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Book Review: Death’s Sweet Echo by Len Maynard and Mick Sims

Death’s Sweet Echo by Len Maynard and Mick Sims

Tickety Boo Press Ltd., 2015

ASIN: B018YK61XM

Available: Kindle edition

Maynard and Sims present thirteen stories, reminiscent of some of the classics. The tone, atmosphere, and themes of these tales of the supernatural are unique to each story, spanning different time periods. A haunted house in an old New England town holds dark secrets; a widow is being followed by someone who claims to be her dead husband; a confused man runs through the rainy streets of London late for a life altering appointment, only to find he was too late anyway.

A few stories stand out. “Another Bite of the Cherry” opens with the frustrated thoughts of an Egyptian girl trapped and immobile in her sarcophagus. who, along with her parents, had been taken and mummified by someone who usurped the position of Pharaoh. The story fast forwards to post-war England. Lizzie Stirling, an out of work actress, has to settle with a job she was once too proud to take, in a nude revue on the small stage. She’s been offered another bite of the cherry, being able to work on the stage again. She makes a few friends, including the leading man of the club’s shows. This friendship turns into more, much more.

“I’m Here” is set after the Great Depression. Poor William Burton lost all of his investment. He reluctantly accepts an invitation to a Christmas party, with a gift he is less than proud of because he has very little disposable income. There are drinks, a lavish meal, and party games, which William dislikes. Then, there are the looks his former love bestows upon her husband, an opportunist who grabbed her up at William’s most difficult time. William, however, finds this all to be an illusion, in a most upsetting way.

In “Sweet Decay of Youth”, Daniel doesn’t want his small group of college friends to abandon him, and he does what he can to ensure his place amongst them. In “Silver”, Maria talks of the silver people in the lake at the Drysdale Clinic, a mental health facility. Her father doesn’t believe her at first, but after the groundskeeper is attacked and the assault is blamed on Maria, things start to fall into place. In the tale called “Guilt Casts Long Shadows”, Martin is wracked with guilt, and he finds out what happens when he doesn’t make proper amends.

Maynard and Sims are true masters of the short horror story. You would be missing out if you skipped over this collection, especially if you like classic horror. They don’t rely on blood and gore to drive their tales. Don’t get me wrong– I love a good, bloody short story myself– but sometimes I like to pick up something that leaves more to the imagination. There really is something appealing to leaving the brain to do some of the heavy lifting, and this book allows for that. Recommended.

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker


Posted on October 18, 2016 by , Reply

Book Review: Dark Seed by Simon West-Bulford

Dark Seed by Simon West-Bulford

Medallion Press, 2016

ASIN: B01JMJLOPO

Available: Kindle edition

 

Simon West-Bulford has written an intriguing, historical, Gothic tale of an ancient evil that threatens to engulf the world through the foibles of humans.  The story is told through the journals of a British archaeologist, Lord Edward Cephas Hargraven (1891), and a teacher, Dr. Alexander Drenn (1923).

We learn that despite ominous warnings from a colleague, Hargraven brought a relic back from a dig in South America.  Years later, Hargraven disappears, and Drenn awakens one night during an earthquake and finds his village enveloped in darkness and fog.  Villagers are missing, or were grotesquely slain by monsters.  Drenn and four villagers– a chaplain, an actress, a housekeeper and a strongman– are trapped in Hargraven’s manor.  Someone, or something, is gruesomely murdering them, one by one, as in an Agatha Christie mystery.

What evil did Hargraven bring to the village?  Is it a catastrophic product of Darwinian evolution?  Can Drenn and his companions stop it from destroying England and the world, village by village, and city by city?

Bulford’s characters have convincing voices appropriate to their era and backgrounds.  For example, Drenn writes in his journal, “ I am an educated man, though unremarkable in achievement; my legacy will be appreciated only by those whose make acquaintance of my students; and should any of them speak kindly of their tutor, Dr. Alexander Drenn, then this is satisfaction enough for me.”

The author’s descriptions are vivid and inventive.  Drenn witnesses the destruction of his village and watches a demon murder a young girl.  He himself kills a crazed, possessed villager.  His thoughts are in turmoil while he rests, sleepless in his deserted home.  “My mind could not settle.  It seethed and swayed and spun through churning seas of events and emotions that vied for attention like the endless tuning of an orchestra denied a performance.”

Dark Seed is an entertaining, chilling read.  West-Bulford has written several other novels, novellas and short stories encompassing fantasy, science fiction, mystery and the occult. Recommended.

Contains: graphic violence and gore

Reviewed by Robert D. Yee

Posted on October 12, 2016 by , Reply

Book Review: I Can Taste The Blood edited by John F.D. Taff and Anthony Rivera

I Can Taste the Blood  edited by John F.D. Taff and Anthony Rivera

ISBN-13: 978-1940658728

Grey Matter Press, 2016

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

This anthology contains five stories, or “visions”, all written with the same title: I Can Taste the Blood. The editor gathered five authors, each presenting a unique take on the phrase, which originated from graffiti in the bathroom of a dive bar, which read “I can taste the blood.”

The first vision, by Josh Malerman, is the story of Rab, a traveler who begs for help at the home of Madmannah, Sammi, and their child, Aart. It is a windy night when the desperate traveler knocks on their door and demands shelter for a short time. At the encouragement of their visiting friends, they admit the stranger into their home. Rab then tells them the story of how he came to be in their humble abode, what is chasing him, the horrors that he faced in this person’s presence… and what he has done. Everything is not as it seems with the traveler, or with the entity pursuing him.

The second vision, by J. Daniel Stone, is one of violence, underground snuff films, and heroin. Bok can’t escape the clutches of Laurenz, an elderly German man with a taste for extreme violence who creates films to feed his urges. Bok discovers, through his lover Jared, that the old German’s films hold a transformative contagion. As a warning, this story is extremely explicit in its depiction of bloody violence, snuff film material, and sex.

Joe Schwartz presents a vision of a man who earns his keep as a hired strong-arm for someone known simply as Caretaker. The man and his partner, Joe, kidnap a young woman as she leaves her home. We get a series of short memories of crimes he has committed when he first started in the “business,” and snapshots of his personal life. As the story returns to the present, and the kidnapped woman, things don’t quite go as planned for the dastardly duo.

Erik T. Johnson’s vision tells of Canny, who is trying to cope with his strange mother and her death… I think. I read and reread this story a few times, and I’m still not sure what to make of it. It reads like a stream of consciousness piece, and Canny’s thoughts are incredibly disjointed. There are subtle, perhaps too subtle, connections between his thoughts. At times I felt like I should be getting more from this story than I was, but things just weren’t connecting for me. I will say it is very poetic, and there is a lot of rich imagery in this story. Just be prepared for an exercise in attempting to follow a lost man down the rabbit hole.

The final vision in the anthology, by John. F.D. Taff, is probably my favorite out of the anthology. Merle, a divorced father of one, lives in the small town he was raised in, where he knows everyone and everyone knows him. One evening at the local bar, his friend, Gun, points out a bandage on his arm. Merle doesn’t remember giving blood, but the alcohol he loves so much tends to make him forgetful. Things change that night, when the two men venture to the VFW for the weekly spaghetti dinner. Merle gets very sick, and experiences disturbing and hyper-realistic hallucinations. What happens to him in the following days is enough to make anyone crazy. He struggles with his illness, he sleeps for days on end, his ex-wife is a constant nag, and all he wants to do is see his daughter. Oh, and his hands are growing teeth.

I Can Taste the Blood is an incredible anthology, full of nightmare fuel. I don’t recommend it for squeamish readers, though. There are times where the material delves into uncomfortable themes, or it just gets gross. If you don’t like transgressive dark fiction, this won’t be your cup of tea. If you do, dig in. You won’t be disappointed. Recommended.

Contains: blood, gore, sexuality, torture, rape, body horror

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker


Posted on October 7, 2016 by , Reply
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