O Deadly Night is back, and this time the happiest season of all is hiding even more secrets.
So you better watch out. I’ll tell you why. The lights don’t twinkle as bright where the villains hide. And there’s no comfort and joy to be found in the darkness, even if it is the holiday season.
Join several dark MM authors as they once again explore the darker half of the holidays while also spreading cheer and support to LGBTQ youth.
*O Deadly Night Volume 2 is a Dark MM anthology with all proceeds to be donated to It Gets Better with a foreword from Mozzarus Scout, organizer's note by Faith Ryan, and featuring stories by:
Alex J. Adams
Sean Azinsalt
Bey Deckard
Abrianna Denae
Elouise R East
MJ Green
K.L. Hiers
Alexis Jane
Briar Kearney
Leigh Kenzie
Davidson King
Reese Knightley
Duckie Mack
R. Phoenix & Adara Wolf
Jack L. Pyke
Remi Varlow
Overall Review:
I did something I rarely did with anthologies and that was read from cover to cover. I generally only pick and choose(eventually reading all but not initially) when it comes to anthology/collections, no real reason other than it can be a bit overwhelming by sheer size. However, this time I read them all and can I just say: HOLY HANNAH EVIL BATMAN!
Due to the number of stories I knew that I wouldn't review each one individually so I wrote the authors names on scraps of paper, threw them up in the air, and whichever ones landed face up were the ones I'd talk about(a bit as I won't spoil them😉). What I will mention is to say these are dark stories would probably be an understatement. If you're looking for Hallmark-y, Disneyesque, cute meet, cliche HEA, then this is probably not for you. If you like creepy horror with your holiday fare then I can't recommend this anthology enough. Also there are many new-to-me authors that definitely earned a spot on my authors-to-watch list.
Santa's Workshop by Bey Deckard
Forced proximity or better yet "connection forged in captivity" is definitely what Santa's Workshop brings to this anthology. OMG the horrors they face will leave you reaching for your childhood security blanket and brightest flashlight in the house. The evil in this short may only be a "madman in a Santa suit" but if you still believed in the big guy going in you will probably be sure your fireplace is stoked as hot and fiery as possible come Christmas Eve. I still shiver thinking about this one.
Here Comes Santer Claus by KL Hiers
KL Hiers' entry Here Comes Santer Claus ending isn't exactly non-HEA but it's about as close as possible and still be perfectly suited for this dark side of this holiday anthology. Murder and creatures to possibly fear bring Mark where he least expected to be but is everything as it seems? You gotta read that for yourself but despite the nature of why he ends up where he ends up you might find yourself smiling through all the uncertainty.
Silent Knight by Davidson King
I said above that if you're looking for HEA this isn't the book for you but I think Davidson King's entry, Silent Knight(though more of a dark suspense than flat out horror) is probably as close to that HEA label as any horror collection can provide. Truth is, King's storytelling star shines bright in this perfect blend of dark, dreamy, and delicious. Destiny and holiday has rarely been darker.
He Sees You When You're Sleeping by Duck Mackie
How in the world can stalking lead to holiday cheer? We all know Archie is being stalked but who is doing the stalking is where the suspense borders on horror. The darkness in He Sees You When You're Sleeping will leave you questioning your faith in fate or right place, right time but only in the best ways. Duckie Mack is one of the new-to-me authors I mentioned above and I can't imagine an introduction more appealing.
Prelude to Madness by Alex J. Adams
When reality is an illusion.
Trapped inside your mind was the worst place to be. When you had no option but to stay there, it messed with you in the worst possible way.
Dreams, reality, and hidden desires all reared their head. It was hard to know what was real and what was pure fantasy.
That’s where I found myself, inside my head. A captive, with no hope of escape, no matter how hard I tried.
But part of me wanted to stay. Stay with him. He was my one constant— the one that linked them all together, the one that called me home.
Prelude to Madness is a dark MM read with an HFN/ HEA. It features drugs, overdose, captivity and dubcon.
Slaying Klause by Sean Azinsalt
Two men, with an axe to grind about the past, find themselves on the brink of altering the course of the world forever. What happens when Santa is killed? Who does it unleash? Will the men find it in themselves to do what must be done? How can they save the world when they have no hope left?
Triggers- talk about past abuse, ptsd, high heat, dubcon, blood and murder.
Santa's Workshop by Bey Deckard
When two young men are abducted from different towns, imprisoned and forced to suffer the unimaginable at the hands of a madman in a Santa suit, they discover solace in each other’s embrace. But can they find the strength to escape their nightmarish incarceration before it’s too late?
CWs: Amputation/ mutilation, rape (non-detailed)
All I Claim by Abrianna Denae
Hollis Maddigan is a freelance hacker for the Amato Organization. When he begins getting anonymous Christmas gifts in the days leading up to the holidays, their Second in Command is the first person he turns to.
Tennant Mason is the Amatos’ greatest weapon; he’s both feared and respected in the criminal underworld. When the obsessive part of his personality latches on to the one person he shouldn’t want, he ignores all the social normalities he’s worked hard to imitate, and sets about giving Hollis a Christmas he’ll never forget.
When Hollis and Tennant come face to face for the first time, neither can deny the pull to one another. Hollis knows it’s a bad idea. He’s been hurt too many times to trust again, and Tennant’s antisocial personality disorder doesn’t make him a warm and fuzzy partner. But the closer they get, the more they let their walls down, and for the first time, they find someone who understands them— dead bodies as gifts and all.
*All I Claim is a dark MM mafia short story set in the All’s Fair series. It is a prequel story to book two, All I Fear, but can be read before or after that book. This story ends in an HFN*
Trigger Warnings: Kidnapping, Torture, Light blood and knife play, Breath play
Stronger Together by Elouise R East
When life brings him to his knees, all he needs is Ward.
Jacob is down on his luck, and he doesn’t know what to do next. When he steps out of his comfort zone and approaches a guy for a night of debauchery, he gets more than he bargained for.
A hell of a lot more.
Who is this guy, and why does Jacob not want to let him go?
An MM dark romance with a down on his luck guy who finds his HEA in an unexpected partner.
Author note: This story contains stalking, torture and murder.
Ave Fucking Maria by MJ Green
Christmas in Melbourne meant hot sunny days and time spent with family, watching as the next generation of Tomasis got excited about what Santa might bring. But for Albie and his fiancé Gio, there was no better Christmas gift than the combining of their favourite activities— music and murder.
Their grapevines need fertilising after all.
Content Warnings Violence, Torture, Mutilation
Also includes references to off page sexual assault by the bad guy.
Here Comes Santer Claus by K.L. Hiers
Mark Fettle has come out to the woods to find a missing Santa Claus, but his true purpose is much more sinister. He has to hide the evidence of a crime, one he committed, and hope that he gets to it before anyone else does. But something is watching Mark, a local cryptid of legend, and keeping himself out of jail soon becomes the least of his worries.
Trigger Warnings: Murder, claustrophobia, dubious consent, monstrous anatomy, and monstrous intercourse with tail play and knotting.
The Gift by Alexis Jane
Will has a plan. A secluded getaway, a college professor who can’t resist him, and a sadistic streak a mile wide. On paper, it’s the perfect winter break, especially after he’d meticulously mapped out his every fantasy down to the minute. But when his partner in crime shows up ahead of schedule and starts to improvise, Will has to scramble to keep his carefully crafted Christmas adventure from unraveling faster than a hastily wrapped present under the tree.
This is a Dark/ Horror MM Romance.
CW - gore, murder, dubcon, noncon, torture, deception, infidelity, food, alcohol, mentions of drug use, mentions of suicide, inappropriate relationship.
Deck the Halls with Vengeance by Briar Kearney
The Russo family has held power over more of New York City than any other family for as long as most can remember. Matteo Russo had always known he would inherit his father’s iron fist and his men’s loyalty one day. What he hadn’t known, or planned for, was that he would fall head over heels for Leif Wilson, one of the New York Police Department’s own, and what keeping Leif could cost him.
Instead of joy and peace, Christmas Day brings nothing but a challenge; not only to Matteo’s power, but his heart. He won’t sacrifice his position any more than he’s willing to sacrifice Leif, but vengeance doesn’t come cheaply.
The clock ticks, his heart and future hanging in the balance, and Matteo decks the halls of New York City with vengeance.
This is an approximately 14,000 word short story with a HFN that stands alone, and characters with an upcoming series of their own. It contains on-page violence, death and inappropriate use of Christmas decorations.
Soldatino by Leigh Kenzie
Marcus
Thief. Con man. Dedicated son of the D’Angelo Family. The problem? I hide a secret that could tear my life apart…
Allesandro
Il Padrone. Master. Head of the Martelli Family. I’m ruthless and I get what I want, no matter whose secrets need spilling…
This is not a romance and does not contain a HEA or HFN. It can be read as a prequel to the completed Vendetta Series.
Trigger Warnings: Torture, Murder, Homophobia, Captivity, Domination/ submission, Stockholm Syndrome.
Silent Knight by Davidson King
Can someone have both all the luck and none at all? For Ezra Acker the answer is yes. Life just is for him… until one Christmas when everything shifts and he finds out he has a silent knight who has been protecting him.
A world Ezra didn’t know existed is trying to kill both him and his knight. Can they survive the holidays and have a happily ever after or will Heaven and Hell see to it they don’t?
Hawk by Reese Knightley
Erebus Assassins Novella
An assassin and his mark
A runaway who shouldn’t be underestimated
And a holiday neither of them expected
It’s Christmas time, but Hawk can’t be worried about that. He has one last job to do and then he can retire. Being an assassin isn’t as glamorous as one might think. Now he’s faced with a choice and a pair of crystal blue eyes. Can he snuff out this last hit and move one? Or will this young beautiful blond be his downfall?
Skylar Thomas never thought he’d spend the holidays living on the streets, but he’s on the run and he’ll do anything he can to stay alive. When he meets a man known only as Hawk, he doesn’t realize he’s on a collision course that will change his life forever.
Triggers Please be advised that this book is intended for adult readers aged eighteen and older due to sexually explicit content, language, violence, and off the page mention of rape. This story ends with an HEA.
He Sees You When You're Sleeping by Duckie Mack
Chase moves back home after a loss. It’s the last place he wants to be after working hard to leave his hometown behind. Now he’s taking care of his mom and takes a job at the mall through the holidays to make ends meet.
It’s bad enough that Chase has had to take a big step backward, but something has been off since he returned home. He keeps feeling like he’s being watched. At home, at work, even the mall Santa gives him the creeps.
A former classmate runs into Chase at the mall. Archie had been small and bullied a lot back in school. But he’s grown into a strong, confident man that gives Chase the attention he craves.
When the paranoia becomes real, Archie is there to protect him. For the first time, Chase feels wanted and safe. Is this man from his past everything he could want or is there something darker lurking beneath the surface?
Content Warning He Sees You When You’re Sleeping contains stalking, obsession, un-aliving, dubcon, and non consensual voyeurism. It also depicts characters with untreated depression and processing past trauma.
Expectations by R. Phoenix & Adara Wolf
Submit Christmas Prequel
I have a secret.
Even though I’m a big bruiser of a man, my fantasies include me being tied up, beaten, and forced to submit. If anybody in my family knew, they’d kill me— because my family is the head of the Winters Mob, and there’s no place for gay men here.
I get desperate though. One night at a BDSM club will be enough to sustain me... or it would have been, if I hadn’t met Silvano. He’s elegant, handsome, and completely in charge. I can’t get him out of my mind. Too bad his father is the head of the Cresci Family, one of our bitterest rivals.
I thought it was just one night of disaster, but a chance encounter at a bank, and a bank heist, has us thrown together again. He radiates domination that makes my knees buckle and has me wanting to obey every word.
I don’t know how I’ll ever go back to my old life ever again.
HFN. This story is set approximately 10 years before Surrender and Submit.
Content Warnings Bdsm, D/ s, dubcon, CNC, unsafe sex, bondage, facefucking, dub/ noncon gunplay, violence, first time submission, rivals to lovers, chance meeting, small top/ big bottom, light humiliation, high heat, instalust
Slay Bells Ring by Jack L. Pyke
Rush mostly passes through life unnoticed, so the 8: 00 p.m. curfew shutting down festive streets across the UK has no meaning in his displaced world. He sold his phone to drown the Christmas blues anyway. But when a fall off his mountain bike forces him into the path of ex-lover Carter, missed time never becomes more paramount. There’s a twisted killer on the loose, one who has a kink for couples, and Rush and Carter are now the outstanding collectable: the exes.
Genre: Christmas M/ M Mystery thriller.
Tags: HEA, enemy to lovers, forced proximity, German folklore.
It's a Wonderful Death by Remi Varlow
Sold to the Vampire sect as a child, Noel serves them and waits for the day they finally kill him. Then one Christmas night, he makes a wish for a Christmas angel to rescue him.
Tarek, the strongest and most powerful vampire he’s ever encountered shows up and slays his abusers. Then he takes him home and offers to take care of him.
Is it greedy for Noel to make one more Christmas wish to stay with Tarek forever.
Content Warnings This book contains violence, bad parenting, abuse, cruelty, and a brief mention of an attempted sexual assault.
Alex is an MM author from the NW of England. She writes dark, realistic and gritty contemporary romance, always with a HEA.
She is an avid reader and dog lover and can’t wait to move somewhere warm and sunny where she can write about her perfectly imperfect men.
Sean Azinsalt lives in sunny California and loves writing about the dark side of love. He writes stories that illuminate the LGBT experience.
Artist, dog lover, and writer of very queer, very adult fiction.
Bey Deckard is the author of a number of novels including the Baal's Heart books, Max, Beauty and His Beast, and Better the Devil You Know.
Bey lives in Montréal, Canada where he spends most of his time writing, doing graphic work, painting portraits, speaking French, cooking tasty vegetarian eats, or watching more movies than is good for him. If you're the curious type, website is where you'll find art and free stories by Bey as well as information on his published works.
Abrianna Denae is a queer author living in Northern California. An English major, they have always had a passion for writing.
Deciding to sit down and write one of the many stories that had plagued their mind for years was the easy part—finding the time to do it was a different story.
Caffeine is their best friend, and sleep is their worst enemy.
A lover of books that make the reader feel something, Abrianna tries to incorporate as much of their real-world views and feelings into their stories as they can.
Elouise R East writes all things taboo. Her characters, however flawed and kinky, come to life on the page, unfolding in front of her, and she has very little input into how they want to be shown. Just like real life, the lives of her characters change with every choice, every interaction and every conversation. And she wouldn’t have it any other way.
A New Zealand born romance author, MJ can be found these days living in the southern most parts of the country enjoying the long summer nights and bemoaning the even shorter winter days. More recently she’s become an empty nester which now means she has more time to devote to the characters in her stories.
When she’s not writing, MJ can be found walking through the nearby parks, reading books, and watching anime.
K.L. “Kat” Hiers is an embalmer, restorative artist, and queer writer. Licensed in both funeral directing and funeral service, she’s been working in the death industry for nearly a decade. Her first love was always telling stories, and she has been writing for over twenty years, penning her very first book at just eight years old. Publishers generally do not accept manuscripts in Hello Kitty notebooks, however, but she never gave up.
Following the success of her first novel, Cold Hard Cash, she now enjoys writing professionally, focusing on spinning tales of sultry passion, exotic worlds, and emotional journeys. She loves attending horror movie conventions and indulging in cosplay of her favorite characters. She lives in Zebulon, NC, with her husband and their children, some of whom have paws and a few that only pretend to because they think it’s cute.
Following the success of her first novel, Cold Hard Cash, she now enjoys writing professionally, focusing on spinning tales of sultry passion, exotic worlds, and emotional journeys. She loves attending horror movie conventions and indulging in cosplay of her favorite characters. She lives in Zebulon, NC, with her husband and their children, some of whom have paws and a few that only pretend to because they think it’s cute.
After spending far too long creating stories in her head, Alex finally plucked up the courage to write them down and realized it was quite fun seeing them on the page after all.
Free from aspirations of literary greatness, Alex simply hopes to entertain by spinning a good yarn of love and life, wrapped up with a happy ending. Although, if her characters have to go through Hell to get there, she’s a-okay with that.
With only a dysfunctional taste in music and a one-eyed dog to otherwise fill her days, Alex writes and walks on the South Coast of England—even when her heart and spellcheck are in New York.
You can now find her dark m/m romance under Alexis Jane, if you like love…but darker.
Briar Kearney is an Australian author who writes books with a healthy dose of action, suspense, angst and hard fought happiness. She runs primarily on coffee and Instagram reels of pet dogs, and can be found on various platforms here.
Leigh is a dark M/M romance author from Texas with two needy terrors of terriers and a chaotic family. She considers coffee a major food group and her family fears broken coffeemakers. She writes in her spare time, forced to the keyboard by characters entirely too vocal in her opinion and often falls victim to plot monkeys. In between creating mayhem with her characters and friends, her hope is to transport readers to fictional places and provide darkness with a twist.
Davidson King, always had a hope that someday her daydreams would become real-life stories. As a child, you would often find her in her own world, thinking up the most insane situations. It may have taken her awhile, but she made her dream come true with her first published work, Snow Falling.
When she's not writing you can find her blogging away on Diverse Reader, her review and promotional site. She managed to wrangle herself a husband who matched her crazy and they hatched three wonderful children.
If you were to ask her what gave her the courage to finally publish, she'd tell you it was her amazing family and friends. Support is vital in all things and when you're afraid of your dreams, it will be your cheering section that will lift you up.
Reese spends her time creating stories from the characters rattling around in her head. Her love of reading mystery, action and adventure, and fantasy books led to her love of writing. Reese works as a full-time writer. She loves to hear from her readers.
Duckie Mack normally writes sweet with heat MM romance in both contemporary and PNR. She lives in Southern California with her family, two dogs, and three cats. Duckie is a sappy romantic who also loves musicals, theater, superheroes, and fairytales. She also loves to go to pride events and give out free hugs, or talk books, usually both.
R. Phoenix (code name: Raissa) has an unhealthy fascination with contrasts: light and dark, humor and pain, heroes and villains, order and chaos. She believes love can corrupt, power can redeem and that the best of intentions can cast shadows while the worst can create light. She agrees with those who say that the truth is best told through fiction — even though fiction has to make sense while reality can be utterly baffling.
Her dark paranormal books explore a world where humanity has become prey, subjugated by “supes” — vampires, werewolves, and witches — who have seized control. They range from romance to dark erotica to horror and everything in between, exploring different aspects of the Fate of the Fallen universe. She’s even published something she calls “playful dark erotica.”
Her tendency to explore dark topics isn’t limited to a supernatural world. Her contemporary romance, Too Close, deals with the difficult topic of domestic violence. She is passionate about the need for greater awareness and understanding of an issue that’s often misunderstood.
She loves chatting with readers, though she often awkwardly rambles. No matter how much she tries to keep her bad and often perverted sense of humor in check, it seems to escape at the most inconvenient moments. (Thanks, universe.) Feel free to friend Raissa on Facebook and chat or send her an email!
Adara writes almost exclusive m/m, but she has a fondness for bisexual protagonists. She enjoys a lot of darker themes, so you'll see a lot of that in her works.
When Adara isn't writing, she's reading, painting, playing video games, and rescuing cats. She also enjoys learning about languages and other cultures.
If you're ever curious about the specific content of her works, there are content notes for each story on the website.
You can also get early chapters and exclusive short stories by subscribing to her Patreon.
Jack’s an author who specialises in BDSM M/ M Psychological Thrillers. With a wicked love for portraying D/ s relationships in particular, all added to a psychological thriller edge, kink and mind games go hand in hand here, but so too does help from some very special people: Vicki Howard, Reed, Elaine, Author Lousia Mae, and a highly recommended proofreader: Liz Gerrow over at https://ashbornestardust.com.
Remi Varlow is a MM romance writer from Austin Texas who likes to write about bad boys falling in love. So far, she’s written books about bikers and thieves, but she’s expanding to write about vampires, shifters, and witches as well.
Alex J. Adams
EMAIL: alexjadams.author@gmail.com
Sean Azinsalt/Shane K Morton
Bey Deckard
BOOKS2READ / SMASHWORDS / B&N
AUDIOBOOKS / CHIRP / INSTAGRAM / KOBO
EMAIL: bey.deckard@gmail.com
Abrianna Denae
EMAIL: authorabridenae@gmail.com
Elouise R East/Elouise East
WEBSITE / NEWSLETTER / KOBO
iTUNES / AUDIBLE / GOOGLE PLAY
EMAIL: eloise@eloiseeast.com
MJ Green
KL Hiers
Alexis Jane/Alex Jane
WEBSITE / NEWSLETTER / AUDIBLE
EMAIL: contact@alexjane.info
Briar Kearney
Leigh Kenzie
Davidson King
EMAIL: davidsonkingauthor@yahoo.com
Reese Knightley
