C.B. Calsing's Blog, page 7

A review of "A Black and Endless Sky" (audiobook) by Matthew Lyons

Matthew Lyons’s A Black and Endless Sky is a gripping horror novel that begins strong, releases some of the tension, and then builds to a hard crescendo. After Jonah’s divorce, he and his sister, Nell, decide to road trip from San Francisco to Albuquerque. To start things off, they get in a bar fight with some bikers. Then it’s all downhill from there when Nell becomes possessed by a demon in the Nevada desert. With the wounded bikers and an exorcist dogging their every move, siblings have to figure out how to free Nell and get home.
I find it difficult to enjoy a book when I don’t genuinely like any of the characters. I didn’t find any of them to be particularly sympathetic. From the beginning, Nell is problematic with how she baits her brother into fights. Jonah is somewhat likable at the beginning, but then his character flaws reveal that even he is not going to be the hero of this story. When Ann, the exorcist, comes on the scene, I was expecting to like her and thought she might be the character that drew me in, but her arc went in another direction entirely. However, the plot and the cinematic description of events kept me listening to the audiobook even though I didn’t want to grab a beer with any of the characters. The conflict had the cosmic horror elements I like to see in horror, and the fact that all the characters were sort of bad in their own way lent to the tension. Additionally, the descriptions of the gruesome fights and the visions Nell experiences were effective. They created vivid scenes in my head, some of which I had to take a break from.
What I particularly loved about the audiobook version was that each character — Jonah, Nell, Ann, and Terry (one of the bikers) — each had their own narrator when in their perspective. I love this concept in an audiobook because it really helps keep the characters’ voices true and consistent when listening. I would recommend this audiobook to horror fans and would read other titles from this author to see what else he is doing. All in all, A Black and Endless Sky by Matthew Lyons was a satisfying listen.
I received this audiobook from Netgalley.

"The Theme Is Revenge" Links and Cover

My story "Haunted by the Absent" will appear in "The Theme is Revenge" from https://darklakepublishing.com/.

A collection of gothic suspense set in the 1800s, the anthology certainly promises to be dark and atmospheric. I can't wait to read the other stories included.

Here are the links to Amazone and Goodreads. The release date is April 28, and the presale starts the week before.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09TJB3LS6

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60506253-the-theme-is-revenge

Story Acceptance!

 My story, "Squid and Girl, Girl and Squid" was selected to appear in Dead Sea Press's Death in the Deep anthology. I'm particularly excited by this because it is a charity anthology, raising money for the Shark Trust. My antagonist in this story is a sleeper shark, and I did quite a bit of background reading about sleeper sharks and giant squid (my main character).

I found this little video particularly fascinating while I was working.

Learn more about this anthology and others like it at https://www.bloodriteshorror.com/dsp

A Review of "Vampire Hunter D" (audiobook) by Hideyuki Kikuchi

When I was younger, one of my favorite anime movies was Vampire Hunter D. I loved the atmosphere of it, and as I’ve mentioned in previous reviews, I was sort of obsessed with vampires in middle and high school. I was pretty pleased when I came across the audiobook adaptation of Vampire Hunter D by Hideyuki Kikuchi.

The story is the classic one of a half-human/ half-vampire offspring hunting full-blooded vampires. D comes to the rescue of Doris and her brother after Doris is attacked by the local vampire, Count Lee (yes, pretty certain this is a nod to Christopher Lee and his role in early Dracula films). Lee decides to take Doris for his wife, against the wishes of his daughter who believes the human will pollute their noble line. Meanwhile, Doris must also fight off the suitor from town who is in love with her and another set of hunters and their leader, a beautiful fiend named Rei-Ginsei.

A lot of people probably think this started out as a manga, but it is in fact a novel. The film and manga versions came later. And the book, being from the early 1980s, is full of tropes that we now see throughout manga and anime, many of which started off in Hammer horror films (as shared in the afterword) and science fiction films of the seventies and eighties. The mash-up of horror and decaying technology is what I really love about this world. It was so new and interesting at the time. This is a classic, and in many ways, it stands the test of time.

The narrator, Paul Boehmer, did a fine job, though I did sometimes cringe at his voice for Doris. This is a common pet peeve of mine, however: male narrators doing female voices. I admit that it is something I almost always find a weakness with. In general, his well-paced narration gave all the tension necessary to the action.

This audiobook is a great way to revisit the classic Vampire Hunter D by Hideyuki Kikuchi. I would definitely recommend it to fans of science fiction, horror, and fantasy.

A Review of "Bright Ruined Things" by Samantha Cohoe

Bright Ruined Things by Samantha Cohoe follows the story of Mae over the course of an amazingly tumultuous day. She has spent her life on a magical island, where her father was the caretaker. However, since he died and she is approaching her eighteenth birthday, her future on the Prosper family’s island is in question. She does not want to leave, but how can she stay? The solution: marry one of Lord Prosper’s grandsons. She has had a crush on Miles for years but instead ends up engaged to Ivo, the heir to the Prosper magic. The union with Ivo would cement her position on the island, but she doesn’t love him, and Miles thinks Ivo has been doing something nefarious along with his grandfather. On top of everything else, the spirits that work behind the scenes on the island are appearing near death. All the family secrets are revealed on First Night, the lavish party which celebrates when Lord Prosper first harnessed the magic and spirits of the island. Mae must decide what she really wants in life: magic, the love of the man she desires, or something else entirely.

Loosely based on Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Samantha Cohoe’s Bright Ruined Things is a lush novel set in a time where magic and Hollywood glamor coexist. Beaded silk dresses and lipstick and gold cigarette cases and Champagne, alongside blood magic and spirits who help you dress and serve your tea tray. The supporting cast is multidimensional, and Mae shows satisfying growth over the course of the novel and epilogue. I really enjoyed the story and the touches of opulence and nods to the Bard.

The narrator, Imani Jade Powers, did a wonderful job bringing the world to life with her accent and tones. I found her voice for Mae very believable, and her variation for the other characters was consistent and well-chosen.

I would definitely recommend this book to YA fantasy fans and those who like a little Shakespearean allusion in their reading.

First Acceptance of 2022

I received my first short story acceptance yesterday of the year. The story, "Haunted by the Absent," is loosely inspired by a legend from my husband's family, and the idea has been banging around in my head for a long time. However, it went in a different direction than I intended originally. I am very excited to share it, and a little embarrassed by the praise I received from the editor.
This is my first story acceptance since "The Asylum Musicale" in 2017. I went through quite a dry spell without completing any writing. I feel fortunate that I seemed to get right back into the process after so long. That validates the decision I made to write full time.

Book Review: Below by Laurel Hightower

Laurel Hightower's book Below from Ghoulish Books starts with a jump scare and keeps going from there. After nearly running into a stopped van on the road, Addy stops for a break for her road trip at a truck stop. There she meets a trucker who is willing to convoy with her to make sure she doesn't get lost on the snowy roads. When the trucker crashes through the railing of a bridge, though, Addy's world crashes right down with it. She attempts to rescue the driver but instead becomes lost in a cave system, hunted by something that is other than human.
This is a super quick read. Want a scary story for an afternoon at the beach or snuggled up on the couch? Pick this book up. It’s not just about jump scares and scary cave predators, though. It has a deeper theme about learning to live independently. By the end, it reads like an allegory. Addy is recently divorced, and for most of the book, the voice in her head telling her what to do is that of her ex-husband. Addy’s growth as a character is marked by her perceptions of this and other voices and how those perceptions change.
A bit of a spoiler here: If you want a book that wraps up with answering “Why?” in the narrative, this is not the book for you. Is it a dream? Is it a psychotic break? Was there a cover-up? The answers to those questions won’t be given in the story, but does it really matter?
This book releases on March 29. Definitely check it out if you want a satisfying read with a poignant underlying theme. Buy it straight from the small press:
https://perpetualpublishing.com/product/below/
I received this book as an ARC from the publisher, but this is my honest review.

Book Review: Hold Back the Tide by Melinda Salisbury

Hold Back the Tide by Melinda Salisbury starts off as a thriller: Alva lives with her father, and everyone knows her father killed her mother several years before. Alva is trying to survive long enough to save money and move away from him. Every day, she fears she may be his next victim. The story is set in mid-nineteenth century Scotland, and when you get the audiobook, the narrator is Scottish, which goes a long way to making the story very atmospheric and engaging.

Eventually, however, we learn that this is not just a thriller about a girl living with her murderous father, but a vampire novel! Now, I have been a fan of vampires in literature since I was in middle school, and a lot of the time, I am sort of bored by new interpretations because I've read a lot of vampire stories and written a few of my own. The last one to get me excited was The Strain, both as a book and a television series. Hold Back the Tide got me interested again, the way The Strain did. I was excited to learn how the main character and her friends would combat the invaders to save their village and how Alva went from being an outsider to someone who was trusted and listened to.

Melinda Salisbury did such a good job with this book that I went and checked out another of hers right away, The Sin Eater's Daughter. I got both of them free using my library's Libby app. You should do the same.

Review: The Beast Is an Animal by Peternelle van Arsdale

The Beast Is an Animal by Paternelle van Arsdale is a compelling tale with pretty dark overtones. Alys is left orphaned by "soul eaters," twin sisters who float about the countryside with the promise of rest for the weary. Alys and the other surviving children of the village are taken to a new village, where they are forced to work nights, protecting the sheep and the citizens from the threat of the soul eaters. Alys learns as she grows that she is different than the other children and the citizens of her adoptive town, and she is forced to strike out on her own to set things right.

I particularly love this book because of how it plays off the ideas of what is truly good and what is truly evil, and how each individual can decide that for themselves. It's a good message for young readers, that right and wrong can be subjective and just because someone is in power doesn't make them good. The world-building and atmosphere of the book were also well done, so all in all it is a very satisfying read. According to the author's page on Amazon, this is being developed into a feature film, which I am very much looking forward to. I highly recommend this book to readers of all ages, though it is marketed as YA.

I got the audiobook of this using my library card and the Libby app. You should do the same!

Book Review: The Bone Houses

The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones mixes folklore with fantasy, horror, and young-adult romance. Aderyn is the daughter of a grave digger, and she's one of the few people who believes in, and deals with, the bone houses, essentially the reanimated dead. Recently, they've started leaving the forest and terrorizing the village. Aderyn, with the help of a mapmaker from the capital Ellis, head into the forest to break the curse and free her village from their violence. Along the way, the relationship between the two grows as they confront their pasts and what they've believed true for their entire lives.

I feel so fortunate that I managed to download this audiobook right after House of Salt and Sorrow because I can give two glowing reviews back to back. I LOVED this book too. The heroine is not traditionally beautiful, but she is strong and comfortable in her body, and she makes her living in a traditionally male work, digging graves. She is an awesome role model for young readers. The hero has an old injury that prevents him from doing some things traditionally assigned to men, but he is kind and smart. Together they make a great team and work to save their small corner of the world. Plus, when was the last time you read a book where a dead goat was one of your favorite characters? In addition to the great writing, the narrator was spot on with different characters, pronunciation, and emotion. I would recommend The Bone Houses to anyone who loves a good zombie adventure love story mixed with some Welsh-inspired folklore.