Revival (Vol 1) Jane the Hippie Vampire

I always enjoy LL’s prefaces, she opens up so much about ideas, how a character came to be, the thought process and this is no exception. 

Love Beads (Book 1):

Jane is the strangest vampire I have come across in a long while, and I love her!!

One sunny afternoon she meets Randy and his weird dogs, strange job and horrific food sense.

LML treated me to a brilliant piece of mystery thriller writing with a super natural element, with just enough grossness to add a horror element.

She hints this will be a series and I do hope so.

Some fabulous in depth and textured descriptions allow you to become immersed in the story I was totally engrossed in this novella and was sad when it ended.

Jane is an intriguing character and I so wasn’t to know more about how she became what she is and what her forward plan is.

Flashbacks (Book 2):

Nice to be back with the gentle hippie vampire that is Jane.  Tongue in cheek reminder that taking drugs is bad when she “eats” a meth laden bully attempting to frighten and probably kill an old Vietnam veteran by the name of Old Man Kevin. 

During this moment of hunger and moral outrage she saves Kevin, incurring the wrath of his gang which catches up with her much later in the story.

I felt this story was much darker than the first with the horrific flashbacks to the war as told by Kevin, such a sad story. However, this allows Jane to also share sad and horrifying stories.

Whilst the ending was sad I really feel like I understand Jane a little better, and even if a vampire she is a better human than me being so kind to those she encounters after her horrible life. 

Not as much humour in this story, but still enjoy the writing.

Hair (Book 3):

Jane is ironically a vegan vampire with a knack for getting into trouble.

Needing to head to warmer climes she heads South into Bible Belt country, the weather maybe warmer but the hospitality is not; at least for an outwardly appearing teenage vagrant.

When a purple dog runs past her during a routine police stop you are already drawn back into Jane’s strange world and you can feel the magic carpet ride coming.

Whilst she knows that she must feed and she often disgusts herself with the berserker like frenzy when this occurs she knows it was not her that started to rip the Officers to pieces in the woods, even though she does not turn down an easy meal.

LML has a wonderful skill of explaining the pain that Jane feels during these feeds giving you a sense of the gnawing hunger vs the need to preserve all life.

As she hides in the forest she is found by the local Ranger, Bobby, and he kindly takes her home for dinner, although he does have his own agenda and what is actually on the menu?

His family are a strange mix of rednecks and homely parents, then LML introduces  the local fruitloop who professes to be seeing lake monsters, werewolves and vampires and you know things are about to go squiffy for poor Jane!

When said fruitloop decides to rid the world of a “stinking leech” he sets in motion a terrible chain of events, killing sprees, hidden bodies and family secret revelations. 

Whilst all this is going on LL manages to throw in some horrific flashbacks of Jane’s previous life and her “change”.

Overall another wonderful installment in the undead life of Jane. I am more intrigued by this vampire now; LL is expertly giving little hints of the true horror in Jane’s life whilst telling these little chapters in her life.  

Bonus Content: Flower Power:

Taking a rare moment to enjoy a coffee and piece of cake Jane is interrupted by a strange ghostly figure with an even stranger offer.

Via haunting memories, we are told of a horrific encounter Jane had with an astral plane travelling witch. Through varying levels of physical and mental torture including a trip to meet her long dead mother, Jane endures her recollection of meeting Holly and her stubborn sister Caitlin. 

The offer to help rid this world of this terror is too much for Jane, who herself continues to seek redemption to Heaven through good deeds.  She agrees to plunge herself back into this world to trap Holly.

This time around she faces worse mind games and even a fish tank filled with biting and hungry fish!  All is never what it seems with witches though and the ending is brutal.

Revival

Even Hell has standards: Wrath by Chantal Noordeloos

The beginning of this short story is like a slap in the face with a bloody spiked boot. 

There is brutality and the suggestions of much worse, Fatima has a sad life that is fraught with suffering.

Eventually she is “reborn” in Hell and sent to her judgement, her choice is a unique and painful one, but strangely satisfying to me as a reader.

CN writes with such extreme honesty about some difficult subjects and brings a no holds barred spotlight on to some very current realities of women living in various part of the world today.

I found Fatima to be a beautiful character that never lost sight of her inner wrath or the justice that would bring her. 

The descriptions of Hell and Lucifer were captivating, CN’s vivid writing giving pure, clean mental images.

I love this series.

Wrath

The Cat with Cthulhu Eyes by Suzi M

SM takes the Lovecraft “monster” and twists into her own. To mix it with cats was just magic!

I felt her characters were full bodied and were given a great sense of realism. This added to the slow build up and dawning realisation of what was about to unfold, can’t give the game away can I !!

A superbly written piece and I could not help but gawp in awe at how much this authors style and talent have evolved over the years I have been following her.

A charmingly creepy story that really left me chilled.

Is that not the cutest and spookiest cover btw!

The cat with.....

Lost Film by Mark West/Lantern House by Stephen Bacon

Lantern House by Stephen Bacon:

Paul Madigan a reporter for a small local newspaper goes in search of a “long lost” film director, r Rutherford, whom he adored as a young man to interview him about his long lost, underappreciated, films. He now lives in isolation on Lantern Rock island.

Before setting off across the causeway he meets Ellie Gibson, she is there to photograph the wildlife on the island and attaches herself to Madigan like a limpet, but with all things in this story not all is as it seems.

Intrigue starts in the first paragraph as the two main characters (Paul & Ellie) are introduced and established early on.  Brilliant use of interaction and dialogue to show personality. 

During Madigan’s interviews with Mr Rutherford, the author was clever in using Ellie’s complete ignorance as a sounding board for the more intricate information given.

The descriptions of films were amazing; actually felt like I was watching them.  When Madigan is invited to a private viewing all sorts of horrors start to occur. Ghostly faces, shapes in strange places, odd sexual goings on and things popping out of projector screens. Actually that last one did make me jump.

Relentless in its bombardment of titbits for you to piece together, then the horror, the gore and final reveal which was brilliant, unique and well thought out.

Such brilliant attention to detail!

The Lost Film by Mark West:

Gabriel Bird is a Private Detective, his personality is shown early on with some great character interactions and inner dialogue.

The “Anselmo business”, often eluded to but never quite explained, its elusive nature sets the tone for the story.

The amount of research that went into the film industry is immense, it really shows, the digesting and then spitting out in an understandable fashion is impressive and I now feel as if I could do a mastermind round on it!

Nicely linked straight away to Lantern House but with a completely different feel and texture to the writing style.  It was full of humour and nostalgia – wonderful.

Foot massage erotica; I’m just going to leave that there, right in the middle.

Monochromatics; the main “horror” of the story, again never fully explained which gave my imagination all sorts to play with! Angels, demons, possessed people or just a trick of the light?

I really loved the way MW describes the mundane moments of life and makes them come alive.  Can’t wait to get stuck into more from these authors.

The Lost Film

Snow by Paul Kane

I really enjoyed reading the “praise for Paul Kane” at the start of this novelette, this is unusual as I find self-promotion a bit sickly, however I was intrigued by some of the names mentioned, high praise indeed and, as it turns out, all warranted.

PK grabbed my attention with his introduction, I really do enjoy finding out how a story developed for an author, although the constant stream of name dropping had me rolling my eyes by the end.

PK is an excellent master of vivid description, he uses words beautifully to evoke the mental image of a scene. With his fast moving narrative, I was soon imbedded in the story.

Angela’s family background and history are swiftly and succinctly dealt with giving you just enough information to get a brief snapshot of her life and understand the dynamics, grinning at all the comparisons and links to the original fairy-tale.  The overall premise IS the story is Snow White. All the elements from the “original” are there but PK has brought them in to the modern world with a bang.

I loved Angela’s inner dialogue as it really pulled the story along and gave odd flashes of tongue in cheek humour.

PK was very clever in adding all the elements that were so central to the fairy tale and slotting them in so I barely noticed them until they slapped me upside the head and made me grin like an idiot.

There is just a splash of gruesome and horror as in all good fairy tales.

Overall, I really loved the way PK writes and will definitely be seeking out other titles by him to enjoy.

Snow

At Hell's Gates Vol 2 - Anthology

Another AMAZING anthology! a real varied mix of authors.

Pulse by Mark Tufo:

Sam has invented a bug zapper with a difference. Julie, his wife and Arni the lawyer are seeing dollar signs, large ones, little ones and portable ones.

However, the Gov’ is never far behind once you apply for a patent, neither is a certain Hit Man; Emery.  However, unlike Monty Python's Spanish Inquisition, I have learnt with this author to always expect the unexpected and Julie is my hero.

The humour in the story made it a brilliant read and what a fantastic start to this anthology, which has a reputation to upkeep after book 1.

Cookies for the Gentleman by C.T. Phipps:

The narrator describes the worst monster which has followed him through life with various unspeakable torments.

He is placated finally by, of all things, the perfect cookie.   However, the author manages to make cookie baking a terror all its own.

Short and sharp, I loved how this progressed, the writing style was easy even if the subject matter was not.

By Any Means Necessary by Evin Ager:

Sargent Jason Burrows is on guard duty and he hates it. On some god forsaken island in the middle of nowhere he sees this as a total kick in the teeth from the Army.

Then the dreams start, then the goo, the disappearances and finally a climatic end that had me both riveted and disgusted; fantastic.

An author for me to put on my TBR list – these anthologies must have it up to a mile long by now.

History’s End by Frank Tayall:

Dr Marcus Holloway made a video, he also made a virus.

Following a series of breath holding moments, some clever skulduggery and the odd bit of espionage the world ends, but of course!

Would love to have read more, had the story extended into a novella etc. another TBR author, see what I mean!

A Mother’s Nightmare by J. Rudolph

A woman finds a suicide note whilst scavenging post apocalypse.

It is a sad story and I was getting upset myself until the dogs, then I couldn’t have cared less about this loving pre apocalyptic family, but that’s me, animals will always be equal in my eyes.

I liked the overall idea and the plotline was a good one, the characters and emotion they evoked was very real.

Patient 63 by Stevie Jonas:

Fabulous story of an infected who falls in love, yup you read that right!  Not all goes well of course but the love story was great, the outline and surrounding characters were well thought and fleshed out.

Tyrannical Ascension by Shana Festa:

Always and easy and fascinating read from SF, trouble is I always want a bit more.

Basically a tale of how sneaky, nasty and calculating humans can be, this just happens to be post-apocalyptic. Not forgetting the twits that follow them.

Ink by James Crawford:

A fast paced descriptive read. A much sort after and solitary tattooist is sort out by a client who is unsure what he is searching for.  However, the tattooist muse is all too aware.

The drawn out fight and torment scenes are yucky but weirdly intoxicating. I liked the fullness of the story and how well it was structured.

The Man with Four Scars by Stephen Koziekski:

I found lots of contradictions in this story eg. Not able to name items as language skills so primitive but able to tell night time, fireside stories?

At first it distracted me but I was soon enveloped in the story of this self-made town hero falling a fallen star and the strange green goop it emits; green goop is never a good thing!

Whilst I enjoyed the overall story and its unique take and twist on an often tired zombie genre I was annoyed at the author for keep changing the parameters of his characters.

Daddy’s Girl by Ian Mclellan:

What are the worst things you can do? Kill? Maim? Torture? Ignore?

Loved the lure in, the character fill out and then the thrusting twist in the tale. A well written story and a funny bio of the author.

Operation Devil Walk by David Mikolas:

Set in WW2 with the Nazi occult obsession as it main force a group of academics, drafted by the military is set to infiltrate a far flung island to find proof of strange goings on.

The ensuing story is both sad, horrifying and totally captivating.

The Infected by S.G. Lee:

Too many names to keep track of at first but then the little feuds amongst the Medics fighting for a faculty position start to focus their individuality.

A task is set to weed out the weak applicants and of course, this is the perfect back drop for a spot of wild research.

I liked the way the story was told in dialogue as it gave a great emotional feel to the story.

Forget Me Never by Sharon Stevenson:

Just what is the true price for fame? What lengths will people go to too get it?  A fabulous narrated story of murder, decay and fame.

Mileage by Sean T. Smith:

A surrealist tale of humanity trying to survive and a dying man’s hallucinogenic dreams.  A bit too weird for my liking but then that’s why I love anthologies so much, I’m sure some people will adore this story.

The Milestone by Lesa Kinney Anders:

Such a sad and chilling story. I’m not sure what was more horrifying the monster or the disease. I really liked the slow unfold of characters and plot line.

Genesis by Kit Power:

A son chases after kidnapped, crook father. The suggestions of torture via dialogue were very clever and made the reveal even more sticky.

This serves as a prequel to the author's new novel God Bomb! which I have recently enjoyed.  Overall I felt this was a little wordy compared to his novel, but it’s a good flavour of his writing style.

Lock Down by T.M. Caldwell:

Apparently this is the author's first published short, she is working on a fantasy novel; judged on this, I can’t wait for that!

I loved her open and caring writing style, I really felt for her characters and squirmed at the dangers they were facing.

The ending was a great crescendo to a well-paced story throughout, like the slow thud of footsteps that follow you on a dark night.

Collect Night by Curran Geist:

A bit more a fantasy tale with an alien flavour which is great after all that undead!

Hank is desperate to get home to save his new family after a terrifying phone call. CG does well to evoke the distress and builds on our fears of family loss going down every possible nasty avenue of thought on the journey home.

The off world critters he describes are both sad and fear evoking and, again, I was found wondering what a longer novella would be like.

Loved the author bio.

The Cold by Devan Sagilini:

Darren is not a likeable guy, a beach bum who thinks he deserves more. A chance letter post a death and he thinks his ship has come in, but hang on this is a horror anthology nothing is THAT nice!  

Great writing and build-up of character, hard to make one so dislikeable yet not cliché.

A Different Cocktail by Claire C. Riley:

The things men will do for a BJ!

A weird gothic night out and the narrator suddenly feels very hungry; an old story retold, but done well.

I liked the way it spiralled me down with the narrator, thankfully I didn’t vomit or slough my skin but I was in need of a ham sandwich post reading.

A Song to Sing in Babylon by Bobby Medvedev & Michael Baugh:

Monster children of SET are awaiting the uprising and doing various things to speed that along; rock concerts, portent watching, disease and dismemberment.

The exchanges between family members was interesting, especially seeing different views of madness.  However, the ending was a bit sharp for me after all the build-up.

The Gouger by Paul Mannering:

Murdering orcas and kicking dogs off boats (albeit accidently by the character) is not my idea of a good read and I declined to fish this story, shame as it was the last story in thus far a great anthology.

Sorry author but I can’t read any form of animal harm/cruelty that is MY taboo subject.

Overall I really enjoyed this second in the Hells Gates and I can’t wait to get stuck into book 3.

ps - sorry if i got anyone's names wrong!!

At Hell's Gates Vol 2

A-Z of Horror: Complete Collection: Fear from beginning to end by Iain Rob Wright

A is for Anti-Christ

Issac is 16 and ready to become a man, with the party of a life time especially with his parents out of the house!

As the teenagers slowly get more drunk, Isaacs every wish, desire and comment appear to be coming true, a bit worrying in some cases, smirk worthy in some but slowly building scary tension overall.

The finale has some very gory mental images but the ending was flat and rushed IMO.

I liked the reference to the horror movie that was clever.

B is for Bogeywoman

Dean & Wendell seem to be enjoying a burger with a side order of burps! They soon settle down to some video games, enjoying their sleep over together.

IRW takes time in this short story to fill out the lives of the two boys and allude to some sadness in their pasts.

Between random fingernails, old dead women and glowing red eyes under the bed, IRW really starts the reader’s tummy rolling with tension.

The ending was a sort of surprise and sort of expected, but well written.

C is for Clown

Stacey is babysitting little Harry. As she settles down to a film and fantasising about Mr Murray she notices the clown statue standing in the corner of the room.

I found the film choices amusing and enjoyed how IRW intertwined them into the story flow. As poor Harry has trouble sleeping and the clown continues to freak Stacey out I really felt a little spooked myself. Clowns, who doesn’t get weirded out by clowns!

One – Fifteen by Jacob Rayne

Guest story to fill the void left by D which was too horrific for Amazon to publish but which you can get on IRW website – to carry on the theme I won’t review that one but leave it for a surprise for you to discover!

This is a well written first narrative of a women in trapped in some sort of place having recurring nightmares. Whilst it was slightly obvious from the outset what was happening I was still rush along at a face pace by the great writing.

A well-earned place in this book.

E is for Exterminator

Antworth Manor is a three story Edwardian house that needs some love and attention, but first its new owner needs to evict the current tenants – half a million creepy crawlies.

With a pure hatred of all buggy things since a horrific childhood experience, could this bug infested house even be too much for bug killer extraordinaire Chris Treadwell.

Love the little quotes at the start of the story, Arachnophobia; bound to get my goose bumps rising.

As he goes about the building spraying and stomping Treadwell finally makes it to the cellar, then the horror really starts.

Treadwell is urged on through greed mostly, and then defiance even as the unusually large and prevalent multitude of wasps, beetles, spiders and other insects, decide to bite and sting.

When he finally makes it into the Library a few new discoveries finally give him the “willies” enough to run for the exit.

The ending is smirk worthy and full of wonderful gore; another brilliant instalment of the A-Z of Horror.

F is for Feral

Let down, teased, tormented and then scared half to death Max is given a life or death choice from an unlikely source.

IRW manages to get teenage mannerisms and speech to a tee, makes for uncomfy reading.

G is for Genome

You know when science and secret are in the same sentence that something is going or gone wrong.

Dr Lester Solberg has been tempted by a large final pay packet and shipped off to a secluded location in Bratislava with the promise of research and more riches.

The idea of what can be done and what is to be studied by Dr Lester made me shudder and then very curious all at the same time.

With such big and bold characters to “play” with IRW does go to town with some clever wording that gave me the odd snort.

The ending was sort of expected but I would love to see this story extended.

H if for Hell

Barbara is having a day from Hell, we all have those days when nothing goes right and everything that can go wrong does, but not quite as bad as Barbara’s ends up.

A misfortunate, violent accident and she makes a “wrong” decision and her day only get worse than the broken heel she suffered earlier.

The ending left me a bit flat but a reread, as is always advised with the complex works of IRW (you will miss something!), I saw it’s truly goosebumpy potential.

I is for Ice

Peter wakes up cold and confused, but Dr Faraday is on hand to soothe his worries and warm him up with a special blue drink. Post cryostasis he needs all the help he can get, if only he could remember what was going on.

Dr Faraday needs Peter to help with his work, the search for a cure to the Final Flu; the bug that has killed off 99% of the planets human population.

The confusion Peter feels is clearly evident and IRW is sparing in his details to keep that confusion going with the reader.

Loved the little link back to other story characters.

I liked the overall story, it was like a mini apocalypse, a nice ambiguous ending but I felt with more time this “story” would have fallen apart or come under more scrutiny from us canny zombie fiends.

J is for Jaws

Hehehe, friends on a boat in the middle of the sea, but something has awoken in the deep blue ocean….I can feel a Dada, Dada…dadadadada coming on as I read that introduction.

What came next was not so funny.

Something with very big jaws and huge teeth has definitely awoken in the deep and is coming up for lunch.

I loved how this was so cliché but also quite terrifying, it’s nice to see that 30+ years on Jaws still haunts me and I can’t go in the sea past my knees, thanks IRW for reminding me.

The characters are well defined and I really cared about one couple in particular so had a routed investment in them surviving.  Brilliantly clean writing as always with IRW.

K is for Klutz

An old man is dragged out from his burning house, but he is not thankful to the heroic firefighter. What follows on is a strange mix of “batty old man” and possible blood curse.

IRW leaves you guessing right to the very end. As dead people started piling up around the central character I did have to smirk at some of the OTT deaths. Not sure if intentional but it did make me giggle in that nervous way at the casualness of it all.

L is for Lamia

Loved the quotes at the beginning of the book. Made me want to watch Hocus Pocus again.

It’s all happy families until there is a knock at the door, IRW really did fantastically well to the build the tension in this short story.

I enjoyed this story as could not tell where it would end up, eventually the ending was fantastic! I found the family dynamic and the father’s thoughts were very realistic, if shocking.

M is for Matty-Bob

So very tongue in cheek, an hysterical giggle from start to finish.

The joys of fan love as IRW gets a visit from an unhinged fan! Bit close to home this one for me, as I have wasted many an hour camped out in various authors shed, but never thought to order pizza – way to go Matty-Bob.

I was snorting and giggling through this story and it was really great to see IRW humorous side.

Loved the Misery reference and I’m sure there were many more that I missed as IRW is so clever in adding little bits like that, just see the blurb to Last Winter, sorry Final Winter!

Btw Matty-Bob I DO love IRW more than you, so ner!

 Matty Bob version: far more revolting and sexually focused that IRW version this does give a good and honest account of events.

The epilogue is so sad, poor Matty-Bob locked up for only doing what all good fans would do and now living in fear at what “He” will do next to poor, poor Miikeal Brae.

N for Noddy

Drugs, drink and dead cats.

I really enjoy how IRW always links his stories with a place or character, this makes for some really little perks as an avid/loyal reader.

A sad little story that you can feel coming but does not take the pain or real life horror away.

O is for Orifice

Of all the horror tales in this collection I think this one freaked me the most.

A touch of reality mixed with expert writing skills had me holding my breath forever and then not wanting to exhale in case the ending was real.

P is for Peeling

So full of tongue in cheek humour I snorted my way through this, I loved the series IRW did of this idea but thought this little nugget and possible beginning, was superb!!

Q is for Quarantine

Love the way IRW builds up his characters even in a short tale. It’s very James Herbert.

The main character really came to life for me and I was routing for him and Sammie, let's hope the Orange doesn't win!! Have to read it now huh!

R is for Revenant

Such emotion in a snap of a tale. Made me gulp a few times.

S is for Sand

A beautiful moment turned sour by someone's true nature showing.

Not sure what the true horror moment of this story was, the sand or the reaction. Made me think.

T is for Troglodyte

A proper ghost story! But not what I expected.

U is for Urinary Tract

Oh, proper gross and fabulous!

Safer sex never had a better advocate story.  Any little itch will now send you scurrying!

V is for Vulgar

 A chauvinistic comedian gets his due and I found the ending strangely funny and relaxing!

W is for Waste

A heart-breaking tale of modern life and love.

X is for X-22

A man vs machine story, loved it.

Such cool writing left me with a sense of dread at the consequences, I long for more on this story idea.

Y is for Yeti

A funny yet, bit sad story of a yeti/minion/scarecrow that terrorises a new neighbour!

Some great humour brought to a mythical critter.

 Z is for Zion

Great tie up story for lots of IRW works.

Infuriating in its cliff hanger!!

Bonus content: Craig Saunders, Andrew Lennon, Matt Hickman, great intro stories as they show off these authors talents and styles.

Just like IRW to be so generous in allowing so much space for this brilliant authors.

A-Z