Eldritch

Eldritch is the second book in The Eating Woods, Keri Lake's gothic dark fantasy romance trilogy, following the bestselling Anathema and preceding the concluding volume, Vasmora. It was published in September 2025 and runs to roughly 770 pages.

An ancient, malevolent eldritch magic has woken in the mortal world, turning it darker, colder and hungrier: flesh-eating monsters roam the land and a curse spreads through it like a plague, with the last of Foxglove Parish's humanity long since burned away. For Maevyth Bronwick — the shunned mortal woman of the first book — and Zevander Rydainn, the cursed assassin from the magical realm of Aethyria, the only route out is through the forest the villagers call The Eating Woods, because what it takes is never given back.

Fate complicates the crossing. Truths about Maevyth's past begin to unravel, and the prospect of never leaving the mortal lands at all becomes real. Zevander's time is running short: without vivicantem he slides toward an encroaching madness, and something sinister stalks him through the darkest corners of his own mind. The question the book turns on is whether Maevyth can save him a second time.

Despite the title, this is not cosmic or Lovecraftian horror — "eldritch" names the book's own magic system. It is a plot-heavy, atmospheric gothic fantasy built on an intricate magic system, a slow-burn romance between Maevyth and Zevander, and a genuine streak of body horror, written for adult readers of dark romantasy.