The Nganga

By David Johanek

Evil comes in many forms, from many sources, sometimes obvious, sometimes obscure. But who could ever dream that the gateway to hell would be an old, rusty pot?

            Katie thought the rusty cauldron would be nothing more than a cheap photography prop. But a diabolical force was waiting within the cauldron—a force that would threaten Katie's sanity, endanger her life, and seek to claim her immortal soul.

            With her husband possessed and growing increasingly violent along with inexplicable paranormal events becoming more frequent, Katie is forced to seek the aid of a practitioner of ritual magick—a Palera of Palo Mayombe—who reveals the cauldron is no ordinary pot.

            It is the ritual Nganga of an evil Palero whose wicked soul now resides within—and threatens to open the gates of hell.

• Language: English
• Publisher: David Johanek
• Release date: Jul 21, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393755227

Book preview

The Nganga

By David Johanek

COLD SWEAT TRICKLED down Katie’s forehead, and shivers rocked her body as she staggered down the alley. The hot sun baked the pavement. This was ninety-five degree Miami heat, but the incessant cold knifing through her body reminded her of a Minnesota winter.

Faint smells of urine and moldy beer permeated the lower-class residential neighborhood. Broken beer bottles crunched underfoot as she stumbled from garage to garage. Glancing overhead, Katie noticed a puffy white cloud morphing into the shape of a human face—an evil, smiling face. A nearby palm tree radiated a prickly, electricity-charged atmosphere from an overgrown backyard. Every weed and blade of grass seemed to whisper a curse.

A Rottweiler sprang from its slumber and strained against its chain, pulling it taut as it threatened to break from the rusty chain-link fence to which it was attached. Katie rushed across the alley and inched onward, her back scraping against a dilapidated garage door. The dog powered forward in a series of leaps that started snapping the rusty wires that held the fence to its frame. With one final thrust, the dog tore free and attacked, froth dripping from its fangs.

Katie sprinted along the pothole-studded pavement toward the fence surrounding a shed at the end of the alley. She tried to ignore the Rottweiler’s snarling breathing and the several feet of chain clanging behind it as the animal snapped at her heels. Less than ten feet to go, but the dog’s breath steamed through her jeans. Her heart thudded against her breastbone. She gasped at the air with burning lungs.

Then she noticed