Black Flame

Black Flame by Gretchen Felker-Martin, published by Tor Publishing Group on August 5, 2025, is a compelling exploration of obsession and the supernatural. This 208-page novel delves into the life of archivist Ellen Kramer, who becomes fixated on a cursed film, The Baroness, believed to have been destroyed decades ago. As she restores the film, Ellen confronts her repressed desires and begins to experience unsettling visions, leading her to believe that the film’s dark narrative is manifesting in her own life.
Readers will find a narrative that intertwines elements of horror and LGBTQ+ themes, as Ellen’s journey reveals the impact of her haunted past and the secrets she harbors. The story unfolds with a blend of psychological tension and supernatural intrigue, as Ellen grapples with the consequences of her obsession. Black Flame invites readers to explore the boundaries of reality and the depths of desire, culminating in a haunting question that lingers throughout the tale.
Official synopsis Publisher
An instant USA Today bestseller!
One woman’s deadly obsession with a haunted archival film precipitates her undoing in Black Flame, from the author of Manhunt, Gretchen Felker-Martin.
A cursed film. A haunted past. A deadly secret.
The Baroness, an infamous exploitation film long thought destroyed by Nazi fire, is discovered fifty years later. When lonely archivist Ellen Kramer—deeply closeted and pathologically repressed—begins restoring the hedonistic movie, it unspools dark desires from deep within her.
As Ellen is consumed by visions and voices, she becomes convinced the movie is real, and is happening to her—and that frame by frame, she is unleashing its occult horrors on the world. Her life quickly begins to spiral out of control.
Until it all fades to black, and all that remains is a voice asking a question Ellen can’t answer but can’t get out of her mind: Do you want it? More than anything?
Also by Gretchen Felker-Martin:
Manhunt
Cuckoo
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