reader reflections

“Chronicles of the Grim Reaper is a series of stories where the main character is the Grim Reaper, but not as we’ve been taught to see him. There is no fear in these stories, no darkness as you’d expect. Instead, there is kindness, quiet strength… even joy and something deeply beautiful.

It made me realize how often we judge by appearance, by old symbols, by what we’ve been told something represents, rather than what it might possibly be. Isn’t that just like life? So often, things that look harsh or frightening at first glance turn out to hold a different truth, compassion, even peace. And just as often, things that appear beautiful or gentle on the surface reveal something different when you look closer.

These stories do the opposite of what we’re used to—they take something we’ve been taught to fear and gently show another side—thoughtful and comforting. Reading these stories over the last few months has helped me look at my own grief, and others’ grief, differently.

I’m grateful for her writing and for the fact that these stories came to me through such a decent, kind person and a new cherished friend.”

— SALLY GAMBLE

“I just finished this and it was so much more beautiful than I expected. I never expected to read a story of the Grim Reaper and leave feeling peaceful and inspired.”

— TRACY POMERLEAU

“A celestial navigator that loves what they do shall journey on into the primordial portals that the spiritual realm has to offer. Having taught himself what navigation truly meant in one’s heart, that is the greatest lesson ever learned by Henry the prince.

Taught by North African scholars the arts of astronomy and cartography, Henry had harmonized their teachings along with his Portuguese scholarship and upbringings.

To even dedicate his experience and scholarship to the fallen, and to those that needed the celestial exposure, he built a school for it. Henry had woven his very fate into Elysium by performing his duties as western Europe’s guiding light, taking others with him along the merry way.

It is in one’s heart where the true navigator lies…”

—MATTHEW E.

“They’re beings that enter the earth that are sleek, silver, and totally silent. There is a deeply spiritual silence that follows them all the way into eternal oblivion, and beyond. For these metaphysical creatures, there is no limit to their abilities, there is no dissolution of their mystical fragrance.

That is what Sven had seeded within his soul. These ‘seeds’ craft and mold souls into what they are, they’re woven into their fates and metaphysical chemistry. Sven was most certainly an observer of roses and lilies in multiple experiences in his past lives, giving him his striking deep ocean gaze. Striking indeed, for the genuine gaze has significant arcane qualities.

In life, the silent watch opens the door of eternal life, in spirit the oceanic gaze releases primordial waters…”

—MATTHEW E.

“It wasn’t just the image itself but the life it represented. An amulet, a photograph, a bracelet, they’re magical signatures that mirror the soul. When charged with one’s love and spirit, these signatures are forever spiritually intertwined within the carrier’s very metaphysical chemistry.

Our Theodore deeply understood the magical and essential aspects of nature’s grace. The graceful tones of nature had always followed this soul from adolescence until his very last breath. Theodore had enchanted his earthly experience, an exuberant quietude that attracted the Grim Reaper from the depths of arcane mystery.

A photo is never just a photo, and a decision is never just a decision, they’re portals…”

—MATTHEW E.

“Valentinus, a Latin-derived Roman name, Valens, meaning ‘strong,’ ‘healthy,’ or ‘vigorous,’ a name or title that signifies robustness and vitality. Valen, a keen and robust spirit now cloaked under the cover of darkness is caught between the claws of infamy and his own integrity.

The hunted now becoming the hunter himself, acting upon his animalistic and archetypal principles to survive and to endure a fate that would break many. Tethered to his spirit, a curse that only death itself could liberate him from, or the Grim Reaper.

Losing the most he held dear, still Valen had endured the silent horror of the curse that plagued the magical life that once surrounded him. However, at night the curse granted him superhuman abilities. He had become a ‘silent fury,’ silent and hollow. It was that very hollowness, the emptiness that the Grim Reaper observed, and surely liberated Valen from a never-ending nightmare. A nightmare to a quiet peacefulness.”

—MATTHEW E.

"You are what you are. And in a way, that’s a comfort, isn’t it? Knowing that some things are beyond our control, beyond our understanding.

This statement by John shows us readers that ‘release’ is essential for inner harmony, gratitude, and peace. By embracing the Grim Reaper’s presence, John had already begun the inner alchemical process of releasing, embracing, and dissolving grief. By accepting the Grim Reaper’s words in his heart, his clarity and insight amplified within him for him to help navigate and continue his journey into the mysteries of life and death.

“Shadows of understanding,” a fitting title for any literary character dealing with shadows of anguish, grief, or resentment, only for our character to overcome and continue living.”

—MATTHEW E.

"The magical and metaphysical essence that emanate from earth’s creatures and organisms is what Timmy loved so much. Determined in his heart’s mission to ease the suffering of animals proved to not only his children, friends, and family that he had a heartfelt and deep caring for the world’s animals at large.

“The natural world holds beauty and lessons, reminding us to cherish all life with compassion,” a deep ecological philosophy that electrified and amplified Timmy’s spiritual inner cosmology. His heart was his navigator, and his discipline to his ethics is what magnetized the mythical and mysterious presence of the Grim Reaper.

The animals he helped were reflections of his heart’s mission, we all have a mission, and it is up to ourselves to navigate through the mundane and embrace our heart’s calling.”

—MATTHEW E.