u/HobGoodfellowe

Hi everyone. I'm making free copies of one of my novels, Old Dark Things (180k words, dark fantasy), available until the end of May 2026. These are posted up as review copies, but there's no obligation to review. I'm just trying to get some copies out to people who might enjoy the work.

At the end of May I'll take the review copies down and publish via the usual avenues. This is a bit of a soft relaunch after doing some extensive edits and corrections.

BLURB

Come walk in the woods at nighttime. Come wander the windswept wilds. But tread carefully, for here dwells the wolf with the golden eyes and honeyed voice; here rules the cruel Faer prince; here lurk old shadows, watchful and mocking.

Old Dark Things is a folkloric fantasy set in a world of eldritch magic. Follow Kveldulf, hunter of monsters, into the dark and forested land of the Veld, where plots and schemes gather in the darkling air. There is murder here, foul sorcery too, and secrets hidden deep in the mist-choked vales. Can Kveldulf win through fell dangers, and root out the darkness at the heart of the Veld? It will not be easy, for even as he hunts, he is hunted. Ever, he must keep ahead of his own relentless shadow, lethal and remorseless. For there are some things that even the famed hunter of monsters has found himself unable to kill… and the worst of them has set herself upon his trail: a creature beautiful, and terrible, and desiring of vengeance.

NOTE: Reader discretion advised. Contains mature themes.

https://preview.redd.it/lrt27r1908zg1.png?width=1667&format=png&auto=webp&s=f411dd782fef872a1a07e8a4ba956d4b3bc525c0

I uploaded a version of this cover a little while ago to see what genres people thought it suggested. The impressions were all roughly in the right area (dark fantasy, pseudo-historical, a bit of melancholy epic fantasy). I've since added the autumn leaves around the edges to try and pull the cover feel a bit away from outright horror and a bit closer to dark fantasy (which I think is more honest, in terms of what the book is). Any thoughts or suggestions appreciated.

My rough blurb:

>Come walk in the woods at nighttime. Come wander the windswept wilds. But tread carefully, for here dwells the wolf with the golden eyes and honeyed voice; here rules the cruel Faer prince; here lurk old shadows, watchful and mocking.

Old Dark Things is a folkloric fantasy set in a world of eldritch magic. Follow Kveldulf, hunter of monsters, into the dark and forested land of the Veld, where plots and schemes gather in the darkling air. There is murder here, foul sorcery too, and secrets hidden deep in the mist-choked vales. Can Kveldulf win through fell dangers, and root out the darkness at the heart of the Veld? It will not be easy, for even as he hunts, he is hunted. Ever, he must keep ahead of his own relentless shadow, lethal and remorseless. For there are some things that even the famed hunter of monsters has found himself unable to kill... and the worst of them has set herself upon his trail. For she is a creature most beautiful, and terrible, and desiring of vengeance.

I split the blurb in two because of the way that RR shows a bit of the blurb, then you click on the story, and see more of the blurb. Setting up a 'flavour' part and 'details' part seemed like a sensible way to make use of that system? It seemed a few other stories that I've looked through do something similar with a 'two part' blurb.

I'm not completely happy with the text, but on the other hand, I probably never will be.

Does this all give the vibe of a book with a bit of dark fantasy and mystery going on? Does it seem interesting? Assuming it's a genre you like, would you give it a look?

Because the work is so far off-meta, I think it's more important for the cover and blurb to give an honest impression of the work rather than try to hook all possible readers. This means I'm probably a bit more focused on niche appeal rather than trying to grab every last set of eyeballs, if that makes sense.

Thanks for any thoughts or comments. Much appreciated.