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Shadows of Hell by Duncan Thompson | Blog Tour Review
Sometimes, just sometimes, you know instantly when a series is going to become a favourite. The Shadows series by Duncan Thompson is just that. Shadows in Hell is the sequel to the brilliant Shadows in the Woods novel. Features Dante’s Divine Comedy – Check A battle of good vs evil – Check Hard hitting themes such as grief and forgiveness – Check Thompson once again utilizes the short sharp shock in delivering at times a hilarious but dark installment. One event changed several people’s worlds, but one person’s actions saved the world. It paints a vivid picture of how the strands of connection between characters is unbreakable, even when in…
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Tome by Ross Jeffery | Book Review
Tome – its clarity was never more focused and established from the very first page. Dark and depraved. The story is multi-faceted as it strips the layers back of the human condition. Boy does it show the human condition for what it truly is, hungry for power and destruction. Tome is a story that examines many prejudices rife in not only America’s penial system. Racial abuse, misogyny and homophobia feature strongly, and Jeffery has tackled the sensitive themes with both class and tenderness without skipping on the reality. This novel is a highly intelligent and brutal story on multiple levels. Jeffery has birthed a new sub-genre of horror; he mixes…
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Fanged Dandelion by Eric LaRocca | Book Review
Fanged Dandelion is a horrifying collection of 20 poems that will not hesitate to put chills down your spine and search for hidden meaning. It is seeping in a creeping sense of dread and dismay and the influence of characters through-out LaRocca’s career is a strong marker through-out. The imagery and pulsating emotion are a siren call, it bleeds between pages, and the short snappy prose is hard hitting and uncompromising. It’s a dismembered hand crawling out from its haunted pages, its successful in grabbing you by the throat and not letting go until the final story is committed to memory. Eric LaRocca is an author who puts his heart…
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Halloween Fiend by C.V. Hunt | Book Review
Halloween Fiend is a seriously creepy tale. The residents of Strang (yup, Strange without the E) know not to go out after sundown. The streets are eerie and quiet, but that’s not the only thing that is wrong with this town. They are haunted by an entity that prowls the streets. The only thing that stops them being killed is the sacrifice of small animals being left on their doorsteps. Apparently, guinea pigs and the likes are a tasty snack for the creature that is called Halloween. Once a year however, someone gets the dot – a term for a randomly selected resident to satiate the monster for another year. …
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Venus in the Blind Spot by Junji Ito | Book Review
Venus in the Blind Spot is my first ever Manga novel. It isn’t something that I would have necessarily picked up but I received it in an Abominable Book Box. It certainly won’t be the last. The artwork and the storytelling is both horrific and awe inspiring. There is tales of misadventure, Japanese lore, and the undercurrents of love and suffering constantly being the backbone of the collection. Darkness has seeped into these stories and it’s a set of stories that aren’t likely to be forgotten in a hurry. The characterization was spot on. On first meet you think these people have the perfect lives, perfect families and perfect lifestyles…
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The Underclass by Dan Weatherer | Review
Right from the start The Underclass grabs you by the throat. Its spindly fingers reach out, the flesh dripping like a tap that can never be switched off. It is an intriguing take on the zombie trope; the idea that a sense of consciousness and emotion can remain intact was one that initiated deep thought…is everything that we have seen in Hollywood zombie movies just glorified the creation as brain hungry street walkers? Imagine dying in some accident only to come to and realise that you are now an undead version of yourself, only your spouse and relations want nothing to do with you? That is the dilemma that is…
