Lycopolis

One Hallowe’en, a group of online roleplayers summon a demon, The Prince of Nightmares. Seth, who’s in charge of the game, says it’s "just for fun". But disturbing things start to happen in real life: red marks appear on the foreheads of the gamers, and they’re all having nightmares about a dark forest. Secrets come out, friendships are broken, and the boundaries between the real, the virtual and the imaginary become increasingly fractured as the Prince becomes more powerful. Kay, a student at Oxford, is the only person who realises what Seth is doing – and it’s up to her to stop him. ****EXCERPT**** In bed, Seth fixed his eyes on the ceiling, staring up through the dark. Sleep tugged at him, eddies dragging his thoughts around and around, fracturing them into a sinking swirl. Lines of computer code. Long sleepless nights. A list of names, waiting for payback. And before all that, a child, lost in a forest ...