Black Mercy Falls

I love it when writers step out of the box and place their horror tales in unconventional settings. Such is the case with what Angeline Hawkes and Christopher Fulbright accomplished with Black Mercy Falls. This, my friends, is the story of a haunted waterfall and I loved every bit of it. Don’t think a waterfall can be scary and menacing ? Well, you’re in for a surprise because this little novella will surely change your mind.

A big high-five to Darkfuse for publishing another great story. Head over to their site and do a little shopping for your next scare.

http://www.shop.darkfuse.com/

Rating: 8.5

Trinity

First of all, let me say how much I loved this new Darkfuse title from Kristin Dearborn. Hard to believe this is her debut novel !  Like many of you, there’s just not enough hours in the day that I can allot to reading for pleasure. Once I started Trinity, it commanded, no...more like demanded, that I drop everything and just read, I was hooked in early on.

This story of an ex-con and his girlfriend’s unlikely entanglement in a breeding program between two different ancient alien races isn’t one you’ll soon forget. Gritty New Mexico locales, dirty cops, finely drawn characters, alien abductions, blood-n-guts and even a space puma...What’s not to like ? Novels about “visitors” aren't my usual fare because I tend to go for more traditional horror novels but I feel that this brilliant novel has helped turned me on to the genre and I can’t wait to see what Kristin Dearborn comes up with next. Maybe a sequel ?

Rating: 9.0

Go over to the Facebook page and like Trinity, ya'll.

The Watching

This short novella has all the makings of a modern day Halloween fable. In fact, while I was reading I kept thinking that this would have made a great episode of the Twilight Zone or Tales From The Darkside (can be seen on the Chiller network). If you love Halloween, if you “feel” Halloween and count down the days to Halloween, you’ll love this book.

This is the story of a young woman named Pat that doesn’t often stray very far from her home. Something awful happened in the past and her entire family disappeared without a trace. First her beloved young aunt and then later, the aunt & uncle that raised her on a farm just outside of town. Pat knows what happened but she’s not talking because, well... who would believe her anyhow ? Pat barely believes it herself.

Out of the blue, Pat gets an invitation to the Halloween dance from Tim, a nice guy she used to go to school with and decides its finally time to step out on the town and maybe start living again. Will this be the start of a new romance and a normal life or will this Halloween turn out to be a night of very deadly mistakes ?

Rating: 8.5

Puppet Graveyard

 

You can always count on the good people over at Darkfuse to put out good, solid horror fiction and folks, they’ve got another winner on their hands because this is one helluva spooky book. This gritty horror noir instantly pulls you in and begins to creepily unfold before you before you can even say boo.

A word of advice though, do not read this book if the thought of a demon-possessed, biting, raping, murderous  ventriloquist dummy living in an old rambling, dark house with an even darker attic might easily send you over the edge. Hell, I even found myself not wanting to read Puppet Graveyard at night because I didn’t want it to leak over into my dreams.

S-P-O-O-K-Y  A-S-S !

Rating: 9.6

The Collected Songs of Sonnelion

DarkFuse and author Lee Thompson have kindly decided to gift the horror world with a serial novel called:

The Collected Songs of Sonnelion 

So far, we're only up to chapter two and I can tell you this already, I'm thoroughly engrossed.

I'll be back once the book is complete to tell you what I thought. Now get your ass over to DarkFuse and start reading.

Book Review: Deep Night

Delirium Books

This is my first Greg Gifune novel and I have to say that I was very impressed. 

The man can write.

I felt every character, step-by-step, breath-by-breath as they walked through this intricate, slowly evolving story of the deepest, darkest impending doom.

This is a very cerebral, thinking man’s book and if you’re looking for a story with a quick horror “pay-off”, this isn’t the book for you. The horror (the scare) is slow in coming and doesn’t creep to its pounding crescendo until the very end.

I was instantly reminded of the Jody Foster movie, Contact.

You know the one…

…Where you keep thinking you’re going to see the aliens at the end of the movie (but you don’t). You do see something though it’s not really clear what it is.

Greg never comes right out and tells you what the horror actually is. He leaves it for the reader to decide. Is it aliens? Or is it demons? Perhaps it’s just a Stepford Wife type of conformity that’s gripping mankind?

Looking forward to reading his latest !

Rating: 7.0

Podcasts

One thing many people don't know about me is that I'm really into podcasts. I've even appeared one and "told my story". No, I'll never tell which one, I hate my recorded voice. I ended up sounding like a cross between Truman Capote and Gomer Pyle (I'm not kidding).

Two of the best horror podcasts out there are:

Cast Macabre and Pseudopod

Today I started listening to the talented Tim Pratt's

three-part story, From Around Here on the ever delightful Cast Macabre.

If you're into horror/paranormal and looking for something different, head over there for a look see. You might be surprised at what you find.