At the University of Corporeal & Ethereal Studies meddling with unknown powers can be dangerous work. Courses in arts and sciences experiment with supernatural forces to solve the mysteries of the universe, but when school projects go awry, the students may discover more than they would like to about the madness of the cosmic 'Beyond'. Eight interwoven stories follow students whose school work, social lives and inner demons crash together, leading to fantastic and horrible experiences, supernatural powers, and a fuller understanding of the dark depths of their world. Classes include subjects such as time travel, alchemy, oneironautics , psychedelic transformation, rogue automatons, cosmic ghosts, reality-warping crystals, and more. Inspired by many authors of science fiction, fantasy and horror, including H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, J.K. Rowling, Neil Gaiman, William Gibson, Kurt Vonnegut and Isaac Asimov. Buy on Amazon / Nook / Book Baby Wolfgang Edwards was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1987. He has been an aspiring writer since he was a child and intends to keep writing the rest of his life.
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EXCERPT
The
cascade of rain gushed from the sky, a cyclopean waterfall. Tornado-strength
wind shrieked, ripping at my clothes. Veins of white lightning cut closer through
the darkness, rumbling thunder overtaking the wind.
For
a long, mad moment I knew nothing but the din of the storm. I temporarily
parted ways with the corporeal world, glimpsing the void realm of pure,
unfettered confusion Beyond.
I
was possessed by a daemon I had known all my life.
No
spiritual entity or higher being, no religious visitation or ghostly apparition
– it was the dark, sable soul hidden in a secret pit, burrowed in my own heart. My morbid, passionate, macabre,
lascivious side. The nyctophiliac who made love to the shadows of the night
with gnawing teeth and tender hands. The creature that howled at the moon and
raised a drink to toast Death. The artist who found poetry in the hollow eyes
of a skull, whose very blood radiated creativity in the midst of a storm.
That
soul – subdued and smothered with schedules and chores, plans and rules – was free
atop that grotesque lightning rod.
Whether
there is any form of fate to this world none can say for certain – though the
results of my misadventures would prove there are indeed some things beyond
scientific reckoning. Yet luck, at least, played a part that night. My provocation
did not entice the daemon of the storm to descend upon me in my moment of
madness. Before the devil of lightning had the chance to find me and accept my
challenge, an unexpected change of heart swept over me from the most peculiar
source.
A
lull in the thunder and bellowing wind brought silence to the storm. The
splashing din of the rain faded so low that my ears picked up the faintest
notes of something terribly alien to that dark and vicious scene; Music floated up from beneath my
demented perch and with it, a wisp of sweet mastic. The haunting scent and
sweet melody struck me so intensely that I nearly lost my grip upon the
daemonic weathervane.
In
that instant the madness within me found some modicum of control, a marriage
between Order and Chaos, a colossal flood funneled into a manageable river of
roaring energy.
Rather
than wait for the storm to regain strength or for Death to find me – its once
eager sacrifice – I hastily slipped and crawled back down to the ladder from
whence I came, heading directly for the source of the quixotic music.
With
every rung the dark side of my heart built toward something like direction,
focus.
A
violin’s sweet, sorrowful notes glowed out from where the mysterious blue light
emanated in the belfry.
Reentering
the tower I took the door to the belfry and halted at a sight I shall never
forget; a vision to change my life forever.
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