It was very concerning to many people when Secretary Rubio spoke about why we went to war with Iran, as were the words of a former prime minister of Israel about what he wants to see. People took his explanation to mean we went to war because Israel dragged us into it. We also have […] The post Sec. Rubio Clarifies & an Ex-Israeli PM Calls for Attacking Turkey appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

These stunning photos show the moment a huge murmuration of starlings flew in unison across March’s full moon. Remarkable pictures show a flock of thousands of starlings as they swooped across the skyline as the Moon reached its peak. March’s full moon is known today as a Worm Moon, as it signals spring’s arrival when […] The post Thousands of Starlings Rise in Murmuration Under Brilliant ‘Worm’ Moon appeared first on Good News Network.

Books publishing news Erewhon Books Announces Twelve Dark Decembers by Alyssa Wees A dark historical fantasy arriving Fall 2027 By Reactor | Published on March 4, 2026 Photo credit: Frank Wees Comment 0 Share New Share Photo credit: Frank Wees We are pleased to announce the upcoming publication of Twelve Dark Decembers by Alyssa Wees, a dark historical fantasy based on the Krampus myth. Acquired by Editorial Director Diana Pho in a two-book deal, by Penelope Burns at Gelfman Schneider Literary Agency for World rights, Twelve Dark Decembers will be released by Erewhon Books, an imprint of Kensington Publishing, in Fall 2027. They say Krampus is just a fairy tale. The dark inverse of merry old St. Nick, he haunts the houses of Bavaria on the night of December the fifth, punishing wicked children by beating them with his Ruten or dragging him up his mountain, where he swallows them whole.Ella Fürholzer has been told that she is too old to believe in fairy tales, but it is 1935 and her father, a journalist, has been violently arrested on charges of communism. She seeks out the horned demon of myth but he ignores her, even after she follows him to his castle made of ice. Krampus cannot help her—he only punishes those who still believe in him—but Ella’s courage and rage have opened a door to a dark, magical world that will widen as she grows. Unknowingly, she has tied her fate inextricably to his.Thus their tale begins. The novel follows Ella, her family, and her friends over the next twelve years, as they struggle to stay together—and to stay alive—during the time of Hitler’s Third Reich. Afraid for the safety of everyone she loves, including the boy who captured her heart when they were children, Ella will encounter monsters both ordinary and fantastical and undergo trials both familiar and otherworldly, until finally she is forced to decide if she will remain in a broken world of war and death, or leave it—and her humanity—behind. Author Alyssa Wees says: “Twelve Dark Decembers is my most ambitious book, and the one I love the most. A few years ago I would never have believed I had a Nazi Germany/WWII book in me. The research alone intimidated me so much that I almost gave up shortly after I began. But I’m so happy I pushed ahead with Ella and Krampus’s story, especially because it led to working with Diana Pho. She understands exactly what I want to convey through these characters and this place and time in history. Not only that, but she’s challenging me to thoughtfully and deeply explore the chipping away of one’s humanity, as well as what it takes for demons to find their humanity—either for the first time, or to claw back the humanity that was lost. Working with her is an absolute dream, and I can’t wait to welcome you to Krampus’s icy lair in 2027!” Editorial Director Diana M. Pho says: “The moment that Alyssa Wees’ version of Krampus appeared on the page, I felt a shiver run down my spine. Enraptured, I was pulled into this dark historical fantasy that feels all too relevant, as our communities struggle with the ethics of fighting back against the surrounding darkness in the US. What has really captured my heart is the blend of the magical with the small everyday heroics of her characters. This is a dark tale of resistance, humanity, and finding what hope may still be within our grasp—as long as we keep reaching. I’m so happy to have this special story with Erewhon Books.” Alyssa Wees is the acclaimed author of The Waking Forest, Nocturne, and We Shall Be Monsters. She grew up writing stories about her Beanie Babies in between ballet lessons. She earned a BA in English from Creighton University and an MFA in fiction writing from Columbia College Chicago. Currently she works as an assistant librarian in youth services at an awesome public library. She lives in the Chicagoland area with her husband and daughter. The post Erewhon Books Announces <i>Twelve Dark Decembers</i> by Alyssa Wees appeared first on Reactor.

Books Werewolves Six Standalone Werewolf Novels to Unleash the Beast Within Each book brings something different to the classic werewolf mythos… By Sam Reader | Published on March 4, 2026 Comment 0 Share New Share In ancient Rome, around mid-February, they celebrated Lupercalia, the festival of the wolf, named after the site where the twin founders of the city had, according to myth, been suckled by a she-wolf as infants. It was frequently associated with fertility, wild animalistic behavior, the sacrifice of goats, and a rite of purification to purge the old excesses. As time went on, the Christians pushed the festival out of fashion, and eventually the middle of February became better known for the feast day of certain saint, which was then spun into a major holiday by the candy and greeting card industry. For horror fans, though, it still seems like an opportunity to reflect on the wilder and more animalistic side of human—with that in mind, here are six standalone novels about werewolves to help us get in touch with our inner beast this season. Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones Jones brings rural noir and a dash of family drama to the werewolf story, with his young half-wolf narrator living a transient life with his aunt and uncle while they try to stay one step ahead of hunters (both the mundane kind and those with more supernatural quarry in mind). In a series of vignettes, the unnamed narrator details his life, moving from cheap rental to cheap rental and trying to maintain some semblance of stability while he reckons with the choice he’ll have to make when he turns sixteen: whether to remain human or join his family of wolves. Mongrels is, first and foremost, the story of a family on the edge, but the murky threats and some absolutely squirm-inducing body horror that permeate the narrative also ensure that this book is a gritty, welcome addition to the established werewolf mythos. Sharp Teeth by Toby Barlow A free-verse novel about “shapeshifting dogs” and their various nightly entanglements in Los Angeles might sound a bit niche, especially when it opens with a Walter Benjamin epigraph of all things, but the structure of the narrative is a crucial part of Sharp Teeth’s distinct and compelling vibe. Barlow’s poetry adds a loose, late-night desert ambience to the proceedings, slipping in and out of the lives of “the pack,” a dogcatcher, and a variety of other late-night denizens as they clash and collide all over the Los Angeles cityscape. Navigating between rival packs and local criminals, the pack hang out at their house, challenge one another for leadership, and even get in a few games of bridge in their downtime. SoCal noir lends itself to the supernatural (as anyone who played Bloodlines knows well) and Barlow’s slippery, perspective-flipping free verse is a perfect fit for this shadowy, sun-soaked setting. Thor by Wayne Smith Perhaps one of the more innovative novels on this list, Thor is told mostly from the point of view of a German Shepherd with a loving family living somewhere in suburbia. His days are full of love, confusion (his pack’s behavior is incomprehensible to him), and above all joy when his family (called “The Pack”) takes him on a trip. That is, until they decide to visit his family’s Uncle Ted. Uncle Ted, whose cabin is surrounded by the scent of a strange wild animal. When Thor discovers the body of a slaughtered hiker, he knows something dangerous is coming for his family, and it falls to him to protect his pack. Thor is adorable and guileless (he’s a Very Good Boy) and the “friendly dog” point of view (along with Ted’s mounting horror and reluctance at his werewolf side) only make the brutal violence and mounting tension all the more disturbing. It all makes for fascinating reading, even if you spend the entire book tense and deeply worried that something bad might happen to our lovable canine narrator. The Howling by Gary Brandner The inspiration for one of the biggest werewolf franchises in horror history, The Howling follows Karyn, a recent transplant to the small Northern California town of Drago, after she’s attacked and sexually assaulted during a home invasion. Hoping that the change of scenery will help her move on, Karyn and her husband Roy decide to move to the old house in Drago, where they meet the slightly off-kilter locals. What begins with their dog Lady acting odd and confused about the surrounding area and the eerie howling in the woods at night quickly turns into Straw Dogs with actual dogs as Karyn discovers Drago’s horrible secret—the entire town are werewolves and are willing to kill any outsiders to protect their existence. Prospective readers should be aware that the novel dives directly into violence and horror with no preamble by depicting Karyn’s attack in gut-wrenching detail—that horror and trauma then hang over everything that follows as we follow Karyn’s attempts to heal psychologically while also dealing with the very justified paranoia inspired by the town of Drago. It’s not exactly a pleasant experience, but there’s a reason this novel and the movie it spawned remain horror classics. What Big Teeth by Rose Szabo Szabo’s unique spin on a gothic family saga leads us through a thrilling maze of dysfunctional family dynamics and grim, supernatural secrets. Rather than a roaming pack, the werewolves of What Big Teeth are a huge, deeply messed-up family who live in a large New England mansion. Eleanor Zarrin, the estranged daughter of this werewolf clan, was sent away eight years ago for an incident connected to the family’s rules and their secretive existence. After she returns abruptly from boarding school, she feels out of place, forced to navigate her prickly, secretive family and their insular, grotesque rituals and finds herself being drawn deeper into their intrigues. By leaning heavily on the gothic, Szabo brings the werewolf novel back to a more traditional form, a world of dark woods, secretive doings, and upsetting body horror that the Zarrins tend to just accept as commonplace as long as no one breaks the family rules. Returning to a toxic family can be traumatizing enough, but Szabo’s choice to lean into the gothic and grotesque only adds to that horror from the moment Eleanor’s grandmother pleads for her to “let (her) eyes adjust.” The Devourers by Indra Das On a street at night, a history professor named Alok is approached by a man who claims to be part werewolf. The man has a story to tell about a tribe dating back through history, a tantalizing woman, and his own status as a wandering, ageless exile. This unfinished story, related to Alok in installments by the stranger, only fuels his own obsession and infatuation with the strange man and his world—a man who seems to grow younger and more beautiful every time he recounts a new tale. Das’ book is hypnotic in the way it blends past and present, the literary with the visceral; it’s a book about being transfixed by stories with an interesting take on shapeshifting and werewolves that’s every bit as transfixing and interesting as its enigmatic storyteller’s own tales.[end-mark] The post Six Standalone Werewolf Novels to Unleash the Beast Within appeared first on Reactor.

The newly released 2026 Index of U.S. Military Strength finds that threats to U.S. vital interests are “high,” but America’s military power to counter the threats is only “marginal.” The threat facing America today is greater than that which the Soviet Union posed in the 1980s, according to Robert Greenway, director of the Allison Center for National Security at The Heritage Foundation. The United States faces an “emerging and rapidly expanding nuclear and conventional arsenal in China, and certainly an aggressive Russia,” Greenway told media during a press conference Tuesday, adding, “we have faced threats before, [but] not like this.” “This year’s Index of U.S. Military Strength paints a sobering picture: after years of underinvestment and overuse, the U.S. military risks being unable to deter—or defeat—near-peer adversaries in a protracted conflict,” Greenway said. For 11 years, The Heritage Foundation has assessed U.S. military strength and released its findings in a lengthy annual report, meant to inform members of Congress and the Pentagon. For the first time since the think tank began the annual assessment, researchers have found “an arrest of decline” in U.S. military might, according to Greenway, who credits the Trump administration’s investment with the change. Yet, the “scope and pace of military buildups by our adversaries mean that restoring readiness, capacity, and resilience remains an urgent challenge,” Greenway said. In January, President Donald Trump proposed increasing the U.S. defense budget by about 50% to $1.5 trillion in 2027. The information in the report is meant to be a helpful tool to Congress and the administration as they determine the best way to utilize resources and strengthen America’s military. “The People’s Republic of China represents the greatest military threat facing the United States today,” the index states. The release of the index comes on the heels of a Heritage Foundation report which used AI to simulate a protracted conflict with China. It found that, in a conflict with China, critical U.S. munitions would begin to be exhausted after about a week and would be completely spent after 35–40 days in most cases. In light of the recent attack on Iran, Greenway believes that if it greatly diminishes Iran’s threat to the U.S. and her allies, that will allow America to “focus our resources on other areas, including the Indo-Pacific.” “The surge [in Iran] represents and exposes the weaknesses in our projection or munitions stock, but at the same time, it’s a step in the right direction for eliminating a threat substantively, not just sort of maintaining a threat … but rather getting it to the point where our partners are now able to deal with it without U.S. support assistance, which is enormously important,” Greenway said. The post Threat Level Against US Is ‘High,’ Latest Military Index Finds appeared first on The Daily Signal.

WSJ: US, Israel Demolishing Iran’s Police State to Free Its People