The Essential Horror of Joe R. Lansdale

 In this career horror retrospective, World Horror Grandmaster Joe R. Lansdale (Bubba Ho-tep; Hap and Leonard) tackles racism and human cruelty as de­ftly as he conjures demon nuns and Elder Gods. Featuring an original introduction from Joe Hill, this much-anticipated volume showcases the best of Lansdale’s terrifying short stories—menacing, astute, and wildly inappropriate.

Bestselling author Joe R. Lansdale is known for his gritty mysteries and his eccentric horror. As an eleven-time Bram Stoker Award winner, Joe Lansdale cooks up an inimitable recipe of Southern Gothic and Southern fried chicken that continues to delight his many fans and influence generations of horror legends.

Lansdale mashes up crime, Gothic, mystery, fantasy, and science-fiction, filtered through a raw, violent world of dark humor and unique characters. Lansdale is one of the early American horror writers to portray racism not as abstract but as realistic, intimate, and impossible to ignore.

In Lansdale’s nightmarish visions, you’ll discover psychotic demon nuns, a psychopathic preacher, cannibals, 80-year-old Elvis, undead strippers, ­ flying ghost fish, Elder Gods, possessed cars, and the worst evil of all: mankind.

This is, without a doubt, one of the best short story collections I have ever read, and that is saying something. These tales run the gamut from crime to horror with consummate skill.

Lansdale breathes life into characters and creatures that will haunt your nightmares. While there is some supernatural horror here with terrifying demonic entities, the most powerful stories are those that revolve around the evils that mere mortals perpetrate. 

Also included is plenty of dark, gross-out humor. I had seen the movie Bubba Ho-Tep but had never read the story that spawned the film until now. If you enjoy fiction that makes you shake your head and say "ick" while laughing, this is made for you.

Some may find the authentic portrayal of ignorance and racism in a couple of stories to be offensive. I, for one, do not. It is a vile, ugly thing. It is not holding up a mirror to me, and I don't need it sugar-coated. I didn't need the author to pull any punches, and I'm glad he chose not to. Racism written as anything less than disgusting would have been more likely to offend me. This is the language that they use. It would be disingenuous to pretend otherwise. 

I have always said the best horror is that which makes me feel something. This is a collection that succeeds in that on every page, from the first story that gave me shivers to the last story that repulsed me to the core, and every tale in between. Prepare to experience a range of emotions, from rage and wonder to sadness and disgust, interspersed with shock and terror.

5 out of 5 stars

My thanks to Tachyon Publications for the gorgeous paperback ARC.

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Contents

Introduction by Joe Hill

“The Folding Man”

“Hoodoo Man and the Midnight Train”

“God of the Razor”

“My Dead Dog Bobby”

“Tight Little Stitches in a Deadman’s Back”

“By Bizarre Hands”

On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert with Dead Folk

“Love Doll: A Fable”

“Mister Weed-Eater”

“The Bleeding Shadow”

“Not From Detroit”

“The Hungry Snow”

“Dog, Cat, and Baby”

Bubba Ho-tep

“Fish Night”

“Night They Missed the Horror Show”

The Shuddering Breath Before Oblivion by Taylor Grant

In his final collection of short stories, once again we are invited into Taylor Grant's unique and macabre imagination. A man discovers a portal in his basement that offers him an infinite variety of alternate lives he can live. A woman seeks revenge on the man who destroyed her life. In treating a young man's haunted memories of a childhood trauma, a psychiatrist uncovers terrifying possibilities. A property speculator gets more than she bargained for when she buys an unsellable house in a small town with a morbid obsession with Halloween. And in the collection's title story, a journalist fights to solve the mystery of a world of disappearing people. Come on in and explore the dark labyrinths of the human mind and what it's capable of, if you dare.
 

    I'm sad to say I was not familiar with this author's work before he passed away. Sadder still that the world has lost an incredible storyteller.

Not all of these tales are horror, but I was surprised to find that one in particular that had absolutely nothing to do with horror is one of my favorites in this collection. A Whiter Shade of Christmas is a story of grief and loneliness that gets harder to bear in the holiday season. Who can't relate to that? I envy anyone who can't. This year, a widower is deeply moved by a dinner invitation from a homeless man. I loved this poignant yuletide tale.

Another of my favorites was Don't Open Your Eyes, about a house flipper who moves into the last house on Willow Lane near Halloween. So what of the previous owners disappeared without a trace, as did the owners before? Surely it's just a coincidence that nobody has ever lasted through Halloween in this house. Or is it?

Red Christmas was an excellent story about a little girl who is grieving the loss of her grandmother, especially now that she is left alone with her bickering, abusive parents. I'm sensing a theme here, I must really enjoy holiday stories. Anyway it just might be possible that Grandma has a final gift from beyond the grave.

While not every story was my preferred genre, they are all skillfully written and engrossing tales. These were my favorites, but all were good.

My thanks to Crystal Lake Publishing.

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Movie Review- Brute 1976

Cinephobia Releasing is proud to announce the Summer release of director Marcel Walz’s (That’s A Wrap, Pretty Boy) and writer Joe Knetter’s (George A. Romero’s Twilight of the Dead) latest feature Brute 1976. The film is set to release in select theaters this August, followed closely by a digital, VOD release on September 30, 2025

It is currently opening in the below markets:

Laemmle Glendale - Los Angeles, CA - 8/26 - Premiere

Laemmle Glendale - Los Angeles, CA - 8/29 & 8/30

Alamo Drafthouse - Indianapolis, IN - opens 8/29

*more markets TBA

An homage to ‘70s horror cult classics The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes. Brute 1976 takes place in 1976, when Raquel and her girlfriend have car trouble and break down on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. At the same time, a group of people are in the desert for a photoshoot. Soon, they stumble upon an abandoned town where a family of masked psychopaths reside.

I was invited to watch an early screener of Brute 1976, and being a fan of horror in that setting and the cult classics of that time, I jumped at the chance.

The movie opens with a car broken down on a hot desert road where a woman had been driving her girlfriend to model in a photo shoot. Beginning with car trouble on a lonely stretch of road is an oft used but still effective horror trope, so as the ladies approached a cave to get out of the relentless sun I was already yelling at them to not go in there. 

Meanwhile, the rest of the crew is arriving at the designated area and wondering what happened to their other model. The search for a phone leads to the discovery of an apparent ghost town where they decide to take some additional photos before heading out and giving up on their no show model. The town is not so empty as it first appears, and they are welcomed by the owner to look around. Unbeknownst to them, they are about to meet a family of psychotic killers. Will anyone survive?

This movie pays homage to films like Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Hills Have Eyes, and even Wrong Turn in the way that finding yourself in the wrong place at the right time can lead to murder and mayhem by reclusive, off-the-grid lunatics with power tools. A fairly predictable plot was brightened by good acting and horrifying masked psycho killers. Dazelle Yvette shines in a brilliant performance as Mama Birdy. She manages to convey a mother's love and a quiet sort of evil all with one look and a smile. If you like Indie horror, this is one to watch. I gave this an 8 out of 10 stars on IMDB check it out!

Watch the trailer

Brute 1976 stars Adriane McLean (Miracles of Christmas), Sarah French (Blind), Gigi Gustin (The Retaliators), Dazelle Yvette (Garden of Eden) and Adam Bucci (NCIS Los Angeles). From production company Neon Noir, Marcel Walz, Joe Knetter, and Sarah French produced, with Dirk Schürmann and Tobias Schürman serving as Executive Producers. Robert Kern III (Prey, Creepypasta) provided makeup effects, and Marcus Friedlander (The Getback) served as Director of Photography. 
 

How to Survive Camping #1 The Man With No Shadow by Bonnie Quinn

Welcome to Night Vale meets The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook in a campy, cozy horror novel that will appeal to creepy folklore aficionados and spooky story lovers alike.

I am a campground manager. I don’t have a list of rules because I’m trying to ruin your fun…I’m trying to keep you from doing small, simple things that could result in your horrific and most agonizing demise.
Goat Valley Campground has killed generations of Kate’s family. The land is old, passed down through generations, but the campground’s reputation doesn’t just draw campers year after year. Creatures from folklore and horror have made Goat Valley not just their home, but their hunting ground.

As campground manager, Kate has rules to protect her campers—if the man with the skull cup offers you a drink, accept it or you will die a gruesome death; don’t buy ice from the children with no wagon; and of course, never ever follow the lights. Still, not every camper follows the rules…which means not every camper survives their stay. Soon decapitated and exsanguinated campers are the least of Kate’s worries; one of the most dangerous inhabitants of the campground is determined to claim the land for himself. Meanwhile, something in the land is shifting, the tides are turning, and the curse that hunts members of her bloodline begins to close in…

When I received an invitation to review this book, I nearly ignored it because I saw mention of "cozy horror" in the description. I don't do cozy. Having never heard of this author and knowing only that she writes on reddit also gave me pause. Then I said to myself, don't be such a horror snob, you could at least read a few pages before you decide whether to continue or not. I'm glad I did. A few pages were all I needed to get pulled in to this wild woodsy campground where supernatural creatures will get you if you do not follow the rules. 

"There are some benefits to being an early riser. Solitude. Seeing the sun rise. Finding the human torso lying in the middle of the road before anyone else."

Kate is the current manager and will likely remain so until she dies a horrific death like her parents did and generations before them. The rules are many, and the consequences for breaking them are dire. If the monsters in the woods don't eat you, Kate is not above killing you herself, all for the good of the town of course.

There are beings I recognized from folklore, like the dancing fairies and the Yule Cat who will tear you to shreds if you don't get new clothes for Christmas, and many that are more unfamiliar and terrifying than that.

Maybe my understanding of cozy has been skewed? I assumed it meant happy endings, a bit of mystery and romance, with mild, low-intensity scares.

I'm not sure that finding body parts or a decapitated head on a stake qualifies as cozy, and that was fine with me!  

Told from Kate's point of view with humor, and sarcastic wit, this is the most fun I've ever had being scared of camping. If this is cozy, count me in.

My thanks to Saga Press for the e-ARC

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About the author

Bonnie Quinn is a senior software developer in Columbus, Ohio, with a degree in computer science and an MBA. Currently, she is an active contributor of series and short stories to the r/NoSleep community on Reddit, where she is writing a spin-off series: How to Survive College.

 

Cubby by Jyl Glenn

When Emma and Caleb move into an old farmhouse, it feels like the perfect home for their growing family.

Then they find something unexpected in the attic.

It’s soft, adorable, and stitched together with something that calls itself love.

As the days grow shorter and Emma’s due date draws near, strange things begin to stir in the shadows. The dog growls at empty corners. The baby’s room never feels quite right.

And the thing they found in the attic? Some things get left behind for a reason.

Tense, layered, and quietly horrifying, Cubby weaves past and present into a dark tale of family, fear, and the things we carry—whether we mean to or not.

 

Told on two timelines, Cubby is the story of an evil toy and its demand for human sacrifice. In the present day, happy couple, Emma and Caleb, are moving into their new home and preparing for the birth of their first child. When Emma finds a soft, cuddly teddy bear hidden away in the house, she thinks it would be a perfect addition to the nursery. She was wrong.

In the not too distant past we have the former occupants of the house, a neglected, bullied child named Richard and his abusive, alcoholic mother. On one particular birthday, Richard's mother storms into his dilapidated room and throws down a gift of a soft cuddly teddy bear. It looks clean and brand new. He has never been given anything that didn't look used before. He names it Cubby, and it becomes the only companion he has ever had, but there is a steep price for this friendship.

Spooky occurrences and a weird neighbor tie the present day to the past.

This was a quick but chilling read that left me wanting more. I hope there will someday be a Cubby origin story because I have lots of questions. Did Richard's mother give him this bear because she knew it was evil? Or did the bear become evil because the mother was.  Did something dark get called to prey upon Richard's trauma and possess the bear? Was it Richard himself who wanted to hurt people, and his using the bear as justification for so long gave it life?

If you like creepy toys with fiendish intent, this is for you. In the back of my mind, I can hear Chucky's voice coming from Cubby's plush furry body, threatening to be my friend til the end.

4 out of 5 stars.

My thanks to Jyl Glenn for the e-ARC

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Steel Machines by Dan Franklin

Prague, 1945

Eight year old Otto Braum is the sole survivor of the massacre that claimed his parents and left him sustaining himself as best he can in the ruined attic hideout above his childhood home.

But Otto is not alone.

His father had a secret—a creation, unfinished, that he left behind. A secret that is pitiless in nature, relentless in design. A secret with the heart of a steel machine.

From the Amazon best selling author of Down Into the Sea and These Things Linger comes a horrifying reimagining of the story of the golem. Part I Am Legend and part Caging Skies, STEEL MACHINES is an unrelentingly tense tale of haunting, of vengeance... and of survival at any cost.

 

In 1945 eight year old Otto Braum had been hiding in the attic with his parents for so long that he could barely remember what it was like to feel the sunshine or eat a decent meal. Subsisting on crackers and canned goods, he may be too young to understand war and hate, but he does know fear of the men with the ugly black windmill symbol. His father believes they will be protected if their hiding spot is found because he has built a golem, not of clay and earth but of metal with intricate cogs and gears, a massive thing that he believes will defend them. After they are discovered, Otto is the only survivor.

There was a constant feeling of imminent danger before the violent confrontation that left Otto an orphan, but once he is on his own in the attic, the risk of starvation is added to the odds against survival. Strange visions and mysterious sounds made me wonder if the house was haunted or if Otto was losing his mind due to trauma, isolation, and hunger. I won't tell you if it was either, or neither of these things. I will just say that when it is revealed, the ending is brilliant.

My favorite time period for historical fiction is the 1940s, and specifically anything to do with World War II and its aftermath. My favorite horror subgenre is folklore. Steel Machines combines these into one spellbinding tale deeply rooted in Jewish folklore and mysticism surrounding the Golem of Prague. It was a suspense-filled and heartbreaking read with just the right touch of authenticity to make the impossible feel real.

5 out of 5 stars

My thanks to the author for the e-ARC

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Movie Review - No Tears In Hell

 

In the frozen darkness of an Alaskan winter, a mother and son turn their home into a house of nightmares, luring victims into a twisted web of abuse and cannibalism.

Based on the true story of notorious Russian serial killer Alexander Spesivtsev, the film stars Luke Baines (Shadowhunters, A Dark Place) in an uncompromising portrayal of the brutal Spesivtsev, whose heinous crimes in the early 90s earned him the nickname the Siberian Ripper, and the late Gwen Van Dam (Star Trek: Generations) as Alexander's enabling and overbearing mother.

I was invited to watch an early screener of No Tears In Hell, which will be released on VOD on August 12.

As Norman Bates once said, a boy's best friend is his mother and that holds true in this harrowing portrayal based on the real-life psycho killer Alexander Spesivtse, known as the Russian Ripper and his mommy dearest.

"A mother takes care of her children no matter what."

Luke Baines is so convincing as the Ripper that I might run away if I ever spotted the actor in real life.

In the film, Alex is an admirer of Jeffrey Dahmer and a hater of the homeless teens who congregate not far from his apartment. He scopes out his victims there and preys on their desperation, sometimes relying on the help of his mother to lure them back to his home, where he tortures and kills them before using them as food.

What stands out above other films that claim to be "based on a true story" is that this movie is made all the more brutal by sticking close to several of the actual events. At times it was difficult to watch and I had to look away from one of the more gruesome scenes.

True crime aficionados and fans of slasher movies should give this a watch.

I rated it an 8 out of 10 stars on IMDB

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Bloody Bones by Garrett Boatman

YOU CAN'T KILL WHAT'S ALREADY DEAD.

Listen... do you hear the squeaking swing? Bloody Bones is on the porch, and he's coming to get you.

Thirty years ago, the stranger came to the sleepy southern town of Farnsworth, and the killings began. Wearing a black suit and passing himself off as a traveling preacher, the Dark Man targeted children. But when he took the daughter of the local hoodoo woman, she exacted a terrible revenge.

Listen... do you hear the creaking door? Bloody Bones is in the house, and he's coming to get you.

Bound to a ploughshare at the bottom of a quicksand hole and unable to die, the Dark Man raged as his body rotted to bones. Three decades later, a murder and a gruesome burial resurrects the stranger. Now, two boys, a witch, and a deputy will attempt to keep the Dark man from sating his monstrous appetite. Listen! Do you hear the blood dripping on your bed? Bloody Bones is here, and he's...GOTCHA!

Bloody Bones is a jarring, distressing, occult horror. It made my heart hurt.

I am not even going to talk about the plot. I am only going to say that it concerns an abomination from the past that is reawakened by a depraved act 30 years later, told in graphic detail.

It is very dark, disturbing, and upsetting. I feel like I watched someone's soul get crushed when their hope was ripped away by evil. I have always said the best horror can make you feel something.

The writing is skillful, the storytelling is excellent, and I'm sitting here stunned. Never have I ever, until Bloody Bones, read a book that made me wish with all my might that the children in it would die. To be clear, I didn't just want them to die I wanted them to suffer first. Even the thought that they might get away with what they did filled me with such rage that I had to take a break and check my blood pressure.

Even though this is likely to end up on my best horror of the year list for 2025 I would cautiously recommend it to those who think they can handle it. It strained my own boundaries very close to the breaking point.

My thanks to Cemetery Dance Publications for the e-ARC.

5 out of 5 stars

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The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre by Philip Fracassi

Brimming with dark humor, violence, and mystery, The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre is a blood-soaked slasher sure to keep readers cringing, laughing, and guessing until the very last page.

Rose DuBois is not your average final girl.

Rose is in her late 70s, living out her golden years at the Autumn Springs Retirement Home. When one of her friends dies alone in her apartment, Rose isn’t too concerned. Accidents happen, especially at this age!

Then another resident drops dead. And another. With bodies stacking up, Rose can’t help but wonder: are these accidents? Old age? Or something far more sinister?

Together with her best friend Miller, Rose begins to investigate. The further she digs, the more convinced she becomes: there’s a killer on the loose at Autumn Springs, and if she isn’t careful, Rose may be their next victim.

 

The Autumn Springs Retirement Home has been a safe and welcoming place for seniors who are still spry enough to take care of themselves, while knowing that medical help is available when needed. It is here that we meet a quirky cast of characters, including three witches and a retired school teacher, Rose Dubois. Rose may be nearly 80 years old, but her mind is sharp as a tack, and as a true crime buff with a penchant for mysteries, she is the first to notice that something is off about an alleged fatal accident in the retirement home. As the body count racks up can Rose catch the killer before she becomes the next victim?

In the author's notes at the end of this book, he says he hopes he made readers gasp or possibly chuckle. Well, congratulations on getting that and more, at least from me. It also made me shed a few tears when elderly characters reached out for help from their families and found that nobody cared. 

It was so refreshing to read a slasher novel that wasn't a cautionary tale to warn high school and college students that sex can lead to decapitation or streaming entrails. The murders are clever and gory, with loads of dark humor and suspense.  The plot moves full steam ahead with likable, realistic characters in impossible situations.

This is a novel that succeeds in creating a fresh original take on the slasher subgenre.

5 out of 5 stars

My thanks to Tor Nightfire for the paperback.

Available for Pre-order

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An Echo of Children by Ramsey Campbell

A slow burn, chilling horror in a gorgeous edition. Ramsey Campbell always delivers...

Coral and Allan Clarendon have just moved to the seaside town of Barnwall with their young son Dean. If an uncommon number of children have died unnaturally in Barnwall throughout history, surely Dean must be safe with his parents. Could their house be a source of peril? Allan and Coral seem to think so, since they call for an exorcism. Allan’s father Thom believes his wife is wrong to think the ceremony has left Dean in worse danger. But if she’s alone in seeing the terrors that are gathering around him, how desperate will her solution have to be?

Two sets of parents are visiting their children and 6 year old grandchild in their new home. Things seem a bit off right away. Jude is the first to notice that her grandson, Dean, is excessively polite and that her son and daughter-in-law constantly correct everything he does. He is not allowed to play with his toys, and his only friend is invisible. Could it be just a lonely child's way of coping, or is this imaginary friend something more? The other grandparents and even her husband are dismissive of her concerns at first.

This is a slow-burning horror told with Ramsey Campbell's usual flair for the subtle and insidious. Things escalate gradually as Jude begins to research the dark history of the home and the town. I could feel her fear and frustration at being the only one willing to acknowledge that something dangerous was happening, and it was about to get worse. I was so angry at the way she was treated when her son and in-laws tried to gaslight her into believing that everything she noticed was just a product of her own mind. So many times, I wanted to scream at her husband to stand up for her. I believed you, Jude!

4 out of 5 stars

My thanks to Flame Tree Press

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What Remains by Corey Niles

 The White, mysterious, undulating clouds from which no one and nothing return, is overtaking the northern United States. Food and supplies are scarce, extremist religious groups are taking hold, and anarchy is rampant.

Ex-boyfriends Alexander and Sebastian are fleeing south. Their only hope of escaping its grasp is reaching the equator, where the destructive path of the White is believed to end.

As the feuding pair come face to face with an even deadlier threat and the White draws near, they must contend with their broken relationship, their future, and what it really means to survive.

Alex and Sebastian were best friends, turned lovers, who hit a rocky patch in their relationship just before a mysterious, moving cloud of unknown substance began to consume everything in its path. They are broken up but stuck with each other as they try to escape this weird happening known only as "The White."

Word is, that if people can make it to the equator, they will be safe.

Alex and Sebastian will have to help each other to survive. They have very different personalities. Alex cares only for Sebastian and their survival. Sebastian wants to help people along the way, even if it means he might lose his own chance to live. Their broken relationship and its cause create a lot of tension and bickering along the way.

Food is scarce. Some roads are blocked by abandoned cars. Others by a cult like group of people who are kidnapping survivors in the belief that The White will cleanse them of their sins.

This is a dystopian, end of the world as we know it, survival horror.  Will they reach their destination?

I would recommend it if you are looking for a quick read in a suspenseful horror thriller.

My thanks to Crystal Lake Publishing

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Coffin Moon by Keith Rosson

 From the author of the “exciting, suspenseful, horrifying” (Stephen King) Fever House, a Vietnam veteran and his adopted niece hunt—and are hunted by—the vampire that slaughtered their family.

It’s the winter of 1975, and Portland, Oregon, is all sleet and neon. Duane Minor is back home after a tour in Vietnam, a bartender just trying to stay sober; save his marriage with his wife, Heidi; and connect with his thirteen-year-old niece, Julia, now that he’s responsible for raising her. Things aren’t easy, but Minor is scraping by.

Then a vampire walks into his bar and ruins his life.

When Minor crosses John Varley, a killer who sleeps during the day beneath loose drifts of earth and grows teeth in the light of the moon, Varley brutally retaliates by murdering Heidi, leaving Minor broken with guilt and Julia filled with rage. What’s left of their splintered family is united by only one desire: vengeance.

So begins a furious, frenzied pursuit across the Pacific Northwest and beyond. From grimy alleyways to desolate highways to snow-lashed plains, Minor and Julia are cast into the dark orbit of undead children, silver bullet casters, and the bevy of broken men transfixed by Varley’s ferocity. Everyone’s out for blood.

Gritty, unforgettable, and emotionally devastating, Coffin Moon asks what will be left of our humanity when grief transmutes into violence, when monsters wear human faces, and when our thirst for revenge eclipses everything else.

Duane Minor is home at last after the Vietnam War. The things he did and saw haunt his nightmares and his marriage. But all the trauma he has been through is nothing compared to what he soon has to face at home. He and his wife have taken in her sister's child Julia, after a tragedy left her homeless. Julia knows trauma too, and Duane will do anything to protect her.

Working for his in-laws at the bar below his apartment should be an easy job. Even for someone who has given up drinking. It shouldn't be dangerous. It shouldn't be deadly. But one fateful night changes everything, and Duane and Julia become the hunted and the hunters when a vampire destroys everything they have except for each other.

It's been a long time since I read a vampire novel this good. There is plenty of blood and gore, but it's also a tale of how far someone would go to protect their family. It's the choices we make and the choices that have been stolen from us along with the consequences. There is vengeance and redemption, grief and loss, with unforgettable characters both living and undead. 

5 out of 5 stars

My thanks to Random House Publishing.

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Saving Thornwood by David Surface and Julia Rust

In the cemetery at Thornwood Asylum, two girls meet when a door between the 19th and 21st centuries miraculously opens.

In 2022, Annie Blake's world is shattered when her father suffers a psychotic break and ends up in Thornwood Hospital. Annie's father, an architect and activist, is trying to save Thornwood from developers who want to bulldoze the historic site and deprive the community of a vital mental health resource. Desperate to help her father, Annie struggles to find proof that a famous reformer was once incarcerated there.

In 1856, Mary Donovan and her younger brother were separated when they were committed to Thornwood Lunatic Asylum. Mary fights to find her brother and escape but is caught and suffers abusive treatment from staff, until the director of the asylum takes her under his wing. Dr. Jonathan Blackwell plans to groom Mary as his "success story" to help build his reputation in exchange for allowing Mary to see her brother.

When both girls are driven to their breaking points, they flee to Thornwood cemetery, where the border between their worlds opens, and they encounter each other face to face. Can they find a way to trust and help each other before time runs out?

In the 1800s, Thornwood Asylum was a living hell for those who were sent there. More a dumping ground than a hospital, not just for the unwell but the unwanted, unloved, and even the misunderstood. This is where Mary and her little brother are sent by their cruel aunt, who wants to be rid of them.

In the present day, it offers real treatment, and for some in the community, it is their only lifeline to get the help they need. This is where Annie is visiting her father after he suffers a psychotic break while working on a way to save Thornwood from the greedy developers who want to tear it down.

These two girls, in their most desperate moments, in the same place, but centuries apart, somehow meet through a rift in time.

The timeline with Mary and her little brother broke my heart. They never would have ended up in such an awful place if their aunt had one shred of kindness. Treatments for mental health issues in those days consisted mostly of torture, punishments and starvation. Those who sought to work in such places seemed sadistic types who enjoyed tormenting the patients. It made me wish I could go back in time and take them in. 

At least in the present day, Annie had her mother for support while her father was on the psych ward, where he received proper care and medication. The moments when Annie and Mary were able to be together were my favorite parts of the book. The authors successfully blend fantasy with deeply relatable, poignant emotion while showing how far we have come and how far we have left to go in addressing mental health. 

My thanks to the authors for the paperback copy.

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About David Surface   About Julia Rust

 

Tainted Towns by Victoria Williamson

Three unnerving tales of the weird and uncanny from award-winning author Victoria Williamson.

Forced to leave her cosy suburban home for the desolate city outskirts, Helen is chased each night through a dark underpass by a malevolent force.

What does it want?

Terry and Janet take matters into their own hands to tame their neighbour’s overgrown garden when it threatens the order of their perfect suburban life.

But the garden fights back…

And can Tom keep the secrets of the past buried when his crew is assigned to repair the very road he knows he must avoid at all costs?

Dare you visit these Tainted Towns to discover their dark secrets?

This is the second story collection I have read by Victoria Williamson and I loved this one even more than the first! 

In the first story, Tunnel Vision, Helen has given up her old life to start fresh after a breakup. Her new life is lonely and isolated, but she could handle that if only she didn't need to walk through the tunnel to get home from work. I was so sad for her entire situation but most of all, I shared the creeping dread of what may be lurking in that tunnel.

Next up, The Garden Of Friedan finds Terry and Janet Dixon bemoaning the state of their neighbor's garden. Of course, whining about it to Mr. Friedan will be of no use; he stopped doing any yard work once he passed away. Now, the beautiful cherry tree and flowers that were all he had left in memory of his wife, that he so lovingly tended, are overgrown and withered. Terry may be willing to overlook it but Janet finds it unbearable as the plants begin to encroach on her property. To her, it is an unforgivable offense, and Terry will not hear the end of it. Unfortunately for the Dixon's there will be severe consequences for their interference. I hated Janet, but loved the story. I'm glad she's not my neighbor!

Last but not least was The Red, Red Road. Tom is a happily married family man with a dark past and a terrible secret that he has managed to hide for all these years. He has gone out of his way to avoid the Red Road ever since that long-ago night, but there is no way out of it this time. His crew will be working there and he can't escape it any longer. What will happen when the truth comes out?

This novella-length tale was more gruesome than the previous two, and it was my favorite part of the book. 

5 out of 5 stars

My thanks to Silver Thistle Press for the gifted paperback.

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Dead of Summer by Jessa Maxwell

Years after her best friend mysteriously disappeared from a remote New England island, a young woman returns in search of answers.

Orla O’Connor hasn’t been to the isolated New England enclave of Hadley Island since she graduated from high school a decade ago. As a teenager, her best friend Alice disappeared from its shores without a trace—but with plenty of rumors. Now Orla returns to her family’s beachfront home to clean it out before her parents sell it. The island and her best friend’s empty house next door are stirring up memories she would like to avoid.

Then there are the locals, always gossiping and watching Orla’s every move. Worst of all, David, Orla’s childhood crush and son of a wealthy Manhattan family, is back for the summer with his new, impossibly pretty girlfriend, Faith.

Meanwhile, local Henry hasn’t left his house since Alice disappeared, in an attempt to let the accusations against him die down—except they never have. Orla’s return has shaken him, and lately he’s been seeing strange things through his telescope: shadowy figures walking on the beach in the middle of the night and a light on in an upstairs window of Alice's long-abandoned childhood home.

When another person on the island disappears, Orla, David, and Henry find themselves pulled into an eerie mystery that will haunt them for the rest of their lives.

 Then:  

Alice and Orla are neighbors and best friends, growing up together and dreaming of how they will someday attend college and share an apartment in New York. A rift forms between them when Orla develops a possessive crush on David, the boy from a wealthy family, and Alice becomes more secretive. On the night of a huge party, Alice disappears. Some assume she drowned, others think she was murdered. Her body was never recovered, but gossip and rumors are all aimed at Henry, a local man who everyone thinks is odd.

Now: 

Henry has become a recluse, locked away with his wife in a home they have never left since the accusations first started. Orla has returned to her childhood home to prepare it for sale. David is back to take over his father's business with his new girlfriend Faith in tow. At first, Faith is thrilled at the invitation to spend the summer with David. But his strange behavior and obnoxious father, combined with the mystery of a missing girl, have her questioning everything.

Told from multiple points of view, it seems that every character is spinning their own web of lies, deceit and secrets. The plot moves slowly at first but it gradually pulled me all the way in to this twisty mystery. I was most engaged with Faith's point of view as she was the only one who was an outsider to the island and so brought a fresh perspective.  Dead of Summer is a perfect beach read. 

4 out of 5 stars

My thanks to Atria Books for the invitation to read an e-Arc

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Dark Roads Traveled by Tony Tremblay

 

J.R. Tolkien once wrote that the road goes ever on and on. Tony Tremblay examines the darker side of Tolkien’s quote with four novellas ranging from the soul-sucking isolation of identity loss to the horrifying specter of mass annihilation.

Orange Eyes: A taxi driver with amnesia attempts to determine who he is and why he has orange eyes. His answers come when a woman calls for a cab and relates to him a story about her sister—a woman with amnesia and orange eyes. The three of them engage in a psychedelic journey of horror to discover the answers they seek.

The Cabin on The Mountain: There is a log cabin in the mountains of Goffstown, New Hampshire, where lost souls travel—and are never seen again. The cabin has a caretaker who oversees the property, but he cannot interfere with those who seek refuge. That all changes when a young boy, a husband seeking his wife, and a wife seeking her husband descend on the cabin.

Ghosts: A middle-aged woman purchases a home, unaware that it is the site of multiple murders. After several life-threatening instances, she turns to her neighbors, the local gas station owner, and the police chief for help. She soon learns that ghosts are quite different than what she has been led to believe.

The Tempest: The end of the world begins locally with a sound that kills an older man and a young woman. As they navigate their environment in the hopes of survival, additional catastrophes batter them to the point of hopelessness. When it appears their lives are over, salvation comes in the form of a hole in the ground. Or does it?

Dark Roads Traveled contains four novellas in one fantastic book by one of my favorite authors, and I have been dying to talk about it for months!

Orange Eyes

A lonely woman brings a stranger back to her apartment and then goes missing. When she is found, she is no longer the woman she used to be. A man with amnesia and orange eyes will help to find the reasons why. This story went off in a shocking and brutal direction I was not expecting.

The Cabin On The Mountain was my favorite part of the book. In it, a guardian and his dog greet visitors who will walk up a mountain path and never return. It is not known how these visitors mysteriously find their way to this guardian. Only those who have been called may walk the path. There is a remarkable depth and pulse to these characters with themes of abuse and dementia that drive this intricately woven tale with a focus on the darker side of human nature. There is much trauma and grief among these complex characters in this well-crafted literary fiction. I would love a novel-length sequel.

Ghost
A woman moves into a house in a town where there have been several murders and strange suicides. Her friendly neighbors know more than they're telling in this twisty and surprisingly touching story. 

The Tempest is about a storm of epic proportions with hail like ice picks and winds that lift homes and people alike into a black hole, wild fires, lightning, a sound that knocks you unconscious, and then kills you. All over the world the apocalypse is upon us. Who will survive?  Here, the author has created a multiverse that even Lovecraft would be proud of.

These imaginative and well-crafted stories are presented with a rich and nuanced narrative that evoke a range of emotions. Dark Roads Traveled has landed firmly on my best horror of the year list.

My thanks to Tony Tremblay for the ARC 

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The Hounding by Xenobe Purvis

The Crucible meets The Virgin Suicides in this haunting debut about five sisters in a small village in eighteenth century England whose neighbors are convinced they’re turning into dogs.

Even before the rumors about the Mansfield girls begin, Little Nettlebed is a village steeped in the uncanny, from strange creatures that wash up on the riverbed to portentous ravens gathering on the roofs of people about to die. But when the villagers start to hear barking, and one claims to see the Mansfield sisters transform before his very eyes, the allegations spark fascination and fear like nothing has before.

The truth is that though the inhabitants of Little Nettlebed have never much liked the Mansfield girls—a little odd, think some; a little high on themselves, perhaps—they’ve always had plenty to say about them. As the rotating perspectives of five villagers quickly make clear, now is no exception. Even if local belief in witchcraft is waning, an aversion to difference is as widespread as ever, and these conflicting narratives all point to the same ultimate conclusion: something isn’t right in Little Nettlebed, and the sisters will be the ones to pay for it.

As relevant today as any time before, The Hounding celebrates the wild breaks from convention we’re all sometimes pulled toward, and wonders if, in a world like this one, it isn’t safer to be a dog than an unusual young girl.

 

Once in a while, I take a break from horror to read historical fiction. The Hounding seemed like it might present the best of both worlds.

The setting is a small village in eighteenth-century England. Rumors swirl around the orphaned Mansfield girls. Even before one man's tale of seeing them change into dogs, people thought they were off. They didn't look like they should, or act like they should. Why are they out at night when men dictate it is unseemly for girls not to be at home? Why do they not smile demurely and speak when spoken to? How dare they not subjugate themselves to men?

As for whether or not they actually turn into dogs, you will have to read to find out.

Although there are some tense and suspenseful scenes, the plot moved slowly. I would recommend this more to fans of historical fiction than I would to anyone looking for a spooky read. I expected something more along the lines of The Witch, but this puts me more in mind of Nightbitch.

3 out of 5 stars.

My thanks to Henry Holt and Co. for the invitation to read an e-ARC through Edelweiss. 

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The Burning Class by Luisa Colón

 

In the midst of the rampant crime and corruption of early 1980s Brooklyn, Analie has built a life for herself as the adoring young wife of a New York City police officer and trusted nanny to a sweet little boy.

But Analie has a deadly past and a terrible secret that’s catching up to her—one that she’ll do anything to outrun, even if it means setting her world on fire and watching everyone and everything go up in flames.

Analie has been burning for a long time...

and you never forget your first crime.

The Burning Class is Luisa Colon's incendiary second novel, a gripping supernatural thriller that weaves a story of trauma, fury, and love against the backdrop of a city on fire.

When Analie was a child, she befriended Tenny, a poor, lonely, neglected girl. They were the best of friends for a time, until Tenny became more clingy and demanding. Analie tried to end the friendship but Tenny refused to let it go, becoming more and more intrusive and bothersome.

Now, as a grown woman, Analie is married to Corvi, a man she had a secret crush on when they were children. Corvi also came from an abusive, neglectful home.  He is everything she thinks she wants. A man who sees her for exactly what she is and wants her not despite it, but because of it. They seem to be a perfect match made in hell. Analie has unresolved trauma from her childhood, of which she never speaks. This fuels most of her actions and reactions throughout the book. She is always looking outward for validation from others that she is a good person or at least good enough.

This is the author's second novel, and the first thing I notice is how much she has honed her skill in both character development and pacing.

The Burning Class is part coming of age, part supernatural horror, and part domestic drama, all twisted together to form an explosive tale that blew me away. I couldn't put it down. The personal dynamic between the characters was masterfully crafted to propel the story forward to a skillful and satisfying conclusion. 

5 out of 5 stars

My thanks to the author for the gifted paperback.

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The World Turns Red by Tim Waggoner

Welcome to the meat room.

At first, it’s a whisper on the edge of your consciousness.

As it gets louder, you begin to make out words—dark, sharp, dangerous words… You clap your hands over your ears to shut them out, but you can’t escape what comes from inside you.

The voice tells you to do things to yourself. Bad things. Awful things…The longer you listen, the more they seem reasonable. Desirable.

Inevitable.

And as you reach for the nearest knife, gun, or rope, the voice speaks the last four words you’ll ever

All hail the Unhigh.

This novella is a quick and gruesome story that packs a lot of horror into eighty-something pages.

Lewis Cooper is in the midst of an ordinary day, grading essays on his laptop, when he happens to look out the window and see his neighbor fashioning a noose on his oak tree. What follows is a rash of suicides that spread like a plague, seeming to travel everywhere Lewis goes. 

Is Lewis immune, or is he somehow the catalyst? We learn the truth through flashbacks to his traumatic childhood and how these events shaped the man he is today. There were times I was not sure what was really happening and what was only inside his damaged mind.

This is a very dark, intense read with a surreal quality that pulled me in from page one and held me spellbound to the bitter end.

4 out of 5 stars

My thanks to Cemetery Dance Publications.

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One Dark Night by Hannah Richell

On Halloween, a group of teenage students meet in the woods near Sally in the Wood, a road steeped in local lore and rumored to be haunted by the ghost of a murdered girl. By the end of the night, one student will be dead.

Rachel, the school guidance counselor, is trying to keep a handle on her increasingly distant teenage daughter, Ellie, while students and parents panic and mourn. Her ex-husband and detective Ben, dealing with a personal crisis of his own, has concerns about his daughter’s safety as he investigates the death of one of her classmates. Meanwhile, Ellie is keeping secrets from both her parents, including one about where she was that night.

Told from multiple perspectives and with Hannah Richell’s distinct “atmospheric and ever-twisting” (Emylia Hall, author of the Shell House Detective Mysteries) prose, One Dark Night is a white-knuckled and suspenseful thriller about urban legends, privilege, and how the past continues to haunt us.

 

When I read the description of this book, I thought the plot would have more to do with the ghost that haunts the road known as Sally in the Wood, so I expected something spookier. What I got is more of a combination of domestic drama and whodunnit.

A party in the woods ends in death for one teen in a murder mystery told from multiple points of view.

Ellie has been withdrawn ever since her parents split up, but after that party, she is keeping even more secrets. What really happened that night, and why is there blood on her clothes? Her father Ben, is a detective investigating the murder, and her mother Rachel, is the school guidance counselor who in trying to deal with so many students, is missing some signs from her troubled daughter.

A lack of communication between Rachel and her ex-husband Ben felt contrived rather than natural, in order to keep those characters in the dark for longer than necessary, before they finally learn what the reader already knows from the start, that their daughter Ellie was at the party on the night of the murder.

While I was not the target audience for this book, and I did not care much for any of the characters, it did succeed in pulling the wool over my eyes in every attempt to guess who the murderer was, which led to a satisfying reveal at the end.

My thanks to Atria Books for the invitation to read an e-ARC

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Cottonmouth By Kealan Patrick Burke

Available for the first time in paperback and digital.

A thrilling prequel to Kealan Patrick Burke's southern gothic horror novel Kin.

 Cottonmouth is set in the aftermath of the Great Depression in Tennessee, a time of religious fervor and charlatanism, of thieves, murderers, and moonshiners.

Here you'll meet Horseshoe Collins, a traveler on a vengeful search for the father who abandoned him; Billy Wray, a snake-handling Pentecostal preacher bringing the promise of salvation to rural communities paralyzed by fear of the Devil; and Jonah Merrill, a child grieving the loss of his beloved father and tormented by his mother's wrath.

With the threat of a second World War looming on the horizon, destiny will bring these three people together and set innocent young Jonah on the path to his eventual fate and a new name: Papa-In-Gray, the patriarch of the dreaded Merrill family whose horrific exploits were first introduced to the world in KIN.

 Cottonmouth is the prequel to Burke's horror masterpiece, Kin.

This can be read as a stand-alone, but if you have not read Kin, don't deprive yourself; read them both! Long before we meet Papa-in-Gray, the murderous religious zealot in Kin, he was just Jonah, an ordinary boy, growing up poor and neglected after his father passed away and his mother couldn't be bothered to care for him.

I'm not going to say much else about the plot except that it's a strong case for nurture vs nature in creating monsters because Jonah was not born evil. He was not a bad seed. Who knows what kind of man he would have grown up to be if he had not suffered so much abuse? I read Kin close to a decade ago, and I never thought I would feel sympathy for Papa-in-Gray, yet here I am wishing I could go back in time and offer the boy he used to be a shred of comfort. I can count on one hand the times I have gone back to reread a book, but Cottonmouth has made me crave a reread of Kin with an intensity that I can not ignore.

The writing is flawless, and the story is brutal and mesmerizing. 

5 out of 5 stars

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All Triggers, No Warnings by John Everson

 DANGER: The Unknown Lies Ahead.

In this collection of 18 tales of horror and the macabre, expect the unexpected. Inside you’ll find tales of gorgeous ghouls and seductive sirens, of hideous creatures that wear another’s face and tentworms that spin death into dessert. You’ll tour a factory of the living dead and walk through the blood rains of hell. From sexual encounters beyond the grave to a secret pinball club where the silver ball is deadly, Bram Stoker Award-winning author John Everson will take you to places you never imagined.

Inside, you’ll find the kind of fictional ride that is always most effective when you have no idea what is lurking around the next curve. The kind of horror that is always served best with plenty of toe-curling triggers and …

No Warnings.

This will be long. Sorry. As the expression goes, opinions are like kittens and I'm giving them away. I have to say something before I talk about these stories. From the title, I didn't expect trigger warnings and that is fine since I don't need them. I don't even read the trigger warnings in a book until after I have read the book. I only read them to mention their existence for those who want to know.  I did not expect a lecture on them. I was surprised at the author's loud, proud, and frankly tone deaf stance against them while showing a lack of understanding of what they are or what they are for. He states at the beginning of the book that he has seen an "increasing flurry of hand wringing about preparing readers with warnings to protect their delicate psyches from stumbling on something unpleasant and preemptively sanitizing fiction in case something in it appears to be insensitive to one group or another and thus might (gasp) offend someone." The description also says this book contains "plenty of toe curling triggers."

Well holy shit. Triggers are not toe-curling as if it is some sort of orgasmic experience. What a long winded way to tell me that you don't know what a trigger warning is, and that you think its purpose is to force you to sanitize your writing so as not to offend someone. Trigger warnings are not censorship, They are not to stop you from writing anything as "offensive" or insensitive or downright gory, vulgar, nauseating, and disgusting as you please. They do not take away your freedom of speech. No topic is off limits. I would think that would be obvious from the most popular horror books by indie authors, you are limited only by your own imagination. 

As a horror reader, I expect a multitude of unpleasant scenarios in books. I want to laugh, and cry and be disgusted or terrified. That doesn't mean I am ignorant of the fact that trauma survivors may prefer to avoid topics that cause them to relive their trauma or at least have the option to steel themselves for its approach rather than be ambushed by it. It's ok not to need trigger warnings and it is even ok not to include them. It is not OK  to belittle readers who do need them in order to protect their own mental well being. 

Anyway!

As far as the stories in this collection, most have been previously published and I have read and enjoyed a few of them in the anthologies where they originally appeared. 

I have previously read and loved the first story Driving Her Home, which is the author's take on a classic ghost story/urban legend that nearly everyone will have heard someone swear that a version of this has actually happened to a friend of a friend. Maybe even on a wooded stretch of road you have traveled.

I also remember The Cemetery Man, which appeared in one of my all-time favorite anthologies, Midnight In The Graveyard. This is a darkly comedic story about a man who is willing to put up with a lot of creepy situations just to have some sexy time with a woman who is turned on by graveyards.

Other stories I enjoyed were The Most Dangerous Game, about pinball aficionados and a collection of rare pinball machines that you will never have seen in your local arcade.

Friends discover that their deceased pal's resting place has been disturbed in another dark horror comedy, Arnie's Ashes.

A henpecked husband and his wife spend an unforgettable night at a country inn that sells a mysterious concoction known as Forest Butter.

Ghoul Friend In A Coma finds high schoolers plagued by a curfew because there may be a serial killer picking them off one by one.

Normally, for story collections, I will just touch briefly on the stories that I loved the most, but since the only brand new story here is one I did not care for, I will have to mention Triggered. This is a story of revenge against a book reviewer by someone who conflates trigger warnings with reviewers who mistakenly assume that authors who write about horrible happenings are horrible people and therefore attempt to get these writers "cancelled." If my eyes had rolled any harder reading this story, my ocular muscles would bulge like a champion weight lifter.

I'm getting sick of the sound of myself typing and I am sure to be over the character limit for social media so I will end here by saying I enjoyed most of the stories. Many are like the old 80s fun and freaky campy horror with gore, bouncing boobs and dark humor. 

My thanks to Cemetery Dance Publications for the e-ARC.

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Tantrum by Rachel Eve Moulton

 In this electric horror novel from the author of The Insatiable Volt Sisters, an exhausted mother thinks her newborn might be a monster. She’s right.

Thea’s third pregnancy was her easiest. She wasn’t consumed with anxiety about the baby. She wasn’t convinced it was going to be born green, or have a third eye, or have tentacles sprouting from its torso. Thea was fine. Her baby would be fine. 

But when the nurses handed Lucia to her, Thea just knew. Her baby girl was a monster. Not only was Lucia born with a full set of teeth and a devilish glint in her eye, but she’s always hungry. Indiscriminately so. One day Lucia pointed at her baby brother, looked Thea dead in the eye and said, “I eat.”

Thea doesn’t know whether to be terrified or proud of her rapacious baby girl. And as Lucia starts growing faster and talking more, dark memories bubble to the surface--flashes from Thea’s childhood that won’t release their hooks from her heart. Lucia wants to eat the world. Thea might just let her. Crackling with originality and dark humor, Rachel Eve Moulton’s Tantrum is a provocative exploration of familial debt, duty, and the darker side of motherhood.

Thea never wanted children until she met and married Dillon, but once she did she was determined to be a better mother than the one she had. She worried herself sick over her first two pregnancies, but her beautiful, healthy boys are the light of her life. The third time, however, was not the charm. She didn't worry at all. Everything was fine until they put her baby girl in her arms. That was when she knew she had birthed a monster.

Exhausted and struggling to cope with a baby who is developing a mean streak and a miraculous growth spurt, Thea begins to uncover blocked out memories from her traumatic childhood and the disturbing details of her forgotten past with her own mother.

Motherhood is probably the only experience that millions of women can share while still having nothing in common. Each experience is as unique as every child. Tantrum is a supernatural story about trauma and abuse and the darker side of motherhood—those uncomfortable thoughts we may punish ourselves for when one child is harder to cope with than the others.

5 out of 5 stars

My thanks to G.P. Putnam's Sons for the advance e-ARC

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Eerie Exhibits - Five Macabre Museum Tales by Victoria Williamson

Five unnerving tales of the weird and uncanny from award-winning author Victoria Williamson.

A room full of screaming butterflies.

An unsettling smile on the face of a carved sarcophagus.

A painting that draws its viewer into the disturbing past.

A stuffed bear that growls in the dead of night.

And a shell that whispers more sinister sounds than the sigh of the sea…

Dare you cross the threshold of the old Museum and view its eerie exhibits?

Eerie Exibits contains five spooky stories that are heavy on atmosphere without relying on gore.

Each story shares a museum theme, where either visitors or workers can fall victim to the exhibits.

In the first story, a man who is grieving the loss of his mother has a startling experience with a butterfly display.

Next up, much like an episode of Night Gallery, an unusual painting sparks a memory and takes a museum worker into his past.

The last three stories were my favorites.  A little girl who wishes her cold and selfish father would be a more loving dad like all the other kids have, is fascinated by the smile on a sarcophagus. I felt awful for this child who would have been so appreciative of the least bit of attention from her self-absorbed father. Maybe things will get better for her once he meets The Grinning Man.

Thelma is a bitter, envious woman who believes she is owed a better lot in life. She sets out to achieve what she feels she deserves, in The Shape Of The Beast with some help from one of the museum exhibits where she works as a cleaner. Her life and the lives of those she feels have wronged her are about to change.

Children who have suffered a loss are targeted by The Whispering Shell while on a class trip to the museum. This was the most chilling of all the tales and succeeds in giving a ghostly scare without the need for gore.

If you like supernatural tales that don't have buckets of blood you will enjoy Eerie Exhibits.

My thanks to Silver Thistle Press for the gifted paperback.

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