White Noise Press – The Chapbooks Edited by Keith Minnion

 

White Noise Press - The Chapbooks is an anthology of 21 original short stories first published by White Noise Press as limited edition, signed and numbered chapbooks. This edition is fully illustrated, with new Story Notes by the authors, written especially for this edition. Contributors include Brian Keene, Richard Chizmar, Mary SanGiovanni, Gary Braunbeck, Elizabeth Massie, Jeff Strand, Alison Littlewood, James A. Moore, Kealan Patrick Burke, Gary McMahon, and eleven others!

I missed out on these limited edition chapbooks when they were first published. Imagine my delight at being invited to read them all here, collected in a single volume, complete with author notes and illustrations.

This anthology contains 21 stories by some of my favorite authors.

There are tales of murder, compulsions, invisible monsters, werewolves, and more.

A few of my favorites were How the Wind Lies by Brian James Freeman, about a family of homesteaders who have moved west to escape the dangers in the eastern colonies. This was historical horror fiction at its finest.

I have always had a feeling that cats ruled the world, but Cozzy's Question by Matt Bechtel and Bob Booth proves that they are worthy of the honor.

Detectives find the motive for a series of brutal child murders in No Songs For The Stars by Mary SanGiovanni. 

There's a Blubird in My Heart by Gary McMahon holds the answer to whether monsters are real or merely a conspiracy theory. 

A church sponsored camping trip leaves a small group of boys and their chaperones forever changed in The Church of Dead Languages by James Newman and Jason Brannon.

Halves by Brian Keene is a chilling tale of imaginary friends who might be more than make-believe, and an outdoor cat who likes to leave gifts at the door.

There are so many great stories in here, but those are the ones that stuck in my mind.

If you like dark fiction, White Noise can be music to your ears.

My thanks to Keith Minnion for the paperback.

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The Neon Revelation by T.T. Madden

 

The town of Columbia is a place of miracles. Or so they say. The home of a secretive religious group that claims to have an angel among their ranks, to Roan, it's nothing more than a target, the place responsible for the death of her beloved Nico, a place she plans on burning down entirely. But Roan knows, as a transwoman, if she's caught within Columbia's borders, she'll surely be killed. But when Columbia's strange angel seems to choose Roan for some higher purpose, the believers have to choose a side, and prepare for a second coming none of them could have ever prophesied.

Roan has lost the love of her life, and she knows who to blame and where to find him. She does worry that it won't be easy to blend in as a transwoman approaching a religious sect to murder one of their own, but her grief and rage propel her forward. She finds more than just the object of her revenge in this cult like atmosphere. She develops a strong connection with the wife of their leader, and she sure would like to stick around to see the angel they claim to have in the barn.

I usually enjoy anything with cults, or angels and demons but there were a few off notes here that just landed wrong for me. For one thing Roan recalls a time in school before she transitioned when a boy asked why she couldn't just hold her period in. What? I had to go back and reread to make sure I hadn't misunderstood that Roan is a trans woman. Surely the author knows that transgender women do not get periods. Not even after they transition. I would have liked more info on the angel if that is what it really was, and why something that powerful would just hang around in a barn.

I think the concept of this book was clever, but it was too rushed to really come to life for me. You may enjoy it more than I did. I hate to end the reading year on a sour note, but this book was not for me, and is likely to be my last of the year, or at least until after Christmas.

My thanks to Timber Ghost Press for the e-ARC

EVIL: Short Stories of Horror by Kevin Bachar

 Ten-year-old Cassie is playing in the ball pit at a shabby fast-food palace when she feels something bite her leg and it doesn't want to let go.

The passengers on a cross-country bus trip make a stop that changes the lives of everyone on it, and reveals that one of the riders is hiding a horrific secret.

The locals in a remote mountain town know about the wind that supposedly can kill people; they avoid it at all costs. But when a young college meteorologist comes to study it, will he heed their warnings?

From the writer who brought you the best-selling short story collections DREAD, CREEP, and CURSED comes a new set of tales that will make you lock the doors and turn on the lights. EVIL forces you to confront the most terrifying element in our world - EVIL. In each story, we see how it manifests and then consumes those who dare to think they can battle it. In this book, GOOD doesn't triumph over EVIL; it runs away and cowers under the bed and hopes and prays it goes away and never comes back. Can you handle something that is filled with pure EVIL?

In an unusual mix, this collection contains dark tales, one novella, a drabble, and a singular factual account with names and places changed for privacy purposes.

There are serial killers, strange creatures, an unexpected ghost story and supernatural events that should please any palate. 

The author turns ordinary everyday situations, such as a quick stop for fast food or a visit to a mountain cabin, into hideous consequences.

I am not a flash fiction fan, and with a drabble being even shorter, that was the only part I could have done without. I am not usually a fan of stories told through emails or texts, but The Cabin, written in that style, turned out to be one of my favorites. It increased the suspense and created a scary, intense read. It made me feel like I was there and unable to help with a terrifying emergency situation. 

Another favorite was the novella length story Breezy. You'll think twice before the next time you say it's only the wind!

4 out of 5 stars

My thanks to the author for the e-copy.

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About the author

Dark Sisters by Kristi DeMeester

 

Three women. Three centuries. One legacy of fury, love, and a power that refuses to die

In this fiercely captivating novel, horror meets historical fiction when a curse bridges generations, binding the fates of three women. Anne Bolton, a healer facing persecution for witchcraft, bargains with a dark entity for protection—but the fire she unleashes will reverberate for centuries. Mary Shephard, a picture perfect wife in a suffocating community, falls for Sharon and begins a forbidden affair that could destroy them both. And Camilla Burson, the rebellious daughter of a preacher, defies conformist expectations to uncover an ancient power as her father’s flock spirals into crisis.

Dark Sisters is a captivating historical horror fiction that spans centuries of oppression against women and their ultimate revenge.

I loved the oldest timeline the best, with Anne Bolton in the 1700s, and I 

loved to hate her daughter, Florence, who chose to be blinded by religious dogma. This is where the curse comes from that plagues the women of Hawthorne Springs for centuries to come.

The women are subjugated under the guise of God's will by greedy, selfish men who hold a horrific secret. Any woman or girl who shows an ounce of backbone is sent off to "retreat" in order to be led back to the rightful path of knowing her place. This worked for centuries until a preacher's daughter refused to sit by and let her mother and her best friend suffer.

If you are in the mood for a witchy supernatural tale of greed, feminine rage, and betrayal,  here you have it. Find out for yourself if the dark sisters are something to be feared or revered. 

My thanks to St Martin's Press for the invitation to read this book.

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