Home » Articles posted by Kirsten (Page 293)

Book Review: Dark Screams: Volume 7 edited by Brian James Freeman and Richard Chizmar

Dark Screams: Volume 7 edited by Brian James Freeman and Richard Chizmar

Hydra, 2017

ISBN: 9780399181948

Available: Kindle edition
 

After reading Dark Screams Volume 6, I knew I had to read Volume 7. Freeman and Chizmar have another great anthology here.

Robert McCammon weaves a tale of the “Lizardman”, who thinks he is the mightiest predator living in the Florida swamp, until he meets the real “big bad” lurking in the waters. Old Pope can drive people to madness and devour them quickly. What will become of the Lizardman when he meets the great beast?

James Renner’s story, “A Monster Comes to Ashdown Forest (in Which Christopher Robin Says Goodbye),” is both heartbreaking and terrifying at the same time. A caretaker working at a hospital at Dartmouth meets the real Christopher Robin, a seventy-five year old senile man who lived as a recluse so no one could find him and torment him about that silly old bear. There’s a very good reason why he wanted to forget the bear, the forest, and the carnage wrought beneath its trees.

Death comes to four families in “Furtherest” by Kaaron Warren. Grandpa Sheet, the old man living in one of the houses, rewards children who wander the dunes the furtherest where they find the graves of the boys who died. How far is the girl from House 1 willing to go out past the dunes?

Brian Hodge’s “West of Matamoros, North of Hell” is probably the most brutal story of the anthology. After the success of their latest album, Sebastián, Sofia, and Enrique head to Mexico for a photo shoot at a shrine to Santa Muerte, but instead they find themselves tormented and held prisoner by worshipers of the Saint of Death with others who have met the same fate. One by one, prisoners are dragged out of their dark enclosure. Unfortunately for those remaining it isn’t dark enough. Through one small window looking out to the giant statue of Santa Muerte, the prisoners witness the grisly sacrifices their captors make to their deity. However, when Sebastián and Enrique’s turns come, things are a little different.

A wolf is stalking Lieutenant Dietrich Drexler and his men through the Carpathian Mountains in “The Expedition” by Bill Schweigart. When Drexler is the only man left, he must take the news of what happened back to the Führer. Fortunately for Drexler, another fate awaits him.

Mick Garris’ story, “Snow Shadows,” revolves around a schoolteacher’s affair and a student’s infatuation that teaches a lesson in death and revenge.

While I enjoyed the sixth volume of the anthology more, Dark Screams Volume 7 was outstanding. I particularly enjoyed the story of Christopher Robin and the dark version of Pooh and the rest of the gang from the Hundred-Acre Wood. This volume is not to be missed if you have found this series. Recommended.

 

Contains: blood, brief sex, gore

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Posted on July 26, 2017 by , Reply

Book Review: The Fifth Doll by Charlie N. Holmberg

The Fifth Doll by Charlie N. Holmberg
47North, 2017
ISBN-13:978-1477806104
Available: Paperback, Kindle edition, Audible, MP3 CD

 

The Fifth Doll is an excellent fantasy novel for pre-teens and young adults.  Charlie N. Holmberg has written several novels about young heroines who face the trials and tribulations of life and magic.  The current novel gives readers not only an interesting plot that keeps them guessing, but also a bit of cultural history about what life might have been like in an early 20th century Russian village.

Matrona, the daughter of a dairy farmer, is unusual in at least two ways.  She is an only child, and, at age 26, isn’t married yet.  Her family and the carpenter’s family have arranged a marriage for her.  She hopes she will come to love her aloof betrothed, but she is secretly attracted to the potter’s son, Jaska.  Matrona’s village is unusual, too.  No one has ever left, except Slava, the tradesman.  Slava leaves the village periodically with his horse and cart, into the surrounding forest, and returns with goods from the outside world.  No one else knows what that world is like.

The weather is almost perfect.  The villagers have never experienced a freezing winter and have no concept of what snow is, but Matrona has nightmares of gray skies, rows of box-like houses unlike the village’s colorful farmsteads, trodden dirt roads and the sound of tramping feet.

Matrona accidentally enters Slava’s house and discovers a room full of nesting, or matryoshka, dolls.  Each doll has the painted face of a villager.  Slava has a secret plan, and Matrona is an unwilling part of it.  Each doll has power over its original.  Slava forces Matrona to open her own doll one doll at a time every three days.  When she refuses, he threatens her family.

When Matrona opens each doll, there are disturbing consequences.  Her secret thoughts are revealed to the entire village, she has excruciating headaches, and hears an inner voice chastising her for her faults.  Her vision is alerted.  She sees faint lines in the sky and snow for the first time!  Matrona can’t escape through the forest.  Each path she tries leads her back to the village.

If she opens the fourth doll and reveals the fifth, Slava’s plan will be complete and Matrona will be his substitute.  What is his plan?  What is in the outside world?  Can Matrona and Jaska save themselves and the village? Holmberg keeps the reader guessing until the very end. Highly recommended. 

 

Reviewed by Robert D. Yee

 

 

Posted on July 12, 2017 by , Reply

Book Review: Hekla’s Children by James Brogden

Hekla’s Children by James Brogden
Titan Books, 2017
ISBN-13: 978-1785654381
Available: Paperback, mass market paperback, Kindle edition

Hekla’s Children landed on this reviewer’s desk with the invitation to give it a whirl. Whirl it did, and the wild ride became one of the best surprises in recent memory. James Brogden has published three other books, but this hopefully will be his breakout effort.
Some will call this urban fantasy, others weird, while most will simply enjoy the story that has a bit of everything.

Nathan Brookes leads a group of students into an English park only to have them disappear when he abandons his post for a few minutes. One of the girls reappears the following day, damaged and unable to remember what happened during her absence. Ten years later, the nightmare begins again when an ancient warrior is dug up by archaeologist Tara Doumani, who wishes to preserve her find. However, the warrior is alive in another world, the one that the children crossed over to a decade ago, and he is desperately attempting the keep the afaugh (an evil creature hell bent on crossing over into our world) at bay.

Nathan and Tara embark on a journey to discover what happened to the kids, where the warrior came from and what he still wants– and how to keep evil on the other side of the bridge. What ensues is a tale heavy on horror and weird mythology that feels completely organic and satisfying. Brodgen’s writing is what makes this novel move. He imbues the fantasy world with a strong sense of reality that comes across as utterly natural. His characters carry with them wounds that define them and their role in this story, and break through any tired tropes.  Recommended for readers of urban fantasy, weird fiction, Tim Lebbon, and Christopher Golden.

Reviewed by Dave Simms

 

 

Posted on July 12, 2017 by , Reply
First « 291292293294295 » Last