Steve Stred's Blog, page 69

Book Review: Mephistopheles Den by Matthew Vaughn

Title: Mephistopheles Den

Author: Matthew Vaughn

Release date: October 13, 2021

For those unaware or not tuned into the Indie Horror Community, over the last year or so, a new player has arrived in the shape of Godless. Godless is considered an alternative to Amazon. A place where Extreme and Indie Authors can have a platform to sell their releases and skirt around the ever growing arm of Amazon. For some – this is their only option – having been previously banned by Amazon due to content. For others – this is another place for them to connect with potential readers and find the right reader for their work.

On my end – I’ve not dove into Godless much. Consider it platform burnout/time limitations. At the heart of it, I’m not a massive Extreme Horror fan. Don’t get me wrong, Extreme Horror when done well is fantastic and can be utterly moving and emotional, but I’m not always seeking gore and blood and cuts and private parts chopped off. But, saying all of that, Godless has a really well curated depth of authors and creators and having their own platform also means they can navigate easier through the pricing options as Amazon has minimum prices etc.

So, what purpose did I have for this long winded intro? Ha… uh… one sec, let me check my notes… oh yeah, yeah – Matthew Vaughn. Mr. Vaughn. Mr. Massive Beard. I connected with Vaughn some time ago and we’ve kept in touch every since. Throughout this period, I’ve also read a few of his releases, and really enjoyed his Hellsworld Hotel novella. A novella about the Harrington family and their haunted house, which is just a front so they can brutally slaughter random customers. From there I read the prequel, Lucifer’s Manor, and enjoyed it as well.

But now, we’ve arrived at Mephistopheles Den. A second prequel to Hellsworld Hotel and I couldn’t wait to read it. Vaughn has now moved over to the Godless world – you can still find his earlier work on the zon – so, ole Steve-a-ree-no made his first ever Godless purchase (this one, another Vaughn and a third book!) and dove in.

What I liked: If you’ve read either of Lucifer’s Manor or Hellsworld Hotel, you know exactly what you’re in for. The difference here is Vaughn adds an emotional layer that I wasn’t expecting.

The story follows Lucy, a young 18-year-old woman, who is in an emotionally abusive relationship ship with a much older male. Halloween has arrived and they decide to go see what the fuss is over the Haunted House attraction that has popped up for one night only.

We get a great secondary storyline featuring some high school students who go as well and happen to bump into Lucy and her crew, and of course, we get a whole lot of blood and gore, courtesy of the Harrington Family.

Vaughn does a great job of setting up the story until they arrive at the Haunted House, and once there we see how each character reacts and how the Harrington’s live for this night.

The ending was great, I would suspect this was the last prequel we’ll have, which may lead into a sequel of Hellsworld Hotel and I really enjoyed seeing the trajectory Lucy’s character took.

What I didn’t like: As I mentioned, I’m not the biggest Extreme Horror fan, so once the killings began some of them felt a bit ‘more-of-the-same.’ I would imagine for fans who read these for the splatter effect, you’ll truly love the ultra-violence that takes place within the attraction.

Why you should buy this: Vaughn is a respected and well known name in the Extreme Horror Community and his longevity in the game shows in his writing. Well crafted, well set up and following a traditional beginning-middle-end plot, we get a really fun character study embedded in a truly horrific evening.

4/5

Mephistopheles Den by Matthew Vaughn

Book Review: Into the Mist by Lee Murray

Title: Into the Mist (Taine McKenna Adventures #1)

Author: Lee Murray

Release date: April 13, 2016

I’ve had this book on my Kindle for some time, and as I’ve made my way through my TBR and its slowly ascended to the tip top, Lee Murray has went from a revered author who has been nominated for a number of awards, to a revered author who has won numerous awards. Through all of that, Lee has remained one of the kindest and most generous people in the horror community.

(Hilariously – I finished this last night and I’m posting this review today – which just happens to also be a celebratory day as the ‘Tortured Willows’ poetry anthology Lee is a part of has launched! Big congrats, my full review for that will be on Kendall Reviews in the next few days!)

So, Taine McKenna. His first adventure. Oddly – this won’t be my first go-around with Mr. McKenna. In fact, I’ve already read a story of his in Lee’s fantastic ‘Grotesque: Monster Stories’ that came out last year. I really enjoyed that story, but definitely felt like I was missing a bit about him, his character, so it was great to go back to the start.

What I liked: The story is relatively straightforward. Taine and his crew are sent alongside a geological survey team on an “off-the-record” mission. People have been going missing, including a relative of a high ranking official.

From there, Murray transports us into the remote jungles of Te Urewera National Park and we quickly discover that the beast that is creating all of this havoc is more powerful, and intelligent, than previously understood.

I loved the fact that Lee took her time to set this up and we get some solid backstory, lead up and hike in, which often can be pushed aside to get the reader to arrive at the creature as soon as possible, which usually is a detriment to character development. Not here, not in the hands of a master storyteller.

We also get a large amount of traditional stories and history peppered throughout, which was fantastic. There is a lot of slang terms used/location specific words (there is a glossary in the back) but it only worked to heighten the feeling of being a part of McKenna’s team and being actually on location.

McKenna himself is a well done character, not over the top military, but a kind, caring leader who wants to ensure everyone survives. His right-hand man, Trigger, was also really well done.

I actually found myself enjoying Jules (Dr. Asher!) and Jug’s characters maybe the most. Jug was a really great secondary character to root for, and as the team medic, I loved how he stayed grounded and rational. Jules was a strong female in an otherwise testosterone based cast, especially after another female character disappears.

What I didn’t like: A number of the other characters ultimately felt unnecessary, and Jules boss showing up didn’t have the dynamic I thought we’d get. These other characters (while necessary in the sense that the army would send all of McKenna’s team) didn’t add any emotional impact along the way, so when any of them met their ends, I easily moved on.

Why you should buy this: You may find it odd that I got to the end of my review and haven’t really even mentioned the antagonist, the beastie featured within. Well, stress no more. The creature (they ultimately give it a genus name) is truly fantastic and every single scene where they arrive and chaos ensues was top notch and such a fun moment to see how the characters reacted and what the outcomes would be.

Murray has started a series here that is engaging, feels fresh and incredibly cinematic in scope, which is phenomenal when you consider the good versus bad/evil story plot that we get.

Really great stuff from one of the best out there!

4/5

Book Review: Compendium of Creatures by Ksenia Murray

Title: Compendium of Creatures

Author: Ksenia Murray

Release date: October 1st, 2021

I’ve only read one short story prior to this collection from Ksenia Murray, but it stuck with me, to the point that when she tweeted out looking for any one available to give her newest collection a read, I jumped at it. I’ve hit another groove with my reading here, and knew I’d be able to slot it in and start on it asap.

I didn’t ask about a synopsis before hand. Why? Judging from the title and the fact that it was a short story collection, I just assumed each story would revolve around a different creature!

I just want to add that midway through the first story, I was enjoying it so much, that I snagged the Kindle version of her novella ‘The Cave,’ which I’ll be starting in the next few days!

What I liked: The stories in here cover a range of creatures from around the globe, but what I really found to be the highlight was the way Murray made the characters within each come alive in such a short time. That’s tough to do, especially when you have limited word counts and want to rip and shred and decapitate those who wander where they shouldn’t, but story after story after story, she delivered relatable characters that all felt like you knew them before reading their story.

The opener ‘Pipes’ just may be my favorite of the batch. We follow young friends, Jeff and Chris, as they go and explore the drainage/sewage pipes near their homes. The story itself went places that I expected but also in directions I wasn’t, which really had me on edge.

‘Inheritance’ was a fun look at Leo and Oliver, new home owners, who’ve just moved in when they hear a noise. Of course, like every moron in dark fiction, they go to investigate and what they find isn’t so nice.

‘The Receptionist’ was a fun story. Sharing the arrival of a rookie in the Army, they end up overseas and the draw of the exotic ‘ladies-of-the-night’ is just too much for him to ignore. I loved how short and snappy this one was and how, even though you knew what was going to become of our soldier, you couldn’t wait to see it happen.

‘The Snow Globe’ was another really great story. Cynthia receives a gift from her grandma on the day she is born. Over the years she realizes a pixie lives within it. But when she wants to leave it behind and move to college, she sees just how malevolent that little pixie really is.

My other favorite was ‘Its In the Garden.’ Mia gets a phone call from her grandmother that something is in her garden eating her prized flowers. I never, never, in a million years would’ve imagined where this story went. Not only with what is actually in her garden but also the reason’s etc etc.

Murray does a great job of keeping each story fresh and inviting and ensuring that tension is used to perfection.

What I didn’t like: As with any collection/anthology a few stories weren’t really for me. A few stories also felt like I would’ve enjoyed them a bit more if they went full Rated R instead of almost a soft R. Hard to describe, but it felt like maybe a bit was held back or softened.

Why you should buy this: Murray has delivered a really great, engaging collection filled with fast-paced stories and characters you’ll root for. I really loved the variety within and can’t wait to dive into ‘The Cave.’

Awesome job!

4/5

Book Review: Temple of Ghosts by J.H. Moncrieff

Title: Temple of Ghosts (Ghost Writers Series #3)

Author: J.H. Moncrieff

Release date: November 6th, 2017

Jackson and Kate return, in this, Moncrieff’s third entry into her fantastic Ghost Writers Series. The series itself now has six books out as well as the first in a spin off series, but I’m still plugging away, now having finished the third book. Moncrieff is one of my favorite writers, but with series’ it is always a dilemma. Do you dive into the next book right away? Do you take some time between releases?

In this case, I decided to take some time away, but am so happy to have returned to the ever expanding world of these two supernatural/paranormal helpers. After events in China and then Poviglia, we now see ourselves heading to Egypt, a place that’s always held a fascinating and mystical spot in my mind.

(Side note – I’ve already read Moncrieff’s next release – the amazingly dark ‘The Restoration’ out through Flame Tree Press at the end of October – don’t sleep on that one!)

What I liked: After the events in book two, we pick up shortly after in book three. Jackson and Kate realize something else is up and things ramp up and explode from there. It’s tough to really say a lot there as I like to stay as spoiler free as possible, but if you’ve read the first two then you’ll know what I’m alluding too here.

Jackson and Kate discover some eerie warning signs (think biblical events) and decide that all clues lead to confronting the demon that has arrived in Egypt. Moncrieff does a great job of keeping things fresh as we head overseas, but the use of secondary characters never felt more important, nor as well done within the series as it has in this release.

I loved the way the things fall into place once we arrive in Egypt and Moncrieff brings the hustle and bustle alive and vibrant. The action is really well done, I think of the three so far, I liked the descriptions and cinematic scope of these moments the best and we really see just how solid of a team, but also a couple these two have become.

The ending was great, and really does act as a natural ending to a trilogy, but did keep the door open for another release – which we know does happen.

What I didn’t like: As with book two and now in book three, Jackson’s jealous trait really annoys me and ground me when it would happen. Prime example – after discovering something in Kate’s place, they take it to an insect expert. Immediately, Jackson’s thoughts go to how this guy wishes he was with Kate and not just a friend.

Why you should buy this: A fantastic third entry in a series that continues to excite and grow and twist and change, Moncrieff really did a great job of keeping Jackson and Kate feeling fresh and the tension high. Awesome stuff, but would you expect anything less from Moncrieff?

5/5

Book Review: A Cosmology of Monsters by Shaun Hamill

Title: A Cosmology of Monsters

Author: Shaun Hamill

Release date: September 17th, 2019

One thing I try really, really, really hard to do, is to not mention/discuss/compare my own writing within a book review because this space is about me sharing to you (whomever is reading these reviews) about a book I’ve read and what I think you’ll enjoy and what may make you decide to read it. It shouldn’t be about why you should read my work/buy it or how something I’ve written exists in the same space as someone else’s book.

But every once in a while, a book comes along that pushes that to the test. ‘A Cosmology of Monsters’ is such a book. Shaun Hamill is a fantastic guy. We’ve connected via social media and seeing his success has been fantastic, yet – up until now – I had to hold off on reading this. The reason was that a few folks who’ve read the book had messaged me before and told me that the atmosphere and ‘base idea’ (not to say anyone copied anyone etc etc) was eerily reminiscent of my own novella ‘Wagon Buddy.’

I’m still in the ‘Wagon Buddy’ world. In fact, just yesterday I plotted/outlined the third and final ‘Wagon Buddy’ novella. So, out of fairness, I wanted to give myself and this book some space to make sure I could enjoy it as much as I knew I would.

So, how is it “similar”? In Hamill’s, a young kid who’s father has died just after he was born, discovers he has a nightly visitor, a large, clawed beast that seems to be there to be his friend and protect him. He’s not sure where they’re from and the friend won’t tell him. But it opens up so many questions that Noah Turner, our young kid, wants to learn more.

In mine, Scott, a young kid, who’s father has abandoned his family, is bullied. Discovering an immense, trench-coat, mask wearing imaginary friend one day, realizes his friend is there to protect him. He’s not sure where they’re from and the friend won’t tell him. But it opens up so many questions for Scott.

Cool, yeah?

Now, other than those, there are some similarities in the journey our characters take from start to finish, but that’s about it, two very very different stories that are grounded by this shared space of a young kid, growing up, trying to find their place in the world, but also having this friend that they can’t tell anyone about. Love it.

What I liked: As mentioned above, the story follows our main character, Noah, over the course of his life. We get to see the family before he arrives and their decision to create and operate a haunted house attraction.

From there, we see the spider web cracks created by Noah’s father falling ill and how his passing away affects each of the kids and his mom, as well as the tangible effects that reverberate following.

Hamill writes with such sublime prose. Each and every page hummed and crackled with energy but also the sorrow of a father’s passing. I really loved seeing how Noah’s relationships with his two sister’s and even his mom, were so unique and decidedly different than the other.

The monster who scratches on his window and begins to form a friendship was fantastic as well. I loved the amount of detail/story we got with them and thoroughly loved seeing how Hamill expanded upon it more and more, until we arrived at a point where a decision needed to be made.

Throughout, we have a side story of kidnapped/disappearing people, which worked really well, but when it happened directly to the Turner family, it really elevates the anxiety that seemed to be running just below the surface of the story, but also the tension between the family themselves.

The ending of this was perfect. With how Hamill had set it up and got us from A-B, I was so happy to see us return to C and get the closure we needed, but also the wrap up with the creatures.

What I didn’t like: The only thing I wasn’t too keen on was a specific character within The Fellowship. This was a group of characters who were having meetings to discuss how their family members had disappeared mysteriously. The main male annoyed me to no end, but the character was used well in their minimal involvement.

Why you should buy this: Hamill has really created a beautiful story here, one that covers decades, and how people change the inevitable creep of time can change and sculpt things in ways you never expect. The use of Lovecraft at the beginning to open the concept of other dimensions or monsters among us was great, but the fact that Hamill really created and owned his own monsters within this was stunning.

I’m so happy that I’ve now read this and it’s a book that explores relationships so well that often you’ll forget you’re reading a truly dark, horrific book where people will be ripped apart and stolen in the blink of an eye.

Outstanding work.

5/5

Book Review: Wereworld by Benjamin Percy

Title: Wereworld

Author: Benjamin Percy

Release date: September 14th, 2021

It’s often funny how you’ll yell and shout about your own personal favorite author, practically begging people to read their work, but then have the same happen back to you and you realize – heck, I haven’t actually read anything from them.

That was the case with Adam Nevill. Gavin over at Kendall Reviews recommended Nevill’s work within the first day of us connecting. Nevill is now one of my fav author’s, easily.

So, it has gone with Benjamin Percy and my friend and frequent cover artist, Mason McDonald telling me time and time again to read Percy’s work. Shamefully (and owning I think five of his books) I’ve just now read him for the first time and wow! Wow!

This is a novella, so maybe for some that’s cheating, but within the 50 or so pages, Percy has crafted a story that is not only emotionally layered, but can act as a metaphor for our current world situation with the ongoing Pandemic. Saying that, you can read this without making that connection one bit and take it purely as a story of Lycanthrope mayhem.

I must add, the illustrations from Francesco Francavilla at the start of each chapter were glorious.

What I liked: The story itself takes place over twelve chapters, each chapter covering a month in the year of the werewolf outbreak and uprising. We follow Ted, a crotchety 50ish man who is married and has a daughter. He lives a life filled with structure and routine, but lately has begun to wonder if he’s truly happy.

That is until the Full Moon Massacre occurs and rumors begin to swirl that something is happening, something is being spread and causing people to change and develop a taste for flesh.

Percy writes so beautifully, with simple, straight forward prose that says so much with so little. It really is remarkable and reminds me big time of my own favorite author, Andrew Pyper. No fat, just lean muscle.

The character and neighborhood development/progression as each month passes was fantastic and in a way it reminded me of the early comics from The Walking Dead, where small, subtle changes occur that signify a larger shift in the world, but by the time it’s realized it’s too late to really do anything about it.

The ending was a pitch-perfect, spot-on BANG. I smiled reading the ending, knowing just how well Percy had set it up. It was like watching your favorite comedian delivering his trademark joke.

What I didn’t like: There was dread dripping from the pages, but I wished we would’ve had more carnage in some spots. It’s a minor thing, but when something is alluded too and you want to see the viscera fly, it can be a bit of a moment let down.

Why you should buy this: Percy has given us a fun, fast-paced romp through the darkness of the night. He uses the day to move the story along, while making you squirm and wince with each click-click of nails on the road. Ted was a great character and I loved how each month shifted the needle slightly, until ultimately we’ve arrived to a place where the needle can’t be moved anymore and full tilt bonkers has begun.

Thanks, Mason, for continuing to shout your love of Percy’s work and thank you Benjamin for such a great read.

Highly recommend for fans of werewolf stories. Outstanding.

5/5

Book Review: Night Terrors by Kristen Tomaru

Title: Night Terrors

Author: Kristen Tomaru

Release date: July 21, 2021

I came across this book by chance, scrolling through the Horror Oasis Facebook page. The author (and illustrator) Kristen was looking for some folks to review it. I took a look on Amazon and Goodreads and bought a copy for Kindle.

The book is marketed as ‘nightmare poems for kids,’ but after having read this, I’d suggest that ‘kids’ would be more 10+ maybe even 13+. I myself have a five year old who is obsessed with all things dark and fantastical. He’s a massive Trevor Henderson fan, we’ve watched Beetlejuice already and we spend some time finding creepy creatures on Youtube and Instagram. Not to say he has free reign to watch and see anything and everything – we do monitor and I’ll typically pre-watch things – but we know his limits and stay within them.

Saying all of that – I wouldn’t read these poems to him. I’ll get into it a bit more later, but for a five year old, these would be too intense.

What I liked: Wow, are the illustrations in this book gorgeous. Stunning truly. Even reading this on Kindle, each and every one is so detailed and just phenomenal. This is a book that’d be a true stunner to hold in hand with a physical copy.

The book itself has roughly 16 poems and illustrations, each poem tied into the accompanied illustration (or vice versa). The poem tells a dark story about what you see and each one typically revolves around something coming and snatching/killing/dismembering the sleeping child during the night. Some are tinged with dark humor – we get one about a toilet bowl monster and one about a noxious-fart beast – but otherwise all are similar in nature.

For me, I was a massive fan of The Babadook and loved the book/rhyme that featured. Think of how that was and you’ll have a solid idea of what too expect, but darker, more extreme.

What I didn’t like: While I enjoyed each poem individually, as a whole the reality of each poem having the same layout/rhyme pattern/syllable pattern caused them to all feel a bit similar.

As will, as I mentioned before, the poems here are very dark, very bleak for their intended audience. I’d suggest you pre-read this or even preview it on Amazon’s ‘Look Inside’ feature to see if you’d think it was appropriate for your little one.

Why you should buy this: This was a delicious batch of dark poems that I gobbled up. The illustrations are simply phenomenal. I’ll be grabbing a paperback of this in the future, because it is truly stunning.

If you’re looking for some really bleak poems, like Grimm Fairy Tales but darker for adults, look no further. Kristen has knocked this one out of the park.

4/5

Book Review: The Trench by Paul Mannering

Title: The Trench

Author: Paul Mannering

Release date: March 20th, 2017

First, an apology.

Originally, I was contacted to see if I’d be interested in reading and reviewing Paul’s novel ‘Engines of Empathy.’ I started reading the book and it soon became evident that I was not the right reader for the novel. It has elements of cyberpunk/steampunk/dystopian futures and humor. I’ve never read ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ but the ‘Engines…’ was described as being similar in nature and tone so I was intrigued. If that sounds like a book you’d be keen on – definitely give it a look. So, my apologies that I wasn’t able to complete ‘Engines of Empathy.’

But, I still wanted to read something from Paul and when I looked at the available books on Amazon, ‘The Trench’ jumped out at me. I love underwater-alien type books and if that cover doesn’t snag you I don’t know what will.

What I liked: The story starts out with the pedal-to-the-metal and never lets up. Michael and Nicole, two scientists both dealing with their own personal life issues find themselves together one morning when they’re scooped up by the military and transported to a secret submarine research base. Something’s happened and they need to find out what.

Mannering takes a classic story idea and throws us in head first. The action is fast, the death count incredibly high and the reason behind it all as fascinating and engaging.

I really enjoyed how the characters interacted and even the banter that develops between them works well. The survival aspect was great and Mannering made sure to hype the dread that grows with the reality that even if you survive the craziness, you still need to find a way back to the surface.

The ending is fantastic and as with most creature-feature style books does leave us with the possibility of a follow up but I’ve not found any evidence that one has been produced.

What I didn’t like: The one thing that this book has is fast-paced action. So much so that it also created two issues for me. The first was that the characters get to the base and we discover things have already gone south. I always love when we see the creature/alien type entity that always arrives in underwater horror actually arrive, so it was jarring that we were already past that point. The second was that with such a high body count, we don’t get much connection to many of the characters and as they get picked off there isn’t any emotion behind it.

Why you should buy this: If you enjoyed ‘The Abyss’ or Nick Cutter’s ‘The Deep’ this is definitely a book you’ll want to check out. Fast-paced and full of action, Mannering delivers a story that speeds along and will have you gripped from page one until the very end.

4/5

Book Review: Lost Girls by Andrew Pyper

Title: Lost Girls

Author: Andrew Pyper

Release date: April 13th, 2000

It’s interesting how time and knowledge can seemingly shape or adjust how you read or experience a book.

‘The Demonologist’ was my first experience by Andrew Pyper. Shortly thereafter, ‘The Damned.’ Two of the darkest most haunting books Andrew has released. For me, back then, I had discovered a new-to-me horror author. A writer who wrote International Best-selling novels, but novels that were just as dark and bleak as anything by King, but also as gruesome and disturbing as any of the late night movies I used to stay up and watch.

Over the years, I’ve read the rest of Andrew’s books (as some of you may be aware of! HA!) and I’ve loved seeing the worlds he’s created and the heart-pounding situations we, as readers, get thrown into.

But oddly, it wasn’t until I was knee deep in researching his work for an interview I did with him earlier this year, that it even occurred to me that Pyper wasn’t considered a ‘horror writer’ by a large section of the reading population.

In fact – for many out there – Andrew Pyper is a crime-thriller author who has supernatural elements to his work. Thinking about this really threw me for a loop. I don’t actively seek out crime books (which is funny now considering) and crime fiction often doesn’t really excite me to think about reading it (which is double funny considering I have some work out there that could be described as crime-fiction based), yet here I am constantly gushing over ‘The Killing Circle,’ Andrew’s 2008 crime-thriller.

So it was, that diving into my re-read of ‘Lost Girls,’ that I found myself smiling at the reality of reading a book that is centered around a lawyer, a crime and a court case.

It has been some time since I’d read ‘Lost Girls,’ but I was excited for this re-read for so many reasons. To re-introduce myself to Andrew’s very first book was invigorating. He’d released a short-story collection prior, but that was straight forward fiction with no supernatural undercurrents. No, this was the first book Andrew had released, which won awards and resulted from his agent at the time contacting him to represent him. When he said he didn’t have a book, she said “you will,” and the rest is history.

What I liked: The story of ‘Lost Girls’ itself is simply. Bartholomew Crane is an up-and-coming, hotshot lawyer in Toronto. In a small town in northern Ontario, two teen girls go missing, presumed dead, and one of their teachers is accused of killing them. This teacher, Thomas Tripp, hires the law firm Crane works at to represent him and in turn the case is given to Crane.

But Murdoch, Ontario has a secret, something it longs to keep hidden, even if it keeps coming to the surface.

The prologue sets the stage here and it was interesting to see a novel written twenty years ago read and feel just as vibrant and fresh as anything Andrew’s ever written. There are some noticeable time-period parts that wouldn’t hold up today (Barth has a cell phone but hardly uses it, more-so relying on left messages at the hotel lobby and there’s no usage of email or computers) but otherwise you know you’re immediately in an Andrew Pyper book from page one.

I loved the slow-unravelling of Barth throughout. As he began to feel the hooks of Murdoch lock in and things begin to not only make sense, but also reveal themselves to him. There are a few incredibly unnerving moments throughout, but nothing as unsettling as when Crane comes across the cabin deep in the woods that really does unlock those hidden memories. That moment is the mental climax, if you will, of Barth’s descent. The tipping point, where after that everything cascades rapidly and he goes from running-on-fumes-coke-addict to full on unstable and unhinged.

Funny enough, there’s a scene where Barth looks through his hotel window one evening, only to see two teen girls in flowing dresses waving and beckoning him to come down. He can’t control himself anymore. Why are they tormenting him? He heads down, only to have a close encounter with a truck. This actually offers up a moment where, from that point on, you could argue Barth was actually killed by the truck and everything after is a maddening descent into purgatory. Andrew denies this (I know, I asked! And usually he’s coy and says the readers will make up their own minds, but for this one he rejected that as never a thought he had) but it definitely darkens an already darkened story.

As soul-crushing as it was, I also loved Barth’s interactions with the locals, especially as he comes to realize that many of them know who he really is, but also seeing how much these two girls disappearing has affected the town. As though a ripple has slowly washed over every one.

This is a dark story, a slow burn, and one that grabs and doesn’t let go.

What I didn’t like: As I’ve mentioned, the story opens up with an anxiety-inducing prologue, but from there until some time in, it becomes a fairly straight-forward crime-thriller. If you’re wanting a book that is supernatural from start to finish, this won’t be it. Pyper takes his time setting up Crane’s spiral and I think the term slow-burner is very accurate.

Why you should buy this: If you’re a Pyper fan, you’ve most likely already read it, but if it’s been longer than five years, I’d suggest you dive back into the lake and see if the Lady holds up. I found everything about her unnerving, creepy and horrifying. A perfect antagonist that doesn’t arrive until necessary. If you’ve not read anything from Andrew, this would be an excellent spot to start and introduces his easy way of telling dark, haunting tales that’ll stay with you for many, many long sleepless nights.

5/5

Book Review: Tales From the Parkland by Ronald McGillvary

Title: Tales From the Park Land

Author: Ronald McGillvray

Release date: July 26th, 2021

I’ve not read any of Ronald’s work before grabbing his latest collection, but judging from what I discovered, I’m excited to check out whatever he releases into the world.

Lately, I’ve actually struggled with reading and reviewing short story collections and anthologies due to burn out and the marked effort reading and reviewing these releases takes. When I read novellas or novels I typically don’t take a single note, nor have to worry about remembering key details. With collections and anthologies it is the opposite. Notes on each story and key moments, as with 10-12 stories or more, it can be tough to keep things straight. From all of that, I was burned out on them.

Saying all of that, I’ve been slowly reintroducing collections and when Ronald’s released, I snagged it and bumped it up the TBR. I’m always a fan of discovering new-to-me authors but also new-to-me Canadian authors.

What I liked: Containing eleven short stories and a bonus novella, ‘Tales From the Parkland’ covers a lot of ground and the collection is a strong showcase of how many different avenues dark fiction can travel. McGillvary writes with ease and it’s evident that writing these stories brought him great joy, you can practically feel him smiling at the depravity as each story twists and turns.

The standouts for me would be;

The Garbage Collectors – a dark story of a new family in town that discovers a horrible secret. This one sped along and was unflinching.

Underneath the Stairs – a really quick story that made me laugh. As someone who lived in a house with a creepy basement, this really hit the spot for this reader.

Typo – a story about the unexpected consequences of entering in a website incorrectly. I loved this modernized horror story.

Orphans – this was a deliciously dark story about a strange storm and people seemingly different. Loved the sibling relationship that was showcased.

McGillvary did a fantastic job of making the reader feel comfortable almost immediately in each story, allowing you to just read and not feel like you’ve missed something.

What I didn’t like: As with every short story collection, some stories will hit while some will miss. This one had a ton of great stories and I think fans of dark fiction and short dark fiction will really enjoy what’s offered.

Why you should buy this: McGillvary delivered a really fun collection, filled with a lot of brutal themes. You’ll get werewolves, bumps in the night and things that aren’t what they appear. All making for a fast-paced read, but one filled with stories that’ll stay with you long after you’ve read them.

Great stuff!

4/5