(still under construction)
This review was originally posted on Hellnotes. You can read it here.
Once again, Firbolg Publishing knocks their yearly anthology out of the park. The theme of Dreamscapes into Darkness is desire, and what might happen when all you wish for isn’t quite what it seems. Dr. Alex Scully is profoundly well-versed in the history of Gothic fiction, and culls stories from modern writers which perfectly complement classics from Gothic masters like Shelley, Lovecraft, Le Fanu and Lawrence—tales which Daniel Knauf so elegantly states in his Introduction “have long languished out of print, buried alive in the curled, yellowing pages of defunct pulp magazines and newspapers. Waiting, yes, for you.”
But while the inclusion of these classics is a signature of Firbolg’s yearly series, and, by all means, a literature lover and book collector’s dream, it’s their modern counterparts that truly stand out in this anthology.
The poem that leads off the anthology, Tanya Jarvis’ “Incubus,” lends a dark, sophisticated flair to the collection with its terrifying visage: “This bed of nails in her stilted house / seems, if anything, to encourage him...” Fuseli’s The Nightmare is immediately called to mind, but the poet does more justice with her words than the artist does with his brush:
she couldn’t tell him from the dark,
the cold prick of her own loneliness
sitting on her skin, a shirt of nettles,
the metallic bite of a bitter river
whose current drags her down to sleep.
Jarvis’ piece is polished, pointed, and just about as gothic as poetry gets; a complex portrait of desire and disgust. “Thus pinned, heart’s rod and piston / laboring under unforgiving weight...And she’s breathing fire, now, speaking / infernal tongues, all of them licking at once...”
In “Bad Things Happen” by Nathaniel Lee, the narrator runs a small blog site and lands an interview with the Vandal King, one of the many “metaphysicals” who scourge the earth in roughly human form. Lee’s idea here is gloriously macabre, his language and turns of phrase almost hypnotic. Anthology lovers will undoubtedly appreciate why Scully chose Lee’s as the kickoff tale.
“Why do you do this?” the narrator asks the Vandal King. “‘Why?’ he asked, idly uprooting flowers as we walked. He met my gaze, eyes glittering like a slick of oil over a bottomless ocean. ‘Because I can. Because it’s there. Because it’s beautiful.’ I glanced back the way we had come. Disarray and chaos, with a soundtrack of broken sobs. ‘Where is the beauty in wrecking things? I don’t see it.’ ‘I do.’ He smiled at me. His teeth were crooked and dirty. I suppose I’d expected fangs.”
Their interview leads them away from the heart of the city and into the outskirts, where the Vandal King destroys things along the way with a mere caress—“It was the first miracle I had ever witnessed.”—and elaborates on his rationale with the telling of a fable which unravels into a disquieting discovery for our narrator, and yet a divinely dreadful ending for us. “Oh...there are the fangs.”
“First Horse” by Rob Smales contrasts slightly from the rest of the pieces with its tribal legends and Native American setting, but the dreamlike sequence that tells the story of a young boy needing desperately to be seen perfectly captures the essence of this anthology’s theme—be careful what you wish for—and in a befitting dreamscape directly into darkness.
JG Faherty’s “End of the Road” is a strong piece in the collection. Though not quite as representative of the theme as the others, there’s no question why Knauf named him one of the “contemporary masters” in the Introduction. Faherty’s writing sets the ideal tone and feel for this tense, dramatic ghost tale: “The rough, pitted blacktop road meandered through the landscape like a blacksnake, with scattered stars and thin sliver of moon providing just enough light to see by...” In the end, we question where the true darkness really exists, and which ghosts we should fear most.
Jonathan Maberry’s “Property Condemned: A Story of Pine Deep” is, quite simply, a lesson in storytelling. Maberry takes the idea of a haunted house and turns it inside out, upside down, and backwards. It’s an emotional, evocative, and extremely effective tale with more “wow” moments than most novels.
Nancy Hayden adds another rich layer to the anthology with “No Man’s Land, which we’re told in the Author Biographies was “inspired by a trip to the 100-year old Western Front battle fields and trenches in France and the unseen things that linger there.” Her visit to the grounds certainly influenced her story, and the setting is both authentic and disquieting with its grisly history. For such a short story, Hayden succeeds in taking us on a tense journey with some creative plot devices—and her last image is impeccably dark, horrific, and unforgettable.
Holly Newstein’s “The Bondage of Self” is a sad and disturbing tale...a raw glimpse inside a bitter, loveless marriage and a clever, twisted tale of revenge gone wrong.
“The Other Place” by Patrick Lacey touches upon themes of bullying, told flawlessly from the perspective of a young narrator plagued by otherworldly visions which prove more appealing than his lonely, tragic life. Lacey ends this one on a memorable note, to say the least.
Gregory L. Norris’ “One More” is superb; his gorgeous prose floats gracefully, rich with imagery and deftly lonely in tone. Against his better judgment, a nameless character is lured into a house where Norris pulls out all the stops and shows us what true horror really is...and his final twist is simply masterful.
“The Morgue” by Aaron Gudmunson is by far my favorite piece of his—I’m a devout Gudmunson fan, but this is one of the best and most memorable shorts I’ve read in a while. His first person narrative renders this tale all the more unnerving, his dialogue between two friends growing—or being pulled?—apart flawlessly executed. The gothic atmosphere and imagery in this story is a fine example of what Firbolg’s editors seek to elicit from today’s writers.
Bo Balder’s “Shelley Unbound” is exquisite—modern gothic literature at its finest—an accomplished modern companion piece to Shelley’s “The Mortal Immortal.” Balder’s language shows mastery, a feudal-tongue licking the pages: “Her thoughts shoot over her irises likes shoals of silvery fish. I cannot read them fast enough. Yet something tells me she will not welcome my suit. I shall not give up so easily. I untie her, extend my hand, which she accepts, and pull her forth into the new world. I will show her automobiles, flying coaches and moving pictures. She will be entranced.”
After listening to B.E. Scully read in person, it’s difficult not to hear this story in her voice, which makes “The Son who Shattered his Father’s Dream” an even more effective piece. Aside from her trademark cultured, literary writing style and a finely told story, really, this line is what it all boils down to: “‘No, dad. Maybe you just dreamed the wrong dream,’ was all that his son could reply.” Scully is extremely skilled in the art of constructing a tale for a theme such as the one Firbolg has designed for this anthology, and that one line demonstrates it brilliantly.
Roxanne Dent’s “Heart of Stone” is a tale of seduction and obsession, set in the romantic, fog-draped French countryside and revolving around a crouching statue with horns, wings, and a strange power over our narrator. Dent creates some nice imagery and employs the theme of the anthology with an innovative and memorable ending.
In Joe Sherry’s “Yellow Bullet,” we spend the entire duration of the story on a bus...but more importantly, inside the mind of its driver. And Tom Walsch had it all worked out—knew exactly what he wanted to do—but once again, the lessons these tales have taught us are that we must be careful what we wish for. Sherry’s deft use of anaphora with a single line is what makes this story’s tragic ending all the more compelling.
The clever, brilliant, and witty Kurt Fawver is a superb addition to this line-up of contributors, and closes out the anthology with a decadent interview satirizing the nature of a submissions call...and the lengths to which both publishers and writers will go to meet it.
The rest of the stories are all worthy of mentioning: Lawrence Buentello’s tale of a lonely man who gets more than he bargains for when moving next door to a “Graveyard”; the unusual place a white water rafting trip takes K. Trap Jones’ brave narrator in “The Weathermaker”; an ironic twist of fate to which writers can relate all too well in Frank R. Stockton’s “His Wife’s Deceased Sister”; and Joe Powers’ “Lead Us Not Into Temptation,” a thoroughly unsettling story of a child molester on the loose—one that both beautifully embodies the theme and proves Firbolg is a press that does not look away from difficult subject matter:
“He’d heard it said that a predator—and that was what he unquestionably was—was never cured, his urges always bubbling just beneath the surface, threatening to boil over at any time. A leopard never changes its spots, they said. A monster is a monster. All it would take was the right trigger and they would fall right back into their old ways. Through those doors of the big box store he spotted the very catalyst in question, in the form of a five-year-old girl.”
Firbolg Publishing prides itself on the horror it brings readers involving something beyond mere violence and gore—the unknown, the “shadowy world of terror out there”—they also showcase writers of the highest caliber, both new and established. In Dreamscapes into Darkness, they claim “Passions become obsessions. Obsessions become manias. And sometimes, manias turn into nightmares.”
They’re right. So, enter at your own risk—it’s worth the wager. This one comes highly recommended.
ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK: DREAMSCAPES INTO DARKNESS
Firbolg Publishing
Buy it here.
Once again, Firbolg Publishing knocks their yearly anthology out of the park. The theme of Dreamscapes into Darkness is desire, and what might happen when all you wish for isn’t quite what it seems. Dr. Alex Scully is profoundly well-versed in the history of Gothic fiction, and culls stories from modern writers which perfectly complement classics from Gothic masters like Shelley, Lovecraft, Le Fanu and Lawrence—tales which Daniel Knauf so elegantly states in his Introduction “have long languished out of print, buried alive in the curled, yellowing pages of defunct pulp magazines and newspapers. Waiting, yes, for you.”
But while the inclusion of these classics is a signature of Firbolg’s yearly series, and, by all means, a literature lover and book collector’s dream, it’s their modern counterparts that truly stand out in this anthology.
The poem that leads off the anthology, Tanya Jarvis’ “Incubus,” lends a dark, sophisticated flair to the collection with its terrifying visage: “This bed of nails in her stilted house / seems, if anything, to encourage him...” Fuseli’s The Nightmare is immediately called to mind, but the poet does more justice with her words than the artist does with his brush:
she couldn’t tell him from the dark,
the cold prick of her own loneliness
sitting on her skin, a shirt of nettles,
the metallic bite of a bitter river
whose current drags her down to sleep.
Jarvis’ piece is polished, pointed, and just about as gothic as poetry gets; a complex portrait of desire and disgust. “Thus pinned, heart’s rod and piston / laboring under unforgiving weight...And she’s breathing fire, now, speaking / infernal tongues, all of them licking at once...”
In “Bad Things Happen” by Nathaniel Lee, the narrator runs a small blog site and lands an interview with the Vandal King, one of the many “metaphysicals” who scourge the earth in roughly human form. Lee’s idea here is gloriously macabre, his language and turns of phrase almost hypnotic. Anthology lovers will undoubtedly appreciate why Scully chose Lee’s as the kickoff tale.
“Why do you do this?” the narrator asks the Vandal King. “‘Why?’ he asked, idly uprooting flowers as we walked. He met my gaze, eyes glittering like a slick of oil over a bottomless ocean. ‘Because I can. Because it’s there. Because it’s beautiful.’ I glanced back the way we had come. Disarray and chaos, with a soundtrack of broken sobs. ‘Where is the beauty in wrecking things? I don’t see it.’ ‘I do.’ He smiled at me. His teeth were crooked and dirty. I suppose I’d expected fangs.”
Their interview leads them away from the heart of the city and into the outskirts, where the Vandal King destroys things along the way with a mere caress—“It was the first miracle I had ever witnessed.”—and elaborates on his rationale with the telling of a fable which unravels into a disquieting discovery for our narrator, and yet a divinely dreadful ending for us. “Oh...there are the fangs.”
“First Horse” by Rob Smales contrasts slightly from the rest of the pieces with its tribal legends and Native American setting, but the dreamlike sequence that tells the story of a young boy needing desperately to be seen perfectly captures the essence of this anthology’s theme—be careful what you wish for—and in a befitting dreamscape directly into darkness.
JG Faherty’s “End of the Road” is a strong piece in the collection. Though not quite as representative of the theme as the others, there’s no question why Knauf named him one of the “contemporary masters” in the Introduction. Faherty’s writing sets the ideal tone and feel for this tense, dramatic ghost tale: “The rough, pitted blacktop road meandered through the landscape like a blacksnake, with scattered stars and thin sliver of moon providing just enough light to see by...” In the end, we question where the true darkness really exists, and which ghosts we should fear most.
Jonathan Maberry’s “Property Condemned: A Story of Pine Deep” is, quite simply, a lesson in storytelling. Maberry takes the idea of a haunted house and turns it inside out, upside down, and backwards. It’s an emotional, evocative, and extremely effective tale with more “wow” moments than most novels.
Nancy Hayden adds another rich layer to the anthology with “No Man’s Land, which we’re told in the Author Biographies was “inspired by a trip to the 100-year old Western Front battle fields and trenches in France and the unseen things that linger there.” Her visit to the grounds certainly influenced her story, and the setting is both authentic and disquieting with its grisly history. For such a short story, Hayden succeeds in taking us on a tense journey with some creative plot devices—and her last image is impeccably dark, horrific, and unforgettable.
Holly Newstein’s “The Bondage of Self” is a sad and disturbing tale...a raw glimpse inside a bitter, loveless marriage and a clever, twisted tale of revenge gone wrong.
“The Other Place” by Patrick Lacey touches upon themes of bullying, told flawlessly from the perspective of a young narrator plagued by otherworldly visions which prove more appealing than his lonely, tragic life. Lacey ends this one on a memorable note, to say the least.
Gregory L. Norris’ “One More” is superb; his gorgeous prose floats gracefully, rich with imagery and deftly lonely in tone. Against his better judgment, a nameless character is lured into a house where Norris pulls out all the stops and shows us what true horror really is...and his final twist is simply masterful.
“The Morgue” by Aaron Gudmunson is by far my favorite piece of his—I’m a devout Gudmunson fan, but this is one of the best and most memorable shorts I’ve read in a while. His first person narrative renders this tale all the more unnerving, his dialogue between two friends growing—or being pulled?—apart flawlessly executed. The gothic atmosphere and imagery in this story is a fine example of what Firbolg’s editors seek to elicit from today’s writers.
Bo Balder’s “Shelley Unbound” is exquisite—modern gothic literature at its finest—an accomplished modern companion piece to Shelley’s “The Mortal Immortal.” Balder’s language shows mastery, a feudal-tongue licking the pages: “Her thoughts shoot over her irises likes shoals of silvery fish. I cannot read them fast enough. Yet something tells me she will not welcome my suit. I shall not give up so easily. I untie her, extend my hand, which she accepts, and pull her forth into the new world. I will show her automobiles, flying coaches and moving pictures. She will be entranced.”
After listening to B.E. Scully read in person, it’s difficult not to hear this story in her voice, which makes “The Son who Shattered his Father’s Dream” an even more effective piece. Aside from her trademark cultured, literary writing style and a finely told story, really, this line is what it all boils down to: “‘No, dad. Maybe you just dreamed the wrong dream,’ was all that his son could reply.” Scully is extremely skilled in the art of constructing a tale for a theme such as the one Firbolg has designed for this anthology, and that one line demonstrates it brilliantly.
Roxanne Dent’s “Heart of Stone” is a tale of seduction and obsession, set in the romantic, fog-draped French countryside and revolving around a crouching statue with horns, wings, and a strange power over our narrator. Dent creates some nice imagery and employs the theme of the anthology with an innovative and memorable ending.
In Joe Sherry’s “Yellow Bullet,” we spend the entire duration of the story on a bus...but more importantly, inside the mind of its driver. And Tom Walsch had it all worked out—knew exactly what he wanted to do—but once again, the lessons these tales have taught us are that we must be careful what we wish for. Sherry’s deft use of anaphora with a single line is what makes this story’s tragic ending all the more compelling.
The clever, brilliant, and witty Kurt Fawver is a superb addition to this line-up of contributors, and closes out the anthology with a decadent interview satirizing the nature of a submissions call...and the lengths to which both publishers and writers will go to meet it.
The rest of the stories are all worthy of mentioning: Lawrence Buentello’s tale of a lonely man who gets more than he bargains for when moving next door to a “Graveyard”; the unusual place a white water rafting trip takes K. Trap Jones’ brave narrator in “The Weathermaker”; an ironic twist of fate to which writers can relate all too well in Frank R. Stockton’s “His Wife’s Deceased Sister”; and Joe Powers’ “Lead Us Not Into Temptation,” a thoroughly unsettling story of a child molester on the loose—one that both beautifully embodies the theme and proves Firbolg is a press that does not look away from difficult subject matter:
“He’d heard it said that a predator—and that was what he unquestionably was—was never cured, his urges always bubbling just beneath the surface, threatening to boil over at any time. A leopard never changes its spots, they said. A monster is a monster. All it would take was the right trigger and they would fall right back into their old ways. Through those doors of the big box store he spotted the very catalyst in question, in the form of a five-year-old girl.”
Firbolg Publishing prides itself on the horror it brings readers involving something beyond mere violence and gore—the unknown, the “shadowy world of terror out there”—they also showcase writers of the highest caliber, both new and established. In Dreamscapes into Darkness, they claim “Passions become obsessions. Obsessions become manias. And sometimes, manias turn into nightmares.”
They’re right. So, enter at your own risk—it’s worth the wager. This one comes highly recommended.
ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK: DREAMSCAPES INTO DARKNESS
Firbolg Publishing
Buy it here.
Hysteria (noun): Stephanie M. Wytovich’s muse.
[Example] "I first met Hysteria a year ago...her lips were painted with dried blood and she rubbed her hands together like Lady Macbeth as if she’d already committed the crime without me...Hysteria showed me the truth about people, and more importantly, she showed me what they were capable of." ~ from the Author’s Note
There is nothing ordinary about Wytovich’s collection of poetry. As Michael Arnzen states in his introduction, it is her “unblinking treatment of a woman’s broken psyche. Her title is a sign of her overarching purpose: to reclaim the term “hysteria” and to use it as a way to explore a woman’s madness through the lens of horror.”
With the turn of each page, you will find yourself involuntarily shuffling down the corridors of the asylum which inspired these ruminations on the darkest and most original horror of all: madness.
There are things around every corner you will not want to see; and yet are bound by an almost hypnotic need to know what transpires behind the padded doors which confine these pained souls. Or maybe it’s Hysteria herself, guiding you from room to room with a knife against the nape of your neck, insistent that you witness these snapshots of lunacy.
Wytovich’s exquisite grip on the language and ability to structure her poems with a lyrical quality evokes an unsettling grace with each piece. In all its insanity, we find macabre beauty in pieces like “Bathory”: "Her hair cascaded/Down her back/In a flight of ravens/Against milk-white flesh/Bloodied from her/Midnight suitor."
One of her biggest triumphs with this collection is assuming the identities of her “patients” with such ease. The themes Wytovich fearlessly conquers here stretch from rape to murder, self-harm to suicide, over-medication to isolation, death by electrocution to necrophilia, sadism to shame. Some of my many favorites include “Flower, “Baby Bump”, “Body Suit”, “Guardian Angel”, “The Necklace”, and “Unravel”.
This is a noteworthy debut, and likely a modest precursor for things to come from a talent as dedicated to the craft as Wytovich. Bravo to both author and muse.
HYSTERIA: A COLLECTION OF MADNESS
By Stephanie M. Wytovich
Buy it here.
[Example] "I first met Hysteria a year ago...her lips were painted with dried blood and she rubbed her hands together like Lady Macbeth as if she’d already committed the crime without me...Hysteria showed me the truth about people, and more importantly, she showed me what they were capable of." ~ from the Author’s Note
There is nothing ordinary about Wytovich’s collection of poetry. As Michael Arnzen states in his introduction, it is her “unblinking treatment of a woman’s broken psyche. Her title is a sign of her overarching purpose: to reclaim the term “hysteria” and to use it as a way to explore a woman’s madness through the lens of horror.”
With the turn of each page, you will find yourself involuntarily shuffling down the corridors of the asylum which inspired these ruminations on the darkest and most original horror of all: madness.
There are things around every corner you will not want to see; and yet are bound by an almost hypnotic need to know what transpires behind the padded doors which confine these pained souls. Or maybe it’s Hysteria herself, guiding you from room to room with a knife against the nape of your neck, insistent that you witness these snapshots of lunacy.
Wytovich’s exquisite grip on the language and ability to structure her poems with a lyrical quality evokes an unsettling grace with each piece. In all its insanity, we find macabre beauty in pieces like “Bathory”: "Her hair cascaded/Down her back/In a flight of ravens/Against milk-white flesh/Bloodied from her/Midnight suitor."
One of her biggest triumphs with this collection is assuming the identities of her “patients” with such ease. The themes Wytovich fearlessly conquers here stretch from rape to murder, self-harm to suicide, over-medication to isolation, death by electrocution to necrophilia, sadism to shame. Some of my many favorites include “Flower, “Baby Bump”, “Body Suit”, “Guardian Angel”, “The Necklace”, and “Unravel”.
This is a noteworthy debut, and likely a modest precursor for things to come from a talent as dedicated to the craft as Wytovich. Bravo to both author and muse.
HYSTERIA: A COLLECTION OF MADNESS
By Stephanie M. Wytovich
Buy it here.
John Boden’s “Dominoes” is an impressive and original vision of horror. Wrapped in an unsettling package and reinforced with grisly illustrations, this surreal manifestation of an apocalyptic fever dream is built on prose that is equal parts rhythmic and jarring. Boden’s imagery is intelligent and nightmarish, as is the structure of the book. It’s not the kind you’ll only read once--it’s a coffee table book for true fans of the genre—but don’t let your kids mistake it for Bambi. My only regret is that I didn’t think of it first.
DOMINOES
By John Boden
Buy it here.
I picked up a print edition of this as soon as it came out, and to say I was not disappointed would be a gross understatement. This pristine publication has so much going for it I’m not even sure where to begin. The cover alone is exquisite...it’s evident these guys have a strong grasp on the art of horror comics and a matching passion and respect for those that inspired their own love for such industries.
The entire book is simply breathtaking, with an extremely impressive combination of writing, artwork, layout, and design. The adaptations of the stories from legends like Ketchum, McKinney, Nolan, and Maberry are perfect for this venue; each is illustrated beautifully, with eye-catching colors and typography so unique to this type of publication. Ketchum’s Stoker Award winning short “The Box” opens the collection, and is a brilliantly haunting little tale. I recently read the original of McKinney’s “Swallowed”, and love the eerie script it’s delivered in here. The “ring of small cruel faces” from Nolan’s original apocalyptic “Small World” is deftly captured in the grim panels. Maberry’s snarky dialogue in the violent blend of crime and horror in “Like Part of the Family” seems meant to be put into speech bubbles.
This publication is definitely in keeping with the whole notion of comics being a collector’s item...I now want to own every issue that Evil Jester releases, and frequently show this one off to friends—but loathe to let them touch it. These guys know what they are doing, and I expect to see them thrive...and I’m definitely going along for the ride.
EVIL JESTER PRESENTS PREMIERE ISSUE
By Evil Jester Comics
Buy it here.
The entire book is simply breathtaking, with an extremely impressive combination of writing, artwork, layout, and design. The adaptations of the stories from legends like Ketchum, McKinney, Nolan, and Maberry are perfect for this venue; each is illustrated beautifully, with eye-catching colors and typography so unique to this type of publication. Ketchum’s Stoker Award winning short “The Box” opens the collection, and is a brilliantly haunting little tale. I recently read the original of McKinney’s “Swallowed”, and love the eerie script it’s delivered in here. The “ring of small cruel faces” from Nolan’s original apocalyptic “Small World” is deftly captured in the grim panels. Maberry’s snarky dialogue in the violent blend of crime and horror in “Like Part of the Family” seems meant to be put into speech bubbles.
This publication is definitely in keeping with the whole notion of comics being a collector’s item...I now want to own every issue that Evil Jester releases, and frequently show this one off to friends—but loathe to let them touch it. These guys know what they are doing, and I expect to see them thrive...and I’m definitely going along for the ride.
EVIL JESTER PRESENTS PREMIERE ISSUE
By Evil Jester Comics
Buy it here.
Given the nature of its theme, this collection was clearly a challenge. The fact that the editor included the original tales which were reimagined by their modern counterparts shows a kind of bravery and confidence in the contributors that is matched only by their ability to rise to the occasion. In a reverent intro from the brilliant Gary A. Braunbeck, he lauds both the extent to which Dr. Alex Scully is versed in academia and the impressive task each writer took in the modern retellings of classic tales. Editor’s notes from Dr. Scully reveal the conception of the theme and prepares us for a collection which answers questions these classics left in their wake...they are “stories within stories; spoken silences in the dark muses of yesteryear.”
Blaze McRob’s “The Wife and the Witch” is a clever reimagining of “The Black Cat”, told with a steady voice which is reminiscent of Poe without parroting it. His apparent ease with which he takes on the form of a female narrator lends itself to the emotional pull of this tale; he is successful in making us empathize fully with the protagonist’s loss of a loving companion: “He was my bastion of strength.”
Then Timothy Hurley’s brave, unexpected, and deft tribute in “Poe’s Black Cats” seems to steal the show with both language and content, with an eerie sense that he may well be channeling Poe with lines like “At my master’s side for seven years, I learned the practice of execution by hanging, and Mr. Malachi commended the alacrity of my acquisition of necessary skills.”
“Satisfaction Brought Her Back” is yet another brilliant take on the classic, though I wish I knew who to thank for such a clever and well-crafted tale.
T. Fox Dunham leads off the re-imaginings of Irving’s “Sleepy Hollow” and reveals an undeniable grasp on the art of prose: “He practiced a barren visage; showing no emotion would serve him best when he soon shared countenance with a demon wind.”...“As the evening fell upon the world and a gray mist flowed off the river, the water decorated with early Autumn decay—of leaves brown orange, and crimson, castoff from ungrateful trees to soak and sink...”
Carole Gill’s “Katrina’s Confession” follows, a thoroughly enjoyable and inventive postscript to the legend, with a darkly humorous ending that affirms the respective perks and price of beauty, youth, and being enchanted by a dark lord.
To choose favorite lines from the haunting “Horseman’s Tale” by Marcus Kohler would be like choosing a favorite child.
What can one say about Lovecraft’s “The Call of Cthulhu” that hasn’t already been said? Nothing, other than writing fine tributes like Mike Chin and Gregory L. Norris do. These were impressive, like the others—but Lovecraft shines as the most difficult master to tackle, and the re-imaginings are perhaps the most valiant of all. Norris is one of the most prolific writers I have ever encountered, and somehow his unwavering balance of humility and infinite literary genius gives a unique flair to his writing which never fails to leave a deep chill in the bones.
The final challenge: Polidori’s “The Vampyre; A Tale”. The other glaring theme here—besides the obvious one of contemporary explorations of gothic classics—is the particular choices such as this one; the most ancient and pivotal ancestor of the genre. Once again, the modern counterparts meet, and likely exceed, the editor’s lofty expectations.
B.E. Scully doesn’t mess around, and sinks her teeth into the reader with her very first line: “The fangs of ice violating the defenseless windowpanes were a welcome intrusion into the otherwise slow suffocation of another winter season.” Talent obviously runs in the family.
After having Jon Michael Kelley on my “to read” list for some time, I was blown away by his talent—it is no surprise his work appears in other prestigious collections, all of which I intend to read and seek out his contributions. He writes with confidence and grace—“I had not intended to drain her to the extent that I did, and in doing so made an even bigger mess of the floor with my regurgitations. I was voracious, and justified that enthusiasm with the recollections of mornings spent watching her, craving her, coveting her and the elations she aroused in both real and subconscious states.”—and ends this fine anthology on a sublimely intelligent note with both historical and literary relevance.
The concern for repetition among the pieces is outweighed by the broad range of talent and seemingly endless abilities in re-examining these gothic classics. This collection is stellar...both in concept, creation, and delivery.
ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK: DARK MUSES, SPOKEN SILENCES
Firbolg Publishing
Buy it here.
Blaze McRob’s “The Wife and the Witch” is a clever reimagining of “The Black Cat”, told with a steady voice which is reminiscent of Poe without parroting it. His apparent ease with which he takes on the form of a female narrator lends itself to the emotional pull of this tale; he is successful in making us empathize fully with the protagonist’s loss of a loving companion: “He was my bastion of strength.”
Then Timothy Hurley’s brave, unexpected, and deft tribute in “Poe’s Black Cats” seems to steal the show with both language and content, with an eerie sense that he may well be channeling Poe with lines like “At my master’s side for seven years, I learned the practice of execution by hanging, and Mr. Malachi commended the alacrity of my acquisition of necessary skills.”
“Satisfaction Brought Her Back” is yet another brilliant take on the classic, though I wish I knew who to thank for such a clever and well-crafted tale.
T. Fox Dunham leads off the re-imaginings of Irving’s “Sleepy Hollow” and reveals an undeniable grasp on the art of prose: “He practiced a barren visage; showing no emotion would serve him best when he soon shared countenance with a demon wind.”...“As the evening fell upon the world and a gray mist flowed off the river, the water decorated with early Autumn decay—of leaves brown orange, and crimson, castoff from ungrateful trees to soak and sink...”
Carole Gill’s “Katrina’s Confession” follows, a thoroughly enjoyable and inventive postscript to the legend, with a darkly humorous ending that affirms the respective perks and price of beauty, youth, and being enchanted by a dark lord.
To choose favorite lines from the haunting “Horseman’s Tale” by Marcus Kohler would be like choosing a favorite child.
What can one say about Lovecraft’s “The Call of Cthulhu” that hasn’t already been said? Nothing, other than writing fine tributes like Mike Chin and Gregory L. Norris do. These were impressive, like the others—but Lovecraft shines as the most difficult master to tackle, and the re-imaginings are perhaps the most valiant of all. Norris is one of the most prolific writers I have ever encountered, and somehow his unwavering balance of humility and infinite literary genius gives a unique flair to his writing which never fails to leave a deep chill in the bones.
The final challenge: Polidori’s “The Vampyre; A Tale”. The other glaring theme here—besides the obvious one of contemporary explorations of gothic classics—is the particular choices such as this one; the most ancient and pivotal ancestor of the genre. Once again, the modern counterparts meet, and likely exceed, the editor’s lofty expectations.
B.E. Scully doesn’t mess around, and sinks her teeth into the reader with her very first line: “The fangs of ice violating the defenseless windowpanes were a welcome intrusion into the otherwise slow suffocation of another winter season.” Talent obviously runs in the family.
After having Jon Michael Kelley on my “to read” list for some time, I was blown away by his talent—it is no surprise his work appears in other prestigious collections, all of which I intend to read and seek out his contributions. He writes with confidence and grace—“I had not intended to drain her to the extent that I did, and in doing so made an even bigger mess of the floor with my regurgitations. I was voracious, and justified that enthusiasm with the recollections of mornings spent watching her, craving her, coveting her and the elations she aroused in both real and subconscious states.”—and ends this fine anthology on a sublimely intelligent note with both historical and literary relevance.
The concern for repetition among the pieces is outweighed by the broad range of talent and seemingly endless abilities in re-examining these gothic classics. This collection is stellar...both in concept, creation, and delivery.
ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK: DARK MUSES, SPOKEN SILENCES
Firbolg Publishing
Buy it here.
“Fires and Phantoms” is yet another stellar collection in Firbolg’s “Enter at Your Own Risk” series. The pieces, both classic and contemporary, are well-matched, and successfully unite the voices and styles of many with one captivating theme.
Robert Dunbar’s introduction is a worthy tribute to the “haunting and impassioned, edgy and erotic” tales here, most of which could be mentioned as special for one reason or another, as each pay homage to the theme with beautiful writing and unique stories. The range of talent is broad and strong, but I did find myself repeating lines from Joshua Skye’s “The Neglected Ones” (“If melancholy had a home it was here.”) and B. E. Scully’s “Time for One More Show”(“long-vanished dancers click-clacking their heels in an undead cabaret.”)
As Dunbar says in the introduction, “Within these pages lurk all the darker hues of the rainbow. Revel in them.”
ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK: FIRES AND PHANTOMS
Firbolg Publishing
Buy it here.
Robert Dunbar’s introduction is a worthy tribute to the “haunting and impassioned, edgy and erotic” tales here, most of which could be mentioned as special for one reason or another, as each pay homage to the theme with beautiful writing and unique stories. The range of talent is broad and strong, but I did find myself repeating lines from Joshua Skye’s “The Neglected Ones” (“If melancholy had a home it was here.”) and B. E. Scully’s “Time for One More Show”(“long-vanished dancers click-clacking their heels in an undead cabaret.”)
As Dunbar says in the introduction, “Within these pages lurk all the darker hues of the rainbow. Revel in them.”
ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK: FIRES AND PHANTOMS
Firbolg Publishing
Buy it here.
This collection of short stories from Weldon Burge was exceptional. Besides his fine-tuned voice and sharp writing, the stories are all suspenseful, scary, and unique, despite the common thread of the theme. His ability to create visuals and evoke emotions with few words is amazing. There's nothing unnecessary in Burge's stories... the prose is whittled down and crystal clear, allowing the reader to take the journey, however afraid you might be of where it will lead, without getting hung up on extraneous details or verbosity.
Burge takes you to the places he visits in these stories -- to hear the "growl of the blizzard" in White Hell, Wisconsin; to a doctor's office where a West Virginian's "sun-baked, saurian skin suggested greater antiquity"; to a 1971 recon mission in the Quang Tri province where "pilots must have misjudged the wind, for much of the incendiary jelly splattered on the tiny cluster of huts" and "The screaming began"; to a classroom in Delaware where a young boy steals a glimpse at his teacher to witness an insect dwelling on his face: "It pulled itself from his mouth, perched momentarily on his lower lip, then zigzagged across his left cheek and disappeared into his ear."
Burge's stories are truly reminiscent of the favorite shows of his youth that he credits and more. In a world where writing might be enjoyable but not always surprising, Burge accomplishes both.
This compilation is highly recommended for anyone who loves short stories, horror on any level, or just plain great writing.
BROKEN: STORIES OF DAMAGED PSYCHES
By Weldon Burge
Buy it here.
Burge takes you to the places he visits in these stories -- to hear the "growl of the blizzard" in White Hell, Wisconsin; to a doctor's office where a West Virginian's "sun-baked, saurian skin suggested greater antiquity"; to a 1971 recon mission in the Quang Tri province where "pilots must have misjudged the wind, for much of the incendiary jelly splattered on the tiny cluster of huts" and "The screaming began"; to a classroom in Delaware where a young boy steals a glimpse at his teacher to witness an insect dwelling on his face: "It pulled itself from his mouth, perched momentarily on his lower lip, then zigzagged across his left cheek and disappeared into his ear."
Burge's stories are truly reminiscent of the favorite shows of his youth that he credits and more. In a world where writing might be enjoyable but not always surprising, Burge accomplishes both.
This compilation is highly recommended for anyone who loves short stories, horror on any level, or just plain great writing.
BROKEN: STORIES OF DAMAGED PSYCHES
By Weldon Burge
Buy it here.
This debut novel was exceptional. I'm loving that Stone's characters Rez and Delilah are not static or destined to live within the pages of one book. By carrying the characters into other works of his, Stone allows these siblings to shine despite their lives in a world filled with darkness, fighting evils both inside and around them.
Stone loves language and the raw, powerful stories it can tell in the form of lyrical, yet often harsh, prose. His own passions are fused into the characters and plot—music, art, literature, poetry, alternative thinking—and a big middle finger in the face of conformity, "the norm", and conservative views.
He is a precocious writer who backs up his confidence with talent, a strong handle on vocabulary and its place in storytelling, beautiful and disturbing imagery, and no lack of imagination. For a debut novel from such a young man, THE ABSENCE OF LIGHT is impressive—and as his characters grow stronger and wiser, his writing does, too.
Bravo, Stone. Bravo.
THE ABSENCE OF LIGHT
By J. Daniel Stone
Buy it here.
Stone loves language and the raw, powerful stories it can tell in the form of lyrical, yet often harsh, prose. His own passions are fused into the characters and plot—music, art, literature, poetry, alternative thinking—and a big middle finger in the face of conformity, "the norm", and conservative views.
He is a precocious writer who backs up his confidence with talent, a strong handle on vocabulary and its place in storytelling, beautiful and disturbing imagery, and no lack of imagination. For a debut novel from such a young man, THE ABSENCE OF LIGHT is impressive—and as his characters grow stronger and wiser, his writing does, too.
Bravo, Stone. Bravo.
THE ABSENCE OF LIGHT
By J. Daniel Stone
Buy it here.
SHOCK TOTEM 7: CURIOUS TALES OF THE MACABRE AND TWISTED
Buy it here.
Review posted on Hellnotes. Read it here.
"There was something in the center of the tree, hidden behind the green of the needles and beyond the ornaments that gingerly hung from the branches..."
Wolter's apparent love of language and storytelling guides this tense, creeping tale, which was a perfect read this time of year. Wolter fuses fiction and reality in way which makes us question, much like his main character, Jessie, what we believe in ourselves.
This short story weaves from present to past back to present again, and is successful in painting a familiar picture of the yuletide season: "The month of December, as gelid and grey as the atmosphere may have been, had led the way to cheerfulness."
But suspending disbelief long enough to allow the magic of Christmas into your heart can also leave room for something else to slip through...something far more menacing than a kindhearted jolly old soul who lets himself in your home to place presents under the tree each year.
Find out what really made Santa's hair turn white...rethink the colored lights you string around your Christmas tree...and take a ride by the Sutter house to hear the noise coming from inside for yourself...because no matter what the carols say, "In the here and now, the house on Crescent Road is never silent."
I'LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS: A HOLIDAY TALE OF TERROR
By Andrew Wolter
Buy it here.
Wolter's apparent love of language and storytelling guides this tense, creeping tale, which was a perfect read this time of year. Wolter fuses fiction and reality in way which makes us question, much like his main character, Jessie, what we believe in ourselves.
This short story weaves from present to past back to present again, and is successful in painting a familiar picture of the yuletide season: "The month of December, as gelid and grey as the atmosphere may have been, had led the way to cheerfulness."
But suspending disbelief long enough to allow the magic of Christmas into your heart can also leave room for something else to slip through...something far more menacing than a kindhearted jolly old soul who lets himself in your home to place presents under the tree each year.
Find out what really made Santa's hair turn white...rethink the colored lights you string around your Christmas tree...and take a ride by the Sutter house to hear the noise coming from inside for yourself...because no matter what the carols say, "In the here and now, the house on Crescent Road is never silent."
I'LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS: A HOLIDAY TALE OF TERROR
By Andrew Wolter
Buy it here.
I read an ARC of this in October and posted the following review on several platforms.
Kurt Fawver’s “Forever, in Pieces” is a searing and unapologetic exploration of futility. His very purpose in the tragically beautiful arrangement of his words is to prove that “On every level, we are not meant to overcome; we are meant to fall apart”—and his thoughtful, captivating stories illustrate this truth in an impeccably somber literary performance.
Fawver’s stark, intelligent prose depicts life, death, and everything in between as a harrowing and cataclysmic unveiling of our true nature: “And yet we struggle against the inevitable collapse of all things.” The weight of this burden is duly carried by each of Fawver’s characters.
In “The Waves from Afar”, reminiscent of King’s “Beachworld”, a father bears witnesses to a coastal nightmare which claims his family and muses, “It’s an odd sort of atmosphere, this mixture of revelry and apocalypse.”
“With a Ribbon on Top” is a shocking yet credible take on an old conviction with masterful imagery and sinister implications. Even Fawver’s antagonists are bound to their destinies, not unlike his victims: “The beacon stands waiting before him, all sigils and signs. It screams with the lungs of the primeval cosmos...This meaningless cacophony is the most profound sound in all existence. It is hope and it is despair; it is death and it is birth. It is all things in beautiful concordant opposition. It is beyond reason. He barely even notices anymore.”
Luke Spooner’s illustrations are a brilliant match for Fawver’s talent; dark, evocative, and hauntingly corporeal portraits make the work even more unforgettable—postcards from a world now undeniable, the option to return to sender as futile as the lives designed within these pages.
In “The Binary Must Prevail”, inanimate objects wage war against humans:
“More months drifted into the aether of always, and humankind continued to rest comfortably upon its puffy recliners and self-satisfaction. You would have called the state of the world ‘normal.’ Until the Night of Endless Sleep, that is. The name was a euphemism, a thick layer of sugary allusion that coated the bitter bloodbath beneath.”
One man’s blessing in the apocalyptic loop of “May Old Acquaintance Be Forgot” is also a burden: “Thirteen more seconds until the second end of the world. The night was a perfect epilogue... It was all so meaningless. It was all so beautiful.”
Fawver’s imagery is exquisitely gruesome. A paradoxical beauty, however desolate, radiates from the bleak world he creates—as though he expects his readers to follow suit and do as his characters do...to “let out a sound that echoed between the pillars of horror and awe.”
The theme of anguish weaves seamlessly through his stories like a wire barbed with razor sharp consciousness. It is consistent, compelling, and unmistakable: “Dan tried to comfort her, tried to stroke her hair and knead her shoulders, but it was a fruitless effort, like mining for sunshine.”
Fawver takes all things to new levels, sometimes subtly, like ghostless homeowners in “For the Unhaunted”, or a woman unable to meet her ailing husband’s needs in “One Unheard Message”; other times with a direct, unflinching blow to the very tenets of our existence, such as his take on an old aphorism in “Take All Your Troubles” and the onus of knowledge in “Critical Theory”.
Even in “Bolt”, the sad tale of an unrealized baseball career, Fawver heightens the effect of extinguished hope: “He turned to the window and stared out into a dark void of undifferentiated, unlit, uncaring sky, land, and sea; it was everything that the searingly angelic brightness of a stadium in its full electrified finery was not.”
“Birth Day”, perhaps the most unsettling tale in the collection, is nail-biting, faith-crushing, train ride to hell. The author’s description of a hospital is suddenly applicable to every other structure we occupy, too: “The whole place is a temple to our fragility and our inevitable degeneration. Death is in the mortar.”
“Forever, in Pieces” and “A Nuzzle, Inverted” best reveal some of Fawver’s many potent allusions to rejection: "Somewhere nearby a vacant swing creaked on rusty chains, singing the serrated melody of isolation" and the colossal heft of cruelty: “But the people didn’t like what they saw...they turned away in disgust, probably fear. Some undoubtedly ran...until he shifted back, into a form that they could understand, a form in which they could easily find their preconceptions and beliefs, a form that, in some haphazard way, mirrored their own...life must have been hell.”
Even in flash fiction, Fawver’s masterful grip on language and the power of perceptive storytelling does not loosen. “Lessons” is a terrifying take on parenting and the imagery in “Crowning” will haunt you...perhaps indefinitely.
To use the author’s own words, his ideas are like “Ghosts in the uterine lining” of our literary sensibilities. This debut is powerful, moving, and has left this reader “Forever, in Pieces”.
FOREVER, IN PIECES
By Kurt Fawver
Artwork by Luke Spooner of Carrion House
Buy it here.
Kurt Fawver’s “Forever, in Pieces” is a searing and unapologetic exploration of futility. His very purpose in the tragically beautiful arrangement of his words is to prove that “On every level, we are not meant to overcome; we are meant to fall apart”—and his thoughtful, captivating stories illustrate this truth in an impeccably somber literary performance.
Fawver’s stark, intelligent prose depicts life, death, and everything in between as a harrowing and cataclysmic unveiling of our true nature: “And yet we struggle against the inevitable collapse of all things.” The weight of this burden is duly carried by each of Fawver’s characters.
In “The Waves from Afar”, reminiscent of King’s “Beachworld”, a father bears witnesses to a coastal nightmare which claims his family and muses, “It’s an odd sort of atmosphere, this mixture of revelry and apocalypse.”
“With a Ribbon on Top” is a shocking yet credible take on an old conviction with masterful imagery and sinister implications. Even Fawver’s antagonists are bound to their destinies, not unlike his victims: “The beacon stands waiting before him, all sigils and signs. It screams with the lungs of the primeval cosmos...This meaningless cacophony is the most profound sound in all existence. It is hope and it is despair; it is death and it is birth. It is all things in beautiful concordant opposition. It is beyond reason. He barely even notices anymore.”
Luke Spooner’s illustrations are a brilliant match for Fawver’s talent; dark, evocative, and hauntingly corporeal portraits make the work even more unforgettable—postcards from a world now undeniable, the option to return to sender as futile as the lives designed within these pages.
In “The Binary Must Prevail”, inanimate objects wage war against humans:
“More months drifted into the aether of always, and humankind continued to rest comfortably upon its puffy recliners and self-satisfaction. You would have called the state of the world ‘normal.’ Until the Night of Endless Sleep, that is. The name was a euphemism, a thick layer of sugary allusion that coated the bitter bloodbath beneath.”
One man’s blessing in the apocalyptic loop of “May Old Acquaintance Be Forgot” is also a burden: “Thirteen more seconds until the second end of the world. The night was a perfect epilogue... It was all so meaningless. It was all so beautiful.”
Fawver’s imagery is exquisitely gruesome. A paradoxical beauty, however desolate, radiates from the bleak world he creates—as though he expects his readers to follow suit and do as his characters do...to “let out a sound that echoed between the pillars of horror and awe.”
The theme of anguish weaves seamlessly through his stories like a wire barbed with razor sharp consciousness. It is consistent, compelling, and unmistakable: “Dan tried to comfort her, tried to stroke her hair and knead her shoulders, but it was a fruitless effort, like mining for sunshine.”
Fawver takes all things to new levels, sometimes subtly, like ghostless homeowners in “For the Unhaunted”, or a woman unable to meet her ailing husband’s needs in “One Unheard Message”; other times with a direct, unflinching blow to the very tenets of our existence, such as his take on an old aphorism in “Take All Your Troubles” and the onus of knowledge in “Critical Theory”.
Even in “Bolt”, the sad tale of an unrealized baseball career, Fawver heightens the effect of extinguished hope: “He turned to the window and stared out into a dark void of undifferentiated, unlit, uncaring sky, land, and sea; it was everything that the searingly angelic brightness of a stadium in its full electrified finery was not.”
“Birth Day”, perhaps the most unsettling tale in the collection, is nail-biting, faith-crushing, train ride to hell. The author’s description of a hospital is suddenly applicable to every other structure we occupy, too: “The whole place is a temple to our fragility and our inevitable degeneration. Death is in the mortar.”
“Forever, in Pieces” and “A Nuzzle, Inverted” best reveal some of Fawver’s many potent allusions to rejection: "Somewhere nearby a vacant swing creaked on rusty chains, singing the serrated melody of isolation" and the colossal heft of cruelty: “But the people didn’t like what they saw...they turned away in disgust, probably fear. Some undoubtedly ran...until he shifted back, into a form that they could understand, a form in which they could easily find their preconceptions and beliefs, a form that, in some haphazard way, mirrored their own...life must have been hell.”
Even in flash fiction, Fawver’s masterful grip on language and the power of perceptive storytelling does not loosen. “Lessons” is a terrifying take on parenting and the imagery in “Crowning” will haunt you...perhaps indefinitely.
To use the author’s own words, his ideas are like “Ghosts in the uterine lining” of our literary sensibilities. This debut is powerful, moving, and has left this reader “Forever, in Pieces”.
FOREVER, IN PIECES
By Kurt Fawver
Artwork by Luke Spooner of Carrion House
Buy it here.
"Canopic Jars: Tales of Mummies and Mummification" is a superb collection of unsettling, disquieting tales with a vast range of tones, styles, and voices. Esther M. Leiper-Estabrooks' "Death in a High Place" is a seductive introduction to a compilation of pieces which place a contemporary slant on an ancient art. The interpretations on the theme here are broad enough to keep it fresh, interesting, and unique--and all lead up to Lovecraft's "Under the Pyramids", which serves as inspiration, but is also met with the talent of his modern peers. Some of the pieces use first and second person narratives which are evocative and hypnotic; others are simply well-told, artfully crafted stories all worthy in their own right. The imagery and language used throughout pays homage to the cultural depth and historical significance of the sacred practice, but applies some new angles, ideas, and flair which sets it apart from traditional stories dealing with this concept. There are several riveting stories with pleasantly unexpected twists, and some that successfully employ dark humor and wit...all in all, an excellent collection comprised of many familiar names in the industry and some new ones, too. Highly recommended for fans of classic horror series, both literary and cinematic, such as Tales from the Crypt and The Outer Limits. Don't miss this one.
CANOPIC JARS: TALES OF MUMMIES AND MUMMIFICATION
Great Old Ones Publishing
Buy it here.
CANOPIC JARS: TALES OF MUMMIES AND MUMMIFICATION
Great Old Ones Publishing
Buy it here.
"Blood, Bones, and Brushstrokes", my review of VEINS AND SKULLS, is published by Shock Totem Publications on their website . . . please read it here.
VEINS AND SKULLS
By Daniele Serra
Buy it here.
Gudmunson has a knack for creating imagery and luring the reader in with opulent, delicate prose...but the story that unfolds here is anything but delicate. As advertised, this is an “extreme” erotic horror short that will hit its mark in disturbing the reader on a physical level. However, it also delves deeply into an emotional plane, revealing Gudmunson’s awareness of the need for realistic, relatable characters we will willingly follow...all the way to the shocking, gruesome end.
ERICA'S COLLECTION: AN EROTIC HORROR SHORT STORY
By Aaron Gudmunson
Buy it here.
"Bedtime Stories from the Dead of Night" is a clever and captivating collection inspired by a broad range of experiences and musings the author shares with us before telling each tale. From suicides gone wrong in a twisted version of "Groundhog Day" to an extreme price one might pay for a bad habit like smoking, the author delves into unusual and unsettling ideas and concepts which succeed in both nauseating and terrifying the reader. Citing influences from King, Hughes, and Matheson, and inspirations from mundane things like driving and misspelled words to deeper topics such as rape and the consumption of monkey brains, there is clearly no lack of experience compelling the author to spin such yarns. I was lucky enough to get a signed copy of this, and the inscription reads, "Enjoy the nightmare." I can honestly say that I did.
BEDTIME STORIES FROM THE DEAD OF NIGHT
By Julya Oui
Buy it here.
BEDTIME STORIES FROM THE DEAD OF NIGHT
By Julya Oui
Buy it here.
This was a well-written, fast-paced, and interesting story. In a unique blend of crime, mystery, horror, thriller, occult, and supernatural fantasy, North-Martino covers a great deal of ground and does particularly well with character development and vivid descriptions. He also writes about certain fantastical elements with such conviction that it is difficult to distinguish those from the reality he weaves into the work. For the sake of constructively criticizing a debut novel, there were a few words and phrases here and there that could have been improved for flow...but others made up for it. All in all, he handled a multi-genre approach with an adept hand, and the research he must have done to tell such an elaborate tale shows in the details. As a fan of his short fiction, I’ll definitely be looking forward to David’s future efforts in longer works.
WOLVES OF VENGEANCE
By David North-Martino
Buy it here.
WOLVES OF VENGEANCE
By David North-Martino
Buy it here.
This was a well-written little tale with a humorous edge and some great imagery. Snow spins a morbid yet fun yarn set up perfectly by her first line: "Chester Penderghast was just about as normal as the family business was ever going to allow him to be." She packs a good amount of plot into few words—I particularly enjoyed the underlying conflict of family dynamics, the idea of the Dead playing dead, and the gruesome but comical final scene. This was a worthwhile read from an author working hard to contribute to the horror industry in various ways...and succeeding.
The Dead of Penderghast Manor
By Julianne Snow
Buy it here.
Matthews does a good job accomplishing several things with so few words. He definitely tells us story we've never heard—originality seems to be one of this author's strong suits—and he elicits sympathy for characters who in all ways seem entirely unlikable.
The writing is as blunt and direct as the content, and Matthews keeps the reader at an arm's length with his candid prose. We need this both to really understand his protagonist as the author seems to want us to, and to be prepared for the lengths to which Jervis's desperation will take him.
Definitely looking forward to the follow-up to this, and catching up on Matthews' previous releases.
The Damage Done
By Mark Matthews
Buy it here.
The writing is as blunt and direct as the content, and Matthews keeps the reader at an arm's length with his candid prose. We need this both to really understand his protagonist as the author seems to want us to, and to be prepared for the lengths to which Jervis's desperation will take him.
Definitely looking forward to the follow-up to this, and catching up on Matthews' previous releases.
The Damage Done
By Mark Matthews
Buy it here.
Dubus was a master. His writing is beautiful and real and profound in a way that makes it hurt to think about the tragedies which he suffered in life, and which in turn fueled his fiction.
I reread this collection while staying at a cottage near where many of these stories took place—most notably, "Killings". Having grown up just one town over from Dubus, he describes in vivid detail the beaches at which I spent every summer as a child; the roads on which I drive; the places and towns I frequent—and the ghosts of his words are haunting, to say the very least.
Though all of these stories are exceptional—and perhaps surprisingly diverse—"Killings" is easily one of the most moving short stories I have ever read. The scenes are simply breathtaking, the story stunning in its raw and candid portrayal of the different ways we are affected by grief...and Matt Fowler is the kind of character I found myself desperate to comfort long after closing the book. A man devastated not just by his own loss, but all that he has lost in the wake of a fateful act of violence he feels it is his burden to avenge. The film adaptation certainly did it justice, but the writing plays out like a movie all on its own...one you won't ever forget seeing.
In the Bedroom
By Andres Dubus II
Buy it here.