A spine-tingling young adult horror about the untold origins of Maleficent’s dark magic—because evil is seldom what it seems, from New York Times bestselling author, Delilah S. Dawson.
Intrigued? Read on to discover the synopsis and the cover for Malevolent Souls by Delilah S. Dawson, which releases on September 1st 2026 and is now available for preorder.
Her story begins once upon a nightmare . . . Maleficent believes she is destined for great things. In her hometown, only fairies who sprout wings at age sixteen can learn magic—and though her family looks down on her, she knows that once her wings appear, they will finally recognize her potential.
But when the unthinkable happens and Maleficent is denied her destiny, she joins up with four other teens bent on defying their fates to venture beyond the town’s borders.
A mysterious force pulls at Maleficent, leading the group to an abandoned castle perched on a mountain. This strange place seems straight out of a dream, providing everything they need to survive and creating new rooms at will.
But something sinister is afoot, too: all exits are blocked, and shadows haunt the halls. As fear and paranoia tear the group apart, Maleficent is more determined than ever to be the mistress of her own destiny. In exchange for the magic she has long desired, she’ll do anything.
Anything.
From New York Times bestselling author Deliah S. Dawson comes a sinister novel positioning one of Disney’s darkest villains, that shows the power of desire and the importance of sacrifice.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Delilah S. Dawson is the New York Times and USA Today-best-selling and Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of Bloom, House of Idyll, The Violence, Ride or Die, Mine, Camp Scare, the Hit series, Midnight at the Houdini, and multiple books for Star Wars and Dungeons & Dragons: Ravenloft. She lives in Georgia with her family.
