Everyone! In the Dream! Is You! by Adam Dove

May 16, 2025 By Leave a Comment


Everyone! In the Dream! Is You! by Adam Dove
Publisher: Last-Picked Books
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Paranormal, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

In these six stories, full of dangerous magic, fragile men, and broken families, Adam Dove explores the macabre reality of masculinity and the lives it destroys.

A teenager becomes trapped in a cyclical dreamscape, turning a high school crush into an absurdist nightmare. A promising sculptor uses a new technique to mold his lover into the perfect woman. A deserted child’s search for his missing father leads him to the sinkhole on the outskirts of town—which his classmates say leads straight to Hell.

Spanning the breadth of genre and blurring the lines between reality, dream, and nightmare, the stories in Everyone! In the Dream! Is You! show us that beneath the hardened shell of masculinity is a broken, wailing humanity, desperate to be free.

Anything is possible in dream-like places.

In “Unstable Ground,” a deserted child’s search for his missing father in a sinkhole quickly spiralled out of control. I loved the dreamlike quality of this tale, especially as the main character wandered further into the sinkhole and discovered things that made this reader shudder. Every layer, both metaphorically and literally, of the underground tunnels and caverns he explored gave another clue about what was happening and made me wonder if my previous assumptions about what was really going on should be reevaluated. This was something I couldn’t stop reading until I knew how it all ended.

“Everyone! In the Dream! Is You!” continued the trend of making this reader feel like I was trapped in a nightmare, but this time the setting was a high school where the rules of physics and biology kept changing so quickly that I had trouble keeping up with what was going on. It would have been helpful to have a more defined plot in this story given how many other aspects of it were different from one scene to the next. This was a pattern that repeated in a few other stories, too, and led me to choose the rating I did.

A rotting, infected tooth caused such horrible pain for a character in “Heap” that he decided to take matters – and maybe even a molar – into his own hands. This opening scene set the stage for an exploration of a relationship that was placid on the surface but filled with mysterious and horrifying twists and turns the moment its surface was scratched. The vivid descriptions in it made me shudder sometimes, but I couldn’t possibly stop reading.

Everyone! In the Dream! Is You! was surreal.

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

Paranormal Jelly: An Anthology of Whimsical Narratives Regarding the Comical Facets of the Occult by Zwahk Muchoney

May 6, 2025 By Leave a Comment


Paranormal Jelly: An Anthology of Whimsical Narratives Regarding the Comical Facets of the Occult by Zwahk Muchoney
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Paranormal, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Paranormal Jelly blends the bizarre with the everyday in the early internet era of 1996. Middle-aged author Albert runs a popular website, sharing tales of eldritch horrors, baby Sasquatches, cigarette-smoking ghosts, and dark cultists. A skeptic at heart, he dismisses it all as fiction—until reality starts to blur. Cryptids and hauntings become alarmingly frequent, always just out of the reporter’s sight, but impossible to ignore. As Albert struggles to document these strange events, he’s drawn into a web of the supernatural that threatens his very existence.

Both skeptics and true believers are welcomed here.

I loved the playful and humorous tone of Albert’s adventures. The fantasy and science fiction themes were subtle in some places, but that only made those scenes even more exciting once they popped up again and made me look at what just happened in a new light. It was a nice contrast to the more skeptical characters who didn’t always believe the stories about ghosts, cryptids, aliens, and other creatures they heard.

As much as I liked reading about the various characters in this novella, there were so many of them that only the protagonist was given a chance to become more well rounded. Even then, I didn’t feel like I got to know Albert as deeply as I would have liked to due to the relatively short length of this piece and how much was going on with the plot. With stronger character development, this could have been a four or five-star work as the storyline and themes themselves were fantastic.

Some of my favorite scenes were the ones that provided scientific explanations for why things like orbs sometimes appear in photos and why certain types of people are more – or less – likely to believe in conspiracy theories and the paranormal in general. There are many different reasons why strange things happen and why people can have a wide variety of responses to the same event. I thought these passages treated both believers and skeptics fairly and assumed the best of everyone. That makes these sorts of stories so much more interesting to read as I knew the author had good intentions and wanted everyone to think critically about what they’ve read, heard, or maybe even seen with their own two eyes.

Paranormal Jelly: An Anthology of Whimsical Narratives Regarding the Comical Facets of the Occult kept me guessing.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Mountain Interlude by S.V. Brosius

April 28, 2025 By Leave a Comment


Mountain Interlude by S.V. Brosius
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Romance, Paranormal, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Can broken hearts mend if they are frozen in time?

Deep in the mountains of Colorado stands an old house shrouded in mist. A lonely, divorced woman will come face to face with the attractive man who owns the property. She will find herself in a world of paranormal mystery: a place where the lost are taken care of, the injured are healed, and time stands still.

Healing is for everyone.

Maizie’s character development was strong and made me want to spend even more time with her. She was an intelligent, resourceful person who could quickly solve problems if she felt threatened or confused. This is something I’m always happy to come across in stories, especially ones involving a woman driving alone in the middle of nowhere who has car trouble and needs to seek help. That’s a situation that just about any woman would feel rather vulnerable in, so it was a relief to meet a character who took her predicament so seriously.

It was never quite clear to me what the limitations of the paranormal elements of the storyline were. They seemed to wax and wane depending on what Maizie and Tony were currently doing, but it was never entirely clear to me if this was because their moods were influencing the spirit world or if this were a coincidence. If more attention had been paid to the logic of how this all worked, I would have happily given this tale a higher rating as it was well-written and memorable.

I must tip my cap at the author for their creative and thought-provoking ending. It was not at all what I expected it to be, but it fit the tone of this tale perfectly and made me wish for a sequel. There’s definitely something to be said for stories that play around with the audience’s expectations in order to keep their genre fresh and interesting.

Mountain Interlude was full of surprises.

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Wrath of the Never Queen by Storm Lomax

April 3, 2025 By Leave a Comment


Wrath of the Never Queen by Storm Lomax
Publisher: Self-published
Genre: Historical, LGBTQ, Paranormal, Romance, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Young Adult
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Lilikoi

A doomed prince with a monstrous curse. A sadistic king with a dark history. And the witch who will be his reckoning.

Gifted witch Shivani has so far avoided the annual Summoning. In her village, women are sent to the King each year and given six months to win the Prince’s heart and break his beastly curse. Anyone who can do so will be named Queen.

No one has succeeded.

Deep in debt and with the promise of a handsome reward, Shivani’s father volunteers her for the Summoning. With her magic stripped, Shivani is taken to the castle and thrust into the deadly challenge against her will.

As she navigates the prince’s terrifying curse and the king’s sadistic whims, she discovers decades-old secrets that could mean her freedom. But leaving wouldn’t save the prince and it wouldn’t free the imprisoned servants. Or Shivani could stay – if she’s shrewd enough to decipher the curse before the executioner’s axe drops.

As in the classic tale of Beauty and the Beast, the prince introduces Shivani—an avid reader like Belle– to his immense library. But in a unique twist of the familiar plot, the two main characters scour ancient manuscripts written in “witchtongue” and dragon language, searching for the elusive spell that will break the curse. With intriguing secondary characters and enthralling elements of fantasy, Wrath of the Never Queen is enjoyable and engaging.

I loved the paranormal aspect of this unique version of the beloved fairy tale: the telltale purple light and salty scent of witch magic, the discovery of ancient dragon lore and mystical enchantments, and the thrilling tension of ever-present danger as the story unfolds.

The main characters are compelling and likeable. With her noble, courageous heart, Shivani chooses to remain rather than flee when she finds a hidden passage leading out of the castle. Although she could escape and save her own life, she refuses to abandon the prince and the castle servants who have become her loyal friends. Prince Theo, despite his fearsome outward appearance as the beast, is tender, considerate, and caring. Aunt Meena, Vanya, and Inez enhance the complexity of the intriguing plot.

Despite the appealing elements of fantasy in this novel, there were many inconsistencies in the characters’ actions and language which were implausible and jarring, given the story’s antique medieval setting. Although the main characters engage in formal conversation, polite mannerisms, and eloquent forms of address reserved for royalty, Shivani uses modern obscenities which are culturally inappropriate and offensive within the context of such extremely proper etiquette. The budding romance between Shivani and the prince is depicted as innocent and chaste throughout the work, but one sexually explicit scene stands in stark contrast to the rest of the young adult novel.

With a bit more editing, this novel could really shine to its fullest. Also, rather than its abrupt conclusion with an appendix–the sapphic romance of the siren and the witch, a tale Shivani enjoyed hearing as a child—the ending would have been much more rewarding if that legend had been woven into the novel, explaining the ancient dragon culture associated with the castle and the iconic statue Shivani discovered in her quest to cure the curse.

In spite of its faults, Wrath of the Never Queen is an entertaining fantasy adaptation of the famed fairy tale, Beauty and the Beast.

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

DEATH: Friend or Enemy?: Views from the Other Side by Ann Merivale

March 14, 2025 By Leave a Comment


DEATH: Friend or Enemy?: Views from the Other Side by Ann Merivale
Publisher: 6th Books
Genre: Fiction, Paranormal, Contemporary, Historical
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Lavender

Death, as the saying goes, is the great leveler, and though many fear it, while others view it as a blessed release, its inescapability affects us all in some way. The author of this unusual book makes use both of her spiritual reading and of the knowledge she gained from 20-plus years’ experience of taking her Deep Memory Process clients back to deaths in their previous lives, thus giving a broad spectrum of possible post-death scenarios. These she illustrates with a combination of famous and fictional characters, drawn both from accounts that came from the ‘other side’ through her figurative pen and from factual research. Part of the book’s aim is to dispel all fears of death itself and to demonstrate that the notion of eternal damnation is mistaken. At the same time, it shows the reader that whether a lifetime lasts 10 years (as did Annie Darwin’s) or 97 (like Bertrand Russell’s), it has a clear purpose and value. The stories’ precise truth is, however, immaterial, as you will find them enjoyable, educational, and reassuring.

Ann Merivale’s DEATH: Friend or Enemy?: Views from the Other Side offers a fascinating and ultimately comforting exploration of death and the afterlife, viewed through a unique lens. This book offers a captivating blend of anecdotal evidence, historical context, and spiritual insight, all aimed at demystifying our ultimate fate.

Merivale’s 20+ years of experience with Deep Memory Process, guiding clients through purported past life regressions, provides a compelling foundation for the narratives within. The author cleverly weaves together accounts purportedly channeled from the “other side” through her “figurative pen” with factual research and historical figures like Annie Darwin and Bertrand Russell. This combination lends a sense of groundedness to the more ethereal aspects of the book, making it accessible to a wider audience.

The book’s strength lies in its storytelling. The promise of personal and up-close narratives from individuals who have passed is inherently intriguing. While the review acknowledges the “precise truth” of these stories may be immaterial, the reviewer emphasizes their enjoyable, educational, and reassuring nature. This suggests that Merivale has crafted compelling narratives that resonate on an emotional and intellectual level, offering a fresh perspective on the often-feared subject of death.

The inclusion of historical context adds another layer of intrigue, suggesting a blend of personal narratives and broader philosophical exploration.

Overall, DEATH: Friend or Enemy? is a unique read. It caters to those interested in exploring the mysteries of the afterlife, past life regression, and spiritual perspectives on death. While the book’s reliance on channeled accounts might not appeal to everyone, the combination of historical figures, personal stories, and the author’s extensive experience in Deep Memory Process makes it a compelling and potentially comforting exploration of life’s ultimate question. The promise of entertainment, education, and reassurance makes this book one to pick up this year.

Filed Under: Other, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Lies Sleeping by Ben Aaronovitch

January 29, 2025 By Leave a Comment


Lies Sleeping by Ben Aaronovitch
Publisher: Gollancz
Genre: Contemporary, Paranormal, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

The Faceless Man, wanted for multiple counts of murder, fraud, and crimes against humanity, has been unmasked and is on the run. Peter Grant, Detective Constable and apprentice wizard, now plays a key role in an unprecedented joint operation to bring him to justice.

But even as the unwieldy might of the Metropolitan Police bears down on its foe, Peter uncovers clues that the Faceless Man, far from being finished, is executing the final stages of a long term plan. A plan that has its roots in London’s two thousand bloody years of history, and could literally bring the city to its knees.

To save his beloved city Peter’s going to need help from his former best friend and colleague–Lesley May–who brutally betrayed him and everything he thought she believed in. And, far worse, he might even have to come to terms with the malevolent supernatural killer and agent of chaos known as Mr Punch….

Detective Constable Peter Grant and Nightingale finally know who The Faceless Man is and their main mission is to now stop him. But when it comes to magic in London – and The Faceless Man in particular – nothing is ever easy, and this time the nefarious plan is already well under way by the time Peter and Nightingale finally feel they might catch up to him.

I have been thoroughly enjoying this series and can highly recommend all the books in the series. While I do feel if readers come fresh to this book having not read any of the previous installments the book is still quite enjoyable and a great paranormal mystery on it’s own merits, I do believe that a lot more connection and enjoyment can be had having read the previous books.

I was really pleased that a lot of the overarching plots got a semblance of conclusion in this book and while there are still plenty of loose threads and clearly more stories to come I do think a lot of readers who have been following along will find this story particularly satisfying.

Readers who enjoy magic and paranormal stories – especially with a bit of mystery and police procedure thrown in – should find this book and this series as a whole highly enjoyable. I absolutely love this series and find the whimsy and even at times laugh out loud craziness is a joy to read. The characters are vibrant and relatable and the plot is delightfully complicated while still having a bit of the messiness and craziness of real life added in.

A great series and one I can strongly enjoy. Recommended.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

Blessings and the Thief by Elaine Violette

January 20, 2025 By Leave a Comment


Blessings and the Thief by Elaine Violette
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Genre: Romance, Paranormal, Holiday, Historical
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Damien Reeves grudgingly agrees to host his ailing Uncle Lionel’s Christmas party at the Blackmoor Inn, a restored castle famous for absurd ghost lore. When he learns of petty thefts that have occurred among his uncle’s elderly friends, he hopes discovering the culprit might keep him from reliving his own tragic holiday memories. When a beautiful young woman arrives, a more enticing challenge appears.

Tessia Bennington is relieved to spend the holidays at the reputed haunted inn with her aunt and uncle after the man she’d expected to marry begged off. She enjoys the frolicking escapades of the aged partiers while ignoring the handsome host’s flirtations. What she can’t ignore is a ghostly presence seeking her help.

Neither Tess nor Damien could have imagined the bizarre events and this most unusual holiday. Will they part with special memories or shed their defenses and find happiness in each other?

Christmas is the perfect time for romance and ghost stories.

I enjoyed the gentle ambiance of this tale. The characters lived in a world where the most scandalous thing that could occur were a missing pair of gloves or two young lovers kissing for a moment when the elders weren’t looking. This was a place where everything always turns out well in the end even if there may also be a few mischievous ghosts rumpling the bedsheets or moving personal items around. There’s something to be said for spending time in such a peaceful world.

It would have been helpful to have more character development in this piece, especially considering how many people were staying at this inn over the holidays and how little time there was to get to know most of them. I found myself feeling sympathy for characters like Annabelle who tended to be described in ways that didn’t always paint her in the best light. While I’m not sure if this was the author’s intention, it made me wonder what she and other characters like her would be like if their virtues were highlighted instead as well as how this tale would be different if told from another perspective instead.

The paranormal subplot made me smile. I enjoyed learning the backstories of the various ghosts who were said to haunt Blackmoor Inn and seeing what the characters thought of them. Would they believe in ghosts or think that question was a silly one? Other readers should discover the answers to these questions for themselves, but I thought these scenes added depth and humor to the storyline.

Blessings and the Thief was a cozy Christmas tale.

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Behind the Red Wooden Door by Sofia Ulrikson

January 10, 2025 By Leave a Comment


Behind the Red Wooden Door by Sofia Ulrikson
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Young Adult (14 – 18 y.o.), LGBTQ, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Paranormal, Romance, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Some doors, once opened, cannot be closed…

Following the departure of her only friend, Drew starts having strange dreams which feature a mysterious red, wooden door. Hesitant at first to explore this other world that feels as substantial as reality, she nonetheless finds herself drawn to the door upon witnessing a masked stranger with unconventional tendencies entering it alone.

Desperate to rectify her lonesome situation during her time awake, she endeavors to handle the weighty demands of her job and distant father. But when she meets Bonnie, an outgoing girl who reminds her of the best friend who left, Drew begins to wonder about the possibilities of second chances.

Still, the memory of her absent friend continues to haunt her, even in her sleep. As she works to unravel their mysteries, the effects of her dreams on her daily life become ever more apparent―for, as it seems, more than one hidden truth remains to be uncovered.

Once Drew has opened the door, things might not return to the way they used to be…

An emotional and fantastical exploration of mental health and healing, this beautifully written magical realism novel combines the cozy and heartfelt elements so beloved by readers of Lonely Castle in the Mirror and When the Coffee Gets Cold.

Change is possible, but it’s not always simple.

This was a sympathetic portrayal of how depression can sap a person’s energy and make even the smallest tasks feel all but impossible, and I was impressed by how accurate it was. Drew felt stuck in her stressful and low-paid retail position but couldn’t see how she could switch to something better anytime soon. When combined with other life difficulties, this made it hard for her to feel motivated or look for new opportunities. She was the sort of character I wanted to hug and give some genuine encouragement to.

With that being said, I struggled with the slow pacing and repetition. Drew noticed the red door multiple times before deciding if she wanted to open it to see what was inside, and even after that decision was made, she continued to put off making other choices that might have helped her in her journey to discover what that door meant and why it kept appearing in her nightmares. Yes, her depression went a long way in explaining why she behaved this way, but the pacing also made it difficult for me to remain highly interested in what might happen next because she continued agonizing over the same small decisions over and over again. This is something I’m saying as a reader who would have loved to give a higher rating and thought there was plenty of good in her story, too.

While I did see the ending coming in advance, it was still interesting to observe how Drew reacted to it once she figured out what was really going on. This wasn’t the sort of tale that needed a big plot twist in order to make everything work even though I continued to wish for more conflict and action at times. The quietness of it suited both Drew’s personality as well as what had happened earlier on in the storyline. She was the sort of person who would react well to gradually learning something that changed the way she thought about the world.

Behind the Red Wooden Door was thought provoking.

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

Hauntings and Hoarfrost by Rhonda Parrish (editor)

January 1, 2025 By Leave a Comment


Hauntings and Hoarfrost by Rhonda Parrish (editor)
Publisher: Tyche Books
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Paranormal, Holiday, Contemporary, Historical
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Wild storms, the sound of ice skates cutting across an empty pond and blankets of soft, white, beautiful death.

In the dark depths of winter, it is easy to become isolated as snow obscures landmarks and drifts create claustrophobic situations that can leave you huddled in your house, struggling to keep warm . . . and, perhaps, to ignore the message scrawled in the frost on the window.

Within these pages, you’ll discover eerie tales of long ago ghosts stretching frost-bitten fingers into the present, unexplained footprints in the snow, screaming madness, and icy cold sanity.

Editor Rhonda Parrish presents Hauntings and Hoarfrost, an anthology brimming with chilling stories and poems of the mysterious and uncanny for all lovers of horror, fantasy, and gothic.

Winter has many faces.

I adored the friendly ghosts in “And We All Come to the End, Around, Around” who all died in or near the same rustic cabin in different years. Finding the similarities between them was exciting due to the wide variety of eras they lived in and lifestyles they lived. I also enjoyed the plot twist later on that involved the ghosts deciding to band together and do something no one could ignore.

I was impressed with how many different approaches were included in this collection, from the kind and gentle tale I mentioned earlier to much darker and scarier interpretations of the theme. “Neither Rime Nor Reason” was one of these, and it followed a man named Donnan who walked into a deadly mountain range to try to save his foolish brother. The anger, confusion, and despair in this instalment made me curious to read more because every single character felt at least one – and usually more than one – of those emotions even if it wasn’t immediately noticeable to the reader. Peeling back those layers to try to figure out why everyone felt this was satisfying and made me want to learn more.

One of the worst things about winter is being deliriously sick and home alone during a blizzard. “Ice Lamp” explored the confusion and danger of that experience for a character who can’t quite tell which parts of their experience are memories of the past, distorted glimpses of their cold, damp cabin when viewed through the perspective of someone experiencing a serious illness, or vivid dreams that simply feel real. While I can’t provide any hints about which of these interpretations are correct, I felt like I was experiencing all of these possibilities alongside the protagonist as they struggled to figure out what to do next.

Hauntings and Hoarfrost was the perfect read for a cold, snowy day.

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

Tales of the Forthcoming: An Anthology of Science-Fiction and Supernatural Short Stories by Steven Blows

December 20, 2024 By Leave a Comment


Tales of the Forthcoming: An Anthology of Science-Fiction and Supernatural Short Stories by Steven Blows
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance, Holiday, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

It is impossible for anyone to know what the future will bring or even what is lurking behind the next corner, but it is possible to wonder, to question, to imagine. Have you ever imagined?

Machines with science beyond compare, intergalactic relics possessing unlimited power, creatures of nightmares, troubling family dinners, and more are included in this enthralling anthology of the awe-inspiring, the wonderous and the bone-chilling. Examining topics of greed, love, and fate, there are stories designed to make your heart race, others designed to melt it.

Possible futures and the horrors of today, Tales of the Forthcoming is a collection of ten short stories like no other.
So make a cuppa, sit back, and forget the world for a short while as you dive into a world of make-believe where imagination rules.

Science can’t explain everything yet.

I was intrigued to discover what speculative fiction twist could be found while reading about someone taking their dog for a walk in “Mezameru.” It was such a routine but wholesome moment in life that I kept a close eye out for hints that would guide me in the right direction. What a fun way to expand the audience’s expectations of what might happen in this genre! This reminded me why I like science fiction so much.

Some of the stories in this collection would have been better if more details had been included in them, especially when it came to character and plot development. “Highway,” which followed a young man who planned to travel down an empty and eerie road in Australia in order to reach his brother who needed a temporary caregiver, was one of them. As much as I enjoyed the cashier’s stern warning to the protagonist to avoid that highway at all costs, I found myself wishing someone had better explained what sometimes happened on that road to people who were travelling alone. There were so many different possibilities and only scant evidence for any one of them being the most accurate one.

As someone who also struggles to enjoy Christmas,“Possibilities” grabbed my attention immediately. The protagonist’s long standing effort to make this holiday special for the people in his life who do look forward to it was an excellent testament to his kind and generous personality. I also enjoyed the twist later on as the family was decorating their home. What a thoughtful way to draw readers in and make them wonder what they’re currently overlooking in their own lives.

Tales of the Forthcoming: An Anthology of Science-Fiction and Supernatural Short Stories was a wild ride.

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