Steve Stred's Blog, page 68

My Top Collections/Anthologies That I Read In 2021

It’s that time of year again.

And by that, I mean, it’s nearing the end of the year and as such, we’ll begin to see a plethora of “Best-of” lists arriving shortly.

As with last year, this year I’ll have three “Best-of” lists.

Two will feature here on my own site. These will be the best books I read in 2021 NOT from 2021 and the top collections/anthologies I read in 2021 regardless of year. My top books of 2021 FROM 2021 will feature over on Kendall Reviews.

So, up first – my top collections/anthologies of 2021. And why am I releasing/posting this at the end of November, you may be asking? A couple reasons. First up – as I said, a bunch of these lists will be arriving soon, so I figured I’d get the jump on them and secondly – the end of the year is looking incredibly busy on my end. I have the time now, I might as well use that time effectively!

Alright, so, in no particular order, here we go!

Keening Country by Sean O’Connor (Release date August 13th, 2021)

Featuring four fantastically dark stories, Keening Country was a blast to read. I’ve long been a fan of O’Connor’s and it was great to see him capture the energy of his novel ‘The Weeping Season’ in each and every story here.

Tortured Willows: Bent. Bowed. Unbroken. Featuring Poetry by Christina Sng, Angela Yuriko Smith, Lee Murray, and Geneve Flynn (Release date October 7th, 2021)

Look, the reality is, when you put these four monsters of dark fiction/poetry into one anthology, you’re going to be in for a treat and this delivered over and over again. Heartbreaking and visceral, I loved this anthology so much.

Peel Back and See by Mike Thorn (Release date October 29th, 2021)

No surprise here, but when Mike Thorn decides to go dark, it goes dark. It was great to see these stories snap and crack with the energy Mike is known for and we got to revisit a couple oldies, but goodies.

Whistling Past the Graveyard by Lex H. Jones (Release date January 29th, 2021)

Lex H. Jones has an ability to subtly get under your skin before you’ve even realized it has happened and that is the theme that occurs over and over and over again in the excellent ‘Whistling Past the Graveyard.’ You should read this one just to experience ‘Lodge 328.’

Rooted (Volume 2): A Poetry Collection by Cassandra Chaput (Release date June 19th, 2021)

After loving Cassandra’s first collection, the second one doesn’t hold back. This is dark and despondent while also being joyful and uplifting. Chaput will put you through the gauntlet of emotions and the reader is all the better for it.

Someone to Share my Nightmares by Sonora Taylor (Release date October 19th, 2021)

I’ve often raved about Taylor’s ability to craft amazingly brilliant short stories and her newest collection shows just why that’s true. Over and over again, she pummels the reader and doesn’t take a single story off. Outstanding work.

Let Me Out I’ve Had Enough by Mark Matthews (Release date September 22, 2021)

Matthews has shown time and time again that he’s a dark fiction writer who infects his stories with raw emotion. He’s never afraid to make the reader uncomfortable and he’s at his absolute best when he’s knee deep in that sentiment. This was a tough collection to read, but a brilliant one.

God Forbid by A.A. Medina (Release date October 3rd, 2021)

You may think this one’s a conflict of interest, as I wrote the foreword, but honestly, when I read these stories, I was humbled to think I’d be introducing it. Medina writes with a punk rock aesthetic, where he grinds the reader with sharp blasts all the while soothing them with moments of beauty. This one is fantastic.

Dreams for the Dying by Adam Light (Release date June 14th, 2021)

Adam Light deftly weaves his way through some of the bleakest stories I’ve read in sometime. Over and over again he had me engaged within a paragraph and the world’s he created here were fantastic. Corpus Press always releases top notch work, and I’d suggest ‘Dreams for the Dying’ might be one of their best yet.

Violation Hive: and Other Stories by Brian Fatah Steele (Release date October 11th, 2021)

I’ve often marveled at Fatah Steele’s imagination and to see it showcased in another collection was pure joy to this reader. We get to see him let him mind go where it wanted and we get some of the best short stories you’ll ever read. Loved this.

The Nameless Dark: A Collection by T.E. Grau (Release date January 15th, 2015)

I was completely late to the game with this one, but man alive am I so happy to have now read it. Saying that, there isn’t a single ounce of happiness within these pages. This book is dark, brutal, bleak and unflinching. Making it one of the best collections I’ve ever read.

Infectious Hope: Poems of Hope Resilience from the Pandemic edited by Silvia Cantón Rondoni (Release date November 1st, 2021)

At first, I wasn’t sure what I’d be getting into with this one. I wasn’t too sure if I wanted to read an anthology of poems based around the Covid-19 Pandemic, but boy oh boy was this good. We get poems of happiness, togetherness and seeking joy, as well as heartbreaking, poignant and tender pieces. Outstanding stuff.

Well, there we have it! My favorite collections I read this last year. Have you read any of these? Which collections/anthologies have you read that you loved that aren’t on this list? I’d love to know!

Book Review: Trollnight by Peter Tremayne

Title: Trollnight

Author: Peter Tremayne

Release date: January 1st, 1996

This book came onto my radar when Michael Patrick Hicks shared it was on Kindle deal for either $0.99 or $1.99 a few years back. The cover seemed to indicate that it was going to be a fun creature feature and with a title like ‘Trollnight’ I was excited. I didn’t really read the synopsis, nor did I before diving in recently, but having now finished the book and reading the synopsis, I’m still a bit torn over how misleading it ultimately is.

I do have Tremayne’s book ‘Snowbeast!’ as well, but I’m honestly nervous about diving into that one after reading this.

What I liked: The setup screams ‘a book Steve will love.’ After a woman dies in Norway her brother goes to try and find out more information. He’s not convinced she died the way the authorities say and when he gets there discovers that a supernatural reason might be behind her death.

Yeah? Yeah? Sounds great, right?

After finishing this one, I’m actually surprised I didn’t DNF it. I’ll get more into that in the next section, but let’s talk about what I enjoyed.

The book bristles with tension and dread. We expect something monumental to happen and we get sucked along as more and more layers are unveiled and we get the expected ‘the plot thickens’ moments. I enjoyed how Dr. Stevens kept after the truth, believing his gut feeling about his sister and how he was willing to put himself in danger time and time again to try and uncover the truth.

The setting of the book was also phenomenal and it actually works to make this book almost timeless. Set in a remote location in Norway, where often they have to walk/hike to different places, even if cellphones were prominent or this was set in the current reality, they most likely wouldn’t have reception. This allowed for the action to pick up when, if set in a modern city, would simply be over after a phone call or text message.

As for the troll aspect, well, the few chapters were we see some troll action are the best parts of the book.

What I didn’t like: I typically try and remain completely spoiler free, but this book completely lies to the reader with the synopsis, so boo on that. Look, the reality is, this book is about a brother and a police chief who uncover a black magic group and need to discover why people have been murdered. The trolls are seldom even an issue, and we get more time hearing about how the townsfolk believe a troll is seeking vengeance than any actual troll action.

We get a number of ridiculous plot points – such as the entire reason Dr. Stevens doesn’t believe his sister died skiing was because she had a fear of skiing and being outside. That’s it. Seriously. It gets brought up over and over again.

We also get characters shrugging after every single sequence of dialogue as well as they either have a moment of emotion pass over their faces or they bite their lip and look away. Every time. Doesn’t matter which character it is, someone will say something and BAM – a shrug or lip bite.

And lastly (I could actually go on but won’t) one of the most interesting characters, Inga, gets left behind every time to wait for the police simply because she’s a woman. It drove me batty. Here, Dr. Stevens doesn’t speak much/any Norwegian and has never been here before, but he frequently leaves her and runs off while chasing a hunch. It became laughable.

Why you should buy this: Look, at the end of the day, if this was called something else, say ‘A Death in the Fjord’s’ and was marketed as a thriller with nothing to do with Troll’s the book would be infinitely better and infinitely more accurate. You may very well love this ‘who-done-it’ thriller, but you won’t be getting any sort of Troll fix here and for that, I’m truly disappointed.

2/5

Book Review: The Hunger by Alma Katsu

Title: The Hunger

Author: Alma Katsu

Release date: March 6th, 2018

First, an apology to Alma. This book has arrived at the top of my TBR two times over the last year or so, but each time I bumped it for an urgent review book for over on Kendall Reviews. That is 100% my bad and now having read this brutal piece of historical fiction, I can’t believe I didn’t read this sooner. So my apologies, Alma.

If you’ve been a life long fan of the mysterious, the macabre and the dark, you’ve no doubt come across the haunting tale of The Donner Party. The group of people who attempted, and failed, to cross over west through a high mountain pass. They never made it and when they were discovered, it was found that some had resorted to eating those who perished before them to try and stay alive.

It is with that back drop that Katsu delivers a novel of sublime beauty. I know it’s an odd phrase to use, considering plot, but the landscape and terrain felt so vibrant, so alive throughout that it felt more cinematic than literal. You could picture the slow moving wagon train crossing the plains. You could see the people and smell the families as they approached the unpassable pass and when things went dark and dirty (and boy do they ever) Katsu dimmed the light and drew the shades and made this readers stomach curdle.

What I liked: As noted in the afterword, Katsu took numerous liberties with the real-life narrative, in telling this tale of the group of settlers migrating west in the hopes of settling in California. They want to leave their troubles and worries behind and create new lives for themselves and for their families. 

One thing to note, which works perfectly towards the downfall of the group, is the time period. Late 1800’s. Men are the be-all end-all. They have the say, they make the decisions and in most cases it is the ones with the most money and loudest voice that are the ones to lead, even if they are not the smartest or the most skilled. I’d add in some note about the similarities to today’s political landscape, but I try to keep these reviews away from politics, wink wink.

The characters are so well done. Each and every one of them is given the room to grow and breathe so that when things go south, we feel the losses, we are saddened and dismayed and repulsed when Katsu starts to dispatch them. 

Now, for me, I typically don’t enjoy anything epistolary in story telling, but the letters that were used to move the plot along were really great and I liked the pacing changes they created.

Lastly, the ending! THE ENDING! The last quarter or so of this book reads and feels soooo differently than the first quarter and that just shows Katsu’s masterful way she’s crafted this story. It’s as though she wrote the first half with her historical fiction pen and the second half with her brutal horror pen. I loved how this takes a slight turn and things go all splattery.

What I didn’t like: Even though I loved the characters, at the beginning I did find there to be a significant amount of them introduced in a short period of time. Necessary for sure, but if you have trouble keeping track of who is who, you may be bogged down at the beginning.

Why you should buy this: Katsu has delivered an absolutely perfect novel with ‘The Hunger.’ This takes a fairly well known event and breathes fresh life and new blood into it and kept me riveted. From page one until the horribly bleak final line, Katsu will have you unnerved. You start reading knowing something horrible is coming, but she demonstrates that the true horror was the wrong decisions made along the way that ultimately led to the death of numerous people. Books like this are great because it’ll also make you stay up after you’ve finished reading it, doing a deep dive on Google and Youtube.

Well done, Alma, this was so fantastic and I can see why it was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel.

5/5

 

Book Review: Drops of Insanity by Jeff Oliver

Title: Drops of Insanity

Author: Jeff Oliver

Release date: October 31st, 2021

Huge thanks to Jeff for sending me a digital copy of his poetry collection!

He reached out and asked if I’d want to give it a read. I said ‘absolutely, but probably not until December.’ Turns out I lied, ha!

Today is snow-maggeddon here where I live and because of that, my entire morning of work has essentially cancelled and rescheduled, so I figured I’d dive in and make my way through a few poems. Well, it turns out the writing flows, the poems are short and sweet and over the course of 90 minutes or so, I was able to wrap this up.

What I liked: ‘Drops of Insanity’ tackles a lot of dark topics. Jeff does a great job of keeping most of them metaphoric, but in some instances (especially the shorter ones) the subject matter is painfully obvious. Deceit, deception, abuse, hurt, and more all come barreling to the surface.

Stand out poems for me were;

‘The Most Beautiful Lies’ – three lines that told an entire story worth of hurt.

‘It Just Is’ – four lines that offer a powerful desire. Really vast in scope for only nineteen words.

‘Priorities’ – a poignant piece about change and one’s surroundings.

‘”Fly” All the Way Over It’ – a powerful mantra to never look back.

‘Searching for Sanity’ – a four line poem that describes significant inner turmoil.

‘Fear the Monsters’ – probably my favorite of the bunch. A short poem that acts as a visceral reflection on humans.

‘Her Soul to Keep’ – the longest and most ambitious poem in the collection, it tells a brutal story filled with twists, turns and plenty of blackness.

Oliver did a great job of keeping things feeling fresh throughout and work the words in a way to make them both deep but also accessible.

What I didn’t like: I say it every time, but I’m no poetry scholar, just a dude who reads and loves dark fiction. The only thing that really stood out for me that I found a bit overdone or repetitive was the frequency of exclamation marks. Maybe it’s because my own editor always tells me that using too many reduces their effectiveness, but there was a significant amount in here, which made some feel more like hard rock lyrics than introspective poems.

Why you should buy this: If you like dark poetry, this one is a great collection to add to your own TBR. Jeff does a lot with a little, which I find works really well for me, when I read poetry. He kept everything feeling fresh and it didn’t feel like things were reused over and over and that you were reading the same poem told multiply times in different fashion.

A really solid collection.

4/5

Book Review: Goblins by David Bernstein

Title: Goblins

Author: David Bernstein

Release date: Originally published August 4th, 2015, re-published April 23rd, 2020

I don’t recall why this book came onto my radar, but one thing is for sure, the cover art by Lynne Hansen absolutely got my attention and practically forced myself to buy this book. Growing up, I was always a fan of watching the cheap creature movies that’d be on Showcase and Movie Central every Friday and Saturday nights here in Canada. There was always three things you could expect when watching these movies – scares, gore and gratuitous nudity. Three things this movie loving teenaged boy lived for.

This book (while lacking any nudity! ha!) reads like a movie perfectly made for those evenings. We get a small town, with a Chief of Police who escaped to live here, away from his past and his own demons and of course we get a centuries old curse on the island where a Goblin King attempts to gain enough power to return to the surface.

Going in, I wasn’t expecting much more than rapid-fire gore, brutal deaths and crazy creatures, which on that note, this book knocked it out of the park.

What I liked: The story follows along as Chief Hale tries to figure out who is taking the local kids. It’s a fairly straight forward story and I think that part works well and is what made me enjoy it as much as I did.

The action is crisp, the gore is really well done and as brutal as you’d expect and the creatures were fantastic. I loved the aspects of when certain characters would come back and how the humans were struggling to comprehend just what was going on.

One absolute highlight for me was the battle scene that took place when the police find the entrance to where the Goblins are coming from. I don’t think that’s a spoiler, considering the nature of the book, but wow, was that a fun few chapters and seeing how certain elements were introduced and specific sequences played out. Incredibly engaging.

What I didn’t like: The story attempts to have depth by having every single officer have a horribly tragic back story. It actually became tiring to know that when a new cop arrived, we’d get a chapter ending cliff hanger, only to have the next chapter be devoted to the ‘why’ of this person becoming a police officer. The attempt was to create connection and empathy but it became quickly over-used and border line comical.

As well, the climatic scene was more of fizzle, with the ending really being a few sentences long and it was done and over with, which was incredibly frustrating considering the build up we’d had leading to that moment. And I’ll add the final chapter, before the epilogue, reads like a glossed over, add-on, to wrap up the characters story arc’s.

Why you should buy this: Look, at the end of the day, I had fun with this one. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t horrible, and it had some really entertaining parts. The creature feature portion was the absolute highlight, even if the Goblin King felt horribly underutilized.

If you’re looking for a quick, snappy, action-filled read, this one will fit in nicely and make you grin more than a few times.

3/5

Book Review: The Human Son by Adrian J. Walker

Title: The Human Son

Author: Adrian J. Walker

Release date: April 28th, 2020

I’m late to the game with Adrian J. Walker’s writing. I read his fantastic novel ‘The End of the World Running Club’ not that long ago, and really, really enjoyed it. I wanted to check out more of his work, and ‘The Human Son’ was the novel that really seemed to leap out and speak to me the most.

One thing I often find interesting, to my reading brain at least, is that 99% of what I read is typically what I’d deem ‘hard horror.’ The other 1% is filled with the other genres that have my interest – sci-fi, some non-fiction, the occasional thriller and once in a while the releases considered speculative fiction. I’m not great with the genre labels, but ‘The Human Son’ does seem to sit firmly in the dystopian/speculative/sci-fi realm.

The story picks up roughly 500 years after the last human on earth has died. Now, a collection of Ertlings, human-like inhabitants that were created by the humans to return the earth to a livable/inhabitable condition are nearing the end of their time. They’ve achieved their tasks and are setting the stage for Transcendence, when they’ll leave this realm and travel somewhere else.

What I liked: With a synopsis like that I was intrigued to see what Walker would do with it and where he’d take the story. The part that really got me intrigued was as these Ertlings were planning to leave, they decided to create a single human, a boy, and see if this boy would grow and prosper and make different decisions than the humans who destroyed the world.

This book tackles a huge scope of ideas and real world issues. Climate change, hierarchy of residents, stereotypes, social stigma’s, race and gender roles and even what truly determines if someone is someone’s parent. The book has so many seemingly innocent moments that broke my heart. It’s the journey of a parent watching their child grow up and coming to the realization that they won’t always be there to protect their loved one. As the father of a five year old (at the time of this review) I see this in so many things. Of his growing independence, his developing of friends which will soon lead to less time for me, and even just in how he’s developing and getting smarter and smarter. Infinitely proud but also filled with a sorrow that soon our time that we share together won’t be the same. Soon, he’ll move away and only call sporadically.

The story is told through the perspective of Ima, an Ertling who’d previously been in charge with repairing the sky and the air on earth. Now that her purpose is complete, she volunteers to raise the human son and determine if he is capable of change and if the human race should be reintroduced to the planet.

I loved seeing the may Ima changed over time and went from a data collector who only cared about analysis to a caring, empathetic and emotional being.

Walker does a great job of keeping tension throughout a book that on its surface, really shouldn’t have that much tension. I absolutely HAD to know what happened next and it didn’t take long before I was pushing my other books I’m reading to the side to solely focus on this one.

Lastly, the ending of this book is both spectacular and had me bawling my eyes out. Beautiful, poignant and heartbreaking, but also filled with so much hope.

What I didn’t like: To be upfront, I’m not sure how well this book will resonate or connect with people who’re not parents of any kind – be it kid or animal. I fear that some parts may come off as tedious, repetitive and boring, but wow did these moments bring me back to the early days of raising my son and going through all of that.

Why you should buy this: This is one of the reasons why speculative fiction can work so very well and this book both posits so many questions but also tries to give us some answers. This is accessible sci-fi, accessible dystopian fiction and the bonus was, we get a book that isn’t filled with war and violence and death. Walker is a true master and this book just hits so many highs that it’s a shame that I had to finish it. Well done, and a world I’ll never forget.

5/5

Book Review: Ghostland: Infinite by Duncan Ralston

Title: Ghostland: Infinite

Author: Duncan Ralston

Release date: November 19, 2021

And so we arrive at the third and final book in Duncan Ralston’s highly ambitious Ghostland Trilogy.

What a journey it’s been.

We started out with one of the most mysterious, engaging and well constructed marketing events that I’ve ever seen, which led into the stunning ‘Ghostland’ opener. This introduced us to Duck Falls, Rex Garrote, Ethereals and a cast of characters that felt vibrant and fresh while also like old friends. From there, Ralston pushed the narrative and opened the landscape wider with book two, ‘Afterlife.’ We got to see more of the aftermath of the events in book one, while also learning more about Garrote and having some new characters arrive while saying goodbye to some familiar faces. Book two, even with all of its charm, is what it is – a sequel that sets up the finale. Not to say that is a bad thing or that the book was lacking or dipped, but that the reality was – Ralston needed to set up questions that wouldn’t be answered in there, that the readers would need to be invested enough to tag along for book three.

And now that I’ve read book three?

I think those who’ve loved the first two (as well as the prequel novella ‘The Moving House’) will find themselves rewarded and enriched after reading what Ralston has done here.

What I liked: The third book acts as Ralston has intended. I’ll try to be super vague as well to remain spoiler free, as some folks might’ve been waiting for this book to arrive before diving into the entire series. It picks up after the events of book two and does a great job of introducing us to a few new set pieces and characters before we are re-introduced to Garrote and his evil plans.

I really loved how familiar the world feels and it reminded me of how George R.R. Martin has accomplished that. Martin has crafted a world that is massive in scope with a million moving parts and characters, but each time they feel familiar and solid in their crafting. That is the same here with what Ralston’s done. It is highly impressive and I’m not ashamed to admit I’m in awe at the scale of storytelling Ralston has delivered. This is superb and so thorough that I’d hazard 99% of all of the questions and loose ends get answered and tied up. Saying that, he very deliberately left a few morsels dangling that leave threads available for him to return to this world if he so chooses.

At this point in this review, you’re probably thinking to yourself – ‘jeeze, Steve, you are being super vague.’ Yes. And I apologize about that, but the reality here is Ralston has set things up so well from book one, which still works perfectly as a stand alone novel, might I add, that to say specific details of some key moments would essentially ruin the entire book for you. If you’ve read book two – you’ll have some questions that you want answered. And now, if I said for example ‘X goes here and does this,’ you’ll get angry because that will answer that question. So (insert sticking tongue out gif here) too bad! HA!

I will say, the finale of the trilogy finale is fantastic and I loved seeing how Ralston wrapped everything up. He does a great job of ensuring each of the main/major characters get their moments and for those who depart from this world (even the pesky Ethereals) you’ll be happy to see they’ve played a purpose.

What I didn’t like: I’ve laid out a bunch of why I loved this trilogy and how well this book worked as the finale, but I will say – it did pain me a bit to see just how far away this trilogy moved from the basis of book one. I remember reading book one and my eyes going wide when it read like Jurassic Park with Ghosts. Don’t get me wrong, Ralston has elevated his game here, but I loved the concept of book one soooo much.

Why you should buy this: I think, at the end of the day and at the end of the trilogy, Ralston has shown how masterful of a writer he is. This is a truly serious undertaking and I’d hope we see a gorgeous omnibus hardcover edition come out in the future with maps and family tree’s and character synopsis’ etc. For those who believe Ralston is a one trick pony (and who’ve not read any of his other, wonderful books besides WOOM) this series should bash those thoughts into a million pieces. From book one to book three, Ralston has shown, even over course of a few years, how stunning of a writer he is and how he’s always working hard on his craft to improve and I, personally, am just blown away.

This series is phenomenal from start to finish and in the author’s notes after, he hints at some related projects we’ll see in the future, which should make fans of his and this world very, very happy.

Well done, Duncan. Truly an amazing undertaking.

5/5

Book Review: Handmade Monsters by D.W. Gillespie

Title: Handmade Monsters

Author: D.W. Gillespie

Release date: June 12th, 2018

I’ve become a fast fan of D.W. Gillespie’s dark fiction. Between the phenomenal ‘One by One’ and the superb ‘The Toy Thief’ (which is one of my all-time fav books), Gillespie has delivered some really fantastic reads. I’ve also had the privilege of reading an unreleased novel that he is currently seeking a publisher for, and I have to say – it might be his best work yet.

But, I realized, I’d not read anything else from Gillespie and I know he has a number of releases. Off to the Zon I went, but oddly, and to my surprise, the only other release for Kindle was his collection ‘Handmade Monsters.’ Fair enough, Steve snagged it and dove in!

What I liked: The stories within cover a wide range of subject matter, but one thing I found time and time again was that most stories were focused around family and events that disrupt their existence. There were occasions, sure, where it was a straight forward story, but the ones that really had me on the edge of my seat all were centered around family. Maybe this speaks to where I am at in my own life? Who knows, but for what ever reason these all brought me the most joy.

Let’s dive into a few that really stood out for me!

‘The Tree Man.’ The first story in the collection is stunningly superb. This follows a family as it falls apart before our eyes. A husband and wife, with an odd son, all see something odd, all experience changes and before we know it, Gillespie rips everything apart. This is part folklore, part drama, but 100% phenomenal.

‘All Safe in Here.’ A post-apocalyptic story about a son making his way to the fallout shelter his dad made and waiting around for him. This was equal parts claustrophobic and unnerving. Typically, I’m not a fan of epistolary story telling set ups where it’s told through journals/diary entries etc, but this one worked really well.

‘Circle of Mist.’ This ended up being my personal favorite of the bunch. We arrive as a mother is near the end of her life and her battle with a disease, and her two kids struggle with the realization they’ll be living with their abusive step dad once she passes. One morning, they see something outside and this changes everything. I loved where Gillespie took this and how it played out. Just outstanding.

‘Something In Our House.’ Gillespie takes a fairly common horror story trope (kid thinks there’s monsters in the house at night) and injects some new life into the premise. We get some freaky dreams, odd happenings and eventually a horrific finale. Really well done and one that had me pulling my feet further away from the end of the bed.

Gillespie does an amazing job bringing these stories alive and from start to finish the collection is really solid.

What I didn’t like: There will always be a few stories in a collection that you don’t really click with or that fall a bit flat. Reader mileage will always vary, but I will say – I had fun with each and every story here.

Why you should buy this: Well first, if you haven’t read either ‘One by One’ or ‘The Toy Thief,’ I can’t recommend either enough. Both are out through Flame Tree Press, so you already have an idea of the caliber of releases they have.

Secondly, if you’re looking for a really great collection filled with stories that hum and crack with emotion but frequently go dark and then darker, look no further. Gillespie showcases why I consider him a must-read author time and time again!

4/5

 

Book Review: The Briar by Craig Wesley Wall

Title: The Briar

Author: Craig Wesley Wall

Release date: September 1st, 2021

I actually have a few of Craig’s books on my TBR, but have yet to get to them. When ‘The Briar’ was announced, the synopsis sounded right up my alley and I clicked that pre-order button super fast. I was hoping to have read it near release date, but as sometimes happens, and with the toppling scope of my ever-growing TBR, I just got to it now.

I was really intrigued to see what Craig crafted here with this PNW-Folklore style story, as I spent over a decade of my life living just north of the area where Craig lives and where this is set.

What I liked: A decade ago, Eli was swept away in the night by his mother, his father yelling at them to go. Now, all these years later, he learns that his father has died and the house has been left to him. Begrudgingly, Eli heads back, travelling from Portland to the remote small town in northern Washington to clean it up and sell it as fast as he can.

Now, don’t get me wrong – this is a setup/trope frequently used and I could see why maybe some people might be on the fence about diving into that narrative once again – but rest assured, that is the only part of that trope that Craig uses.

When Eli arrives, he sees the town has dried up, the once fertile farmlands barren and instead vines, blackberry vines are everywhere. The small town that Craig creates was fantastic and eerily familiar. Where I lived, in Abbotsford, BC, we would often order products to be picked up just across the Canada/US border in the very small village of Sumas, in Whatcom County. They had everything Craig described here; boarded up hotels, saloons and restaurants. When we still lived in that area, there were a number of restaurants and gas stations that still flourished, what with it being right at the border crossing, but I’ve heard due to Covid, some of that has faded away.

Craig also does a fantastic job of creating some really creepy characters. People you know instantly are not what they seem and when we learn the ‘true reason’ for Eli returning, it’ll make your blood run cold.

When the feces hits the fan at about the 75% mark and we get to see, not only the creature that has been set up, but the action that occurs around it, Wesley Wall goes full tilt and the carnage and devastation was truly phenomenal.

What I didn’t like: There’s a reason for it, but there’s an offshoot side story about Eli and his significant other. She has news but can’t share what it is until he returns (which every single person will guess what it is immediately) and this is used later on. Like I mentioned, there is a reason for it, but I’d have almost preferred it to not have even been mentioned earlier.

Why you should buy this: Folklore, when done well, is for me at least, quite possibly the most frightening subgenre of the horror world, knowing that people will do whatever it takes to offer sacrifice to their God or whatever it is they’re worshipping. Wesley Wall offers up ‘The Briar’ into that world and he knocks it out of the park. For fans of Adam Nevill’s folklore fiction, you’ll absolutely eat this one up and with it being a novella, with all of the fat cut from the bones, this is a lean, mean story that hums along at a million-miles-an-hour. Kudos to Craig for forcing me to stay awake two nights in a row so that I could finish this one, as I desperately wanted to see how it played out.

Outstanding work.

5/5

Book Review: Rejects by Matthew Vaughn

Title: Rejects

Author: Matthew Vaughn

Release date: May 31, 2021

If you’ve read my other Vaughn review from today (Mephistopheles Den) you’ll have read about my first excursion into buying from Godless and what Godless is all about.

I won’t rehash any of that here, but I will say, I was happy to have not one, but two, Vaughn releases to dive into.

What I liked: ‘Rejects’ features a trilogy of short stories that have appeared in various anthologies, collected here for the first time.

Hammer Smashed Face – if you listen to death metal at all, you’ll have heard Cannibal Corpse’s song ‘Hammer Smashed Face.’ This story took really only the title into consideration, as instead, we pick up with a man doing some housework, who smashes his thumb with a hammer. As he goes to leave to get help, his neighbor barges in, telling him he can’t go outside, as there are monsters out there. Vaughn does a great job of creating tension in this one and having some brutal scenes in such a short page count.

Feelings of Malaise – absolutely my favorite of the three, we arrive to find a man sitting in a strange waiting room. Across from him, another person is attempting to do something horrible to themselves. When he is called into see the doc, his wound has changed and things go from bad to worse. Vaughn even says this is Cronenberg-esque and the story is all the better for it.

Showdown at a Seventh Street Strip Club – this one was actually a ton of fun. It was essentially an Extreme Horror take on the movie ‘The Hangover.’ We get two friends who can’t remember much, piecing together the events after they decide to go to a strip club and do drugs. Such a blast.

What I didn’t like: The stories were all good, but as Vaughn even mentions in his notes, they all would’ve benefitted from a longer word count. Each one either just ends or is missing a bit of detail to truly elevate them.

Why you should buy this: If you’re a fan of Vaughn’s these are great stories to read and see him work outside of his normal characters. If you’re a new fan or Extreme Horror Fan, these are all great starting points.

4/5

Rejects by Matthew Vaughn