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National Library Week: Check It Out!

Actually, this has nothing to do with horror, it’s just a fun way to share some library love, with this video from the Topeka-Shawnee Library District.

I went to my library yesterday for the first time in a while, and if you haven’t gone recently, it is a hugely different experience than browsing online. Here’s what I brought home:

Being Mortal by Atul Gawande (I thought you folks might like this, but it turns out to be nonfiction on aging and dying. Really good nonfiction, though!)

Redshirts by John Scalzi (very excited about this one– I love Scalzi!)

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles by Haruki Murakami (I just discovered him recently)

The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord (because the title is a reference to Voltaire’s novel Candide)

Gwenhwyfar: The White Spirit by Mercedes Lackey (been reading her books since I started college)

Inventing Imaginary Worlds by Michele Root-Bernstein (looks very cool!)

The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore (I’ve read fantastic reviews of this book)

Alice in the Country of Hearts: Love Labyrinth of Thorns by QuinRose, art by Aoi Kurihara

 

Those titles are mainly from browsing the new nonfiction and the science fiction shelves, with a little time spent walking through the general stacks. Horror gets shelved with general fiction there. On the minus side, that means you have to search to find it. On the plus side, you get to browse through general fiction and find possibly interesting books and authors you might not find if they all were together. Honestly, there is nothing like browsing in a library. The person I went with is really not an enthusiastic reader, but she was happy to go. If you want to spend time around people but not have to talk to them, the library is a great place to be.

So do what the people at the Topeka-Shawnee Library District suggest: Check it out!

 

Posted on April 15, 2015 by , Reply

Book Review: Those Poor, Poor, Bastards (Dead West, Book 1) by Tim Marquitz, J.M. Martin, and Kenny Soward

Those Poor, Poor Bastards (Dead West, Book 1) by Tim Marquitz, J.M. Martin, and Kenny Soward

Ragnarok Publications, 2014

ISBN: 978-0991360529

Availability: paperback

 

In Those Poor, Poor Bastards, all Hell breaks loose when Nina and her father go to a small frontier town for supplies, and discover the town is overrun with zombies. Escaping along with a small group of survivors, Nina and her father escape. While they search for a safe refuge, they rescue a family in the woods, and come upon the long-abandoned Ft. Bluff, where they can fortify their defenses. There, Nina and the others meet a Jesuit priest, Father Mathias, who possesses strange powers that can kill the zombies.

Father Mathias tells our survivors about the mysterious Liao Xu, a man who sold his soul to the devil. The priest reveals that he has taken an artifact of great power from Liao Xu. Liao Xu attacks the fort to retrieve the artifact, and those who survive the attack end up as reluctant participants in an effort to stop the mysterious man from destroying the rest of humanity.

The first in a series, Those Poor, Poor Bastards is a fantastic book in the Western horror sub-genre. Marquitz, Martin, and Soward, combine their storytelling talents into a seamless narrative that takes a different look at the sometimes overused zombie trope. It is a fast-paced tale, but the character development doesn’t suffer because of it. There is more than one villain here, making Those Poor, Poor Bastards quite entertaining. I especially enjoyed the heroine, Nina, who is a well-rounded, complex character.

If you like zombies, or Western horror in general, then I recommend picking this one up, and I look forward to reading subsequent installments in the Dead West series. Recommended.

Contains: blood, gore, adult language and situations

Reviewed by: Colleen Wanglund

Posted on April 11, 2015 by , Reply

Book Review: What Happens in the Darkness by Monica J. O’ Rourke

What Happens in the Darkness by Monica J. O’Rourke

Sinister Grin Press, 2013

ISBN: 978-0983911883

Availability: paperback

 

The United States has been attacked by its enemies. Cities are devastated, and now vampires, previously hidden, are running rampant, and looking to take over. Janelle is a twelve-year-old girl trying to survive the aftermath of war in New York City and discovers her mother is one of the vampires.

Jeff was guarding some of the most powerful vampires at an army base in upstate New York. He releases them, only to end up a vampire himself, against his will. Martin, their leader, will try to protect him as long as he stays loyal. Unfortunately, Jeff’s loyalties are divided.

Monica O’Rourke has written an intriguing take on the (sometimes) tired vampire sub-genre. Her characters are interesting, and the storylines, especially Jeff and Janelle’s, are quite compelling. I enjoyed reading a story in which America was a weakened victim of the Global Dominion, with the possibility that the country might not survive. It’s not the extreme horror that I have come to love by O’Rourke, although there is a horrific rape scene that I found quite disturbing. What Happens in the Darkness is an excellent read. Recommended.

Contains: blood, gore, violence, adult situations, rape, and profanity.

Reviewed by Colleen Wanglund

Posted on April 11, 2015 by , Reply
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