Hekla's Children

A decade ago, teacher Nathan Brookes saw four of his students walk up a hill and vanish. Only one returned, Olivia, starved, terrified, and with no memory of where she’d been. Questioned by the police but released for lack of evidence, Nathan spent the years trying to forget.

When a body is found in the same ancient woodland where they disappeared, it is first believed to be one of the missing children, but is soon identified as a Bronze Age warrior, nothing more than an archaeological curiosity. Yet Nathan starts to have horrific visions of the students, alive but trapped. Then Olivia reappears, desperate that the warrior’s body be returned to the earth. For he is the only thing keeping a terrible evil at bay…


Genre: Horror

"James Brogden has a penchant for the darker side of ancient myth and his knowledge of folklore woven into the fabric of Hekla's Children makes for a riveting read." - Jan Edwards

"Hekla’s Children is at once a very modern dark fantasy, which also harks back to the classics of the genre." - Paul Kane

"Hekla's Children is a brilliant novel full of great twists, beautifully drawn characters, exceptional writing, and some really startling ideas. It will leave you questioning the truths of myth and history, and that fine knife-edge between personal perception and reality." - Tim Lebbon

"Hekla's Children marks the emergence on to a vibrant horror scene of an exciting new talent. James Brogden offers us a compulsive and unpredictable page-turner in which the ancient and modern world clash with devastating effect." - Mark Morris

"Brogdan's words have a way of getting under your skin. From the brilliantly creepy first line to the haunting last Hekla's Children had me in its thrall." - Steven Savile

"I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's deliciously dark and twisty and filled with toothy menace. A real pleasure to read." - Ren Warom