Welcome, my dear darklings. It's your non-local, multi-dimensional, shapeshifting Gatekeeper again. It has been far too long since Channel The Dark Vol. 1. I had never intended to leave you to your musings for such a time. You know how you humans get when left alone. And look at the mess you've made, finding yourselves in the middle of a resource-grab as world powers look to carve up the Earth and redefine the map. Megalomaniacs doing everything they can to pit you against each other and divert your attention from their endgame ? power, money, and control. It's the oldest game in the book, and I should know ? I wrote it! Ah, memories.

For those who don't know what CTD is, the answer is simple ? with so much darkness abound, we wish to encourage its 'channelling' into something productive, creative, cathartic, redemptive. In this context, writing is our way of shaping dark thoughts, worries, and fears into tangible expressions of our quest for understanding, belonging, and enduring. For while the universe all around us is wondrous and awe-inspiring, it can often be difficult to find our way in a world shaped by others, into which we are born and into which we grow to find layers of responsibility and obligation thrust upon us. We face trial and hardship, loss and pain, insult and mockery; and yet we encounter where we can friendship, loyalty, love, passion, and the transcendent nature of artistic expression through which we can articulate all of the above, and more.

By 'channelling the dark', we can direct our lives towards the positive, for often it is our outlook alone that sustains us and helps us repel borders against all that would seek to bring us down. At our first Channel The Dark event, in May 2023, we heard contributing and guest authors speak of how their writing helped them to navigate this sometimes troubling world. We will do the same for the release of this volume.