I Didn't Know Frankenstein's Monster and Mary Shelley were Dating.

 

An Actual Cover of One Printing of Frankenstein

Hungry hungry witches.

 

My Flash Fiction Story "Going My Way" is up on Crystal Lake's Patreon Page Today!

 If you like the horror of being in hot, steamy Louisiana check out my flash fiction story on Crystal Lake's Patreon page. Crystal Lake is a oft awarded publisher of dark fiction and a fine bunch of people. Speaking of awards, the short story anthology, Arterial Bloom, edited by smart, gorgeous, talented writer Mercedes Yardley, is nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for Best Horror Anthology.  (I happen to have a story, Kudzu Stories, in Arterial Bloom.)

Back to the Patreon page. There are all kinds of bonuses you can get by joining at the low cost of $5 a month. You could even read my story! That ought to be worth something. So check out Crystal Lake's Patreon page and meanwhile...

Voodoo entry 13 of 15: “Going My Way?” by Linda J. Marshall

https://www.patreon.com/posts/51472201

Author bio: Linda J. Marshall writes from the state of Oklahoma. She's a former river guide on the Colorado River and former river ranger on the San Juan River, both in Utah. She's also worked booking Blues acts in the Mississippi Delta and lived down the road from the Crossroads where Robert Johnson allegedly sold his soul. Her writing has appeared in editions of Shallow Waters, the anthology Arterial Bloom, and in the Flame Tree Press newsletter. Find her at thehappyhorrorwriter.blogspot.com

Do They Know How Much Land in California is Worth? A Review of A History of Wild Places.

 I'm one of these people who only sees the story going along as a hazy, misty image. I know there are those who see the characters and their activities clearly, like a movie. I'm not one of them. Even the main characters are cloudy in my mind. I don't picture them as anybody in particular.

There was a villainous, evil, rotten guy in A History of Wild Places. Even though I don't clearly see characters, I kept picturing the rotten guy as Matt Gaetz. I don't know why. Okay, maybe I do know why. He gives me the crawlies.

Now to the review. If you like twists, this novel has a major one, and then one after that. I never saw that coming...twice! Perhaps two or three more times. A History of Wild Places was also literary with some beautiful language. I like that in horror. It takes it up into a higher plane than the one most people picture as horror.

I was shocked, shocked I tell you over some of the cruelty in the story, the things the cult leader did to a few of the members he felt weren't loyal. That may seem strange that I'm shocked by horrifying events in horror. I'm just like that. As long as they don't hurt dogs, I can deal with it. (No dogs are hurt in the reading of this story, but you don't want to be a tree or a person who would just like to take a walk.)

This is a bracing and interesting plot. I had a quibble. Don't these folks know how much land sells for in California? For what they could sell the commune for they could buy their own private island in Tahiti. Then they really wouldn't have to deal with outsiders because...ocean. Just saying. If I witnessed murder and brutality somewhere, I wouldn't want to much look at the place again. 

There is a major gross scene that made me wonder why these characters didn't revolt against the jerk who lead them. That eventually gets explained. Still, I wanted to kick a few people in the rear and yell, "What's wrong with you!"

But, that's what horror is all about. If characters were smart, they wouldn't go into that creepy forest where all the trees are leaking sap.

Thanks to  Atria Books and Netgalley for allowing me to read a digital ARC of A History of Wild Places.

I Just Like This Photo

 I Just Like This Photo. They all have sweet faces and his wife looks like she's thinking He's kidding, right?

Harry Houdini and "my two sweethearts," his mother and wife.

I have to go now a write a story about being trapped. My character won't be as talented as Houdini.

I Didn't See This Guy When I was at Cades Cove. Review of Revelator

 

Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. Of course, I never saw a "Ghostdaddy" while I was there. That might have changed my attitude toward the place.

Revelator takes place during the time when the farmers where slowly moving out of the area after the National Park Service bought the it, 1930's-40's. One strange family is reluctant to move away because they've got themselves their own god living in one of the caves. Add copious amounts of corn liquor, unfortunate sows,  a lady protagonist moonshiner who curses like a sailor (maybe curses more than a sailor,) and long lines of unusual, red-speckled girls and you have quite a story. A lot of interesting characters, including one who thinks he'll get rich off the mysterious "Ghostdaddy."  Religion and money; dang if people don't get in trouble over combining the two. It certainly causes trouble in Cades Cove.

An exciting romp through the Smoky Mountains. If the "f-word" bothers you, it's used a lot, sometimes several times on one page. It seems excessive for the time period this was set in, but I guess that was part of the main character's personality. The story seems set up for a sequel. 

Thanks to Netgalley for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Barnes and Noble wouldn't let me post this review because of the word "crap." Review of Last One at the Party.

 Name ten horrible things that could happen to one person and I guarantee about eight of them happened to the protagonist in Last One at the Party.  Holy crap! One thing they teach in thriller or horror writing is to "make it worse." That sure is the story of our poor heroine.

But first, the story started with the rundown of the virus spreading throughout the world. I thought, "I don't want to hear this. It's too close to our real pandemic." It wasn't long though until I started thinking that maybe I should stock up on food and water. The book felt that real. I even thought about getting chickens because of this book!

I don't get scared by horror novels, but Last One at the Party eventually had me white-knuckled. The descriptions of the massive die-offs, the sickness, lack of water and food, animals ravaging bodies, was too much like something that could really happen in a major pandemic. I want to make it clear, though, this is ultimately a story of hope and survival. I don't want anyone to pass this by because they think it is doom and gloom. Things do get pretty nasty though. It will make you want to hug your family, your dog, you cat, and even your chickens if you have 'em. Oh, you might want to fill your pantry up.

There were a couple of things I quibbled with. The electricity certainly stayed on a long time after everybody who could run the power plants was dead. For weeks there was air conditioning and hot water. Geez, I was out of power and hot water because it freakin' snowed one night last winter. Eventually the power shut off in the book and things seemed more realistic. It wasn't enough to detract from a good story. No buzzards, though. You'd think buzzards would be the last ones at the party. They fly over my house sometimes. I shake my fist at them and yell, "Not yet!"

If you like horror that is scary because it could happen, Last One at the Party will disturb your dreams.

Thanks to Netgalley for a digital ARC of this book.

Gothic Horror and a Bicycle! Review of The House on Vesper Sands

 Turn this book into a movie as soon as possible! All that running around in snow! All that wandering through hail and pounding rain seeking a transparent/disappearing beautiful young woman! A bicycle! A bizarre suicide! Characters you like and characters you hate!  Have I left anything out? A spooky house by the sea! You'll be up to your eyeballs in gothic horror.

There's some great dialogue amongst the characters. Inspector Cutter of Scotland Yard has some of the best. When a witness to the bizarre above-mentioned suicide asks if his answers have been satisfactory, the Inspector tells him that his landlady served him a poached egg that looked like the eye of a rabid dog that had been dead for two days and that breakfast had been more satisfying than those answers. 

It would make a good movie! That dialogue.

If you like gothic, ghosts, icky people, strange deaths, rain, mysteries, and bicycles, you'll enjoy The House on Vesper Sands and might even make a movie of it.

This how-to-write book is more fun than most. Review of Never Say You Can't Survive

 This was the most fun book on writing I've read, and I've read a lot of books on writing. Charlie Jane Anders avoids saying the same-ol-same-ol that so many how-to-write books say. Where most books tell the reader to finish something, absolutely finish stuff, she'll compare unfinished work to blind dates where the chemistry didn't click. In other words, Anders doesn't make the reader feel guilty for all the pages that never went anywhere.

Even when giving advice the reader has heard before, she makes it amusing. I know I've picked up other how-to-write books and lost interest halfway through, partly because they say nothing new and partly because the writing is less than inspiring. All through Never Say You Can't Survive I kept coming up with new ideas. This book made me want to write.

Thanks to Netgalley, Ms. Anders, and Tor for allowing me to read this digital ARC in return for an honest review.

Atmospheric, ghostly and a creepy kid.

 

Ariadne, I love You is quite the atmospheric book. Ashley-Smith used all the senses, sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch to place the reader right into the story. As with many ghost stories, the question is "Is there a ghost or is the main character insane?" With this unreliable narrator it's a coin flip whether he's haunted or insane. That, to me, makes for deeper reading than when there's an obvious ghost. There's a creepy kid, too. Creepy kids are always good.

There's whole bunches of smoking in this book. I'm surprised the creepy kid wasn't smoking, too. The story would be half as long if they quit lighting up. Okay, I exaggerate but I haven't seen this much smoking since 1950's noir. I'm sneezing right now thinking about it.

All in all it is a crawly, gothic story mainly set in an old moldy train car. With a ghost. Or is there?

Thanks to Netgalley and Meerkat publishers for letting me read this digital ARC of Ariadne, I Love You.

The Next Horror: Climate Change

 I watched a panel discussion with six or so horror writers, sponsored by the Skeleton Hour. They thought the big trend in horror would be climate change. Need to know more about climate change so you can write about it?  Here's an adventurous book by a young woman traveling the world while wearing a sign, "Tell me a story about climate change." The author is Devi Lockwood and her book is 1,001 Voices on Climate Change.

I have to admit that I admire that so much was done so young and so creatively by this author.  It took a lot of courage to travel (often biking) around the world wearing a sign that says, "Tell me a story about climate change."

The book got really exciting about 30% into it, when  storytellers started to talk about things like floods and tsunamis.  The author had some real adventures on the sea and traveling to world conferences on climate change. The beginning was a little slow to me. The first section seemed more like a travel log with lots of motorbike riding and swimming, but, as I said, the excitement picks up later, especially when she learns how much her flying contributes to climate change and she seeks other ways to get from country to country. There may not be 1,001 stories, but there were plenty of farmers and others who talked about the changes they've seen. 

The conferences and climate marches were interesting, but I thought 100's of thousands of people flying to fight climate change can't be too good for the climate. We need to find virtual ways to show our support for ways to protect our world.

This book wouldn't exist if it hadn't been for the imagination and bravery of Ms. Lockwood. I look forward to more writing from her