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The Blackwood Journals
The Blackwood Journals
A Game of
Boston, 1834. Lord William Ashcombe’s fortune has collapsed, his family disowned him, and his only hope lies in a secret gaming room beneath the city, where wagers are whispered in blood, not coin.
There he meets a haunted storyteller from Louisiana and the object that binds their a mirror carried from the witch trials of Salem, now awakened and hungry.
From Boston’s counting houses to the voodoo-soaked bayous of the American South, Ashcombe discovers that every debt demands payment, and some accounts are written in flesh.
A dark historical novel of ambition, guilt, and supernatural justice, A Game of Fortune continues the acclaimed Blackwood Journals saga, weaving Gothic horror with the haunted morality of The Scarlet Letter and the unease of Beloved.
A Game of
Boston, 1834. Lord William Ashcombe’s fortune has collapsed, his family disowned him, and his only hope lies in a secret gaming room beneath the city, where wagers are whispered in blood, not coin.
There he meets a haunted storyteller from Louisiana and the object that binds their a mirror carried from the witch trials of Salem, now awakened and hungry.
From Boston’s counting houses to the voodoo-soaked bayous of the American South, Ashcombe discovers that every debt demands payment, and some accounts are written in flesh.
A dark historical novel of ambition, guilt, and supernatural justice, A Game of Fortune continues the acclaimed Blackwood Journals saga, weaving Gothic horror with the haunted morality of The Scarlet Letter and the unease of Beloved.
313 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 9, 2025
6 people want to read
About the author
C.N. Harrow
35 books7 followersAuthor of gothic horror, atmospheric dread, and whispered madness.
Living in misty Scotland
C.N. Harrow writes tales that linger in candlelit corridors and echo through haunted halls. Drawing inspiration from the shadows of Victorian England and the murmur of forgotten things, Harrow weaves psychological horror with slow-burn suspense and philosophical unease.
His stories are not about cheap thrills, but about the things we do not speak of, the darkness we inherit, and the silence that surrounds the lost.
When not writing, Harrow usually reads ancient texts, explores mist-covered landscapes, collects folklore with his dog, Tag the Labrador, or plays with his children and spends time with his partner, plotting the next descent into the unknown.
All my books are on amazon and D2D.
Living in misty Scotland
C.N. Harrow writes tales that linger in candlelit corridors and echo through haunted halls. Drawing inspiration from the shadows of Victorian England and the murmur of forgotten things, Harrow weaves psychological horror with slow-burn suspense and philosophical unease.
His stories are not about cheap thrills, but about the things we do not speak of, the darkness we inherit, and the silence that surrounds the lost.
When not writing, Harrow usually reads ancient texts, explores mist-covered landscapes, collects folklore with his dog, Tag the Labrador, or plays with his children and spends time with his partner, plotting the next descent into the unknown.
All my books are on amazon and D2D.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 17, 2025
Reparations Due...
THE BLACKWOOD JOURNALS: Books #5
A Game of Fortune
by C.N. Harrow
4 1/2 stars. The Journals' curator, much like the Crypt keeper from Tales From the Crypt, opens the latest journal...
Wafting odors of the Louisiana bayou...
It had arrived in his possession with a length of rusted chain, a photograph of a plantation house, and an old mirror...
The mirror remembers what one chooses to forget...
The Journal was an account of when justice first tasted blood and archiving the horrors from Salem and Louisiana...
Lord William Ashcombe was being forced to take a lowly clerk's position due to bad business ventures he had made...
However...
The proud Ashcombe decided to seek solutions to his debt problems at a card table in the seedier part of Boston...
Another gambler sat at Ashcombe's table. He had something small, covered in cloth. He said it might restore or destroy what remained of his fortune...
It was a mirror. It showed the truth, not just reflections. It recorded all transactions with a number...
It revealed the truth hidden under lies...
The other gambler, Jacques Beauregard, told Ashcombe a frightening story dressed in 1800s plantation gothic.
Ledgers and columns that write themselves in blood and madmen haunted by their accounting books...
The debt calculating itself with reparations due...
This story is book #5 in the ongoing tales from the Blackwood Journals. It alternates between 1825 and 1834 in the storytelling. It was a real chiller and very atmospheric. I especially liked the ending.
It was a little more repetitive than I prefer, and, as a reader, I really wanted to be placed in both Salem and 1800s Louisiana plantations a bit more... there is so much haunted history in both locations, but the story was very original and a great addition to the series.
Recommended!
THE BLACKWOOD JOURNALS: Books #5
A Game of Fortune
by C.N. Harrow
4 1/2 stars. The Journals' curator, much like the Crypt keeper from Tales From the Crypt, opens the latest journal...
Wafting odors of the Louisiana bayou...
It had arrived in his possession with a length of rusted chain, a photograph of a plantation house, and an old mirror...
The mirror remembers what one chooses to forget...
The Journal was an account of when justice first tasted blood and archiving the horrors from Salem and Louisiana...
Lord William Ashcombe was being forced to take a lowly clerk's position due to bad business ventures he had made...
However...
The proud Ashcombe decided to seek solutions to his debt problems at a card table in the seedier part of Boston...
Another gambler sat at Ashcombe's table. He had something small, covered in cloth. He said it might restore or destroy what remained of his fortune...
It was a mirror. It showed the truth, not just reflections. It recorded all transactions with a number...
It revealed the truth hidden under lies...
The other gambler, Jacques Beauregard, told Ashcombe a frightening story dressed in 1800s plantation gothic.
Ledgers and columns that write themselves in blood and madmen haunted by their accounting books...
The debt calculating itself with reparations due...
This story is book #5 in the ongoing tales from the Blackwood Journals. It alternates between 1825 and 1834 in the storytelling. It was a real chiller and very atmospheric. I especially liked the ending.
It was a little more repetitive than I prefer, and, as a reader, I really wanted to be placed in both Salem and 1800s Louisiana plantations a bit more... there is so much haunted history in both locations, but the story was very original and a great addition to the series.
Recommended!
October 21, 2025
4☆
This is C.N. Harrow's fifth novel in The Blackwood Journals series, and it is his best work to date. It is filled with chilling scenes and narration.
Harrow tells us how profits outweighed humanity during the slave trade years of America. This is a horror all its own but Harrow adds that extra punch by including forces darker and older than time.
From ancient African practices of magic to the curse of an accused witch of Salem, no one who had ties to the inhumane, murderous treatment of the innocent is spared. The consequences are frightening and inheritable.
I thank C.N. Harrow for the opportunity to read this work and offer my honest opinion. I am looking forward to reading more!
This is C.N. Harrow's fifth novel in The Blackwood Journals series, and it is his best work to date. It is filled with chilling scenes and narration.
Harrow tells us how profits outweighed humanity during the slave trade years of America. This is a horror all its own but Harrow adds that extra punch by including forces darker and older than time.
From ancient African practices of magic to the curse of an accused witch of Salem, no one who had ties to the inhumane, murderous treatment of the innocent is spared. The consequences are frightening and inheritable.
I thank C.N. Harrow for the opportunity to read this work and offer my honest opinion. I am looking forward to reading more!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews