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Book Review: Among the Lilies by Daniel Mills

Among the Lilies by Daniel Mills

 

Among the Lilies by Daniel Mills

Undertow Publications 2021 (release date September 14)

ISBN-13: 978-1988964317

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

Author of the excellent novel Revenants, the short story collection The Lord Came at Twilight and various short stories that have appeared in various magazines and anthologies, Daniel Mills is a New England native perfectly at ease with ghosts, hauntings and disturbing presences.

His style is elegant and classic, following the tradition of the masters of the genre but displaying a voice of his own, greatly appreciated and highly praised by readers and reviewers. The present, long awaited collection, includes eleven stories (two of which have never been published before) and a novella (which formerly appeared in print as a chapbook).

As it happens, not all the featured tales worked for me (which is not unusual when dealing with collections and anthologies) but some of the stories are exceptionally good and deserve to be specifically mentioned.

“The Lake” is a beautiful tale about the subtle melancholy of life and of childhood turning into adulthood, and about the terrors buried in the depth of the human soul.

In the dark and atmospheric “The Woman in the Wood” country horrors affect the mind of a young boy.

“Lilies” is a  long, complex story where the power of the past throws its shadow on the inhabitants of an old mansion, while “Dream Children” is an atypical , very dark mystery following the elusive traces of a disappeared woman.

Other readers or reviewers may disagree with my choices and prefer other tales , but certainly this is a book not to be missed by fans of stylish dark fiction.

 

Reviewed by Mario Guslandi

Posted on August 15, 2021 by , Reply

Book Review: The Fatal Move and Other Stories by Conall Cearnach

cover art for The Fatal Move and Other Stories by Conall Cearnach

The Fatal Move and Other Stories by Conall Cearnach

Swan River Press, 2021 (reprint, originally published in 1924)

ISBN: 978-1-78380-037-7

Available: Hardcover  ( Swan River Press )

 

 

Reprinted for the first time in nearly one hundred years, The Fatal Move is a slim collection of six ghostly tales penned by Conall Cearnach (the pseudonym of F.W. O’Connell, a peculiar and versatile Irish clergyman and scholar).

 

Thus, lovers of ghost and supernatural stories have the opportunity to get a taste of a different author rather than keep reading the classic works of the usual suspects.

 

The title story, “The Fatal Move” effectively portrays two bachelor friends, both passionate chess players, in love with the same woman. In a final chess game, an ingenious trick bound to bring death to one of the players will select the survivor(and winner of the woman’s heart).

 

The excellent “The  Fiend That Walks Behind” describes the obsession of a psychiatrist whose fame has usurped that of the real author of a scientific discovery, and becomes the object of a paranormal haunting and vengeance.

 

“The Homing Bone”,  a traditional type of ghost story– featuring an anatomist stealing a femur from a grave site– is  so well-told it entices the reader despite its predictable outcome, while “Professor Danvers’ Disappearance” is an intriguing, clever mystery, with a supernatural veneer.

 

The volume is enhanced by a number of quite enjoyable short essays by the author, addressing topics such as dreams, sleeplessness, nervous children, and the power of languages, plus an Irish alternative view of Dante’s Divina Commedia, “ The Vision of Merlino”.  The book is prefaced by an exhaustive, learned introduction by Reggie Chamberlain-King. “F.W. O’Connell: Master of Strange Tongues”.

 

A delightful change from the usual stuff published nowadays.

 

Reviewed by Mario Guslandi

Posted on June 25, 2021 by , Reply

Book Review: Raising Hell by Bryony Pierce

cover art for Raising Hell by Bryony Pearce

Raising Hell by Bryony Pearce

UClan Publishing, 2021

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1912979547

Available: Paperback  ( Amazon.com.uk )

 

Four years ago Ivy Mann and her friends Danny and Elena did a ritual to raise their friend Violet from the dead. Violet came back as a revenant and killed Danny before Ivy was able to stop her, and the ritual opened a rift that gives teenagers the ability to spellcast, bringing demons and hellhounds through and raising the dead. Ivy has been abandoned by her parents and Elena, her only company a cat possessed by the spirt of her Gran. Now nineteen, she works as a security guard at her old high school, detecting and confiscating magical contraband to protect other kids. In the case of Norah Ortega, she is too late to stop Norah from manifesting hellhounds in the school hallway. Although she defeats the hellhounds, she accidentally gives Norah a concussion, and Norah’s wealthy older brother Nicholas demands that Ivy be fired. Returning home, her Gran insists that Danny is there.

 

Then Norah shows up at Ivy’s place, asking for help. She is still connected to one of the hellhounds and it is draining her life force away. Nicholas follows shortly, and after surviving another hellhound attack, the three of them are off on a journey, chauffered by Nicholas’ bodyguard Andrews. Norah has to stay on consecrated ground, so Ivy, Nicholas, and Andrews go off to find the mysterious store where Norah got her spellbook, in hopes that the spell can be reversed, and discover Elena, who has found a way to bring Danny back because she believes that the three of them must all be there to reverse the ritual and close the rift.  In the meantime, she’s sold an awful lot of copies of the Necronomicon to unstable teenagers intent on raising the dead. What could possibly go wrong?

 

This fast-paced urban fantasy doesn’t make a lot of sense, but it is a lot of fun and it contained some unexpected surprises, including a political subplot that will probably be better appreciated by residents of England. There’s a fair amount of blood, dead teenagers, and zombie gore– Ivy is not a perfect heroine or superpowered, and she isn’t able to prevent collateral damage from taking place– but she’s funny (her machete is named Matilda), no-nonsense, and kicks butt.  Pearce did a great job bringing her character to life. Pearce’s teenagers are a mix of unlikable and sympathetic– regardless of her previous actions, Norah is grieving the death of her sister– which is pretty realistic, and something I appreciated.

 

The one thing that was really strained was Pearce’s attempt to push Ivy and Nicholas together romantically. Not only did he get her fired over his sister’s actions, but their own interactions weren’t romantic and they had no chemistry. It looks like Pearce has set things up for a sequel, so maybe that will be developed a little more, but that romance has a lot to overcome in order to be convincing. Raising Hell may be enjoyed by young adults who enjoy energetic urban fantasy with a dark edge.

 

Contains: blood, violence, zombie gore, self-harm

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

 

 

Posted on June 23, 2021 by , Reply
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