Review: The Banquet by Villimey Mist

Maria Lopez, a survivor of a sexual assault, receives an invitation to “The Banquet,” an annual gathering of women who have been sexually assaulted. Other attendees have more than their assaults in common with Maria: the perpetrators of their assaults all went unpunished by the legal system. Where the victims weren’t vindicated through the judicial system, they will find satisfaction in bloody revenge.

With this being a short story, I don’t want to give too much away, but this was a brilliant story of bloody revenge. I had been following Mist on Twitter during the incidents that inspired this story and this story is the result. This was my first foray into reading Mist’s work, but not the last. Anyone who can pack that much blood and gore and revenge into 37 short pages and tell a complete tale is aces in my book.

5/5 Stars

Thank you to the author for providing me with a copy of the story for reading and review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

 

Review: Dismal Dreams by Red Lagoe

 In her sophomore collection Dismal Dreams, Red Lagoe has assembled thirteen unique, thought-provoking stories sure to haunt your dreams. I have had the pleasure to read some of the stories contained in this collection in other publications, but Red was right to bring them back into this collection. All the stories balanced each other well. Standout stories for me in this collection were:

 

Dismal Dreams- Our title story took a turn that I was not anticipating. Dark and disturbing

The Creation of Man- A creative and fresh take on the familiar story of Adam and Eve.

Valentine’s Day- The lengths one will go to save themselves in a life-or-death situation

One Year Anniversary- I originally read this story in Slashertorte and it has stuck with me ever since. So good! This story comes in a close second as my favorite of Red’s writing.

Doll House- Hands down, my favorite story that Red has written. Super dark and gritty. I can’t rave about it enough.

 

You can’t go wrong with Dismal Dreams, there is something for every flavor of horror fan.

5/5 Stars

Thank you to the author for providing me with a copy of the book to read and review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Review: The Essential Sick Stuff by Ronald Kelly

TW/CW: Child Harm/Abuse, Child Abduction, Child Death, Rape, Torture, Snakes, Spiders, Gore, Non-consensual Sexual Encounter

I am a big reader of short story collections. In a collection of a single author, you can sometimes see a range of writing styles, themes, and tropes, like trying on different hats. I have previously reviewed Irish Gothic by Ronald Kelly, a collection of different stories and folklore inspired by the home of Kelly’s ancestors. Beyond that collection, I wasn’t familiar with his writing and jumped at the chance to review The Essential Sick Stuff when it came up on NetGalley.

Growing up on 80’s slasher movies, it takes a lot to gross me out or creep me out. I read the foreword and learned the history behind the stories contained in this collection: a bunch of authors writing the sickest stuff imaginable to try to outdo the others. I was game and ready to go. And I was very wrong, Kelly’s The Essential Sick Stuff got to me.

The Essential Sick Stuff is comprised of two previous collections written by Kelly: The Sick Stuff and More Sick Stuff. This edition has the stories from those collections, along with new sick material. Some of my favorites in The Essential Sick Stuff are:

*Pins And Needles- A serial killer who kills via Halloween candy has struck again, but someone has gives him a taste of his own medicine.

*The Day UPS Brought Zombies- fun and gory story where UPS brings about a zombie apocalypse with a cameo from Brian Keene

*Snakehandler- A preacher comes to town bringing more to fear than just the snakes he handles during Sunday service.

*Suckers! - Scientist begins to experiment on local insects with dangerous results

*The Nipples in Dad’s Toolbox- A young boy helping with home repairs gets a grisly surprise that changes his life.

This collection was a wild, gory, and fun ride. I look forward to reading more of Ronald Kelly’s work in the future.  There are a lot of potential TW/CWs in this book and I attempted to note them when I found them, but what may be a trigger for me may not be for you.  

5/5 Stars

Thanks you to #NetGalley and #SilverShamrockPublishing for providing me with a copy of this book to read and review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Review: Dire Branches by Brian Fatah Steele

 A weekend out in the country in a B&B with her brother and her best friends is just what Skye needs to get over a bad breakup and get her head together. Hedwig House boasts plenty of space and a hot tub, free-flowing booze, drugs, and the hot B&B owner down the hill don’t hurt either. 

Right off the bat, things seem off- the house seems to change in size and shape at its own whims, animalistic shadows appear in the woods, one of Skye’s friends starts sleepwalking and becomes aggressive to all in the house, her best friend takes a dip in the polluted lake and pays a steep price and yet another friend goes missing from his bedroom without a trace. After spending some time with the B&B owner down the hill, Skye receives answers to what is befalling the guests of Hedwig House, but how the group’s choices will seal their fate.

Dire Branches is a fun, modern take on the lore of Baba Yaga, the mythological witch of Slavic legend, which I enjoyed quite a bit. The author spent copious time building the world and fleshing out the characters in the book, so much that the action really doesn’t kick off until 45% into the book. By the time the first big incident occurs, you are invested in this group of characters. 

The only drawbacks for me personally were that I would have liked more “character” building for the monsters and creatures in the story. I also would have liked to have a little more of an ending before adding the epilogue chapter. I have my theories about the outcome, and I guess that the point was for each reader to choose what they would do in that situation.

3/5 Stars

Thank you to #NetGalley and #AlienAgendaPublishing for providing me with a review copy of the novel. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Review: The Hobgoblins of Little Minds by Mark Matthews

 

TW: Body Horror, Mental Illness, Depression, Bipolar Disorder, Forced/Coerced Abortion, Suicide, Suicidal Ideation, Medical Experimentation, Graphic Sexual Encounters, Violence

 

Before moving away from the only home she has known, Kori Driscoe sets out to find her long-missing father Paul, who suffers from bipolar depression. An incident that occurred fifteen years ago landed him in Northville Psychiatric Hospital and he has not been seen since. Kori is moving away with her mother and stepfather, and the hospital is slated for demolition, so this is her last chance to go back to where she feels closest to her father and look for clues to his disappearance.

An exploration of the hospital’s sub-basement leads Kori to a horrendous discovery hidden underneath the hospital are feral, blood-thirsty creatures that are the products of medical experimentation. In trying to rescue her father, Kori has discovered a plot hatched by hospital doctors that not only puts her life in danger but also those lives that were experimented on and the result of said experiment. Will Kori be able to reunite with her father and save them all before the hospital is demolished?

This book was a lot for me. Before reading this book, I had never thought of mental disorders as being a benefit, or a superpower if you will. I live depression and anxiety, and I know it has caused me some super high feeling days and others I do not even want to discuss. I certainly would have never thought to equate my mental health issues with lycanthropy, but now it makes sense to me. I have seen firsthand how the waxing and waning of the moon affects the neurological disorder my son has, why wouldn’t other disorders be affected as well.

I appreciate that Mr. Matthews has a background in behavioral healthcare and had beta readers check for sensitivity to make sure that those with mental health issues would not feel attacked. In anyone else’s hands, a story like this most likely could have been exploitative. Another subject that was touched on in this book was medical exploitation.

All in all, The Hobgoblins of Little Minds is a heavy read, but a great read. Don’t go into it expecting your classic werewolf story, this book is so much more than that.

5/5 Stars

Disclaimer: Thank you to author Mark Matthews for providing me with an e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Review: Anomalies & Curiosities: An Anthology of Gothic Medical Horror Edited by Cassandra L. Thompson

 Anomalies & Curiosities: An Anthology of Gothic Medical Horror, a short story anthology from Quill & Crow Publishing, contains 10 short stories of medical horrors sure to make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Stories that will creep you out and stick in your brain long after you finish reading the book.

Each of the ten stories in this collection seeks to not only entertain but to remind us of the days when shocking medical experiments were necessary to reach the levels of scientific advancement today. As creeped out as these stories made me, it also made me wonder what experiments today would be viewed as archaic in the future as these are today.

Some stories stuck with me more so than others. My favorites in this collection are: “Ill Wind” by R.A. Busby, “Woman in the White Cottage” by Rebecca Howe Jones, “Shadows” by Marie Casey, and “The Unveiling” by Brad Acevedo. This is a strong collection, there are no weak filler stories.

5/5 Stars

I received an advance copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Review: Untouched by Jayme Bean

 Doctor Julia Morrow and her graduate students Marisol and David are entering the Amazon rainforest to take part in an ongoing ecological experiment. Shortly before entering the rainforest, Doctor Morrow discovers that her other student who assists her on experiments has gone missing and has not contacted the villagers who provided him with supplies. Unable to reach him by satellite phone, Doctor Morrow is deeply concerned about his safety.

Normally enthusiastic, the guides who helped doctor Morrow and her students take supplies out to their base camp have suddenly become fearful, one dubbing the rainforest “Tierra Maldita,” or cursed land, and refuses to go further to the base camp. Without the help of the guides, Doctor Morrow, Marisol and David strike out on their own carrying all the supplies to the next base camp. After a long day of hiking and making the first base camp, the following morning Doctor Morrow is nowhere to be found.

Now David and Marisol must decide whether to push forward into the rainforest hoping to find Doctor Morrow further ahead or turn back. Facing numerous obstacles and attacks, Marisol and David persist in their endeavor, whether the rainforest wants them to or not.

Untouched was a very entertaining read so much so that I stayed up till 2:00 AM because I wanted to know how the book ended. Adventure is not a normal genre to read but I got very strong Crichton vibes from this story, and I loved it.

I loved how the camaraderie of David and Marisol developed from quiet strangers to best friends. Without giving too much away, one of the characters develops a relationship with an unnamed character and I now ‘ship them hard! I would love to see further stories of all of these characters by Ms. Bean in the future.

 

5/5 Stars

Thanks to the author and Book Sprout for providing me with a review copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Review: Ravens & Roses- A Women's Gothic Anthology Edited by Cassandra L. Thompson

 

Ravens and Roses: A Gothic Women's Anthology is a new book out by Quill & Crow Publishing House and edited by Cassandra L. Thompson. This is the first book out by Quill & Crow Publishing House that I have read and reviewed, and I am overwhelmed by it. When I review anthologies, there are always a few stories that do not feel strong enough to be included in that anthology. This is not the case with Ravens & Roses. Every story has been meticulously chosen by Ms. Thompson so that the book seems to flow better than most anthologies in my opinion. A lot of writers throw the term gothic horror around loosely, but few get it right. The stories in this anthology are truly gothic horror. There are eleven stories in this anthology, along with poems interspersed among them. There are stories of ghostly hauntings, revenge, tragic love stories, and murder. While I loved every story in the anthology, which has never happened before, I especially love the stories “Lolita” by A.L. Garcia and “The Vigilante Witch” by Tara Jazdzewski. I feel that these stories could have been full novels with more work. All in all, this is one of my favorite anthologies that I have ever read, and I look forward to reading more work from Quill & Crow Publishing House. 5/5 Stars I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Review: Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby

TW/CW: Racial Slurs, Homophobic Slurs, homophobia, transphobia, the murder of LGBTQIA characters, torture

Ike Randolph has been out of prison for 15 years living a straight and narrow life, but that does not stop him from panicking when he sees a police officer at his front door. What he does not expect is to hear is the police officer tell him that his only son Isiah, along with his husband Derek, had been brutally murdered.

 Derek's father, Buddy Lee is also shocked to hear that his only son has been murdered. Like Ike, ex-convict Buddy Lee did not approve of his son's life choices and did not approve of his marriage to Isiah. While still having criminal ties, Buddy Lee is eager to set out and prove who killed his son and Isaiah. Can he convince Ike to join him on his quest to avenge their sons?

Finding those who killed Isiah and Derek will force buddy Lee and Ike to confront their homophobia, their racism, and all the ways they failed their sons. The two men set out to right their wrongs and find family in the most unexpected place.

I love the relationship between Ike and buddy, how they go from unwilling fathers trying to find their sons’ murderers to become a family, like their sons always wanted to have. Also adding to the family-like relationship between the two men is Ike’s wife Maya. Losing her only son Isaiah has broken her in ways that she cannot express. However, the need to be present for Derek and Isiah’s toddler daughter Ariana has given a way to focus her grief, along with pushing Ike to do whatever is necessary to find who killed her son and son-in-law. Having Maya and Ariana also adds to the tension of the story as the two pursue those who killed the sons.

S. A. Cosby is still a new writer to me. I haven't had a chance to read his breakthrough novel Blacktop Wasteland from last year, I'll soon be rectifying that. There are not many authors who can skillfully blend intellect, compassion, and violence as well as Mr. Cosby. He is a gifted writer and I look forward to reading more of his southern grit.

This is my first time reviewing an audiobook and I'm very glad that this is the first one I chose to review. The choice of Adam Lazarre-White as the narrator of this story was a brilliant one. He had the perfect southern accent and was able to differentiate between the voice for Ike and then a different drawl for buddy Lee. He added to the authenticity of the story being set in the South.

Razorblade Tears is one of my top books of the year thus far. This story of redemption and forgiveness, along with timely discussions of homophobia, LGBTQIA rights, marriage equality, racism, and transphobia, has moved me in a way very few other books have.

 

5/5 Stars

 

Thanks to #NetGalley and #MacMillanAudio for providing me with the audiobook for this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

 

 

Review: Chapel Street by Sean Paul Murphy

 

TW: Suicide is mentioned frequently in this novel as are aspects of mental health disorders.

Rick Bakos wanted a normal life. After the tragic death of his father when Rick was a child, he was left to grow up with a mentally unstable mother and brother who succumbed to suicide, and an absent younger sister. Suicide had long been a family trait in the Bakos family, with Rick’s mother and brother not being the first members to die by their own hand. To make sense of his family's tragic history, Rick set out to work as a volunteer with the website RestingPlace, a genealogy website, cataloging the final resting places of people around Baltimore where he lives.

Inexplicably drawn to the grave of Betty Kostek, Rick begins to experience incidents of paranormal activity as soon as he uploads her grave to the RestingPlace website. When Rick realizes that all the occurrences are connected to Betty, he attempts to take down her photo and information from the website, only to have his account frozen so that he cannot remove it. His only ally, Terri Poskocil, another genealogist on RestingPlace who is having her own issues with paranormal occurrences. Terri attempts to help Rick find out the answers to the question of who Betty was and how she is connected to both of their families’ pasts. The pair work together with priests from the school where Terri works to find out the answers before it costs both them and their loved ones their lives.

Reading a book that focused on horror and religion was something new for me, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Mixing horror, romance, religion, and demonic entities together wasn’t a trope that I had explored previously, and Mr. Murphy blended them all seamlessly. Murphy builds an instantly immersive world for his characters so that you feel like you are with them on their search. I would love to see this novel, with Mr. Murphy as head writer, see this as a feature-length film.

4/5 Stars

Thank you to Sean Paul Murphy for providing me with a review copy of his novel in exchange for my honest opinion. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Review: Howls from Hell: A Horror Anthology

What do you get when a group of writers in a subreddit start a devoted Discord channel and decide to write a horror anthology? You get Howls from Hell written by sixteen members of the HOWL Society (Horror-Obsessed Writing and Literature Society.) Edited by group founder Solomon Forse, and with an entertaining foreword from Grady Hendrix,  and authors Quinn Fern, J.W. Donley, P.L. McMillan, B.O.B. Jenkin, Shane Hawk, Alex Wolfgang, Solomon Forse, Joe Radkins, Christopher O'Halloran, Amanda Nevada DeMel, Joseph Andre Thomas, Thea Maeve, Justin Faull, M. David Clarkson, S.E. Denton,  and Lindsay Ragsdale,  Howls From Hell is a fun, fresh mix of different horror tropes. There is something here for every reader to enjoy.

When I began reviewing books, I was initially hesitant to read and review anthologies. I wasn’t sure how to judge them—should I review the book in total, or should each story receive its own review? Thankfully, I moved past that initial hesitancy and anthologies have become one of my favorite types of work to review. This book is one of the most well-balanced anthologies I have read. Some stories are longer than others, some scarier than others, but every single one of them is original. My favorite part—all the authors are brand new to me, so I have a lot of new work to look for by these artists.

I thoroughly enjoyed this endeavor by the HOWL Society. I don’t remember ever reading a book that jumps from body horror to cosmic horror, comedic horror, surreal horror-just to name a few tropes- in one story after another. I look forward to seeing what the HOWL Society authors create in the future.

4/5 Stars

Thank you to #NetGalley and #HOWLSocietyPress for providing me with a copy of Howls From Hell to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own