The Dark Embrace
A new book by Kristopher Triana & Mona Kabbani
Spring has sprung. It may not seem like it depending on where you live (there’s snow in my local forecast this week), but spring is here nonetheless. It is a time of rebirth, of renewal. This is why Easter features eggs (a symbol of fertility) and rabbits (which represent a whole lot of fucking going on). In Celtic culture, eggs were dyed to represent the sun’s return after the long, gray winter, and were gifted as fertility charms. Bunnies were even considered sacred. The Christians hijacked these traditions from the druids and applied them to their own holiday, just as they did with so many others.
With this season comes new things, and fertility leads to sex, which can lead to romance. This is why my collaborator and I decided to announce our upcoming book on the first day of spring, revealing the cover and disclosing summaries for the diabolical stories within.
Prepare yourself for. . .
The Dark Embrace features two brand-new novellas that can only be categorized as extreme horror romance. One is written by me, the other by Mona Kabbani, author of Vanilla. Mona is a dear friend, a young author I’ve been mentoring the past few years. She’s already accomplished a lot, particularly with the popularity of her award-winning horror novel, The Bell Chime. It’s been my honor to watch her grow as an author and expand her audience, and I’m pleased to say her novella in this book, The Color of Blood, is some of her best work yet. It’s Kabbani dipping her toes into splatterpunk for the first time while also maintaining the psychological horror angle her readers have grown to love.
Mona Kabbani’s The Color of Blood
Love, lust, art, and blood.
Void’s greatest fear is being seen as a monster, not an artist. He revels in his fame but hides his greatest secret: his success is attributed to his uncanny ability to see the color of a person’s soul. This color not only infects a person’s aura but their anatomy, turning their insides into dazzling pigment. Void targets those with the rarest colors and drains their blood for his paint. None know of his secret, and he has found solace in the solitude of his life. That is until he meets an unprecedented muse who is more than happy to bleed for him.
I’ve dabbled in extreme horror stories about demented couples before, with my novel, Toxic Love, about a crime scene cleanup duo who get it on in blood and guts, and my early short story, The Devouring, about a couple making amateur pornography of their self-mutilation. I’ve blended sex and splatterpunk before (read Body Art or Full Brutal) but this is the first time I’ve written what I would consider a true horror romance. Because You’re Mine is brutal yet beautiful in its way, and I expect it will leave readers with conflicting emotions as it tests their morals and exposes their desires.
Kristopher Triana’s Because You’re Mine
Bryan’s elderly mother is terminally ill, and that’s the way he likes it. Mom comes from old money, making it easy for Bryan to hire an in-home nurse, but he’s looking for someone to provide a special kind of treatment, something he’s long fantasized about.
Shelby is a nurse with a horrible secret. When she begins caring after Bryan’s mother, the two strike up an unlikely kinship, bonding over their troubled pasts and hidden desires. Together, the older Bryan begins teaching Shelby classic methods of diabolism, and she teaches him about the modern tools of their terrifying trade, making them a duo to die for.
The Dark Embrace will be a Trianahorror exclusive. This gorgeous hardback is limited to just 100 copies, which will be numbered and signed by both authors—a true collectible for fans of horror fiction. Each volume comes with a limited edition bookmark and other surprises which will be announced later. While the novellas will be published separately in the future, there are no set dates for their release, and they won’t appear together like this again. Once the 100 hardbacks sell out, that will conclude the publication run of The Dark Embrace. There will be no ebook or paperbacks of it. The cost of this collectible, double-signed hardback will be $70.
Pre-orders begin Friday, April 5th at noon EST, exclusively through my website.
Though Mona and I will be at Scares That Care’s Authorcon III in Williamsburg, VA, April 12th through the 14th, we will not have copies of The Dark Embrace on hand. If you want one, you’ll have to snag it at Trianahorror.
We’re very excited to bring you our twisted takes on extreme horror romance next month. Until then, satisfy your lust for horror with Mona’s most recent book, For You, and check out my new one, The Old Lady (you can get the signed paperback now too).
I love all of your work and what I have read of Mona. I cannot wait!