Ride through the sky with the Wild Hunt!

A fierce host rides across the winter sky at night
In wild pursuit of whoever crosses their path

Peals of thunder follow the horses as they gallop through the clouds
Fire flashing from their hooves

The baying of the hounds echoes across the sky
Their sharp teeth glinting in the light of the moon

The Huntsman blows his horn, and the Fae ride behind him
Their faces both beautiful and terrible to behold

When the nights are long and the winter winds howl, stay inside
Lest you cross the path of the Hunt…and become their prey

The Wild Hunt contains thirteen stories based on the wide and varied folklore of the Wild Hunt. In some tales, the leader of the hunt is Odin; in others it’s King Arthur, Herodias, or Herne the Hunter. Sometimes the riders are Fae; sometimes they are specters, or skeletons, or strange beasts never before seen by mortal eyes.

But no matter who the hunters are, you definitely don’t want to be the one they’re after…

Let the Wild Hunt begin!

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The Stories

Go on the Wild Hunt from a hound’s perspective in Thea Hutcheson’s “My Last Hunt,” and learn about the Fae—and humanity—from a new perspective.

Anthea Sharp’s “The Faerie Invasion” takes us to a world where the faeries have invaded the mortal realm. Ric and his little sister scrounge for food and hide from creatures they never imagined were real—especially after dark. But no matter how hard they try, they can’t hide from the Wild Hunt…

In Brenda Carre’s “Gigglebark Tea,” Lewis and his annoying neighbor are in the middle of an argument about a strange illness that’s going around, when Herne the Hunter shows up…and he and the hunt are after Lewis. Herne’s afflicted with the mysterious malady, and thinks Lewis is the cause. To buy time, Lewis brings out what’s left of his long-passed wife’s Gigglebark tea, not realizing what he’s going to learn as a result.

Emma is unable to move or speak in the real world, but in the virtual computer game of Feyland, her body is fully functional. Deb Logan’s “Emma: A Feyland Dryad” takes us along with Emma as she learns what it’s like to stand, to run, to dance…and to be chased by the Wild Hunt, which she discovers is as real as the Realm of Faerie, which Feyland is a portal to.

Linda Jordan’s “The Turning” tells the tale of a young woman who stands in between a man and the Wild Hunt, not realizing her stance will lead her to learn things about her past that she never even imagined could be true.

In “Take a Walk on the Wild Side,” by Rebecca M. Senese, Detective Maeve Hemlock is looking forward to a well-deserved vacation from her job at the Spells and Misdemeanours Bureau. But the Wild Hunt has arrived, and as a faerie from the North Court, Maeve knows just how dangerous this is for Crossroads City, which lies between the mortal and faerie realms. There goes her vacation…

Mary, a Ute woman, is married one of the Aos Si in Shannon Lawrence’s “Of Earth and Fae.” Conor left his ancestral lands for the Americas, and thought himself safe from those who had persecuted his people for centuries. But as Woden and the Wild Hunt approach, Mary and Conor realize he’s in grave danger after all.

James spends his time being a nobody in DeAnna Knippling’s “The Last Private in the Gray Hoodie and Blue Jeans Brigade.” He found if he practiced hard at being unremarkable and unnoticeable for long enough, the walking trails in his neighborhood got seriously weird, and led to someplace—or some places—completely different from the regular world. It’s kind of cool. An escape. Or is it really that cool after all?

In Lousa Swann’s “Scraggles Goes Hunting,” Scraggles the cat expected his night to be like any other night. He certainly did not expect to find himself the steed of a pixie, compelled to fly through the sky as part of the Wild Hunt. And he definitely did not expect to run into a dragon…

An Unseelie Fey breaks free of her prison and begins her own wild hunt in Kim May’s “Of Blood and Bone, Earth and Air.” Can the genuis loci who cares for the land vanquish his terrible foe before she is beyond his power to contain?

In “Getting Good,” by Brigid Collins, Stelli realizes her friends have been taking the game of Feyland far more seriously, and now they’re cutting her out because she’s not as good as they are. Determined to get better at the game on her own, she begins the quest of the Midnight Huntsman…only to find that Feyland is not just a game after all.

Married to the tetrarch of Galilee in Jamie Ferguson’s “The Call of the Huntress,” Herodias lives a life of luxury, but also a life of misery. She prays to the goddess Diana, but of course Diana isn’t going to respond to the pleas of a mere mortal. When Herodias’ daughter Salome arrives for a visit, she disrupts the fragile balance of Herodias’ life. Herodias calls to Diana, just like she has so many times over the years…but this time, the goddess answers.

Twig hadn’t planned to spend her night running from the Wild Hunt, but that’s exactly what she finds herself doing in Annie Reed’s “Murder’s Revenge.” An elf who spent years undercover in a motorcycle gang so she could find a way to rescue the gentle water spirit they’d enslaved, she’d managed to save the water spirit—but earn the wrath of the gang’s leader, who now rides with the hunt and wants revenge.

Find The Wild Hunt

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A Procession of Faeries

Learn more about the series, and follow A Procession of Faeries on Facebook and Goodreads!

“Blood & Water” is in Water Faeries, the fourth volume in the anthology series A Procession of Faeries.

Jump into the waves, and enter the world of Faerie!

Meet Alethea!

Alethea weaves fairy tale fantasy in the realm of Arilland, and dabbles in other fantasy worlds as well. She’s been a guest speaker about fairy tales at the Library of Congress, and gave a keynote address at the Lewis Carroll Society’s Alice150 Conference in New York City, celebrating the 150th anniversary of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

“Blood & Water”

A mermaid falls in love with the man she rescued from the sea. She’s willing to pay any price to be with him, for she loves him more than life itself. But is the price of love too high?

Excerpt

Once the transformation began, the pain pushed all other thoughts out of her head. Water left her as suddenly as her soul had left her, her gills closing up after it. The pressure that filled her chest made her eyes want to pop out. She clamped her mouth shut, instinct telling her that she could no longer breathe her native water. She beat furiously with her tail, fleeing for the surface.

Halfway there, the other pain began. It started at the ends of her fin and spread upwards, like bathing in an oyster garden. The sharpness bit into her, skinning her, slicing her to her very core. Paralyzed, she let her momentum and the pressure in her chest pull her closer to the sky. Part of her hoped she could trust the magic enough to get her there. Part of her didn’t care. It wanted to die, and knew it could not.

That price had already been paid.

—from “Blood & Water” by Alethea Kontis

The Interview

How did you come up with the idea of combining mermaid and vampire mythology?

Back when I used to drive a lot more, I kept a small notebook in my car to jot down thoughts and inspirations when I was at a stoplight or rest area. While I was visiting my friend Brandi in Charleston, SC, she flipped through the book. She stopped on a page where I had scribbled “Vampire” and “Mermaid.” “What’s a Vampire Mermaid?” she asked me. And the seed was planted!

You minored in marine science, and used some of your knowledge about hydrothermal vents in this story. Has this knowledge come in handy for other stories as well?

Yes, indeed–I majored in Chemistry and minored in Marine Science. I LOVED the hydrothermal vents. Loved them. My dream was to spend my life out in the middle of the ocean on some great research ship, surrounded by stars and smelling like fish and maybe even going down in the Alvin (a deep sea research vessel). Sure, I was writing stories and starring on TV when I was eight, but at school I was 100% math and science girl. Every time I fall down a research rabbit hole, it’s usually science-based. Like binary star systems (for “Savage Planet”), or nanotechnology (“Pocket Full of Posey), or cryotech (“True.love”). For the novel Dearest, I spent an entire day researching nettles. Did you know you can make a nettle tea that changes color when you add a slice of lemon? THAT’S CHEMISTRY, BABY! #NerdAlert

In addition to writing stories, you also narrate audio books. What do you enjoy about narrating other people’s stories?

No matter how old a person is when they start acting, if they ever stop, they always miss it. When I write, I am the narrator, of course. But every time I sit in the studio and read, I become the narrator in a way that I could only ever touch while acting. The motivation, the dialogue, the delivery… Somewhere in the back of my mind it feels like all the monologues I used to memorize for auditions–only I don’t have to memorize these stories! Which leaves me even more energy to give the story my all.

Is there a fairy tale that you really enjoy, or which has stuck with you? If so, which one—and what do you find compelling about this particular story?

My favorite fairy tale growing up was always “The Goose Girl.” The girl/princess, though passive, is a magic user but not a witch. Her talking horse gets its head chopped off, but never really dies. The princess has a good heart and never changes, despite the horrible things that happen to her. In the end, the evil maid in the story ends up dying a gruesome death that she devises herself. (Unlike Snow White, who murdered her stepmother at her own wedding.) I think I loved “The Goose Girl” because everyone stayed true to who they were, and everything just worked out the way it should in the end.

My new favorite fairy tale is “Old Rinkrank”…but mostly because I got to retell it as “The Glass Mountain,” which might be my favorite story I’ve ever written.

What difference do you see between today’s fairy tale retellings, and the types of fairy tales that were told hundreds of years ago?

It’s interesting to see what contemporary people are “afraid” of, and what they will change in the story to make it more palatable to the masses. Interestingly, this topic has been a concern of fairy tale archivists since the beginning of time–Andrew Lang and J.R.R. Tolkien both wrote about how “modern” retellings took out a lot of the harsh realities of the “original” tellings…and whether or not they should. (Most–including me–agree they should not.)

You’re a storm chaser! Tell us what you love about chasing storms. And will you wear the same fabulous tiara as last year?

Going back to my science background–I have always been in love with the beauty of this world. (Seriously–my first best friend was a tree.) I remember stealing my dad’s Miranda camera with the giant lens and taking pictures of everything from sunsets to tree stumps. In May in Middle America, the skies are BREATHTAKING. And yes…sometimes even dangerous. As many beautiful things in nature can be. Plus, we often run into other chasers while on the road: similar nerds from all over the world with similar loves of photography, who worship the Giant Skies.

I will definitely be breaking out my Ozma tiara again, for sure! Be sure to follow my travels on patreon.com/princessalethea.

What story (or stories) are you working on now, and what’s fun about what you’re writing?

Right now, I am in love with the middle grade manuscripts I’m working on. I just finished the novelization of “Diary of a Mad Scientist Garden Gnome,” and I’m about to start one about a young girl, a bunch of goblins and brownies, and four fairy queens. I’ve also got one in the works that involves storm chasing–of course! The working title is “Oz or Bust.” I’m super excited about all three of these!

About Alethea

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Alethea Kontis is a princess, a voice actress, and a force of nature. She is responsible for creating the epic fairytale fantasy realm of Arilland, and dabbling in a myriad of other worlds beyond. Her award-winning writing has been published for multiple age groups across all genres. She is the host of “Princess Alethea’s Fairy Tale Rants” and Princess Alethea’s Traveling Sideshow every year at Dragon Con. Alethea has narrated for ACX, IGMS, Escape Pod, Pseudopod, Cast of Wonders, Shimmer, Apex Magazine and Clarkesworld Magazine, and she contributes regular YA book reviews to NPR.

Alethea’s YA fairy tale novel, Enchanted, won both the Gelett Burgess Children’s Book Award and Garden State Teen Book Award. Enchanted was nominated for the Audie Award in 2013 and was selected for World Book Night in 2014. Both Enchanted and its sequel, Hero, were nominated for the Andre Norton Award. Tales of Arilland, a short story collection set in the same fairy tale world, won a second Gelett Burgess Award in 2015. The second book in The Trix Adventures, Trix and the Faerie Queen, was a finalist for the Dragon Award in 2016. Alethea was nominated for the Dragon Award again in 2018, for her YA paranormal rom-com When Tinker Met Bell. In 2019, the third in her Harmswood Academy trilogy–Besphinxed–was nominated for a Scribe Award by the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers.

Princess Alethea was given the honor of speaking about fairy tales at the Library of Congress in 2013. In 2015, she gave a keynote address at the Lewis Carroll Society’s Alice150 Conference in New York City, celebrating the 150th anniversary of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. She also enjoys speaking at schools and festivals all over the US. (If forced to choose between all these things, she says middle schools are her favorite!)

Born in Burlington, Vermont, Alethea currently lives on the Space Coast of Florida. She makes the best baklava you’ve ever tasted and sleeps with a teddy bear named Charlie.