In the Shadow of Edgar Allan Poe: Classic Tales of Horror, 1816-1914 - edited by Leslie S. Klinger - A solid collection of stories from Poe's contemporaries

4 of 5 Stars     Review copy

Leslie S. Klinger is considered to be one of the world’s foremost authorities on both Sherlock Holmes and Dracula. He is the editor of The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes, winner of the Edgar Award for Best Critical/Biographical Work and nominated for every other major award in the mystery genre. He is also the editor of The New Annotated Dracula which possesses a similar in-depth examination of Bram Stoker’s haunting classic and its historical context.

In the Shadow of Edgar Allan Poe: Classic Tales of Horror, 1816-1914 Leslie presents twenty tales of horror from a diverse group of Edgar Allan Poe's contemporaries.  From Ernst T. W. Hoffmann, who wrote The Nutcracker and the Mouse King which became the basis for Tschaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker, to Bram Stoker who gave us the iconic Dracula.

While a few of the names in this collection were already familiar to me, Arthur Conan Doyle, Ambrose Bierce, and of course, Bram Stoker, the vast majority of the names and stories were new to me.  Although the reading was not always easy, I find the way people spoke more than a century ago to be a bit off-putting at times.  The stories themselves were as varied as their authors, with a strong showing for ghost stories.  Some of the best ghost stories I've ever read are included in this volume. Among those tales are THE UPPER BERTH by F. Marion Crawford, written 130-years ago and as effective as any story I'm likely to read this year.  Also in that category was A NIGHT OF HORROR by Dick Donovan and THE WOMAN WITH THE HOOD by L.T. Meade.

Of course there are more than ghost stories in this collection, just as Edgar Allan Poe was more than a horror writer, Leslie S. Klinger has collected a wide range of tales for this book. Mysteries, Mummies, tales of courage and revenge, of prejudice and even a companion piece to THE KING IN YELLOW by Robert W. Chambers, called THE YELLOW SIGN.  Dare I say there is something for everyone.

If you can get past the old-time writing style, I think you're likely to find some reading to keep you up at night in the pages of In the Shadow of Edgar Allan Poe: Classic Tales of Horror, 1816-1914.

Available in a wide variety of formats, In the Shadow of Edgar Allan Poe: Classic Tales of Horror, 1816-1914, is published by Pegasus Books.

Recommended.

Man Made Murder (Blood Road Trilogy Book 1) - by Z. Rider - Well written horror

4 of 5 Stars     Review copy

Z. Rider grew up in New Hampshire watching Creature Double Feature every Saturday afternoon on Channel 56. She now lives in the mountains of northeast Tennessee with her husband, two dogs, and a skeleton named Knuckles.

Her new book, Man Made Murder, starts with a compelling synopsis of the story...

When police can't track down the man Carl Delacroix believes murdered his sister, Carl takes matters into his own hands. After a two year search, he finds himself broke, desperate, and--finally--hot on the trail of the man who killed Sophie.  But the road is dark and full of monsters, and the one he's chasing has a deadly bite.

Rock band, Man Made Murder, wants nothing more than to get out of their deal with High Class records, but instead, they find their new single climbing the charts as they prepare to head out on the road again, beginning with a show in NYC.

Author, Z. Rider, deftly weaves the band's story with that of Carl Delacroix's search for his sister's killer, into a compelling story which reveals its secrets slowly.  Man Made Murder is well-written and believable, despite the subject matter.  Rider has a writing style that's visual and tight, with spurts of pulse-pounding action and presents a twist that keeps the story going just when you think you've got it all figured out.

Because Man Made Murder is the first book in a trilogy, there are numerous loose ends and a bit of a cliff-hanger to leave the reader wanting more.

From Dark Ride Publishing Man Made Murder is available now in Hardback, Paperback and e-book formats.  If you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited, you can read this title at no additional charge, or if you are an Amazon Prime member you can read it for FREE as your monthly selection from the Kindle Owners Lending Library.

Recommended.

The Flux - by Ferrett Steinmetz - The absurd, yet totally enjoyable sequel to Flex

4 of 5 Stars     Review copy

After twenty years of wandering desolate as a writer, Ferrett Steinmetz attended the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers' Workshop in 2008 and was rejuvenated. Since then, he's sold stories to numerous publications and in March of 2014, Ferrett saw his first novel, Flex, released by Angry Robot Books.  He lives in Cleveland with his wife, and a friendly ghost.

First a bit of background.  Flex is distilled magic in crystallized form, gifted to ordinary people by 'mancers.  Along with Flex, and the powers it bestows, comes The Flux. Think Newton's Third Law, "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction."

In this worthy sequel, Paul Tsabo is now the chief of the New York Task Force For 'Mancer Control. No one on the team knows Paul is a 'mancer himself, a bureaucromancer, which means he's adept at manipulating paperwork to perform his unique brand of magic.  Both his daughter, Aliyah, and best friend, Valentine, are  videogamemancer's.

The world Ferrett Steinmetz has created is wildly imaginative and his writing style is somewhat reminiscent of Richard Kadrey's Butcher Bird and Sandman Slim novels. Needless to say, both Flex and The Flux are wild rides which take the reader to places they've never been before, and beyond.

All of the characters are fully developed, the banter is clever, and the writing is filled with pop-culture references.  If you've already read Flex, (and I do recommend that, even though The Flux reads well as a stand alone novel), The Flux is somewhat darker overall.

If you're a gamer, you're going to love the ending to this book and good news, there are plans for a third and final book in the series.

Both Flex and The Flux are available in a wide array of formats from Angry Robot Books.

If you like your reads to be "out there", this series may be just what you're looking for. Recommended.

The Leper Window - by Frazer Lee - A mix of mystery and the occult

3 of 5 Stars     Review copy

Frazer Lee's first novel, The Lamplighters, was a Bram Stoker Award Finalist for 'superior achievement in a first novel.'  He's also a screenwriter and filmmaker who resides with his family in Buckinghamshire, England.

The Leper Window starts with one of the better openings I've read in recent memory.  "Daniel Gates's last assignment involving a rare demonic book left him plagued by hideous nightmares, which are about to get even worse."

Here's what we have in The Leper Window.  The story is that of a rare, mysterious book, Choronzon's Grimoire, which has been vandalized.  A page has been torn from the book and Daniel Gates has been brought in to locate the missing page and the person responsible.

I'm not certain where this story went wrong for me.  The writing seems capable, but the tale itself seemed to be missing something.  I didn't particularly care for any of the characters, I didn't even care about the book, and I'm a bit fanatical about the care of my personal collection.

Of course your reading experience may vary.  The Leper Window is available now as an e-book from Samhain Publishing.

Blood and Rain - by Glenn Rolfe - A throwback to a pure werewolf story

4 of 5 Stars     Review copy

Glenn Rolfe is still a relative newcomer to writing horror, but he's definitely a name worthy of your attention.  In addition to a number of short stories, Glenn has already had a couple of novella's published, the ghost story Abram's Bridge and a tale of alien slime called, Boom Town.

In Blood and Rain he turns his attention to the classic werewolf story.  Rolfe is not breaking any new ground with this story and that's OK, what he does give us is a pure tale of terror in an otherwise quiet Maine town.

The opening for the book sets the readers expectations and then Glenn does a very good job of delivering the goods.

"The light of a full moon reveals many secrets.

Gilson Creek, Maine. A safe, rural community. Summer is here. School is out and the warm waters of Emerson Lake await. But one man’s terrible secret will unleash a nightmare straight off the silver screen.

Under the full moon, a night of terror and death re-awakens horrors long sleeping. Sheriff Joe Fischer, a man fighting for the safety of his daughter, his sanity and his community, must confront the sins of his past. Can Sheriff Fischer set Gilson Creek free from the beast hiding in its shadows, or will a small town die under a curse it can’t even comprehend?

One night can—and will—change everything."

There are a number of well-developed characters in Blood and Rain.   One of my favorites is Nick Bruce who works for a rag similar in concept to the old Weekly World News and listens to Art Bell reruns on a local AM radio station.  Any horror story that mentions Art Bell automatically scores points with me.

And there are plenty of visceral images, too.  For example.

"Crimson covered the dashboard and the police detector gadget attached to it, the stereo console, the steering wheel and the seats.  Even the cup holders were filled with pools of dark fluid.  The bodies were worse.  Only the lower halves of the two people remained inside of the vehicle.  The lap bands of the seat belts were engaged, securely holding the bottoms of both bodies in place."

Blood and Rain gives the reader exactly what you would expect from a solid werewolf story and is available now in both paperback and e-book formats from  Samhain Horror.

Recommended.

wilted lilies - by Kelli Owen - A lovely little ghost story novella

4 of 5 Stars     Review copy

Kelli Owen was born and raised in Wisconsin and now resides in Pennsylvania where she's written a number of novellas and a few of my favorite books, including Live Specimens, Six Days, and White Picket Prisons.

Kelli's newest novella, wilted lilies, originally appeared as a four-part story in the quarterly magazine, lamplight and is now available in both paperback and e-book formats.

wilted lilies is a well-told little story about Lily May, a teen-aged girl with a gift.  Her mamma always said she had the shine.  She knew when people were gonna pass.  Later she could hear what they were thinking .  Later still she could speak to the dead. It's this last gift I found to be the most compelling. as wilted lilies evolved into a charming little ghost story.

It's challenging to say much more about this novella without giving it all away.  Let's just say there is a lot to like in this story, with elements of suspense, the paranormal, and the pacing of a good thriller.

Although self contained, I like the way the door was left open for more of Lily May's tale.  As a matter of fact, the author even thanks Lily May in her acknowledgements, "for coming to life, and speaking to me like no other character...don't worry honey, we're not done."

I can easily recommend this new book from Kelli Owen, just as I do all of her work.  If you're not reading her stuff you should get on that right away.

For links to the book in various formats, just go here http://kelliowen.com/bookstore/wilted-lilies/

The Girl In the Maze - by R. K. Jackson - A genre-crushing story that's a truly great read

5 of 5 Stars     Review copy

R. K. Jackson is a former CNN Journalist who now works at Pasadena, California's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.  He lives with his family in the Los Padres National Forest and is at work on a second Martha Covington novel, The Kiss of the Sun.

The Girl In the Maze is a genre-crushing story that's part mystery, part thriller, with elements of horror.  The result is is a terribly entertaining novel about Martha Covington, a schizophrenic, who with treatment, is making her way back into the workplace.

Martha has taken an internship with the Historical Society of Amberleen, Georgia.  The work is to put together interviews, with the residents of Shell Heap Island, into a cohesive form to publish a book about the Geeches who are native to the island and direct descendants of slaves who were freed after the Civil War.  They've lived in isolation, maintaining a truly distinct culture and belief system. Still believing in magic, ghosts, those kinds of things.

There is an eerie vibe to the story and there are times when the reader is left wondering how much of Martha's voices are due to her medical condition and how much of it might be something else.

One of the things I liked most about the author's writing was his way with words.  Early on there's a conversation where a character's husband was trying to make ice cream and  he says, "Can't find the rock salt nowheres." and his wife comments, "That'd be my husband, Horace.  That man could lose a white rabbit in a coal chute."  Stuff like that just makes me smile.  Another example, "But once Mistah Clyde made up his mind about somethin', trying to talk him in the other direction was like tryin' to teach a mule to dance."

Although The Girl In the Maze is not full-on horror, it is one of the best books I've read in 2015. When we learn the real story of Amberleen, it all comes together in a very satisfying way.

Published by Alibi, a division of Random House, LLC, The Girl In the Maze is currently available only in e-book format.

100% recommended.