The Carvings Collection: A selection of stories from the crinkled mind of Drake Vaughn

3.5 of 5 Stars    Review Copy

A little over a year ago, I read and reviewed The Zombie Generation  by Drake Vaughn. A different take on zombies and worth a look.

This time it's a collection of 10 stories on a wide range of subject matter.  No two have any similarities except for one.  They all seem to lack an ending.  True, this is a fairly common literary device where the outcome is left to the reader to imagine, but as a steady diet, it's less than palatable.

Drake is apt at developing some original stories and at fleshing out characters, but when it comes to closure, it's just not there.

The collection started, promisingly enough, with "Dolls."  Evil doll comes to life, talks to little Ella.  Creepy, in a Child's Play kind of way.  Plus it was told from the child's point of view, which I found entertaining.  But, then it ended.  It was a natural place to end, but so much was left unresolved.

On to the next story, "Driver's Seat."  A protagonist, named Minji, who has Amaxophobia. She's afraid of cars.  In the telling of the tale, we learn the root cause of that fear and I'm finding the story interesting...and then it ends with much left untold.

There's a pattern developing and for most of the book the pattern is consistent.  Great story, original concept, but with a vague or abrupt ending.

Some stories are better than others, for example, "In the Chair."   A novelette length tale, disturbing and cringe-worthy, is about a man forced to remain in a chair for days on end as punishment for allowing his mother to die in a similar manner.

"Tests," was another longer short story that held my interest.  Just a taste of horror, more of a coming of age story and one of the stronger entries in the collection.

"Trip to V-Town" is an interesting take on prejudice as seen through a treatment on vampires or piners as they're refered to in the story.

At the end is "Flatheads." For me, this was the most complete story of the bunch.  A futurustic tale where people are surviving in high-rise apartments above flood levels and water is both a danger and a precious commodity.

In all, I found The Carvings Collection to be entertaining and unfulfilling at the same time. The stories were good enough to grab my interest and keep me reading, but each one left me wanting more.

The Carvings Collection is available now, through Amazon.com, for the Kindle and is FREE if you subscribe to Amazon Prime and want to make it your current selection in the Kindle Owner's Lending Library.

Second Chance - by Chet Williamson - Takes "what if?" to the extreme

5 of 5 Stars    Review copy

Originally published by Cemetery Dance, nearly twenty years ago, Second Chance, holds up well.

Second Chance is once of those stories that's difficult to categorize.  Part love story, part fantasy, elements of horror, science fiction and much more.

1969 was a turbulent time on college campuses and it was no different at a small college in Western Pennsylvania.  This is where Chet Williamson starts his story with friends trying to make a statement by blowing up the ROTC building on campus.  No one was supposed to be hurt, but things go terribly wrong and both Keith Aarons and Tracey Zampelios are killed.

Nearly twenty-five years later, Woody Robinson, now a successful musician, is looking to rekindle the vibes from his college days and goes to extraordinary lengths to get as many of his old college friends together in the same apartment where they would gather all those years ago.

What transpires is nothing short of magical and what seems to be wonderful slowly becomes a horrible nightmare.

I don't want to give up a lot of the secrets of Second Chance, most of the fun comes from the series of twists and turns along the way.  Seriously, each time I though I might have an inkling of where the story was going, there was something new to keep me guessing.

Just a little something from their impromptu reunion..."Woody remembered it all, saw it all. The sofa on which he sat looked across the room at another sofa, even more worn, if such a thing was possible.  A window behind it was open, but did little to disperse the thick haze born of cigarettes, incense, and the occasional joint.  Frank, his roommate, sat on that sofa with Judy, and they both looked decades younger than when he had last seen them in Atlanta.  Frank held a can of Iron City Beer, Judy a cigarette.  They were both nodding, eyes half-closed. listening to the music.

"Keith, the other roommate, was standing in the wide doorway of the dining room, leaning against the pillar, talking in a low but passionate voice to Sharla, whose afro bloomed like a crimson dahlia, and whose coffee-colored skin seemed the same shade as Keith's in the monochomatic glow.  And there, sitting and standing about the two rooms, were all his old friends, Alan, Diane, Eddie, Dale, the living and the dead together, in memory."

At this point in the tale, anything seemed possible. After all, isn't there a time and place each of us would love to return to?

Second Chance  is a bit dated in places, but certainly not enough to distract from an amazing story.  At times the language and situations could be considered offensive, but in my opinion it is the character that is the culprit, not the writer.  There are other times, that events are genuinely disturbing, but it all serves the story well.

So, one of the best stories I've read in 2013 was written twenty years ago.  I have no idea what that means, if it means anything at all.  All I can say is, if you missed this one, like I did, it's never too late to enjoy a good story well-told.

Second Chance  is available in e-book format from Crossroads Press and Amazon.com

Strongly recommended.

Reaping October - Stories from the Black & Orange Universe - by Benjamin Kane Ethridge

4 of 5 Stars

For the uninitiated, Black & Orange is a novel from Benjamin Kane Ethridge.  An effort which was presented with the Bram Stoker award for Superior  Achievement In a First Novel From the Horror Writers Association.

In  Black & Orange Benjamin Kane Ethridge created an amazingly complex mythos. There's the Church of Midnight, a mysterious organization whose goal is to unite with the Church of Morning located in the Old Domain, a place separate from the real world and filled with horrors.  And that just begins to scratch the surface.

November 30th, 2013 will see the release of Nomads (Black &Orange II) from Bad Moon Books.

In an effort to tide you over to the new novel, and just in time for Halloween, Benjamin Kane Ethridge and Bad Moon Books have released Reaping October: Stories from the Black & Orange Universe.  Three distinctly different tales involving the people and creatures of the Old Dominion.

"Child Care" is a terrifying Halloween story told from the perspective of 10 year-old Mesheila.  As a result, we get gems like, "Mom's going to a party tonight.  She's going as a pirate wrench."  I could see my 9 year-old grandson saying something like that.  Left alone with her older brother, Mesheila comes face to face with a living Jack O'lantern with fangs and bloody eyes and an insatiable hunger.   Great pacing in this one and by far my favorite of the three.

"The Cats of Delkilth" takes place in the Old Dominion.  Sort of a tale about the birth of the Nomads, the upcoming sequel to Black and Orange.  The cats in the story are described as "...black, the size of a domestic cat, with an orange mane.  Fiery runes burned in their fur, lighting with power."  I think artist Matt Dixon did a brilliant job of translating that description into the cover art for this book.

The third and final story is "All Other Days."  Chaplain Cloth, a key player in Black & Orange, has inhabited the body of John Maghan of the Los Angeles Police Department in an effort to obtain a photo taken of him a number of years ago.  "He just had to find that photo.  The less about him in this world, the less human interference."

Three stories, each with a different perspective on the Old and New Dominions, the division and what you'll find there.

It certainly helps to have read Black & Orange before reading October Reaping.  Although the stories in the later can certainly stand on their own, they are enhanced greatly by what you'll find in the original volume. I'm definitely looking forward to the next book in the series.

Black & Orange is available as a signed hardcover and trade paperback from Bad Moon Books and as an e-book from Amazon.com.  Reaping October: Stories from the Black & Orange Universe is currently available as an e-book from Amazon.com.

I certainly wouldn't recommend these works for younger readers or the prudish, but if your up for something different, I can strongly recommend Black & Orange and Reaping October: Stories from the Black & Orange Universe.

Nightmare Man - by Alan Ryker - A novella of night terrors that become all too real

5 of 5 Stars

Alan Ryker's Nightmare Man is a look at a man who's life is slowly falling apart from some serious night terrors.  They're so bad, they affect his work, his family, his entire life.  He's already on the only available medication for the problem, but it no longer seems to be helping.

His shrink suggests he take part in a study of a new medication.  He signs up, but that's when things go from scary to downright frightening.

I really enjoyed Nightmare Man. In the short time allowed by the story's length, Ryker does an excellent job of defining his characters and building relationships.  In a single paragraph he manages to clearly define how much he cares for his young children, Logan (named after Wolverine), and his sister, Madison.  "While I've managed to pass on my love of comic books and comic book cartoons to Logan (and he managed to get me into Power Rangers~I had no idea how awesome that show is), Madison hasn't taken to them.  She likes Hello Kitty.  Everything she owns costs twice as much as it should because it has that cat's round head stuck on it.  We used to call her honey bunny which is both cute and a reference to Pulp Fiction.  She now insists on being called honey kitty.  I've tried to explain to her that it makes no sense and doesn't rhyme.  She doesn't care."

Nightmare Man is a well-conceptualized story and the author has a reader-friendly writing style which made for a quick read.

Nightmare Man is available as a signed, limited edition, hardcover from DarkFuse and for the Kindle from Amazon.com.  If you are a member of Amazon Prime you can borrow this book for FREE from the Kindle Owners Lending Library.

Highly recommended.

Mirror (of the) Nameless - by Luke Walker - A novella full of monster gods

3 of 5 Stars

I'm really having a difficult time with this review.  On the surface Mirror of the) Nameless seems to be a Lovecraftian influenced story of monster gods creating havoc across Europe.  Segoth, Gatur and Naz Yaah each powerful in their own way and requiring thousands of human sacrifices.

Amid all the chaos we have Tom, looking for his missing girlfriend, Ashleigh, and Ashleigh's father, Dave, who has joined the search.  All the while, Tom and Dave are trying to elude the police, as well as some crazy followers of Naz Yaah, and the monster gods themselves.

Sounds like fun, right?  Well, not really.  Not being a writer, I couldn't begin to tell you what was missing, but somehow the story just seemed incomplete.  Plus, I don't fully comprehend things like allegory, which I suspect this book may be.  I do see similarities between the way the general populace in Luke Walker's story has given up its freedoms and are willing to sacrifice themselves for an overall feeling of safety when compared to the way we are being forced to live our lives today.  Maybe that's what Luke Walker was striving for or maybe he was just trying to write an entertaining tale.  Either way, this was one book I could have lived without.

Mirror (of the) Nameless is available from DarkFuse through Amazon.com.  If you have Amazon Prime you can borrow this book for FREE from the Kindle Lending Library.

Hell Gate by Elizabeth Massie - Horror at Coney Island in early 1900s

5 of 5 Stars

Hell Gate by Elizabeth Massie is totally unlike anything else I've read in 2013.  Original in concept and execution.  At times terrifying.  And a fascinating look at Coney Island in the early 1900s.

The story of Suzanne Heath, a child of wealth and privilege, who has a gift.  The gift to see events from a touch.  A gift her mother is convinced is of the devil.  So much so, she sends her to Madame Harlow's School for Young Ladies where she becomes part of the Morgans a group of girls with similar talents.

Events and circumstances lead to a loss of memory and a new home at the Hudson Colored Waif's Asylum where she was allowed to live in the attic and work in the kitchen.  While there, parts of her memory return and she and her friend Cittie make their way to NYC.

Years later, living in the Bowery and working as a Luna Park ticket-seller on Coney Island, Suzanne is called upon to use her gift to help in solving a series of grisly murders.

What she discovers is shocking, yet so clear, I was surprised I never saw it coming.

In addition to a compelling story, I found the setting to be amazing.  "While Steeplechase Park fronted on Surf Avenue, the main entrance was on the side, off the Bowery.  Suzanne took Bushman's Walk into the crowded hubbub of independent shows, theaters, rides, shops, game booths, and eateries.  Bright posters and billboards promised everything from 'best lunches in all the world' to 'most fun you'll ever have.'  Countless American flags flapped overhead as people of all shapes, sizes, and ages squeezed past, laughing, shouting, arguing, carrying parasols, packages, babies, cheap prizes.  Past Henderson's Vaudeville Theater, Stauch's Restaurant, clam and crab venders, pony rides, haunted houses, and the steep and narrow Drip the Dips roller coaster.  Stepping over spilled beer and ice cream, downed toddlers, and lost handkerchiefs.  Then, like a behemoth, appearing through the fog, there was the gigantic, garish, Funny Face, grinning with huge red wooden lips and vicious white wooden teeth, hanging directly over the entrance to Steeplechase."  It's almost like being there.

There are many kinds of horror in Massie's Hell Gate, including the horrors of prejudice, racism and domestic abuse.  Not for the faint of heart and definitely not a casual read, but if you like a little meat with your horror, this one's for you.

Hell Gate is available now from Darkfuse and Amazon.com.

Highly recommended.

The Last Night of October - by Greg Chapman - A fresh Halloween

4 of 5 Stars

I am a fan of Halloween.  If you know me, or have ever read this blog before, this should really come as no surprise.  I think a big part of my affinity for the holiday is the chance to be someone or something else, if only for a few hours.

Then there's the dark side of Halloween.  One night a year when it's acceptable to revel in scaring and being scared.  Yep, I love Halloween.

Enter Greg Chapman, an Austalian artist and Horror writer, who grew up in a world without Halloween.  It's true, in Australia, Halloween just never caught on. No trick-or-treating, no costumes, no Halloween.  But, Greg's a horror writer and since Halloween is nearly synonymous with Horror, he's done his homework and the result is this gem of a novella about events that took place and continue to take place on The Last Night of October.

As with all good stories, this one starts with an opening line that draws you right in.  "Every Halloween, Gerald Forsyth's worst fear would come a-knocking."  The Last Night of October  is about friendship, survival, making choices and living with the consequences of those choices.

For someone who didn't grow up with the Halloween traditions, the author does an exceptional job of capturing the feel of the holiday. "Through the lace curtains over the front windows Gerald could see children, dressed as ghosts, zombies and princesses.  Pumpkins, mutilated, yet smiling, sat on porches; gatekeepers to the underworld.  People were laughing and frolicking, filling the children's baskets and bags with sugary junk, while others waited gleefully for the chance to open their doors to complete strangers."

The Last Night of October is available as a Trade Paperback and as an e-book from Bad Moon Books.

Highly recommended.