This is a quick chapbook that I picked up tonight that quickly built up suspense and action. Chris Miller is a master of suspense and this story was no different.
Miranda and Colleen have been best friends since high school. Although they went to rival colleges, they kept their friendship strong. As time and relationships evolved, Miranda realizes she wants more than what she has. She wants what Colleen has and sets her plans into motion to make it happen.
This is a deliciously devious little story! Definitely worth the read! Check it out!
Being the historical buff I am and finding out that the setting of this book is in Salem, Massachusetts had me definitely wanting to check this one out. I’m super glad I did!
Present day.. Seamus is an officer who’s stuck in a dead end job at his current precinct due to an unfortunate accident years ago. He’s not happy and it’s starts to spill over to family life. His wife sees a job posting for a Sheriff position in Salem and figures what the heck, a change might be good!
What they don’t know is that every Sheriff in that particular county has been affected by a curse. The curse stems back to the days of the witch trials and was set upon that specific office by an infamous witch from that time. Crime is high, the mayor wants the situation under control. Seamus is confident in his ability to get the job done.
This thriller is full of lore, superstition and lots of action! I literally read this in two days because I needed to get some sleep to function the next day. I could have stayed up all night reading it because I didn’t want to put it down. I loved the character development of Seamus and his family. It made me feel like I knew them personally. The use of real places in Salem as settings for some scenes was a really nice touch. Can Seamus get the job done no matter the paranormal forces at work in town? Go read this book and find out!
This author is a new author for me and I hope to read more from Aaron Lebold soon!!
This was another book sitting on my kindle waiting to be opened! What a fun Anthology! This book has 99 stories in it! Some stories are only a few pages long, but boy do they hit with a punch! This is my first experience reading flash fiction and I really enjoyed it.
There are multiple authors that make up this anthology. Some of those authors have multiple stories included in the book! There are too many good stories to name favorites, but please notice that several of the stories are authored by several people within the Facebook Books of Horror group!
The stories are about Valentine’s Day and some are extremely dark. Some made me laugh and others left me in a state of shock! This is a great book to get you in the Valentine’s spirit the macabre way! It’s a fast read with such short stories! Go check this one out!
I wanted to go back and read some books that were on my Kindle waiting to be touched. With Valentine’s around the corner, I chose Valentine’s Slay first.
Valentines’s Slay is a novella that is made up of multiple short stories about love and hate. I really enjoyed the short blurbs Matt Shaw put in at the end of some stories giving some background into his own experiences that inspired the story.
Some of the stories are funny and had me cracking up. Some are sad, while others just went places I did not expect. All of them were good. I didn’t have a favorite, but “Yours, Tom (Watkins)“ stuck with me!
This is a quick read, easily completed in a few hours. So get in the Valentine’s mood and check this one out!
Delevan House is a dark fantasy horror that leans heavily on folk tales, mysticism, and lore. The village of Badb is a place with many secrets including a blood pact that has been in place for hundreds of years. Each generation does what was expected of their ancestors and continues to hold true to the pact. They must obey or else!
Badb is an iron town with blacksmiths that are known for their impressive skills. It is a closed society and rarely gets visitors from the outside world. Lenore Delevan is a witch who lives in the great house that no one from town dares to visit. She and her daughter are of pure Fae and reap the benefits of their ancient blood line. The villagers know, the familiars are always watching their every move.
Delevan House is a story with such a rich tapestry that intertwines the past and present together. The authors take us back and forth in time, giving us a little more detail into the magic and folklore of the old world. This powerful storytelling duo made me feel transported through time, experiencing the emotions, the scents, the pain, and of course the magic as it was unfolding.
The world they have created has lured me in ever so gently until I was hooked and did not want to let go! I loved this story! Both authors did a superb job and this book is already one of the best I’ve read this year! I am so excited that this will be a trilogy and looking forward to what they conjure next! If you like dark fantasy and folk horror, go get this book! You won’t regret it!
Dub-Town Blues is a story inspired by real events in a small Texas town. Chris Miller takes us through so many emotions with his story telling and this story is no different. In fact, this is probably his best written so far and I’ve read a lot of Chris Miller.
Officer Lee Harden and his partner get an anonymous tip of a murder in the woods. Brutal murders like this are personal and don’t typically happen in small towns. Knowing someone in town is a murderer, Officer Harden goes above and beyond to seek justice for the killing. He’s the type of man that’s true to his word and wants to ensure all of the corroborating evidence are in line.
Some things still haunt him about that case. Promises made that couldn’t be kept and some loose ends that never really got satisfactory answers in Officer Harden’s eyes. Now he’s sick and running out of time to get those answers his heart desperately needs to know.
Miller is so good at writing suspense and maintaining that intensity throughout the story. Once he pushes on the gas, you cannot let go because you get so invested in the story and have to know what happens next!
For me, it was an emotional rollercoaster of twists and turns. I laughed, I got angry, I wanted to throw my kindle across the room (but I didn’t), and I cried. Be prepared because he’s going to make you feel all of this and maybe more! If you have not yet read anything by Chris Miller, you have to start now! Go get this book!
The Awakening is a short story that is an extremely fast read. The story grips the reader right from the beginning then rips the bandaid off in a hurry!
Scarlett wakes up in a room surrounded by carnage and bondage toys. As she slowly regains her faculties, she starts to remember and replay what happened before she got knocked out.
Remember that saying, “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned?” Yea, they messed with the wrong female. This is a brutal tale that lays the scene out like an investigation. Scarlett remembers she was not the only one this happened to and tries to find and save her fellow captive. All I will say is loads of KUDOS when you read how this unfolds! Great story Mr. Duke!
In the Mood for Murder is a novel full of mystery, suspense and mayhem. Set in the years shortly after World War II, Liverpool is a place of clubs and plentiful music. This story follows a band in Liverpool called the Downswing Seven and their interactions with each other and those they entertain.
We are taken back to a time when swing bands and music was a large focus in people’s lives. The parties were never ending and the drugs and liquor flowed freely. George Hogg is one of the band members, and the main character who tells us his story. He gets by life as a cripple thanks to his clubbed foot and is partly ashamed he couldn’t serve as a soldier during the war. Instead, he worked supporting roles at home protecting the public during the threat of air raids.
The other band members are a colorful crew with multiple personalities that somehow manage to get along. Everyone has their secrets and they will do just about anything to keep the others from finding out.
The imagery of 1940s Liverpool is fantastic. We get a full sense of the sounds, smells and slang going on at the time. This is one of those stories that the reader is fully immersed into. I honestly felt like I was traveling through time each time I picked up where I left off. I really enjoyed this book and was sad to see it end. There were many twists and turns I did not see coming. Overall, it was a great thrilling read during a historic time. Definitely worth the read, so go get your copy!
Village of the Mermaids is a super fun bizarro novella! Dr. Black is a representative of the Food People Corporation who goes to a secluded island to help save the village inhabitants from becoming mermaid food. The company he represents has created an alternative food source genetically geared to attract mermaids to kill them instead of the villagers.
Mermaids are a protected species, so the villagers have no way to protect themselves without severe repercussions. Something on the island has changed and Dr Black has to figure out what is going on. With his side kick, Jackson, they attempt to locate what has caused the change in behavior of the mermaids. Where there’s a will, there’s a way! The mermaids and mermen are changing to survive! Can Dr. Black figure it out before it’s too late?
This was my first Mellick III book and I really enjoyed it! I’m going to have to find more of his stuff for sure. This was a quick read as I read it in multiple parts within the last 24 hours. It’s a great story and mermaids are awesomely vicious!
This is my first book I have read by Jonathan Butcher and what a doozy it was!
Chocolateman is the story of James Tooth who as a ten year old child witnessed a horrific and terrifying grotesque act performed on his birth parents. This trauma carries on with him through his adulthood and therapy sessions are helping him to cope.
James goes on to have his own family with a wife and two kids. He definitely has his quirks and the oldest child realizes something is up then does a little investigating on her own about her father’s past. Boy does she get more that she bargained for!
Meanwhile on the anniversary of “the event,” James is stressing about the Chocolateman coming to settle a score. Little does he know, he’s watching and has been watching for some time by interacting with a family member secretly.
I liked this story. Yes, it’s grotesque and weird things are done with poop that I’ve never seen or heard of before! If you have an aversion to body horror, feces, excrement or any other word that means poop, this is not for you!
The Voracious Gnome 