The Goat Parade by Peter N. Dudar

SUFFER THE LITTLE CHILDREN TO COME UNTO ME…
AND BE LIKE GOATS IN MY PARADE

The city of Portland, Maine, is preparing for a parade to end all parades, one that will usher in a thousand years of darkness. The only thing is, they don't know it.

Four strangers will engage each other on the Devil's battlefield and fight not only for the future of the city, but for the entire world.

Warren Pembroke, Satan's Chosen One. He has been charged with making sure everything goes according to the Dark Lord's plan.

Svetlana Barnyk, a gypsy street performer cursed with the Gift of Sight. She lives in fear of the day Zee Doctor will return to reclaim the gift he bestowed on her.

"Tobacco Joe" Walton, an ex-con who served a 43-year term for committing a savage crime in the name of Justice. He is seeking redemption, but Ol' Scratch has other plans for him.

Erik Marsh, a crime beat reporter driven to the edge by the atrocities man has committed against his fellow man. All he wants is to preserve his sanity and spend time with his son.

Will they be able to defeat the Devil and stop the Goat Parade, or will the world be plunged into an age of darkness and endless suffering?


This is a story of sex, drugs, and Satan. A fight against evil, and those who give in and welcome it.
Erik Marsh, ex husband, father of a 10 year old boy, and crime reporter, has had more than his fill of being called "Erik the Black." He is in desperate need of a break from covering news stories on the worst of humanity before it drives him mad. He also hopes that this break will allow him to spend more time with his son. This break is short lived when his son's school is the setting for a ritualistic crime, planned by someone who wants to be written about by Erik. Meanwhile Erik's son is having horrific nightmares, and an old blues man Tobacco Joe is released from prison after serving time for a murder conviction. Tobacco Joe may have earned his release from jail but that doesn't mean he is free. He's still bound by a contract he made with the devil. I don't want to go further into the plot, but this is a violent and gruesome tale that I think all horror lovers will enjoy.

They Feed by Jason Parent

The night uncovers all we wish not to see.

A troubled man enters a dusky park before sunset. A young woman follows, hidden in shadow. Both have returned to the park to take back something the past has stolen from them, to make right six long years of suffering, and to find justice or perhaps redemption—or maybe they'll settle for some old-fashioned revenge.

But something evil is alive and awake in those woods, creatures that care nothing for human motivations. They’re driven by their own insatiable need: a ravenous, bottomless hunger.

The campgrounds are full tonight, and the creatures are starving. Before the night is over, they will feed.
An unrelenting tale of terror from Jason Parent, acclaimed author of People of the Sun and What Hides Within.



Tyler is freshly released from jail when he decides to head to the park, back where all his troubles first started. He's not alone.There's also a woman with a grudge against him, and some other unsavory characters. There is something else in the woods at Galveston State Park. It's hungry, and it's evil, and it's anxious to welcome Tyler home. I'm really not sure what the hell it is but it looks like slugs and can take on the form of it's victims. It reminded me a little bit of The Ruins by Scott Smith, although that had talking vines that could infect your body and mind, and this has slug like creatures  with unusual abilities.
Stories like this are why my idea of camping involves renting a house on a lake with a door that locks and not being a sitting duck in the forest with nothing but a flimsy tent for protection. They Feed is full of gory fun.
4 out of 5 stars
I received a complimentary copy for review. 

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About the author
In his head, Jason Parent lives in many places, but in the real world, he calls New England his home. The region offers an abundance of settings for his writing and many wonderful places in which to write them. He currently resides in Southeastern Massachusetts with his cuddly corgi named Calypso.

In a prior life, Jason spent most of his time in front of a judge . . . as a civil litigator. When he finally tired of Latin phrases no one knew how to pronounce and explaining to people that real lawsuits are not started, tried and finalized within the 60-minute timeframe they see on TV (it's harassing the witness; no one throws vicious woodland creatures at them), he traded in his cheap suits for flip flops and designer stubble. The flops got repossessed the next day, and he's back in the legal field . . . sorta. But that's another story.

When he's not working, Jason likes to kayak, catch a movie, travel any place that will let him enter, and play just about any sport (except that ball tied to the pole thing where you basically just whack the ball until it twists into a knot or takes somebody's head off - he misses the appeal). And read and write, of course. He does that too sometimes.

Please visit the author on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AuthorJasonP..., on Twitter at https://twitter.com/AuthorJasParent, or at his website, http://authorjasonparent.com/, for information regarding upcoming events or releases, or if you have any questions or comments for him.

Hark! the Herald Angels Scream edited by Christopher Golden

Eighteen stories of Christmas horror from bestselling, acclaimed authors including Scott Smith, Seanan McGuire, Josh Malerman, Michael Koryta, Sarah Pinborough, and many more.

That there is darkness at the heart of the Yuletide season should not surprise. Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol is filled with scenes that are unsettling. Marley untying the bandage that holds his jaws together. The hideous children--Want and Ignorance--beneath the robe of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. The heavy ledgers Marley drags by his chains. In the finest versions of this story, the best parts are the terrifying parts.
Bestselling author and editor Christopher Golden shares his love for Christmas horror stories with this anthology of all-new short fiction from some of the most talented and original writers of horror today.


Christmas horror in time for Halloween? Yes please! count me in! What a great way to kick off the holiday season. Not only do the herald angels scream, they bring you tidings of discomfort and fear. I love short horror stories in any season, but I savor them even more this time of year when busy schedules, holiday baking, and decorating the house for hordes of trick or treaters infringe on my reading time. Oh Dear, I didn't mean to sound like scrooge. There is just something so satisfying to me about being able to finish a long day of holiday chores and reward myself by sinking my teeth into a good story (instead of the Halloween candies or Christmas cookies) There are 18 tales in this goodie bag and I would be hard pressed to choose a favorite. I enjoyed most of them very much. In fact the first treat I pulled from this bag "Absinthe and Angels" by Kelly Armstrong was deliciously creepy and set the bar rather high for those that followed. There are stories of down and out husbands in search of the perfect gift to get back in their family's good graces. There's a newly single mom trying to cope with her first Christmas without her husband. There are holiday parties you are better off not invited to attend, a couple's first trip to Barcelona with their new baby in time for Christmas is one I will bet they never forget. A haunted hotel room, a tongue in cheek version of my all time least favorite song The Christmas shoes titled "Good Deeds" by Jeff Strand was a perfect fit for my twisted humor.
All in all this anthology was well worth a read.
4 out of 5 stars
I received an advance copy for review.
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The Lies We Told by Camilla Way

Description

The highly acclaimed author of Watching Edie returns with a new novel of dark psychological suspense that explores how those closest to us have the most to hide...

A daughter
Beth has always known there was something strange about her daughter, Hannah. The lack of emotion, the disturbing behavior, the apparent delight in hurting others...Sometimes Beth is scared of her and what she could be capable of.

A son
Luke comes from the perfect family, with the perfect parents. But one day, he disappears without a trace, and his girlfriend, Clara, is desperate to discover what has happened to him.

A life built on lies
As Clara digs into the past, she realizes that no family is truly perfect, and uncovers a link between Luke's long-lost sister and a strange girl named Hannah. Now Luke's life is in danger because of the lies once told and the secrets once kept. Can Clara find him before it's too late?

This twisty psychological thriller is told on 2 separate timelines, the present and the 1980s, and even if you figure out what one has to do with the other, the ending hits you like a freight train.
In the present, Clara and Luke have recently set up housekeeping and are madly in love when suddenly he disappears. At first Clara thinks he may have just had a few drinks and is sleeping it off somewhere but it soon becomes apparent that something more sinister is afoot. When Clare reports him missing, she learns some unsettling secrets that she was happier not knowing, and as she takes it upon herself to search for clues in his disappearance she learns some disturbing details that make her question how well she really knows him.
In the 1980s we meet Beth, a woman who longs to be a mother and who is finally blessed with a daughter that she and her husband Doug love more than life itself, even when it becomes apparent that their beautiful little girl doesn't seem to love them back, is unable to make friends, and terrorizes the other tots in daycare. Eventually we learn what these two timelines have in common but even then, this tangled web of lies holds another shocking secret.
5 out of 5 stars
I received an advance copy for review.

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