyan Parker · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF’d @ 75%
See, the build up from the beginning was that both MCs felt attraction towards each other but neither knew the other felt that way. Adding to this, MMC had been actively trying to ignore and resist his attraction to FMC.
This is VERY evident, especially at the end of Chapter 18, where MMC physically removes himself from a situation in an attempt to restrain from his attraction to FMC.

Then Chapter 19 comes along and it’s as if the Author forgot what they had done in the previous 100+ pages.
Out of no where, the characters are on a romantic outing together? touching up on each other and then being ‘freaky-deaky’ with each other in Chapter 21?

No joke, within 30 pages they go from no where near the starting line of a relationship to confessions of love.
It was such a jarring switch that I had to go back and make sure I hadn’t skipped Chapters somehow.

I think somehow, there are entire sections of this story that are just missing, because that’s the only reasonable explanation I can come up with for why shit just did not make sense. There were even side Characters that just appeared, no establishment or anything else to give them any foundation. Yet they’re written in action and dialogue in a way that makes it seem like we should already know who these people are.

All in all, this story seems incomplete and needs alot more work for it to actually make sense.

[Kayla Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Spice: 🌶️

This is an adorable, cosy, comic-book–esque romance that follows a nightmare demon who accidentally traps an (entirely willing) human into working for him - and then, of course, promptly falls for her. Our FMC takes his demands completely in stride, mostly because his tasks kind of… work for her anyway. What follows is a charming, slow-burn will-they-won’t-they full of humour, warmth, and chemistry.

The world is bright and imaginative, boasting a vicious but loveable little plant, a fun 1980s-inspired backdrop, and an art style (or vibe, if you’re imagining it cinematically) that feels like a mash-up between a retro comic and a paranormal rom-com. It’s equal parts cute, quirky, and just the right amount of chaotic.

[Willow SteeleWolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

No spoilers here!

This was such a cute/spooky story to kick off the beginnings of spooky season! The flow of the story was delightful, allowing enough time and room for character development. The little mystery with the creepy dude kept me guessing the whole time and I was surprised that none of my guesses were fully correct! (Coming from a true crime junkie, that's a compliment!)

I even enjoyed our demonic carnivorous plant and its role in this story. Nothing about their presence felt forced to me.

[Catherine Elizabeth Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Could have read 100 more pages!

I don't think I've read a book by SJ Sanders that I didn't love. And this book is no different. The story building and slow burn romance was captivating from cover to cover. This world is one I didn't want to leave and have been happy for another 100 pages or more! I do hope the author returns to tell more stories of the different monsters hold up in Death Canyon City

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

cutest demon mall

I’m it usually a mall dweller, but I would totally be down for this! 80s references, cinnamon roll hero, and a hea. Oh, and it’s spicy!

[Becca · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good, I love that it got expanded from the short in the anthology!

[LizKat · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just didn't suck me in. FMC's lack of surprise at being faced with a demon and her easy acceptance of everything struck me as wrong.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

FMC reminds me of Johnny and MMC reminds me of Dracula from Hotel Transylvania. It works.

[bunnireadsalot · Rating 4 out of 5]

another great SJ read, low-stakes cute, fun, and short

[Manalye · Rating 4 out of 5]

MF, monster romance, spicy, incubus, video store, 80's vibes.