Continuing my series highlighting the six tales in my new fantasy anthology, The Dark Forest Within, here’s a bit more about the third story, Window of the Soul.

Originally published for Medium and Substack subscribers in late 2023, Window of the Soul is inspired by the many dismaying news headlines about book banning in America. With libraries increasingly under pressure from nasty right-wing groups like Moms with Nothing Better to Do (I mean Moms for Liberty, sorry), this is a bit of a hot topic in the US at present. In the UK, we don’t have quite the same problems. However, there are unpleasant authoritarian mutterings from both the left and right at times, and we can’t afford to be complacent. It should come as no surprise to learn I’m anti-censorship to the marrow of my bones. I believe a good library should contain something to offend everyone.

With all that said, I didn’t write Window of the Soul as a political statement (heaven forbid). Rather, it is a coming-of-age story about spiritual awakening and having one’s mind and horizons expanded in the best possible way. At the same time, although this is a story about children, it isn’t a story for children (nor are any of the tales in this volume).

The story is set in a parallel world gripped by a civil war between East and West. In the East, a young adolescent girl, Inessa, finds herself at the mercy of a domineering, abusive, paranoid stepfather who wishes to cut out her eyes and replace them with “double-glazed” synthetic eyes. He believes this will protect her from the evil spirits that may enter her soul if she reads books containing propaganda from the West. Inessa’s mother continually argues against this, but will she prevail? In the meantime, Inessa receives a secret summons to the nearby woodland and discovers a mysterious hidden library.

Tonally, this drew inspiration from Guillermo Del Toro’s dark fantasy film Pan’s Labyrinth, along with elements of Alice in Wonderland, so that should give you an idea of what to expect. The latter segments of this story don’t skimp on violence, torture, and other horrors, but despite such grimness, there is a hint of hope at the end. On top of this, Window of the Soul is the final story in this volume to partly take place in extra-dimensional spiritual planes. As such, it ties together with the first two stories rather neatly.

The Dark Forest Within is out now in ebook or paperback via Amazon here (in the UK) and here (in the US). For Draft2Digital and its various outlets, you can pick up ebooks and paperback copies here.