M.R. Gott's Blog, page 23

Heather Faville of Double Shot Reviews On Where The Dead Fear To Tread

"...a well done thriller/mystery with enough of a horror element to keep you cringing and maybe looking around for a set of eyes watching your every move."


Heather Faville of Double Shot Reviews gives Where the Dead Fear to Tread her  Espresso rating: Triple with a splash of milk.  Click below for full Review


Click either image for the full review.  

The Horde...watch it now

If you missed this criminally under seen zombie flick (click here for my review)  watch it now.  First version is dubbed second is with subtitles.

The 13th by John Everson

Overview;Castle House Lodge. A century ago it was an exclusive resort hotel. But for years it's stood empty, a haunting shadow of its former glories. Now, after twenty-five years of rumors and ghost stories, the overgrown grounds are showing signs of being tended. The building itself has been repaired. Castle House has new occupants. 

What was once a haven for the elite is now a madhouse, a private asylum for pregnant women. But are all the patients really insane? And is it just a coincidence that people have begun to disappear from the nearby town? David Shale's girlfriend is one of the missing, and he's determined to find the truth behind the mysterious Dr. Rockford and his house of secrets.(provided by publisher)
Review;John Everson’s 13th, is a slow build atmospheric mystery with an incredible climax.  The reader understands very early on the Castle House Lodge and Dr. Rockford are up to no good, but what that is teased out with a ratcheting tension.  Everson slowly connects the pieces for the reader keeping his audience almost as in the dark as his characters.  David Shale, Brenda Bean and Christy Sorenson are well realized characters that Everson uses deftly to create his atmosphere of horror.  Each is distinct and acts differently in their stressful situations, yet never plunge head first into slaughter.  Castle House Lodge is a terrifically realized location, and the sequences in the building are akin to a haunted house where the structure seems to be a character unto itself.  The small town around the Asylum is populated by interesting and well crafting supporting characters added a realness to the area and an eerily isolated tone akin to the best Twin Peaks episodes. 
In the end;Cults, an asylum, supernatural horror in a remote location, Everson’s 13th feels tailor made for me.  I appreciated the slow build mystery elements and the final curtain reveal where the book gets bloody, and all your fears become justified.  Christy and David are two of my favorite horror characters and my investment in them as people kept my attention ratcheted.  

Click either book cover for my interview with John Everson

HellBound HellRaiser II

I am a big fan of The Hellbound Heart and Hellraiser was a great screen adaptation of the novella.  That being said Hellbound Hellraiser II is the rare sequel that surpasses the original.  Pinhead's character is given enough back story to understand his motives, without removing the scary vibe. Ashley Laurence's Kristy gets to be a little stronger yet, still surrounded by uncertainty.  All in all a modern horror classic.  And Kudos to Christopher Young for a bad ass operatic and morose score.

 

Dana Fredsti author of Plague Town and Comic Con panelist reviews Where the Dead Fear to Tread

Self described "Writer, swordfighter and crazy cat lady" on Where the Dead Fear to Tread
The first words that come to mind after reading Where the Dead Fear to Tread are "bleak" and "relentless." The world of William Chandler starts out dark and grim and M.R. Gott is not afraid to make it darker and grimmer with every page. The pace in the first half of the novel is slow but steady as Gott introduces characters and starts weaving various plot elements together with a careful eye for description. The third person present narrative is an interesting choice, something I found distracting at first. But it works and once I settled into the story, it definitely adds to the author's distinct narrative style. Lots of action and gore, monsters and creepy atmosphere (my favorite scene is in an old asylum and is one of the most disturbing and atmospheric things I've read in a long while), with a vigilante hero, a kick-ass female detective, and assorted interesting secondary characters. This book cries out to made into a graphic novel a la Sin City!

Four Stars

Dana Fredsti reviews Where the Dead Fear to Tread

Self described "Writer, swordfighter and crazy cat lady" on Where the Dead Fear to Tread
The first words that come to mind after reading Where the Dead Fear to Tread are "bleak" and "relentless." The world of William Chandler starts out dark and grim and M.R. Gott is not afraid to make it darker and grimmer with every page. The pace in the first half of the novel is slow but steady as Gott introduces characters and starts weaving various plot elements together with a careful eye for description. The third person present narrative is an interesting choice, something I found distracting at first. But it works and once I settled into the story, it definitely adds to the author's distinct narrative style. Lots of action and gore, monsters and creepy atmosphere (my favorite scene is in an old asylum and is one of the most disturbing and atmospheric things I've read in a long while), with a vigilante hero, a kick-ass female detective, and assorted interesting secondary characters. This book cries out to made into a graphic novel a la Sin City!

Four Stars

Dana Fredsti joins Max Brooks and other fantastic writers, for a panel celebratingeverything zombie At Comic Con 2012

NOT WITH A BANG, WITH ABITE
Thursday, July 12, 1:15 –2:15 p.m., Room 6A

Panelists: Dana Fredsti (Plague Town), Max Brooks (World War Z), Jeyn Roberts (Dark Inside), Michael Spradlin (Blood Risers), Mira Grant (Blackout), Diana Rowland (Even White Trash Zombies Get the Blues),Stephen Blackmore (City of the Lost),Susan Dennard (Something Strange and Deadly)  -- Panel led by HornerJacobs (This Dark Earth).

Great prophets, religious scriptures, andscientific evidence points to apocalypse in 2012…but these authors envision theend of the world in the form of a zombie pandemic.  With their decaying, disintegrating, andsometimes flesh-eating tendencies, zombies have lurked their way into sciencefiction and fantasy novels and are here to stay.  Doomsday takes on a whole new meaning whenlosing limbs and lumbering across the earth are involved.  Learn how to survive everything from zombieinvasions to viral zombie infections.

PLAGUE TOWN novel will be available at a signing after the panel and at TITAN (BOOTH 5537).

Heraldedas “Sexy, weird, creepy, over-the-topzombie goodness” by Jonathan Maberry (PatientZero), DanaFredsti’s Plague Town is the first ina new urban fantasy series of zombie novels introducing Ashley Parker – anass-kicking heroine for the zombie generation whooffers up heavy doses of action, humor, and romance in the vein of PatriciaBriggs and Charlaine Harris.

Dana Fredsti   danafredsti.com  is a San Francisco-basednovelist and screenplay writer whose past works include Murder for Hire: ThePeruvian Pigeon.  As an actress shehas appeared in various horror films, and worked on Sam Raimi's Army ofDarkness as an armourer's assistant, sword-fighting captain, andsword-wielding Deadite.  A past presidentof the Sisters in Crime, Northern California chapter, she is a blogger who hasdone numerous podcasts and radio appearances, and is available for interviews.  

Wood by Robert Dunbar

Overview;
"Blessed is the creature that knows its purpose."

Woods surround a blighted section of a nameless city, and after dark something creeps forth into the streets, something that preys upon humans ... and may ultimately replace them.

One winter night, it begins to stalk a runaway girl.

The monster just made its first mistake. “...watched human beings do things to one another-right here I this alley more often than not- that approached levels of savagery of which few animals could boast.”
Review;
Wood by Robert Dunbar is a moody atmospheric horror tale that excels like almost no other work in creating a living breathing setting.  This is combined with Dunbar’s amazing ability to create characters with a real sense of depth, without resorting to any tired clichés.  Dunbar’s prose is also some of the strongest in horror fiction bar none.  The story follows Rosaria’s escape from Juvenile detention to check on her ailing Nanna.  What follows are her encounters with a series of odd happenings and entities.  It would be fair to compare the narrative setup as being similar to a fairytale. 
What is clear is that Rosaria is being stalked by a creature or entity that is kept masterfully in shadows for the story’s bulk.  Here is Wood’s only failing, I found the reveal to be entirely underwhelming.  Perhaps this is because the tension was drawn so tight there was no reveal that I would have found satisfying.  While the Novella still ends on a high note the creature’s reveal was just underwhelming. 
In the End;
In Wood Robert Dunabr has creates an eerie setting that you can almost reach out and touch populated by well-constructed characters and events.  While the creature reveal didn’t work for me personally I would still recommend this novella.   

In the Grind House Tradition...Night of the Living Dead(1990)

With a screen play from George A Romero, a young enegetic Tony Todd and a bad ass Barbara played by Patricia Tallman, and direction from Tom Savini The Night of the Living Dead remake is a solid horror flick.  While not as scary or even gory as the original (massive cuts were made by the MPAA, would relish a chance to see Tom Savini's original cut) it is a fast fun entertaining flick.  Savini orchastes the scenes of chaos amazingly well and Todd, Tallman and Tom Towles also give great performances. 

Click any of the images to stream the film for free. 


Random fact Savini was supposed to do effects on the original, but was drafted and sent to Vietnam instead. 

Lyriq Bent plays Lyriq Rigg in Where the Dead Fear to Tread

...read(s) like a wild B-movie which, in the right hands, could be adapted into one hell of an RPG video game or a horror mini-series like True Blood, the book is a dark fantasy with a cast as big and as bold as its plot....It’s an interesting read that may get more interesting as the series continues, and who knows? It could be a future movie or video game franchise hit that you can brag about having picked up when it was just a humble indie e-book. Give it a chance and you may be surprised to find out Where the Dead Fear to Tread.
Robert Hibbs of Ravenous Monster

When writting Where the Dead Fear to Tread I had one actor in mind as perfectly embodying my Character.  Lyriq Bent to play Lyriq Rigg.  I saw Mr. Bent play Officer Daniel Rigg, and everything from his appearence to his demeanor was perfect.  In a place as Mr. Hibbs describes where the property is optioned he would be my first choice. 
"“Figured you’d want first crack at these punks,” Officer Lyriq Rigg jokes in a pre-emptive, defensive tone. Kate’s cold gaze wordlessly prods the man’s dark skin, pronounced cheek bones and broad shouldered figure."
From Where the Dead Fear to Tread

"He is a broad shadowed silhouette with pronounced cheek bones.  He holds her eyes as he speaks with a confidence beyond his rank. “Madam, I am Officer Lyriq Rigg.  You appear injured please allow me to take you to the hospital.”  Lyriq’s hand supports Tabitha’s arm.  As she rises his opposite hand supports her waist as he brings her to her feet."
From Where the Damned Fear Redemption