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Book Review: Haunted Nights edited by Ellen Datlow and Lisa Morton

Haunted Nights edited by Ellen Datlow and Lisa Morton

Blumhouse Books, 2017

ISBN-13: 978-1101973837

Available:  Paperback, Kindle ebook, Audible, and audio CD

Haunted Nights collects sixteen previously unpublished tales of Halloween. It is co-edited by Ellen Datlow, a highly respected genre editor, and Lisa Morton, an authority on Halloween. Haunted Nights presents stories of related holidays as well (e.g. All Souls’ Day and Día de los Muertos).

While I enjoyed all of the stories in Haunted Nights, a few stood out from the others. In “With Graveyard Weeds and Wolfsbane Seeds,” Seanan McGuire weaves a great haunted house story that switches perspective between the dead and the living. Mary can’t abide the teenagers who disturb her house, especially on her birthday, but she knows how to take care of her house, and the intruders. Stephen Graham Jones presents a tale of familial loss and a disturbing return in “Dirtmouth.” Jonathan Maberry’s “A Small Taste of the Old Country,” set in 1948, proves revenge can be served warm and comforting. Garth Nix always delivers an excellent story, and his entry in this collection does not disappoint. In his tale, “The Seventeen Year Itch,” the new hospital administrator disregards all of the warnings from staff about patient Broward and the incessant itch he feels compelled to scratch every Halloween. “A Kingdom of Sugar Skulls and Marigolds” by Eric J. Guignard is set during Día de Muertos rather than Halloween. A misspelling on a sugar skull leads to an eventful night for a man in mourning. Paul Kane’s “The Turn” takes the perspective of multiple characters, and is surprisingly well done in such a short story. Tom Nolan has never gone out on Halloween, but the urgent call from the hospital about his dying grandmother drives him outdoors on the most haunted night of the year.

This collection belongs on the bookshelves of readers who love Halloween and other ghost-related holidays. Other authors in this anthology include Joanna Parypinski, Kate Jonez, Jeffrey Ford, Kelley Armstrong, S.P Miskowski, Brian Evenson, Elise Forier Edie, Pat Cadigan, John Lanagan, and John R. Little.

Contains: blood, bullying, homophobia, rape, sexual content

Recommended

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Posted on August 15, 2018 by , Reply

Book Review: You Only Get One Shot by Kevin J. Kennedy and J.C. Michael

You Only Get One Shot by Kevin J. Kennedy and J. C. Michael

Kevin J. Kennedy, 2017

ISBN-13: 978-1548671518

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

 

One story to save your life: that’s what the email said.  One chance to save your life.  If the author of the email doesn’t like it, you’re dead.  One chance at redemption: one of four will live.  The players are four writers the email’s author blames for causing the suicide of an aspiring writer by being crass, rude.  deprecating, and insensitive.  This is serious, and not a scam: a fifth one has already gone to meet their maker.  The four contestants in this twisted game are Fiona, Diane, Drexl and, Simon, each of them as different as they can be.  None of them remember an aspiring writer they had snubbed so badly as to cause them to commit suicide.  They each send in a story: a story that may save their life.

 

You Only Get One Shot has an excellent premise that grabbed me from the start.  This was a twisted novella that flowed so well that I read it in nearly one sitting.  The suspense and action worked that well for me.  The opening chapter was brilliant.  It set the tone in a manner that pulled me straight in.  The characters each get their own chapter, which includes their submission: they are distinctive with their own individual tones, and it was easy to keep the various players separate.  The descriptions were well done, not going overboard.  I have not read anything like this before.  The main criticism I have is with the editing.  Mostly in the last quarter of the story, there were several instances of spelling errors and missing or duplicated words, and the occasional sentence that didn’t work.  I also did  not like the ending.  It was a twist that just didn’t work for me.  The epilogue was excellent though.  I have not read either of these authors’ work before, but would like to.  This was a fun story and well worth reading. Recommended for adult readers.

 

Contains:  Violence, Swearing, References to Suicide, Sexual references/situations/slavery, Abduction.

 

Reviewed By: Aaron Fletcher

 

 

 

Posted on May 4, 2018 by , Reply

Book Review: Whispered Echoes by Paul F. Olson

Whispered Echoes by Paul F. Olson

Crystal Lake Publishing, 2017

ISBN: 9781640074743

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition

Whispered Echoes was originally published in 2016 as a limited edition hardcover by Cemetery Dance Publications. The stories in this collection were previously published in various magazines and edited anthologies with the exception of the novella “Bloodybones”, which appears for the first time in this book. The stories appear in this volume in chronological order as they were published. There are a few stories that stand out in this anthology.

Kent Barclay is “The Visitor” to the small town of Patterson Falls once a year. That’s when the accidents began. They started out small: a non-lethal bike accident here, someone injured by a glass door there. Then eight year old Sarah McKennon met with a deadly accident in the presence of Barclay. Matthew is appointed to talk sense to Barclay, to get him to leave town voluntarily, but to no avail. Now, Matthew waits for Barclay’s return, and the accidents that await Patterson Falls this year.

In “From a Dreamless Sleep Awakened”, police chief Carl Holt calls for Father Jurgens to help him with the strange situation of nine-year old Tommy Gallagher, a child who went missing after he unearthed bones in a small cave a month previously. When the missing child is found, he’s changed. This wasn’t a particularly unique story, as the Indian burial ground, an office calling on a priest for exorcism, and possession of the weak are familiar tropes. Even so, it was well done.

The world is different in “The More Things Change.” The natural world is no longer obeying the laws of nature: the sky changes colour, the river starts to reverse its flow…and bears are riding motorcycles. A cadre of the town retirees starts talking about the new guy in town, Jock Bartholomew, wondering if he is responsible for the sudden changes. The subject of witchcraft comes up conversation and the men laugh it off. Elvin, one of the party, interprets it as just a laugh, that there was no malice behind it. Despite this, Elvin can’t help but wonder. He warns Jock about the potential danger he is in after analyzing the situation further. They both learn first hands what happens when a community falls to herd mentality and the danger it poses when the men and other people from the town show up at Jock’s house, yelling for the witch to come out and face his consequences.

The novella of the anthology, “Bloodybones”, is both beautiful and terrifying.  Six months after Amy’s disappearance on her way home, her boyfriend, David, decides to investigate the old lighthouse she lived in. Amy’s sister arrives to find her own answers as well. As they search for what could have happened to a woman they both cared about, they find information about Bloodybones. Who was this entity, and what did it want? More importantly, what did it do with Amy?

The tales mentioned above are just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many great stories in this volume. Olson truly has a way with storytelling. The reader can see his writing progression from the first story to the last. Highly recommended.

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

 

Posted on January 22, 2018 by , Reply
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