Review: Skullface Boy - by Chad Lutzke

5 of 5 Stars     Review copy

At first, the subject matter for Chad Lutzke's new book seemed the most unlikely and unlikable of ideas, but I have to admit the old adage is true, "Never judge a book by its cover."

Take a sixteen-year-old boy, severely disfigured, who's never lived outside of a foster care facility and set him free in 1980s America, with nothing more than a backpack and his thumb, in a quest to find the one other man rumored to share his appearance.

Skullface Boy is much more than what you might expect.  Much like Levi, who is much more than his appearance.  Of course, there are those who persecute the young man just because of what he looks like, but there are also acts of kindness to be found on his journey from Denver to Hermosa Beach, California.

Lutzke is a skilled writer who shows off his talent with pieces of Americana like this...

"I wrote a little, then left to find a diner.  I was hoping to find something like in the movies, where the waitress––the one with a latchkey kid waiting at home––calls you hon’ and wears too much blush and smells of cigarette breaks and last night’s gin, but I couldn’t find anything like that so I settled for McDonald’s.  They had a breakfast deal going on––sausage McMuffin, hashbrown, and a medium coffee for a buck twenty-five."

Along the way, Levi meets the most wonderful characters, each created with great care to make the individual vignettes read like mini-stories in the greater work.  I used to hitch-hike quite a bit back in the early seventies and Levi's stories brought back many memories, both good and bad.

Skullface Boy is wonderfully crafted and turned out to be one of my favorite reads in the Summer of 2018.  This one moved me and is definitely recommended.  Don't judge that book by it's cover.

Skullface Boy is currently available in paperback.

From the author's bio - Chad lives in Battle Creek, MI. with his wife and children.  For over two decades, he has been a contributor to several different outlets in the independent music and film scene, offering articles, reviews, and artwork.  In the summer of 2016, he released his acclaimed dark coming-of-age novella Of Foster Homes and Flies.  His latest, Stirring the Sheets, was published by Bloodshot Books in spring 2018.

Guest Post: Chad Lutzke

Welcome author Chad Lutzke to the blog.  Today he tells us just a bit about his latest work, Skullface Boy.  Watch for my review tomorrow.  Now here's Chad...

I thought I had only one coming-of-age book in me.  I’ve written four. Arguably five.  Author Mark Matthews calls STIRRING THE SHEETS coming of age for the AARP crowd.  I think he’s right.

Whether it be pure nostalgia or it's just so easy to root for a young, innocent protagonist, there’s something to be said about the coming-of-age subgenre that people have really taken to.  I blame McCammon’s BOY’S LIFE and King’s THE BODY for my attraction to it.  And apparently that shines through in my COA books, as those two titles, in particular, are thrown around when readers leave their kind reviews for OF FOSTER HOMES & FLIES. But this time around I drew influence from David Lynch, Stephen Graham Jones’ MONGRELS and my own life experiences in my latest, SKULLFACE BOY.

"My name is Levi. I’m 16. I’ve got a skull for a face. And here's how shit went down."

Having never been outside the walls of Gramm Jones Foster Care Facility, sixteen-year-old Levi leaves in the middle of the night with an empty backpack and a newfound lust for life. A journey that leads him into the arms of delusional newlyweds, drunkards, polygamists, the dangerous, and the batshit crazy.  His destination?  Hermosa Beach, California where he’s told there is another like him, with the face of a skull.

We all read to escape.  Whether it be to Middle Earth, Castle Rock, a different era or another planet altogether.  For me, carefree road trips scratch that itch thoroughly.  So I wrote a book about one, with a character I’d like to think we can all relate to.  As Stephen Graham Jones said of SKULLFACE BOY: "This is Huck lighting out for the territories, and kind of documenting an era for us on the way. Only––because it’s now not then––he’s got a skull face to deal with. As do we all."

He’s not wrong.  We’ve all got a skull face.  We’ve all searched for something we might never find, struggled to find our place in the world, and learned along the way.  Sometimes shit broke our hearts, left scars.

There’s quite a bit in this book that is autobiographical (I’ll let you choose which parts), but I had the most fun with the “Lynch-ian” characters, those found in films like WILD AT HEART. Unpredictable and outlandish with a hint of weird, but never enough to alienate those who don’t care for that side of fiction.  This isn’t bizarro.  This is still comfortable.  It’s still in your wheelhouse.  You’ll just have to trust me.

I can’t wait for you to join Levi.  To eat from the hollow shell of a dumpster, sleep under the moon in the bed of a truck towering high above a junkyard, share a flat beer with a denim-covered werewolf and befriend a Vegas prostitute, all while hitching across the country.

That’s all a small part of Levi’s journey.  It’s how shit went down.

Review: Doorbells at Dusk - edited by Evans Light

4 of 5 Stars     Review copy

Finding a Halloween anthology at this time of year is the equivalent of finding a fun-size Snickers in your trick-or-treat bag.  Finding a really good Halloween anthology is like getting the full-size candy bar.  Doorbells at Dusk is definitely the full-size treat.

Fourteen scary stories to keep you up late and possibly give you a nightmare or two.

A Plague of Monsters by Charles Gramlich - What if you forgot it was Halloween and all these monsters started showing up at your house?  What would you do?  What if they weren't trick-or-treaters after all?

The Rye-Mother by Curtis M. Lawson - A delightful story of one boy's quest to return to the otherworld.  "Candy and costumes were all well and good, but Halloween was about that breach between the worlds and the magic which poured in."

The Day of the Dead by Amber Fallon - A Day of the Dead celebration at Los Calavera's Cantina.  Come in costume and drink for half-price.  What happens next is anything but joyous. This is a good one.  Nice to see Amber appearing in more and more anthologies

Rusty Husk by Evans Light - "Halloween was his favorite holiday, and each October for the last decade Rusty had made a new scarecrow."  But, oh there is so much more to this story.  An intense tale which I found truly frightening.

Adam's Bed by Josh Malerman - Halloween was Adam's fifth birthday.  A story for every reader who, as a child, was ever afraid of what was hiding under their bed.

Keeping Up Appearances by Jason Parent - Robbing homes dressed for trick-or-treating.  A delightfully macabre tale.

Vigil by Chad Lutzke - Mr. Lutzke has some genuine writing chops... "For a while, the talk was pure testosterone.  A grill tends to do that.  Mix it with trying to be strong around your woman while bodies are dug up across the street and you'll sprout hair on your chest just standing nearby."

Mr. Impossible by Gregor Xane - A new designer drug which makes the user believe they are the mask they wear.  Distribute it to kids and adults at a Halloween block party.  Things are sure to get crazy in this wonderfully well-crafted story.

Between by Iain Welke - Día de los muertos, 'shrooms, and Mr. In-Between might not be the best combination for making life-altering decisions.

The Friendly Man by Thomas Vaughn - "Mortal terror is an essential part of childhood development."  It's one thing to get into the spirit of Halloween, but The Friendly Man may carry things a bit too far.

Many Carvings by Sean Eads & Joshua Viola - The darkest story in a collection of dark tales.  About a midwife who is much more than what she seems.

Trick 'Em All by Adam Light - According to Travis Raines' parents sixteen is too old to trick-or-treat and too young to chaperone his siblings while they collect the goodies.  So he gets to stay home and hand out the candy, but when his pumpkin starts telling him what to do things go bad.  Very bad.

Masks by Lisa Lepovetsky - A twisted tale from the dark side of life and Halloween.

I love Halloween, and a collection like this is just the thing to get me into the spirit of the season.  Like an elegant display of jack-o-lanterns, not everyone is perfect, but as a whole the effect is stunning.

Certainly recommended

Published by Corpus Press, Doorbells at Dusk is available in both paperback and e-book formats.

Review: TV Dinners from Hell - by Amber Fallon

3 of 5 Stars     Review copy

First, let me say I like Amber Fallon, I really enjoyed her novella Terminal, featuring a horde of bloodthirsty psychopaths from beyond the stars.  That was great.  TV Dinners from Hell, well, let's just say that this collection of seventeen short stories was like most TV dinners, not very tasty.  Oh, there were morsels I liked, but as a whole, I was left hungry.

One of the stories I enjoyed was Behind the Smile.  A well-crafted tale featuring clowns which included this wonderful gem...

"Mary's mother had told her that the music came from something called a 'ka-lie-oh-pee,' but Mary didn't like it one bit.  To her small ears, it sounded haunting and evil."

There was also 78154, a short which effectively built the level of terror throughout.  By the way, who's the moron who decided codes were needed to use the restrooms in a building where you already need a badge to get into work?

Something Bit Me was onlya single page but was scary as hell.  It totally freaked me out.

Dawn of the Death Beatles lost me when meteorites which had impacted the Earth were referred to as meteors.  Sorry.  That really bothers me.

There were, however, a couple of other standout stories here.  One being, Tell Me How You Die.  If you knew how you would meet your end would you take unnecessary risks which didn't involve the activity that would kill you?  Well told.

And then there was my favorite, The Dick Measuring Contest at the End of the Universe,  A terrific "What if?" story involving alternate universes and Hellen Marshall.

Six entertaining stories out of seventeen is just OK and not enough for me to really recommend,  I hear Amber's book, Warblers is really good, maybe I'll give that one a read soon.

TV Dinners from Hell is available now in both paperback and for the Kindle.  If you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited you can read it at no additional charge.  Also, if you are an Amazon Prime member you can read it for FREE using the Kindle Owners Lending Library.

From the author's bio - Amber Fallon lives in Massachusetts with her husband and two dogs.  A techie by day and horror writer by night, Mrs. Fallon has spent time as a bank manager, motivational speaker, produce wrangler and butcher.   Amber's publications include The Warblers, The Terminal, and others.

Review: Happy Doomsday - by David Sosnowski

4 of 5 Stars

Dev Brinkman has Asperger's Syndrome. Think Sheldon Cooper from the Big Bang TV series.  Smart by severely regressed socially.

Mohammad Haddad (Call me Marcus) is a young Arab-American who has been radicalized.

Lucy Abernathy, a goth chick with a gay boyfriend who gets her pregnant.

The three characters have nothing in common until nearly everyone else dies.

"...at around noon, 12:30 p.m. eastern daylight time on a Monday in early June, in the second decade of the twenty-first century, the world—or at least the world of people, at least mostly—had come to an end.  Cause of death: whatever."

I've been an Amazon Prime member for a very long time and every month they offer up a selection of preview books and I'm allowed to pick one and read it for free.  Until now, nothing has ever interested me enough to take them up on their offer.  Well, I'm glad to say, I finally took a chance.  Happy Doomsday was well worth reading and the price was certainly right.

One of my favorite observations in the book came courtesy of Lucy...

"Thinking about irony as a force in nature, invisible but inescapable, quietly shaping the arcs of human lives.  It was like Occam's razor meets Murphy's law: faced with two equally likely outcomes, the universe was biased toward the most ironic one."

A wonderfully original post-apocalyptic tale from three unique perspectives as they endeavor to jumpstart humanity.

Recommended.

Published by Amazon Digital Services, Happy Doomsday is available in a wide variety of formats.  If you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited you can read it at no additional charge.  Also, if you are an Amazon Prime member you can read it for FREE using the Kindle Owners Lending Library.

From the author's bio -  David Sosnowski has worked as a gag writer, fireworks salesman, telephone pollster, university writing instructor, and environmental-protection specialist while living in places as different as Washington, DC; Detroit, Michigan; and Fairbanks, Alaska.  In a novelistic twist, David currently lives in a Michigan home previously owned by the sixth-grade English teacher who inspired him to write.  David is a winner of the Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize.  He is also the author of the critically acclaimed novels Rapture and Vamped.

Review: The Smile Factory (Precipice Chapbook Series 1) - by Todd Keisling

4 of 5 Stars

The Smile Factory is, without a doubt, the strangest story I've read in all of 2018.  That's not a bad thing necessarily.  Sometimes it's good to take off the rose-colored glasses and look at our surroundings through a different filter.

Here, author Todd Keisling examines corporate life through a Lovecraftian lens...

"Here at [Company name redacted], down is up and up is down; the higher you climb the food chain, the more likely you are to be consumed."

BTW, never ask about Marty Godot.  Why?  You'll just have to read this chapbook to find out.

The Smile Factory (Precipice Chapbook Series 1) is available now in paperback and for the Kindle.  If you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited you can read it at no additional charge.  Also, if you are an Amazon Prime member you can read it for FREE using the Kindle Owners Lending Library.

From the author's bio - Todd Keisling is a writer of horror and speculative fiction, including The Final Reconciliation as well as the collection Ugly Little Things.  Born in Kentucky, he now lives with his wife and son somewhere near Reading, Pennsylvania. He still has a day job, he's awkward and weird, and if you were to live next door to him, your grass would probably die.  

Review: A Season In Hell - by Kenneth W. Cain

5 of 5 Stars     Review copy

This stand-alone short story may get easily overlooked, but it's one of the most powerful pieces of fiction I've read this year.

The story begins at Dillon Peterson's Hall Of Fame induction ceremony.  As he's standing and presenting his acceptance speech, there's another story to be told.  The story of Keisha Green, the first woman ball-player in the history of professional baseball.

It's a known fact, rookies get hazed, but the treatment of Keisha by fellow outfielder Dizzy MacLean was beyond the pale.

"(Dillon) wanted no more of this, having grown up loving the game, thinking for the longest time, thinking for the longest time it could never be anything but decent.  In less than a few months, they had proven him wrong.  They took something pure, something joyful, and tainted it."

Kenneth was in great form here, like a virtuoso who hits every note.  A Season In Hell is a powerful short which affected me greatly.  Even brought a tear to my eye.  Just wow.

Recommended.

A Season In Hell will be available on September 7, 2018.  If you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited you can read it at no additional charge.  Also, if you are an Amazon Prime member you can read it for FREE using the Kindle Owners Lending Library.

From the author's bio - Kenneth W. Cain first got the itch for storytelling during his formative years in the suburbs of Chicago, where he got to listen to his grandfather spin tales by the glow of a barrel fire.  But it was a reading of Baba Yaga that grew his desire for dark fiction.  Shows like The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and One Step Beyond furthered that sense of wonder for the unknown, and he's been writing ever since.