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My Peculiar Family
My Peculiar Family is an anthology of gothic horror and unusual stories like none ever published before! Combining New York Times bestselling authors (Christopher Golden, Tracy Hickman), Amazon bestselling authors (William Meikle, Derrick Belanger, Rob Watts), award winning authors (James A. Moore, Stacey Longo), and emerging talents, this anthology unites these authors, who have sold millions and million books between them, to come together for a common cause. What makes this anthology so original? A woman by the name of Chyna Dale discovers in her attic a box of old tintype photos. Each picture features a mysterious portrait of a single person. Who are these people? What are their stories? What makes them so…peculiar? Each author had to answer these questions in their unique tale. All of the authors received one of Chyna Dale’s tintypes, a name for the photographed person, and the person’s occupation. Some of the stories are more on the horror side, some more paranormal, some science-fiction/fantasy, but all are linked together by Chyna Dale’s discovery.
- GenresHorror
256 pages, Paperback
First published July 27, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 10, 2016
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September 20, 2016
My Peculiar Family is an anthology with a great premise. 15 authors are given tin-type pictures of people from over a hundred years ago. The only other thing they know about the person is a name and an occupation. Then they are set loose in this shared universe to help the main character Chyna Dale learn more about her peculiar family. The anthology says on the cover Horror, Mystery and the Macabre and the stories within do deliver on the promise.
The Anthology kicks off in the present day with Chyna Dale AKA Chastity Willingham Dinsdale by Christopher Golden and James A. Moore. Golden and Moore introduce us to the character that ties this series together as Chyna, upon finding old pictures of her family, begins to research her Peculiar Family.
First family member we meet is in Miss Elizabeth’s Poison by Stacy Longo. We meet Gussie, the Apothecary. And that is all I am going to say about this story for fear of ruining the surprise ending. This was an amazing twist that I had to share with everyone! See if you can guess it before the next to last page.
The second family member is William the Pianist in the story The Space Between. John Palisano infuses a Lovecraft feel to this story about William trying to create the ultimate composition and the scary results.
Jay Mooers tells us the story of Edward the Lawyer in Law and Mother. Edward becomes a lawyer as a way to escape his over protective mother. Edward gets more then he can handle when he finds a female client that could set him up for the rest of his life.
Bracken MacLeod tells us about Davis A. Willingham, a property developer and demon hunter. But in one of the more darker stories Davis meets the demons that exist in some of us.
Derrick Belanger tells the tale of Rosalee, the Governess in Pieces of Rosalee. Derrick, also known for his Sherlock Holmes storied tells a tale of a vampire hunter on the trail of the vampire that killed his Rosalee. The cool thing about this story is that while it does have the horror and Macabre vibe of the anthology it is the Mystery that is solved at the end, that sets this story apart. Much like Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie, Derrick does a great job of giving you all the clues, as well as a few red herrings, before you learn who really killed Rosalee and why.
Next freshman author Karen Gosselin spins the tale of Isabella, The Painter in Eggsettenitial Circumstances. If the pun in the title doesn’t give it away, Karen mixes horror with humor and adventure when Isabella takes a commission from a rich and eccentric citizen of New York City that brings her into contact with the dark side of our world and changes hers forever. Karen does a great job intertwining the history of her chosen time period with her tale, pinning down the date of the events without actually naming a date.
F Allen Farnham, a man known for his science fiction (I highly recommend you read his Angry Ghosts series), comes back down to earth to tell a tale of jungle adventure that leads Victor the Herbalist to discover a rare and amazing plant. But like everything else in this anthology this plant has dangers of its own as Victor discovers in Tuckahoe Marble.
In Just Words by David Schechter, Gideon the writer discovers that sometimes stories are more than just words.
It has often been said that luck is a fickle mistress but never so much for Walter, River Boat Gambler in William Melkle’s The luck of Walter Dimsdale. Walter finds out what happens if, as Frank Sinatra sang, luck be a lady tonight. In fact a lot of the story strikes me as similar to lines form the song. Some day I will have to ask Mr. Melke if he listened to the song as inspiration.
Kristi McDowell tells the tale of Mary Francis in With This Ring, I Thee Bind. This tale with a demonic twist has Mary working in the textile mills of turn of the century England and finding out that sometimes having the favor of the people running the mills isn’t a good thing.
Rob Watts, a writer and music composer draws on his skill as a suspense writer to give us Calvin Crowninshield, Apothecary in Crowninshield’s Apothecary. While set in 1898 Boston, this story has a bit of a Noir feel to it. Calvin, a man of importance in his community, finds himself being blackmailed and must find a way to deal with the blackmailer before his life is ruined.
Solomon’s Mirror by Robert Mayette tells of Levi the Reverend and his ward Angela.
Joshua, a store clerk, told by George O’Connor, tells of a grandmother recollecting the early life of her favorite grandchild Joshua. She tells how she taught Joshua how to make jewelry, and how Joshua took that skill beyond anything his grandmother could dream of.
Jessamine the Naturalist by Samantha Boyette is about Jessamine, sent to live with her lecherous uncle she learns special skills that in the end protector from a less then supernatural threat.
Finally Agatha by Scott Thomas tells the tale of Lucy the Grieving Daughter dealing with her abusive mother who has a habit of losing husbands.
Also to be of note is the great art though out the book and on the cover from artist like Sara Richard, Brian Belanger, Peter Vinton Jr and writer of one of the stories, Karen Gosselin.
The Anthology kicks off in the present day with Chyna Dale AKA Chastity Willingham Dinsdale by Christopher Golden and James A. Moore. Golden and Moore introduce us to the character that ties this series together as Chyna, upon finding old pictures of her family, begins to research her Peculiar Family.
First family member we meet is in Miss Elizabeth’s Poison by Stacy Longo. We meet Gussie, the Apothecary. And that is all I am going to say about this story for fear of ruining the surprise ending. This was an amazing twist that I had to share with everyone! See if you can guess it before the next to last page.
The second family member is William the Pianist in the story The Space Between. John Palisano infuses a Lovecraft feel to this story about William trying to create the ultimate composition and the scary results.
Jay Mooers tells us the story of Edward the Lawyer in Law and Mother. Edward becomes a lawyer as a way to escape his over protective mother. Edward gets more then he can handle when he finds a female client that could set him up for the rest of his life.
Bracken MacLeod tells us about Davis A. Willingham, a property developer and demon hunter. But in one of the more darker stories Davis meets the demons that exist in some of us.
Derrick Belanger tells the tale of Rosalee, the Governess in Pieces of Rosalee. Derrick, also known for his Sherlock Holmes storied tells a tale of a vampire hunter on the trail of the vampire that killed his Rosalee. The cool thing about this story is that while it does have the horror and Macabre vibe of the anthology it is the Mystery that is solved at the end, that sets this story apart. Much like Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie, Derrick does a great job of giving you all the clues, as well as a few red herrings, before you learn who really killed Rosalee and why.
Next freshman author Karen Gosselin spins the tale of Isabella, The Painter in Eggsettenitial Circumstances. If the pun in the title doesn’t give it away, Karen mixes horror with humor and adventure when Isabella takes a commission from a rich and eccentric citizen of New York City that brings her into contact with the dark side of our world and changes hers forever. Karen does a great job intertwining the history of her chosen time period with her tale, pinning down the date of the events without actually naming a date.
F Allen Farnham, a man known for his science fiction (I highly recommend you read his Angry Ghosts series), comes back down to earth to tell a tale of jungle adventure that leads Victor the Herbalist to discover a rare and amazing plant. But like everything else in this anthology this plant has dangers of its own as Victor discovers in Tuckahoe Marble.
In Just Words by David Schechter, Gideon the writer discovers that sometimes stories are more than just words.
It has often been said that luck is a fickle mistress but never so much for Walter, River Boat Gambler in William Melkle’s The luck of Walter Dimsdale. Walter finds out what happens if, as Frank Sinatra sang, luck be a lady tonight. In fact a lot of the story strikes me as similar to lines form the song. Some day I will have to ask Mr. Melke if he listened to the song as inspiration.
Kristi McDowell tells the tale of Mary Francis in With This Ring, I Thee Bind. This tale with a demonic twist has Mary working in the textile mills of turn of the century England and finding out that sometimes having the favor of the people running the mills isn’t a good thing.
Rob Watts, a writer and music composer draws on his skill as a suspense writer to give us Calvin Crowninshield, Apothecary in Crowninshield’s Apothecary. While set in 1898 Boston, this story has a bit of a Noir feel to it. Calvin, a man of importance in his community, finds himself being blackmailed and must find a way to deal with the blackmailer before his life is ruined.
Solomon’s Mirror by Robert Mayette tells of Levi the Reverend and his ward Angela.
Joshua, a store clerk, told by George O’Connor, tells of a grandmother recollecting the early life of her favorite grandchild Joshua. She tells how she taught Joshua how to make jewelry, and how Joshua took that skill beyond anything his grandmother could dream of.
Jessamine the Naturalist by Samantha Boyette is about Jessamine, sent to live with her lecherous uncle she learns special skills that in the end protector from a less then supernatural threat.
Finally Agatha by Scott Thomas tells the tale of Lucy the Grieving Daughter dealing with her abusive mother who has a habit of losing husbands.
Also to be of note is the great art though out the book and on the cover from artist like Sara Richard, Brian Belanger, Peter Vinton Jr and writer of one of the stories, Karen Gosselin.
December 3, 2016
And you thought your family was strange…
My thanks go out to Derrick Belanger of Belanger Books, Ltd for my review copy of this collection! Thanks a lot, my friend!
Have you ever thought of shaking your Family Tree but were afraid of the nuts that might fall from it? That is the premise of this delightful collection of horror, mystery, and the downright macabre. Chastity Willingham Dinsdale has a bundle of stories from her ancestors; uncles, aunts, siblings, and cousins removed—but never far enough!
Some of the tales are mysteries concerning family members who perhaps vanished without explanation, or were covering a secret that only now can be revealed. Some of the tales are bone chilling horror, people who have faced choices and fates that are terrifying. Some tales fall into the category of just plain weird, inexplicable stories that shouldn’t exist about experiences and events that defy attempts to sort them out.
There are nineteen authors represented in this volume. Their stories vary, some told second or third person and some first person accounts. If I pointed out anything it would be how the stories make a very cohesive volume. There are no stories that do not fit the given theme. They are all individual accounts, but each story tells a part of the bigger story, the Dinsdale Family Tree.
If I chose one story as the prize of the anthology, it would be “Crownshield’s Apothecary” by Rob Watts. Watts gives us the tale of Calvin Crownshield, a man with a past that catches up to him in the end.
Crownshield has atoned for past sins and has had the good fortune to marry and rise above his plebian roots. But what one man can hide, another man may discover. Sometimes in an attempt to dig your way out of a hole; you just dig your own grave…
I give this excellent anthology five stars…
Quoth the Raven…
My thanks go out to Derrick Belanger of Belanger Books, Ltd for my review copy of this collection! Thanks a lot, my friend!
Have you ever thought of shaking your Family Tree but were afraid of the nuts that might fall from it? That is the premise of this delightful collection of horror, mystery, and the downright macabre. Chastity Willingham Dinsdale has a bundle of stories from her ancestors; uncles, aunts, siblings, and cousins removed—but never far enough!
Some of the tales are mysteries concerning family members who perhaps vanished without explanation, or were covering a secret that only now can be revealed. Some of the tales are bone chilling horror, people who have faced choices and fates that are terrifying. Some tales fall into the category of just plain weird, inexplicable stories that shouldn’t exist about experiences and events that defy attempts to sort them out.
There are nineteen authors represented in this volume. Their stories vary, some told second or third person and some first person accounts. If I pointed out anything it would be how the stories make a very cohesive volume. There are no stories that do not fit the given theme. They are all individual accounts, but each story tells a part of the bigger story, the Dinsdale Family Tree.
If I chose one story as the prize of the anthology, it would be “Crownshield’s Apothecary” by Rob Watts. Watts gives us the tale of Calvin Crownshield, a man with a past that catches up to him in the end.
Crownshield has atoned for past sins and has had the good fortune to marry and rise above his plebian roots. But what one man can hide, another man may discover. Sometimes in an attempt to dig your way out of a hole; you just dig your own grave…
I give this excellent anthology five stars…
Quoth the Raven…
November 1, 2018
Thoroughly enjoyed the stories, and am waiting for the second anthology to have a successful kickstarter campaign.
October 16, 2016
This is a fun story collection with a great theme. Each writer details a story about a person from the past, in a "peculiar family," using only a name and an old photo as a starting point. So we get a fictional family history made up of murder, monsters, and madness. Something fun for everyone!
Nice old-time feel to many of the tales, whether told in journal entries, first person, or in other modes. Entertaining and different, and worth a read. Makes you feel better about those oddballs in your family.
Nice old-time feel to many of the tales, whether told in journal entries, first person, or in other modes. Entertaining and different, and worth a read. Makes you feel better about those oddballs in your family.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews