The Axe & Grindstone by Paul Phipps-Williams

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, last orders please.
Seriously, this could be your last ever order…
Have you ever fancied running a pub?
What about two pubs?
And what if they were in different dimensions?

Enter Mark Adams who is in serious need of a pint.

Now the fabled landlord of Peacebattle, he’s the only person who can stop the world from screaming for the rest of time.

But why chose a loser to save the world? What is the truth at the heart of the Binding Brothers’ dark religion and the monsters who thrive in its heart? And will Mark survive long enough to remember the most important advice of his entire career:

Don’t scream.
Whatever you do.
Don’t scream.



"And we keep on running. On and on and on. Around every corner and across every single bloody cobble in Dogwood Falls. Arnold's got me tossed over his shoulder, and all I can see is what we're running away from. They're coming."

Mark Adams, recently unemployed is offered a fresh start and a new job, managing a bar in the middle of nowhere. Of course there have been a few minor details about the bar kept from him, for example that it hides the doorway to another dimension where strange beings are expecting him to save the world.
Sharp wit, dark humor, and mystical beings made this story a page turner.

I received an advance copy for review.
Get a copy

The Desire Card by Lee Matthew Goldberg

Any wish fulfilled for the right price. That's the promise the organization behind The Desire Card gives to its elite clients - but sometimes the price may be more menacing than anyone could ever imagine. Harrison Stockton has lived an adult life of privilege and excess: a high-powered job on Wall Street fuels his fondness for alcohol and pills at the expense of a family he has no time for. Quite suddenly all of this comes crashing to a halt when he loses his job and at the same time discovers he almost certainly has only months left to live. Desperate, and with seemingly nowhere else left to turn, Harrison activates his Desire Card. What follows is a gritty and gripping quest that takes him from New York City to the slums of Mumbai and forces him to take chances, and make decisions, he never thought he'd ever have to face. When his moral descent threatens his wife and children, Harrison must decide whether to save himself at any cost, or do what's right and break his bargain with the mysterious group behind The Desire Card.

The Desire Card is a taut fast-paced thriller, from internationally acclaimed author Lee Matthew Goldberg, that explores what a man will do to survive when money isn't always enough to get everything he desires.

Harrison's life is falling apart. Faced with a crumbling marriage, a failing liver, and loss of his job, he makes a choice that will effect not just the rest of his life but put others in danger as well.
With his wife too wrapped up in her activities, and his kids grown accustomed to his frequent absences none of them notice how seriously ill he has become, and he chooses not to share his diagnosis. Normally I'd have had some sympathy for such a character but Harrison was such an unlikable and weak willed person it was hard to muster up much concern for his well being. However, the events that unfolded after he received his "Desire card" as part of his severance were intriguing  enough to keep me glued to these pages through the surprising reveal at the end. Regardless of my feelings for Harrison the author did a great job of conveying his sheer heart pounding terror and desperation.
4 out of 5 stars
I received a complimentary copy for review.

Get a copy

About the author

Lee Matthew Goldberg is the author of the novels SLOW DOWN, THE MENTOR, and THE DESIRE CARD. He has been published in multiple languages and nominated for the 2018 Prix du Polar. PREY NO MORE, the second book in The Desire Card series, is forthcoming. His pilots and screenplays have been finalists in Script Pipeline, Stage 32, We Screenplay, the New York Screenplay, Screencraft, and the Hollywood Screenplay contests. After graduating with an MFA from the New School, his writing has also appeared in the anthology DIRTY BOULEVARD, The Millions, Cagibi, The Montreal Review, The Adirondack Review, The New Plains Review, Underwood Press and others. He is the co-curator of The Guerrilla Lit Reading Series (guerrillalit.wordpress.com). He lives in New York City. Follow him at leematthewgoldberg.com and @LeeMatthewG

The Town That Feared Dusk by Calvin Demmer

Sylvia Bernstein doesn't want to end up on a dead-end path like a former journalism colleague. She begins searching the tabloid's archives for a story that can get her career back on track. A strange bridge, with an abnormally high rate of suicides, seems like the perfect place to start. She journeys to the little town, eager to investigate, but encounters a tale far more sinister than she ever expected...


This is a quick read that features a spooky little town with an unusual bridge that seems to attract suicides. A reporter in need of a rousing story attempts to get the scoop but none of the townspeople are willing to speak openly about it.
Not to be deterred, even when she experiences first hand what happens at dusk, she may come to regret her pursuit of the truth.
 I would have liked to see the back story fleshed out a little more, because there was a very clever and creative idea behind it all.
I received a complimentary copy for review.

Get a copy




About the author
Calvin Demmer is the author of The Sea Was a Fair Master and The Town That Feared Dusk. When not writing, he is intrigued by that which goes bump in the night and the sciences of our universe.

Slash by Hunter Shea

Five years after Ashley King survived the infamous Resort Massacre, she’s found hanging in her basement by her fiancé, Todd Matthews. She left behind clues as to what really happened that night, clues that may reveal the identity of the killer the press has called The Wraith.

With the help of his friends, Todd goes back to the crumbling Hayden Resort, a death-tinged ruin in the Catskills Mountains. What they find is a haunted history that’s been lying in wait for a fresh set of victims. The Wraith is back, and he’s nothing what they expected.



We already know from the book description that Poor Ashley King was the only one to survive the first killing spree, though she lost all of her friends and most of the memories of that awful night. For 5 years she tried to live a normal life though all the "final girl" fans didn't make it easy for her. When she learns the abandoned resort where her friends had been brutally murdered is about to be demolished it triggers memories that make her take her own life. Devastated and outraged, her fiancée taunts the killer and heads out to the resort to lie in wait, hoping to lure him out and finish him off. I was hooked on this story from the start, but by the time I was halfway through it was like a breathless race to make it to the finish and see who (if anyone) survived.
Highly recommended for all horror fans and contrary to the title it is not your typical slasher story.
5 out of 5 stars.
I received an advance copy for review.


Get a copy

About the author
Hunter Shea is the author of over 25 books, with a specialization in cryptozoological horror that includes The Jersey Devil, The Dover Demon, Loch Ness Revenge and many others. As part of the new horror line at Flame Tree Press, his novel Creature has gained critical acclaim. His novel, The Montauk Monster, was named one of the best reads of the summer by Publishers Weekly. A trip to the International Cryptozoology Museum will find several of his cryptid books among the fascinating displays. Living in a true haunted house inspired his Jessica Backman: Death in the Afterlife series (Forest of Shadows, Sinister Entity and Island of the Forbidden). In 2011, he was selected to be a part of the launch of Samhain Publishing’s new horror line alongside legendary author Ramsey Campbell. When he’s not writing thrillers and horror, he also spins tall tales for middle grade readers on Amazon’s highly regarded Rapids reading app.
An avid podcaster, he can be seen and heard on Monster Men, one of the longest running video horror podcasts in the world, and Final Guys, focusing on weekly movie and book reviews. His nostalgic column about the magic of 80s horror, Video Visions, is featured monthly at Cemetery Dance Online. You can find his short stories in a number of anthologies, including Chopping Block Party, The Body Horror Book and Fearful Fathoms II.

A lifetime New Yorker, Hunter is supported by his loving wife and two beautiful daughters. When he’s not studying up on cryptozoology, he’s an avid explorer of the unknown, having spent a night alone on the Queen Mary, searching for the Warren’s famous White Lady of the Union Cemetery and other mysterious places.
You can follow his travails at www.huntershea.com.

What's Wrong with the Baby? by Vincent Courtney

THE FEAR IS GROWING  
From the moment he saw the ancient castle rising out of the picturesque Scottish countryside, filmmaker Dan Martin knew he'd found the ideal location for his vampire horror movie. And nothing could make him leave. Not the eerie legends of soul-stealing beasts of the night…nor a bizarre series of freak accidents. Not even his pregnant wife's tragic miscarriage.

THE TERROR IS BORN  
Except that now there is another fetus growing in Vicki's womb. But little Darian is not going to be a normal baby. The Martins' adopted ten-year-old son Marty will soon find that out. In fact, Marty will soon know exactly what his new brother really is.


I can't resist a creepy baby story. There is something so terrifying about the thought of a baby being able to do more than it should. A baby barely old enough to crawl, knowing more than it should know, dancing a jig when it shouldn't be able to walk yet, scurrying along with evil intent when nobody else is looking. I've just given myself chills and so did this book! One man knows the truth about what this baby really is, but nobody believes him until it's too late. A young boy knows something is wrong with his new baby brother but he doesn't know how to stop it. Refusing to believe, will have deadly consequences in this chilling read from Grinning Skull Press.

I received a complimentary copy for review.

Get a copy

 

The Last Book You'll Ever Read by Scott Hughes

A mysterious book on your doorstep, a man trying to outrun an otherworldly horror, an elderly woman who creates strange concrete creatures, a computer that isn't what it seems, an enigmatic nothingness closing in on someone's house...
The Last Book You'll Ever Read is a collection of five macabre tales that you won't soon forget.





Scott Hughes invites us along for five ominous adventures and spooky good times. Roll down a "Dark Highway" with a murderer, watch what happens when a repo man pays a visit to "Evelelyn's Counrty Depot," and learn the real cost of a free computer from the good folks at "eHhaurio, Inc."
Say good-bye to your troubles (and everything else) as The Color of Nothing" creeps into your home, and finally accept your fate as you become part of The Last Book You'll Ever Read"
I enjoyed these clever and curious tales.
I received a complimentary copy for review.



Get a copy

About the author
Scott Hughes is a Georgia writer who graduated from Mercer University and then received an MFA in creative writing from Georgia College & State University.

His fiction, poetry, and essays have appeared in such publications as Crazyhorse, One Sentence Poems, Entropy, Deep Magic, Carbon Culture Review, Redivider, Redheaded Stepchild, PopMatters, Strange Horizons, Odd Tales of Wonder, and Compaso: Journal of Comparative Research in Anthropology and Sociology.

His collection of horror short stories, The Last Book You’ll Ever Read , is available from Sinister Stoat Press, an imprint of Weasel Press.

He is the Division Head of English at Central Georgia Technical College and is currently finishing a young adult novel, Red Twin. He lives in Macon, Georgia, with his two dogs Bacon and Pip. His poetry collection, The Universe You Swallowed Whole, is forthcoming from Finishing Line Press in 2020.

For more information, visit https://www.writescott.com

Midnight in the Graveyard Edited by Kenneth W.Cain

Midnight. Some call it the witching hour. Others call it the devil’s hour. Here in the graveyard, midnight is a very special time. It is a time when ghostly spirits are at their strongest, when the veil between our world and theirs is at its thinnest. Legend has it, that while most of the world is asleep, the lack of prayers allow the spirits to communicate under the cover of darkness, among the headstones, their whispers rustling in the leaves of the old oak trees. But if you’re here in the graveyard, you can tell yourself it’s just the wind, that the moonlight is playing tricks on your eyes, that it's only the swirling mist you see. But when you hear the graveyard gate clang shut, the dead have something to say. Here are their stories…


This book contains stories by some of my favorite authors but they know who they are and so do you. For that reason I'm not going to talk about them (this time)
 From the first story "Devil's Dip" by new (to me) author Shannon Felton I felt like this anthology was going to be something special. By the time I got to "The Glimmer Girls" by Kenneth McKinley I knew I was right. I loved that this story was based on the real life Radium Girls! A symphony of macabre tales are perfectly arranged in this delightfully dark anthology. I have now been introduced to several voices in horror that I may not have discovered if not for this book. If you are looking for something spooky to read this Halloween season I highly recommend you grab a copy now.

I received an advance copy for review.


Get a copy

Kenneth W. Cain first got the itch for storytelling during his formative years in the suburbs of Chicago, where he got to listen to his grandfather spin tales by the glow of a barrel fire. But it was a reading of Baba Yaga that grew his desire for dark fiction. Shows like The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and One Step Beyond furthered that sense of wonder for the unknown, and he’s been writing ever since.

Cain is the author of The Saga of I trilogy, United States of the Dead, the short story collections These Old Tales and Fresh Cut Tales, and the forthcoming Embers: A Collection of Dark Fiction. Writing, reading, fine art, graphic design, and Cardinals baseball are but a few of his passions. Cain now resides in Chester County, Pennsylvania with his wife and two children

Dreams Of Lake Drukka & Exhumation by Mike Thorn

"Dreams of Lake Drukka" and "Exhumation" explore the unearthing of horrific, long-buried family secrets. Journeying into the darkest recesses of the past, these stories depict the dire consequences of discovering the truth.

Writing about this duology, author Mike Thorn says: “It was only in retrospect that I could see the connections between these two stories. When I revisited them for publication, it struck me that they work well as companion pieces. Both plots depict unfulfilled pacts with supernatural undercurrents, both include journeys to uncover unresolved familial trauma, and both pivot around the revelation of repressed memories. I wanted to explore the relationship between setting and atmosphere in these pieces, and to depict horror within internal and physical ‘sites of trauma.’ The characters are grappling with painful memories / experiences that have held them back, consciously or unconsciously. One story focuses on a character who is the agent of her own revelations, whereas the other story sees someone whose agency is quickly and brutally taken away.”

(Cover by Adrian Baldwin)

These two freaky stories share a theme of unusual death and estranged families.
In Dreams of Lake Drukka, a daughter is alienated from her father after her mother's death. She and her reluctant sister take a road trip and discover a dangerous truth. In Exhumation, a man arrives at his cousin's funeral to find something otherworldly waiting to welcome him home. Both stories had a fun creature feature kind of vibe and were quick and creepy reads.
I received a complimentary copy for review.
Get a copy

About the author
Mike Thorn is the author of Darkest Hours and Dreams of Lake Drukka & Exhumation. His fiction has appeared in numerous magazines, anthologies and podcasts, including Dark Moon Digest, The NoSleep Podcast, Turn to Ash and Tales to Terrify. His film criticism has been published in MUBI Notebook, The Film Stage, The Seventh Row, Bright Lights Film Journal and Vague Visages. He completed his M.A. with a major in English literature at the University of Calgary, where he wrote a thesis on epistemophobia in John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness

Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky

Single mother Kate Reese is on the run. Determined to improve life for her and her son, Christopher, she flees an abusive relationship in the middle of the night with Christopher at her side. Together, they find themselves drawn to the tight-knit community of Mill Grove, Pennsylvania. It's as far off the beaten track as they can get. Just one highway in, one highway out.

At first, it seems like the perfect place to finally settle down. Then Christopher vanishes. For six awful days, no one can find him. Until Christopher emerges from the woods at the edge of town, unharmed but not unchanged. He returns with a voice in his head only he can hear, with a mission only he can complete: Build a tree house in the woods by Christmas, or his mother and everyone in the town will never be the same again.

Soon Kate and Christopher find themselves in the fight of their lives, caught in the middle of a war playing out between good and evil, with their small town as the battleground.

 

 

At it's heart this is an epic tale of good versus evil.

"Make me hit a deer"

Something lies dormant in Mills Grove until Christopher and his mother arrive. Years ago, a terrified child went missing from his own home. Nobody believed him that the monsters were real. Now Christopher has gone missing too, but he is returned.. changed...seeing more...knowing more... wise beyond his years and paying the price for his new abilities.

"We'll all die on Christmas day!"

 

As Christopher becomes more aware of what's happening, something insidious is also aware of Christopher and it's infecting the town with evil. I loved the spooky atmosphere in this book, the way the characters were fleshed out and brought to life. I even at certain points had sympathy for the bullies.

4 out of 5 stars.

I received an advance copy for review.

 

 

Get a copy

 

About the author

Stephen Chbosky grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and graduated from the University of Southern California's Filmic Writing Program. His first film, The Four Corners of Nowhere, premiered at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival and went on to win Best Narrative Feature honors at the Chicago Underground Film Festival.

He is the recipient of the Abraham Polonsky Screenwriting Award for his screenplay Everything Divided as well as a participant in the Sundance Institute's filmmakers' lab for his current project, Fingernails and Smooth Skin. Chbosky lives in New York.