Lover, Come Back to Me
by Tim Waggoner:
Alan is not enjoying his day out on the lake with his wife, but then being
stuck in a canoe on the lake you nearly drowned in as a child would probably
not make me have a fun day out either.
TW does well to convey the fear and physical terror of
drowning. However, this is a horror story and something else is going on.
A strange and well written love/monster story with a
fantastic ending.
Don‟t Look at Me by
Elizabeth Massie: Things
that are created in the shape of humans or near-humans have minds and we can
think. Ohmyfreakinggosh!!
When Pointy is rescued by poor Connie he does some rescuing
of his right back. I really loved this little story, it had horror, humour,
heartbreak and was based on that underlying fear I have of dolls! MY favourite.
Dead Pull by Taylor
Grant: Brennan
works the pet store and inflicts pain and suffering – that was the end of my
reading, originally! I was then
contacted by the author who suggest I carry on as there was NO torture and he
was right, only cleverly done "implied" torture, so I guess the
writing was impressive. A nasty little tale but I thoroughly enjoyed the
ending. Thank you TG for convincing me to carry on!
Alternative Muses by J.
Daniel Stone: an
unrelenting style of writing that left me needing to take a walk around the
block to clear my head.
The subject chosen did not help, self-torture and suspension
all wrapped up with a pregnancy.
There were some really corny lines in this too which was ridiculous
considering the shock horror topic.
I found it an odd addition to this anthology. Shock horror
for the sake of it is really not my thing, but if you like gross out you will
love this story.
The Reunion by Joan De
La Haye : poor Frank
gets a ghostly visit my his Grandfather and some of his friends at his new
hotel.
It’s not a happy family reunion though. A very short tale of …..
well I’m not sure really but it was an easy read which held me engrossed to the
final chop.
Devil‟s Night by Tim
Curran: Hell has
opened up and Mick and Bones are trying to survive. They start to sacrifice people
to the Fire Eater but its slowly unravelling them in different ways.
TC does a brilliant job in explaining the horror of
consumption by the Fire Eater and also the emotional trauma these two are
experiencing. A great story with a
fitting ending.
The Fine Art of
Wrecking by Jenn Loring: not sure about this one, calling the sea a living entity in Her own right
with capitalising everything got on my nerves after a bit.
Felt a long winded way to get to the finale and then stop.
O‟Halloran‟s by John
Paul Allen: Tom just
wants a drink to sort his mind out but he seems trapped in a time warped hell. He
and Helen had their lives mapped out and a baby now was not part of it, given
time to reflect will he change his mind?
Fast paced and whilst gross, confusing and a little morally
off compass this was a good story.
Las Maquinas by William
Ritchey: the time line
was a little out on this story and it had a very preaching religious tone to it
at the begining, it also had some laughable B-movie style lines but I don’t think
it was supposed to be funny.
All these comments are a shame really as the basic storyline
and characters were good.
Perrollo‟s Ladder by
John Palisano: I wanted
more about the first paragraph!
This was a fantastic story until it just stopped….. was this
part of a story? Or just intentionally left on a cliff hanger?
Game On by Charles Day:
could be a good
story – I don’t know stopped about the frogs and firecrackers.
Lady of Lost Lake by
Bev Vincent: four
guys go on a weekend camping break by the lake. Essentially a lady in the lake
story with real no essence but strangely I was riveted to this story and its
telling.
Junksick by G.N. Braun:
odd little things
were off in this story such as sweat that drips from your temples yet pools in
your armpits – strange anatomy!
A great story though with some fabulous descriptions. I
thought the ending was a real kicker and really enjoyed that no hint was given.
Witch-Compass by Graham
Masterton: Paul
leaves Africa with a Witch-Compass but little else. As his life turns to dust
around him the Witch-Compass points to what he could have if he wanted too, but
can he make the right choices?
Well written with some really uncomfortable scenes I was
engrossed until the end. Not sure how I wanted it to end but this choice was a
good one.
Saint Patty's Night at
The Crown & Devil Dolls –a poems by Blaze McRob: cute, snarky and spooky, if you like poems, I’m not to keen
but these are short enough to enjoy without getting bored, plus they were
entertaining, it’s just not a medium I enjoy for horror.
As always I like the little author bios’ at the end – I personally
would prefer them pre or post each story. It would have also been helpful if
they had been in the order of the stories written.
I will be careful about reading anymore from this grouping. I
don’t want an un-themed anthologies anymore, I need to be able to screen what I
read so I can limit my exposure to animal
torture as it was severally exceeded. I don’t have many strong beliefs, in fact
this is probably the only thing I feel strongly about – zero tolerance on
animal torture.
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