A new emperor rules each year in Yohuachanca.

Only the most delicious of food graces his palate; the realm’s most beautiful women fill his harem; his palace dazzles the mind in its beauty; and four priestesses counsel him in all matters. The life of an emperor is good, luxurious, and short. 

For at the year’s end, he is sacrificed to the Nightlords under the light of the Scarlet Moon.

I am Iztac. A pisspoor orphan and the year’s emperor. A sacrifice bound for the altar. 

But the vampires have made a mistake this time. For I am a sorcerer, whose soul journeys into the secret underworld to plunder the secret spells of the dead. There, in the darkness, hides the power to drag the Nightlords off their throne. I have a year to find it, or perish for good.

I may not be the first emperor, but I will be the last.

Mark Castle loves horror movies. But when he died in the hands of a cult, he is reincarnated and forced to become a dungeon core…

And makes his domain as a lonely cabin in the woods. With newfound powers, he starts his revenge on the people who murdered him.

Utilizing all the tropes and monster manuals of his favorite horror books and movies, Mark sets up a simple rule: lure unwitting victims into the cabin, kill them off one by one, and feed his core with their souls. If anyone is lucky enough to survive until dawn, he rewards them with treasure...and their lives.

But as Mark feeds and grows, the people who hunger for his unique power begin to take notice, and Mark is in even more danger than he imagined.