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Book Review: Eidolon Avenue: The First Feast by Jonathan Winn

Eidolon Avenue: The First Feast  by Jonathan Winn

Crystal Lake Publishing, 2015

ISBN 9780994679345

Available: print, Kindle ebook

Eidolon Avenue: The First Feast contains five novellas set on the first floor of an apartment building. Each apartment houses residents who have dangerous secrets revealed to the reader through the walls of the apartments.

The first story, and one of the best ones, is about a Chinese woman named Lucky, haunted by the dead she created over a lifetime. Poor and turned out of her family’s house as a child, she was left homeless and desperate. Yin Ying finds her and takes her to the home of Madame Xuo, where Lucky learns the secret of the inky black shadow that makes Madame invincible, but at a price. Another excellent story is the last one, focusing on a little girl named Umbra who can negatively impact the lives of those around her with a mere thought. I would have liked to read more about her.

The second and third stories are probably the most gruesome of the lot, and I didn’t really connect with them. It seems as though the author wanted to go for shock value, which he accomplished, and the gross outs were very effective. The second story in the book told of a tattooed drunk who left his drug addict mother to die. I get that the author was trying to convey that the main character was awful, but there was too much detail for me. I also didn’t find the ending very satisfying. The third tale is about a frat boy serial killer and his skeevy friend who follows him around as he’s killing, and playing with the corpses afterward. This is another story that seems to be going for shock value– it’s like he is trying to top himself from the previous one. It was a unique tale regardless.

The fourth story, about an elderly couple who consistently fail murder/suicide pacts every time they attempt it, is alternatively humorous, heart-wrenching, gross, and dark. Marta enlists the aid of a Mr. Peabody who proves to be more than he seems.

Despite my reaction to two of the five stories, overall I would like to see the continuation of the stories of this apartment building. According to the author, there are five total floors with the first covered. I hope he does continue this series. It will be interesting to see what else he creates within these walls. Recommended.

Contains body horror, gore, necrophilia, sex

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

 

Posted on March 25, 2016 by , Reply

Book Review: The Scarlet Gospels by Clive Barker (audiobook)

 

The Scarlet Gospels by Clive Barker

St. Martin’s Press, 2015

ISBN-13: 9781250055804 (Hardback)

ISBN-13: 9781427261571 (Macmillan audiobook)

Available: Hardback, Macmillan audiobook, paperback, Kindle edition, Audible edition

The Scarlet Gospels marks Clive Barker’s long awaited return to adult horror fiction. This novel has a long history, and he’s had fans on tenterhooks since the 1990s when he first hinted at this work in progress. The story revolves around two of Barker’s iconic characters, Harry D’Amour, his tattooed implacable investigator of the supernatural, and the eloquent Cenobite Hell Priest, better known as Pinhead. Joining Harry is a group of magic users, the Harrowers, who help him along the way after Norma Paine is abducted by the Hell Priest and his misshapen minion, Felixson. Harry finds the Lament Configuration, that damned box, and is pulled into a Dante-esque mission put forth by the Hell Priest himself. At first it is unclear what the Hell Priest wants to do with D’Amour—kill him or use him. He needs a witness, an archivist, who will chronicle his usurping the throne of Hell. While there were of course several colourful characters to the story, the main action revolves around Harry and the Hell Priest. Most other relationships remain secondary.

The book was fast paced, and very cinematic at times, especially regarding gore, body horror, and the scenes in Hell. One of the best and bloodiest sections of the novel is the prologue, only matched by what he wrote in the Books of Blood series. The reader is introduced to the magicians who resurrect the magician Ragowski, one of their dwindling number that the Hell Priest tore apart. Ragowski reveals that the Hell Priest is killing all of them off after torturing information out of them as to the location of magical talismans and grimoires and collecting the world’s magic, but to what end? The violence is incredibly visceral and graphic, and the Hell Priest’s curses and speeches to the magicians are intelligently delivered. The prologue really drew me in and made me want to continue reading.

Despite Barker’s writing the Hell Priest as a departure from what we are familiar with most of the films, it was difficult not to imagine Doug Bradley’s face and voice overpowering my reading. If you are expecting the Cenobite from the films, you will be disappointed. This writing of the Hell Priest of the Order of the Gash relishes in the abuses and torments he puts his victim through, which seems like the complete opposite characterization from the distinguished, duty bound Cenobite from the first two Hellraiser movies, let alone The Hellbound Heart. The character in the films was more reserved, even reverent when visiting pain on others, as it was his duty.

I wish the novel would have been much longer, especially regarding the space devoted to D’Amour’s and the Harrowers’ journey through Hell, and the epic battle between the Hell Priest and Lucifer. My main complaint seems to be echoed by other Barker fans: while the book is good, it could have been much longer and given the reader a lot more content.

As a side note, the narrator of the Macmillan audio book version of the novel is John Lee. He pulls out some fantastic voice acting for The Scarlet Gospels.

As an avid Clive Barker fan, I recommend this book, but with reservation. Recommended for adult readers

Contains: Body horror, gore, graphic violence, rape, sex, implications of child abuse.

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

 

 

Posted on December 9, 2015 by , Reply

Book Review: Voices of the Damned by Barbie Wilde

Voices of the Damned by Barbie Wilde
Short,Scary Tales Publications, 2015
ISBN-13: 978-1909640351
Available: Hardcover (new and used), Kindle edition
Inside these covers are eleven slices of hell from the mind of a new visionary of horror. Barbie Wilde appears to have vacationed in Dante’s creation and taken terror a couple of steps further.

Voices of the Damned, Wilde’s first collection of short stories, picks up where The Venus Complex, the author’s excellent debut crime novel, left off.   First off, this is a gorgeous book. The cover art, by none other than Clive Barker, sets the tone for a book written by a Cenobite herself.  Introducing each story is an exquisitely disturbing full-size image by artists including Barker, Nick Percival, Steve McGinnis, Danele Serra, Eric Gross, Tara Bush, Vincent Sammy, and Ben Baldwin.

The collection kicks off with “Sister Cilice,” the tale of how a nun falls from grace, first seen in Hellbound Hearts, the tribute anthology based on Barker’s “Hellraiser” world. Wilde continues the story with “The Cicilium Pandoric” and “The Cicilium Rebellion”, creating a full trilogy that explores the existence of the Cenobite she portrayed in Hellraiser II. Other highlights in this collection include “Zulu Zombies” and “American Mutant”. These epitomize Wilde’s style and vision.

A Barbie Wilde story can be filled with as much eroticism as it is with horror, and this collection shows her skill at interweaving them. Her writing exhibits unbridled brutality and fresh honesty in characterizations, never shying away from the grotesque or weird.  Inhibitions are nowhere to be found here, which is a very good thing. This writer becomes darker and bolder by the story. One can only wonder where her imagination will head next. It will likely be a nightmare many will embrace for years to come. Highly recommended.

Reviewed by Dave Simms
Posted on November 30, 2015 by , Reply
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