Emperor of Dawn by SteveWhite Paperback, 384 Pages, Published 1999 by Baen ISBN-13: 978-0-671-57797-1, ISBN: 0-671-57797-2
"Like everyone else, Corin had been tested for such abilities at an early age. ...
The thoughts had registered as verbal symbols in Corin's mind because he'd
studied Old Earth's geography — but in a required course, long Emperor of Dawn
135."
"Collecting the Dark Horse-published six-issue Lords of Misrule series plus three short stories from Dark Horse Presents and an eleven-page story previously published by Tundra UK. The horror begins when one of a group of friends is horribly murdered. Mysterious, supernatural events lead the survivors on an adventure to a village with a long and bloody history of murder and hauntings."