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Book Review: Death’s Dreams by Darryl Dawson

Death’s Dreams by Darryl Dawson

Darryl Dawson Books, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-7331921-4-9

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

 

Death’s Dreams is the wildest, most original collection of short stories to come barreling down the pike in a long, long time.  If you’re looking for stories that are seriously OUT THERE, with a decent touch of blood splashed around the pages, this book is the place to be.  Why this wasn’t nominated for a Stoker award is beyond me, as it is certainly good enough to justify a nomination.

The collection is loosely held together by the idea that ol’ Death, the Grim Reaper himself, is losing it.  All the horrors he’s seen over the years while riding his figurative pale horse have started to get to him, so he finds a shrink to talk to and unload all his stories on.  Those stories make up the basis of this collection.  Make no mistake, what he’s seen in these stories would be enough to put any rational person in a padded room.   “New Identity” is a hellish look at what happens when one bad person makes a mistake and winds up the prisoner of a person who is a lot worse.  It’s a common plot device, but this story is truly terrifying.  “Night Train” may be the most original one, as it contains an actual phantom (or not?) train running in the storm drains beneath the city, that promises possible escape to those who need it.  Simply open the door to one of the train cars, and step into another dimension.  “There Really Are No Accidents” is a viciously ironic story concerning one woman’s attempt to take a brutal revenge on her scummer of a husband, and what befalls her.  This one also showcases author Dawson’s twisted sense of humor. The end of the story might well make you laugh, despite its nastiness.  Written with only dialogue, “The Claim” concerns a camera that causes the death of everyone it takes a picture of.  The author’s choice of format for this story makes it stand out from the others, as it can be a tough format to work with, but Dawson does it with ease.  “The Champion of Suffering” is a fantastic revenge story, as the evil killer starts the story already executed through lethal injection, and in Hell.  The protagonist has to decide if he is willing to sacrifice and condemn himself to Hell, just to go after the killer and inflict more punishment.  Is the death penalty enough?  How much is vengeance  worth to him?  This is an outstanding story that also raises some good questions about the nature of retribution.

The overall quality of all the stories is extremely high; there isn’t a bad one in the collection.  Some are better than others, but they all do a good job showcasing the author’s fertile imagination and skill.  The only drawback is the lack of dialogue between Death and the psychiatrist.  The first chapter was an excellent setup between the two of them, but that thread never really got explored to its potential, as they barely show up for the rest of the book.  If the interaction between Death and the doctor had been fleshed out more, this could have been an outstanding novel, instead of an outstanding collection of short stories.  Despite that minor quibble, Death’s Dreams is a book not to be missed.  Keep an eye out for this author in the future. Highly recommended.

 

Contains: violence, gore, profanity, sex

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

 

 

 

 

Posted on March 4, 2020 by , Reply

Book Review: The Last Seance: Tales of the Supernatural by Agatha Christie

The Last Séance: Tales of the Supernatural by Agatha Christie

William Morrow Paperbacks, 2019

ISBN-13: 978-0062959140

Available:  Paperback, Audiobook, Kindle

 

The Last Séance: Tales of the Supernatural contains twenty short stories of the occult and supernatural penned by the Queen of Mystery, Agatha Christie. While each of the stories has unique aspects, a few stood out over the rest as exceptionally well executed. “The Last Séance” tells the story of an exhausted medium holding a session for a woman with disastrous results. In “Philomel Cottage”, heiress Alix King takes a new husband whose past she knows nothing about. An elderly widow receives messages from her deceased husband through a wireless set in “Wireless”. In “The Strange Case of Sir Arthur Carmichael”, the titular character has taken on the characteristics of a cat that had been killed by the lady of the house. “The Dressmaker’s Doll”, undoubtedly the best story in the collection, involves a doll that suddenly appears in a dressmaker’s workroom, and is found to move about the room when it is unoccupied.

There are a few stories where Christie’s famous detectives, Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot, get involved, too. The most entertaining of these takes is “The Flock of Geryon”, in which Poirot aids an heiress in investigating a dangerous cult. In “The Idol House of Astarte”, members of the Tuesday Night Club gather to discuss the strange circumstances of a murder at a fancy dress party, and the club wants Miss Marple’s opinion on the case.

The book contains a bibliography of books and magazines where her short stories were first published, as well as alternate titles for the stories if applicable.

While the subtitle of the book indicates that the stories contained in its pages are supernatural, this is somewhat deceiving. There are aspects of the occult and supernatural in the stories, but most of them have quite logical explanations to them. Another topic to address is language used in the stories. Christie’s treatment of the Asian culture is not what we would call respectful now. By using the term Oriental and associating Asian characters in her stories as mysterious, sly, and similar, it is definitely problematic. Treatment of mental illness is also something readers needs to be aware of with works from this time period. For instance, it is not unusual to see the terms “loon” or “loonies” used.

None of that is to say I disliked the book. On the contrary, I enjoyed this, and it was a quick read. Christie had a unique way of crafting her stories, and there is a good reason why she is called the Queen of Mystery. I would not, however, call her the Queen of the Supernatural. I would recommend this for readers who are Christie fans, or for those who aren’t quite ready to get into horror. This might be good for anyone who wants to explore spooky tales without the extremes the genre can get into. Recommended.

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Posted on October 30, 2019 by , Reply

Book Links: Stoker Awards 2018 Final Ballot for Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection

Well, we didn’t get all reviews for every category in before the Stoker Awards were actually announced, but I finally can provide you with links to reviews to all the books nominated for the category of Superior Achievment in a Fiction Collection. The award went to Eric J. Guignard for That Which Grows Wild on Saturday, and you can check out our review of his book, as well as those of the other nominees, by clicking on the links below.  Congratulations to all the nominees, and well done, Eric!

 

That Which Grows Wild  by Eric J. Guignard

Garden of Eldritch Delights  by Lucy A. Snyder

Coyote Songs  by Gabino Iglesias

Spectral Evidence  by Gemma Files

Dark and Distant Voices  by Tim Waggoner

 

 

We still have one more review of a Stoker nominee (in the Long Fiction category) to publish, so keep your eyes peeled for that and for the links to all the reviews for the nominated titles in the category of Superior Achievement in Long Fiction.

Enjoy!

Posted on May 13, 2019 by , Reply
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