The Obsidian Mirror- A Gothic Novella
The Obsidian Mirror is a slow tightening spell about a woman who moves to Devil's Peak under less than ideal circumstances. She takes a job at a hotel, Easthaven Manor, a place with a peculiar history and a strange mirror that refuses to stay inert. What begins as atmosphere curdles into something watching and waiting, a story steeped in fog, shadows, and addicting fear. Cowell layers narratives within narratives, moving through the history of the town, the artist who used to call the manor his home, and his strange family roots, until the past feels dangerously present. Domestic ritual turns grotesque, memory lies with a straight face, and every hallway hums with threat.
Out now via Alien Buddha Press, The Obsidian Mirror proves he knows exactly how long to make you stare back.
Praise for The Obsidian Mirror
Zak Cowell's The Obsidian Mirror offers readers the chance to experience the unholy marriage of Southern Gothic and cosmic horror. A nesting doll of stories inside stories, where the sins of the past run headlong into mysteries beyond time and space, this is one intense read from start to finish!"
-Patrick Barb, author of Abducted and The Big One
“The Obsidian Mirror takes you to Devil’s Peak, a town built upon layers of nightmares. As Diana, the new housekeeper at the gothic mansion, investigates its past, the mysteries spiral down through narratives within narratives. Memory itself is horror, and time is a countdown to cosmic dread. An enthralling and unsettling read.”
-Rebecca Harrison, author of The White Horse from Salt Heart Press
The Obsidian Mirror begins as a classic gothic story of a housekeeper investigating the secrets of an old North Carolina mansion, and it goes on to include surprising elements of folk and cosmic horror as well. Full of thin places and ancient secrets, The Obsidian Mirror is a chilling adventure.
-Ivy Grimes, author of “The Ghosts of Blaubart Mansion” and “The Cellar Below the Cellar”
The Obsidian Mirror is twisted in all the right ways. Cowell's gothic tale lures the reader into a nightmarish mystery that readers will enjoy. A bite-sized haunting for all."
- Katherine Silva, author of Undead Folk
Cowell’s The Obsidian Mirror is an atmospheric novella that propels folk horror beyond that of rural rites, into the realm of the cosmic. A quick, fun read for horror fans that yearn for remote manors, weird paintings, and dark histories.
-Carson Winter, author of Portraits of Decay and The Psychographist
With The Obsidian Mirror, Zak Cowell presents the reader with a gothic mystery, gift-wrapped in liminal spaces and dark history. He hands the reader epistolic shears and invites them to slice away at the fog of the macabre to reveal a mystery both cosmic and tragic in equal measures. Recommended for people who like spooky vibes and a world that feels lived in… and died in.
-Jacy Morris, Author of We Like It Cherry and This Rotten World
The Obsidian Mirror is a twisted cosmic horror story with gorgeous imagery, liminal architecture, and deep, disturbing lore. I couldn’t get enough and will be thinking about it well after the final page. Cowell threads together Diana's personal journey with an indifferent universe using beautiful prose and lasting symbolism.
-Rebecca Karas, Author of Heedless Flame featured in Monsters & Angels: An Anthology of Religious Horror