Devoted Monsters Series by Manon Van Daal

What if Little Red Riding Hood wandered into the world of Blood Meridian? A dark fairytale. A primal obsession. A monster in the woods who is not what he seems. Cast out of her Puritan settlement for the sin of wearing a red shawl, Rosamund Harlow is forced into the winter wilderness of 1631 with nothing but a basket of bread, a threadbare cloak, and the knowledge that no god she has ever prayed to is coming to save her... moreWhat if Little Red Riding Hood wandered into the world of Blood Meridian? A dark fairytale. A primal obsession. A monster in the woods who is not what he seems. Cast out of her Puritan settlement for the sin of wearing a red shawl, Rosamund Harlow is forced into the winter wilderness of 1631 with nothing but a basket of bread, a threadbare cloak, and the knowledge that no god she has ever prayed to is coming to save her. She is sent north through the snow to seek refuge with her grandmother—a rumored healer, whispered witch, and the only woman who ever made Rosamund feel seen in a world built to discipline and silence girls like her. But when she reaches the cottage, it is abandoned. The hearth is cold. The door hangs open. And the forest is waiting. Set in the brutal snows of early-colonial Massachusetts, Little Red Blood Meridian blends American folklore, gothic fairytale, and erotic dark fantasy into a story that is feral, violent, and hauntingly intimate. As Rosamund searches the ancient woods for her missing kin, she begins to realize that the wilderness is not empty. It watches. It listens. It remembers. She encounters two beings who will alter the course of her. A wolf larger than any natural beast—silent, watchful, golden-eyed. And a man who rises naked from a frozen pond at dawn, his body scarred and powerful, his gaze carrying the same molten light. The forest is old. The laws are older. And something in the deep places has chosen her. Raised to believe the woods are a place of punishment—of wolves, witches, and winter—Rosamund soon learns that the settlers of New Canaan fear what they cannot name. Beneath the boughs of the primeval forest, she feels more alive than she ever has among godly men and narrow rooms. Until another danger finds her. A woodsman. Broad-shouldered. Pious. Familiar with the paths where bodies vanish. The kind of man whose faith becomes a weapon, and whose interest settles on Rosamund like a claim. When he sets his sights on her, the forest does not remain silent. Something ancient moves in the dark. Something territorial. Something that does not tolerate rivals. As Rosamund descends deeper into the wilderness—beyond scripture, beyond settlement, and into the realm of older magic—she becomes entangled in a fate woven long before she was vanished women, circles of mushrooms that appear overnight, a grandmother who may not wish to be found, and a monstrous guardian whose devotion feels as dangerous as it is inevitable. This is not a story about taming the beast. It is a story about what happens when the beast chooses you. Bleak, lyrical, and charged with sensual menace, Little Red Blood Meridian is an adult retelling of Little Red Riding Hood steeped in early American folk horror, erotic dread, and the seductive pull of the untamed. It explores the thin line between fear and longing, the violence of purity culture, and the ancient magic that awakens when a woman steps off the path she was told never to leave. This dark fairytale is perfect for readers who • adult fairy-tale retellings with teeth. • feral monster romance and folklore erotica. • atmospheric witchcraft and haunted forests. • morally ambiguous, possessive creatures. • 1600s New England folk horror. • violent, sensual litera. less

A Virgin Bride for the Krampus. A Melungeon girl condemned as a witch. A winter demon who claims what men tried to destroy. A sacrifice that becomes a coronation. Appalachia, 1724. Nineteen-year-old Abigail Thorne has survived a lifetime of being othered—dark hair, olive skin, ice-blue eyes, and the whispered accusation carried by her mother’s Melungeon. In Hollow Creek, difference is sin, and girls like Abigail are always one step away from punishment... moreA Virgin Bride for the Krampus. A Melungeon girl condemned as a witch. A winter demon who claims what men tried to destroy. A sacrifice that becomes a coronation. Appalachia, 1724. Nineteen-year-old Abigail Thorne has survived a lifetime of being othered—dark hair, olive skin, ice-blue eyes, and the whispered accusation carried by her mother’s Melungeon. In Hollow Creek, difference is sin, and girls like Abigail are always one step away from punishment. When the powerful son of a settler attacks her and blames her for it, the elders do what they’ve always done with inconvenient women. They offer her to the Krampus. Left alone in the frozen forest with bells tied to her wrists and judgment hanging in the air, Abigail expects to die screaming. Instead, the horned demon of winter finds her shaking, innocent—and unmistakably his. The Krampus knows old magic. Older justice. And the truth of what men call corruption. He carries her to his mountain lair. He warms her frozen body. He teaches her how to survive the dark. And when he claims her, it is not as a victim—but as a chosen bride. With every careful touch, every lesson in hunger and power, something ancient begins to wake in Abigail’s blood. Magic her grandmother once whispered about in secret. Magic strong enough to freeze rivers, call storms, and reshape a woman into something feared. Something worshipped. When Abigail returns to Hollow Creek, she is no longer meek. No longer human. No longer alone. She walks with winter at her heels and a monster at her side—and this time, judgment belongs to her. A Virgin Bride for the Krampus is a dark, sensual monster romance steeped in Appalachian folklore, old gods, and brutal justice. A high-heat novella about reclamation, devotion, and the women who refuse to die the way men demand. Perfect for readers who 🔥 virgin sacrifice → monster mate. 🔥 horned, possessive, protective Krampus. 🔥 dark Appalachian folklore & winter horror. 🔥 witch-queen transformations. 🔥 brutal justice & cathartic revenge. 🔥 high-heat monster romance. 🔥 old gods, ancient magic, and feral devotion. She was meant to be a sacrifice. Instead, she became a queen. less

The Salt Wife. On a desolate New England coast where storms take what they want and the ocean never returns the same thing twice, a lighthouse keeper pulls a woman from the sea—and brings something ancient home with him. She is naked. Bruised. Silent. And wrong. After a brutal winter shipwreck, Thomas Greeves, keeper of a lonely lighthouse, finds a woman washed ashore at dawn. He names her Catherine, after his dead wife, and tells himself she is a miracle. A second chance. A gift from the sea... moreThe Salt Wife. On a desolate New England coast where storms take what they want and the ocean never returns the same thing twice, a lighthouse keeper pulls a woman from the sea—and brings something ancient home with him. She is naked. Bruised. Silent. And wrong. After a brutal winter shipwreck, Thomas Greeves, keeper of a lonely lighthouse, finds a woman washed ashore at dawn. He names her Catherine, after his dead wife, and tells himself she is a miracle. A second chance. A gift from the sea. But Catherine does not eat. She does not sleep. She slips into the water at night like she is returning home. Gulls vanish. Dogs go missing. Bones wash up at low tide. And Catherine always comes back to him wet, cold, beautiful—and starving. Thomas knows she is not human. He knows he should run. But grief is a hunger of its own, and the ocean has already taken everything he loved. What harm could it do to take one more thing? As winter deepens and storms batter the coast, the wreckers grow suspicious. Pirates arrive with whispered stories of siren creatures that lure men to ruin. Something old and occult stirs beneath the waves. Catherine’s body begins to change—her teeth sharper, her appetite limitless, her devotion absolute. And Thomas realizes the truth too late. He is not her rescuer. He is her mate. When Catherine becomes pregnant with a child that is half-human and half-deep-sea monster, her hunger turns catastrophic. The thing growing inside her is ravenous—consuming her from within, demanding meat Thomas must provide. What begins as protection becomes complicity. What begins as devotion becomes slaughter. As rumors of a coastal demon spread and the militia closes in, Thomas faces an impossible let Catherine and their unborn child die—or become the monster the village already believes him to be. What is love when it devours? What is mercy when the sea asks for blood? And what remains of a man who gives everything to a creature who can never be satisfied? The Salt Wife is a visceral, atmospheric dark fantasy novel steeped in gothic folklore, maritime horror, body horror, and mythic obsession. A modern folktale about grief, hunger, inheritance, and the monstrous bargains we make in the name of love. Perfect for readers who ✔ gothic coastal and maritime horror. ✔ folklore and dark mythology. ✔ lighthouse and seaside dread. ✔ sirens, sea wives, and ocean monsters. ✔ occult and supernatural horror. ✔ slow-burn obsession and tragic devotion. ✔ body horror and monstrous transformation. ✔ stories like The Witch, The Fisherman, The Mermaid of Black Conch, The Only Good Indians, and The Terror. Haunting, brutal, and deeply human, The Salt Wife is a story that lingers long after the waves erase the evidence—whispered in shanties, carried in storms, and feared by anyone who ventures too close to the rocks. less

1855. The Black Hills. A forbidden land. A dark fairy tale rewritten in blood. Goldie was sold into marriage and dragged west by a righteous man who called obedience love and cruelty salvation. Six weeks on the trail taught her how women disappear quietly on the American frontier. When the wagon train strays onto sacred ground, the story changes. In the shadow of Bear Lodge live three brothers bound to each other and to the land itself. Trackers. Hunters... more1855. The Black Hills. A forbidden land. A dark fairy tale rewritten in blood. Goldie was sold into marriage and dragged west by a righteous man who called obedience love and cruelty salvation. Six weeks on the trail taught her how women disappear quietly on the American frontier. When the wagon train strays onto sacred ground, the story changes. In the shadow of Bear Lodge live three brothers bound to each other and to the land itself. Trackers. Hunters. Bear shifters shaped by old magic and older myths. To outsiders, they are men. To the mountains, they are guardians. To Goldie, they are danger, refuge—and something she was never meant to touch. This is Goldilocks and the Three Bears as it was never meant to be told. She does not wander in by accident. She is not rescued. And she does not belong to only one of them. When Goldie runs from her husband into the Black Hills, she expects the wilderness to kill her quickly. The land is hostile. The mountains are watched. The stories say monsters live here, waiting for foolish travelers who stray too far from the trail. The stories are true. Mato, Atho, and Thio live beyond law and scripture, guarding sacred ground that was never meant to be claimed. They should turn her away. They should not shelter her. They should not touch her. But Goldie is already changing. As violence from the civilized world follows her into the wilderness, old magic stirs—and survival demands more than escape. Goldie must decide whether she will remain prey or become something feared. Something powerful. Something feral. GOLDILOCKED is a dark historical reverse harem bear shifter romance where folklore is feral, devotion is dangerous, and transformation is the price of freedom. Three bears. One woman. And a choice that will remake them all. less

The forest was old before there were names for gods. And it remembers what is owed. When a logging camp pushes into forbidden old growth in the Pacific Northwest, the trees begin to bleed—and the women begin to listen. What starts as disappearance becomes devotion, as an ancient god awakens to reclaim what was taken without asking. Iris is a wife and mother, worn thin by work, grief, and the slow violence of survival. When the forest calls her by blood and hunger, she resists—at first... moreThe forest was old before there were names for gods. And it remembers what is owed. When a logging camp pushes into forbidden old growth in the Pacific Northwest, the trees begin to bleed—and the women begin to listen. What starts as disappearance becomes devotion, as an ancient god awakens to reclaim what was taken without asking. Iris is a wife and mother, worn thin by work, grief, and the slow violence of survival. When the forest calls her by blood and hunger, she resists—at first. But some bargains are older than marriage, older than motherhood, older than language itself. Offerings for the Old God is a dark folklore erotica about ritual, transformation, and the terrible freedom of belonging to something that will never let you go. This is not a romance. There is no rescue. The forest always remembers. Set at the edge of a dying logging town at the turn of the twentieth century, Offerings for the Old God unfolds like a found legend—one whispered to explain why certain forests are left alone. When men cut too deep, the land answers. The old god does not come as a lover or a savior. It does not bargain. It does not ask. It calls—and those who hear it feel the truth in their bodies long before they understand it with their minds. Desire becomes ritual. Sex becomes offering. Flesh becomes root and bark and leaf. As women vanish into the trees, their husbands search, grieve, and rage. But the forest does not return what it claims. It transforms it. For Iris, the call is slow and terrible and irresistible. She resists for her children. She resists for her humanity. But the god is patient. It knows time. It knows hunger. And it knows that devotion, once planted, will grow. There is no happily-ever-after here. There is only becoming. WHAT TO EXPECTDark folklore / folk horror erotica. An ancient nature god who claims completely. Transformation that is permanent and generational. A mythic, haunting tone rather than romantic comfort. DEVOTED MONSTERSOfferings for the Old God is a standalone novella in the Devoted Monsters collection—dark erotic folklore where non-human beings claim women utterly, and devotion replaces romance. Each title in this collection stands alone. All of them leave marks. less

The river has always been hungry. In a Spanish colonial settlement built where fresh water meets salt, a young woman refuses the future chosen for her: marriage, obedience, and quiet erasure. When the men who circle her begin to close in, she walks into the river—and comes back changed. The encantado lives there. Dolphin by day. Man by night. River spirit. Predator. Lover. He sees her clearly. Believes her without question. When she decides to stop running, he does not ask her to be gentle... moreThe river has always been hungry. In a Spanish colonial settlement built where fresh water meets salt, a young woman refuses the future chosen for her: marriage, obedience, and quiet erasure. When the men who circle her begin to close in, she walks into the river—and comes back changed. The encantado lives there. Dolphin by day. Man by night. River spirit. Predator. Lover. He sees her clearly. Believes her without question. When she decides to stop running, he does not ask her to be gentle. Together, they hunt. One by one, the men who believe women are prey follow her into the water. One by one, the river takes what it is owed. What grows between her and the encantado is not softness or salvation—but recognition, alignment, and an intimacy forged through shared judgment. Encantado is a dark folkloric love story about desire as power, love as loyalty, and the romance of finding someone who will never ask you to forgive what the world has done to you. Some love stories end in marriage. This one ends in water, teeth, and freedom. Rooted in South American river folklore and set against the violence of 17th-century colonial Florida, Encantado reimagines the myth of the boto as a story of female transformation and chosen partnership. This is a love story where:. the heroine does not soften or repent. the monster does not need redemption. desire carries consequences. and intimacy means standing together when the world becomes unbearable. As the settlement’s men disappear and the women left behind begin to breathe freely for the first time, the girl becomes something other than human—river-born, and unstoppable. The encantado remains at her side, not as savior or master, but as consort and witness. Their bond is exclusive. Devotional. Violent. Tender in its own feral way. Encantado is lyrical, erotic, and merciless, a dark folkloric love story for readers who understand that romance does not require forgiveness, only truth. Reader NotesDark folkloric love story. No redemption arc for predators. Central romantic bond with a non-human lover. If you believe love can be dangerous, loyal, and absolute—. the river is waiting. less

A witchfinder. A condemned widow. An examination that becomes an offering. When a Puritan settlement on the edge of the wilderness begins to rot from within—failed crops, missing girls, whispered sins—they send for a Witchfinder to root out the evil. Temperance White is chosen first. Young. Recently widowed. Unrepentantly beautiful. She is summoned to the meeting house for a ritualized inspection meant to expose witchcraft through the body itself. But the examination does not unfold as planned... moreA witchfinder. A condemned widow. An examination that becomes an offering. When a Puritan settlement on the edge of the wilderness begins to rot from within—failed crops, missing girls, whispered sins—they send for a Witchfinder to root out the evil. Temperance White is chosen first. Young. Recently widowed. Unrepentantly beautiful. She is summoned to the meeting house for a ritualized inspection meant to expose witchcraft through the body itself. But the examination does not unfold as planned. As flesh gives way to hunger, and authority curdles into desire, the line between examiner and accused collapses. What begins as religious scrutiny becomes a corrupt communion—one that awakens something ancient, patient, and starving beneath the veneer of godliness. By dawn, the Witchfinder will render his verdict. By dawn, something else will be born. The Witchfinder General’s Inspection is a dark erotic folktale of power, ritual, and transformation, blending historical horror, erotic domination, and folk-horror mythology. This is not a romance. There is no guaranteed happily-ever-after. Desire is a catalyst, not a reward. Readers who enjoy:dark erotica with power imbalance. religious authority kink. witchcraft and pagan folklore. will find this story intoxicating and unsettling in equal measure. Content includes:abuse of religious authority. ritualized sex. supernatural violence. cannibalistic folklore elements. This novella is part of the Devoted Monsters collection—stories where desire awakens something inhuman, and devotion is paid in blood. less