Home » Posts tagged "horror fiction" (Page 99)

Book Review: Hannahwhere by John McIlveen

Hannahwhere by John McIlveen
Crossroad Press, 2015
ISBN-13: 978-1941408629
Availability: Paperback, Ebook

 

Hannahwhere is a rare treasure for a first novel. John McIlveen began his writing career in the horror genre, but his work has always danced on the edges of the magical. Although popular authors such as Stephen King and Neil Gaiman have experimented successfully with an array of genres and genre hybrids, a relative newcomer with a genre-blending book faces more of a challenge in drawing readers’ attention. John McIlveen has written a book deserving of that attention. The characters maneuver through the pages in fluid fashion, growing into people so believable that it is nearly impossible to contain them. The story and style will take your breath away, fracture your imagination, and carve open your heart.

Set in modern Boston, Hannawhere centers on young Hannah, who is found behind a dumpster, physically healthy but catatonic, two years after she and her twin witnessed a brutal murder in Nebraska. She has obviously been the victim of terrible trauma, and is trapped in an alternative fantasy world that is strange and claustrophobic, yet still inviting,  Hannah’s social worker, Debbie Gillan, enters and tries to save Hannah and find her twin, changing their lives and everything they thought they knew about reality. To say more about the plot would destroy the magic within the covers.

This creep down the rabbit hole will leave many in wonder, often with a tear in their eye. McIlveen has shown that boundaries are for those who refuse to knock the walls down… No such boundaries exist in Hannahwhere. Highly recommended.

Contains: mild horror involving children

Reviewed by David Simms

Posted on January 5, 2016 by , Reply

Book Review: Z-Boat by Suzanne Robb

Z-Boat(Z-Boat Book 1) by Suzanne Robb

Permuted Press, 2013

ISBN-13: 978-1-61868-2-345

Available: Trade paperback, multiformat ebook edition (Kindle,Nook, Smashwords, Kobo)

Experienced submarine captain Brian Kingston has accepted a search and rescue mission– a simple enough job for him and his crew. The huge payoff– half up front and half upon completion– is enough to silence any warning thoughts. The target is The Peacemaker, one of the most impressive submarines in any fleet, that is essentially an underwater laboratory. A distress call had gone out from the scientists inside, sent to study decayed things underwater, and Kingston’s orders are to find The Peacemaker, obtain an unidentified item and collect any survivors.

The idea behind Z–Boat was really cool. In addition to the events of the rescue mission, the personality conflicts and intensity of emotions in a closed environment built up the tension, and I wondered how the story would play out in the submarine. While the action was fast-paced, it didn’t feel like the story took off until well into the book. Too much time was devoted to setup and background: I wanted to get on the zombie sub long before the author let me.

The description was well-done, and the characters Robb developed were interesting, although there were so many characters that occasionally they blended together for me. The biggest issue is that the book needs editing. There are multiple instances of missing words and odd turns of phrase that really made it tough for me to get into the story. There were also a couple of instances where the captain’s name, Brian,  was misspelled as “Brain”: funny and ironic but not appropriate. Overall, Z-Boat is an okay read with an interesting scenario that needs a bit more work. I have not read this author’s work in the past.

Contains: Gore, Swearing

Reviewed by Aaron Fletcher

Posted on December 31, 2015 by , Reply

6 YA Horror Series You Could Be Reading

I was over at Dread Central and they had posted a list of 5 horror series you should be reading, and it’s an interesting list. Inspirational, even. So I’m going to thank them for the idea and offer you a list myself of YA series you should read, if you haven’t already. There are so many more, it’s hard to limit it to just a few. Enjoy! If you have other ideas, I’d love to know them!

 

Product Details

Bad Girls Don’t Die by Katie Alender (Book 1: Bad Girls Don’t Die, Book 2: From Bad to Cursed, Book 3: As Dead As It).

Creepy ghostly possession is now apparently a “thing” in the horror genre, according to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, but Katie Alender was way ahead of the trend in this series about a girl whose younger sister is possessed by a malignant ghost.

 

 

The Enemy by Charlie Higson (Book 1: The Enemy, Book 2: The Dead, Book 3: The Fear, Book 4: The Sacrifice, Book 5: The Fallen, Book 6: The Hunted)
A plague hits London, transforming nearly all adults into zombies. Children and teens are on their own, fighting for survival in post-apocalyptic world. Higson, somewhat controversially, claimed to be writing for boys, but he has strong female characters as well. The books in this series are fast paced and action packed, and there’s plenty of gore, but not at the expense of character development.

 

 

Product Details

Zom-B by Darren Shan (13 book series).

Darren Shan gets hardcore in Zom–B. B, the protagonist, is not a nice person. B comes from an abusive environment that reeks of racist attitudes, and has not problem passing that on to weaker victims. The first half of the first book sets up B’s background, character, and moral dilemmas, but the second half has all the graphic gore and zombie action fans of zombie novels could desire. There is a surprising twist at the end of the first book that will change your perception of B, and Shan handles it well.
Product Details

The Haunting of Sunshine Girl by Paige McKenzie and Alyssa Sheinmel. (Book 2: The Awakening of Sunshine Girl)

This series is based on a YouTube webisode series, Sunshine Girl, created by Paige McKenzie. After Sunshine Griffith moves from sunny Texas to gloomy Washington, she discovers she is living in a haunted house, inhabited by a malicious spirit. Fast paced, intense, and incredibly creepy.

 

 

 Asylum by Madeleine Roux. (Book 2: Catacomb, Book 3: Sanctum).

 

This is a creepy, photo-illustrated series with a design similar to that of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. It begins by introducing students in a summer college prep program that just happend to take place in a renovated mental asylum. Nothing could go wrong there, right? The photos give the story a disturbing sort of realism. As a digression, Ms. Roux also is an alumna of my own alma mater, although I’ve never met her personally.

 

 

Lockdown: Escape From Furnace by Alexander Gordon Smith. (Book 2: Solitary, Book 3: Death Sentence, Book 4: Fugitives, Book 5: Execution)

 

In a dystopian future where there has been a massive backlash against teen crime, 14-year old Alex, caught committing a burglary, is sentenced to time in the underground prison Furnace. Violent, rife with gang activities, and patrolled by monstrous creatures, Furnace is a terrifying place to try to survive, and Alex decides to make the attempt to escape. Gripping and fast-paced, Smith takes you on a breathless tour of the next thing to hell.

 

Posted on December 13, 2015 by , Reply
First « 979899100101 » Last