Eidolon Avenue: The First Feast  by Jonathan Winn

Crystal Lake Publishing, 2015

ISBN 9780994679345

Available: print, Kindle ebook

Eidolon Avenue: The First Feast contains five novellas set on the first floor of an apartment building. Each apartment houses residents who have dangerous secrets revealed to the reader through the walls of the apartments.

The first story, and one of the best ones, is about a Chinese woman named Lucky, haunted by the dead she created over a lifetime. Poor and turned out of her family’s house as a child, she was left homeless and desperate. Yin Ying finds her and takes her to the home of Madame Xuo, where Lucky learns the secret of the inky black shadow that makes Madame invincible, but at a price. Another excellent story is the last one, focusing on a little girl named Umbra who can negatively impact the lives of those around her with a mere thought. I would have liked to read more about her.

The second and third stories are probably the most gruesome of the lot, and I didn’t really connect with them. It seems as though the author wanted to go for shock value, which he accomplished, and the gross outs were very effective. The second story in the book told of a tattooed drunk who left his drug addict mother to die. I get that the author was trying to convey that the main character was awful, but there was too much detail for me. I also didn’t find the ending very satisfying. The third tale is about a frat boy serial killer and his skeevy friend who follows him around as he’s killing, and playing with the corpses afterward. This is another story that seems to be going for shock value– it’s like he is trying to top himself from the previous one. It was a unique tale regardless.

The fourth story, about an elderly couple who consistently fail murder/suicide pacts every time they attempt it, is alternatively humorous, heart-wrenching, gross, and dark. Marta enlists the aid of a Mr. Peabody who proves to be more than he seems.

Despite my reaction to two of the five stories, overall I would like to see the continuation of the stories of this apartment building. According to the author, there are five total floors with the first covered. I hope he does continue this series. It will be interesting to see what else he creates within these walls. Recommended.

Contains body horror, gore, necrophilia, sex

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker