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Book Review: The Bone Cutters by Renee S. DeCamillis

The Bone Cutters by Renee S. DeCamillis

Eraserhead Press, 2019

ISBN-13: 978-1621052937

Available: Paperback

 

This has been a banner year for introducing stellar new horror writers to the world. Renee S. DeCamillis shows she is one of these with  her novella The Bone Cutters, one of the strangest, but coolest, entries of 2019. Fans of Gwendolyn Kiste or Cody Goodfellow will definitely want to seek this out.

The novella is a wonderful form for horror, giving the reader and author just enough time to grow into the story, fall for the characters, and then leave both with a scar on the soul. DeCamillis’ story touches on elements of the familiar, but makes it her own.

Dory, the main character, wakes up in a mental ward with no idea how she got there, but learns she has been “blue-papered”– committed without consent. In other hands than DeCamillis’, this could have turned out to be just another horror tale in a tired setting, but the story takes a hard left when Dory attends her first group meeting. The people in the group have strange scars signaling that they are  addicts of a new kind. These people are “dusters,” the titular “bone cutters”. who carve into their own– or others’ — bodies, to get high off the dust within. They dig and scrape until they procure enough of the material from the bones to give themselves  a high unknown to other addicts. Because Dory is a “freshie”– a newbie who hasn’t been dusted yet– she becomes their prime target. Dory has nobody to help her until she meets the enigmatic custodian, Tommy, whose past may tie into the patients from whom Dory is trying to escape.

To say more about the plot would give away too much. Just dive in and enjoy.

DeCamillis doesn’t mess around with frills here. Her writing is as razor sharp as the cutting tools the patients use. Not a word is wasted in this lean tale that grabs hold from the get go, and drags the reader through a surreal experience that evokes One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, if written by Clive Barker. The ending arrives way too fast, but it will leave readers jonesing for another hit of this new writer.

A recommended novella to be added to a fine 2019.

 

Reviewed by David Simms

 

Posted on September 13, 2019 by , 1 comment

Book Review: Dead Aware: A Zombie Journey by Eleanor Merry

 

Dead Aware: A Zombie Journey by Eleanor Merry

LAC, 2019

ISBN-13: 978-1999212810

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

 

When does a zombie story become interesting again, after the glut that’s thicker than the goo between the undead’s ears?

Dead Aware  is a tale that’s enjoyable from start to finish, that was an unexpected pleasure. Told from the points of view of an undead couple, Merry’s story chronicles Clara and Max Jacobs from living to dead to undead to… whatever.

A strange virus – F.I.R.E. (Fever Induced Rapid Encephalitis) hits the world hard – and fast. The onset is pretty standard for a zombie novel,  but that’s just where the fun begins. Both Max and Clara succumb to the affliction while separated on different ends of Canada:  him in Toronto, and her in British Columbia. Through the help of Jay (a fascinating character that truly helps “flesh” out this story), Max recovers slightly and begins to speak again, think again, and remember his love for Clara.

Max embarks on a journey to find her, a trek wrought with obstacles that would stop most of the living. Being undead comes with its own bevy of obstacles, but he’s determined to get back home, without devouring any humans on the way.

Meanwhile, Clara is captured and tested by a military group that wants the zombies dead. However, Rachel, a scientist who knows something about this virus, is dead set on finding a cure, or at least a way to help the afflicted to “live” in society peacefully. The relationship between the two women brings yet another dimension to the novel that separates it from most of its kind.

Merry has written a story that deserves to be read, enjoyable for fans of the undead or simply those who enjoy their horror with a heart. Her writing is solid and intriguing. The characters ring authentic– creating empathy for the undead is pretty tough to accomplish– yet she pulls it off in just 154 pages. As this is the start of a series, it will be intriguing to see where the story heads next.

Eleanor Merry is a new writer to watch.

 

Reviewed by David Simms

 

Posted on September 12, 2019 by , Reply

Book Review: Spirits by Sheri Sebastian-Gabriel

Spirits by Sheri Sebastian-Gabriel

Haverhill House Publishing, 2019

ISBN-13: 978-1949140088

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition

 

Spirits come in many forms, and some say that those in the liquid form can lead to those of the demonic sort. Debut author Sheri Sebastian-Gabriel  tackles alcoholism, and beats the snot out of it, in a novel that delves into the horrors that can come out of falling prey to this crippling addiction.

Tori Garrett is one of those suffering from her addiction to the bottle, living every day under the specter of drinking or recovering from a rough day or night. She’s particularly haunted by an act that destroyed most of her life: she struck and killed a teenage girl with her car.  She has lost everything: her job, her friends, her former life.

The mother of the victim, Carla Perez, seeks to make Tori’s life a living hell for killing her daughter. What she does to strike back is both horrifying, and utterly affecting to any parent.

Once Tori hits rock bottom, she travels to picturesque Cape May, New Jersey, a favorite place of hers, now in the off-season, to hide and to find herself. She shares the Seaside House Bed and Breakfast with a kind woman who attempts to bond with her while healing from her tragedies. They both encounter another damaged soul, Chris Silver, who is dead set on putting Tori on the path to redemption, in an attempt to fix himself.

Together, this odd group of people fight a seemingly unwinnable battle that is all too real, while spirits of the supernatural sort begin to creep in and curl the edges of reality for all of them. Their battle brings to mind the best in horror history (such as those in IT, Ghost Story, and Strangers). It’s that powerful.

Sheri Sebastian-Gabriel has penned a fine first novel that will hit audiences hard. Her writing is smooth, like an aged Scotch that burns on the way down, scorching the throat while blurring the line between the real world and fiction. This is definitely horror, but could hold up just as well as a personal foray into the relationships that exist between friends and strangers, and how alcoholism can destroy just as much as supernatural demons. While some people may seem similarities to The Shining, it’s strong enough to be different and stand on its own. Haverhill House continues to impress with its publication of outstanding work.  Recommended.

 

 

Reviewed by David Simms

 

Posted on September 4, 2019 by , Reply
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