The Hunt

Digital Horror Week 2019 #1

by David Annandale

Warhammer Horror Week: Day One

When witch hunter Bered Davan sets out on the trail of a vile contagion that plagues Ghyran, he discovers something altogether deeper, darker and more terrifying…

READ IT BECAUSE
Explore how Chaos continues to thrive in the shadows cast by the light of Sigmar's heroes, and how the heroes who seek it out face horrors untold…

THE STORY
For many long years through the Age of Chaos, the lands of Ghyran suffered under the yoke of the servants of Nurgle. Disease wracked the lands, and life became an unending cycle of horror and misery. Then came light, in the form of the Stormcast Eternals, Sigmar's celestial heroes. Yet light cannot destroy darkness, as Bered Davan has learned. A witch hunter, he is no stranger to the vile things that lurk in the Mortal Realms, but as he hunts the source of a contagion, he will be tested as never before…

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Horror

26 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 6, 2019

Reviews

[Miguel Gonçalves · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a quick read about a character troubled by guilt and dealing with (literal) ghosts of the past.
There was an expected betrayal but also an unexpected twist.
It's a good horror story achieved not by the use of monsters but by the sense of dread around it.

[Gianfranco Mancini · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad at all and some parts were deliciously creepy, but having read and loved David Annandale's The Damnation of Pythos this was much expected.
Sadly I'm not much a fan of both second-person narrative and the new Age of Sigmar Warhammer setting.
If this tale was set in the Old World, this review was probably going to be a ☆☆☆☆ ones.

[Michael Dodd · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unconventional Age of Sigmar story of guilt, fear, and ghosts both literal and metaphorical. In the Free City of Everyth, in the Realm of Ghur, witch hunter Bered Davan waits for his doom to find him, spending his final moments torn between duty and shame. When a figure from his past calls for him, dredging up painful old emotions, Davan determines to follow his calling and hope for some kind of forgiveness.

Told in an unusual second person voice, as though the reader is being regaled with their own dark story, it’s a tale that grows progressively creepier, gradually breaking Davan down as the physical (well, sort of) manifestation of his guilt and shame bears down upon him.

Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2019/05/...

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

“You feel the cold breath of fate on your neck. You feel the end approach. And if this night is to be your last, though it fills your soul with shame to give in to such craven emotions, you could not bear the thought of disappearing in silence.”

[Ross Cudmore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in the Mortal Realms, a witch-hunter is haunted (both literally and figurately) by his past.

Told in the second person, the story feels intimate and personal. Annandale is a fantastic horror writer, building dread up throughout the story leading to a fantastic climax.

[Anthony Muncy · Rating 3 out of 5]

a nice little read, not the most satisfying ending.