Nightmare Abbey 2 Edited by Tom English

 Nightmare Abbey 2 features a dozen terror tales by today's greatest horror writers:

Tons of photos and illustrations by World Fantasy Award-winner Allen Koszowski; and a look at Boris Karloff's Thriller by screenwriter and film historian Gary Gerani, and much more.
Chilling, thrilling, perhaps even terrifying tales calculated to give you sleepless nights!

It's no secret that I am addicted to short horror stories. Having loved the first volume of Nightmare Abbey I was thrilled to receive volume 2.

Like it's predecessor, volume 2 is loaded with spooky atmosphere, gorgeous illustrations, notes about each story and author, and a bit of education on the history of horror. I loved learning more about Boris Karloff's Thriller. The show was a bit before my time and although it did appear briefly in reruns during my childhood I didn't pay it a lot of attention at the time. When it came out on DVD I bought the series but never finished watching it because I thought they were all crime drama/mysteries. Now I have learned that there are some darker scarier episodes and plan to watch the rest. I also learned where Swamp Thing came from. 

Of course, the stars of Nightmare Abbey are the stories, and I had multiple favorites which I will mention briefly here, the first of which was IT by Theodore Sturgeon. This was a new to me story even though it was first published in 1940. IT is a being in the woods. It is not dead, and it is not alive, and it bears you no ill will but it will probably kill you anyway so don't hang around if you see it.

These Things That Walk Behind Me by David Surface is an unsettling bit of supernatural weirdness in which a man has reasons to fear going to sleep. Aside from the spine chilling moments of this story it also portrays what happens when you are vulnerable to the person you love and find out they aren't worthy of confiding in.

That Which Overcomes by John Lewellyn Probert begins with looking through a book and ends in sheer terror.

Tableau For Two by Gregory L. Norris finds brothers clearing out their deceased mother's belongings and stirring up memories that will leave them forever changed.

La Nina Atardecer by Steve Duffy is a vanishing hitchhiker story and though it at times felt familiar it still kicked up my anxiety and I enjoyed it immensely.

All the stories were good but those were my favorites.

If you're looking for something strange and frightening this book is for you.

My thanks to Dead Letter Press.

Get a copy

Wasps in the Ice Cream by Tim McGregor

What happens when you fall for the girl everyone hates?

Summer 1987: Mark Prewitt's only priority is to avoid his dad's new wife and waste time with his friends, but idle nights are the devil's handiwork. When his friends decide to pull a cruel prank on the reclusive and strange Farrow sisters, Mark regrets caving in to peer pressure.

Wanting to make amends, Mark is drawn into the mysterious world of the Farrow girls, finding a kindred spirit in the middle sister, George. She is unlike anyone he's ever known; a practicing witch who uses folk magic to protect her family. They bond over books, loneliness, and homemade spells. She even invites Mark to join a séance to contact her dead sister, who died under mysterious circumstances.

Keeping their relationship secret, Mark learns that living a double life in a town this small is impossible. When the secret is exposed, and his friends plot to punish the witch sisters for stealing one of their own, Mark is forced to choose between these two worlds. 
 

Teen angst, witchcraft, and mob mentality feature heavily in the coming-of-age novel Wasps in The Ice Cream by Tim McGregor.

Set in the late 80s we find Mark and his friends growing bored with summer and occasionally with each other. Mark is maturing while his pals seem to be stagnating. In the back of his mind he knows this, but peer pressure can be a dangerous thing, as can the desire to fit in.

I'm not going to say anything else about the plot. I'm just going to say it was about loneliness and waiting to fit in, growing up and growing out of friendships. It was ugly and beautiful.  I was alternately angry with Mark and sympathetic to his fear of being ostracized like the Farrow sisters. 

As for the sisters, I loved George. She is both innocent yet worldly, shy but adventurous, sheltered yet terrorized in the town and in her own home. I can't say I understand the parents, or their actions but that didn't take away from my enjoyment of the story.

4 out of 5 stars

Get a copy

About the author

The Suffering by M.J. Mars

 

“It was a suffering like no other. And, oh, how they suffered.” 
Recreating the séance that led to the infamous Victorian Suffering massacre seems like a good idea at the time. But Kyle Birbeck soon discovers that the ghosts his distant ancestor banished into the walls of Brackenby House in 1876 have been lurking, waiting for a chance to come out.

One by one the 5 terrifying ghosts latch onto each of the students who reside at Brackenby, preying on their deepest fears: A 3-eyed Incan giant. A member of the Hellfire Club who struck a deal with the devil to keep his fortune in the afterlife. A thieving factory hand who fell to his death, torturing them with endless footsteps. An oracle with a horde of dead sailors to do her bidding, and a 17th century axe-wielding executioner with a murderous hobby.

It’s up to Kyle and his friends to uncover the real secrets of the séance and banish the ghosts for good. But they soon come to realise it isn’t Brackenby House that’s haunted. They are. And the ghosts will stop at nothing to continue The Suffering…

I was first attracted by this gorgeous cover, and the synopsis intrigued me.

Starting off with a séance in a haunted house on Halloween is right up my reading alley! I was all in from the start, but for me, things moved way too slowly after the spooky beginning. It felt like a long time before things really picked up again. I think this could have been shortened by 15 pages.

I enjoyed the ghosts and their backstories more than I cared for the living characters.

The writing style wasn't always engaging and often pulled me out of the story because of it.

Example-

"He'd sat up stiffly in bed, thinking about the creepy laugh that sounded as though it had come from his pillow area."  "Torturously, he hadn't been able to stop imagining what it would be like to hear again."

You may enjoy it more than I did but this one was just not for me.

About the author

Evil Whispers by Owl Goingback

 

Robert and Janet Patterson and their young daughter, Krissy, went looking for the perfect getaway vacation spot. They found it in a backwoods Florida town. Far away from civilization. Quiet and peaceful. And terribly isolated.

Robert and Janet should have listened to the local legends. They should have heeded the warnings about the black water lagoons. And they should have listened to their daughter when she told them about the whispers in the woods. Because now, it's too late. Krissy's disappeared, and whatever took their little girl is coming back for more….

In the 1800s a group of Seminole warriors thought they put an end to Mansa Du Paul, a child-murdering voodoo practitioner who had been stealing their children for his evil rituals.

Unfortunately, they only destroyed his body, not knowing his spirit lies in wait for the chance to return. That chance comes when the Patterson family arrives for what they expect to be a relaxing vacation. 

This is my first full-length read by this author, but having previously read a few of his short stories in anthologies that I enjoyed, I have been meaning to pick up his novels ever since. I'm so glad I finally did.

Evil Whispers is old-school classic horror. An evil entity has possessed a child. Only one man suspects the truth of what has taken control of poor little Krissy Patterson but it's hard to be a hero and a suspect at the same time. He has protected others from this evil once before, but can he do it again?

I loved these characters and the mix of modern-day horror with Native American folklore. It was fast paced and suspenseful with just the right amount of murder and mayhem. The vivid descriptions had all my senses engaged. 

4 out of 5 stars

My thanks to Cemetery Dance Publications

Available for pre-order

About the author

The Spite House by Johnny Compton

Eric Ross is on the run from a mysterious past with his two daughters in tow. Having left his wife, his house, his whole life behind in Maryland, he’s desperate for money–it’s not easy to find safe work when you can’t provide references, you can’t stay in one place for long, and you’re paranoid that your past is creeping back up on you.

When he comes across the strange ad for the Masson House in Degener, Texas, Eric thinks they may have finally caught a lucky break. The Masson property, notorious for being one of the most haunted places in Texas, needs a caretaker of sorts. The owner is looking for proof of paranormal activity. All they need to do is stay in the house and keep a detailed record of everything that happens there. Provided the house’s horrors don’t drive them all mad, like the caretakers before them.

The job calls to Eric, not just because there’s a huge payout if they can make it through, but because he wants to explore the secrets of the spite house. If it is indeed haunted, maybe it’ll help him understand the uncanny power that clings to his family, driving them from town to town, making them afraid to stop running. A terrifying Gothic thriller about grief and death and the depths of a father’s love, Johnny Compton’s The Spite House is a stunning debut by a horror master in the making.

I really don't know how to talk about this plot at all without giving anything away. I will say it is not the haunted house story I expected, but something totally different and unique. I had never heard of a spite house before picking up this book. According to google "A spite house is a building constructed or substantially modified to irritate neighbors or any party with land stakes." If you look it up be sure to click on images because there are some doozies. They really do exist. Anyway...

Eric Ross and his daughters are in dire straights. They've been hiding out for unknown reasons, and money is running out. The youngest daughter has been taught that if Eric or the older daughter says run, it means she must run and hide and not come out until they find her. We are not told at this juncture what they would need her to hide from, but it was not at all what I suspected. 

When Eric sees an ad that promises a huge payout just to stay for free in a spite house and record any strange goings on it seems like just the break his family needs. This is where I thought the bumps in the night would lead to a typical haunting but instead, this story travels down a more unusual and twisty path. 

The story is told from multiple points of view, which at times made it a bit frustrating. I would have preferred fewer chapters that veered away from Eric and his daughters. Still it was a good read in "spite" of that. The ending had my jaw dropping!

3 out of 5 stars

I received an advance copy for review.

Get a copy

About the author
 

The Infection Party and Other Stories of Dis-Ease by Douglas Ford

 Douglas Ford’s first collection of horror fiction, Ape in the Ring was called a “must have collection for every horror library” by Owl Goingback. Now, from the author of the best-selling The Beasts of Vissaria County comes a new collection of tales that will infect your imagination and unsettle your dreams. In these stories, a horrific truth lies concealed beneath the wrappings of a mummy costume; a church potluck becomes the scene of a satanic communion; the ruins of a road-side attraction hides a forgotten, monstrous entity; an illicit transaction in a hotel room awakens a demonic presence; an overnight trip in the Everglades is disturbed by something unworldly preserved in an old still of moonshine; and in the title story, the presence of a black box brings dread to a gathering of teenagers.

Welcome to the party and enjoy the refreshments—if you dare!

If you enjoy short horror fiction as much as I do, these stories are for you. These 19 tales are cleverly crafted and I had multiple favorites including the title story. 

In The Infection Party a pandemic has arrived but never fear, the religious zealots have a plan, much like those who host chicken pox parties they will attempt to infect all their kids at once to get it over with. It's scientific don'tcha know! 

The Halloween Mummy is about a costume malfunction that has far-reaching consequences more dire than mere temporary embarrassment.

I Will Not Eat The Son Of God finds the fun and fellowship of a church potluck interrupted by a gluttonous stranger and his disturbing children.

When Sith Arrives, someone tries to drown a kitten and gets what they deserve.

Mama's Hand Of Glory was chopped off her dead body and kept in the china cabinet. Too bad it didn't stay there!

What Aunt Kaye Brought begins with seeing her lick the bathroom towels which let me know straight off that whatever she is bringing is nothing good and nothing anybody would want.

I enjoyed all the stories but those for me were the 5 star reads in this collection.

It's the most fun you'll ever have with plague and pestilence. Perhaps the author will tackle fire and flood next. If he does I'll be there for it!

Get a copy

About the author

Mouse Trap by Caryn Larrinaga

 Death haunts the Scott family home.
Twenty years ago, Dakota Scott’s baby brother died falling down the back stairs. Twenty-four hours ago, her older brother, Lennox, wasted away into nothing in the same house. Two deaths, just floors apart, yet no one suspects a connection.

Settling Lennox’s affairs lures Dakota back to the family’s old Victorian home overlooking Astoria. It has changed over the years—what was once a happy home is now filled with sadness, strange memories, and lights that won’t stay lit.

In the ever-growing darkness, a sinister force has awakened from a long slumber, and it is far from finished with Dakota. Her life and sanity hang in the balance—alongside everything she holds dear.

Fans of Shirley Jackson, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and Elizabeth Engstrom will love the quiet horror in this modern gothic tale.

Dakota and her adoptive parents return to their former home to settle affairs and pack up belongings after her brother's sudden death in the house. They all knew he did not like to go out but his funeral drives that point home when the attendees are people he only ever knew from the internet.

Dakota and her parents have never recovered from the first death in the home 20 years ago. The house was meant to be a place full of love and laughter. They had planned to adopt many more children, adding on bedrooms as needed. After the death of their toddler staying in the home became unbearable, and the thought of more children was just too painful. Everyone eventually went their separate ways and only Lennox stayed behind, never wanting to leave the house.

Dakota is wracked with guilt over not having visited Lennox more, and when she learns the reason why he never left the house it's all the more heartbreaking.

Mouse Trap is more a story of grief and loss than the scares I was expecting.

It's heavy with guilt and regret, loneliness and despair. I would recommend it for fans of more subtle horror with a dose of family drama as opposed to anyone looking for chills.

Get a copy

About the author