Nocturnal Pursuits by by Glenn Rolfe

Glenn Rolfe (Blood and Rain and August’s Eyes) is back with a new collection of deliciously frightening, thought-provoking horror. Whether dealing with werewolves in “The Dead Brother Situation”, a vicious cult in “The Devil’s Kin”, an evil doll in the Splatterpunk Award-nominated “Molly”, or gut-wrenching loss in “Gone Away”, these fifteen dark tales promise to entertain, cause your skin to crawl, and make you feel a little more.

Nocturnal Pursuits takes you on a journey into the heart of an author both obsessed with and afraid of the macabre. Be it a suicide woods, a crazed gas station attendant, or neighborhood enigma throwing a party, you won’t soon forget these encounters.

When the shadows fall upon the day and the living are fast asleep, Glenn Rolfe is wide-awake wrestling with aliens, demons, and the ghosts that take up the dark corners of his mind. You’ve been invited. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Don't let the title lull you into a false sense of security when the sun rises. The danger is everywhere, on land and in the water. You are just as likely to encounter evil in the dark of night as you are in a daycare or a fishing trip. You may not even be able to identify who the bad guy is or where the source of danger will come from until it's too late. It's a trap. Trust nothing and no-one. My favorites were The Guide, which is one of the more milder stories, less about terror and more about loss. You Can Have It All Back in which a terminally ill woman on hospice care begins to hear a voice. Out Of Range is a great example of not knowing where the danger will come from, and having no way to prepare or protect yourself. Kelvin's World is revenge with a twist.

If you love short horror stories as much as I do, this book is for you. Nocturnal Pursuits is full of murderous surprises.

4 out of 5 stars

I received an advance copy for review.

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A Nest of Nightmares by Lisa Tuttle

 In Lisa Tuttle’s stories, the everyday domestic world of her female protagonists is invaded by the bizarre, the uncanny, the horrific. In ‘Bug House’, a woman who goes to visit her aunt is shocked to find she is dying – but even more shocking is what is killing her. The divorcing couple in ‘Community Property’ arrive at a macabre solution for how to divide ownership of a beloved pet. In ‘Flying to Byzantium’, a writer travelling to a science fiction convention finds herself caught in a strange and terrifying hell. The thirteen tales in this collection are highly original and extremely chilling, and they reveal Tuttle to be a master of contemporary horror fiction.

Never before published in the United States and highly sought-after by collectors, A Nest of Nightmares (1986) is a classic of modern horror. This new edition features the original paperback cover art by Nick Bantock and a new introduction by Will Errickson.

First off Happy Thanksgiving to those in the USA

This is likely to be my only review this week due to the baking frenzy I'm currently in. My reading time has been drastically reduced at the moment.

I love that Valancourt Books is re-releasing all these great horror classics from the 70s and 80s. I have been on a mission to read the ones I have missed the first time around. If you also missed out or were too young back in the heyday of horror I strongly recommend checking out all that is available from Valancourt.

A Nest of Nightmares contains 13 short stories originally published in 1986. They feel surprisingly timeless other than one person's desperate need to make a phone call which made that particular story feel dated, though anyone who survived the years without a cell phone will still understand what it was like to not have constant and instant access to make a call.

The stories are quite dark and more than one tale focuses on the dissolution of a relationship, where the horror is perhaps the feeling of being left out, abandoned, forgotten and lost. There is the conventional creature feature type horror, and haunted objects and a weirdly current feeling in the  tale of a woman looking forward to the fence she's heard they are building to keep people from getting into the country from Mexico. There were only a couple of stories that missed the mark with me. I would recommend this to all who enjoy short horror stories with unexpected endings.

4 out of 5 stars

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About the author

Lisa Tuttle taught a science fiction course at the City Lit College, part of London University, and has tutored on the Arvon courses. She was residential tutor at the Clarion West SF writing workshop in Seattle, USA. She has published six novels and two short story collections. Many of her books have been translated into French and German editions. She has also written under the name Maria Palmer.

The Legend of the Dogman by David C. Posthumus

 

Something dark and malevolent stalks the majestic Northwoods of Michigan, and each corpse sends a new wave of terror through the small town of LeRoy. Anthropology professor Jack Allen uncovers a pattern of strange encounters, disappearances, and unsolved murders that shake him to his core. The deeper Jack delves into the horror in the woods, the more his life falls apart around him. With his family and all of Northern Michigan hanging in the balance, Jack must find a way to stop the cycle or risk losing everything to the ultimate predator. Meet a new kind of monster in David C. Posthumus’s bone-chilling suspenseful thriller, The Legend of the Dogman! 

The legend of the Dogman goes back for centuries. Whether anyone believes in it or not it doesn't stop the sightings and carnage that occur in every year that ends in a seven.

The bodies are starting to pile up in LeRoy. Mutilated animals and massacred humans are being discovered at an alarming rate. Is there a crazed murderer on the loose or could there be a monster afoot?

Part family saga, part supernatural horror this chilling read kept me turning the pages late into the night. There were some spots were the pace was a little slow for my taste but I loved the whole family dynamic and how what happened with Jack as a child shaped the man he has become. Family is everything to him and he will need their help to deal with this threat. Who will survive the Legend of the Dogman?

4 out of 5 stars

I received an advance copy under no obligation to write a review.

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The Waiting by Hunter Shea

 

Newlywed Cassandra Pagano lies in a state between life and death, her body fed and preserved by the machines at her side. While she struggles, unaware of the world around her, someone waits a boy. A phantom that appears solid, real, "alive." Cassandra s husband, Brian, sees him in the house, by her bedside, running down darkened hallways. The boy walks without sound, whispers words that can t be deciphered.

Terror and tension are driving Brian to the breaking point. Why is the boy there, and what does he want with Cassandra and her fading soul? 

A newlywed suffering a deadly infection is rushed to the hospital from her wedding reception. The prognosis is looking pretty bleak and the husband decides that if she has any chance of recovery it will be in their new home instead of the cold sterile hospital.

He brings her home, where he and her mother attempt to care for her along with a visiting nurse.

What he doesn't know, is the history of his new home or why a ghostly apparition of a boy begins to appear.

This was a quick read, more sad than scary, more emotional than chilling, until suddenly the ending gave me a solid case of the heebie jeebies. 

4 out of 5 stars

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher under no obligation to write a review.

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The Beasts of Vissaria County by Douglas Ford

 

For Maggie McKenzie, repairing a shattered life becomes more complicated when a stranger takes up residence in the ruins of an old Florida estate with a macabre history. This stranger brings with him a sinister magic and an obsession with the disturbed grave of a witch. Maggie’s troubled past becomes part of a larger, darker legacy of curses and bloody rituals, as well as a variety of beasts, both human and supernatural, that will prey upon her and those she loves. The Beasts of Vissaria County is a mix-tape of gothic horror, a love letter to weird fiction and dubbed late-night horror films.

Maggie has taken her young son and fled an abusive marriage. Moving in with her father is a less than ideal situation, especially considering she doesn't trust him not to tell her husband that she's there. Keeping her husband at bay will become only one of the perils she must face when she meets the stranger who has moved in to what her father calls the Sabbath house.

Is he only a man or something more? And what's up with the giant footprints Maggie's father sees around their home?

The Beasts of Vissaria County is a slow burn horror steeped in folklore and legend. If you enjoy dark and atmospheric tales that pull the old days into modern times this is for you.

4 out of 5 stars

I received a complimentary copy from the author under no obligation to write a review.

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About the author

Douglas Ford lives and works on the west coast of Florida, just off an exit made famous by a Jack Ketchum short story. He is the author of a recent collection of weird fiction, Ape in the Ring and Other Tales of the Macabre and Uncanny, as well as the novel, The Beasts of Vissaria County. His short stories have appeared in such venues as Dark Moon Digest, Tales to Terrify, Weird City, along with The Best Hardcore Horror, Volumes Three and Four. His novella, The Reattachment, appeared in 2019 courtesy of Madness Heart Press.

Dead Inside by Chandler Morrison

 

In this bleak and disturbingly erotic debut novel, iconoclast Chandler Morrison provides readers with a dark exploration of the nature of death, individuality, and generational identity. Along the way, lines will be crossed, taboos will be violated, and common decency will take an extended leave of absence. This is not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach. Or anyone who enjoyed Fifty Shades of Grey.

A young hospital security guard with a disturbingly unique taste in women. A maternity doctor with a horrifically unusual appetite. When the two of them meet, they embark on a journey of self-discovery as they shatter societal norms while engaging in destructive and abhorrent behavior. As they unwittingly help each other understand a world in which neither of them seems to belong, they begin to realize what it truly means to be alive...and that it might not always be a good thing.

So a necrophiliac and a cannibal walk into a bar...well actually it was a restaurant but whatever.

I bought this book because just about everyone was talking about it last year. Now that I've read it I'm not sure what to do with it. It's not a book that I will display proudly on my shelves. It's not a book I would feel comfortable donating, it's not even a book that I would want anyone to find in my belongings after I'm gone. I'm barely willing to admit that I've read it. The writing is mediocre and the plot if you could call it that is gross just for the sake of shock value. I like my horror to be scary, and this is not it. I guess I would recommend it to readers who like gross out horror. I would not recommend it for anyone who expects it to be as claimed in the synopsis "disturbingly erotic" or a "dark exploration of the nature of death"

I figured I could handle it since I've read a lot of Edward Lee, the author who holds the distinction of writing the only book that ever literally made me gag,  I was right, I made it to the end without throwing up, but I prefer to get more out of a book than just not vomiting.

2 out of 5 stars

The Remaking by Clay McLeod Chapman

 

Ella Louise has lived in the woods surrounding Pilot’s Creek, Virginia, for nearly a decade. Publicly, she and her daughter Jessica are shunned by their upper-crust family and the Pilot’s Creek residents. Privately, desperate townspeople visit her apothecary for a cure to what ails them—until Ella Louise is blamed for the death of a prominent customer. Accused of witchcraft, both mother and daughter are burned at the stake in the middle of the night. Ella Louise’s burial site is never found, but the little girl has the most famous grave in the South: a steel-reinforced coffin surrounded by a fence of interconnected white crosses.

Their story will take the shape of an urban legend as it’s told around a campfire by a man forever marked by his boyhood encounters with Jessica. Decades later, a boy at that campfire will cast Amber Pendleton as Jessica in a ’70s horror movie inspired by the Witch Girl of Pilot’s Creek. Amber’s experiences on that set and its meta-remake in the ’90s will ripple through pop culture, ruining her life and career after she becomes the target of a witch hunt. Amber’s best chance to break the cycle of horror comes when a true-crime investigator tracks her down to interview her for his popular podcast. But will this final act of storytelling redeem her—or will it bring the story full circle, ready to be told once again? And again. And again…

Well this is awkward. Whisper Down The Lane by this author is going on my best horror of the year list. I thought I would love this book too but I didn't care for it much.

Ella Louise has been ostracized from her family and from the town. She keeps to herself and is rarely seen by anyone. On one of her rare trips for supplies when it is noticed that she is pregnant, the gossip mongers chitter away that it must be the devils child. As her daughter grows they are both shunned, except when people visit for potions and tinctures to cure their ails or get even with those who've offended them. When one such tincture leads to a death the mother and child are burned as witches.

Years later terrifying things happen to a child playing the part of the daughter in a movie filming in the graveyard...

I was all set to love this book. It's got the makings of absolutely everything I could want. However it was really difficult for me to connect with the writing style, which is all over the place, and unbearably repetitive. Words. so many of the same words. Words being typed on my keyboard. Words showing up on the page, on the review, in my head, words combining to create this review, the review that I will post here on the page, the page of the internet, the page you are reading...

Are you ready to tell me to shut up yet? Because for me this is what it was like reading this book.

2 out of 5 stars.

The Hidden by Melanie Golding

 

One dark December night, in a small seaside town, a little girl is found abandoned. When her mother finally arrives, authorities release the pair, believing it to be an innocent case of a toddler running off.

Gregor, a seemingly single man, is found bludgeoned and left for dead in his apartment, but the discovery of children’s toys raises more questions than answers.

Every night, Ruby gazes into Gregor’s apartment, leading to the discovery of his secret family: his unusually silent daughter and his mentally unstable wife, Constance, who insists that she is descended from the mythological Selkies. She begs Ruby to aid in finding the sealskin that Gregor has hidden from her, making it impossible to return to her people.

DS Joanna Harper’s investigation into Gregor’s assault leads her to CCTV footage of the mother-daughter pair from town. Harper realizes she knows the woman almost as well as she knows herself: it’s her estranged daughter, Ruby. No matter the depth of Ruby’s involvement, she knows she will choose her daughter over her career.

Ruby is a single woman, lonely, estranged from her family, living her solitary existence, when she notices the man in the apartment across from her. Gregor is young, handsome, seemingly shy, and when Ruby orchestrates a meeting with him she has no idea the perils that await her.

When she enters Gregor's apartment she meets Constance, the woman who lives with him. Gregor says they are together but not "in that way." They share a daughter, who is the product of a one night stand. Constance is mentally ill says Gregor, he allows her to live there because he is helping her. It sounds plausible except for the chilling words Constance speaks to Ruby when they are alone. "What has he told you?" and "Do you believe him?"

This was a captivating mystery with touches of folklore and mythology and loaded with suspense. It also has all the feels that go along with dysfunctional family drama and larger than life characters.

There were times that for me, the police scenes went on a bit long. Even though one of the officers is an indispensable part of the story I just wanted to get back to what was going on with Constance and Ruby. You may feel differently, I just tend to get bored with police investigations.

4 out of 5 stars

I read a digital copy through Netgalley  under no obligation to write a review.

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Things That Don't Belong in the Light by Matt Starr

What is your deepest fear? Things that exist in plain sight?
Those that hide in the darkest corners of your soul? 
Our deepest fears come in many forms. The seen and the hidden.
The real and the imagined. The flesh and the incorporeal.
Between the covers of this book, you'll find a bit of all this.
Monsters, real and imagined. The familiar and the alien.
So open the book. Be prepared to confront your worst fears.

Things That Don't Belong in the Light

Last year I read Prepare To Meet Thy God by Matt Starr and it ended up on my best horror of 2020 list. When I saw this short story collection I knew I had to read it.

These stories are dark and multifaceted. They don't always lead where you think they're going to take you. I'm just going to touch briefly on my absolute favorites.

 Debris is the tale of a man haunted not by a spirit but by an event. As he rushes off to be with his dying mother it made me wonder if we create our own fate or are we just steered along by circumstance. This is one that really creeped me out.

The Suffering of Jolie Bell is about a travel blogger looking for the next haunted place to write about. Generally she makes things up as she goes along, but this time she may have found the real thing.

The Light on the Other Side of the Crawl Space features two things that for some reason paired well together, a dysfunctional family and an awful lot of spiders. This was one of the more gruesome stories which is probably why I loved it. 

In Devil Like You a pharmacist is asked to provide the drugs that will end the life of a death row inmate but consequences follow.

Last but not least is I Was Not Offended which is an original twist on the old myth of selling souls for musical ability. Whether you are familiar enough with the legends to start humming about being down at the crossroads or whether you have no idea what I'm rambling on about this is one story that won't give you the blues. 

4 out of 5 stars

I received an advance copy from the publisher under no obligation to write a review.

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Peel Back and See by Mike Thorn

In spaces both familiar and strange, unknowable horrors lurk.

From the recesses of the Internet, where cosmic terror shows its face on an endless live feed, to a museum celebrating the sordid legacy of an occultist painter, this chilling collection of sixteen short stories will plunge you into the eerie, pessimistic imagination of Mike Thorn.

Peel Back and See urges its readers to look closer, to push past surface-level appearances and face the things that stir below.

I'm on a roll with short stories lately, and he's another collection with several I enjoyed.

If you like your fiction dark and disturbing this is for you.

My favorites were Mini McDonagh Manor that shows us you can't go home again, or maybe it's just safer if you stay away!

Mr. Murcata's Final Requests, is about the assistant of a dying man who does her best to fulfill his strange demands... until she makes an interesting discovery. @GorgoYama will make you think twice about those lovely friends you've connected with online. Wouldn't it be nice to meet them in person? Take this story as a warning before you do. 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. The Finger Collectors is a job title, it pays well as long as you don't ask questions. This was such a bizarre story it's hard to describe but I loved it.

The Furnace Room Mutant is something some high schoolers are just dying to see, but they should not have tricked their school mate into getting that key.

Virus is more than something that can mess up your computer and could be viewed as a cautionary tale before you click on any untrusted download links.

These were my favorites, yours may be different, you'll never know unless you peel back and see.

4 out of 5 stars

I received a digital copy from the author under no obligation to write a review.

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