The Shadow of Hades

In the newest paranormal fantasy novel by Paul C. Williams, The Shadow of Hades (October 20, 2020), souls are dragged from the afterlife and placed into the form of a young boy. A community must battle the dark powers in the surrounding magical forest where death itself is torn apart, and the fabric of the universe comes undone. Within The Shadow of Hades, four stories will combine to answer the question: “How far will we go to vanquish our personal demons?” 

EXCERPT: The black pumpkin-eyed dog released a savage bark, and encircled the boy, like a vulture around a carcass. Green vapor clung to the dog’s paws, and trailed after him, trapping the child in a ring of mist. He panicked, heart-pounding thick in his rib cage, quaking the surface of his chest. His breathing fell rapidly as the fog crept inward and crawled over his skin. The dog kept moving, and the world spun. Then, in only a matter of seconds, the fog leaped onto the boy. He screamed as it covered his vision. He was so fearful he almost didn’t notice his body melting away, revealing layers of different souls beneath, no longer one person.

Brave readers will escape to Puckford, a magical town where witchcraft and evil create chaos, and meet vividly flawed characters whose toxic grief yields to selflessness and confidence. In this hauntingly layered novel, fear and tragedy rage, both in the form of icy-molten death and also in the savage realities of coming-of-age. 

In his third book, The Shadow of Hades, Williams reveals themes of grief, often what we commonly associate with death. The world seemed uniquely grim at the time Williams wrote The Shadow of Hades, and that darkness is nuanced in the characters, however, he still provides a glimmer of eager anticipation and hope to the readers for a world that desperately needs it.

About the Author:

A Southern-born, LGBTQ, Black-Hispanic teen with an eclectic taste in music, Paul C. Williams struggled with his identity as grief from his past manifested itself into mental illness. However, with support from his siblings, he gained a new confidence to express his inner emotions through art and writing, and he found a powerful voice. At age seventeen, during his senior year of high school, he published his first book. In 2018, along with his friend, Icesis Street, Paul won the Technology Student Association (TSA) 1st place State award for Children's storybooks. He is now working endlessly to carve a place for himself among the creative professionals and pave the way for other talented ‘students’ of art and literature. His newest book, The Shadow of Hades, combines four stories to answer the question: How far will we go to vanquish our personal demons?”