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Book Review: Halloween Carnival: Volume 3 edited by Brian James Freeman

Halloween Carnival: Volume 3 edited by Brian James Freeman

Random House Publishing Group – Hydra, 2017

ISBN-13: 9780399182051

Available: Kindle ebook

Halloween Carnival: Volume 3 is another installment to Freeman’s anthology collection  with five more tales of horror associated with my favorite holiday.

In Kelley Armstrong’s “The Lost Way,” we enter the town of Franklin, where children have a habit of losing their way every Halloween. Dale is determined to find out why his schoolmates keep disappearing. This Halloween, he follows his stepbrother into the forest, where he is forbidden to venture, and finds the reason. The problem is, he finds out the truth much later than he anticipates, and certainly not how he remembers it.

Kate Maruyama’s “La Calavera” focuses on Trish, who is mourning and struggling with the untimely death of her best friend and roommate, Jasmine. They always did everything together: the Día de los Muertos Festival at the Hollywood Cemetery used to be one of their shared rituals. Things changed when Hector came along. The time has come that Trish make her pilgrimage with an unexpected guest, to let her go, and to pay penance.

“The Devil’s Due”, by Michael McBride, takes place in the idyllic town of Pine Springs, Colorado, a thriving small community that has been prosperous for generations. All of this good fortune has not come without a cost, however: the townspeople have practiced special traditions, and, for these, the town goes on. When Thom refuses to take part, the townspeople become angry and demand the ritual continue.

Anne discusses the disturbing events of a picnic she enjoyed with her spouse, Evan, in Taylor Grant’s “A Thousand Rooms of Darkness.” Anne has been diagnosed with samhainophobia, a fear of Halloween, and phasmophobia, a fear of ghosts. She finally builds up the courage to tell Evan after experiencing an episode during a picnic, after she talks with the therapist she’s been avoiding for months. In the weeks leading to Halloween, when things for Anne get particularly bad, she receives a phone call that her therapist has died. Her paranoia increases as she worries about harm coming to Evan. Then there is the matter of the demon she hears as it gets closer to Samhain.

In “The Last Night of October”, by Greg Chapman, we meet Gerald, wheelchair bound and suffering from emphysema. Every Halloween, Gerald  waits for the boy in the Frankenstein monster’s mask to come knocking at his front door. This year, it is different. There is his nurse, Kelli, who waits with him, and hears Gerald’s tale of woe. Will they both be able to face the child and remain sane…or alive?

Something unique about this particular anthology is the theme of lies: lies people tell themselves to avoid the truth, lies about relationships, lies that a community propagates to its own end, lies about fear and sanity, and lies people tell so they can sleep at night. While there isn’t anything too graphic in this volume, I would recommend it for adults and teenagers who can handle their horror. Recommended.

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Posted on April 14, 2018 by , Reply

Book Review: Halloween Carnival: Volume 2 edited by Brian James Freeman

Halloween Carnival: Volume 2 edited by Brian James Freeman

Hydra, 2017

ISBN-13: 9780399182044

Available: Kindle edition

 

Spring is upon us, and that means, for me anyway, lamenting the passing of the fall and winter. In doing so, I like to read Halloween anthologies, prepping for the year’s best holiday. I originally picked these titles up on Net Galley, but I enjoyed the Halloween Carnival volumes so much that I purchased them so that I could relish the tales of the macabre throughout the year. Halloween Carnival: Volume 1 was a lovely little read, and Volume 2 is equally as good.

Five tales are contained within the pages of this book. Leading off is “Mr. Dark’s Carnival” by Glen Hirshberg. Professor R. loves Halloween, especially regarding the history of the local legend, Mr. Dark’s Carnival. Little is known about Mr. Dark, let alone the carnival itself. There are second and third hand accounts, but never, as the professor mentions in a lecture to his students, primary source accounts. The carnivals that people are invited to, by ticket only, are never the real thing—merely pranks or frat parties. Will this year be any different? He will only find out if he accepts the ticket from the body on the bridge.

“The Facts in the Case of My Sister” by Lee Thomas introduces us to young David, who loves magic, mesmerism, and hypnosis. When David’s little sister, Joyce, becomes so wracked with fear at the monsters in her closet that her screams echo the halls, he feels compelled to help her. He discovers much too late that his aid was a terrible thing to inflict on her. This story goes back and forth between adulthood and childhood and does so effectively. This is one of the strongest stories in this collection. I had to put the book down for a bit to let it sink in. I won’t ruin it, but the tension and realization of what happens because of David’s influence is dense and heartbreaking.

“Mischief Night” by Holly Newstein tells the tale of Willard, an alcoholic with a temper, and Nolan, an angry teenager from a broken home. When Nolan injures himself in his attempt to hide after a Mischief Night prank gone wrong, the two find themselves in a deadly situation.

In “The Ghost Maker” by Del James, a gangster, who is good at his job of making people disappear, answers the door to the wrong person when he’s invited to a Halloween party thrown by one of the big bosses. I think this had an interesting premise, but it wasn’t the strongest story in this collection.

“The Pumpkin Boy” by Al Sarrantonio is a chilling little story about missing children, a town legend, and the adults who struggle with their own demons while trying to make sense of the events that unfold. Jody Wendt has gone missing. Detective Len Schneider, with  perpetual doubt lingering in his mind, after he was too late during a previous case, is convinced this case will redeem him. More boys go missing in the meantime, and reports are coming in of sightings of the mysterious Pumpkin Boy.

The stories in this volume are less about gory scares than they are about psychological horror. Other than the theme of Halloween, the themes of struggle and loss permeate the tales in different ways. This is evidenced strongly in “The Facts in the Case of My Sister,” “Mischief Night,” and “The Pumpkin Boy” particularly. Recommended, especially for  fans of the Dark Screams anthologies.

Contains:

“Mr. Dark’s Carnival”: suicide

“The Facts in the Case of My Sister”: graphic description of domestic abuse

“Mischief Night”: alcoholism, death

“The Pumpkin Boy”: child abduction, child murder, gore

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Posted on April 13, 2018 by , Reply

Book Review: Songs of Dreaming Gods by William Meikle


Songs of Dreaming Gods by William Meikle

Macabre Ink, 2017

ISBN-13: 978-1946025951

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook

 

Haunted house stories have been overtaken by tropes and lazy writing, and in most cases, should be boarded up. In recent years, however, a few have managed to introduce something new. Books such as House of Leaves, The Unseen, and The Haunted have introduced new wrinkles to the sub-genre. Songs of Dreaming Gods is one of these: it’s far more than a haunted house story. It is a solid read that stretches the imagination: readers may have to flip back a few pages occasionally to be certain they’ve caught all the nuances and plot twists. Is it horror? Definitely. But it’s not contained by the genre.

Those familiar with the works of William Meikle know that the author conjures up some pretty freaky designs for plot and setting (The Hole and Fungoid quickly come to mind).  In Songs of Dreaming Gods, we see that Meikle has once again done an extraordinary job in the telling of the story and in the layering of both the house and characters. Reading the book is like peeling an onion, or opening Russian nesting dolls.

A trio of local cops are called to the house where a bloodbath has occurred. Several bodies, or what’s left of them, are discovered in an old house. What’s been done to them is unlike anything one would expect from any human being, or animal. The trio realize that this is unlike any crime they have yet encountered. Doors that led to the stained floors where the forensic team should be now open up to another room not in their reality. Each of the investigators come to the house with their own wounds, mentally or physically, and face different doors, each which lead to scenes and realities that break down what each has known in his or her life. Once the characters go deeper into the house, and themselves, the reality they knew cannot be retrieved. All they can hope for is to escape with whatever the house allows them.

Songs of Dreaming Gods is decidedly different from most recent haunted house reads. With its fast-paced plot and complex structure, Meikle’s latest is a welcome addition to the sub-genre. Recommended.

Reviewed by Dave Simms

Posted on April 11, 2018 by , Reply
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