Only the brave enter the woods—those who aren't afraid of witches, shapeshifters, curses, and darkness. In this delightfully eerie anthology, only the fearless survive. These spooky, fantastic, and gothic tales will remind you that bedtime stories—those read in the dark—are for adults too.
Women of the Woods promises to keep you up at night while introducing you to more than a dozen talented authors. From dark fantasy to folk horror, Women of the Woods has a mix of frightening stories reminiscent of those by Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Washington Irving but with a modern touch.
Enter the woods... if you dare.
  • 'Neath the Old Tree" by Mary Rajotte - A storm brews overhead, and its winds rend leaves down around their feet. They will come for her.
  • "Gingerbread" by Marshall Moore - Hunger nestles in her stomach like a worm, constantly whispering its eternal demand: feed me.
  • "Necromancing Over Coffee" by A. R. Cook - The necromancer learns the one thing that changes everything—the thing that stops a raging god from devouring the world and can never die.
  • "The Rebirth of Joy" by Arwen Spicer - Dark magic dwells in the Forest of Forgetting. If sunset catches you in the woods, the Old Woman Ovla will make you forget—your loves, your life, your own precious self.
  • "Lighted Feather, Hollowed Bone" by Caitlin E. Jones - Sometimes we are born into the world, too fragile for the place we find.
  • "Myrtha" by Victoria Audley - The heart of the forest is dead, and the dead keep it.
  • "Saiya" by Katie Brittle - When the news reports that a virus is infecting the world, Saiya packs her bags and heads for the safety of the woods.
  • "My Lady in the War" by Whitney Zahar - Uncertainty and death are the two constants of the war and the woods.
  • "The Magpie" by M. Regan - The bird thinks her soul is very pretty, and he wants it for himself.
  • "The Winds of Old Hulter" by H. Parsons - The forest girl stares at her with this brilliantly intense gaze. Can you feel the storm?
  • "Alina's Well" by Katie Coughran - Alina must stand guard of the well the rest of her life. Or else.
  • "Roots" by Jennifer Cizl - Without the mountains, the animals, the woods... she will cease to exist.
  • "The Witch of Willow Wood" by Ashley Weaver - What really happened in the marshes of the wood? How much power does the witch have over the town?
  • "Of Fire and Ice" by Vanessa K. Eccles - She will never become accustomed to that part of herself—the part that turns into a beast at the first sight of anger. They made her this way.

Other books by Fabled Collective

About the author

Vanessa K. Eccles

Vanessa K. Eccles is the creator of lovely and terrifying creatures. In the search for beautifully broken characters, she’s not afraid to delve into the dark side of humanity and fantasy to find the most authentic and relatable monsters, reminding us all that we are each fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14).

​​​​​​​When asked about herself, she often uses the term literary wanderer. She has a variety of writing and editing experience, from running three of her own publications to editing anthologies to novel writing. She formally studied literature and history at Troy University-Dothan and considers herself to have the heart of a storyteller. Her hope is to share the power of storytelling and its great impact on our lives.

​​​​​​​She’s currently the writer, host, and producer of the Fabled Collective podcast.
She and her Prince Charming live in hauntingly beautiful Savannah, GA, with their three dogs.