The first of Peter Fehervari’s short stories officially released under the Warhammer Horror label, Nightbleed lives up to expectations as both a creepy, low-key horror story in its own right and an intriguing addition to The Dark Coil. In Carceri Hive, on the night-shrouded world of Sarastus, two souls find themselves bound together. Reduced to applying her skills for a dubious synth-protein supplier, ex-medicae Chel forces herself not to question where the raw materials come from, but suffers dark dreams nonetheless. In shadowed alleys, street prophet Skreech plans his next offering to the Night Below. As True Night approaches, the two spiral ever closer to a fateful meeting.
This is a great example of what the Warhammer Horror range can do so well, which is tell a ground-level story illustrating just how bleak 40k can be, but one that works on its own without needing any prior knowledge of the setting. Fehervari emphasis the horror in everyday life – the hab corridor where the lights are always out; the sterile lab contrasted with the sample of oozing black liquid that just can’t be natural; the old myths of nightmares in the dark – and weaves a story in which dreams and reality are sometimes hard to tell apart. Fehervari fans might feel they know what to expect, but this is dark and disturbing even for a story of the Dark Coil. Nevertheless, while there are chills aplenty for those reading this as a standalone, there are subtle links which hint at connections to other Dark Coil stories, and it simply cries out for further exploration of Sarastus in particular.
See also: interviews with Peter Fehervari and reviews of his other Dark Coil stories
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