Hellmouth
Bohemia, 1370. Galien leads a band of hardened mercenaries on a mission for Mother Church into the dark forests of Central Europe — where a horror far worse than any battlefield waits. Rumours swirl of a cult, of monsters in the hills, and of a gateway to Hell said to lie beneath a remote castle built not to keep enemies out, but to keep something in.
When a run of ill fortune forces Galien's marauders down into the pit, they find themselves trapped in a supernatural nightmare that turns their own lifetimes of sin and violence against them. Inspired by the legend of Bohemia's Houska Castle, Hellmouth is a short, visceral descent into medieval dread from acclaimed historical novelist Giles Kristian.
At novella length it trades sweeping saga for claustrophobic terror — a bleak, unforgettable vision of hell and the men who earn their way to it.
A disgraced knight leading a band of mercenaries on a Church errand into a supernatural trap.
This novella is a standalone work and does not require prior knowledge of the author's other historical series to follow the plot.
The story is loosely based on the local legends surrounding Houska Castle in the Czech Republic, which is famously rumored to have been built over a gateway to hell.
Local folklore suggests the castle was built over a bottomless pit, which is considered a gateway to Hell, specifically to trap whatever was inside rather than to keep invaders out.
The audiobook, narrated by Philip Stevens, is noted for its ambient dread and the specific accent work used to give each mercenary in the band a distinct identity.