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Review: The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
After loving A Southern Book Groups Guide to Slaying Vampires, I was seriously looking forward to reading The Final Girl Support Group. The perception and reality, unfortunately, were completely different. A premise that should have both been intriguing and thrilling, it turned out to be neither. Something is lacking, be it characters of more substance and grit, racial tropes that don’t belong there and the feminist monologue just didn’t feel genuine and if I’m honest a bit contrived. The Final Girls were just girls that had a traumatic event happen to them – I wanted to the raw and unfiltered story of their backstories, we only had Lynette’s story, one…
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Review: Early Retirement by Luke Ethan Knight
Early Retirement is a novelette that packs the appropriate level of punch for the length of the story. The story development, the characterization and the level of suspense and intrigue had me turning the pages. With a science fiction backdrop, the horror enters almost immediately with the reader being immersed right in the middle of the story, I liked that – there was no messing around with backstories, character nuances, and hyperbole. It was laid out on a plate for the reader – you either took it or left it – I was happy to gobble it up! A story of such a short length is usually hit or miss…
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The Devil’s Mistress by David Barclay | Book Review
The Devil’s Mistress is superiorly dark and lyrical. It transcends from bleak to a darker shade of grey. The witch trials have always been an interesting but upsetting period of history for me. It’s an enjoyable read but also is a keen investigation into the human condition. This story looks to examine the depth of the human mind. Barclay tackles themes of misogyny, sexism, and turning the idea of what a witch should be on its head. When tackling such a trope, the author has to create protagonists that we want to root for, Barclay has done this with consummate skill. The Devil’s Mistress takes place in Virginia in the…
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Warding by Kev Harrison | Book Review
Kev Harrison proves he can put his magic to anything, whether that’s writing about European Folklore or in the case of Warding, a story of supernatural proportions. As always with Harrison’s work I was intrigued by the premise but let me tell you – nothing prepared me for the intensity and claustrophobia that would have me enthralled. He is the master of uneasiness and reading Warding was no different. It’s a novelette but incredibly fast paced with a small bunch of characters that are instantly relatable with values and working moral compasses. Warding has done the impossible. How on earth can you pack in bucket loads of emotion, heart and…
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Killer Scarecrow by Scott Donnelly | Book Review
Dark and haunting. Killer scarecrow is multi-faceted and strips the layers back of the human condition. It is certainly a brilliant example of deciphering logic from trauma. Our ability to cope and compartmentalize grief. It is an intelligent and fascinating novella on several levels. It is a deeply unsettling story that investigates the fragility of life, childhood trauma and the complexity of relationships. The horror is real – no not the idea of a Killer Scarecrow but the horror of death and the consequences for those left behind. A scarecrow in the yard is all that remains of Benny Billings so why does Cash feel like his best friends last…
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Whisper Down the Lane by Clay McLeod Chapman | Book Review
Whisper Down the Lane is a dark and oftentimes rage inducing tale of identity, guilt and pain. Richard, an art teacher in Virginia comes across a gutted school rabbit that appears to have ritualistic connotations. It shouts out at him and can’t help but ponder if it was carried out in his name. This is a story often its not healthy for the readers continuation of life – but isn’t that the best kind of novel? It’s edgy and frank and it doesn’t care for your feelings…it doesn’t care one bit. Whisper Down the Lane is hard hitting – think of a mallet pounding into your temple. With that visual…
