The Stuff of Dreams: The Weird Stories of Edward Lucas White

Description
This original compilation presents chilling tales of terror by an unjustly neglected author. Inspired by the works of Edgar Allan Poe as well as his own vivid nightmares, Edward Lucas White (1866–1934) weaves a tapestry of weird stories populated by ghouls, monsters, a witch doctor, and creatures of ancient myths.
The collection features White's most famous story, "Lukundoo," a gripping fable of an American explorer who incurs the wrath of an African sorcerer. Other tales include "Sorcery Island," an uncanny foreshadowing of television's The Prisoner, "The Flambeau Bracket," "The House of the Nightmare," "The Song of the Sirens," and five other stories. Additional selections include the haunting poems "Azrael" and "The Ghoula" and an essay in which the author reflects on the influence of dreams in his fiction. Editor S. T. Joshi provides an informative Introduction to White's life and work.


I had never heard of Edward Lucas White which I suppose is not surprising considering he lived a century ago. The description intrigued me, since as a child I watched those old Vincent Price movies that were based on stories by Edgar Allen Poe and then later read everything by him that I could find in the library. I did enjoy these stories though you must keep in mind that people spoke (and wrote) differently all those years ago. I especially loved the first story Nightmare House about a man who seeks shelter in a run down house after an accident. The Message On The Slate was also very good, about a woman unhappy in her marriage who seeks advice from a clairvoyant who is a self proclaimed charlatan. I loved Lukundoo which concerned a curse. It gave me chills. In The Pig-skin belt a circus comes to town, as does a man with some strange and mysterious habits. My absolute favorite was The Picture Puzzle, in which a man and his wife find solace and perhaps something more when they occupy their time with puzzles after their daughter is kidnapped. I also loved The Ghoula, a poem about a female ghoul.
All in all well worth a read. 4 out of 5 stars from me.

I received an advance copy for review.

The Doll-Master and Other Tales of Terror by Joyce Carol Oates

Description

From one of our most important contemporary writers, The Doll-Master and Other Tales of Terror is a bold, haunting collection of six stories.

In the title story, a young boy becomes obsessed with his cousin’s doll after she tragically passes away from leukemia. As he grows older, he begins to collect “found dolls” from the surrounding neighborhoods and stores his treasures in the abandoned carriage house on his family's estate. But just what kind of dolls are they? In “Gun Accident,” a teenage girl is thrilled when her favorite teacher asks her to house-sit, even on short notice. But when an intruder forces his way into the house while the girl is there, the fate of more than one life is changed forever. In “Equatorial,” set in the exotic Galapagos, an affluent American wife experiences disorienting assaults upon her sense of who her charismatic husband really is, and what his plans may be for her.

In The Doll-Master and Other Tales of Terror, Joyce Carol Oates evokes the “fascination of the abomination” that is at the core of the most profound, the most unsettling, and the most memorable of dark mystery fiction.

An eclectic mix of short stories, part thriller, with elements of horror.
"The Doll Master" is a  tale of a young boy who “finds” his own dolls to play with after his father decides to take away a much beloved toy he kept after his cousin passed away. A fairly good story, I would give it 3 and a half out of 5 stars

"Soldier" concerns a murder trial in which elements of racism are a factor, reminiscent of the Zimmerman trial and made me wonder if the author followed the TV coverage. 3 out of 5 stars

In "Gun accident" a young teen has a terrifying experience while house sitting. I would give it 3 and a half out of 5 stars

"Equatorial" is the story of an insecure wife visiting the Galapagos with her husband. Maybe she is paranoid... or maybe he really is out to get her.
4 out of 5 stars

"Big Momma" is the story of a lonely girl who is somewhat neglected by her mother. She is fairly new to the neighborhood, where an alarming number of children and pets have gone missing. When she is befriended by Rita Mae and her father she couldn’t be happier, until........well you will have to read it and see. 5 out of 5 stars

"Mystery Inc"  concerns a book store, and the man who wants to possess it.  I just could not get into this story at all  2 out of 5 stars

I received an advance copy for review

Liar by Rob Roberge

About Liar

An intense memoir about mental illness, memory and storytelling, from an acclaimed novelist.

When Rob Roberge learns that he’s likely to have developed a progressive memory-eroding disease from years of hard living and frequent concussions, he is terrified by the prospect of becoming a walking shadow. In a desperate attempt to preserve his identity, he sets out to (somewhat faithfully) record the most formative moments of his life—ranging from the brutal murder of his childhood girlfriend, to a diagnosis of rapid-cycling bipolar disorder, to opening for famed indie band Yo La Tengo at The Fillmore in San Francisco. But the process of trying to remember his past only exposes just how fragile the stories that lay at the heart of our self-conception really are.

As Liar twists and turns through Roberge’s life, it turns the familiar story of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll on its head. Darkly funny and brutally frank, it offers a remarkable portrait of a down and out existence cobbled together across the country, from musicians’ crashpads around Boston, to seedy bars popular with sideshow freaks in Florida, to a painful moment of reckoning in the scorched Wonder Valley desert of California. As Roberge struggles to keep addiction and mental illness from destroying the good life he has built in his better moments, he is forced to acknowledge the increasingly blurred line between the lies we tell others and the lies we tell ourselves.

This book was not at all what I expected from the description. It is unlike any memoir I have ever read, in that it is written in second person. That in itself took some getting used to. Also it reads less like a book and more like a disjointed list of events. It begins in 1977 and then jumps to 1912 and the sinking of the titanic before moving ahead to 2009 and then 2002. It's like dropping a photo album, shuffling the pictures and putting them back in no particular order. It was difficult to follow. That is not to say the events themselves were not book worthy, but the writing style was just not for me.

I received a complimentary copy for review.

About the Author

ROB ROBERGE is the author of four books of fiction, most recently The Cost of Living (2013). He teaches creative writing and his work has been widely anthologized. He also plays guitar and sings with the Los Angeles-based band the Urinals.

The Memory of Us by Camille Di Maio

Description

Julianne Westcott was living the kind of life that other Protestant girls in prewar Liverpool could only dream about: old money, silk ball gowns, and prominent young men lining up to escort her. But when she learns of a blind-and-deaf brother, institutionalized since birth, the illusion of her perfect life and family shatters around her.
While visiting her brother in secret, Julianne meets and befriends Kyle McCarthy, an Irish Catholic groundskeeper studying to become a priest. Caught between her family’s expectations, Kyle’s devotion to the Church, and the intense new feelings that the forbidden courtship has awakened in her, Julianne must make a choice: uphold the life she’s always known or follow the difficult path toward love.
But as war ripples through the world and the Blitz decimates England, a tragic accident forces Julianne to leave everything behind and forge a new life built on lies she’s told to protect the ones she loves. Now, after twenty years of hiding from her past, the truth finds her—will she be brave enough to face it?

Julianne is a beautiful girl from a wealthy family and appears to have it all. However he parents have been keeping a secret from her, and she in turn has kept secrets from them. They are not aware that she has discovered that she is a twin, or that they abandoned her brother to an institution at birth, never to see him again. They are also not aware that she visits her brother at the institution. Nor are they aware that Julianne has met and fallen in love with a young man that they would never approve of.
This was a beautiful work of historical fiction that begins before World War II and spans decades. It is a bittersweet story of a young woman finding the love of her life and the choices she is willing to make for those she loves. I had so much empathy for Julianne that at times I had tears in my eyes. I don't know when a book has last taken me on such an emotional roller coaster. I would rate it 5 out of 5 stars.

I received an advance copy for review