Appalachian Winter Hauntings: Weird Tales from the Mountains

 Appalachian Winter Hauntings includes eleven bone-chilling accounts-penned by many of the preeminent storytellers in the business-that are appropriate to the Appalachian region and relative to the heart of the holiday season. This anthology, edited by Michael Knost and Mark Justice, is designed for cozying up close to a blazing fireplace on the coldest of winter nights. Contributors include: Ronald Kelly, Brian J. Hatcher, Patricia Hughes, Steve Vernon, S. Clayton Rhodes, Steve Rasnic Tem, Sara J. Larson, Scott Nicholson, J.G. Faherty. EmmaLee Pallai, and Elizabeth Massie. The texture is gritty and the stories are moving. Think Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" turned up a notch with a ghostly Appalachian backdrop. So, pour yourself a mug of hot cocoa, wrap your favorite blanket around you, and brace yourself for ghostly stories and weird encounters that take place in the shadows of snowy hilltops or along icy mountain trails. Family friendly.

This was a case of "Don't judge a book by its cover" but that is what I did. I saw this gorgeous cover and expected some terrifying tales. Had I read the description down to the very bottom I would have noticed the "family friendly" part at the end. I believe that may be the reason this book has so few reviews. The cover may have caught the eye of horror fans like me while turning off its target audience, which would be people of all ages who like ghost stories. 

These tales are not gory horror. and there is nothing particularly scary. They are more in tune with the classic style of  "Ghost Stories for Christmas."

Most of the stories are heartwarming, poignant, and bittersweet.

There is some Christmas cheer but I'm not sure I would recommend this book to anyone who struggles with depression at this time of year. There is much poverty, sadness, grief, and loss in these wintery tales, more than a few of which left me feeling quite melancholy even though some of the ghosts offered solace to the living. A couple of these stories had me close to tears. 

All of the stories except The Peddler's Journey by Ronald Kelly were new to me. I had read that one in a different collection. It's one of my favorites about a spirit with unfinished business.

A Sky Full of Stars and a Big Green Forever by Steve Vernon is a lonely tale of a man spending another Christmas on his own.. I think the message conveyed was not to let grief steal what's left of your life.

A man returns to his childhood home after the death of his parents in Smoke In A Bottle by Steve Rasnic Tem. Clearing out the house brings back childhood memories that look a bit different through the eyes of an adult.

The Nativity Tray by Sara J. Larson is one of the stories that had me close to tears. A grief-stricken woman who has lost her family to tragedy prepares for her lonely Christmas Eve until she is interrupted by a visitor.

Apple Head Dolly by Scott Nicholson was closer to the type of story I was expecting to find here.  No ghosts in this one, just a boy who is resentful of his sister when his financially struggling parents spend more on her Christmas presents than his,

The Christmas Letter by Emmalee Pallai is another story that had me a little misty eyed. A boy who lost his dad when he was too young to remember him gets an unforgettable Christmas gift that he will always cherish.

Beggars at Dawn by Elizabeth Massie is about a man at the end of his rope, who finds a reason to hold on a little longer.

So bottom line, I would recommend this anthology to anyone who likes ghost stories, but not for someone specifically in search of a scary read.

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Cursed by Leigh Kenny

 Have you ever agreed to something without understanding the consequences? What would you do if a cursed object came into your possession? Burn it? Seek spiritual help? Pass it on?

This is the impossible choice Curtis must face as a sinister entity is thrust upon him. As the walls close in and the evil takes hold, he must act before his life is forever altered.

Curtis is haunted.
Curtis is afraid.
Curtis is... Cursed

The ideal read for fans of horror, mystery thrillers, possessions, and supernatural beings. The Grudge meets Drag Me To Hell, Cursed is the story of one man's relentless journey through darkness and isolation, as he discovers how far he's willing to go to save himself and those closest to him.

Cursed is a fairly straight forward horror novella debut from Leigh Kenny. 

The unlucky protagonist in Cursed is a likable young man named Curtis, who is a trash collector, having an ordinary day in his workaday life until he unknowingly accepts a cursed object from a woman in obvious distress. Curtis notices strange symbols and markings on this otherwise run-of-the-mill cardboard box he has accepted, but still, he assumes it is only trash that she is asking him to take because it wouldn't fit in her garbage bin. He throws it away and thinks no more about it... until it reappears, and it's not as empty as he first thought.

I liked Curtis, and I anxiously awaited a solution to the curse he was saddled with. I wanted him to be ok. There were several chilling scenes as the curse took deeper hold, along with the suspense of "will he or won't he" be able to escape it's clutches. 

This was a quick and creepy read and a praiseworthy first book.

My thanks to Leigh Kenny.

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Nightmare Abbey 4 Edited by Tom English

Nightmare Abby 4 is a delight to behold. I'm going to confess something to you that I have never admitted in the bookish world before...

I often skim or skip the introductions to books. (I'm sorry but it's true.) But I never skip the introductions here because Tom English is a hoot in the Dear Abbey section, which tells you what to expect and is a damn sight clever in the process.

The artwork is gorgeous and every volume contains top-notch fiction, and of course, the stories are my favorite part but I also learn something new every time. Nightmare Abbey is informative as well as entertaining. This volume contains an interview with Paul Finch, in which is mentioned an old TV show from the 70's called Beasts. I had never heard of it before and I love all those old spooky series so I immediately had to search it out and grab a copy on DVD.

As for the stories I enjoyed them all, but the ones that stood out the most to me were Finding The Hollow Man by David Surface about the sole survivor in a group of kids who entered a cave 50 years ago. She has never told anyone the whole truth of what happened until now. You can be the first to hear it.

Another favorite was Devils of Lakeland by Paul Finch in which a man traces his deceased brother's last steps in an attempt to answer whether his death was a suicide or an accident. The answer he finds is shocking and unexpected. The ending shook me a bit.

Invasive Species by Helen Grant also deals with deceased relatives, this time as a woman who has been estranged from her father tries to reach him before his death. Finding out she would be too late didn't stop her but she would have been better off if it had. This was one of the creepier stories and not the first I have enjoyed by this author. I think it's time for me to look into her full length novels because she is adept at building tension and spine-tingly suspense.

The Brightest Heaven by John Llewellyn Probert a weekend writing course and a chance meeting lead two writers on a hunt for a muse. Consequences await.

Two couples meet by chance or proximity on their vacations in paradise in Get Away by Ray Cluley. You may have heard that beauty is in the eye of the beholder but in this story, the same can be said for the sea. Don't look too long or too deep you may not like what you see.

Last but not least in my favorites was Sundown In Duffield by Steve Rasnic Tem.This was a frightening and emotional story about a man with dementia who convinces his grandson to take him to visit his childhood home. He can't remember why he and his family had to flee but he should have stayed away.

If you like short horror stories, and learning about classic horror movies you may have missed, along with gorgeous still shots from the films and amazing artwork you need all 4 volumes of Nightmare Abbey.

My thanks to Dead Letter Press.

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The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror: Volume 4 Edited by Paula Guran

 The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror series returns with a splendidly startling fourth volume!

From paranormal plots to stories of the supernatural, tales of the unfamiliar have always fascinated us humans. To keep the tradition alive, fantasy aficionado Paula Guran has gathered the most delightfully disturbing work from some of today’s finest writers of the fantastique!

No two mysterious shadows are alike, and the same can be said for the books in this series. T he Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, Volume 4 contains more than three hundred pages of mystical fiction. Reader beware and indulge if you dare, because these chilling tales are sure to spook and surprise!

The Year's Best Dark Fantasy and Horror Volume 4 is an exceptional anthology that makes me want to search out and read the previous volumes because apparently, I have been missing out on something special.

The first story, Shadow Plane by Fran Wilde set the bar pretty high. If surviving a plane crash and being trapped in the bitter-cold wilderness isn't scary enough just wait until you see what those shadows are up to. This was a super freaky story that will have you scared of your own shadow.

Red Wet Grin by Gemma Files is a creepy story that is set in a nursing home where a new patient with a wicked smile has evil plans for staff and residents.

The Lending Library of Final Lines by Octavia Cade is gruesome, sad, original, and twisted. Complete books don't exist in this world but loose pages have an incredible and heartbreaking use. Reading can be dangerous.

Stephen Graham Jones knocks it out of the park with his story Men, Women, and Chainsaws. Breakups can be messy, but this story of romance, revenge, and the bonds of parental love was a riveting page-turner.

The Feeding of Closed Mouths by Eden Royce was another of my favorites. I knew it would be from the opening line "When the news said three more young men had been found dead in their homes, Grace knew her mother had come to town." All I'm going to say about this story is WOW! 

A Belly Full Of Spiders by Mario Coellho is a story of abuse and the supernatural. It is dark and disturbing and brilliant.

The Long Way Up by Alix E. Harrow is a tale of loss, and grief, and what one woman is willing to do for the love of her life.

The past catches up with a small group of teens in Sharp Things, Killing Things by A.C. Wise. This is a story that gave me goosebumps!

Swim the Darkness by Michael Kelly kind of broke my heart. Life is short even if you're not a girl with a strange affliction, so live as if you're on borrowed time. I'm not crying you're crying.

In The Smile Place by Tobi Ogundiran is about a boy who suffers a traumatic experience then later goes missing, and the big brother who lives with guilt over it. It's also scary as hell!

If you love dark fiction you need this anthology!

My thanks to Pyr Books

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Dread: 22 Tales of Terror by Kevin Bachar

A child died in an avalanche, and she won’t leave me alone.
A woman plagued by blood-draining mosquitoes on the Alaskan tundra figures out a horrific way to scratch her unending itching.
There’s something outside my tent…and I think it’s hungry.
A collector of rare tropical fish, receives a new species that is both fascinating and terrifying.

DREAD - Thousands of people have gone missing out in the wild and here is a collection of tales that offer up some horrifying reasons why. Emmy-award-winning National Geographic cinematographer Kevin Bachar has swum with sharks, climbed the peaks of mountains, and explored the darkest of forests. In DREAD, he weaves together terrifying true stories from his real-life adventures with twisted fiction from the depths of his frightening imagination. Flip open the pages to indulge in the dark side of nature— haunted forests, tree demons, monstrous snakes, and a search-and-rescue team terrorized by the ghosts of those they couldn’t save.
Read... if you dare.

Angry spirits, swarms of bugs, strange lights that lead people astray, Bigfoot, and more are featured in these 22 new tales of Dread. Most take place in wild and dangerous outdoor settings because like they say, write what you know, and the author certainly has lots of experience with such places.

Some of the stories were too short for my taste but that is just my own preference. I love short horror stories but I tend to avoid flash fiction. 

It was the longer stories that gave me chills, and I enjoyed all of them starting from the opening lines of The Peak of Fear in which a search and rescue team is haunted by a mistake. There was more than the icy temperatures in this one that gave me the shivers!

 Another of my many favorites was Forest For The Trees. I love a woodsy setting, probably due to my own complete lack of a sense of direction. I always get an uneasy feeling from these kinds of stories because I live vicariously through the characters from the safety of my cozy chair knowing full well that if it were me I would be the one lost and never seen again. 

Working Like A Dog was another of my favorites. While not a scary story there are some supernatural aspects to this tale of a New England grave digger and his best pal, a loyal dog named Rex. 

I also loved The Starter, which is about a man with a struggling pizza restaurant. If you've ever wondered how to make the perfect crust at home like your favorite pizzeria does you can find an alarming secret here.

Branching Out was the final and creepiest of the stories, in which a grumpy old man who just wants some peace and quiet on his own property, goes a little overboard and pays a horrific price. All the stories were good but those are the ones that I am still thinking about that will be cemented in my memories for quite a while.

If you like dark fiction this collection is for you.

4 out of 5 stars

My thanks to Kevin Bachar

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About the author

 

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due

 

A gripping, page-turning novel set in Jim Crow Florida that follows Robert Stephens Jr. as he’s sent to a segregated reform school that is a chamber of terrors where he sees the horrors of racism and injustice, for the living, and the dead.

Gracetown, Florida
June 1950

Twelve-year-old Robbie Stephens, Jr., is sentenced to six months at the Gracetown School for Boys, a reformatory, for kicking the son of the largest landowner in town in defense of his older sister, Gloria. So begins Robbie’s journey further into the terrors of the Jim Crow South and the very real horror of the school they call The Reformatory.

Robbie has a talent for seeing ghosts, or haints. But what was once a comfort to him after the loss of his mother has become a window to the truth of what happens at the reformatory. Boys forced to work to remediate their so-called crimes have gone missing, but the haints Robbie sees hint at worse things. Through his friends Redbone and Blue, Robbie is learning not just the rules but how to survive. Meanwhile, Gloria is rallying every family member and connection in Florida to find a way to get Robbie out before it’s too late.

The Reformatory is a haunting work of historical fiction written as only American Book Award–winning author Tananarive Due could, by piecing together the life of the relative her family never spoke of and bringing his tragedy and those of so many others at the infamous Dozier School for Boys to the light in this riveting novel.

The Reformatory is a brutal, heartbreaking story set in the old South in the days when good old boys would not think twice about lynching a Black man or child for looking at a white woman. 

When 12 year old Robbie defends his sister from inappropriate advances he gets sent off to reform school. More than just a punishment for Robbie, this is a plot intended to make his father come out of hiding. 

Robbie's father was accused of a crime he didn't commit and skipped town before they could murder him, leaving his children behind with an elderly woman.

This reformatory is more a prison than a school, where the living inmates barely outnumber the dead. Many boys never left after not surviving their sentence thanks to the brutal treatment by the sadistic warden who relished any chance to torture the boys for any slight or made up infraction of his rules. The warden and the children are often plagued by ghosts.

If this sounds familiar, you may have seen the real life news stories about the human remains found at the now closed Dozier School, where it should be noted that the author had a relative who did not survive.

The writing depicts the language of those days. If child abuse and racism require trigger warnings for you then you may not be able to handle this book so proceed with caution.

The pacing was a little slow at times but by the final third, I was nearly sick with worry over whether or not Robbie would survive.

4 out of 5 stars

My thanks to Gallery / Saga Press

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About the author

About the Dozier School