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Book Review: Clowders by Vanessa Morgan

Clowders by Vanessa Morgan

Amazon Digital Services, 2018

ASIN: B078GTVF7Z

Available: Kindle edition

 

Author Vanessa Morgan acknowledges that the real city of Clervaux, in Luxembourg, is not noted for supernatural events, or for being a haven for cats.  However, in the fictional world of Clowders, the human inhabitants of  Clervaux are vastly outnumbered by cats, a clowder of cats (“clowder” is the collective noun used to describe a group of cats). The story starts when an American couple, Aidan and Jess, move to Clerveaux with their young daughter, Eleonore. Aidan, a self-absorbed wanderer, has been hired to work in a veterinary practice in Clervaux, and Jess has agreed to the move to please him and save their marriage. What they have not been told, although it is common knowledge among the villagers, is that a tengu (a spirit of the mountain and forest found in Japanese folklore) protects the village’s cats, and if a human kills a cat, the tengu kills nine humans.

 

Aidan and Jess are driving home from an unsatisfying night with colleagues from the veterinary clinic, when Jess accidentally runs over and kills a cat.  The tengu stalks the family, although they are still ignorant of the curse.  Others, who have lived in Clervaux much longer, sense that they are all doomed, but still do not tell Jess and Aidan.  When the villagers learn about the accident, they turn against the newcomers, fearing that they will be among the nine victims.  When Jess and Aidan finally learn about the curse, they plan to leave.  But can they escape?

 

Morgan does a good job in describing the flaws and foibles of the characters.  Although the death of the cat was simply an accident, the characters’ weaknesses and actions contributed to it.  For example, although Jess had drunk the least, was her driving impaired by drinking more than usual because of worry and jealousy at Aidan’s flirting with another woman?

 

In the ebook version I reviewed, Morgan gives away the plot before the book before the book’s introduction. There is one instance of in which “of” is mistakenly used for “off”. Morgan has a good story here; Clowders is worth reading. Recommended.

 

Contains: moderate sexuality, moderate gore

 

Reviewed by Robert D. Yee

Posted on March 17, 2018 by , Reply

Book Review: The Corona Book of Horror Stories edited by Lewis Williams


The Corona Book Of Horror Stories edited by Lewis Williams

Corona Books UK, 2017

ISBN-13:  978-0-9932472-6-2

Available: Paperback, eBooks(Kindle)

 

The Corona Book of Horror Stories is a collection of 16 up-and-coming writers of incredible imagination.  There are a variety of stories that cover the gamut of the horror genre;  there is something for nearly everyone.  Anything that can be used to scare, terrorize and, give you the creeps is on tap here, from the mundane to the extraordinary.  Variety is the spice of life.  And death.

This was an interesting collection of new writers.  Most of them are in and from the U.K. with a few U.S. writers mixed in.  Each story was edited with the author’s origin in mind, so the grammar switched up occasionally.  The variety was fun, as I did not know what topic I would get with each new story.

However, there were some stories I loved and some I did not.  Those I really liked were: A Health And Safety Issue (I can relate); Bad Boys Don’t Get Dessert (shocking at the end); The Ornament (it actually gave me the creeps); Death By Appointment (a contemporary interview with Death.  Timeless!)  The stories I didn’t like either took too long to really get rolling or just needed grammatical and editorial help.

In the end, although the quality of the stories varied, The Corona Book of Horror Stories is worth reading to see what some new writers are putting together.  I have not read any of these author’s works before.

 

Contains:  Adult language, adult situations, graphic images and violence

Reviewed by Aaron Fletcher

Posted on March 15, 2018 by , 1 comment

Book Review: Strange Weather: Four Short Novels by Joe Hill

Strange Weather: Four Short Novels by Joe Hill

William Morrow, 2017

ISBN-13: 978-0062663115

Available: Hardcover, paperback Kindle edition, Audible audiobook, audio CD

 

There’s something decidedly different about Joe Hill. His novels and short stories often defy categorization, eschewing the conventions of horror and tropes of speculative fiction in favor of something much more… interesting.

 

Strange Weather is comprised of four short novels. The worlds concocted by the author are far from perfect, but are intriguing; they are familiar, but ill-suited to reality. The protagonists are not sympathetic characters readers will want to root for, but they are fascinating.

 

“Snapshot,” the first story, introduces readers to an awkward teen who discovers his elderly neighbor has had her memories stolen by a man with a strange camera. When the boy attempts to foil the man’s plans, he discovers something demented within the device. Hill manages to twist this story into something heartwrenching.

 

The second story, “Loaded,” could be the author’s anti-Second Amendment tale. A mall cop goes on a ill-advised shooting spree while trying to stop a killer, until he can no longer be described as a “good guy with a gun”. The unraveling of the character as his sad world crumbles is intriguing.

 

“Aloft” is the oddest tale in Strange Weather, more reminiscent of 20th Century Ghosts than his horror material. A man afraid of heights decides to try skydiving but manages to fall straight into a cloud, and remains there. An unusual setting, to say the least. “Aloft” will challenge Hill’s fans.

 

Finally, “Rain” can be summarized as a classic Joe Hill tale, with plenty of weirdness and amazement in the setting and a strong, unique cast of characters. When the sky opens up over Boulder, Colorado, nails pound the town, skewering the citizens in a multitude of ways. The downpour is only the beginning, as the aftermath of the apocalyptic event brings out the worst in society.

 

Hill’s style resonates as always: rich and full of imagery that will stick to the psyche, yet never obtuse or indulgent. His depictions of the the everyday person, and lives, are outstanding, and he has an affinity for the weird that seems to be building with each release. That’s a wonderful thing. Strange Weather is reading that will breeze by but leave a scar. Highly recommended.

 

Editor’s note: Strange Weather is the winner of the 2017 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection.

 

 

Posted on March 14, 2018 by , Reply
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