Of Dark Places
by Gustavo Bondoni
Short stories buried within ominous locales.
"Bondoni has a special touch and a unique perspective few others can match...
this volume is one of the richest, best-written and most rewarding
single-author collections I have read..."
~ Elana Gomel, author of Little Sister, Black House and My Lady of Plagues
For paperback, Kindle, and Kindle Unlimited
This book is appropriate for teenagers.
Haunted houses, haunted lands, haunted locations...
Places can be as dark as the myths, legends, and stories surrounding them. Gustavo Bondoni knows these places well, having a worldview that is different from the average traveler...
understanding horror and the roots of it, the foundations it is built from.
In these stories, dark places come up into the light...
There's thunder in Old Kilpatrick, thunder that has become familiar to a young boy during the war. Then a strange new dangers arrives... yet it may not be
a threat, but a blessing in disguise.
It's a day's ride from Tarabuco for two infamous outlaws, who are searching for
a burial chamber but end up unearthing more than they bargained for.
The Antarctic hides ancient secrets, and one will be discovered by
an expedition dispatched to find out why an outpost's signal has gone silent.
Gustavo Bondoni will bring you into these dark places to face their horrors,
to find and experience the malicious and maligned.
If you choose to turn the page...
About the Author
Gustavo Bondoni is a novelist and short story writer with over four hundred stories published in fifteen countries, in seven languages. He has published six science fiction novels including one trilogy, four monster books, a dark military fantasy, and a thriller. His short fiction is collected in Pale Reflection (2020), Off the Beaten Path (2019), Tenth Orbit and Other Faraway Places (2010), and Virtuoso and Other Stories (2011). In 2019, Gustavo was awarded second place in the Jim Baen Memorial Contest, and in 2018 he received a Judges Commendation (and second place) in the James White Award. Hew as also a finalist in the Writers of the Future Contest.
His website is gustavobondoni.com.
Praise for Gustavo Bondoni
Of Dark Places
"Gustavo Bondoni's new collection of stories Of Dark Places is a perfect Halloween-appropriate feast of chills and thrills, but with a difference. Bondoni, an incredibly versatile and prolific Argentinian writer, has a special touch and a unique perspective few others can match.
"Global horror can shine the light of storytelling into the dark places we did not know existed. Bondoni's stories range far and wide beyond the confines of suburban America. He takes us to Africa ('What I Never Told Them' and 'Shadow of an Ape'), Antarctica ('Frozen Meat'), Mexico ('The Cost of Victory'), the American West ('A Day's Ride from Tarabuco') and the outer space ('Watching the Stars'). And in every place that we visit, we encounter something surprising, shocking, and unexpected.
"The wide range of this collection is not only geographic but also generic. Though Bondoni has achieved popularity with science fiction and fantasy, most stories in this collection have a horror element, which adds a stunning and unique twist to the familiar sci-fi tropes of the colony ship in 'Watching the Stars,' bioengineering in 'A Holiday in Love Canal,' or malfunctioning bots in 'Garbage In, Garbage Out.' Other stories mix horror and noir ('Going for Peanuts'), horror and the Sherlock Holmes pastiche ('A Time for Haste'), and horror and mythology ('Autobiography, Carve in Stone').
"But Bondoni's greatest success, in my view, is his historical horror. The stories in the collection will take you to the poppy-bloodied fields of World War I ('Poppies in Full Bloom'), Scotland during World War II where 'wights' roam the moors ('Thunder in Old Kilpatrick'), Mexico City, ancient and modern ("The Cost of Victory'), Romania on the eve of being invaded by the Nazis ('Hobson's Angel'), and even the Etruscan League of Twelve, about to be attacked by Rome ('Aulus Fabius Ambustus'). Historical horror is becoming a very popular subgenre, and Bondoni excels at it.
"All in all, this volume is one of the richest, best-written and most rewarding single-author collections I have read in the last year. If you want a fresh new voice in horror, try Gustavo Bondoni."
~ Elana Gomel, author of "Little Sister," "Black House,"
and "My Lady of Plagues"
Previous work
"Bondoni is an amazingly versatile writer of science fiction and fantasy. His books range from space opera to historical fantasy; from creature features to Latin American mythological fables. In every genre,
he displays his mastery of the form and ability
to engage the reader."
~ Elana Gomel, author of "Little Sister" and "Black House"
"An engaging, impeccably written examination of the way each life touches so many other lives... Although widely recognized as a firmly established science fiction author, Gustavo Bondoni deftly transcends genre with this series of stories in which relationships between and among the characters are viewed and severally related from varying perspectives."
~ Stacy K., Five-Star Amazon Review
"Loved it. For me it was a page turner from the start. Bondoni's narration style combines good storytelling skills, old-school sci-fi plot twists and refreshing creativeness... A great read!"
~ Alex, Five-Star Amazon Review
"All in all, this book gets two thumbs up from me and I look forward to reading more from this author. This is a fast paced, fresh, fantastic work of science fiction."
~ Kathryn Bennett for Readers' Favorite
"This is a first-rate piece of writing. The author, whose first language is not English, does an excellent job with the characters and storytelling. It is very much worth the reader's time."
~ Paul Lappen, Amazon 4-star review