In the Shadow of the Skull

She survived. Her world didn't.

Fuala lives on a remote island filled with dangers: famine, natural disasters--and bloodthirsty monsters called duyvils that are separated from her village by a massive wall and kept in check by the powerful but unseen Island King. Her people have survived these threats by forming a close-knit society that values peace and service to one another, but Fuala's adventurous spirit and youthful rebelliousness occasionally threatens the delicate harmony of the village. In particular, she clashes with her uncle Asaya, the island shaman who is responsible for her upbringing, and with the proper Na'aisa, who is both a friend and rival. Only Fuala's devoted younger sister, Isii, whom she once rescued from a duyvil, sees the greatness in her.

Then, disaster strikes and the village elders offer Fuala as a bride to placate the Island King. Being selected is presented as an honor, but Fuala knows it is secretly a death sentence.

Salvation arrives unexpectedly when pale strangers from afar interrupt the ceremony.

They're not conquistadors, or slave traders, or colonizers. They're movie makers. And they've come to find the Island King, a fabled being known as Ka'ang. . .

When the outsiders provoke Ka'ang to violence, causing the destruction of the protective wall, the village, and her very way of life, Fuala vows to protect Isii from the monsters now free to roam the island and from the desperate survivors.

Inspired by the work of Edgar Wallace and Delos W. Lovelace, In the Shadow of the Skull delivers a thrilling new interpretation of the story of King Kong from the point of view of the native islanders.

Amanda Desiree has had a lifelong fascination for real ghost stories and once aspired to be a parapsychologist but settled instead for studying psychology in college. She loves classic horror movies and the television shows "The Twilight Zone" and "Dark Shadows," and often draws inspiration from these sources.

Her published works include the novel Smithy (Inkshares, 2021) and the short story "The Evening Star" collected in CEA Greatest Anthology Written (Celenic Earth Publications, 2017).

Amanda is child-free and currently lives in the Los Angeles area.