Home » Archive by category "Uncategorized" (Page 74)

Book Review: It Came From the Swamp: A Cryptid Anthology edited by Joey R. Poole

Cover for It Came From The Swamp: A Cryptid Anthology

It Came From the Swamp: A Cryptid Anthology edited by Joey R. Poole

Malarkey Books, 2022

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1088025321

Available: Paperback ( Bookshop.org | Amazon.com )

 

This short story anthology is themed around cryptids and folkloric creatures. Mermaids and Bigfoot make multiple appearances, but so do more locally known creatures.

 

Standout stories include: “Flood Tide”, in which a maid for an anti-abortion senator feeds him and his handsy son to a carnivorous mermaid. I felt vicarious pleasure reading this one.In “Ceasing”, a lizard man and a Boo Hag go on a Halloween date. In “Soo-Soo Go Bye-Bye”, a father rushing to Wal-Mart on icy roads for baby supplies thinks he’s spotted a Sasquatch. “Der Butzemann” takes a figure from Pennsylvania Dutch folklore and uses it to enact vengeance on those poisoning the land. There’s some excellent writing in some of the other stories but they don’t quite feel like all the pieces fit together.

 

In any book themed on cryptids, they are really the stars, and “The Monster Beneath” and “The Valley Where the Fog Has Hooves” both have incredible, lyrical, descriptive writing about the cryptids in the stories. For readers into cryptids and folkloric creatures looking for something a little darker than Harry Dresden’s “Working for Bigfoot”, this is a title you’ll want to check out.

 

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

 

 

Posted on September 26, 2022 by , Reply

Book Review: The Mammoth Book of Folk Horror: Evil Lives on in the Land! edited by Stephen Jones

The Mammoth Book of Folk Horror: Evil Lives on in the Land! edited by Stephen Jones

Skyhorse, 2021

ISBN-13: 9781510749863

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition ( Bookshop.org  | Amazon.com)

 

 

Folk horror is finally getting the attention it deserves. Ancient traditions and practices, crumbling buildings surrounded by nature that has reclaimed the land, rituals that call down the gods, myths and legends coming to life. All of these and more can be found in the pages of The Mammoth Book of Folk Horror edited by Stephen Jones, acclaimed author and editor of horror and dark fantasy. While a relatively new term, folk horror has existed for much longer than this subgenre’s name.

 

This anthology contains many great tales of folk horror, old and new. The following are some of my favorites. “Jenny Greenteeth” by Alison Littlewood, set in the wartime English countryside, is the story of a young girl named Alice, an evacuee sent to live with a family that has two young daughters, Olivia and Betty. Olivia torments Alice with tales of Jenny Greenteeth until the stories seem to come true. In M. R. James’ “Wailing Well,” two members of a troop of scouts do not take the warning of a local shepherd seriously about avoiding the field containing the titular well, let alone using the water from it. Michael Marshall’s “The Offering,” set in Copenhagen, concerns a family on vacation staying in an Airbnb. When wife Lauren throws about a bowl of mysterious gray porridge in the refrigerator, Bill soon finds a sacrifice is made to the proper guardian of the house. Could it be the Nisse? “Gavin’s Field” by Steve Rasnic Tem tells of the titular character inheriting his father’s estate, but he discovers he should have done his homework on the property, and the town. “The Fourth Call” by the amazing Ramsey Campbell is my favorite story in the anthology. Mike returns to Leanbridge alone during Christmastime. He is drawn to the neighboring property, formerly owned by the Bundle family. When Mike tries to bring up the strange holiday tradition practiced in the village, longtime family friends, the Darlingtons, insist no such thing happened.

 

Other authors in this anthology include Algernon Blackwood, Christopher Fowler, Maura McHugh, Arthur Machen, Karl Edward Wagner, Simon Strantzas, Mike Chinn, David A. Sutton, H.P. Lovecraft, Kim Newman, Jan Edwards, Storm Constantine, Dennis Etchison, and Reggie Oliver. Included at the beginning of each entry is a write up of the author’s brief biography and works, as well as beautifully eerie black and white photography by Michael Marshall Smith.

 

The Mammoth Book of Folk Horror is a must-read for fans of folk horror, or new readers dipping their toes into the bog of the subgenre. Highly recommended.

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Posted on September 22, 2022 by , Reply

Book Review: A Song for Barnaby Jones by Anna Taborska, illustrated by Reggie Oliver

 

A Song for Barnaby Jones by Anna Taborska, illustrated by Reggie Oliver ( Buy from: Zagava )

Zagava, 2022

Dusseldorf, 2022

ISBN: 978-3-949341-22-9

 

 

This is a lovely book about a lonely man who doesn’t quite fit in, who is caretaker to a cemetery and lives in the gatehouse, where there are strange noises in the dark and he feels that something is watching him. He decides to explore the catacombs under his house and accidentally encounters the night creatures that have been sharing his bedroom. Once they’ve been frightened away, he discovers he misses their noises and lures his friends back.

 

Looking at it as a picture book, there are design issues, such as blank page spreads in the middle of the book that disrupt the story’s flow. However, the  black and white drawings by Reggie Oliver are gorgeous and complement the story beautifully. A Song For Barnaby Jones, while it doesn’t qualify as horror, has its own darkness and wonder. While I’m not sure exactly which the audience for this is, it is easily one of my favorite books this year. Recommended for lovers of the dark, wistful, and whimsical.

 

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

 

Posted on September 21, 2022 by , Reply
First « 7273747576 » Last