Publisher's Synopsis
"Euryale looked out from her castle, situated in the desolate and secluded land that she had chosen as her place of sanctuary, brought there by the beautiful white winged stallion called Pegasus, having journeyed through many continents to get where she now was. 'I knew I would finally be safe and this was to be my home for the rest of eternity.'"From the pen of Susan R. Murphy comes a collection of truly terrifying tales: a blend of ancient Greek mythology, American Gothic horror, UFO abductions, Halloween scares and campfire tales. The characters who feature in these tales are beings cursed by fate. Life and death holds no distinction for them. They wander the world, crossing continents and even galaxies, in search of sport, prey and sometimes sanctuary. For the immortals, there can be no respite and no final resting place: they are prisoners of this world; a world which they cannot leave. Some become the hunters, others become the hunted. They have the strength to witness, to endure and to casually inflict tragic and inhuman suffering.Dark Observer is a story told to the author by her sister, from a creature she actually witnessed watching her small children sleeping. Gargoyle, Thief of Souls was inspired by a trip to a graveyard at midnight, looking at the headstones and crypts. The Butcher of Moore Mansion is based around real events that happened in San Diego, where she grew up. Euryale, the Gorgon derives from an interest in the story of Medusa and her sisters. The Haunted Railroad Tracks was from her time in South Carolina and the tracks behind the trailer park. The Lost Princess of Atlantis is the result of an enduring fascination she has had with the lost city. The House on Fairwood Avenue is from her time when she was small, living at her grandmother's house in Ohio. The poem, Timeless Love is based on a soul mate that she has never met but hopes one day she will, while Innocence Lost reflects her interest in vampire lore.Susan Murphy was born in Columbus, Ohio. With her father serving in the US Navy, the family never stayed in one state for more than two years. All she remembers of Ohio is the cold, snow, red licorice and White Castle hamburgers. She lived with her mother and grandmother on Fairwood Avenue, in an old Victorian style home with the glass doorknobs. Her father was away at the time.From the time she was three, her mother used to take her to see movies on the navy base. The first movie she saw was called Straight-Jacket, memorable for scenes of heads rolling down the staircase. From then on, she was hooked on anything horror. Susan played with her Barbie and Ken dolls, as most kids her age would, but she played Vampires with them.Susan and her parents moved quite often and spent some time in Charleston, South Carolina, in a small trailer park. Railroad tracks were behind the park and the story goes that at the end of the tracks was a huge zoo, with all kind of creatures. From there, she moved often, ending up in San Pedro, California, which was uneventful. Her mom and dad bought their first house in San Diego and that is where she grew up from the age of twelve.Over the years, her interest in horror, science fiction and mythology grew. One day, in 1993, she sat down and wrote a series of short stories on these subjects. She took the ideas from her life and the different places she had lived, as well as from relatives. This collection has been compiled for all the avid readers out there, who are interested in not quite normal everyday routine things. These stories are intended to scare the daylights out of the reader and probably give you all nightmares or, to just get you thinking that there may be something else out there, not quite human."What you have witnessed here this night, no mortal has seen in over a thousand years. Your punishment will be immortality and you will be my blood companion for all eternity."
