Rumor says you can find anything at Aloka-pasar, the Shadow Market. But what might find you?

When Fatinah’s husband is bitten by a venomous snake, she learns he has only seven days to live. A remedy may be waiting at the Shadow Market—if she can reach it in time.

But in a place where forbidden magic carries a terrible price, how far will Fatinah go to save the man she loves?

Unlike my earlier Tales of Tessagonia, Venom and Shadow isn’t a direct retelling of a particular fairy tale. Instead, it is a prequel to Mirror, drawing upon darker fairy-tale elements such as goblin markets, dangerous bargains, and forbidden rituals.

This was also my first tale set almost entirely beyond mainland Tessagonia—and my first not centered upon nobility or royalty. The Outer Isles belong to the Old Gods rather than the Sky Gods and their muse daughters. Here, the stories are darker, happy endings aren’t guaranteed, and you won’t find the muses stepping in to help.

I wanted the Tales from the Outer Isles to carry a dash of Lovecraftian horror. This was my first attempt at writing darker fiction, and while I’m certainly no horror writer, I hoped to create at least a few chills.

The Shadow Market itself was partly inspired by the Oddities and Curiosities Expo. Its name, Aloka-pasar, combines aloka, Malagasy for “shadow,” with pasar, Indonesian for “market.” It is quite literally a shadow market—and a very strange place indeed.

A story that is at once completely unique and comfortingly familiar.

— Elizabeth Wilcox

A darker, more urgent tone to this chapter, and I really liked the main character.

— Erin Robinson