Gaslamp Stories

𝐁𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐒𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐬𝐢𝐞𝐬! A pact with the darkness left her twisted and deformed. Strange noises and flashes of light have been coming out of her basement at night, and her pet monster stalks children from the shadows. 𝐋𝐢𝐞𝐬. 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬. Eliza Scaggs (not Scraggsies, thank you very much) is tired of all the rumors about her. Sure, she's looking a bit haggard as of late, but she's been working herself to the bone on a secret government project to prove that she, the only woman in the wizard's guild, belongs there. So, maybe she's got some gray in her hair, but she's not old, not old-old- and the only thing she's made a pact with is her purveyor of rot brew tea. Okay, the pet monster thing is true, but Throat Ripper hasn't caught anyone, not yet. She's even taken on a new apprentice. Mentoring a teen, that's not something a twisted hell spawn would do, right? Still, there is something off about the boy, Oliver. He's a good kid, but he's quiet, too quiet, and she's worried that when he asks if she can "fix" people, he means himself... Witches, Boys, and Other Monsters is about: A witch who's not really a witch, A boy who's not really a boy, All the "monsters" who are regular people, All the regular people who are monsters... That, and a bunch of fireballs.

Doncia sees what no one else can: colours bleeding through walls, creatures flying over the city at night. Her father's final gift--a pocket-watch that can blink the visions away--might be the only thing keeping her sane. When the beautiful boy begins to appear and vanish, belief itself becomes dangerous. The demon's purpose is stirring--and the world will break if she can't face it first.

On the eve of the blood moon, Eden will fall. When the King and Queen don't believe the plea for help from a young boy, Princess Sabina is forced to take action on her own. Venturing into the wastelands, she discovers a vast army unnaturally approaching the fortress. Lead by the Pale Rider, the wicked creatures of death advance upon the Kingdom of Eden. Seeing through the eyes of a dying seer, Edwin Frasier is forced to accept his bloodline. The son of the Alpha ranked member in the Royal Guard, he must find a way to work with his blood aversions. It is up to him to save Princess Sabina once Eden has fallen. Fans of Underworld and Van Helsing will devour the dark and gritty storyline of THE CRIMSON LEGACIES.

Who is Elle Black? Elle Black, an unconventional psychic detective in an unconventional Victorian marriage, leaves her lovely lesbian wife to answer a desperate plea. Guests are vanishing in a mechanical hotel known as the Sundark, and Elle must use her 'anomalous perturbationist' gift–the ability to move objects with her mind–to save herself and the remaining hotel residents from malevolent, sidereal powers. But with apparitions appearing, magnetic lines disrupted, and clairvoyant guests lurking, who is the true murderer . . . or murderess? Add to your collection of female detective mysteries: A gaslamp fantasy in a steampunk, paranormal London, follow the telekinetic Elle Black, a twenty-two year old, happily remarried widow, as she solves mysteries in the same alternate world as the Dark Victorian series by Elizabeth Watasin. Where Secret Commission agents Artifice and Jim Dastard haven't time to tread, Elle Black will take up the lead and follow. Learn more about this thrilling, lesbian historical fiction series: Deep in London's Chiselhurst lies the Sundark, a magnificent, mechanical manor built in earlier times by a master illusionist and his occultist wife. Its guests have been known to stay, only to never be seen again. Now converted into a hotel, is this rumor some publicity lure or a cover for fleeing, non-paying residents? Elle Black, a housewife and telekinetic among London detectives and Secret Commission agents, is summoned to solve this mystery as more victims vanish, faster than before.

Romance, action, adventure, Shades, and clockwork. When unexpected events proceed the Viscount's Ball, Annabelle Esperbane —daughter of a lord— finds herself thrown into the world her affluent childhood sheltered her from.

--Watty winner-- In Victorian London, monster hunting isn't just a job, it's a way of life. Freddie Westman, a reporter for a paranormal magazine, is one of the best in the business, but now it's personal. His childhood friend, Jim Penderry, has disappeared, and the signs point to sinister forces from beyond the grave. If Westman wants to save Jim, he'll have to face his worst fear. No, not fighting a demon with only a cake to hand. Something far more daunting. Sceptical Sophie Penderry doesn't solve mysteries or go on adventures. She's more at home in the library with her nose in The Botanist's Guide to Plants and Fungi. But she puts the science books away to help Westman find her missing brother, whether he likes it or not. Which he really doesn't. Westman is a loner, reluctant to lead anyone into danger. According to him, the supernatural is not just the stuff of folklore and children's nightmares, and a world of black magic awaits them. Now Westman must decide if he should push Sophie away for her own safety, or take a leap of faith and accept an offer of help and friendship. Either way, time is running out to find Jim, and worse still, they may not make it back in time for tea and biscuits. ~Featured story (Sep 2014 - Aug 2017) ~Selected by R.L. Stine's 'Slappy' (Goosebumps Movie's sponsored reading list) ~Winner of the Wattys 2014 HQ Love Award

Junos was, for a lack of better words, screwed. If she didn't produce results worthy of her rank, then surely the Auditors would be forced to strip her from her sorceress license, her workshop, her everything. She couldn't afford to fail, not with the fact that the livelihood of her apprentices was also at stake. With the clues given by her trusted peers, the sorceress and the twins would traverse the far reaches of the country in search for a solution. What they didn't expect was a fateful encounter with a solitary girl, non-human in origin, who would play a major role in Junos' life in the coming months.

With Victoria and much of the aristocracy killed in a horrible dirigible accident, with her upcoming coronation, eighteen-year-old Queen Juliette must balance a shadowy terrorist organization, the hunt for Excalibur and an undeniable attraction to the Captain of her Guard before she fully assumes the throne. This light-hearted gaslamp romance also features handsome foreign princes, a unicorn and an alternate history you won't want to miss. Hey guys! I've finished the first draft of this manuscript and your notes, critique and support would be very helpful. © Copyright 2016 Courtney Brandt. All Rights Reserved.

In which a princess who's capable of wielding magic tries to stop magic-related problems with the help of a socially inept assassin and a few other friends 🪄

“Way will open.” She is Artifice. A resurrected criminal and agent of HRH Prince Albert’s Secret Commission. An artificial ghost. A Quaker. He is Jim Dastard. The oldest surviving agent of the Secret Commission. An animated skull. A mentor to newly resurrected agents. In a mechanical and supernatural London, agents of Prince Albert’s Secret Commission, their criminal pasts wiped from their memories, are resurrected to fight the eldritch evils that threaten England. Amidst this turmoil, Jim Dastard and his new partner Artifice must stop a re-animationist raising murderous dead children. As Art and Jim pursue their quarry, Art discovers clues about her past self, and through meeting various intriguing women—a journalist, a medium, a prostitute, and a mysterious woman in black—where her heart lies. Yet the question remains: What sort of criminal was she? A new beginning, a new identity, and new dangers await Art as she fights for the Secret Commission and for her second life. Experience female detective mysteries with a Victorian superheroine: A gaslamp fantasy in a steampunk, paranormal London, follow the dangerous adventures of an uncanny female sleuth and her senior skull partner set in the same alternate world as Elizabeth Watasin's Victorian Gothic series, The Elle Black Penny Dreads. Learn more about the debut of this intriguing, steampunk lesbian series: It is 1880; black arts sorcery had its time to grow in England and to battle the eldritch evils threatening, HRH Prince Albert's Secret Commission is born. Executed criminals are brought back to life without memories to fight as agents, and among those resurrected is Artifice, a six foot tall strongwoman, Quaker, and artificial ghost, guided by her senior partner, Jim Dastard, the animated skull.

Corvus Morgenstern, a teenage genius cast out of the mechanist clan. Mira Chelavye, the prodigy and beautiful heir to the alchemist clan. When she brings color into his grey life with an urgent plea to find the truth of her uncle's death, the two begin solving the little mysteries around them and about each other. In 1873, twenty years after humanity's war with the elves, their fateful meeting will advance the state of magic, forever changing the destiny of Ilysveil. Cover by Daniel Schmelling

The Island is about a lady whose baby dies. She struggles to recover. She goes to an island to do scientific studies. She and her automaton assistant Nartis must winter over on the isolated island.

The veil between the human world and The Otherworld has been sealed for hundreds of years, but that all comes to an end in one night. Suddenly, all sorts of creatures are let loose upon citizens who have no means to protect themselves. As bodies pile up, the people will have no choice but to rely on the magic users who they treat like servants. If, that is, they are willing to help. ____ GENRES: Gaslamp Fantasy/Horror Mystery ____ STORY MOOD: Fading of the Veil has a Victorian-inspired world that is suddenly filled with creatures from Scottish mythology, which is where the mystery come in. The magic users (Flickers) must figure out which creature is attacking, and learn how to stop them. ____ TRIGGER WARNINGS: Violence, Blood/Gore, Confinement, Scary Themes, Death ____ POINT-OF-VIEW: Third Person Limited

"I am made of this." In a mechanical and eldritch Victorian London, a black arts surgeon is ripping out the bones and organs of the healthy poor to transplant into the afflicted bodies of the wealthy. Anti-vivisectionists battle with medical doctors, medical doctors condemn supernatural practitioners, and amidst it all the Bone Stealer hunts for his most elusive prize yet: the skeleton of a woman over six feet tall. Secret Commission agents Art, the artificial ghost, and Jim Dastard, the animated skull, rush to stop him before another woman dies. And Art, only six days living after being resurrected to serve the Secret Commission, might be that woman. Experience female detective mysteries with a Victorian superheroine: A gaslamp fantasy in a steampunk, paranormal London, follow the dangerous adventures of an uncanny female sleuth and her senior skull partner set in the same alternate world as Elizabeth Watasin's Victorian Gothic series, The Elle Black Penny Dreads. Learn more about this intriguing, steampunk lesbian series: It is 1880; black arts sorcery had its time to grow in England and to battle the evils resulting, HRH Prince Albert's Secret Commission is born. Executed criminals are brought back to life without memories to fight the eldritch evils threatening, and among those resurrected is Artifice, a six foot tall strongwoman, Quaker, and artificial ghost, guided by her senior partner, Jim Dastard, the animated skull. Fresh from their victory over a re-animationist, they must face London's latest threat: the bodies of the poor are being found, fully clothed and completely whole of skin, yet with all their bones and organs ripped out. Bones is the second in the paranormal steampunk Dark Victorian series from speculative fiction storyteller Elizabeth Watasin, who delights in bringing you shilling shockers immersed in Gothic Victorian mystery, women sleuths, and the eldritch vestiges of an otherworldly London.

Zbigniew Piech discovers he has a magical talent - which ends up working too well.

A past they've never known, calls them back to finish it Life long friends Adrian Crawford and Ella Larsen reunite for what was suppose to be simple camping trip. Their trip however spirals out of control when they wake up in a 1910's era village filled with fantasy beings. While welcomed at first, things take a grim turn as they find themselves as the center of an international conflict ready to explode. What connection do they have with this shattered world and will they be able to stop a great war from erupting? Art done by Rumigawa31

Life during The Raj can be full of perils for an English girl, even one raised in India with a parasol in one hand and a rifle in the other. Bunny Spencer's father sends her to London, but the moment she reaches British shores, a nightmarish beast attacks from the shadows. Now stranded in an unfamiliar land with her companion, Anju, she fears for their lives - until she meets a dashing stranger in pilot goggles. Jim Penderry is a reporter. He's also a monster hunting enthusiast with a passion for fine dining and a good mystery - not necessarily in that order. When a werewolf appears in London, Jim is determined to catch it. Or at the very least, find out why the creature is stalking Miss Bunny Spencer. With the help of the journalists at Penderry's Bizarre magazine, he chases the menace from the foggy streets of London to the colourful bazaars of Bombay. But nothing prepares Jim and Bunny for the secret they're about to uncover. Or the danger afoot. Mystery, monsters and science collide in this rip-roaring tale of adventure, romance and smoked eel.

[2018 Wattys Awards. Best rankings: #1 in gaslamp, #2 in gaslight] Cornwall, 1895. Tragedy sends 14-year-old Benjamin to boarding school at Kerkammel College. Isolated and alone, at first the medieval castle situated on the edge of a moor and unlike any other fills him with wonder, but then he learns about life at Kerkammel. When an early encounter with bullies forces Benjamin to enter the dreaded labyrinth, he becomes lost for hours inside its myriad passages, until at last the inscrutable Arithmetic Master rescues him. But the punishment meted out isn't what Benjamin expected. Instead of lines or detention, he is to search the library for the truth about Malcontentus the Evil. The hunt launches Benjamin into the lost history of the castle, of ghosts, kings and the discovery that the labyrinth is actually a prison, where prisoners are held captive within their own portrait. Then Malcom, an illiterate 16th century magician, falls from a painting at his feet and it falls to Benjamin to return him to imprisonment, before the curse of the portrait kills Malcom. In a race against time, Benjamin must learn magic and solve the mystery of Malcom's release, pitting them against an ancient evil which threatens to destroy the world. Malcontentus the Evil has returned!

Short stories that are romantic or love-focused and are in Fantasy, Gaslamp, or Sci-fi Settings