Dying Days 5 by Armand Rosamilia

The story starts off with a group of survivors stuck in a restaurant toilet being taunted by a group of zombies, one of those people is Mitchell, who eventually opens the door to The Lich Lord and listens to his proposal. AR is very clever in almost summing up the last four books in one little speech from this “fella”.

This continues to be a zompoc with a difference as this particular zombie keeps getting faster, more cunning, nastier and definitely smarter, not to mention shifting his appetite preferences.  The Lich Lord is expanding not only his empire but his abilities but what is his end goal?

Back in the Daytona Beach camp Veronica is working hard on keeping things running whilst loathing and doubting Jeff, so is Claude who is “promoted” to refugee coordinator; a job that sounds, from Jeff’s version, very much like the Third Reich’s ideal sorting plan. Jeff is a horrific character but totally believable, sadly.

Our “heroine” Darlene continues to recover from her horrific birth and loss. With a lot of help from an unexpected source. Her baby is not yet safe and so many factions have plans for him.

There are some really harsh deaths in this book, especially as I had started to care about them, clever writing AR but cruel.

The ending is climactic but of course leaves you wanting more, bring it on.

Initially I will be the first to admit I was very unsure of this series with its hard than diamond girls, their thongs and the sexually rampant zombies BUT AR has evolved (like his zombies) and his writing is much more articulate, eloquent, plot stuffed, character laden and all manner of other wonderful things, so yes, I am now a huge fan of these books and the author.

Dying Days 5

Dying Days 4 by Armand Rosamilia

Number four in the Dying Days saga and AR does not disappoint with his zombies becoming weirder!

Not only are ARs zombies eating and raping people now they are thinking, plotting, ambushing, arming themselves and usually more funny when they talk than most comedians.

But it’s not just humans they are hunting, some want the other “new” zombies dead too, and to rule over humankind!

Poor pregnant Darlene, her love John and his dad, Murph, are still on the run after the stilt houses were burnt to the sea.

Jeff and Russ are still side hands to the Lich Lord who has all sorts of nastiness planned but in a god like fashion. Yes, it’s “safe” living under his rule but at what cost? Blood…. For he has certainly evolved again, but into what.

Doug and Ernie (aka the Cowboy!) reminded me of Statler and Waldorf (you remember, the Muppets!), their storyline is very satisfying.

Whilst every group seems to be focused on finding Darlene and her baby, the gore, dark humour and plot lines progress really well in the rotating fashion that sees each group from differing angles.

There is one or two passages in the book that really made me want to turn veggie. AR has certainly nailed current society does to a tee in this book via the “intelligent” zombie practices, observations, plans and rants. It’s quite grotesque.

I really enjoyed this book and look forward to no.5 – which is available NOW!

                             

Dying Days 4

Dying Days: Origins 2 by Armand Rosamilia

This chapter of the Dying Days world is about Cheryl and David and how they have prepped, it’s in a pretty awesome way but when the crunch comes not all goes to plan.

As they fight to stay alive and gather those that they love all that planning comes up short, which is a real shame as it was so meticulously done. I loved how AR spelled each element out, an apocalyptic daydreamer’s blue heaven (that’s me btw!)

The main characters are a really lovely couple and AR really breathes life into them. These are people I would like to have as friends, so I could hide in their bunker with them.

As they travel across the country trying to reach their intended destination they come across various people, some are so good natured you know they can’t possibly survive, but I could not help but route for them and then there were the groups of people that were so wrong in so many ways.

The “name dropping” of characters is really clever (hence the name Origins!) but it did make me smirk at the small worldyness of it all.

There are some really heart rending moments, especially early on in the book when the initial horror wave hits and fantasy becomes reality as people are lost and reality bites. The little sub plot stories along the way tie up so many loose ends and also start new stories.

The zombies feature only as a background in this book as the characters and their personal tragedies, heartbreaks and realisations are the real horror story.

The zig zag route that AR takes to tell all these stories means you can dip into any book in the series and not feel left out, the characters all link in to each other as do places and time lines. It’s a fun read with a serious undertone whichever book you choose, however I expect certain characters will become more prominent as AR gets more feedback on them.

Looking forward to no.3 already!!

Dying Days: Origins 2

Undead Tales antholgy

Resurrecting Mind by Joe McKinney: Poor Kevin the last man alive after the world ended three years ago, its Xmas eve but he still believes.

But maybe he is not truly alone, whilst out foraging for decorations, he spots an ex-girlfriend and with some very corny jokes tries to nourish her back to life from the world of the zombie “faker”.

The twist at the end is heart breaking. Such wonderful writing and a superb way to start this anthology.

Louis by Carole Gill: Louis has decided to become a necromancer after his best friend dies. eeeew at the practice mouse.

A great tongue in cheek feel to this story, yet another interesting author I must seek out and try a longer piece of work from.

Breaking Out by Eric S. Brown: Bio toxins, the military and naughty, unethical Drs; what could possibly go wrong!

Loved the telling of this notsooriginal story. Blindingly fast, it was a super read.

Hard Choices by Todd Sprague: The juxtaposition of some of the Hard Choices and comments from the narrator would have been funny had they not rung the sad bell of truth a little too loud.

The Hard Choices only get worse as survival becomes the utmost driving force to this man.

I am curious to know if this is a standalone brief flash of a story, or if it is part of a greater story.

So far, every single author and story has been spot on!

Until Hell calls our names by WD Gagliani: Loved the approach to telling this story.

Set in the Old Wild West it brought a new tinge to an old story.

In between tales of confederacy and submarines (!) is the most awful tale of relationship abuse.

The wronged woman, along with her Mother, cast zombie spells to avenge they abuse. The story which follows is complex and I found it to be too harrowing to “enjoy” but it was thoroughly entertaining and caused a different sort of shudder in terror.

Amazing writing to make me feel so uncomfortable.

Till death do us part by Scott M. Goriscak: Poor Tim, the mortician, he finally finds the love of his life only to lose her in a freak accident.

Of all the horror in this book, the reading of the embalming made me actually gag.

When a rogue bolt of lightning reanimates his love all sorts of strange things start to occur.

I had to giggle at certain body parts coming apart as she decomposes. The ending, for me, was hilarious.

I forgot my own name by JD Gillam: A sad story from the zombies PoV.

This was obviously hard to write due to the decomposing brain, but well accomplished and interesting to read.

Zombie Camp by Lawrence R. Dagstein: Day care camp for zombie children, now that’s a thought! As the world has changed, apparently parental love and social ambition has not.

Very well-articulated to bring forth all the trappings of rich families and the dilemmas obviously faced when picking your child’s education and play mates.

A cracking concept with some outstanding dry humour.

The Zombie with the Dragon tattoo by Armand Rosamilia: Another rip roaring giggle a minute story.

Gary is in lust with Roxy the stripper, even if she is now one of the undead and all the hassle that brings.

When he decides to break into the Cheaters strip bar for one last lap dance he meets the bouncer and DJ who are not what they seem.

The normal sex focused zombie humour from this author, a really fun little story with some clever character twists.

Feast of the Dead by P. David Puffinburger: The first story with editing errors? Or not? I am not sure if this was an attempt at first person writing with intentional errors, but as it went on it did not feel right in its prose

.

This story was neither funny nor sad but degenerated into a deliverance type rape scene that was poorly written. 

Really felt this story was out of context for this anthology so far, or maybe I just didn’t “get it”.

Mick’s Rules by Zach Brunner: A weird little tale of a 50’s circa zombie frequenting a bar owned by Mick and boy does he like to pick a fight!

Lots of dialogue and some nifty left hooks make for a fun showdown between the pair.

What walks in afterwards makes me want to visit and order some nachos and beer for some “people” watching.

Yet another fabulous author, who plays well on stereo types.

Written during rapture by Scott Nicholson: A love note vs a suicide note. Very brief story but oh so poignant.

Carriers by Ian DG Sandusky: A new take on what causes the zompoc. Kind of put me off my dinner!

Some great explanations, funny? Not so sure but definitely a sad indictment on our current way of life and destruction of the planet.

What’s a man gotta do by Chantal Boudreaux: An old ranch hand is trying to eke out a living by foraging and trading in the zompoc world.

However, he has an addiction, his Drink.  He risks life and limb for this special taste.

Whilst serious throughout the story the final lines really leave you on a giggle.

Always brilliant writing from Chantal.        

My name is Riley by Mark Tufo: Told from a dogs PoV this is a unique take on the zompoc.

Riley’s little pack must survive the start and ongoing zompoc, a teenage girl, a baby, a runt dog, Riley and a naughty cat – sounds like the start of a good joke – it’s actually a fabulous series that I encourage everyone to seek out.

How do you kill what’s already dead? By Jeremiah Coe: The Germanic barbarians are facing off the invading Roman Hordes, only these turn out to be zombies, an unfair advantage.

With a lot of chatter about the ancient military style  I found it hard going as not my favourite topic to read about. But the author gave me characters that I really started to care about to follow and become involved with.

The sad little twist at the end made the read very worthwhile.

Of the Dead by Ian Woodhead: As if zombies aren’t bad enough IW thinks up spider mutated zombies!

Just what is going on in that food factory, you can probably figure it out, but this author just loves taking you for a ride of terror.

The world presented in this short story is complex and hints at a larger set of stories, but IW does have extensive zombie writing experience, well worth a seek out.

I loved the humour, dark and slapstick, mixed with all the horror. Some really original stories mixed in this anthology with some original telling’s of old stories.

The contributors are well picked and well placed, so credit to the editor, himself an accomplished author.  Rich Orth has amazing little poems scattered throughout, which makes for some light relief and is an inspired thought.

One of my favourite anthologies to date.

Undead Tales

Hallowed Horror Collection

What a fantastic collection this book is, some amazing authors who have supplied some huge novels and brilliant novellas. Everyone should find something they like in here, hopefully a few new authors to try out too.

As for value for money – hells bells its less than a £/$ for NINE stories!

The Spirit Clearing by Mark Tufo:

What a great way to start this amazing anthology of NOVELS and novellas, not short stories but full on, full length reads; such great value, especially when you see the calibre of author included.

I had stayed away from reading this for ages.... as I am so in love with MT in the Zombie Fallout series I did not want to sully my mind (or get confused!)

However, this was just amazing!

MT has a true talent; he is able to weave a complex story bringing in all sorts of emotional, physical, reality and spooky elements. I felt myself sweating away with the characters in their struggles and don’t get me started on the tears that I shed; thankfully no cats were killed in this one!!

All ends are neatly tied up in the final climax, which is great... I do so hate reading a book that finishes ambiguously!

Any fans of MT won’t be disappointed with this.

All the Little Children by Christine Sutton:

This novella sized story seems to bump along, nice happy families etc. then CS blasts the reader with the horror.

What starts out as a bit of ghost story turns into a possession, throw in a few poltergeists and demons and you get all rolled up into one sharp, snappy gore fest.

Death and its vivid descriptions just bolt off the pages at you via CS and her amazing descriptions.

I can’t really explain much about the stories main elements without giving it away other than the ending leaves you with a cold shudder in on a warm sunny day! Although that was my first read of it back last, last summer! On the night before Halloween it still gave me a shocking chill!

A great, quick read for a lunch time scare.

Fangs in Vain by Scott Nicholson:

Sabrina is an Angel and Luke is a Vampire, strange combination of lovers, but SN makes it work in this fascinating novella.

Initially I felt a little out of synch with the story, feeling that maybe I had missed the other parts of the story or that this was a little novella in the middle of a series of novels, but apparently not; it’s a stand-alone or possibly the start of a series.

Whilst this clearly shows off the talent of SN I felt the story lacked a proper start, had a good middle but left me hanging and wanting at the end.

There was a huge amount of humour and I really wanted to find out more about these two brilliant characters, so I hope SN picks them up some other time, maybe when he gets bored writing all his other fabulous novels!

The Unsaintly by Lisa Vasquez:

LV can certainly ping you into a scene, I was so engrossed in the scenes I almost forgot the underlying storyline.

The initial scenes of Demons, God, Angels and Hell were amazing although I felt the eventual fall of Lucifer was a little anti-climactic after all that wonderful build up.

Then the story swapped to a different era and setting and I was a little confused.

The beautiful, intricate descriptions continue however as LV now starts a seemingly new story about Isabel, daughter of the King of France, eventually to become a Saint, she links the two stories as Isabel is “tested” with all the horror that befalls her and the terrible nightmares of Hell that she suffers.

There seems to be lots of sub plots going on with Marciel her guardian Angel and Lucifer sending various Demons after her, whilst in the background God and Marciel have random meetings and strange chess matches that LV plots meticulously via sequenced moves – which meant nothing to me!

I did enjoy the humour as the Angels and Demons have petty arguments but also felt that it was almost out of tune with the thrust of the book. I found the jumping around of narratives and storylines very confusing and really distracted from the overall feel of the book.

Will I pick up the other two in this trilogy? Doubtful unless they pop up on a good offer etc. I was not drawn to this author style but her attention to detail was amazing.

Generation Evil by Eric A Shelman:

This novel has a complex setting of past, not so past and present which is articulated very well by EAS.

I felt the characters were realistic, 3D and mostly likeable without being perfect so I developed a bit of bond with them, which is needed as the plot lines are deep, clever and the twists keep coming but EAS was able to keep me focused and not lose me in the broil.

Five witches are burned at the stake in Massachusetts in the late 17th century. Four are good and one is bad, evil, nasty bad! As the flames consume them the evil warlock casts a spell for eternal rebirth to torture mankind, the four good witches join together and cast their own spell for rebirth and chase him through time to protect those he touches and try to destroy him; however they miss that bit of the spell that grants their new bodies pre-knowledge.

Fast forward more than three-hundred years; which is a shame as I think EAS could of given a few snippets of previous lives instead the reader is thrust into a dusty attic in California where a trunk is found by four friends. What they then find inside changes their lives forever, hence why snippets of their previous incarnations would have been good to show an on-going pattern.

I am very tempted to seek out more novels by this author and that’s why I love anthologies so much!

Pride by Chantal Noordeloos:

So I originally read this as a short story, it has since been updated, lengthened and some serious eeew moments added.

Adolf Zakerny is a notorious serial killer, he has no set Modis Operandi he merely seeks to inflict as much pain as possible, and he is a master of his work, giving tribute to his Lord of Lies.

Eventually the time comes when he feels ready to share his true calling and nature with Hell, and as he plummets to his death, you may think the book has started at the wrong end of the story. However, CN excruciatingly makes us witness his rebirth, cell to sinew, bone to muscle. Every little nuance of tension is explained, like reading in slow motion with HiDef.

The road to Hell ala CN is a revolting sounding one, and he witnesses things that make you feel sick to your stomach with expectant glee. It is soon his turn, as Adolf’s sins are “weighed” and a punishment is suggested, he looks forward to meeting his new boss, but soon becomes confused when he steps into a scene from Perfect Houses.

CN has certainly done her homework on Demons and mythology. Demons loiter around Lucifer’s mansion house and she does a brilliant interpretation of making it seem like a normal work place on a regular day.

Adolf is invited to sample Hell and he enters the Redemption Labyrinth and finally finds some of the bliss he seeks. No over the top gore description is required as CN taps into the true horrors of torture and the internal removal of hope, to make your goosebumps rise and the hairs on your neck tingle.

After much discussion and some feather preening (did you see the title?) Lucifer has a room suited exactly for Adolf’s needs.

CN is such an eloquent author, not a word is out of place or written down without thought, this line alone really made me think; "their own preconception of sin, often most find it most difficult to forgive themselves ".

An enjoyable, yet icky, read with some thought provoking issues and images. I do hope that CN is going to expand on this a little….7 deadly sins and all that!

Whispers by Heath Stallcup:

The story starts in 1885 with Sheriff “two guns” and an amazing breakfast that I could almost smell.  This started to feel like a good old fashioned western book; an honest Sheriff and some bad out of towners intent on mayhem and evil.

HS then fast forwarded me to modern day Texas, which strangely feels like it has not changed much!  A collector of Old West antiques  “buys” some naughty items off two drug addicts, Casper and Roger, who have been raiding the Little Hope cemetery, and you just know that no good (or Hope) can come of that! And so begins the story.

The story flicks back and forth between the two eras; you can start to feel the story and tension build up. It is the perfect mix of good, old fashioned justice, twist, turns and things that go bump in the night; something that HS is perfect at (I love his Monster Squad series). The book spans over 100 years and as another reviewer put beautifully this is a story about “a festering vengeance waiting, waiting to have revenge on evil, true evil”.

Whilst this is a long read I really felt hard pushed to find a “put down” moment and ended up with two very, very long days routed to a chair reading – hard work!   I don’t usually do ghost stories but this has so much more to it, so take your time with this novel and savour all the subtle horror and spooks provided by HS.

Shifters by Jaime Johnesee:

This was one of the first ebooks I read when I got my kindle and the first of JJ’s books and I was so blown away I bought everything else that she has published since then!

Loved the myth explosion right at the beginning! and the dead pan delivery was brilliant.   Lots of really great humour moments!

I really hope this is the start of a series as the character and "world" is fantastic!   An FBI werepanther!

There were a few little bits that niggled and could have been written better, such as the partners ignorance of her studying seemed a little off and the "change" would have worked better as a flashback maybe, as thought she would have shared this with her partner long before.....

I have loved rereading this but can also see how JJ has grown as an author and that this little novel needs an update, spit n polish! But I believe this is in the works.

Tool Shed by Armand Rosamilia:

Michael Zaun has arrived on his newly inherited farm and is investigating exploding cows – what a great first line and start to a story; loved the little CSI and music references.

Michael is also 300lbs of blubber and lives in the never, never land of diets which start tomorrow and dreams of living off the land, something he needs to research and finds himself at the local library where he meets Susan; AR plays this meet and relationship really well. Both are characters that you want to like and I really felt myself having feelings for them throughout the story.

Next AR throws in the group of teenagers who are at “play” in the shed with weed and almost-sex. Strangely enough this ends up calling the “monster” aka Dir of the Earth who wants only to live among us, eat cheeseburgers and have sex (don’t all underworld beings?), but this comes at a price, of course, and it soon becomes obvious what happened to the cows.

I found this story really intense as Michael must live up to his families calling and Dir does what Dir does!

Oooh a prequel in 2015!! Yippee!!

Dust to Dust by Eden Crowne:

Well, I have to admit I originally picked this up as part of a free promotion on a FB page. However, I am so glad to have had the opportunity to reread this as I clearly missed some of the little nuances last time, and loved hearing about Tasmin again.

Tasmin has been tricked by Soul Eaters, they befriended her when she was lonely, gained her trust and then split her soul between them like a take away one night. She soon learns how to jump into near death bodies and now seeks out these people to regain the pieces of her soul. 

We first meet her as she chooses a not very nice vampire body to jump into, who is currently ending life by being strangled by Drake, a Fae with issues.

The story is intricate, well thought out, with lots of differing strings attached but so wonderfully written you have NO trouble keeping up.  As Tasmin keeps having to jump bodies to track down her Soul Eating fiends the sense of humour is a great relief amongst the gore; one reincarnation is of a bo-peep/sheep hybrid!

Throughout reading this story (a straight 4hr read, I could NOT put it down) I just kept feeling myself say WOW. I love how EC writes her characters, surroundings and takes you on a fantastic journey.  There is also a touch of raunchy in there.

All the different supernatural beings are in there, I don’t think the EC left one out! but none are gratuitous, all have a place!

What really comes through is the sense of story and how far this could go, as EC is already on her third in this series I am pleased to say I am BIG fan.

Hallowed Horror

Chelsea Avenue by Armand Rosamilia

Apparently Chelsea Avenue is a real location in Long Branch, New Jersey. The Murphy's Law Club was a real place. On July 8th, 1987, the famous Haunted House on the pier in Long Branch did burn down.  From that nugget of news Armand Rosamilia has drawn on his imagination and produced this haunting story. 

How to classify it? 

Ghosty, not really but very haunting. 

Gore laden, nope but still shocking and murderous. 

Apocalyptic, definite potential. 

Horror, Thriller or Fantasy, none but all. 

I cannot label this book which is really frustrating!  But I do know it gave me the chills, satisfied by need for spooky, horror and weird all at the same time. 

On the night of July 8th, Murphy’s Law night club is the site Wiy of the Water has chosen to try and attain Ascension; becoming a god over the humans, demanding their worship.

However, his brothers (other elementals of Fire, Earth and Wind) decide this is not a good idea for mankind and thwart his plans with a binding spell, causing a life changing fire and so begins the dark tale of sacrifice, murder and control as Wiy acts out his revenge.

Manny is the main character and focus; a young man who watched his friends and family (the owners of the nightclub) perish in the fire, losing his home and future in one horrifying night, he is also the tether that binds all the goings on in the following 15 years. 

I loved how each chapter represented a leap forward in the years, focusing on the same date, the anniversary of the fire which also happens to be Manny’s birthday. 

This allowed for big progressions in his life and the overall story. AR was so eloquent in his ability to proffer a single snappy line into a years’ worth of history easily keeping you update to date as he enters the police force, climbs the ranks, falls in love, marries, mucks it up and eventually gets dragged into hell as that fateful night pulls on his subconscious via a series of dreams and nightmares. 

However, he is not the only one having these dreams and all those connected with the fire succumb to Wiy’s power, pull and vicious need for worship.

With Detective Tankard as his senior, he and Manny eventually admit to each other that there must be a supernatural link as new dead bodies keep arriving at the abandoned lot on Chelsea Avenue each year. 

I was confused at first as to why the police did not simply stake out the Lot and provide protection but this issue is dealt with later in the book and shows again, how intricate and wonderful the AR brain works in delivering a balanced story and not just using characters, scenes and places for convenience of storytelling.

As each year brings the death toll up, the tension increases and the murders seem to get more gruesome. It is at this moment that AR allows you into the minds of some of the victims and a new element of horror occurs. The total helplessness of each victim as they are forced to return to Chelsea Avenue and commit horrific murders and mutilations whilst fully aware but unable to stop themselves gives a chill up the spine.

AR’s character building talent is evident in all his books but especially so in this one. Each character is given a strong back story; just enough so that when they die you feel a full tug and sadness at their loss.

However just when I was getting bored with new characters being introduced (remember this is over a 15year period) just to get killed off the story takes a massive leap into the present and the obvious danger that is looming.

As the actions kicks up a gear AR rockets the reader to an elemental show down of immense power. I could almost taste the salty water and feel the fire and smoke.

I hope the cliffhanger was an intentional plot twist as this story is far from over. I want more about these elemental gods, more apocalyptic world domination attempts and more brilliant writing from the mind of AR.

Chelsea Avenue

Dying Days 3 by Armand Rosamilia

(spoiler alerts)

Darlene is back and she is the same hard shelled, soft centered, take no nonsense, body obsessed heroine; I can’t help but love her, even when she is prattling on about her thongs!

The Flagler beach survival group has a new threat looming; who is killing all the zombies and stacking them under the pier?

Will the Lich’s plans come to anything?

AR brings a new element and twist to the series – Frank is a zombie but he has become self aware, and he his not the only one. I can’t think of a worse scenario for all involved, although Frank and the Lich seem to be liking it.

I really enjoy this series of zombie books as there are no big sub plots or lots of different groups to keep track off, its very much here and now, and in your face, usually with a big fat tongue in cheek dose of humour. There are still the intense emotions, some wild sex and gore laden fights but it’s much more a “Bmovie” style novel, and I love that.

However, don’t let that comment fool you into thinking the characters are wooden or 2 dimensional, far from it, Bri’s little lack of prom rant was actually quite upsetting when you think of all that would be lost in an apocalypse and the deaths are heartbreaking as AR keeps you very focused on the survivors.

The zombies are very real, if a little warped. AR seems to take total delight in being as freaky as possible. He also manages to make his little ragtag survivor group very real without any military training and inclusive of young girls and old men, not necessarily who you would pick to aid you in a zombie fight but wow they make a mean drinking and movie watching bunch and shouldn’t survival be worth living, at least a bit of it.

This series is really starting to hot up on the weirdness front and strays far, far, FAR from the purist ideals of zombies – but good! AR is a talented writer (try his other, non zombie novels/novellas/shorts) if these zoms are not to your liking!

Dying Days 3

Zippered Flesh: Tales of Body Enhancements Gone Bad! - anthology

Bootstrap by Michael Baily: great concept regarding cloning, just a bit too detailed in the IT stuff at the beginning lost me a bit until it stretched out the information overload and turned into really great story telling, then it wanders off into the technobabble again. The actual horror is hard to pin point; the imagination does go into overdrive a bit at the missing byte! Less technobabble would have made this story a 5*

Idol by Michael Laimo: when does imitation become more than flattery? When you need a replacement?! Great details submerge you into the weirdness, but it only more weird, gross and weird!

Unplugged by Adrienne Jones: OMG I love this story, I was disappointed when it ended! Alien transformations, brilliant brilliant!

Comfort by Charles Colyott: this reads like a sad story of a man who loves his mother to the deference of his job, marriage, friends.... Only in the last paragraph do you reach the horror of a mother's comfort, truly gross, but a great story.

You With Me by Christophe Nadeau: you can feel the horror coming on this one, like little flickers of light at the corners of your vision.... You don't quite want to look the whole way! Nothing prepares you for the ending, but it is a good one! Nothing says I love you quite like this!

The Shaping by Scott Nicholson: in a strange world of Critiques, Editiors & Artists the sorrowful artist gives blood, sweat and tears to his final masterpiece, but is it enough to gain him the thumbs up though? A very weird concept with lots of strange word play - a masterpiece in its own story telling, what a talent Scott is....

Something Borrowed by J. Gregory Smith: really enjoyed how this bubbled away, giving you flashes of what horror is on its way! I was so not prepared when this went full 3HD on me! A story of a nip and tuck too far?


Equilibrium by John Shirley: loved the idea of body form cars! But that was all I really liked about this! This author was all over the place for me, even now Im not sure what it was supposed to be about.

Sawbones by L.L.Soares: WOW - a body modified hit man gets visited by a "ghost". This was an excitingly played out story, definitely one of my top 3.

Whirling Machine Man by Aaron J.French: great story telling of an intriguing idea; torture, amputation, spirits etc shame it never went anywhere.

Sex Object by Graham Masterton: This must rate as the most disgusting story of the book. How far does a woman go to change herself to please a husband! Riveting but revolting!

The Sad, Not so Sad, Ballard of Goat-head Jean Ambivalent Devil Queen: wow really felt like I had been on a mushroom trip with this tale of murderous boyfriends, satanic rocks and the desire for perfect breasts! Can't really tell you what the story was trying to say but I did feel bedazzled, dizzy and WTF happened at the end, but in a good way!

Locks of Loathe by Jezzy Wolfe: it was the hair what done it!! A murderous tale of revenge via hair! Well written with an exciting ending!

By Hook by Elliott Capon: a sailors tale with a curse to boot.   Nothing special in this story for me, a tenuous link to the pirates hook.

Creeping Death by Armand Rosamilla: stranger than most! A girl obsessed with tattoos becomes protected from Death! Written so you get a shudder at the end.

Paraphilia by Lisa Mannetti: short and viscious, you get lulled into this sad girls story only to get slapped as the ending hits you. Very clever writing!

Independence Day by P.L. Barrington: hard to describe really - crippled man uses a shamen Dr to fix his body which then turns on him. Just never really explained why....

Marvins Angry Angel by Jonathon Templar: how funny that a new trend would be to get an Angel attached to your shoulder, literally! What happens when that Angel gets pissed off though; funny, short and not so angelic!

Change of Heart by Rob M. Miller: Ewwww Ewww double ewww! A witch of a mother in law comes to dinner. The final paragraph is the killer - yucky ducky... brilliant!

Hearing Mildred by Wheldon Burge: ah the wicked evils of TV and not reading enough! A cute little tale that made me smile.

You really get your money’s worth in this brilliant anthology!

Zippered Flesh