Darkness Wakes

Aaron is a veterinarian in a small town. The town is like many others and Aaron finds it somewhat dull. But late one night while returning a video, he notices a sexy neighbor sneaking into a nondescript door in the same strip mall. She is with a man who is not her husband. Suddenly Aaron finds himself fantasizing. He has heard of secret sex clubs but never suspected one might exist in his sleepy town. He becomes captivated by the idea of the secret place and that his neighbor plays the field. But Aaron's discovery does not go unnoticed. A third party that knows about the club spies him. Soon Aaron is brought to the club by his neighbor and he learns what it is about. All manner of excess is indulged in. Sex, alcohol, and drugs flow like water withing the confines of the small club. But the club has another purpose. No matter how pleasurable the excesses, there is greater pleasure to be found in the back room. For in the back room waits a living darkness. A darkness than can grant unbelievable pleasure when it is appeased. Aaron's involvement with the club seems to be a catalyst and things begin to happen. Aaron's family and work become involved as the club members and the mysterious third party all begin moving forward to a dramatic conclusion. Just what waits in the back room and how everything works out is left to the reader. While not quite as raw in its imagery as PANDORA DRIVE this one delivers what it promises. Aaron's quick descent into darkness is believable and inevitable. The plot moves at a good clip with very little filler. The finale and epilogue are satisfying and should provide a chill or two. If you like your horror bold and shocking then this is one for you. Check it out.

Aaron Rattinger has hit the slump that many middle aged men find themselves facing. His work life is routine, his family life is unfulfilling, and his love life is intensely lacking. He has come to the realization that he's never persued anything in life with a true passion. He's never known complete fulfillment. Caroline is Aaron's fantasy... the gorgeous (married) woman who lives next door. Late one night in a parking lot, Aaron sees her leading a young man through an unmarked door that he had never noticed before. His mind is suddenly awash with possibilities, and his fantasies are fueled. What lies beyond the door? And what could he do to get himself inside? Caroline soon takes notice of Aaron in a way that seems too good to be true. But can he betray his wife and his family to indulge in his desires with Caroline? Surely just a taste can't hurt... Soon Caroline has introduced him to the world that lies beyond the unmarked door; the secret society known as Penumbra. A secret society where darkness is worshipped. A place where an unimaginable level of ecstasy can be experienced for a price. A room where the shadows come alive to please those who are willing to provide a sacrifice. Here Waggoner leads us through a graphic tale of pleasure-seeking and addiction. Intense (although perhaps too sexually explicit at times), Darkness Wakes is a very unique glimpse into the human mind, and the depths to which people will go for fulfillment. Dark, psychological, and well-paced, this novel should serve to terrify those who have wondered what lies beyond the forbidden door, and if the grass is truly greener on the other side...

Tim Waggoner is a talented writer; I have no doubts about that after reading Darkness Waits. His writing is smooth and engrossing, the scenery is well depicted and the action rolls in non stop motion down a jagged hill of unexpected revelations. The story gains velocity from the very first page when the reader is introduced to a small Ohio town of Ptolemy and a few of their quirkiest inhabitants. Waggoner is all out with risqué and explicit erotic encounters between the members of Penumbra, a kinky sexual place and their guests or should I say their victims. Something strange and very dark is going on behind the gray metal doors placed innocently in midst of a small shopping strip. The hero of the story is Aaron Rittinger, husband and father and practicing veterinarian. I found Aaron to be likable but at the same time full of issues. He loves his family more than anything but can't help himself and lust for his next door neighbor Caroline. When his wife falls short on her promises and goes to bed too tired to share herself with him night after night, Aaron's mind and soul start to wander and that is when he encounters Caroline and her interesting involvement with a club behind an innocent gray door... It doesn't take long for Aaron to start changing as sex and some mysterious addiction that bathes the city at night to take hold of his entire attention span. Bodies start to pile up as sacrifices of random victims are necessary to feed the mystery that slumbers in the club and Aaron finds himself deeply imbedded between lust and terror, both emotions virtually intertwined as this tale grabs the reader by the collar and doesn't let go until the last page is turned. I loved the ending; it was creepy and totally surprising, no cookie cutter resolution there! The book is also a very quick read and it never drags, the few times I read it while on my way to work I almost missed my buss stop. I wish some of the characters that were truly bizarre, interesting and really evil at the same time had more of a resolution because there were so many directions in which the story was spreading and I felt that the book could have been longer in order to tie a few loose ends. Overall this was a great read, not the best book I have held in my hands but still full of twist and turns and lots of inappropriate lustful passion. - Kasia S.

With his third stand-alone horror novel, Waggoner takes a remarkable, surprising new turn with his voice---and delivers what I personally think is his best yet.

Aaron is a middle aged man, who lives in the small Ohio town of Ptolemy, and he is restless and unfulfilled. He feels like life is passing him by and although he loves his wife Kristen her low sex drive has him fantasizing about his neighbor Caroline. One night he drops off some CDs at the shopping center when he sees Caroline with a man not her husband and they go through a door that he never noticed before using a key in her possession. The next day she comes to his vet practice where they participate in sexual foreplay before she invites him into Penumbra, the place she entered the night before. He accepts thinking it is a sex club which it is, but it is also much more. Towards the end of the evening, the members take him into a dark locked room and tell him not to enter the circle embedded in the concrete. They have a rabbit enter the circle and the Overshadow grows eating the essence of the sacrifice. As a reward, the Overshadow touches each member giving it pleasure so intense that they become addicted to it. Aaron is in for a surprise because the Overshadow has special gift for him. Tim Waggoner is a magnificent horror writer who will be appreciated by readers who like Douglass Glegg and Bentley Little. DARKNESS WAKES is worthy of a Bram Stoker nomination because this is one creepy and scary horror thriller. The erotic sex scenes are a necessary prelude to the real intense pleasure given by the Overshadow. As in his fantasy books, Mr. Waggoner doesn't neglect character development so readers understand what motivates each person in the story. Harriet Klausner