Lullaby for a Lost World by Aliette de Bodard

November 28, 2018 By Leave a Comment


Lullaby for a Lost World by Aliette de Bodard
Publisher: Tor Books
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Horror, Paranormal, Historical
Length: Short Story (16 pages)
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Charlotte died to shore up her master’s house. Her bones grew into the foundation and pushed up through the walls, feeding his power and continuing the cycle. As time passes and the ones she loved fade away, the house and the master remain, and she yearns ever more deeply for vengeance.

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Charlotte was such a sympathetic character. This is never something I thought I’d say about a ghost who had homicidal urges, but she had excellent reasons for behaving the way she did. The people who took her life did so in such a despicable way that I couldn’t help but to hope that she’d find some way to make peace with it. She was young, poor, and defenceless when she died. Any one of those would have made me feel sympathy for her, but for it to happen to someone who fit all three of those groups only increased my urge to find out what her ultimate fate would be.

There was only one small thing I wish had been done differently with this tale, and it had to do with the ending. The final scene was by far the most exciting part of the plot, so I was a bit surprised by how abruptly it ended. It would have been nice to know how that scene turned out even if the narrator wasn’t planning to tell the audience anything else about how she planned to get her revenge for her murder.

This was one of the most grisly things I’ve read this year, and that was a good thing. Charlotte’s death was bloody, violent, and honestly disturbing at times. Learning about why it happened only made me more eager to find out if anyone would ever pay for what they did to this poor girl. I wanted her killers to deal with the consequences of their actions almost as much as she did! It was the only way she’d ever find peace. Knowing how horribly her life had ended was an integral part of understanding why her afterlife was so restless and full of justified anger.

Lullaby for a Lost World was deliciously scary. Anyone who loves their horror grim and ghastly should check it out.

Filed Under: Horror, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

A Ghost Story by Mark Twain

November 21, 2018 By Leave a Comment


A Ghost Story by Mark Twain
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services LLC
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Horror, Paranormal, Historical
Length: Short Story (30 pages)
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

“A Ghost Story” is one of the best-known humorous stories by Mark Twain (pen-name of Samuel Clemens, 1865-1936). First published in 1870, it is set in Nineteenth-Century New York City.

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The world-building was phenomenal, and it happened for a character who spent the entire plot in an old, dusty bedroom of a house whose upper floors hadn’t been used in years! All of the descriptions of the home and the things that happened in were so vivid, though, that I could picture exactly what it would be like to stay there. I was pretty impressed by how the author was able to do this given the fact that there was only one setting for the entire storyline.

There aren’t a lot of characters out there who react sensibly when they realize that a ghost is haunting them. Luckily, one of these such individuals was the narrator of this tale. While he was definitely concerned about all of the scary noises he was hearing, he didn’t overreact. I liked reading about his thought processes as he attempted to figure out how to respond to his late-night visitor. He stayed as calm and logical as anyone could reasonably expect to under those circumstances, and that was refreshing.

Not only did the ending fit the tone of this book perfectly, it also made me laugh. I appreciated the narrator’s sense of humor even more once he realized what was actually making all of the frightening noises outside, and later inside, of his bedroom. Honestly, I didn’t want to stop reading his descriptions of what was going on. While I was satisfied with how everything was resolved in the end, I was also left yearning to know what happened next in a very positive sense.

I’d heartily recommend A Ghost Story to anyone who loves the paranormal genre.

Filed Under: Horror, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

November Book of the Month Poll Winner ~ Gazelle in the Shadows by Michelle Peach

October 31, 2018 By 1 Comment


Gazelle in the Shadows by Michelle Peach
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Historical, Mystery/Suspense
Length: Full Length (312 pages)
Rating: 4.5 stars
Reviewed by Lavender
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In the mid 90s, Elizabeth Booth is a young British college student studying Arabic at Durham University. With some travel and work already under her belt, she excels at her studies and is sent to Damascus to immerse herself in the language. Taken aback by the generosity and kindness of the people there, she easy slips into a life in the ancient city. She has friends, her studies, and even a handsome boyfriend. But things aren’t always what they seem. Soon, in a world where mistrust and disloyalty are commonplace, Elizabeth finds herself navigating a web of lies, betrayals, and even murder involving MI6, deadly terrorist factions, and the shadowy Syrian secret police.

READ THE FULL REVIEW HERE!

Filed Under: Erotic Romance, Horror, Mainstream Fiction, Mystery/Suspense, Non-Fiction, Other, Reviews, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: ,

Monsterland Reanimated by Michael Okon

October 19, 2018 By Leave a Comment


Monsterland Reanimated by Michael Okon
Publisher: WordFire Press
Genre: Paranormal, Contemporary
Length: Full Length (252 pages)
Age Recommendation: 12+
Rating: 4.5 stars
Review by Honeysuckle

After Monsterland has imploded, the entire world is thrown into chaos. World leadership is gone, economies have collapsed, and communications are non-existent. Wyatt must go beyond the boundaries of his small town to reestablish contact with the outside world, and alert the government about a traitor-in-chief.

During his journey he discovers a new threat released from the bowels of the defunct theme park.
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When an army of relentless mummies, a life-sucking ooze called The Glob, and a hybrid reanimated Behemoth rise from the depths of Monsterland, who will survive?

This ain’t no fun filled summer at Six Flaggs. The monsters are back and they mean business.

In the exciting followup to the hair raising Monsterland, Wyatt and his friends will face a new crop of creepies from down below. I could only imagine the new adventure author Michael Okon had come up with to keep this reader on the edge of my seat and turning pages furiously. I wasn’t ready and it was very exciting! Mummies and slimy blood sucking ooze?? Mr. Okon knows his key audience.

Wyatt won me over in Monsterland with his grit and typical teen self. Mr. Okon did an excellent job on character development. For anyone who lives with teen boys, this character is what you imagine. He’s smart but also sarcastic. Determined but also easily distracted. Speaking of distractions, there’s some sweet romance in this book.

Monsterland Reanimated is told from two POVs and has the feel of a very late 80’s B movie type, gritty dirt road town. I kept expecting giant worms to come burrowing out of the ground but, in truth, it was something a little more sinister. I liked how the author brings in the classic horror and makes it relevant to this modern story. Something, or I should say someone, makes a return that no one expected. But that wasn’t nearly as surprising as how the gang figures out how or with what to fight the mummies. This was a fun read.

Reader’s don’t have to have read Monsterland to understand book two but it helps. There are references that will make much more sense, plus the background of how it began. The author leaves the end of the book open to another adventure so, now is the perfect time to visit or maybe revisit Monsterland and it’s gallery of ghouls.

Filed Under: Horror, Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , ,

The Night Cyclist by Stephen Graham Jones

October 17, 2018 By Leave a Comment


The Night Cyclist by Stephen Graham Jones
Publisher: Tor Books
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Horror, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (35 pages)
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

“The Night Cyclist” by Stephen Graham Jones is a horror novelette about a middle-aged chef whose nightly bicycle ride home is interrupted by an unexpected encounter.

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The main character was an incredibly brave man. I never would have had the courage to do what he did when he encountered something completely out of the ordinary on his bike ride home after dark. He was riding in such a deserted area that I would have been worried about something terrible happening under those circumstances and with no witnesses around to help. This rash decision suited his assertive and risk-taking personality perfectly, though. If anyone was going to run towards danger instead of away from it, he would have been the guy to do that.

There were a few parts of the ending that didn’t quite make sense to me. They had to do with how the protagonist reacted once the most climatic scene had wrapped up and he was left to decide what to do next. His reaction wasn’t what I would have expected from him based on how he’d behaved in the past. It would have been helpful to have a more thorough explanation of why he acted this way.

The world building felt quite realistic to me. Due to the fact that the main character didn’t have superpowers or any particular interest in things that can’t be explained by science, I appreciated how much time it took him to realize that something odd was happening. That was an understandable reaction from him. Even though I always wanted to know more than he was slowly figuring out, I liked the fact that the author stayed so true to this character’s down-to-earth approach to stuff he didn’t understand.

Anyone who has ever been alarmed by a strange sound after dark should give The Night Cyclist a try.

Filed Under: Horror, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , ,

The High Lonesome Frontier by Rebecca Campbell

October 16, 2018 By Leave a Comment


The High Lonesome Frontier by Rebecca Campbell
Publisher: Tor Books
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Historical, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (21 pages)
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

A meditation about the evolution and influence of a song written in 1902 over the next 150 plus years.

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This was the first time I’ve ever seen a song being treated like a character, much less the protagonist. I was impressed with Ms. Campbell’s creative approach this topic. Even though it wasn’t a sentient being, the song’s evolution over time were fascinating to watch. The identity of the person who originally sang it was forgotten by many fans which only made it more appealing and mysterious to future generations.

The only thing I wish had been done differently had to do with the non-chronological order of the scenes. As much as I adored seeing how the song was rediscovered by each new generation, in a few spots it was slightly confusing to jump around so much in the timeline. While I did soon figure out how to piece everything together, this is something I would have liked to see tweaked. It was the only thing holding this story back from a perfect rating from me.

One of the most magical things about music is how effortlessly it can evoke the same emotion in everyone who listens to it no matter who they are or how many years later they discover it. This was a theme that was explored in depth in this tale. Every single person who sang, heard, played, or was otherwise exposed to this song responded to it with the same mixture of feelings. I can’t say what those feelings were, exactly, without giving away spoilers, but I was amazed by how often this kept happening no matter how many generations had passed since it was originally written and recorded.

The High Lonesome Frontier was a beautiful piece of science fiction that I’d strongly recommend to anyone who has ever absent-mindedly hummed a tune that they could only half remember.

Filed Under: Horror, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , ,

The Tangled Woods by Emily Raboteau

October 16, 2018 By Leave a Comment


The Tangled Woods by Emily Raboteau
Dark Corners collection
Publisher: Amazon Original Stories
Genre: Contemporary, Horror
Length: Short Story (37 pgs)
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Ginger

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Poison-tongued film critic Reginald Wright is known for his creative insults and intolerance for the garbage culture, insufferable rudeness, and thoughtless racism of predictably common people. Now, against his better judgment, and with a marriage in crisis, he’s attempting a getaway in the Poconos that quickly fulfills his every low expectation. In fact, it’s becoming a nightmare. And that’s just what Reginald needs to wake up.

What dad wouldn’t be excited to be headed on a five night family vacation to Big Bear Lodge in the Poconos? Not widely know film critic Reginald Wright. In fact he seems to bring the grouchiness of a bear with his sour mood and bitter attitude. I feel sorry for Reggie’s wife, Ladette and their son, Thurgood, that they have to deal with such a sullen temperament. Reggie seems to not be aware of how his words can hurt but that will soon change.

This is a well written short tale that delivers a gloomy story of an unhappy man. I wouldn’t categorize the story as scary… more along the lines of disturbing. Starting with Reggie’s depressing and mean behavior, to his odd dream to the encounter with the man upstairs. For such a short story, the author’s words held my attention and drew me in. I felt sympathy for the characters. Sad that a father can’t see what good he has in his wife and son. A son that looks up to his father, but also seems to recognize that his father needs healing.

I enjoyed the author’s writing style and how she put so much into just a few pages. I also like the author’s use of uncommon words that gave the story a certain flare.

Filed Under: Horror, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Old Dispensation by Lavie Tidhar

October 9, 2018 By 2 Comments


The Old Dispensation by Lavie Tidhar
Publisher: Tor Books
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Horror
Length: Short Story (31 pages)
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

A space opera adventure set in a universe controlled and run by Jewish religious authorities. An enforcer is sent to a distant planet where he discovers an android who changes his mind about what is right and wrong

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There’s something to be said for a plot twist involving a major character that is only vaguely hinted at. While I did end up figuring out what it was probably going to be ahead of time, this in no way made it less interesting to see if my prediction was going to turn out to be the correct one. The fact that the characters involved in it were so surprised by what happened made me grin. I wish I could say more about this, but I don’t want to give away any spoilers about something that was a highlight of the storyline for me.

I found it confusing to jump back and forth in the timeline of this story so often. As interested as I was in the plot itself, it was hard to keep track of when everything happened due to certain key scenes appearing to being shared much sooner or later than they actually happened. There were several times when I had to stop and reread a previous scene due to all of the trouble I had placing it in the timeline, and I’m still not entirely sure I have all of them sorted out correctly.

The world building was well done. I originally wondered if this was part of a series due to all of the little details the author included about things that had happened in the distant past. When I found out it wasn’t, I was even more impressed by how much work had been put into creating such a detailed world in only a few dozen pages.

I’d recommend The Old Dispensation to anyone who loves dark and futuristic science fiction.

Filed Under: Horror, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , ,

A Human Stain by Kelly Robson

September 28, 2018 By Leave a Comment


A Human Stain by Kelly Robson
Publisher: Tor Books
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Horror, Historical
Length: Short Story (40 pages)
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

“A Human Stain” by Kelly Robson is a disturbing horror novelette about a British expatriate at loose ends who is hired by her friend to temporarily care for his young, orphaned nephew in a remote castle-like structure in Germany.

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This was one of the creepiest things I’ve read in ages. It was creepy to think of Helen, the protagonist, living in a crumbling mansion with a child who kept doing alarming things and other staff members who refused to confirm or deny anything about why the boy behaved that way or whether his actions were a sign of something even more horrifying from his past.

What this story needed more than anything was a much more detailed description of the secrets that Herr Lambrecht and the people he employed at the mansion were keeping from Helen. This was by far the most important part of the plot, so I was surprised by how it was handled once she realized there was something very odd about her young charge. I was intrigued by what was shared, but I had enough trouble putting all of the pieces together that I didn’t feel justified in giving this book the higher score I’d originally thought it deserved.

Helen was a likeable main character whom I desperately hoped would be okay once she realized exactly how much danger she was in. I marvelled at all of the hints about her past that poked through as she adjusted to her strange new home and job. It was the sort of position that wouldn’t appeal to most tutors or nannies, so it was nice to know why she was so in need of a job that she overlooked red flags more observant and less desperate employees would have picked up on early on.

If you love the horror genre, give A Human Stain a try.

Filed Under: Horror, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Paths to the Stars by Edward Willett

September 21, 2018 By 1 Comment


Paths to the Stars: Twenty-Two Fantastical Tales of Imagination by Edward Willett
Publisher: Shadowpaw Press
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Paranormal, Horror, Contemporary, Historical
Length: Full Length (327 pages)
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

From Edward Willett, Aurora Award-winning author of Marseguro, The Cityborn, and Worldshaper (DAW Books), among many others, comes twenty-two tales of fantasy, science fiction, and horror, drawn from a long career of telling fantastic tales.

A young musician dreams of playing his songs among the stars…A Broadway performer on the lam is forced to direct aliens in The Sound of Music…Strange vegetables with dangerous properties crop up in small-town Saskatchewan…A man with a dark secret gets his comeuppance on a windy night on the prairie…An elderly caretaker on the Moon preserves the memory of the millions who died on Earth’s darkest day…A woman and a bat-like alien must overcome their own prejudices to prevent an interstellar war…

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Time to go exploring…

From dusty, old-fashioned farmhouses from generations ago to gleaming space ships who will fly around in the distant future, there’s something in this collection for a wide variety of tastes.

“Strange Harvest” showed what happened to the community of Drinkwell, Saskatchewan when the farmers and gardeners there began noticing that their crops didn’t look, taste, or behave like anything they’d ever seen before. I was fascinated by the thought of something as ordinary as a potato becoming dangerous for humans to be around. It made me think about farmer’s markets in an entirely different way, although I can’t say much more else about it without giving away spoilers. While I was satisfied with how this one ended, I also would have loved to know what happened to the characters after the final scene.

All of the stories in this anthology had attention-grabbing premises and were a pleasure to read. With that being said, there were a few of them that I thought could have used a little extra development. For example, it took me a while to understand what was happening in ““The Mother’s Keepers.” The protagonist, Praella, didn’t have a good understanding of how her society functioned at all. While I wouldn’t expect a drone like her to know everything, I was surprised by the gaps in her memory, especially once I got to know more about her insect-like race and began to make my own assumptions about how their society was structured and how they reproduced. This tale would have been one of my favorites if I’d had a better understanding of what her species was like and why she knew so little about the practical details of their lives.

Carl, the main character in “The Wind,” was haunted by his memories of his dead wife. Little did he know that a metaphorical haunting might not be the only thing he had to worry about. The plot twists in this tale were as clever as they were fun to read. While I did see them coming in advance, I was still quite curious to know if I’d made the correct assumptions about what the clues in the beginning were hinting at. It was rewarding to find out if I was right and see what happened to this character next.

Paths to the Stars: Twenty-Two Fantastical Tales of Imagination was a creative collection that I’d highly recommend to anyone who appreciates the occasionally humorous side of this genre.

Filed Under: Horror, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
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