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The Lantern-Wives of Gorthryn Mire
Paperback
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Apr 29 2025
Pages: 336
Weight: 0.99
Height: 0.70 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
In the festering, fog-cloaked wetlands of Gorthryn Mire, the dead do not rest. The nights belong to the Lantern-Wives - wraithlike women in decayed wedding veils, each cradling a flickering corpse-light within glass skulls. They haunt the bog's shifting waters, luring the living into drowning deaths and feeding the cursed land's endless hunger. For generations, the terrified Mirefolk survived by offering annual blood sacrifices to these spectral wives and their hag-queen, Mother Blevein, whose dominion over the swamp was absolute.
But the old horrors are stirring, and something older than fear is about to rise.
When sixteen-year-old Syrren Holtgrave is chosen as the year's sacrificial offering, she refuses to die quietly. On the storm-wracked Night of Drowning Lights, Syrren escapes into the heart of the cursed mire and stumbles upon a long-submerged ruin - the prison of an exiled bog goddess, Vaelthra Rieve. Betrayed by mortal hands and bound in root and bone for centuries, Vaelthra offers Syrren a terrible pact: unleash her ancient power in exchange for survival.
What begins as a desperate bid for life becomes a war against the festering traditions of the Mirefolk, the predatory Lantern-Wives, and the eldritch rot gnawing at the land itself. As the swamp churns with drowned cultists, sentient fog, and corpse-laden waters, Syrren must navigate betrayal, rebellion, and the sinister truth behind Gorthryn's endless drownings. She forges unlikely alliances - from the half-mad seer Helgar Fenmoor, to a guilt-stricken hunter Corven Dreyne - as the swamp's horrors awaken and ancient debts demand blood.
The Lantern-Wives of Gorthryn Mire is a brooding, atmospheric dark fantasy novel steeped in folk horror, ghostly superstition, and grim mythology. It explores the devastating price of fearful tradition, the treachery of mortals against their gods, and the desperate rebellion needed to shatter centuries of blood-soaked terror.
Features:
A haunting marshland world of fog, sinking barrows, and ancient, decaying shrines.
Ghostly death-spirits wielding glass skull lanterns, with a queen made of root and bone.
A defiant female protagonist battling not only death but the weight of ancestral sins.
An imprisoned goddess of storm and harvest, whose return heralds vengeance and ruin.
A living swamp with sentient fog, memory-feeding waters, and blood-willing earth.
Themes of rebellion, betrayal, symbiotic damnation, and the destructive power of tradition.
Perfect for fans of The Witch, The Wicker Man, The Ritual, T. Kingfisher, Brian Catling, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, and grimdark folklore.
About the Author:
Krishna Prasanth Guttikonda is a storyteller fascinated by folklore, dark fantasy, and the monstrous bargains people strike in desperate places. His tales dive into decayed worlds where myth bleeds into nightmare and rebellion is often a curse of its own. This is his atmospheric debut novel for KDP audiences across the US, UK, India, and beyond.
Content Warning:
This novel contains supernatural horror, ritual sacrifice, body horror, and themes of death and loss. Reader discretion is advised.
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