The Breath of Decay

By Philip Stengel

A Folk Horror Novel

On the wind-lashed cliffs of Orkney, the old tales still breathe-and something ancient has awakened.

When a mutilated body is found dragging itself to the village kirk, Eilidh-an orphaned young woman hardened by loss-begins to suspect that the horrors haunting her coastal home are more than superstition. Crops rot overnight. Livestock are slaughtered in patterns too deliberate for wolves. And the air carries a stench that hasn't touched the island in generations.

As a skinless, cursed monster stalks the moors-a creature whispered of only in fire-warmed stories and children's rhymes-Eilidh must uncover the truth behind a blood-bound curse tied to her village's darkest secrets. Guided by an outcast seer and flanked by men with swords and secrets of their own, she must choose whether to flee, fight, or confront the binding magic at the heart of the nightmare.

Set in a windswept land where folklore bleeds into reality, The Breath of Decay is a chilling descent into ancestral terror, with echoes of The Witch, The Wicker Man, and The Ritual. This is folk horror at its rawest-where ancient curses don't die, they wait.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0F7HJVC4C
• ISBN13: 9798282488968
• Release Date: May 2025
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 186 Pages
• Weight: 0.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.0" x 9.0"