Home » Posts tagged "horror fiction" (Page 109)

Book Review: Broken Sigil by William Meikle

Broken Sigil by William Meikle

DarkFuse, 2014

ISBN N/A; ASIN: BOOHUD0IEI

Availability: Hardcover and Kindle

 

Johnny Provan is a dead cop with secrets, including  an affair with his former partner’s wife. As Joe Conners, Provan’s former partner, investigates his death at the hands of another cop, Connors discovers a house where Provan kept a room. Strange things happened at this brownstone, and Connors decides to get a room of his own. The house turns out to be a place that exists between the living and the Beyond, where the living can connect with the dead. Connors screws something up and now must fix his mistake.

William Meikle is a master storyteller with the novella. The pace of Broken Sigil is smooth and quick, taking nothing away from the compelling story of love and loss. Connors is a sympathetic character that the reader can relate to. The caretaker of the house is interesting and enigmatic, and the house itself takes center stage. Broken Sigil is an excellent read that should be added to your library. Highly recommended.

 

Contains: blood, gore, violence, adult situations, and adult language

Reviewed by Colleen Wanglund

Posted on November 11, 2014 by , Reply

Book Review: Vampires Don’t Sparkle! edited by Michael West


Vampires Don’t Sparkle! edited by Michael West

Seventh Star Press, 2013

ISBN: 1937929604

Available: New, used and ebook

 

Vampires Don’t Sparkle! is an anthology of vampire tales, both modern and historical.  From fun to splattery, and with a smattering of regional specialties, Michael West has assembled a collection of stories designed to leave prissy, playboy bloodsuckers in their condos and compounds. In his selections, monsters run the streets again.

Standout stories include Joel A. Sutherland’s “Skraeling”, “Dreams of Winter” by Bob Freeman, and Jerry Gordon’s “Vampire Nation”, though with so much great fiction inside it’s hard to pick out just a few. Definitely recommended for public and private horror collections.

 

Contains: violence, gore, sex, language

Reviewed by Michele Lee

 

Posted on November 10, 2014 by , Reply

New Resources: The Genre Blender (and some ghost stories)

Click here to visit the Genre Blender

So many stories cross genre boundaries, and are missed by readers of one genre or the other, when both might discover some new world or a previously unknown (to them) novel. That’s really a shame. A lot of quality fiction (and a lot of entertaining mindless reading as well) gets passed up by readers who would probably enjoy it.

Soooo… I am thrilled to be able to say that librarian Megan McArdle has taken the time to create a “genre blender” Yes, that is exactly what it is. Choose two genres, click on the blender, and get a list of books that might suit your reading habits (this doesn’t mean they’re identical– you still have to search through them to find which ones might be right for you– but it’s a great starting point and gives you a way to add to your TBR list.

Megan has a book coming out this fall on genre blends, as you can see above. Even if you don’t purchase it (and like most ALA editions, I’m guessing it doesn’t come cheap), I’m betting that her blog, Genrify, which is where the Genre Blender is located, will be updated with new titles over time, so if you read genre blends like historical horror or urban fantasy, it definitely will be worth checking out. Go play!

Postscript: I like her list of ghost stories, which you can find here, but she left off Chris Bohjalian’s The Night Strangers. What else would you add to that list?

Posted on November 5, 2014 by , Reply
First « 107108109110111 » Last