Saturday, November 30, 2019

Review: LIGHT GOES OUT IN LYCHFORD by Paul Cornell




5 Stars!!
Oh yes it does! I was anxious going into this installment, fearing the "end of series," end of Lychford, end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it. Indeed, World-Ending is exactly what the Powers That Be in the Outer Realms intend, and it all starts in tiny Lychford, England.

I've come to truly admire these characters and enjoy Lychford.

Review: A YULETIDE HAUNTING AT LIVINGSTON MANOR by Cat Knight



5 Stars!

I very much enjoyed this haunted and haunting tale, from the beginning where the stage was brilliantly drawn to frame the initial cause, right along as Granddaughter Zelda, an attractive upscale Londoner, inherits her Grandparents Livingston's estate, then is cautioned from "beyond the grave" (via letter entrusted to solicitor) to stay far away over Christmastide. That doesn't suit willful Zelda: she WILL have a Christmas Eve gala, and it WILL be filmed for BBC. 

Only: the Livingston Christmas Curse says different. 

Friday, November 29, 2019

Review: LONG DAY IN LYCHFORD by Paul Cornell



5 Stars!

A very long day, indeed, as Lizzie's, Judith's, and Autumn's magical sight and abilities prove seriously troublesome. Autumn is forced to confront entrenched bigotry first hand in the immediate aftermath of the Brexit vote; her response proves over-the-top in magical terms and soon all 3 are lost.

Review: LOST CHILD OF LYCHFORD by Paul Cornell



5 Stars!

WITCHES OF LYCHFORD was engaging and scary, but also encouraging, as the village wise woman took on an apprentice and brought the new Vicar into alignment.

LOST CHILD OF LYCHFORD is riveting and terrifying--but it is NOT encouraging. Lovecraftian-type horrors take center stage , in a massive attempt to pry open the barrier to Other Realms.

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Review: WITCHES OF LYCHFORD by Paul Cornell



5 Stars
Lychford Book One

I first read WITCHES OF LYCHFORD in May 2016, after reading Paul Cornell's SHADOW POLICE series made me a staunch fan (and introduced me to NEVERWHERE and the concept of a London both Esoteric and Arcane). I just reread it, as a beginning to continuing the series (4), and as part of my personal British Folk Horror Revival.

Three main protagonists, and oh do they turn out to be Strong Female Heroines! Determined to save the Village of Lychford (not just an ordinary English village, mind you), Vicar Lizzie, magic shop owner Autumn, and long-term village resident, Witch, madwoman Judith, collaborate to stop the incursion of a big-box supermarket chain, Sovo. The problem isn't increased traffic or offered jobs. Lychford is a barrier against Other Realms. Literally. Multiple. Lychford was purposely laid out, centuries ago, by those who knew the Old Crafts. Sovo is here by design, and it's not just for Big Business: its purpose is to break down the barriers to the Other Realms.

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Review: SHORT HORROR STORIES Vol. 6 by Team Scare Street



5 Stars


I so enjoy these periodic collections from Team Scare Street. Vol. 6 features two of my favourite Scare Street authors. 

"Mirrors" by Ron Ripley revolves on one of the best reasons to keep Mirrors covered; and ponders whom is scarier--the dead or the living? Then author Ripley delivers a delicious helping of Poetic Justice.

"The Post" by David Longhorn is true English rural folk horror. When you're all alone in your isolated country home and you start hearing voices ordering you: Watch out! Before it's too late!!

Review: SHORT HORROR STORIES Vol. 5 by Team Scare Street



5 Stars

Another "why did I read these at night?" Horror trio from authors at Team Scare Street.

Inescapable horror is even more terrifying when it speaks a different language.

A germaphobic nurse discovers a situation that would terrify the most ardent mycologists.

A routine visit to the Garden Center at the local home-improvement store flips gender expectations upside down and results in breathless terror.

Review: SHORT HORROR STORIES Vol. 4 by Team Scare Street



5 Stars!

A trio of tales you really don't want to read at night: a peaceful cemetery walk, til reality bends and erupts in implacable horror!
A carnival sprung out of nowhere, offering all your worst memories, your guilt--and your death.
Grief is terribly painful--but it's not the worst that can happen.

Review: CAMP LENAPE by Tim Baldwin



5 Stars!!
CAMP LENAPE is an early-YA (c. Age 14, early high school) novel, both engaging and intriguing, which I enjoyed very much, and hope to see the protagonists return. Alissa, Marcus, Nate, and Janice are long-time friends and long-term Camp Lenape campers. This year the four are junior counsellors and Marcus' younger sister Bri is a camper. Nate and Marcus enjoy investigative adventures, and stumble into an actual case, both factual and potentially deadly! The characters are well-drawn and immediately elicit reader's empathy and the situation is realistic.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Review_ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE DEAD



5 Stars!
Release November 26 2019

I ask myself:
Which of these potentials is worse?

  1. Facing a full-bore unstoppable Zombpocalypse?
  2. Knowing your government is willing to nuke major cities?
  3. Watching the one you love most in the world die--then return?
  4. Knowing your beloved is out there--somewhere-maybe?
  5. Something Even Worse?

Tough questions, all--but that's what the Survivors in author Thomas S. Flowers' brand-new release, ESCAPE FROM PLANET OF THE DEAD, face. If you love Zombies, hate Zombies, fear Zombies, or just don't care: read this one. There's a lot more here than only Zombies. And it's a fast, nonstop, roller coaster. Jump on! 

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Review: MUSIC MACABRE by Sarah Rayne (Phineas Finn Music Mysteries Book 4)



5 Stars Plus!

Now that I've read the four (to date) PHINEAS FINN MUSIC MYSTERIES by immensely gifted author Sarah Rayne, I expect MUSIC MACABRE (Book 4) to remain my favourite. Like Book 1, it trods the streets of Victorian London, my favorite historical era, and also weaves in my top historical fascination: Saucy Jack (Jack the Ripper of Whitechapel, East End London 1888). Ms. Rayne presents a couple of quite intriguing possibilities for the remarkable sudden disappearance of Jack and the cessation of murders, one portion of which I found highly plausible, given the culture and legal climate of the time. It would certainly account for his climatic absence. 

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Review: SONG OF THE DAMNED by Sarah Rayne (Phineas Finn Musical Mysteries Book 3)



5 Stars!

In every novel, Sarah Rayne weaves a glorious Gothic sensibility, and that is particularly prevalent here, with the boarding scool in an old convent, the nuns disalpearing two centuries ago, the antique parish church, the old cottage whose cellar was part of the medieval priory. Then too is the "L'emmurer," an ancient, covert, plainchant and ritual. 

This is Book Three of the Phineas Fox Musical Mysteries. Phin accompanies his love interest Arabella to the Bicentenary of her alma mater, and researches a macabre opera penned by a former, slightly mad, headmaster. That opens doors to the turbid French Revolution.   

Review: CHORD OF EVIL by Sarah Rayne (Phineas Finn Music Mysteries #2)



5 Stars!

CHORD OF EVIL is Book 2 in author Sarah Rayne's PHINEAS FINN MUSIC MYSTERIES, a series which I am currently reading consecutively. Again, Ms. Rayne demonstrates her monumental gift for weaving multiple historical eras and quite a number of protagonists living their individual yet intricately connected threads. Once again there is an authority figure in abuse of power (as in DEATH NOTES). Here the historical era is primarily 1939-1941 in Germany, heartwrenching and infamous.

Friday, November 22, 2019

Review: DEATH NOTES by Sarah Rayne [Phineas Finn #1]



5 Stars!

Another totally absorbing Gothic-frissoned psychological horror from the extremely gifted author Sarah Rayne, DEATH NOTES is the first in a new musically-themed series starring music researcher Phineas Finn of London.

Phin is contracted to research late 19th century violinist Roman Volf, allegedly executed for the assassination of Tsar Alexander II in 1881. Throughout the novel, Ms. Rayne waves disparate time periods (1881, 1920, contemporary) and locales (Russia, London, Ireland) into a wildly adventurous ad heartrending psychological thriller.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Review: Bottle Toss

Bottle Toss Bottle Toss by Howard Odentz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I ADORED this novel! Excellently written, fantastically delineated characters, and so much supernatural suspense! The Horror is so subtle yet implacable, lurking just over the reader's shoulder, just beyond our peripheral vision, just past the borders of what our mind can conceive...Slide over, Castle Rock, make way for scary Sumneytown, Connecticut.

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Review: Property of a Lady

Property of a Lady Property of a Lady by Sarah Rayne
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’ve noticed before, perusing Ms. Rayne’s “psychological mysteries,” especially those which border on the actually ghostly (which is many of her novels), that Ms. Rayne exhibits the ability Henry James demonstrated in “Turn of the Screw” a full century or more earlier. “Real life,” in whichever era Ms. Rayne is weaving, is delineated with clarity, conciseness, and focus; and in places, reading a Rayne story is akin in some ways to reading in the sub-genre known as “British cosy mysteries.” So did “Turn of the Screw” appear, at the beginning, and for some time afterwards.

But horror and the Supernatural are not always best exposed by “splatterpunk.” Sometimes it is the very subtleties, the quiet approach, the soft creak of old lumber, the wind’s whistling in the attic eaves, that inspires the churning of our stomachs and the anxiety in our emotions. Sarah Rayne is utterly skilled at the subtle underpinnings, the spider’s silk that entraps the unwary venture, She is as accomplished a storyteller as Henry James in “The Turn of the Screw” and as H. H. Munro (Saki) in the inimitable classic “The Open Window.”

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Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Review_THE SILENT VICTIM by Dana Parry



5 Stars!

Release Nov. 20 2019

[Original title: GIRL WALKING ALONE]

THE SILENT VICTIM is an incredibly engrossing psychological/journalistic emotional thriller. Twelve years ago Jessie Tucker was accosted in Central Park, viciously beaten, left for dead. Eventually she achieved a miraculous recovery which she has never taken for granted. She left advertising to become a reporter, at which she is a bulldog and award winner. But this latest story proves to be so incredibly convoluted and quite possibly connected to her own assault. Finding the facts is akin to traveling the convolutions of the interior of a Nautilus shell; but oh how gratifying for the immensely engaged reader!

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Review: The Cold

The Cold The Cold by Rich Hawkins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

THE COLD is one truly terrifying horror/science fiction novel. It's been done before: Apocalyptic Snowfall, Torrential Rain, Mist and Fog obscuring visibility; then the Monsters emerge. But I believe this may be the most finely-tuned version I've read.


I have to call "Lovecraftian" as the "monsters" seemingly incur from an alternate dimension, destroying the world. As one secondary character riffs, "It was something different. A god, you might say. An eater of souls and flesh."


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Saturday, November 16, 2019

Review: Rabbit Heart

Rabbit Heart Rabbit Heart by Emily Deibler
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A surreal grotesquerie of horror, set in the otherwise beautifully scenic North Georgia mountains, RABBIT HEART is also an emotionally visceral examination of a survivor of sexual abuse plus brutal tragedy. It is also on the surface the story of a backwoods cannibal couple and their adopted daughter.


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Review: The Body in the Snow

The Body in the Snow The Body in the Snow by Nick Louth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

THE BODY IN THE SNOW is #4 in Nick Louth's intriguing British police procedural DCI Craig Gillard Series. A brand-new CSI tech discovers a killing while Sunday jogging, opening a consequent investigation that kept me puzzled throughout. A seemingly random on-the-spot murder of a well-known Indian business entrepreneur, but also a health situation that may have been either accidental or planned. Accompanying the mystery and its investigation is a fascinating examination of traditional Hindu culture and its assimilation into contemporary British society.

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Review: The Bookshop From Hell

The Bookshop From Hell The Bookshop From Hell by David Haynes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A gory but engrossing horror thriller which continually riffs on the Horror genre, almost in a tongue-in-cheek way. I was subtly reminded of Stephen King's NEEDFUL THINGS, and im fact the bookshop proprietor tosses the mention of Castle Rock at our feckless hero-protagonist, high school English teacher Daniel Law, a man much admirable for his integrity, dedication, and love of reading (and horror). He is a strong hero, a true "John Wayne" type, and the fact that he is not 100% successful renders him realistic.

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Thursday, November 14, 2019

Review: Inside Cut: A C.T. Ferguson Crime Novel

Inside Cut: A C.T. Ferguson Crime Novel Inside Cut: A C.T. Ferguson Crime Novel by Tom Fowler
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I adore the C.T. Ferguson P.I. stories, every one of them. C. T.'s intelligence, personality, snark, and attempted vanity make him a worthwhile hero, as does his pro bono work. Plus it's entertaining to watch his superbly attuned hacker skills. Later in this novel his actions and intent cemented my high opinion of C.T. but I shall not give away the situation, as it's pivotal to the story line.


I know nothing about sports gambling and not much of sports, but I still enjoyed INSIDE CUT very much.

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Review: The 13: Tales of Macabre

The 13: Tales of Macabre The 13: Tales of Macabre by Stephanie Ayers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A collection of 13 horror tales with clever twists from author Stephanie Ayers plus an introductory scary poem by Stacy Overby constitute this set, a sort of sequel to the author's earlier collection 13: TALES OF THE ILLUSORY. I found the stories' unexpected twists and turns remarkable.

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Review: The Church of Broken Pieces

The Church of Broken Pieces The Church of Broken Pieces by David Haynes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

CHURCH OF BROKEN PIECES is an exciting, engrossing Horror/Thriller starring a pair of unlikely heroes (yes, admittedly feckless) out of their depth, finding themselves struggling for both sanity and survival in an incomprehensible situation. The beauty of their character is their integrity and refusal to give up, despite insurmountable odds, when running away or just surrendering would be the easy route.

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Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Review: Join or Die

Join or Die Join or Die by J. Adrian Ruth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Perfectly ordinary adolescent boy in Las Vegas--single parent family, one good friend, starting high school--suddenly discovers he isn't human. Well, only half--his mother is human, his father, absent for six years, is a Creature. Yes, Creature: those entities of fairy tales and mythology? 'Tis real, they are. And Young Alex will be their Scion.


Creatively imagined and fantasized, JOIN OR DIE is Book 1 of HEIRS TO THE SCION Series.
This is YA Fantasy, but I rate it 18+ for language.

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Review: Taaqtumi: An Anthology of Arctic Horror Stories

Taaqtumi: An Anthology of Arctic Horror Stories Taaqtumi: An Anthology of Arctic Horror Stories by Aviaq Johnston
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

An enlightening collection of ten tales of horror and speculative fiction by authors of the Arctic, TAAQTUMI provides a fine window into a diversity of legends and mythology from a geographic locale and ethnicity (Inuit) of which most Western readers are unaware. Be assured: Inuit horror and speculative fiction can astonish, enlighten, and terrify every bit as much as can Western literature.

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Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Review: Ice Shadows

Ice Shadows Ice Shadows by William Massa
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Imminent frozen cataclysm? Old Norse Rune Magic? Ritual Black Magic? Norse Ice God?


I'm right there! And if all that isn't your preferred "cuppa," there's plenty of tense suspense, tracking, violent villains to thrill your heart--icy or not. A fast-paced thrilling read, at 70 pages.

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Review: Day Zero

Day Zero Day Zero by Kelly deVos
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

DAY ZERO is fascinating! I've been devoted to Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic genres since I devoured Philip Wylie's TOMORROW at the age of ten and was rendered permanently terrified. DAY ZERO has been compared to Susan Beth Pfeffer's LIFE AS WE KNOW IT Series, but I am pleasantly reminded of Emmy Laybourne's MONUMENT 14. Two siblings (one diabetic and likely Asperger's) and their stepsister; teacher mom; emotionally distant stepdad; and prepper-survivalist dad--in a world suddenly erupting in inexplicable violence, anarchy, and chaos. Tell me: what is there NOT to love?


Absorbing in-the-midst-of-Apocalypse Dystopiana: find it right here. It is Day Zero, indeed.

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Review: Dark Halls - A Horror Novel

Dark Halls - A Horror Novel Dark Halls - A Horror Novel by Jeff Menapace
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

DARK HALLS is my first exposure to prolific author Jeff Menapace, and an exciting introduction it is. From the gory reader's hook (which intrigued me with "WHY?") through to the very end, I read breathlessly, constantly in suspense. DARK HALLS, although extreme in horror, gore, violence, and grief, is totally engrossing. The mixture of magic, history, family, romance, and seemingly inexplicable, implacable events, is fascinating.

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Monday, November 11, 2019

Review: Dread of Winter

Dread of Winter Dread of Winter by Susan Alice Bickford
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It seems odd to speak of "coming of age" of a character in her thirties, but that is exactly what takes place here, as Sydney returns from sunny California to snowbound Central New York State at the impending death of her mother. Although intending never to return, Sydney now has to face not only grief, but unraveling of the secrets from which she escaped.

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Review: Dread of Winter

Dread of Winter Dread of Winter by Susan Alice Bickford
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It seems odd to speak of "coming of age" of a character in her thirties, but that is exactly what takes place here, as Sydney returns from sunny California to snowbound Central New York State at the impending death of her mother. Although intending never to return, Sydney now has to face not only grief, but unraveling of the secrets from which she escaped.

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Review: Dread of Winter

Dread of Winter Dread of Winter by Susan Alice Bickford
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It seems odd to speak of "coming of age" of a character in her thirties, but that is exactly what takes place here, as Sydney returns from sunny California to snowbound Central New York State at the impending death of her mother. Although intending never to return, Sydney now has to face not only grief, but unraveling of the secrets from which she escaped.

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Saturday, November 9, 2019

Review: Witch Hunt

Witch Hunt Witch Hunt by Syd Moore
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

WITCH HUNT is both a fascinating exploration, through contemporary eyes, of a terribly ugly chapter in English history (the witch-hunt hysteria and the English Civil War between Oliver Cromwell's Parliament and King Charles I); and a paranormal excursion which becomes terrifyingly real and vividly experienced. I enjoyed both the historical revelations and the unfolding of secrecy as out protagonist is increasingly pulled into experiences of another realm. The only aspect I didn't appreciate is the author's tendency to telegraph the approach of trouble or difficulty, which I considered to be too frequent, and also is a pattern in the author's first novel, DROWNING POOL, which I am currently reading.

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Review: Let Sleeping Gods Lie: A Lovecraftian Gods Horror Story

Let Sleeping Gods Lie: A Lovecraftian Gods Horror Story Let Sleeping Gods Lie: A Lovecraftian Gods Horror Story by David J. West
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

LET SLEEPING GODS LIE is an unabashedly Lovecraftian tribute in the sub-subgenre of "Weird Western, " a category to which I'm becoming attached. Hardhitting, violent, with a wide range of characters and a finely-tuned ear for the xenophobia of the Old West, LET SLEEPING GODS LIE is a cautionary tale on why we ought to do exactly that: leave the Old Ones in their eons-deep Slumber.

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Friday, November 8, 2019

Review: Friction

Friction Friction by Dwayne Gill
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If your reading choice is hard-hitting real-time action delivered very sensorily with breathless suspense and near-futuristic science, you cab scarcely do better than picking up Dwayne Gill's WRITTEN BY BLOOD Series, including CONVICTION and FRICTION, plus prequels and short stories.


If you want hardcharging heroes who has a soft heart for loved ones and strong loyalty to friends, you'll find it here. And my favourite aspect: CONSPIRACY!

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Thursday, November 7, 2019

Review: The Moving House: a prequel to Ghostland

The Moving House: a prequel to Ghostland The Moving House: a prequel to Ghostland by Duncan Ralston
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ask me if this ahort story is scary: YES! I wanted to SCREEEEAAAAMMM! So good I read this on an overcast late afternoon before dusk (in advance of GHOSTLAND arriving at Midnight)! The concept of a house that isn't still and sedate, whose implicit atmosphere renders occupants unsteady and discomfited, makes me think distinctly of Lovecraft's Non-Euclidean Geometry (and of his stories such as "Picture in the House" and "Dreams In the Witch House." So I was already prepped, when the Denouement terrified me! And then terrified me again! I cannot wait to read GHOSTLAND and see what other "tricks" this House can perforn!

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Review: The Moving House: a prequel to Ghostland

The Moving House: a prequel to Ghostland The Moving House: a prequel to Ghostland by Duncan Ralston
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ask me if this ahort story is scary: YES! I wanted to SCREEEEAAAAMMM! So good I read this on an overcast late afternoon before dusk (in advance of GHOSTLAND arriving at Midnight)! The concept of a house that isn't still and sedate, whose implicit atmosphere renders occupants unsteady and discomfited, makes me think distinctly of Lovecraft's Non-Euclidean Geometry (and of his stories such as "Picture in the House" and "Dreams In the Witch House." So I was already prepped, when the Denouement terrified me! And then terrified me again! I cannot wait to read GHOSTLAND and see what other "tricks" this House can perforn!

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Winter #COYER

winter-coyer-with-friends-time-to-sign-up/

Book Recommendations:

Only 1 is required, but...
1) A SUDDEN LIGHT, Garth Stein
2) THE GENERAL THEORY OF HAUNTING, Richard Easter
3) NINTH HOUSE, Leigh Bardugo
4) THE WATER-DANCER, Ta-Nehisi Coates
5) REAPERS, John Connolly

December Clearing Out Reads:
1. THE HARVEST by Sara Clancy (Bell Witch Book 1)
2. ROCKY: THE ROCKEFELLER CHRISTMAS TREE
3. ASPIRE TO DIE by M. S. Morris
4. Sacrificial Ground by Sara Clancy ( Bell Witch Book 2)

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Review: THE REDDENING by Adam Nevill



Release: October 31 2019
5 Stars

I've developed quite a predilection for British folk horror as evinced by authors Jasper Bark, Sarah England, Adam Nevill, Sarah Rayne, and others. There's something immensely appealing about countrysides with millenia of continuous history preceded by multiple millennia of prehistory; land where the past (in THE REDDENING, literally) coexists with the contemporaneous.

There are so many threads in this horror novel that I hesitate to try to compose a summary. Instead I will just emphasize the lovely complexity of this novel, the extreme depth of characters, delineation of life's instinct-no, passionate drive--toward survival; and always--always--the weight of the Past suffocating the Present.

Review: DOLL CRIMES by Karen Runge


Release: November 8 2019
From Crystal Lake Publishing



5 Stars!

Review: 'Tis tempting when reading a story of such sadness to think "Whoa--at least my childood-adolescence--adulthood wasn't THIS bad!", then walk away with a feeling of temporary relief and only a fading memory of the book. But I consider that an error: this book is deserving of so much more than a tossed-off "Oh, those poor characters! (So glad it's not me!)" and a relieved good-bye. I think novels, novellas, short atories that the reader finds difficult (excluding here the sub-sub-genre of "extreme horror," gore for gore's sake, and simply bad writing); difficult because of personal triggers, or suffering of characters, or psychological disorders which the reader has never confronted and doesn't understand--fiction (and nonfiction) in these latter categories deserves to be read, examined, sometimes (if the triggers are really tough), endured. The end product you hold in your hands DESERVES reading, considering, tracing the thoughts it provokes; then admiring the author who brought this forth.

Don't read this book once and toss it off. Sit with it. Absorb it. Relate to it. Give it the respect it deserves. 

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Review: The Old Religion

The Old Religion The Old Religion by Martyn Waites
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

An engrossing and very contemporary (post-Brexit) horror-mystery, THE OLD RELIGION is set in a tiny seaside village in Cornwall, St. Petroc. Almost abandoned, the remaining villagers try to struggle on. If only the local Council will agree to site a proposed Marina there, employment and income will improve. But other sites are in competition--so locals determine to weight their chances--with a solid return to the Old Ways.


The two best aspects of the novel for me were the application of pagan beliefs to this undeniably 21st-century problem; and the multiple layered mysteries throughout, so compelling that my attention never wavered.

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Review: The Old Religion

The Old Religion The Old Religion by Martyn Waites
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

An engrossing and very contemporary (post-Brexit) horror-mystery, THE OLD RELIGION is set in a tiny seaside village in Cornwall, St. Petroc. Almost abandoned, the remaining villagers try to struggle on. If only the local Council will agree to site a proposed Marina there, employment and income will improve. But other sites are in competition--so locals determine to weight their chances--with a solid return to the Old Ways.


The two best aspects of the novel for me were the application of pagan beliefs to this undeniably 21st-century problem; and the multiple layered mysteries throughout, so compelling that my attention never wavered.

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Saturday, November 2, 2019

Review: Night Train to Murder

Night Train to Murder Night Train to Murder by Simon R. Green
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The release of a new installment in Simon R. Green's Ishmael Jones Series is always enormously exciting. Ishmael, alien-turned-human since 1963, and his partner Penny Belcourt, are two of my favorite literary series characters. Author Green combines science fiction, urban fantasy, paranormal, and Noir crime into an always fascinating mix.


This time, it's a classic "locked-room" assassination, committed just feet from Jones and Penny, who had been ordered to prevent exactly that. Four suspects remain, all with unbeatable allies; who could have done it, and how?

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Friday, November 1, 2019

Review: Anger and Death: Supernatural Horror with Scary Ghosts & Haunted Houses

Anger and Death: Supernatural Horror with Scary Ghosts & Haunted Houses Anger and Death: Supernatural Horror with Scary Ghosts & Haunted Houses by Ron Ripley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Second in Ron Ripley's excellent TORMENTED SOULS Series, ANGER AND DEATH continues the narrative of the currently muxh-beleaguered community of Anger, New Hampshire, a town with a plethora of ghosts, plus power nexuses--power that certain ghosts, such as the evil Beverly, crave. But beyond Beverly is something or someone much worse, something she won't discuss; not evil with her morally corrupt human puppet, medium Janet Ladd.


Standing in opposition are a former journalist with PTSD, Dan; an elderly widow, Mary; a long-dead child ghost, Eli Coffin; and New Hampshire State Police Detective local native Evan Coffin.

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