Cider - Shop now
$0.99 with 93 percent savings
Print List Price: $13.99

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

Audiobook Price: $17.46

Save: $9.97 (57%)

You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the authors

Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Eidolon Avenue: The First Feast (A Series of Disturbing Horror Books Book 1) Kindle Edition

4.2 out of 5 stars 27 ratings

Eidolon Avenue: Where the secretly guilty go to die.

One building. Five floors. Five doors per floor. Twenty-five nightmares feeding the hunger lurking between the bricks and waiting beneath the boards.

The First Feast. A retired Chinese assassin in apartment 1A fleeing from a lifetime of bloodshed. A tattooed man in 1B haunted by his most dangerous regret. A frat boy serial killer in 1C facing his past and an elderly married couple stumbling and wounded from fifty years of failed murder/suicide pacts in 1D. And, finally, a young girl in 1E whose quiet thoughts unleash unspeakable horror.

All thrown into their own private hell as every cruel choice, every deadly mistake, every drop of spilled blood is remembered, resurrected and relived to feed the
ancient evil that lives on Eidolon Avenue.

Interview with the author:

Q: So what makes Eidolon Avenue so special?

Jonathan: A collection of five shorts taking place in five apartments on the same floor of the same building. So, as a reader, there's the necessary luxury of being locked onto one space, which gives you an anchor, so to speak, but, as the writer, I’m allowed the freedom to create five different nightmares. And even though they happen next door to each other—an idea I love—they need not be like each other, you know? As a reader, you finish the story for the first apartment, turn the page to the second apartment and, kept safe by the anchor of the building, find yourself thrown into a whole new, unexpected, surprising world.

Q: Tell us more about your lead characters.

Jonathan: There really is just one lead character whose shadow darkens everything: the building.

And who is the building? The building is relentless. And greedy. It calls to it the wounded, the lost, the guilty, the depraved. It embraces the desperate and the abandoned, offering them for a brief moment the dishonest safety of “home” and then digs deep. Burrows in. Knocks down the barriers to feast on the shameful memories tucked in those forgotten corners of the mind. Gnaws on the tender spots waiting beneath the muscle, the sinew, the bone. Feeds on their secrets, their guilt, their failings and mistakes. Rips from them the most sensitive of their psychological underpinnings and uses them to weaken the body, cloud the mind and destroy the soul. With each story, book by book, the building, even if unseen and silent, is the lead character driving the narrative.

Q: Why should readers give this
shared-world collection a try?

Jonathan: Essentially it’s five books in one. Each story has its own distinctive voice driven by its own unique, multi-faceted character. And every character is completely different than the character before as well as the one that follows. They all linger in different ways long after you’ve reached the end of their story. Furthermore, one of the strengths of Eidolon Avenue is the push-pull of each character’s struggle. Yes, they’ve made mistakes, destroyed lives, insisted on following through with atrocious decisions and they’re most definitely paying for all of that now.

But you also see the doubt, the regret, the knowledge of what they’ve done wrong and what could have been done differently. The need to apologize and the desire to be forgiven and to forgive themselves. So there’s a journey, an emotional journey, with each story. Wrapped in all the darkness and horrifying retribution is human emotion and a very real human awareness of what’s happening and why.

Proudly brought to you by
Crystal Lake Publishing - Tales from the Darkest Depths

Unwell Hydration from Alex Cooper
Hydrate & focus with every sip Shop now

Shop this series

 See full series
There are 2 books in this series.
This option includes 2 books.

From the Publisher

Crystal Lake Publishing Logo

Where Stories Come Alive

Since its founding in August 2012, Crystal Lake has quickly become one of the world’s leading publishers of Dark Fiction and Horror books. In 2023, Crystal Lake officially transitioned into an entertainment company, joining several other divisions, genres, and imprints, including Torrid Waters, Crystal Lake Comics, Crystal Lake Games, Crystal Lake Kids, and many more.

White Death
Demon Drink
Monsters of Mt. Hope
What Swallows the Light: Alien Horror Novellas (Dark Tide Horror Novellas Boo...
The Amazing Alligator Girl
Soundtrack to the End of the World
Customer Reviews
4.1 out of 5 stars 47
4.4 out of 5 stars 3
4.6 out of 5 stars 38
4.6 out of 5 stars 24
4.8 out of 5 stars 32
Price $3.99 $4.99 $3.99 $4.99 $3.99 $4.99
Category Novel Novel Novella Novella Anthology Novella Novel
Blurb White Death plunges readers into the chilling and treacherous world of the Great Plains in 1888, where a deceptively warm winter day quickly turns into a fight for survival. Black Wattle’s residents are plunged into a nightmare of infection and blood-curdling transformations. Perfect for fans of middle-grade horror, spooky adventures, and spine-chilling mysteries, Scareville is an unmissable series that will keep young readers on the edge of their seats. Three stories. One terrifying truth: we are not alone! In this supernatural creature feature, the fight against nature’s deadliest predators becomes a fight against something far darker lurking in the depths. A suicidal nudist strolls into traffic. An eccentric Buddhist claims he can occupy other people's bodies. All the while, whispers of a new form of entertainment blow through town.

Editorial Reviews

Review

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ "I look forward to more stories by Winn - a writer with a truly scary imagination! There is no escape for anyone here."—Audio Book Reviewer.com

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ "
a great read...powerful and jarring"—Cemetery Dance

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ "
Lyrical, poetic, and devastating, Jonathan Winn's Eidolon Avenue is everything good horror should be. At times, I couldn't help feeling as if I was reading early Barker, and I can't think of a higher compliment than that. Pay attention folks, Winn does as his name suggests, and this is a killer collection of nightmares."—Kealan Patrick Burke, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Turtle Boy, Kin, and Sour Candy

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ "
Jonathan Winn's writing is solid and assured, and EIDOLON AVENUE: THE FIRST FEAST is a big, sweeping, fantastical and exotic work that is as engrossing and thrilling as it is disturbing and horrifying. Winn is definitely an author to watch."—Greg F. Gifune, author THE BLEEDING SEASON

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ "Eidolon Avenue: The First Feast
is my first reading experience with author Jonathan Winn, but it won't be my last. The structure of his five novellas is similar to the structure of Thomas Disch's 334, a collection of stories of the inhabitants of an apartment building in a future NYC, 334. Like Disch, the strength of Winn's writing is the excellent characterization - the unusual inhabitants of those five apartments are the stories. Put a magnet on a note with Jonathan Winn's name underlined on the fridge, then watch for his byline. Recommended."—Gene O'Neill, THE CAL WILD CHRONICLES, THE HITCHHIKING EFFECT, AT THE LAZY K

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ "
Jonathan Winn draws his narrative around you like a velvet noose. In a heartbeat, the warm embrace of his lyrical prose gives way to deadly tension, and you're left gasping for breath."—Doug Murano, co-editor of the Shadows Over Main Street series and Gutted: Beautiful Horror Stories.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★
"Jonathan Winn's Eidolon Avenue is a suffocating walk with a black hood above your face, you can only smell the fear trapped in rotten flesh, listen to the blood's poetry and trample pulsating shreds of humanity. Even if you're in the darkness, the pages of this book will become your new eyes. Highly Recommended."Alessandro Manzetti, Bram Stoker Award Nominee, Author of Eden Underground.

About the Author

In addition to Eidolon Avenue: The First Feast, Jonathan Winn is a screenwriter and author of Martuk ...the Holy (A Highlight of the Year, 2012 Papyrus Independent Fiction Awards), Martuk ... the Holy: Proseuche (Top Twenty Horror Novels of 2014, Preditors & Editors Readers Poll), the upcoming Eidolon Avenue: The Second Feast and Martuk ... the Holy: Shayateen and The Martuk Series (The Wounded King, The Elder, Red and Gold, The Tall Priest), an ongoing collection of short fiction inspired by Martuk...

His work can also be found in
Horror 201: The Silver Scream, Writers on Writing, Vol. 2, and Crystal Lake's Tales from the Lake, Vol. 2, with his award-winning short story Forever Dark.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01A9DPU48
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Crystal Lake Publishing (January 15, 2016)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 15, 2016
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 5.0 MB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 245 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 out of 5 stars 27 ratings

About the authors

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
27 global ratings

Review this product

Share your thoughts with other customers

Customers say

Customers find the book worth their attention and appreciate its stylistic darkness and seductively beautiful elements. The story length receives positive feedback, with one customer noting how it spans a lifetime.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

6 customers mention "Value for money"6 positive0 negative

Customers find the book worth their attention and fantastic, with one customer noting how it lures readers from door to door, while another describes it as rich and riveting.

"...It is dense, rich and delectable, hypnotic almost. Then the toxin hits. Not enough to cause death, oh no...." Read more

"Jonathan Winn has penned a fantastic book full of sharp, stylistic darkness...." Read more

"...Each is complicit in his or her own destruction. He lures the reader from door to door, spinning webs of wildly macabre nature with consummate skill..." Read more

"...evidence that Crystal Lake Publishing is a small press that's worth your attention. My favorites of the bunch were Lucky, Click, and Umbra...." Read more

4 customers mention "Horror content"4 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the horror content of the book, describing it as stylistically dark and seductively beautiful, with one customer noting its deceptively poetic spell of terror.

"...Not only graphic and lurid, but beautiful, jarring and unnerving as well. Weighing heavy on the mind and spirit...." Read more

"Jonathan Winn has penned a fantastic book full of sharp, stylistic darkness...." Read more

"...His style is fresh, brimming with intense sensual imagery, both seductively beautiful and frighteningly hypnotic...." Read more

"A horror like no other. Cringed the entire time I was reading it. The way Winn paints a scene is amazingly graphic and riveting...." Read more

3 customers mention "Story length"3 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the story length of the book, with one mentioning it spans a lifetime, while another describes it as an enjoyable mind-screw narrative.

"...The building itself is alive, drawing out these tales, these wretched human beings, and we are present to witness the feast...." Read more

"...Bullet was also an enjoyable mind-screw of a story. Anniversary, for whatever reason, didn't do it for me...." Read more

"...Apartment 1A- Lucky. This story spanned a lifetime. And what a lifetime it was for Lucky of the Orient. Full of mystery and death...." Read more

A brutal and bizarre fever dream of fun
4 out of 5 stars
A brutal and bizarre fever dream of fun
Wow, definitely went into this without any idea of what I was getting into, and it’s an absolutely insane trip (but like, in a good way). I really enjoyed this collection of stories! The first was a 5⭐️, one in the middle was a 3⭐️, and the others were all 4⭐️. Not bad at all for a short story collection 🙌🏻 I love the concept of each story being set in the same otherworldly building. Though Ediolon Avenue works it’s demented machinations a little differently in each tale, these are all stories of people having to deal with the ghosts of their past in various bizarre and vicious ways. I loved the grotesque imagery (lots of Clive Barker and Silent Hill vibes) and the writing is excellent! In fact the writing is so vivid it made some of the scenes hard to read because they were almost too much (I’ve also never seen so much vomit in a collection of stories haha). Overall Eidolon Avenue is a fantastically brutal, weird, and mournful collection of dark mortality tales. I don’t think the term “fever dream” has ever been captured so well in literary form. It’s a phantasmagorical blend of human monsters and the ghosts that haunt them, and I certainly hope there will be future feasts to enjoy!
Thank you for your feedback
Sorry, there was an error
Sorry we couldn't load the review

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2016
    This is exactly what I have been waiting for, new Jonathan Winn fiction. It is a cause for celebration. It is also a reason to cower behind a heavy piece of furniture, or under a thick warm blanket. Anywhere that will provide you with a sense of security. Spoiler alert, that feeling of safety, will be ripped away soon. Don't worry honey, it's only fiction, right? ...Right?

    Jonathan Winn's prose is venom laced confectioners frosting. It is dense, rich and delectable, hypnotic almost. Then the toxin hits. Not enough to cause death, oh no. Mr. Winn wants you incapacitated, but totally lucid while he taunts you with his horror show vignettes.

    These five shared-world stories are Freudian fever dreams, populated with four dimensional characters living varied nightmares. A painted canvas so vivid it's haunting.

    I sincerely hope that this book finds its audience. It deserves to be seen, read, experienced. It's tales handed down generation to generation as a warning. I have a desperate need to know what resides on the second floor, up that flight of discolored stairs and beyond. I, for one, hope the stories get darker, even more wicked, as you ascend the building on Eidolon Avenue. What does that say about me?

    This is what horror should be, at least, it's the what I like my horror to be. Not only graphic and lurid, but beautiful, jarring and unnerving as well. Weighing heavy on the mind and spirit. Violently abducting you from your safe place, shattering your comfort zone with a wrench to the skull. Applying a constant pressure on the (constantly constricting) boundaries of what is deemed socially acceptable.

    This is my horror. And like a pastor in the church of horror, this is the book that I'll be preaching to my congregation.

    P.S. Don't take the warning label lightly. Eidolon Avenue means business.

    Note: I received a review copy of this book from the author on the promise of an honest review. Then I purchased a copy because one must support the art that moves them. Otherwise that art goes away. Nonetheless, these are my unbiased feelings
    One person found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2016
    Jonathan Winn has penned a fantastic book full of sharp, stylistic darkness. EIDOLON AVENUE manages to be both literary and transgressive, drawing the reader ever deeper into the abyss. A cornucopia of horrors abound within, some subtle and many overt, but all are displayed in a manner befitting the tales.

    EIDOLON AVENUE is told in five stories, each taking place in a different squalid apartment in the tenement building. The building itself is alive, drawing out these tales, these wretched human beings, and we are present to witness the feast. In “Lucky,” an aging assassin who gained her abilities through mystic means looks over her life of death and tries to sees the purpose. In “Bullet,” a man’s new tattoo threatens to reveal secrets he long thought he had buried. In “Click,” a pampered college student’s madness fuels a murderous rampage. In “Anniversary,” an elderly couple waits for death after years of misery. Finally in “Umbra,” a young girl with special powers discovers the truth about apartment building on Eidolon Avenue.

    Each of the stories presented in the book is written uniquely, in its own voice, yet they flow thematically together. The building itself is the central character, a Lovecraftian Old God made manifest in brick, wood, and glass. Its oppression is complete, inescapable, the suffering to be had at its whim beyond nightmares. Winn’s prose rings authentic even in the most brutal of scenes, of which there are many. His voice will easily one to watch in the horror field.
  • Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2016
    Horror is not my first choice of genres, but Jonanthan Winn is part of a very small group of writers I have discovered, to my good fortune, who can weave a deceptively poetic spell of terror. His style is fresh, brimming with intense sensual imagery, both seductively beautiful and frighteningly hypnotic. There are five stories in this book, the first more of a novella, and it's taken me a while to work my courage up to continue from one tale to the next. Readers more immersed in horror stories may be able to devour it quickly. However, I found myself needing time to fully digest the bleak terrors of one before turning to another fresh insanity.
    The stories take place, for the most part, entirely within five separate apartments of an outwardly normal building planted on Eidolon Avenue. The inhabitants, each entangled in his or her own tale of unspeakable sadness, range from a Chinese woman who may be much older than she appears, to a suicidal man bleary with alcohol having a literal last fling, to a lonely adolescent who finds in the very walls her long,-awaited companion.
    Life, death, love, hate, perversion, unquenchable hunger, loneliness....Winn' s characters are all suffering but never pathetic. Each is complicit in his or her own destruction. He lures the reader from door to door, spinning webs of wildly macabre nature with consummate skill, patiently beckoning one to the center wherein one's deepest dread is realized, with what could almost be satisfaction.
    For the reader's hunger is slowly but inexorably aroused.....each apartment' s resident evil stimulating one's appetite for more, more, until one discovers her heart is as stained as the walls of the building.
    The author is presently crafting the second floor stories, and I am going to devour them as soon as I am able. What amazes me most, I think, is the contrast between his hellish stories and the fact that he is a baker and cook, a gentle soul. But all of the first floor stories involve consumption, appetites that need quenching.....so perhaps I should not find this so amazing. It fits, after all.
    One person found this helpful
    Report

Top reviews from other countries

  • Chris Musgrave
    5.0 out of 5 stars First Class Read
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 14, 2016
    I wasn't sure quite what to make of this book at first, but it became clear early on that I wouldn't be disappointed. Jonathan has created worlds within worlds in this collection of novellas. Each tied to the first floor apartments within the eponymous Eidolon Avenue. It's not for the faint of heart nor the easily offended (there's a mature content warning on there for a reason people), but if you can get past that, you're in for one hell of a ride. One can only imagine what Jonathan has planned as we rise up the staircase to level two.

Report an issue


Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?