Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Bride by Kyle Alexander Romines

Release date: December 24, 2017
Subgenre: Gothic horror

About Bride:

 

The year is 1795. Frankenstein’s monster has given his creator an ultimatum: Victor must build the creature a mate, or watch as the monster destroys everything and everyone he has ever loved.

You know their story.

You don’t know hers.

She is born into darkness, her destiny entwined with an unspeakable evil. Her sole companion is her creator, the inscrutable Victor Frankenstein, gatekeeper to a life she has never experienced. As her understanding of humanity takes shape, she must contend with the horrific nature of her intended mate and conflicting feelings for her creator.

She wants more from life than to be the bride of Frankenstein’s monster, but will she seek freedom, vengeance, or something else entirely?

Excerpt:

 

          I was born of a storm, among the dead.  
            The hour was late. Darkness embraced me as I stirred, like a lover unwilling to relinquish its grasp. I do not remember the moment when I first awoke, or how long those first clumsy, fleeting movements took. There is no recollection of being strapped to the table, of freeing myself of my restraints, or learning to stand for myself.
             A thousand new sensations flooded through me at once. At first, there was only sound—the howling of the wind outside and the symphonic dissonance of machines that remained invisible to me. Bright sparks burst to life behind me, traveling along the wires that ran the length of the table before dying away just as quickly, and I saw light, which then took on lines to become shapes. In my surprise, I bumped into a table, knocking over flasks and test tubes. The glass shattered as it hit the floor.  
            Somehow I wandered to the center of the chamber, soaking wet. Rain poured into the room through an open set of trapdoors that let in the storm and sky. Thunder crackled overhead, and I looked up just in time to catch a flash of lightning as it washed the room in gray light, revealing peculiar machines and scientific equipment scattered about the laboratory.  
            The light quickly faded, and again I was thrust into the world of night. A chill hung about the attic. The floor was cold against my bare feet. Little by little, I became aware of myself. When the lightning flashed again, I noticed one of my hands, and held it as if it was foreign to me, astonished as each finger wriggled in response to my will.  
            None of this had any meaning to me at the time of my birth. I was like an infant, with no real thoughts of any kind, only emotion. I felt adrift—utterly alone in the world. Just as I tasted fear for the first time, I saw him.
            At first there was only a faint glow some distance away. Unlike the lightning, it was small but bright. I wandered across the vast darkness, drawn by the source of the illumination. My steps were short and awkward, the fleeting remnants of rigor mortis. I reached for the light like a child stretching out her hand to catch a firefly, my muscles twitching, my movements tremulous. In my haste, I stumbled and fell, landing on my knees in a puddle.
            Out of the darkness came a voice. “You’re alive.”
            There, above me, was a man holding a torch. My attention was torn away from him to the flame he carried, and I recoiled, frightened by the fire. I shrank away but remained fixed in place, my gaze set on the first new occupant encountered in this strange new world.


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About Kyle Alexander Romines:


Kyle Alexander Romines is a teller of tales from the hills of Kentucky. He enjoys good reads, thunderstorms, and anything edible. His writing interests include fantasy, science fiction, horror, and western.

Kyle's debut horror novel, The Keeper of the Crows, appeared on the Preliminary Ballot of the 2015 Bram Stoker Awards in the category of Superior Achievement in a First Novel. He obtained his M.D. from the University of Louisville School of Medicine. 
 
You can subscribe to Kyle's author newsletter to receive email updates and a FREE electronic copy of his horror/science fiction novella, The Chrononaut.


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