Darkness Calls

Editions:ebook, Hardcover

The line between light and dark is thinner than you think.

In the woods surrounding a quiet Midwestern town, an ancient malevolence awakens. Unseen by most, the Darkness hungers for the radiant energy of children—a feast it craves with an insatiable thirst. A decade after a nightmarish onslaught shattered the community, this evil thought to be vanquished returns, more ferocious than ever.

Christina finds herself once again at the heart of the storm. The Darkness destroyed her family and twisted her childhood friend Fiara into something neither fully human nor wholly monster. But this time, Christina refuses to be a victim. Determined to fight back, she rallies an extraordinary group of gifted individuals, each with unique talents and untapped energy. Together, they form an unlikely alliance, bound by a shared goal: to rescue their abducted friends and unravel the sinister enigma that threatens their world.

As they venture deep into nightmarish realms, monstrous creatures and inner demons rise to confront them. Secrets become their weapons, trust their shield. The line between light and dark blurs, and the fate of their world hangs by a thread. In this battle against ancient malevolence, only the bravest hearts will endure.

Darkness Calls beckons you into a world where the line between light and dark blurs, where friendships forged in adversity become the armor against ancient malevolence. Will their combined strengths be enough to stem the tide of darkness? The battle for survival is about to ignite once more, and only the bravest hearts will endure.

Published: March 4, 2025

Publisher: Rogue River

Genres:

Fantasy, Horror, Supernatural, Thriller

Tags:

dark fantasy, supernatural horror, supernatural thriller, thriller books, thriller books to read

About the Author

Joe Chianakas

Joe Chianakas has been an educator for 21 years, the first half as a high school English teacher, the last half as a professor of communication at Illinois Central College. He's published several novels, including his horror series Rabbit in Red, and is working on a new adult horror series, Darkness Calls, with Oghma Creative Media. Under his pen name, NC Nest, he's published a series of LGBTQ YA contemporary books, including Looking for Derek. His next YA LGBTQ series is titled Singlets and Secrets, which will be published by Young Dragons Press.

When he's not teaching or writing, he enjoys spending time with his mini Australian Shepherd, Bailey. Joe loves the outdoors, fitness, reading (of course!), martial arts, travel, and binge-watching TV. He lives in Peoria, IL, with his husband, Brian.

Other Books By Joe Chianakas

Stand-Alone Books

Darkness Calls

Series: Unveiling Aiden

Singlets & Secrets

Pride and Persistence

Vaquero Padre

The Epic Journey of Eusebio Francisco Kino
In the heart of the 17th century, a young Jesuit’s brush with death sparked a vow that would change the course of history.
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Ordained and sent west to New Spain, Padre Kino would spend the next three decades carving a legacy across the untamed northern frontier. From the rugged coast of California to the desert lands of Pimería Alta, he brought not only the word of God, but the tools for survival—introducing cattle ranching and wheat cultivation to native communities. As peacemaker and protector, he stood between the Spanish crown and the people he served, navigating colonial politics, Apache resistance, and the harsh terrain of the Southwest.
A brilliant mathematician, cartographer, and explorer, Kino’s maps redrew the boundaries of the continent, proving that California was not an island, but firmly connected to the land he so loved.
Vaquero Padre brings to vivid life the remarkable journey of a man of faith, science, and unshakable purpose—told as he himself might have shared it.

Cold Powder Vengeance

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In 1875, Judiah Stone wants nothing more than to bury the war and live in peace, farming his homestead in the Dakota Territory with his beautiful wife. But when a gang of killers sheds her blood and leaves him for dead, peace dies with her.
Most men would wait on the law. Not this one.
Armed with a Henry rifle and a fire in his gut, he rides west—tracking the men to Deadwood, where greed and blood soak the Black Hills. Sioux warriors, brutal storms, and a cold-eyed shootist all try to end him along the way.
But the truth isn’t what it seems. The real killer is closer than he ever imagined—and in a courtroom where justice is bought, he brings his own sentence.
Cold Powder Vengeance is a brutal tale of frontier retribution, where the only sure things are a six-gun and the grave.

Comancheria

You can’t outrun a curse. You ride through it.
Texas Ranger Buck Dallas was meant to die. Cursed by the Comanche witch doctor, Twisted Root, he falls with the sun and claws out of the dirt at dawn—half man, half memory, bound to a promise he can’t forget.
With fellow Ranger Lane Newsome at his side, Buck rides a haunted trail across a hollow frontier—one stripped of mercy, scarred by blood, and hunted by things older than men. Their mission: find a missing girl named River and deliver a pregnant woman to a hidden spring that may be salvation… or something far worse.
As the riders press deeper into Comancheria, they’re joined by mystics, mercenaries, and broken souls—each with something to lose, and none guaranteed to survive. Between the bullets and the curses, between the land and the dead, redemption may be the only thing worth dying for.
From New York Times bestselling author Reavis Z. Wortham, Comancheria is a gritty, unrelenting vision of the West—dark, mythic, and rising from the grave.

Roan & Weatherford