Zraitor

So clearly from my review of the first book, I wasn't the biggest fan there. This one also does so many of the same things I didn't like: Moves too fast, too much just relating what is going on, and the weird relationship stuff.

The author constantly felt the need to immediately hook up all the characters like some over-excited matchmaker. Every time a new member joins the group someone becomes instantly attracted and we had to go through a lot of groan-inducing side plots to get them together. Don't get me wrong I understand perfectly well that people are gonna do just that, especially in this scenario, but it still felt so forced.

Although thankfully here there aren't any overly silly scenes where characters did the dumbest stuff and frustrated me. There's also a load of fun action scenes that I did genuinely enjoy.

A lot of it felt like The Walking Dead TV show and that I say that to summon up all the good and bad that statement brings to mind. There's a section where the group goes up against a crazed group leader called the Preacher and it was enjoyable. A lot of the usual zombie story tropes are there and I suppose that's just how it will always go in these things.

The change in character point of view didn't freshen it up as much as I would have liked as it was still written all the same. I had a hard time remembering what character was what because honestly they aren't very developed and mostly just described by their relationships and skillsets.

But as I was nearing the end I found myself being won over and I actually enjoyed this book overall. It had fun action and an impactful ending.

Throw in every private eye trope and the author's usual writing and you get this one. It's not the most exciting but it was well written and kept me reading.

A lot of it was clearly recycled into the Derek Adams stories as I remember reading entire passages that were in those in this as well. Those have the advantage of having all sorts of supernatural and other weirdness in them here though, the mystery in this is centered around golf. And like the main character, golf never interested me.

The character work is good and John Royle is a great main character. Of course, that's because he is just the same as Derek Adams and even has similar friends and a pub he goes to. The town itself was brought to life and made out almost to be a character as usual in a setting from the author.

So as we go along with the twist and turns and endless crazy characters, most with over the top Scottish accents, we stop an end I didn't entirely agree with or see the point of. But it was a fun ride getting there. This was worth the read as I enjoy the author's writing and ability to make things just fun.

–>I received a free copy of this in exchange for an honest review.
Two men addicted to baggage auctions, yeah I didn't know that was a thing either, come across a suitcase with a gramophone in it that plays strange music...

So right off the bat, I was intrigued by the baggage auction stuff. At the same time, I find it to be so cool and yet so sad. Hoping to find something valuable in these cases people bid on them only to usually find worthless junk. Although in the case of this story we find a cursed music player. Gambling, man.

What comes about from this seems to be a much darker version of the author's other work, Doorways to the Deadeye. The idea that people linger on after death but of course here it is not through memories but black magic and evil. That was quite a moment when that certain someone just pops up randomly and is revealed.

Now, this could all be cartoonish and silly but thanks to the strong characterizations and writing the story pulls through it all and is very enjoyable. Charlie Stewart is a great main character and through him the story is grounded with his thoughts on a wasted gambler's life, wanting better with his girlfriend, etc. He may not be the most likable to some but his inner struggle makes him seem to be a real person and very relatable.

For the rest, we have the great setting brought to life, the creepiness of the music turning people into slaves, and the wonderful drawings found in the book which is always one of those little touches I appreciate.

This very short story takes place early in the zombie apocalypse which allows the main character to call the cops on the zombies. I probably find that way funnier than I should.

I could go on about that longer than the story itself, so just check it out, its fun.

Well, if you were worried that these would be just people hunkering down from some crazy weather and not much else worry not for the strange storms in these tales bring with them lots of monsters.

In three of these stories a people eating seaweed, a tentacled monster from another dimension that can only survive in the freezing cold, and an insect creature that drips and bleeds oil are the real threat in the stories they appear in. Battling both these creatures well as the elements lead to some terrible ordeals.

The two remaining give the monsters a break and focus on character work and setting. In the first, a Chinese-American's greed sets off a chain of events before a disaster, and the other a sheltered Christian girl is taken for quite the ride.

When I picked this I was imagining the random disaster movies I've seen in my mind and was a bit unsure at first but thankfully the stories were all great and just plain fun.

While this is filled with great writing I didn't find it enjoyable to read at all. The story was far too abstract and moves about with little sense from scene to scene and each chapter only served to confuse me more. This kind of writing would have been okay for a little of a story but not the whole thing.

There was a lot of descriptive writing and metaphors and it seemed to be about a person's journey of self-discovery. But during talk about possession, fighting various strange creatures, all while reminiscing about relationships with family it lost me fairly quickly.

While far from terrible and interesting at times this simply wasn't for me and I had to force myself through starting at about halfway. The writing style made it feel about ten times longer than it was to me which didn't help things.

–>I received a free copy of this in exchange for an honest review.
Later in the book when asked what's the greatest compliment you can receive, the author answers absurd, which is exactly what I found these stories to be...

Every story was interesting because they are from a Chinese person's point of view and seeing their culture dealing with sci-fi/horror themes was enjoyable. Every story is also full of social commentary but as each tale goes to about an eleven on the crazy scale I doubt that's what you'll come away remembering most from each one.

A different version of the Christopher Columbus legend, a man gets trapped on a subway car that never stops, a baby born with many eyes, all of China forced to work at night and never dream... A lot is going on in these stories and it's not easy to summarize them really. For the most part, I didn't know where each story was going and found them very original. ‘My Country Does Not Dream' was by far the highlight of the collection to me, what an amazing story.

After each story, you get a short commentary that talks about and explains it which I found helpful, except in the case of ‘Two Small Birds' where no amount of explanation will ever help me understand what the heck was going on there.

Han Song's stories were great to read, and the collection is just otherwise well put together and worth the time.

None were as good as the original story which was to be expected I suppose. I thought the collection would be very repetitive but it somehow managed to avoid that or maybe I was just really in the mood for it.

A few of the stories definitely seemed to be written before the theme and then had the fish people stuff worked in afterward. Homecoming was the worst offender here.

But apart from that most of what's here channels the mood and ideas of Lovecraft's story and I enjoyed it, and if you're up for that you should too.

–>I received a free copy of this in exchange for an honest review.
Full of cutting off limbs, rape, and torture this collection is incredibly edgy. It did grow tiresome reading some of the stories that seemingly were written to shock and awe me instead of telling a good story.

Other stories were simply too short to really have any impact or meaning and others had promising starts only to deliver a done a million times before outcome.

The stories I liked best were ‘Orrin's Axe': Just a very creepy tale that makes you unsure the whole time, ‘Little Black Box': Basically for the same reason and keeps you reading to see the outcome., ‘Lemonhead': A drug-fueled revenge tale that stands out compared to the others, and ‘The Puppet Show': Weird, gross, and imaginative and while I'm not sure I agree with ending it's just so good a story I didn't care.

A few other stories reach “okay” but were just so confusing that while I liked parts of them I found them frustrating to read like ‘The Remembering Country' and ‘Las Brujas Del Rio Verde'.

This collection to me overall was uneven and mixed in quality but certainly not terrible in any way. I could see a lot of potential in the stories but most of them needed a bit more of something.

The first story is an update of the story The Tapestried Chamber and while I definitely wouldn't call it a failure the updated terms just really clashed with keeping the older writing style. I do like the story itself and once I read a bit I was able to get into it but it was really odd at first.

A Minute to Learn and Miriam's Comet were solid ghost stories if a bit unsatisfying in the way they ended to me.

And finally, I loved both O Shades, My Woe, and Winter's Dollhouse. Both weren't happy with just being ghost stories oh no, they had to add in babies and dolls and they were great. I really enjoyed the King Arthur legend being told from a different perspective and the creepy underwater diving stuff in the other.

The fun of this story for me was the thoughts of the main character which were earnestly shown to the reader. The others, whose perspectives we don't see from, are also so well done. The characters in this book are great.

There is a lot of back and forth of whether or not his brother, finally released from an institution for torturing children, actually has been redeemed and is just a victim of circumstances. Now of course, with a word such as Daemonia in the title things are heavily weighted one way. However, the story is done in a way in which you care for everyone involved so I found myself hoping it wouldn't turn out too bad...

Great characters, well thought out, and very disturbing in many ways. Worth the read.

–>I received an ARC of this in exchange for an honest review.
While trying to promote his first book Separating You on Twitter Dr. Jason Carson constantly finds himself bombarded with comments on Trump. After finally having enough he decides to write this, a book all about trying to convince Trump to become a serial killer himself.

This is just as smart and insightful as the first. It is also brutal and extremely messed up. It really hits all the same notes as the first which is both a good thing and a bad thing. Any reader of the first will know what's going on here I'd imagine.

Unfortunately, it is also just nauseating. Not for anything the author did himself it is just that I don't care at all about Trump outside of him going away forever. Reading his quotes I found myself disgusted which is what I expected. There's really no getting around the subject matter here, it is what it is.

Replacing the SURVEYS in the first one here are scenarios imagining Trump abusing his power to kill. While clever they don't have the personal touch the first had.

It is not completely lacking in personal touches for the reader however as it is filled with attacks on the left, the right, and everything else. To Carson, no lives matter and he'll make sure you know that before you're through.

I often wondered who the target audience was here because while the idea of the book is that it was written to lure these Trump fanatics in and give them what they want I can't see them reading it and just continuing to post nonsense on Twitter.

There is just no denying the shock factor involved here. There is more to it than that; seeing the same warped mind deal with a charismatic con artist and going back and forth with admiration and jealousy was a lot of fun. Thankfully in the book's favor, it is not very long as again, reading those quotes was a bit much for me.

Fans of the first will enjoy this if they can get past the Trump stuff. Anyone who hasn't read that should read it first and then come back to this.

Most of the stories in this collection are about a young man discovering some dark powers in a coming-of-age tale. It felt a bit repetitive at times because of this.

They read sort of like fantasies or things you'd daydream about when young and bored turned into dark fiction/horror tales. Nothing was horrible though and I enjoyed the writing but the stories weren't the greatest. When the author breaks away from this I liked it more.

Unfortunately, there are just way too many typos in this collection. I normally ignore those and don't let them bother me, especially in self-published works so that should tell you just how many there were. This really could use another check through to fix those up.

I do quite like this author as they do characters well (when not doing the usual young man awakens special powers thing) and have all sorts of zany ideas but this wasn't their best example of those.

–>I received a free copy of this in exchange for an honest review.
The third volume is consistent throughout this time (although there are still plenty of average stories I shrugged at) and has thankfully toned down the edginess for edginess' sake.

There were a lot of ideas giving it the variety it needed and several of them had some very gross body horror going on which I enjoyed because that's just fun.

My favorites were the “The Station” simply because it was a clever and creepy idea, and “Fish Bait” because well, what a random damn story that committed fully to its craziness.

I don't think there were any stories that I flat out hated or frustrated me as in the previous two volumes; just the usual mixed bag thing you get in collections.

I think (hope) the series is settling in and keeps getting better because this one was good and a slight improvement overall.

–>I received a free copy of this in exchange for an honest review.
Volume 4 continues on with the rape, torture, gore, and all the other random offbeat weird stuff these stories get into. I appreciated the originality and when the stories hit they were great and well of course when they missed they fell flat and made me shake my head.

Which seems to be the constant with these collections of how much of a mixed bag they are. I often say that with collections but these must be the prime example of that. It can be a bit frustrating enjoying one story then disliking the next one after it over and over.

Oddly enough, my favorite story was “Stone”, A woman who feels no pain sells her body in awful and violent sex acts then escapes the life. We follow a former admirer of hers and he just simply... watches her. Normally I hate stories with these weird sex and gore things, but in this one, it was all only related to you really, and it was well written and kind of stuck with me.

The rest of the stories are just about every random dang thing you can think of and, they are either great or just plain bad and it's a wild ride to go through.

–>I received a free copy of this in exchange for an honest review.
The fictional paranormal investigator Charlatan Bardot shows us ghost stories collected from all over the world together with his thoughts on each tale, pictures, and even the coordinates of the haunted places. It's quite an interesting idea and the collection is carried by this concept pretty well.

There were a lot of stories and honestly it felt like too many. The quick flash fiction pieces somewhat lost their bite because if you know these local stories are fictional it just ends up being a neat little idea that goes nowhere. Maybe it's just me. I don't know if it was just to fill out the collection but I would have preferred fewer but longer stories for each of the main locations.

Which there were many of as this is a travel catalog of haunted places. We go all around the world and the stories get to present many different ideas, cultures, and history which was quite fun and gives so much variety. Every story is about ghosts, yes, but you never know what's coming next and I always enjoy that in collections.

I was offered this as an ebook but, I'm sure it's much more pleasurable to read in physical format due to the many pictures. Even so, I could tell how well put together it was. It's definitely worth a try for its unique concept.

A scientist takes his team along with police and military to collect some zombie samples. You immediately know how this will go, but it is still a fun ride getting there.

It wasn't just mindless action either and, you definitely get some character work in there.

JD, a fifteen-year-old boy, and his friends accidentally release an ancient evil by touching a black pillar they find in the local cemetery.

Whatever comes out of it instantly slashes his friend out of existence and then starts similarly making everyone else disappear as it slowly spreads...

Then while figuring out what to do, JD researches whatever he can at the library where they are found by a man named Crowley who tells them everything and recruits them in the fight against this evil which he calls dark evil. The Malum that was unleashed will eventually consume everyone in the entire world...

It was a little odd that he just takes these young teens off to fight and kill things with him and everyone is okay with that but the story just rolls with it and expects you too as well. As it went along I stopped worrying about that but it didn't seem entirely realistic at first.

I initially groaned at the name Crowley and thought, of course, that kind of character is named that! But he is given reason to be as he is the son of a reimagined historical figure that shouldn't be too hard to figure out.

They are all gifted and can sense and kill this kind of dark evil, as well as their helpers named the Hexies. We have a lot of lore and things to set up in this book and it goes over it in detail and often to make it stick. Joining in their fight are good witches who while named so sure spend a lot of time torturing for information and killing these creatures but hey it's a dark setting I guess.

Maybe a little too dark at times. I'm not saying I'd want the subject matter to be taken lightly and treated as a joke but it was always played completely straight forward and it came off a little dry at times.

Another issue is Crowley tells the group of teens the backstory of his father and the fight and it's a long, long tale. It pretty much takes up half the book and is just told all at once and gave the story an odd pace. When it switched back to the group in the present I found it a little jarring trying to get back into their tale as we spent so much time in it.

But once I got into the story and the flow of it I found the book to be pretty good. There was a load of violence, gore, and action and the horror elements are always there giving it a very foreboding feeling. I wasn't sure at the end if it was a standalone story or there will be more to come because while the events of the story were concluded it was still left open to more.

Finding herself aboard ‘The Black Train' with no memories of her past, Renée Vérité is sent to different locations by a pair of twins to find her missing parents.

Each location is a fantastical adventure where she must complete some task for a strange guardian that will help her on her way... She never really puts the pieces of who these people are together until the very end but the reader should pick it up fast.

These sections get very crazy and over the top with scenes like a raven and octopus mix creature chasing her while she flies on top of a giant red butterfly. Yeah. It's fun and well written and gives the book some action.

She is being chased by a being called The Abstract, your typical Lovecraftian unknowable monster/force. This thing, whatever it is, likes to break into her journeys and cause chaos.

The twins have sections in between Renee's various outings that are set up like stage plays and I thought they were kind of annoying and didn't really see the point to them. Just trying to play up the mystery, I guess.

With all these things going on the book is grounded through Renee and her search for her memories so it's not all constant insanity. It all comes together in the end well enough although it leaves a bit of confusion on just why this all happened in the first place.

->I received an ARC of this in exchange for an honest review.
A man runs an experiment at his supposedly haunted house with three college students who believe they are there for some ghost finding. He actually just wants to manipulate them and prove that God and the supernatural of any kind aren't real.

All three students have to write a journal entry after each night giving us several perspectives to see through. This is what makes the book great as I was dying to know what the craziness looked like to each person every time. It really had me hooked and kept me reading through.

As the game goes on he becomes increasingly unhinged as he tries to railroad the experiment to the results he wants and crazy things are going on all around that he may or may not be in control of. I was constantly asking myself whether or not this actually was just psychological horror and this man's sick game, or perhaps something more is going on?

This wondering also makes it so fun. I was all over the place with different theories and I was just begging to myself the outcome be one that was satisfying. Thankfully it was and all things wrap up to an unsettling conclusion.

The author's usual themes are there: religion, serial killers, and just a love of psychological horror. This presents them in a new intelligent way but still with the same gore and nightmarish scenes. There are also some cameos from his previous work, Red Town Lost being the main one.

With grounded characters but over-the-top horror, this was an amazing read. What could have just been a gimmick, the changing perspectives give this story a constantly fresh feeling. Check it out.

It follows the same formula every time... yet is always enjoyable. The narrator is invited to Carnacki's place for a story. He is joined by his friends, who all sit and eat dinner and enjoy small talk. Then they retire to the parlor, and the real story begins. Carnacki always has some crazy latest adventure he tells to them, he always pauses for dramatic effect by filling his pipe, and Arkwright always interrupts and is stopped with a glare by Carnacki. Whenever I began to tire of it, another story starts up, and I was once again caught up in it. Where such repetition would annoy me to no end in other collections, here, it just worked.

His stories are varied but always involve him setting up his defenses, smoking his pipe, and drinking tea. I enjoy the language and them always mentioning the food or drink they get during the adventure. I won't delve into the stories, just read it and let Carnacki tell them much better than I. I will mention, however, the last story, which is a novella. It brings back the pig men and all the crazy in the House on the Borderland, and it's just a fantastic tale.

It kept me interested from beginning to end, despite things that would typically irritate me. Great collection.

The squad gets trapped on an oil rig and under attack by another huge sea monster...

Another fast-paced and action-packed entry. Has all the usual strengths of the series: loads of action and one-liners. And of course all the weaknesses as no other character but Wiggins and Banks matter. Not that this really matters, we know what we are reading this for. (Monsters and pew pew.)

Write Like Hell is a good collection of short stories. They don't share any one theme other than being horror, so you get a decent bit of variety. There were six short stories, and the first four were of similar length. The fifth story was the longest and took up about half of the collection's size, and the sixth was a piece of flash fiction, so it seemed unbalanced to me. I'm not sure others would care, though.

I'll give a few thoughts on each story:

Dregmere: It had a good atmosphere and lore, but as soon as said lore was told, I knew exactly what the end would be.

Mud, Blood, and Futility: More good atmosphere, and I enjoyed the journey the main character went on, but the story was confusing on purpose to conceal the ending, which I didn't care for.

Panopticon: This story was incredibly confusing, and I just didn't enjoy it. I tried to read sections of it multiple times but never really could make heads or tails of it and just moved on.

Void Born: My favorite of the collection. A solid sci-fi tale with action and a touch of cosmic horror.

His Black Tongue: The longest of the stories by far, and I found it to be okay. Not much of a fan of the religious elements and all that, but the huge fight at the end was entertaining enough.

Lord Ruthven: A very short story that sets up a mysterious and violent scene and leaves you guessing on what it could be. I liked it for what it was.

A good collection of dark fiction, horror, and, towards the end, sci-fi short stories. I think those sci-fi ones were probably the best and made for a great close to the collection.

‘Twisted Tales'contains lots of cool ideas and variety. Most of the stories seemed to end with a dark punchline which happens a lot in these kinds of collections, so prepare for some ‘gotcha' endings. I enjoyed that, though, so it didn't bother me.

A few were pretty silly, the vampire, werewolf, and zombie one being the main one I'm thinking of. The one with the funeral chasers made me roll my eyes, and I just wanted it to end, but otherwise, I didn't really hate any story in the collection. I think it's worth the read.

Beyond The Black Stone is a successful pastiche that mashes together Lovecraft's ‘The Mound' and Robert E Howard's ‘The Black Stone.'

It comes complete with the arrogant weirdo main character who delves too far into things he should not; in this case, the guy is a ‘dark tourist' who travels around to visit places where tragedy happens. It moves through the familiar story beats and manages to keep it just modern enough, so you're not bogged down in the archaic prose that didn't age well, making many of these stories tiresome. The tale is also the perfect length, and while it ends the silly way that many of these do, it was undoubtedly on brand and appropriate for it to do so.

I highly recommend this one.