Kevin J. Kennedy presents Backwoods

Civilization ends where the back roads begin.

Beyond the highways and city lights lie forgotten places where old grudges fester, dark secrets are passed from generation to generation, and outsiders are rarely welcome. Deep in the mountains, forests, hollers, and farmlands, something waits in the shadows.

In these chilling tales, travelers become prey, families guard unspeakable traditions, and entire communities hide horrors that have endured for centuries. Ancient forces lurk beneath the wilderness, twisted killers roam isolated roads, and the land itself seems determined to consume anyone who dares enter. Here, help is miles away, escape is never certain, and every wrong turn can become your last.

From cursed Appalachian valleys and remote Ozark towns to forgotten forests and desolate plains, some of horror's darkest nightmares emerge from places untouched by the modern world. The monsters of the backwoods are many—some human, some not—but all are deadly.

Featuring an unforgettable lineup of horror authors, Backwoods explores the terror that thrives far from civilization, where the trees grow thick, the roads disappear, and the screams go unheard.

Because out here, you're on their land.

Backwoods contains a spectacular lineup of some excellent authors, and hot damn, I was excited to read this one.

Not all of the stories were new to me, but not only am I ok with that, I was thrilled to see one of my favorite folk horror stories of all time included here, so let me start right off by telling you about The Corn Maidens by Brian Moreland. In 1933, a 14-year-old girl was ostracized by her community. Physically tossed, kicking and screaming while she begged not to be turned away from her family, though they did nothing to protect her. Her crime? A gift that they, in their ignorance, believed to be evil. I envy you if this will be your first time reading this one.

Another favorite was Consumption by Ronald Kelly, told in a down home folksy way. This is the story of a terrible occurrence suffered by Pap Wilson on his way home from digging ginseng, and the bloody aftermath that follows.

Sick 'Un by Elizabeth Massie begins in a one room school house where the new teacher, Miss Jones is trying to ascertain the whereabouts of a missing student. Nobody else seems to be concerned. When she discovers that there is a history of missing students in one particular backwoods family, she decides to pay them a visit. Of course, no good deed goes unpunished.

A young couple's long peaceful drive down the back roads of Maine takes a dangerous turn in The Archer by Glenn Rolfe. If your car ever breaks down on a lonely stretch of road, trust no one!

A man who feels he has been wronged by a neighbor's trespassing goats seeks revenge and finds himself cursed in The Mountain Witch of Old by Josh Davis. Let that be a lesson to you, we all need to get along with our neighbors.

A young man with an abusive father uncovers a shocking secret in The Perfect Hiding Place by Dawn DeBraal. 

I enjoyed all of the stories, but these were my absolute favorites. Whether you like your horror to feature creepy creatures, supernatural beings, strange customs, or mere mortal psychos, there is something for you in the Backwoods.

 My thanks to KJK Publishing

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Movie Review - New Year’s Absolution

 

"New Year's Absolution" follows a group of long-time friends as they gather for their annual New Year's Eve party, where they exchange anonymous resolutions that have brought excitement and change to their lives in the past.

However, this year, a dark resolution - "Kill Someone" - creates chaos when it falls into the hands of Jacob, a stressed police officer, who believes it's a threat against him. What follows is a series of tragic events, leading to escalating tensions, cover-ups, and death. As deep buried secrets come to light, the festive celebration descends into a chaotic and bloody night, forcing the survivors to make a chilling decision...

I was invited to watch an early screener of New Year’s Absolution.

A group of friends gather for their annual New Year's party to eat, drink and be merry. It's all fun and games until someone is left to bleed to death in this outrageous horror/comedy from director Nick Leisure, arriving on VOD from Scatena & Rosner Films on July 14, just in time for Christmas in July.

"The film poses a terrifying question: What if your New Year's resolution wasn't to improve your life—but to take someone else's? Blending suspense, horror, and shocking twists, New Years Absolution turns a familiar holiday tradition into a deadly game of obsession, revenge, and murder."

 In their usual tradition, each friend will anonymously add a resolution to be selected at random. Whoever pulls it out of a hat must adhere to it. This year, when it's Jacob's turn to select, his resolution simply states "Kill Someone." Who would write such a thing? And Why? Was it as random as it's meant to be or was it intended for Jacob all along? Because conveniently, Jacob is a cop who brought a loaded gun to this party.

There were a few laughs and gallons of blood in this frightfully festive seasonal horror. It presents a dark but humorous look at secrets, friendships, and betrayal. I had a lot of fun watching this one and trying to guess who, if anyone, would survive to ring in the new year because, frankly, I did not trust any of these people.

New Year's Absolution stars Michael Copon (One Tree Hill), Josh Gilmer, and Joel Brady (Men in Black 3) alongside Rafael Siegel, Shala White, Victorya Brandart, Siddalee Diaz, and Lamondo Hill II. The film is written by Damion Stephens, produced by Justin Nesbitt, and executive produced by Adam Secondo and Russ Wyluda. 

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Thirst by Darren Simpson

Nobody talks about the strange happenings in Maimsbury. No one speaks of the hooded figures glimpsed in the woods, nor the children's game that went so horribly wrong. But most of all, nobody dares whisper their doubts about the river they have worshipped for centuries.

Like everyone in Maimsbury, Gorse is used to the sacrifices made every spring to the River Yeelde. The life of a farm animal - in return for a year of plenty - seems a fair trade. That is, until a tragedy leads Gorse to a blood-curdling discovery.

Because this year is a Brim Year, and after giving so much, the river needs more than an animal's life to sate its thirst...

* Trigger Warning (non-graphic) animal abuse *

 Three young friends are playing a game in the woods, but only two of them will ever make it home. The villagers of  Maimsbury hold an ominous secret. They know why people disappear from time to time.
Then there is Faye, a girl from a different town where crops have failed, hunger is rampant, and her family is starving. She sees her mother eating less and less so that the few pitiful scraps they have can be shared by Faye and her little brother. She is determined to go out on her own to find work. She makes her way to Maimsbury, where food and work seem plentiful, but so is the danger to outsiders this year.

Thirst is a YA coming-of-age folk horror that pulled me in immediately. The strange customs that everyone is willing to go along with unquestioningly begin to falter when one teen discovers the much darker reason his mother has for making sacrifices to the River Yeelde. I loved the atmosphere and the message about making hard choices and standing up for what you believe in, even when the odds are against you, as one teen discovers that just because it's the way things have always been done doesn't make it right.

My thanks to Pushkin Children's Books.

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About the author

Bad Things Happen Here by Mark Morris

 In 2004 a group of six students, who have newly arrived at university and quickly become friends, are beset by supernatural forces, which seem to centre around a 5th floor room in an otherwise innocuous student hall of residence. So insidious and terrifying is their ordeal that one of the six commits suicide, an act which drives an irreparable wedge between the rest.

Twenty years later, the remaining five friends are all living very different lives. Hannah Prentice is a divorcee with two children, the youngest of whom is being badly bullied at school, and a mother who is showing the first signs of dementia; Jess Maple is a professional artist, who is just about to break into the big time; Steve Lazenby is a successful architect, whose eight-year-old daughter is suffering from delusions and nightmares; Max Bradshaw is a self-employed plumber, happily married with three children, whose fourteen-year-old son has fallen in with the wrong crowd; and Michael Vance, bohemian and charismatic at university, is now a drug-addicted vagrant, who harbours a terrible secret…

Although the five friends have not been in contact for almost two decades, they are gradually drawn back together when their lives begin to fall apart. What happened to them twenty years ago seems to be seeping back into the present, affecting not just them this time, but their children, their partners, their loved ones.

As the terrifying visions, the violence and the madness escalate, they must mobilise forces and once again confront the horror in Room 55

Former college besties who have not seen each other since a tragedy drove them apart twenty years ago are suddenly besieged by dark forces from the past.

Told on two timelines, the story begins in the present day, where Hannah, Jess, Steve, Max, and Michael are living very different lives, when Michael appears at Hannah's door out of the blue with a dire message. 

"It was in me, but it's out. warn the others."
This is the catalyst for a string of terrifying events that not everyone will survive.

We learn through flashbacks about the strange occurrences that took place twenty years ago in the creepy haunted dorm room on the fifth floor, where "bad things" have happened, but it's the present day where the true evil is manifesting now that Michael can no longer contain the entity.

I was most engaged with Max, Hannah, and Steve's points of view, mainly because they all had families and children who were involved in some of the scariest scenes. There were some things in particular that happened to Hannah's mom that I am not sure I'll ever get over! If you are in the mood for an unnerving supernatural horror, this is for you.

My thanks to Flame Tree Press for the paperback ARC.

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