ARC REVIEW Halloween Carnival Vol 5

All this week I will posting books for to help you get into the Halloween spirit, or just help you find book that will creep you out and keep you up.

DEVIL’S NIGHT by Richard Chizmar
"You’ve read about what happened that night. What you don’t know is the true extent of the damage. The papers got it wrong—and the truth is so much worse than you thought." blurb

This was a pretty good story. It was weird and a little predictable but I like the way the story played out.

THE LAST DARE by Lisa Tuttle
"Elaine hasn’t been back to her hometown in years. The house she lived in is gone. The tower house isn’t—nor are the stories of the fate that befalls whoever dares to go there." blurb

This is probably my favorite in this volume. It's creepy, creepy is good I like creepy. The menacing tower house, a ghost story, and lost memories it's a great Halloween read.

THE HALLOWEEN BLEED by Norman Prentiss
"What if Halloween... bleeds into other days? It doesn't matter when the story was written, or when you read it. What matters is that it has an effect on you. It's casts a spell." from the uncorrected proof.

It's a strange and unusual story, it makes you think and then creeps you out and leaves you questioning, "what just happened?" 

SWING by Kevin Quigley
"In Hollywood, everyone lives forever. At least that’s what I used to think . . . before Jessica. But no one seems to live long when they’re around me." burb

Yeah it was weird and creepy but the story did nothing for me.

PORK PIE HAT by Peter Straub
"When it comes to jazz, there are players, and there are legends. “Hat” was a legend. His real name didn’t even matter. Still, he had his secrets—secrets best left buried in the past." blurb

It was long and took forever to get to the point and it wasn't even that scary.

ARC REVIEW Halloween Carnival Vol 4

All this week I will posting books for to help you get into the Halloween spirit, or just help you find book that will creep you out and keep you up.

THE MANNEQUIN CHALLENGE by Kealan Patrick Burke
"For some, office parties are the highlight of the season. For others, they can paralyze with dread. Theo is determined not to let his anxiety stop him from attending—though maybe he’s right to be afraid." blurb

I hated this one. It was mean and sad and it's the kind of story a bully would tell because he thought it was funny. It's not. There was absolutely nothing wrong with how the author wrote it he has a great style but just the content alone was just mean.

ACROSS THE TRACKS by Ray Garton
"The candy’s always better on the other side of town, even if it means crossing paths with bullies. But a rich house with an unlocked door might just be too good to be true. . . ." blurb

Once again bullies. This book left me with the distinct feeling of WTF was that. 

THE HALLOWEEN TREE by Bev Vincent
"Every town has one: a house or a field or an old tree that just gives off a bad vibe. Of course, those feelings are just silly superstition, nothing to take seriously. Right?" blurb

Entertaining and fun, there is always that one tree that creeps you out and in this case they have reason to be.

PUMPKIN EATER by C. A. Suleiman
Peter loves Halloween, pie as long as it's dutch apple, and pumpkins. His hobby of building concrete pumpkins started years ago and gradually they have increased in size. Lucky for him this years are bound to be the biggest, big enough even for his lying cheating wife.

Peter, Peter pumpkin eater, had a wife and couldn't keep her. My favorite out this anthology. It was dark and twisted and a great ending

WHEN THE LEAVES FALL by Paul Melniczek
"Haverville always seemed like a typical town to me: a place where people work hard, and no one ever really leaves. Until the night I went to Graver’s Farm—and discovered what Haverville was really hiding." blurb

This is definitely the longest one in here starting just before 50%. It was just ok, there were things I liked about and other things that fell flat. I liked the concept of it but the execution didn't work for me. It had such a exciting build up toward the end but an almost anti-climatic ending.

Overall, my least favorite volume.

ARC REVIEW Halloween Carnival Vol 3

All this week I will posting books for to help you get into the Halloween spirit, or just help you find book that will creep you out and keep you up.

THE WAY LOST by Kelley Armstrong
"The kids in Franklin don’t ask questions. Each Halloween, one of them disappears into the forest. Dale promised his mother he’d never go into the woods alone. But the kids in Franklin also lie."

I'm leaving the blurb as the descriptive because it just so creepy. I haven't read Kelley Armstrong in what seems like forever, I loved her Otherworld series and I love her writing style and this short story is well damn, I wasn't expecting that. It was a really good story with an unexpected ending.

LA CALAVERA by Kate Maruyama
A Calavera is the representation of a human skull, for Dia de los Muertos it is often used as an offering for the dead. Trish was just another gringa until Jasmine, and now that Jasmine is gone Trish wants to honor her with a special Calavera.

Really predictable but I positively enjoyed it nonetheless.

THE DEVIL’S DUE by Michael McBride
Pine Springs, Colorado, has never wanted for anything. It's always been prosperous and never any crimes or drug problems. The reason why is just as evil as you might imagine, and this year one family isn't willing to pay the devil his due.

A genuinely good scary monster horror short story. After the start it was kind of slow but it escalated pretty quickly and ended bittersweetly.  

A THOUSAND ROOMS OF DARKNESS by Taylor Grant
"Samhainophobia: an irrational fear of Halloween. Phasmophobia: an irrational fear of ghosts. For Anne, these terrors are more rational than she knows." blurb. Newly married Anne has not told her husband about her phobias yet, she's scared that he will leave once he finds out but with Halloween getting closer and her phobias getting worse she confides in him. But this is not a happily ever after romance no, this is a horror.

Well I didn't see that coming, just when I started to get disapointed in the story I had a, "oo what a twist" moment. It has an ending that kind of makes you want to do a maniacal laugh at the end.

THE LAST NIGHT OF OCTOBER by Greg Chapman
Gerald is a crotchety old man on death's bed, he did nothing with his life and never left home and ever since he was diagnosed with emphysema every Halloween is tormented by his past. 

I liked this one but not as much as the others and it's mainly Kelli's fault she was annoying AF.

Overall, this is my favorite book out of the series.   

ARC REVIEW Dark Horse Comics: Aliens Defiance vol 2

ALIENS

Defiance

vol 2

Dark Horse Publishing

Story by Brian Woods

Art by Stephen Thompson, Tony Brescini, Eduardo Francisco, Dan Jackson

Story:We pretty much pick up where we left off in vol 1. Hollis discovers she has one of those things inside her. Instead of killing it she thinks it would be wise to study it so they can find better ways to kill them. Davis and Zula are hesitant but they agree to Hollis' plan. Davis retrofits one of the cargo holds into a giant cryo chamber. Hollis successfully removes the creature and Davis transports it to the cryo hold where they successfully hold the thing, for a while. All the while Zula who is in constant pain keeps thinking back to the transmissions her doctor sent her about coming back to Earth and turning herself in and how she can have it to where she won't face any punishments. But the makeshift cryo hold has caused damage to the ship and now not even the cryo hold is failing top it all off with pirates attacking and Zula has decided the only way to go is home. But first they have to get rid of the Alien. Once they get to Earth things don't go quite as they planned but Zula ok with that she's not a quitter she can find a way.

Art: For the most part beautiful artwork. The first three episodes the main characters were drawn really inconsistently. Zula's head would completely change shape from different perspectives. The latter half of the book it's wonderfully drawn. I am constantly amazed how beautifully scary the xenomorphs are drawn especially the queen. 

Review: Wow. Hollis reveals she has a xenomorph in her and all I'm thinking is, "that is a queen!"

The story just keeps getting better and better and when you think all is hopeless Zula is there with a solution. It does have a bit of a bittersweet triumphant CLIFFHANGER ending but man oh man. I think the story flowed better in this one than the first volume it definitely exciting, I couldn't put it down.     

ARC REVIEW Halloween Carnival Vol 2

All this week I will posting books for to help you get into the Halloween spirit, or just help you find book that will creep you out and keep you up.

MR. DARK’S CARNIVAL by Glen Hirshberg
A College professor teaching about the local Urban Legend Mr. Dark's Carnival. He's obsessed with finding the real one of it exists or it is just that an urban legend. But that night he receives tickets to the carnival, will he finally be proven wrong or is this just another frat boy prank.

This is one of those that can leave you feeling "WTF" sometimes it a good feeling and sometimes bad in my case with this book it left me indifferent. It was creepy and I love the lore he put into it but the ending just fell flat. So many unanswered questions.

THE FACTS IN THE CASE OF MY SISTER by Lee Thomas
When a young boy tries to help his sister get over her fear of monster with hypnosis he taught himself. What he doesn't realize is what he opens her up to not until years later.

It's all in the wording. This was creepy and it was good but I don't know if it belonged.

MISCHIEF NIGHT by Holly Newstein
"Cabbage Night, Goose Night, Devil’s Night—they’re all the same. Before the treats come the tricks. It’s all in good fun . . . until someone gets hurt."  blurb

In all honesty, I did not remember this one. I could not remember what it was about. When I looked back in the book I thought "oh yeah, that one" I was left very underwhelmed with this one.

THE GHOST MAKER by Del James
Hit man for the mob on Halloween, talking.

I'm not much one for mob type stories. It was interesting but not very memorable.

THE PUMPKIN BOY by Al Sarrantonio
A young boy gets lured out of his house by a pumpkin boy. Police detective becomes obsessed trying to find the boy. Detective Len Schneider is trying to make up for the past, a serial killer was caught but not before he murdered his last victim a young boy. The young boy's mother sees a animatronic pumpkin boy speaking with her son's voice. Soon after another young boy goes missing.

This is what I like. Cops with baggage, missing kids, possible serial killer on the loose, creepy af. Best one in the anthology.

ARC REVIEW Halloween Carnival vol 1

All this week I will posting books for to help you get into the Halloween spirit, or just help you find book that will creep you out and keep you up.

STRANGE CANDY by Robert McCammon
You are always warned never to eat candy that isn't wrapped, but something tempts this Dad to eat the strange candy that appeared on the bottom of his daughters candy bag. He's about to find out why you aren't suppose to do that.

With Strange Candy it was creepy at the beginning but overall it was a sad story, yes I cried.

THE RAGE OF ACHILLES by Kevin Lucia
Father Ward has returned home to stay after serving overseas in the military. He was told no one hears confessional on Halloween night but Father Ward feels the need to do so anyways and finds out exactly why the head priest stopped listening.

Overall, this one was too damn short just when I was getting into it it ended. It feels more like the beginning chapters to a book rather than just a short story.

DEMON AIR by John R. Little
Flying on the cheapest airline to Australia just maybe the biggest mistake these people ever made. When the flight crew start to turn into something else only the strong will survive this flight.

Well it was definitely weird. This one also felt like it was the beginning to a longer story specifically an urban fantasy with a asskicking heroine who just discovered her powers of asskicking-ness. 

LA HACIENDA DE LOS MUERTOS by Lisa Morton
Trick McGraw is an aging Hollywood western star who lost his fame when his horse died. Desperate for money he agrees to do a horror movie down in Mexico.The horror movie is based on what is said to be a true story with some extra stuff like a mad scientist experimenting on a vampire added in for a bit more scare. The movie is taking place on location at an old Hacienda where the urban legend of La Llorona is more than just a legend.

Growing up in Texas especially next to the Rio Grande I heard La Llorona stories and I loved that she was the main focus in this story. I have read one other short by Lisa Morton it appeared in the Dark Screams anthology I reviewed a couple of years ago and I liked her then and even more so now. It was a great story. 

#MAKEHALLOWEENSCARYAGAIN by Mark Allan Gunnells
Dustin Davis is an author in need of publicity and to help generate activity on social media creates the hashtag #MakeHalloweenScaryAgain. Unfortunately for Dustin it does more than that when someone takes the hashtag to the next level and starts a killing spree in order to make Halloween scary again.

 Aside from this one being a little predictable it was a really good serial killer thriller, and I do love me a good serial killer story. And aside from my mind constantly thinking "The Hash Slinging Slasher" thank for that Spongebob, I loved the concept of the story. 

Overall, the last two books are what really make this book worth reading for me. 

ARC REVIEW Chills by Mary SanGiovanni

MY Halloween pick for this month is Chills. It a seriously creepy Lovecraftian style story. A freak snow storm in April traps the small New England Town of Colby. Now Homicide Detectives Jack Glazier, Reese Teagan and occult specialist Kathy Ryan are in a rush to stop an insane cult determined to bring eternal winter to this dimension and bring forth the gods who will wipe out humanity.

My interest in this book was almost instantaneous, it hooked me right off the back. The characters were all likable and really had you rooting for them. The monsters, the strange creatures that came out of the snow were truly unnerving. The book also reminded me of older Dean Koontz books (especially DarkFall). The active setting pulled me in and gave me chills and had me holding my breath.

It all started with a ritual style murder, and then the snow came and with it horrible monster. The monsters came out of the snow killing people and taking them. Jack and Reese are left with a town frozen over and only Kathy with the knowledge to figure out what is going on. Kathy's past is not known to either Jack or Reese she keeps it under wraps the only reason they know something traumatic happened to her to set her on this path is the long scar on the side of her face. A scar given to her by her serial killer brother who was following the orders given to him by a cult, the same one calling the demons on to this plan. Kathy and Reese try and track down the spell to reverse it before it's too late; while Jack and another detective, Morris, try and track down the cult members.

Overall, very creepy, very intense, and very good. I think I white knuckled my kindle throughout most of the book.  

ARC REVIEW Jack-in-the-Box by William W. Johnstone

Twenty years ago William W. Johnstone released Jack-in-the-Box. Kensington has re-released them through Lyrical Underground. I have never read Johnstone before and unfortunately I don't think I'll be reading anymore. I think through years of watching horror movies and reading scary books I've become desensitized. I was unimpressed and it was cheesy and toward the end the violence was just gratuitous, and coming from me that says a lot one of my favorite zombie movies is Dead Alive (Which is said to be the bloodiest movie ever made by the amount of fake blood used). It started out okay, like something I would see in a Masters of Horror but it quickly turned into something B rated. It's a mix of the Exorcist, Satanic Nazis, a female Damien, and Puppetmaster (I know it came out after this book was published in 1989, but it was so much better). The jack-in-the-box is such a small part in the story it almost seems like the book should be named something else. The writing was very dry and predictable, parts of it were very interesting but those parts were outnumbered by the parts I had to push through. I talked myself into finishing the book and I wish I hadn't. The ending was disappointing, even the characters were disappointed with how it ended. I couldn't even bring myself to like the main characters.

Phillip is a lawyer married with two kids, it would be the ideal life but his daughter is a pathological liar, she acts vindictively and then lies about her action. Nora has her mother wrapped around her little finger and has her mom believing that Phillip hates Nora. On an impulse Phillip buys a horrific antique jack-in-the-box that Nora falls in love with, and the horror begins. Nora is an incarnation of evil, she has the power to manipulate people with her mind and turns everyone against her father. Phillip recruits the help of a priest Joe, a private eye Paul, a child psychiatrist Sheela, and his best friend Sam to help him defeat his satanic daughter. The jack-in-the-box has ties to Nazi Germany, it's previous owner was a Satanic worshiping Nazi who escaped at the end of the war and is living in New York now trying to have another Nazi uprising. With every death Nora causes she gains more and more power. Phillip's family has a huge secret and everything comes out the more powerful Nora becomes.

Overall, it was disappointing. I was hoping for more.        

ARC REVIEW Devour by Kurt Anderson

This is a first for me, I normally just watch the animal attack horror movies but this one piqued my interest. Looking at the cover I thought Jaws, Alligator, and a whole array of different creature horror movies. But reading through the book I realized it was more like Deep Rising, without the tentacles, and Devour was a lot better. I liked this it was a good read once I got more than a couple chapters into it I inhaled the thing. It is in third person but it switches perspective between the main characters and the creature itself, that was a nice touch. I liked that it wasn't just the creature they were having to worry about but an alternate conflict that they are dealing with and the fact that the creature is there complicates matters.

The perspective of the creature is interesting because of how it thinks. You see how it's mind works as it finds out that the big things that float on the water have yummy bits fall out of them when you crash into them. The other characters are a fisherman who is trying to forget his past, a cocktail waitress just trying to earn some extra cash, a scientist who figures out what the hell is going on, and a young girl who is just a victim of circumstance.

Frank Moore has everything planned out he's got a gambling cruise ship all set up as a cover for his true intentions, he never expected that a creature that was suppose to be extinct would defrost from the arctic circle and start hunting them. Brain Hawkins was just trying to earn a living as a fisherman when he picks up a distress call from another vessel. With the Coast Guard busy all the unusual ocean activity Brain decides they are the other vessels only hope. He never expected to find the thing in pieces with barely one survivor a professor who was doing research with his students on the unusual activity going on recently. Destiny Boudreaux only took the job with Frankie because he promised a hefty paycheck and awesome tips. Taylor Millicent is only on the gambling cruise ship with her parents because it offered day care, and that fact that her parents really didn't care.

In international waters off the coast of Massachusetts Frankie's ulterior motives are in full swing when it all starts to fall apart. The creature just wants to eat it never expected to work this hard to have to get some food, but the humans those little tasty morsels started to fight back. When Brain and the scientist go aboard the cruise ship as the only means to survival he now has to fight back mobster thugs as well as find a way to survive the attack of the giant sea creature and make it back to shore.

Overall, this was a fun read. A heart pounding action and suspense with in depth characters and an alternate plot that adds to the intensity of the overall story.      

ARC REVIEW Ashley Bell by Dean Koontz

I have been a fan of Dean Koontz since I was in my early teens. I stopped reading reading his books for a while and picked them up again after Odd Thomas. Ashley Bell reminds me of all the reasons why I love Dean Koontz. It gives you strong emotional ties to the characters, a dark story with an evil mastermind behind it all and a twist worthy of M. Night  Shyamalan. The writing is beautifully written and fast paced and pulls you in so the rest of the world fades away. I can see this being a new series to follow in line like Odd Thomas. But if not I'd be perfectly happy with this as a stand-alone.

Bibi Blair is a unique person, a published author and only twenty-two years old and she has just been diagnosed with cancer. But Bibi isn't one to just give up, the doctor says she has less than a year and Bibi views that as a challenge. Two days later Bibi is cured. She claims that a man with a dog came into her room and cured her. Bibi's parents are a bit of the new age hippies buy an appointment with a psychic. The psychic doesn't deal with your typical mediums, she works with scrabble tiles, and in the tiles she finds the phrase "to save a life" and when asked who? It gives the name Ashley Bell. From that point strange things start happening. Bibi is on the run from the unknown  mysterious "wrong people" who are every where and seem to know everything. Now Bibi must try and figure out who Ashley Bell is and why she needs saving and saving from what or who.

I loved the characters Bibi is a great strong female lead and her fiance, a Navy SEAL, they have a connection so strong he knows something is wrong with her even from half a world away. I even liked the sadistic villain. I ,in particular, love the twist I wasn't expecting it, in fact I didn't know what to expect from from this book so I was pleasantly surprised with everything. It really was reminiscent of his earlier works, every good aspect of them was in this one. I love the insertion of the golden retriever, it's become trademark Koontz; it's almost like it's his way of of putting Trixie in his books.

ARC REVIEW The Realms of the Dead by William Todd Rose

For me everyday day is a good day for a damn good horror novel. I had no idea what to expect from William Todd Rose, I have never read him before. I love horror but I'm picky about who I read, but the synopsis intrigued me. This book was creepy in all the right ways. It kept me engulfed in the story and the characters. Once I picked it up I couldn't put it down. I liked the science fiction/ metaphysical aspect and it blended in nicely with the gruesome games of a tormented mind. The synopsis likened William Todd Rose to King and Koontz, but I would be more willing to group him with Clive Barker.

In the first novella, Crossfades, we meet Chuck Grainger. Chuck is just a normal man who you would never notice walking down the street. What makes Chuck so extraordinary is his job, he helps the lost souls who get trapped in the space between cross over. The mechanics of the organization that recruited Chuck in college is vast and very secretive. All he knows is the dead often get lost and through technology they created he can astral project himself into the crossfades, it's not that hard. But on one fateful day he gets handed a job that will either get him promoted or fired, depending on how well he handles it. A twisted spirit has corrupted the crossfades, manipulated into his own heaven but a nightmare for all the lost souls he has taken. Chuck alone with the help of a woman, whose soul has enchanted Chuck, are the only one who can set things right.

Bleedovers, the second novels takes place sometime after Chuck's first adventure. Chuck is now a legend in the industry, but all he wants to do is fade into the woodwork. Something is happening the organization is experiencing a bleedover, a spirit has managed to cross back over into the living realm and basically become a  ghost. Chucks superiors have charged him, Control and a young girl with special abilities, Marilee, with taking care of the spirit. The spirit soon escalates and is obviously targeting Chuck. Chuck assumes he knows who the malevolent ghost is, but as the attacks escalate the harder it is to trap and only Chuck and Marilee can take the ghost out, forever.

Overall, I really enjoyed this. Crossfades is more the sci-fi horror while Bleedovers is more paranormal. I liked how this was two separate novellas, even though it could have worked as a full length novel, it cut down on unnecessary filler.        

ARC REVIEW Dark Screams: Volume Four

This is the first of this series I've read but I'm glad I did It has not just one but two of my absolute favorite authors and I was exposed to some other authors I will definitely keep an eye out for. This collection of horror, ghost, thriller stories gets to you I couldn't put it down.

THE DEPARTED: Clive Barker
A short touching story about what happens to a mother after she dies and is trapped grieving the loss of her son. He only hope for one last farewell is All Hallows Eve a chance to go out and see him one last time to say goodbye. Clive Barker as always weaves a beautiful and creepy tale of grief and moving on. A descriptive and unnerving look into the afterlife. Clive Barker is my stand by author for when I want strange and hauntingly beautiful stories.

CREATURE FEATURE: Heather Graham
I was hoping this was a stand-alone story not connected to her Krewe of Hunters series, sadly it was. Fortunately it really didn't matter it could be read as a stand-alone. If House of Wax didn't make me weary over wax figures this one sure as heck did. Wax figure artists gather for an expo to show off their work in a convention center that has been said to be haunted. The rumors may be substantiated when one artist ends up dead killed by her own wax figure.

THE NEW WAR: Lisa Morton
Mike Carson is a decorated war hero; his time in the retirement home was just supposed to stay long enough to recuperate, but something is keeping him there. There is a black creature tormenting the residents of the nursing home killing them off one by one. Mike has a hard time separating fact from fantasy as he experiences loss of time and visions of army buddies who've died in the war. This is a creepy and strange tale about the unknown creatures of the night.

SAMMY COMES HOME: Ray Garton
Ray Garton brings us a twisted tale of lost pets in a Twilight Zone/ Invasion of the Body Snatchers/ Pet Sematary type story. All over town pets have been disappearing and the Hale Family is no exception, Sammi, the families sheepdog has been missing for over a week; but when he shows back up looking sickly and on death's door it's only the start of something much much worse.

THE BRASHER GIRL: Ed Gorman
Probably my least favorite in this volume. The Brasher Girl is very much in the Stephen King style and I'm not big on King. It is disturbing and creepy but very dry; it didn't engage me and I didn't like the characters. The prettiest girl in town has a deep secret she has "friend" who tells her to do bad things. She acts all sweet and innocent and very much the victim luring in guys to help her but really is just as twisted as her secret friend.

Overall, this is a great collection of the strange and unusual.  

ARC REVIEW House of Echoes by Brendan Duffy

House of Echoes is a gothic horror thrill ride. At times it feels like a ghost story or a monster story but one this for sure is it is a creepy story. Brendan Duffy's debut novel, House of Echoes tells a tale of a family needing a new start, writing in such a way you feel a pull a sympathy for them which makes everything that happens make more of an impact. I had been craving a good scare and this satisfied it. I did not want to put this down and I am glad I read it during the day time hours. History plays a big part in the story along with the main storyline with the Tierney Family is an ominous and unsettling journal entries from a young girl in the frontier times when the town of Swannhaven was founded.

Ben and Caroline Tierney needed a new start, for several reasons. Caroline suffers from bipolar disorder and just recently lost her job; Charlie their eight year old son is very cerebral and in his last school the bullies singled him out in moments, it got so bad he ended missing for a whole day only to be found locked in the basement furnace room of the school. I think the only stable one out the whole family is Bub, the baby. Ben is an author, his grandmother just passed and left him and his brother a house in a small village out in upstate New York. When out there scoping out the property he found an old house perfect for the family. The plan was that Caroline and Ben would renovate the house and start up an Inn. Charlie starts acting more withdrawn than normal spending more time outside. Caroline deals with practically doing the work herself, but with her bipolar disorder she always sees things worse than they are. Ben finding out the history of the town and the house he bought feels inspired to write. But odd things almost immediately start happening after they move in and the weird villagers just compound everything. The more Ben discovers about the village and the house the more strange things get.

Overall it is a creepy read, it's a good read; keep the lights on and you'll never look at the woods the same way again.