Review: Wicked Things

Wicked Things by Thomas Tessier
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: WICKED THINGS by Thomas Tessier

A very fast-paced and highly suspenseful novel, WICKED THINGS is a first-person narrative by Jack Carlson, an almost middle-aged single insurance investigator. Jack works for an investigative consortium in New England. His latest case is an investigation into 16 "accidental" deaths and subsequent insurance claims, on 16 policies sold by one independent agent, to 16 different companies. Jack finds a peaceful, well-kept small community, almost "too good to be true." A very isolated area, with strange chants, wild gangs of adolescents, strange lights in the sky and strange lights in the ground and earth tremors. Added to the statistically improbable death rate are dismemberments and disappearances. Soon Jack is in over his head, and in a denouement that resonates with the horror of Thomas Tryon' s HARVEST HOME, outsider Jack Carlson finds the true meaning of community involvement. Author Thomas Tessier demonstrates a powerful flair for subtlety in horror, and provoking stories that won't be readily forgotten.

View all my reviews

Review: Wicked Things

Wicked Things by Thomas Tessier
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



View all my reviews

Review: Shockwaves

Shockwaves by Thomas Tessier
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: SHOCKWAVES by Thomas Tessier

What a subtly horrifying novel! Amazing! The author gently balances routine "normal" reality with some distinctly spooky stuff, which is all bound up with crime and with railroaded "justice" (no mercy and very little common sense) and with dreams of a good life, and failure, and seeking for love; all these "normal" human components, while all the time in the background are these monsters--and they're not all "criminals." Sometimes the wolf in the sheep pen looks just like a "good guy," and sometimes the wolf is a charm-dispensing, possibly supernatural, entity wielding a sharp object. Serious thought-provoking here!

View all my reviews

Review: The Wilderness Within

The Wilderness Within by John Claude Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Review: THE WILDERNESS WITHIN by John Claude Smith

Descent into madness, or willing embrace of the madness pre-existing within; LSD flashbacks, or last-stage alcoholism' s Korsakoff Syndrome; blowing wide the doors of perception {nod to Aldous Huxley, William Blake, and Timothy Leary} or some supernatural event/presence/process? Let the individual reader decide. In this literary horror, two bestselling authors, one popular and talented comedian, and one musical artiste, combine in a minute of madness, a waltz of macabre, a tango of grotesqueries. Lovecraftian frissons awaken a dance of cosmic horror, and as above, so below.


View all my reviews

Review: O Little Town of Deathlehem

O Little Town of Deathlehem by Michael J. Evans
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: O LITTLE TOWN OF DEATHLEHEM: An Anthology of Holiday Horrors for Charity (Anthology, Grinning Skull Press), edited by Michael J. Evans and Harrison Graves

Every publication I've read from Grinning Skull Press, whether novels, novellas, or anthologies, has been delightful: both satisfying and scary, thought-provoking and memorable.

"One of His Own" by Catherine Grant: I have to call Krampus, the half-demon, half-elf bugaboo of Christmas, the hero in this special tale. Reading of the horrors humans inflict on one another, I couldn't help but cheer him on {"Yes, take that one! Save the animals! Save the innocents"}. Some of his chosen chilled my blood {shiver}. Plus the author treats us to a wonderful arc of character evolution!

"Christmas Wine" by Matt Cowan: Oh my--color me very seriously snow-chilled. This tale is frightening, very much so; my bones feel as if I've spent the night locked outdoors in a snowfall and my teeth are chattering. Scrooge is lucky all he had to contend with were ghosts.

"Home for the Holidays" by D. Alexander Ward: Not your happy holiday reunion, oh no. I feel like this story turned me inside out. Wildly imaginative, terrifying, a fine balance of human evil and something beyond. Don't read alone.

"The Ghosts of Christmas Past" by Richard Farren Barber: So chilling--who among us wouldn't change the past if only we could? What if we could change past events? Would we be willing? Would we be allowed?

"Deck the Halls" by Chantal Boudreau: Gruesome but satisfying, Christmas horror with karma. As ye sow....
"All I Want For Christmas" by Raymond Gates: Really, there are worse events than writer's block. One would be disappointing your loving child; another would be...well, read and find out. {Shudder}

"You Better Watch Out" by Randy Lindsay: I have a special soft spot in my heart for true poetic justice and karma (probably why I like Krampus tales). This story offers a thoughtfully intriguing take on belief (and yes, I really liked it).

"Saint Nick Sticks" by Peter White: another story about belief, again specifically the intense belief only children seem capable of, and about holiday karma..

"With Their Eyes All Aglow" by Jeff C. Carter: Scary. Scary. Scary. Implacable horror in a "what goes around, comes around" fashion. Or more apropos, "will the circle be unbroken." {Shudder}

"Shop Till You Drop" by Michael McCarty and Mark McLaughlin: a cautionary tale about Christmas--beware your addiction to busyness and greed. Gory but not overdone, and delightfully humorous as well. Bertram is a treasure.

"Antiphon" by John Biden: let us not forget what "Santa" is an anagram for...a thought-provoking short tale with a cautionary riff..

"A Christmas To Remember" by JP Behrens: a stomach-churner, as much in an emotional/psychological sense. Some "humans" there are who simply exist "beyond the pale." Chilling tale.

"It's the Most Wonderful Crime of the Year" by Nicky Peacock: Oh, that killer ending! It snaps like a bullwhip, stabs like a knife...

"Krampusnacht" by Ben McElroy: an endearing (if you like your horror extreme and gory) cautionary tale. Remember: karma will catch up with you, no matter how many decades it takes...{or, you get what you deserve}...

"Lots of Love, Uncle Billy" by Adam Millard: wow...I loved this! "Be sure your sins will find you out," cautions an ancient proverb--and how true that proves here...

"You'd Better Watch Out" by Mark Onspaugh: not so much horror (well, there are zombies) but deeply, deeply saddening. A finely-tuned tale with the lasting impact of a silent stiletto to the ventricle...or maybe, since it's about Santa, an ice pick in the ear..

"Santa Claws Is Coming to Town" by Rob Ferreiri: this one is both Christmas horror and sad, and I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't spark tears in some readers' eyes...

"Riley and the Big Man" by BC Jackson: I never want to see a Santa again. Ever.

"Ornament" by Christopher Miron.: I don't want to see Santa, now I don't want a Christmas tree. I appreciate the "as you sow, so shall you reap" plotting, but oh gosh, this one is SCARY.

"Holiday Icon" by Michael Thomas-Knight: I don't know which I find scarier: the one-percenters' elitism {shades of the prelude to the French Revolution and even more apropos in 2017 than when this anthology was published}, or the denouement and ending, which scared me senseless. I have visions of Nat Turner and Toussaint L'Ouverture, I hear flames crackling and see plantations burning. {And the soundtrack is Neil Young} Mighty scary.

"Christmas in the Snow" by Rose Blackthorn: The scares do not let up in this Anthology! Despite the idyllic Christmas setting, at home in the pines surrounded by fresh-fallen snow, supernatural danger lurks all around. Some real shivers here.

"Silent Night" by Liam Hogan: The implacability of the horror! No escape! The fear alone is stomach-churning.

"Special Delivery" by Simon Bradley. I so did not see this one coming! Unexpected but I had to chuckle.

















View all my reviews

Review: Unspeakable

Unspeakable by Graham Masterton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: UNSPEAKABLE by Graham Masterton


UNSPEAKABLE was literally a one-sitting read! I've long been an admirer of Graham Masterton, and many of his horror novels are favorites. So is this one now {except for the ending, which really perturbed me, like the ending of RITUAL}. UNSPEAKABLE really is not in his horror category; and although there is crime, I wouldn't classify it with his Katie Maguire series of crime fiction. So I'll classify it as "psychological horror," with frissons of paranormal elements.

Our protagonist elicits much empathy; she isn't feckless, but the world sure has seemed to turn against her. Her heart holds a deep well of compassion, constantly battered by the really awful people she encounters, both in her employment in Children's Welfare, and in her personal life. There are some really hair-raising episodes here, and in and around these is woven Native American spirituality and mythology.

In all, I was quite taken with this novel.

View all my reviews

Review: Nine Eyes: Terror From The Deep

Nine Eyes: Terror From The Deep by C.J. Waller
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: NINE EYES by CJ Waller

I found this horror novel totally engrossing, especially its Lovecraftian overtones, but also its delineation of the several protagonists' emotions against the suspenseful and secret-driven setting.

A small group of friends who fancy themselves investigators of lake monster legends (or debunkers) journey to a very remote village and loch in Scotland, the childhood home of one of the friends, who has lately been plagued by nightmares about the village and loch. It's not only the locale from which his father disappeared, when the boy was just seven...although he doesn't recall, and his friends couldn't know, the loch is a portal, one that must remain closed.

A real page-turner and nightmare inspiration!

View all my reviews

Review: Ritual

Ritual by Graham Masterton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: RITUAL by Graham Masterton

RITUAL is a really complex horror novel, and as befits the author, seriously graphic and visceral. As with THE DEVIL IN GRAY and HYMN, the author weaves in history and religion, albeit not the type of religion most of us have learned to expect. An itinerant travelling restaurant inspector, employed by a travel guide, is the feckless protagonist of this story. As is frequently pointed out to Charlie in the course of the novel, he is an individual virtually devoid of purpose. He does his job, which involves constant travelling, but he does not scintillate nor excel. He is divorced, with a fifteen-year-old son he scarcely knows. He by attrition and apathy has failed his wife, his son, and a former mistress.

When Charlie, accompanied by his son Martin, visits a family restaurant in Connecticut, he stumbles upon rumor of a mysterious and secretive "dining society," so of course he must know more. But as with every Lovecraft story, there are aspects of life and knowledge we are better without. Charlie will discover this to his ever-lasting regret.

{Personal note: I do not like the ending. On further reflection, I see that it may fit, and may even in a sense be poetically just; but I don't like it.}

View all my reviews

Review: The Hymn

The Hymn by Graham Masterton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: THE HYMN by Graham Masterton

Once again, Mr. Masterton delivers plotting so taut, interwoven with a strong historical background and lesser-known religious traditions. In THE DEVIL IN GRAY, he worked with the American Civil War, specifically the tragic Battle of the Wilderness, near the Confederate Capital at Richmond, Virginia; and with the slavery religion of Santeria. In THE HYMN, formerly published as THE BURNING, he reinstates the Nazi concept of "master race" and racial purity. Then he brings in 19th century operatic composer Richard Wagner, and millennia-old pagan traditions, specifically of the Norse Vikings. This strums chords of elitism and eugenics, reminding that though the Reich ended drastically, the underpinnings of its thought continue, sometimes where least expected.

Of course, because this is a Graham Masterton horror novel, there is also a continuing chord of graphic violence, visceral, explicit, and hair-raising, and the innocent are not exempted. But I found the background rationale--that implacable, no-matter-what-cost, drive to create the Master Race, the superior immortals--far more terrifying than the violent deaths in its cause. There is little more terrifying than fanaticism.

View all my reviews

Review: Rattlesnake Hill

Rattlesnake Hill by Leslie Wheeler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Review: RATTLESNAKE HILL by Leslie Wheeler

A cozy New England mystery, simultaneously heartwarming and intriguing, RATTLESNAKE HILL is set in the beutifully scenic Berkshire Hills of Western Massachusetts. Kathryn Stinson, a curator at a private Boston library, rents a rural home on Rattlesnake Hill while renovations are under way at her workplace. She chooses the locale hoping to further investigate missing segments of her genealogy. The more she strives to uncover, the more it seems she is unraveling a nest of snakes, or poking into a hornet' s nest, and she encounters both truth and unexpected danger.

View all my reviews

Review: The Devil in Gray

The Devil in Gray by Graham Masterton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: THE DEVIL IN GRAY by Graham Masterton

The reader's hook commencing this novel is explosive: the first chapter is gory, violent, and the horror is unexpected and oh so implacable. That implacability stays the course throughout this very suspenseful horror novel. I've long been a fan of this author, but I think THE DEVIL IN GRAY must be one of his best. Set in contemporary Richmond, Virginia, the background locale is vividly detailed. Along with the plot (which does rest on suspension of disbelief), the author generously develops character and emotion, and orchestrates evolution for several of his characters, particularly protagonist Lieutenant Dexter Martin of the Richmond Metro Police Department, and his new partner, Detective Tim Hicks, but also for secondary characters as well. Dexter undergoes a full-fledged change of perspective and really, evolves into an entirely new individual.

Mr. Masterton weaves in some of the rich historical background of the locale, specifically the tragic loss of life at the Battle of the Wilderness in May, 1864, and also some of the ugly historic underbelly such as the Ku Klux Klan. Into this tapestry he also weaves a theme of Santeria, the syncretistic spirituality formed from the Yoruba religion of West Africa imported to the New World with slavery, over which the saints of Roman Catholicism were added to disguise the true beliefs and practices from inquisitive or overbearing slaveholders. The result is a deeply satisfying horror novel.

View all my reviews

Review: Into the Black Nowhere

Into the Black Nowhere by Meg Gardiner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: INTO THE BLACK NOWHERE by Meg Gardiner
(UNSUB #2)

In this second mystery in Meg Gardiner' s new (2017) series, Caitlin Hendrix, former Alameda County, California, Sheriff's Detective, is fresh from both victory and tragedy, and the continuing identify puzzle still disturbs her. At the end of UNSUB, she was instrumental in wrapping up the long-standing case which had trapped and ruined her father, Detective Mack Hendrix. Yet the puzzle remained of an additional, unidentified, killer--the late Prophet's protege.

Tapped for the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit, Caitlin is assigned to a new serial abduction case in Texas. As the Prophet in UNSUB bore overtones of San Francisco's Zodiac Killer, the killer in INTO THE BLACK NOWHERE has resemblances to that smooth, charmingly charismatic, vicious killer Ted Bundy. Readers seeking a skin-crawling villain will find that chillingly done right here. Killers who are upfront are bad enough; but those who can charm, who are emotional illusionists, are far more dangerous, because nearly invisible until it's too late for the prey.


View all my reviews

Review: City of Endless Night

City of Endless Night by Douglas Preston
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: CITY OF ENDLESS NIGHT by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

I have devoured the Agent Pendergast novels since the very first. As a faithful reader, I confess to feeling since several novels back that I had gone off the rails. Perhaps it is my questioning if, after 17 installments, the co-authors can create anything new. Well, happily CITY OF ENDLESS NIGHT manages several unexpected twists, a seldom-used plot (although I have read it once in a classic short story), a heaping helping of character evolution (yes, including A. P.), and redeemingly, my most favorite setting. So Pendergast rocks on, although his intensifying humanity I personally find dismaying (although this is my personal viewpoint).

View all my reviews

Review: UNSUB

UNSUB by Meg Gardiner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: UNSUB by Meg Gardiner (UNSUB #1)

I was delighted to discover a new Meg Gardiner series, as I had quite enjoyed reading her Jo Becket series, all deeply psychological mysteries. UNSUB focuses on Alameda County, California, Sheriff's Detective Caitlin Hendrix, daughter of the former lead detective on the long-unsolved serial murder case of the Prophet, more than two decades before. A Narcotics detective, Caitlin is transferred to the Homicide detail at the beginning of a new series of killings mirroring the Prophet's reign of havoc.

Ms. Gardiner carries the reader to hell and back, never settling for an easy solution nor for glossy surface emotions. Indeed, nothing here is easy. Caitlin has to prove herself, as she is a homicide rookie, immersing herself in the cold cases from the Prophet's murders--cases she was first exposed to inadvertently at age nine. As her involvement intensifies, the killer targets her, just as her father, Detective Mack Hendrix, had been targeted by the Prophet. Her home life and her own life are in danger.
I won't say this is a one-sitting reading, but it is a can't-put-it-down, have-to-read-to-the-end engrossing mystery.

View all my reviews

Review: Pickman's Other Model

Pickman's Other Model by Caitlín R. Kiernan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



View all my reviews

Review: Into the Thinnest of Air

Into the Thinnest of Air by Simon R. Green
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: INTO THE THINNEST AIR by Simon R. Green
(An Ishmael Jones Mystery)

Anytime I start a story which begins "Call me Ishmael. Ishmael Jones." I am over the moon because I am about to embark on a science fiction-paranormal adventure guaranteed to carry me away, in delighted absorption. Mr. Green has a magical talent, immediately suspending disbelief. I love every novel in this series. This time, Ishmael and Penny visit a really isolated inn in Cornwall, situated at the cliff's edge, site of ugly historic murders and many divergent spooky tales. As the evening continues, events transpire apparently proving the tales to be true. Ishmael and Penny persevere to the end, finding opportunities to deliver poetic justice.

View all my reviews

Review: Black Chalk

Black Chalk by Christopher J. Yates
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: BLACK CHALK by Christopher Yates

There are so many twists in this labyrinthine novel that I felt quite like a pretzel when I finished, but I also came away with a feeling of satisfaction at reading such a deep, rich, story. I can't say I liked or admired some of the characters, and even those I did empathize with had failings (don't we all), but the author's gift absorbed me into the story regardless. At the ending I kept demanding of one of the characters, "Why didn't you? Couldn't you just--?" That didn't alter my enjoyment of the novel, and would have led to some other ending (and I took a personal object lesson from it).

View all my reviews

Review: The House on Hayden Pond

The House on Hayden Pond by Jessica Monks
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: THE HOUSE ON HAYDEN POND by Jessica Monks

An engrossing paranormal with lots of twists and a knock-out reader's hook, THE HOUSE ON HAYDEN POND is rich with emotional depth and character development, and the supernatural elements are truly terrifying. Implacable horror determined on destruction targets neighbors and family members, till one wonders, is anyone safe? Is anything sacred and exempt from terror? That which is dead is not necessarily gone, nor is it impotent. Watch and beware (and don't sleep).

View all my reviews

Christmas Scary!

http://seasonsreading.blogspot.com/2017/11/2017-christmas-spirit-christmas-scary.htmlSign Up

This year, creator Michelle Miller decided to include "Christmas Scary" in her Christmas Spirit Readathon--Read-a-Thon dates: Monday, November 20 at 12:00am CDT until Sunday, December 3 at 11:59pm CDT.

For the Christmas Spirit Challenge, challenge will run from Monday, November 20, 2017 through Saturday, January 6, 2018, Twelfth Night (or Epiphany for the Christians among us), sign up at https://truexmasspirit.blogspot.com/2017/11/2017-christmas-spirit-readingchallenge.htmlSign up

Now, let the CHRISTMAS SCARY Wild Rumpus Commence {With gentle apologies to Maurice Sendak}:

CHRISTMAS SCARY READATHON:

WEEK ONE:

A CHRISTMAS CAROL [Read Nov.20]

"The Cats of Ulthar" by H. P. Lovecraft [Read Nov. 20]

THE DEVIL IN GRAY by Graham Masterton [Read Nov. 20-21] See my review HERE

"Details" by China Mieville [Read Nov. 21]

"Picnic at Lac du Sang" by Graham Masterton [Read Nov.21]

"Spirits of the Air" by Graham Masterton [Read Nov. 21]

RATTLESNAKE HILL by Leslie Wheeler [Read Nov. 21-22] See my review HERE

"The Fungal Stain" by W. H. Pugmire [Read Nov. 22]

THE HYMN [formerly THE BURNING] by Graham Masterton [Read Nov. 22-23]See my reviewHERE

"The Temple" by H. P. Lovecraft [Read Nov. 23] "Book" by H. P. Lovecraft [Read Nov. 24] RITUAL by Graham Masterton [Read Nov. 23-24] See my review HERE NINE EYES: TERROR FROM THE DEEP by CJ Waller [Read Nov. 25] See my review HERE UNSPEAKABLE by Graham Masterton [Read Nov. 26] See my review HERE

WEEK TWO:

O LITTLE TOWN OF DEATHLEHEM ANTHOLOGY (Christmas Horror for Charity)[Grinning Skull Press] [Read Nov. 25-27] See my review HERE "Camelot" by Graham Masterton

"Reflection of Evil" by Graham Masterton

"The Sympathy Society" by Graham Masterton

"Beyond the Wall of Sleep"by H. P.Lovecraft [Read Nov. 27]

THE WILDERNESS WITHIN by John Claude Smith [Read Nov. 27-29] See my review HERE

"Icebound" by Morris Kenyon [Read Nov. 29]

SHOCKWAVES by Thomas Tessier [Read Nov. 28-29] see my review HERE

WICKED THINGS by Thomas Tessier [Read Nov. 28-30] See my review HERE

"Beneath the Mansion: A Lovecraftian Short Story" by Robin G. [Read Nov. 30]

BREATHE BREATHE by Erin Sweet Al-Mehairi [Read Dec. 1] see my review HERE

RAPTURE by Thomas Tessier [Read Nov. 30-Dec. 1]x

"The Other Gods" by HPL [Read Dec. 1]see my review ..HERE

"The Horror in the Museum" by HPL and Hazel Heald [Read Dec. 2]

THE FATES by Thomas Tessier [Read Dec. 2-3] see my review HERE

"Around the Corner" by Jeffrey Thomas [Read Dec. 2]

Review: Horror: Horrifying Stories of True Paranormal activities and Ghost Stories That You Wish Were Not True!

Horror: Horrifying Stories of True Paranormal activities and Ghost Stories That You Wish Were Not True! by Frank C. Chastain
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Review of HORRORS: Horror: Horrifying Stories of True Paranormal activities and Ghost Stories That You Wish Were Not True! By Frank Chastain

An apropos title, for this set includes quite a number of "true scaries," and a collection of some of the world's worst killers.

Serial Killers: , & Murder: Scary Stories, & True Stories of the Most Terrifying Serial Killers the World has Ever Seen! (Ted Bundy, Jack the Ripper, ... Unsolved Mysteries, Torture Book 1)

This volume presents 5 notorious (or less so) serial killers: 3 male, 1 female, 1 whose gender as well as identity remains unknown. These are New York's Long Island Killer (or Killers), San Francisco's Zodiac Killer, The Night Strangler Richard Ramirez who murdered in both Los Angeles and San Francisco, the Boston Strangler (who may or may not have been Albert DeSalvo), and the beautician-turned-nurse Genese Jones, who despite a sentence totally 99 years, will be up for parole in 2018.

The author reports the cases in some detail, taking pains to point out that some of these (Long Island Killer, Zodiac Killer, Boston Strangler) have never been satisfactorily closed, so quite possibly the killers could still be at large.

The author also offers for our entertainment and edification true-life scares, some from folklore, others collected from life, including some of his own scares. Prepare for spine-tingling chills and provoked pondering. Recommended: don't read at night. I love horror even more than I love history, and have been reading horror and hauntings for the last 6 decades--and these are SCARY!!

View all my reviews

Review: Bad Call

Bad Call by Stephen Wallenfels
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: BAD CALL

I started this book with a sense of foreboding. Beginning with the first page (what a reader's hook!), my intuition just "knew" something was going to go very badly wrong. Some one or more of the characters would suffer, and so would I, vicariously. Some of them I distrusted from the beginning; plus I knew that the deception from the very beginning would prove disastrous, bringing on trouble, and more lies, and quite possibly betrayal. As the story continues, the suspense ratchets higher and the tension tautens. As everything seems to conspire against this disparate conglomeration, tricking and blocking their attempts at progress, true character rises to the forefront, both strong integrity and vicious cruelty. When Nature itself leaps in to confuse and destroy, and more than one of this mismatched group of four adolescents makes their own "bad call" (and making wrong or misguided decisions is a consistent theme in this novel), nothing can result but tragedy. The result for the reader: constant breathtaking suspense.

View all my reviews

Review: Where Nightmares Come From

Where Nightmares Come From by Joe R. Lansdale
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: WHERE NIGHTMARES COME FROM , edited by Joe Mynhardt and Eugene Johnson

I 've enjoyed and benefited from Crystal Lake Publishing's Writers on Writing Series, and am happy to find the brand-new volume WHERE NIGHTMARES COME FROM: THE ART OF STORYTELLING IN THE HORROR GENRE. In 28 articles, including some interviews, 31 authors bring their various and sundry viewpoints, and perhaps better yet, their wisdom, to a volume that I recommend to read and to keep as a reference guide. As a sometime write, I found inspiration, techniques, encouragement, a metaphorical pat on the back and "you're okay, kid" (muttered in a Bogart voice). As a lifelong reader, I enjoyed admiring my idols from afar and discovering the guidance they provide.

View all my reviews

Review: Scary House

Scary House by Sean Thomas Fisher
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

SCARY HOUSE by Sean Thomas Fisher

Take the title's word for it; SCARY HOUSE Is one phenomenally frightening story. A coming of age plus adult consequences ("how do I deal with something unstoppable?"), this novel is richly layered, and could be enjoyed as a coming of age, abandoned by father, staunch friendships, meeting girls, first romance, growing to maturity, protective parent, saga. But while other individuals experience these categories of life trials and joys, not too many (I don't think) hold the adolescent dream of proving the existence of ghosts. Certainly few encounter an actively haunted house with manifestations this terrifying, nor grow to adulthood in the very real and permanent fear that the terror they battled at age 13 will return, decades later, with a horrifying agenda, an implacable destiny. This is life on the line, nitty-gritty, down to the bone, horror, and it won't stop.

View all my reviews

Review: Cabals of Blood: A Collection of Lovecraftian Horror

Cabals of Blood: A Collection of Lovecraftian Horror by Richard Klu
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Review: CABALS OF BLOOD by Richard Klu

Much credit to this author's imagination. He definitely exercises it in this multiple-story collection. Subtitled "A Collection of Lovecraftian Horror," there are indeed stories that explore God's beyond, cities hidden constructed of strange angles and odd proportions. Some of the stories resonate with stories I've read by H. P. Lovecraft and authors who toil in the fields of the Lovecraft Mythos. Other stories here focus on creature horror.

View all my reviews

Review: Die for Me

Die for Me by Carol Gorman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: DIE FOR ME by Carol Gorman

This was a fast-paced, suspenseful, one-sitting YA read. I was engaged with the characters and the plot premise. In fact, I found it similar to a logic puzzle as I tried to deduce the identity of the killer. Yes, killer--it may be YA but there is death. Also friendship and betrayal, cruelty and egotism, and some genuinely good characters. I especially appreciated the denouement, which carried much emotional impact and provoked thought, and the conclusion.

Carol Gorman is a multiply award-winning author. I look forward to discovering more of her books.

View all my reviews

Review: The Black Blade: A Huckster Novel

The Black Blade: A Huckster Novel by Jeff Chapman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review of THE BLACK BLADE: A HUCKSTER NOVEL by Jeff Chapman

I'm familiar with the subgenre of “Weird Western,” which I guess is a subgenre of both “Weird Fiction” and of “Western Fiction,” in this case “Western” referring to the mid- to late-19th century frontier, in the U.S. And possibly Canada and Mexico. This would be the era of Manifest Destiny, that horrid protocol invented by Western Europeans to countenance their complete takeover of the North American continent. I haven't read a lot of “Weird Western” fiction but let me tell you, Jeff Chapman may just have convinced me to drop everything and start reading this category widely.

THE BLACK BLADE is an adorable, DEE-LIGHT-FUL novel, as perhaps one of its characters might say [or maybe not]. Anyway, this reviewer says so: Jimmy and Orville are a precious duo, and now they've added Isobel on full-time, and that feisty girl is a real kickin' heroine too. Jimmy and Orville are sort of business partners; Orville, a chubby but charismatic fellow, hucksters...he cons folks out of their hard-earned money, and he is always looking for opportunity to knock. Jimmy, younger, rescued by Orville when he was lower than a frog's belly and really poorly off, is always watching out for danger, which usually finds them, then figuring out how to get them safe. In this novel, the two men, and a farm couple, are tricked by a dark magician, a “man” with true power, and Jimmy and Wilbur, the farmer, are sent out on a quest worthy of dark fantasy. They have to deal with shapeshifting animals, a mask that possesses, the dark magician and his various monstrous creations, as well as battle against their own fear, and learn to cooperate instead of compete.

Jeff Chapman's characterizations are precious. His settings are beautifully delineated, and his homespun prattle, particularly Jimmy's, is humorous yet poignant. Jimmy is fond of remembering particular proverbs and platitudes of his late grandma, herself a wise one, and his homage to her and his loyalty to his friends knows no bounds. More Jimmy and Orville, please!

View all my reviews

Review: Nikolis Cole: The Low-Rise Saint

Nikolis Cole: The Low-Rise Saint by Richard Black
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review of Nikolis Cole: The Low-Rise Saint by Richard Black

Wow! That was exciting! Very violent, very profane, very fast-paced--I read it in one quick sitting and I really enjoyed it. When drug lords' violence rips across a destroyed neighborhood, nobody much cares, including the police. But amazingly someone does care. There's a brand-new vigilante bringing justice to the low-rise neighborhood, and it's not Charles Bronson or Candyman. You won't believe what and who it is, but he is righteous!

View all my reviews

Review: Black Goat Blues

Black Goat Blues by Levi Black
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

Review: BLACK GOAT BLUES by Levi Black (The Mythos War Book 2)

After all the trouble, danger, and magic in Book 1, RED RIGHT HAND, Charlie (Charlotte) might be ready to rest. But when you've been Marked by an Elder God, rest is a thing of the past. (And Charlie's never really rested since age fourteen.) After being jerked back across the universe by a certain Elder God, battling others, all the trickery, deceit, set-ups, this girl Is ready to get down and fix said Elder God's wagon. But first she has to find him, and to do so, Charlie must travel to Carcosa, to the Court of the feared and dreaded King in Yellow. The beat-downs, deception, and betrayals aren't over yet...not by any means.

View all my reviews

Review: The Black Goat Motorcycle Club

The Black Goat Motorcycle Club by Jason Murphy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: THE BLACK GOAT MOTORCYCLE CLUB By Jason Murphy

This novel is so extreme, but boy is it riveting!! I usually don't choose motorcycle club-themed books (that's reading out of my comfort zone) but the title sold me. I had expected Satanism (Baphomet), but instead I got Lovecraft, the supernatural, and then--debut author Jason Murphy took two overdone horror tropes, turned them inside out and upside down and tossed them in my face, and oh did he make them rock!! Not only are there really well-done characterizations, and non-stop gore, but there are not one, not two, but four kickin' female characters (and they sure show up the guys!).

If you think your stomach can stand it, devour this novel. Jason Murphy, you're rockin'

View all my reviews

Review: Red Right Hand

Red Right Hand by Levi Black
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: RED RIGHT HAND by Levi Black

THE MYTHOS WAR BOOK 1)

Absolutely riveting from the first page, I couldn't step away. When I turned the first couple of pages, and read the identity of the one whom protagonist Charlie (Charlotte) calls "The Man in Black," I was awestruck (and no, I won't give it away). This series and this novel are pure Lovecraftian delight!

Charlie Moore is a twenty-five year old woman with the kind of physical, emotional, and psychological damage no one should have had to endure; yet she survived, not necessarily thrived, but she has become an amazingly strong person. Happens also that her maternal great-great uncle was H. P. Lovecraft, who was not only a scribe of Weird Fiction, but a prophet. Yes, the Lovecraft Cosmos is literally true, and the Great Old Ones really are out to get us. Now Charlie is tapped to be a warrior to stop their incursion; if she heeds the commands of the "Midnight Man" (she varies her appellations for him). Of course, heeding him may well be the death of Charlie, her almost-boyfriend Daniel--and the entire planet.

View all my reviews

NOVEMBER IS LOVECRAFT MYTHOS

NOVEMBER IS LOVECRAFT MYTHOS

FRIGHTFALL, and OCTOBER IS LOVECRAFT COUNTRY, ended yesterday, with Halloween {Samhain}. Today is All Souls Day and the first day of NOVEMBER IS LOVECRAFT MYTHOS. I pledge to myself to read one (or more) HPL story each day from November 1 through December 31.

I am also participating in NaNoWriMo this month, my first since 2012. I'm writing BRIDGEPORT ASYLUM, which is not an exact sequel, but is related to, my 2011 NaNo novel, BRIGHTMOOR ASYLUM.

Hope to really immerse in Lovecraft Mythos reading throughout November (really my favourite month). To that end, last night I commenced RED RIGHT HAND by Levi Black, and oh my, is it rockin' the Mythos!