LAURA KEATING
Author of Dark Fiction
The night Joanne went missing, Aggie’s world ended.
Twenty years later, Bailey - her ambitious influencer younger brother - arrives on her doorstep with a strange videotape that offers a clue into what might have happened to Joanne the night she went missing, the night their family was torn apart.
Along with their older brother, the three remaining siblings follow the mysterious film to a nature reserve on the rocky Atlantic coast to search for answers and closure. But the cryptic tape holds more dangerous secrets than at first meets the eye.
Thrown into a nightmarish reality with a shifting environment and apparently no way out, Aggie must draw on old wells of strength she long ago hid away if she and her brothers are to survive.
Lost in a labyrinthine forest that shifts right in front of their eyes; trapped, exhausted, and pushed to their limits; by day, Aggie and her family struggle to defy the unearthly force that has taken hold of their fate, while by night a hideous figure stalks them from the shadows.
"Unexpected, enthralling, and deeply emotive, Keating has established herself as a major voice in horror." - Laurel Hightower, author of Below and Crossroads
Includes illustrations by acclaimed horror artist Trevor Henderson (creator of Siren Head).
More Praise for Agony's Lodestone:
"A definite must-read." - Dread Central
"A harrowing tale ... Keating shows us how fear and terror might tear us apart, yet guide [us] toward healing, towards those we love, and the connections we have lost but struggle to reclaim." - Ai Jiang, author of Linghun
"Stitching a combination of found footage horror, true crime mystery, and earth-rumbling survival horror, Laura Keating has woven a masterfully unnerving tale of complicated family dynamics and the slippery, looping promise of redemption. As macabre as it is compelling!" - Tim McGregor, author of Lure
“This slim novella casts a nightmarish spell over the dark forests and swelling tides of the Maritime coast. The stark prose features enough black comedy to relieve the mounting dread. Hard to believe this masterfully told tale is Laura Keating’s debut. Agony’s Lodestone is a genuine reading pleasure by an original new voice in literary horror.” - Jarret Middleton, author of Darkansas
"An incredible novella, simultaneously fast-paced and detailed; thematically deep and immediately entertaining ... Here it is, folks, a call to our own history, revised, challenged, revamped, and re-assessed. Found footage meets the reality-threshing world of Weird fiction." - Cosmic Horror Monthly