Food to Die For (Scareville #8) by John Ward

Never trust a smiling clown…

Traverse City, Michigan, seems like the perfect small town—until a cheerful jingle and a pudgy clown mascot turn everything upside down. When the new burger joint, Chunko Town, opens its doors, the town can’t wait to meet Chunko the Clown. But the friendly facade hides a sinister secret.

Middle graders Kira and her friends quickly learn the hard whatever you do—don’t anger the clown! With each daring misstep, Chunko’s cheerful grin twists into something far more terrifying, and the kids find themselves trapped in a nightmarish game of wits and courage.

Food to Die For delivers a thrilling, spine-tingling adventure for middle grade readers who love scary stories, creepy clowns, and edge-of-your-seat suspense. Perfect for fans of horror that’s spooky but age-appropriate, this book will keep you turning pages as Kira and her friends discover that sometimes the scariest monsters come with a painted smile.

A new burger joint in town sounds like a great idea, except for the creepy clown they use as a mascot.
Best friends Lindsey, Maya, and Kira take part in a prank at the opening of Chunko Town, and learn the hard way that you should never make a clown angry.

The burgers may be delicious, but did those painted eyes on the clown just move? Did the head turn and the goofy expression change to something evil? Could this chubby painted mascot come to life?

 Nobody believes Kira until it's too late in this fun and freaky tale that is full of chills and thrills (but not too scary for kids). The pacing moves along at a good speed to keep kids engaged in reading, and the plot shows that there can be dire consequences for making poor choices.

This middle-grade story is perfect for fans of Goosebumps and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.

My thanks to Crystal Lake Publishing for the e-ARC

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More books by John Ward

Unseen Gods by Justin Holley

 

Careful what you search for, you may just find it. With grotesque glimpses of the disappeared, the past is alive and well.

After winning an old case file at auction outlining the disappearance of a hunting party back in the nineties, Kory and his pregnant wife invite their friend and mentor, Professor Frank Colista, and others, for a casual long weekend of exploring the mystery onsite with very little hope of finding anyone or anything. When one of their factions disappears without a trace, Kory and Colista fear the past may repeat itself. Then the deaths start. As a savage, unexpected snowstorm sets in, the disappearances and ungodly sightings of the deceased ramp up, and an old woman rambles about end-of-days and sacrifice.

A quirky cast of characters heads to an isolated hunting cabin, where people had vanished decades before. This unsolved disappearance leads to what is meant to be a casual weekend among this group, unraveling the mystery. 

  Instead, what these friends and local police get is a snowstorm that traps them in a nightmare of gore, body parts, and demonic activity with a possessed woman.

Luckily, Professor Colista and his protege have extensive experience in supernatural dealings, but will this be beyond the scope of what they can handle?
 Who will survive?

I loved the creepy atmosphere. The mix of folklore and legend pulled me in and kept me racing through the pages. The juxtaposition of a couple on the edge of breakup and a couple who will stand by each other as long as they live added tension and complexity to the story and provided a break from the more gruesome and disturbing scenes.

4 out of 5 stars

My thanks to Flame Tree Press for the advance paperback.

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The Withering Hours: Dark Folk Horror by Morgan Sylvia

In The Withering Hours, Morgan Sylvia takes readers through the depths of ancient woods, troubled minds, and gruesome retreats. Folklore and myth breathe life into these tales of a haunted world and its imperfect inhabitants. Sylvia’s work is rich with atmosphere and each story is imbued with a sense of magic and dread.

In these pages you will find restless spirits, creatures who defy death, and twisted sadists. You will meet witches with deep connections to the land and innocents with a taste for blood. The minds of the mad will be yours to explore, just like the dark forests of New England.

This brilliant collection is a perfect read for fans of cosmic and folk horror, but it is also steeped in rich elements of gothic horror and psychological dread.

Sylvia invokes the aura of bygone ages, while writing in a fluid, modern style, seamlessly merging past and present. With this volume, Sylvia continues to prove herself to be an important voice in horror and weird fiction. 

I had read one of these stories previously in an anthology from the New England Horror Writers, but most of them were new to me. As a New Englander myself, I do get a kick out of stories that take place in my little corner of the world.

I love folk horror, so some of my favorite stories featured hikes to cursed ground, restless spirits, supernatural beings in the woods, and witches, both modern-day and those from centuries past.

The author is adept at creating suspense and spine-tingling chills with clever endings that sometimes tricked me into mislaying my sympathies on the wrong character. 

The Withering Hours overflows with dark tales wrapped in legends and cloaked in fear. Superstitions come to life deep in the woods, and in what we believe is the safety of our own brightly lit neighborhoods. I would recommend it for all fans of dark fiction and folk horror.

My thanks to Weird House Press for the eBook.

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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”