Originally from South Amboy NJ, Matthew has been creating science fiction and fantasy worlds for most of his reasoning life. Since 1996, he has developed the "Divergent Fates" world, in which Division Zero, Virtual Immortality, The Awakened Series, and the Daughter of Mars series take place.

More recently, he has forayed into young-adult and middle grade novels.

Matthew is an avid gamer, a recovered WoW addict, Gamemaster for two custom systems (Chronicles of Eldrinaath [Fantasy] and Divergent Fates [Sci Fi], and a fan of anime, British humour, and intellectual science fiction that questions the nature of reality, life, and what happens after it.

He is also fond of cats.

Nine Candles of Deepest Black by Matthew S. Cox

She saw it coming. She knew it would happen―but no one believed her.

Almost a year after tragedy shattered her family, sixteen-year-old Paige Thomas can't break free from her guilt. Her mother ignores her, doting on her annoying little sister, while her father is a barely-functioning shell. He hopes a move to the quiet little town of Shadesboro PA will help them heal, but Paige doesn't believe in happiness anymore.

On her first day at school, a chance encounter with a bullied eighth grader reawakens a gift Paige had forgotten, and ingratiates her into a pack of local outcasts. For weeks, they've been trying to cast a ritual to fulfill their innermost desires, but all they've done is waste time. After witnessing Paige touch the Ouija board and trigger a paranormal event, the girls are convinced another try with their new fifth member will finally work.

Once the darkness is unleashed, it's not long before they learn it will give them exactly what they asked for―whether they want it or not.

CURATOR'S NOTE

Matthew is a stable mate of mine at Curiosity Quills Press. I love the cover of his book to the point of jealousy and was thrilled to have it included in the bundle. Nine Candles is a gripping, scary read that comes highly recommended. – Simon Kewin

 

REVIEWS

  • "Nine Candles of Deepest Black is a fantastic read filled with thrills, chills, and the moral that children shouldn't play with dead things... or books filled with dark magic they don't understand. I highly recommend it!"

    – Book Reviews By Jasmine

  • "Trust me, Nine Candles of Deepest Black is just as creepy and chilling as the cover and title suggest. It's as if the author had a list of everything I desired to read in a horror story plus a few things I didn't even know I wanted."

    – Never 2 Many 2 Read

  • "! I honestly found it hard to put down and that is rare for me with a book. It was like 'kids, cook your own dinner!' level of could not put down. I'm a good mum, they reheated left overs."

    – Janis Journal Reviews
 

BOOK PREVIEW

Excerpt

Sorrow weighed down the lifeless morning sky and pressed heavy in the pit of Paige's stomach. Five dark toenails tipped a porcelain foot at the end of leggings the same shade of black as the polish. She scrunched her fingers into her second grey sock, not quite able to advance putting it on from concept to action. Cloud shadows crept across the wall in front of her, over posters of two bands she'd forgotten why she ever liked. Melissa's distant laughter at another one of Mom's lame jokes brought on a wave of blah that made Paige flop back on her bed. She didn't want to move. She didn't want to go to a new school. She didn't even want to leave her bedroom.

"You're gonna be late for school," said Amber.

Paige let gravity pull her head to the left and stared up through a tangle of jet hair at the sideways figure of her older sister and her Penn State sweatshirt. "So?"

"So… You're sixteen. You have to go to school." Amber walked around the corner of the bed, her jeans swooshing. "Come on. Don't do this to yourself."