Misfits by Hunter Shea

During the height of the 90s grunge era, five high school friends living on the fringe are driven to the breaking point. When one of their friends is brutally raped by a drunk townie, they decide to take matters into their own hands. Deep in the woods of Milbury, Connecticut, there lives the legend of the Melon Heads, a race of creatures that shun human interaction and prey on those who dare to wander down Dracula Drive. Maybe this night, one band of misfits can help the other. Or maybe some legends are meant to be feared for a reason.

 

I usually shy away from comparing one author to another but what is most on my mind is that this has some similarities to a few Edward Lee books I've read, except that Misfits is 100 times more terrifying and 100 times less nauseating than those. It also has realistic characters that I actually cared about. I mean seriously I want these people to be OK! I loved everything about this book, from the time period, to the deep and abiding friendships among these 5 high school age kids who would literally lay down their lives for each other if necessary. I suppose that is exactly why they find themselves on a ghastly collision course with horror on Dracula Drive.

"Dare to walk down Dracula Drive,
In day or night, you won't survive.
They wait in trees and hide below,
Hungry for people too blind to know."

I do not scare easily, but from the first mere glimpse of Dracula Drive at the beginning of the book I had the most eerie feeling like someone just walked over my grave. As the story went on I was almost afraid to turn the page, but before I knew it I was reading faster and faster almost like I needed to escape the book before the melon heads could get me.

5 out of 5 stars

I received an advance copy for review.
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About the author
Hunter Shea is the author of over 25 books, with a specialization in cryptozoological horror that includes The Jersey Devil, The Dover Demon, Loch Ness Revenge and many others. As part of the new horror line at Flame Tree Press, his novel Creature has gained critical acclaim. His novel, The Montauk Monster, was named one of the best reads of the summer by Publishers Weekly. A trip to the International Cryptozoology Museum will find several of his cryptid books among the fascinating displays. Living in a true haunted house inspired his Jessica Backman: Death in the Afterlife series (Forest of Shadows, Sinister Entity and Island of the Forbidden). In 2011, he was selected to be a part of the launch of Samhain Publishing’s new horror line alongside legendary author Ramsey Campbell. When he’s not writing thrillers and horror, he also spins tall tales for middle grade readers on Amazon’s highly regarded Rapids reading app.
An avid podcaster, he can be seen and heard on Monster Men, one of the longest running video horror podcasts in the world, and Final Guys, focusing on weekly movie and book reviews. His nostalgic column about the magic of 80s horror, Video Visions, is featured monthly at Cemetery Dance Online. You can find his short stories in a number of anthologies, including Chopping Block Party, The Body Horror Book and Fearful Fathoms II.

A lifetime New Yorker, Hunter is supported by his loving wife and two beautiful daughters. When he’s not studying up on cryptozoology, he’s an avid explorer of the unknown, having spent a night alone on the Queen Mary, searching for the Warren’s famous White Lady of the Union Cemetery and other mysterious places.
You can follow his travails at www.huntershea.com.

Shadowy Natures: Stories of Psychological Horror Edited by Rebecca Rowland

With its twenty-one stories of serial killers and sociopaths, fixations and fetishes, breakdowns and bad decisions crafted by authors as diverse as their writing styles, Shadowy Natures leads fans of psychological horror down dark and treacherous roads to destinations they will be too unsettled to leave. 
            Under the tutelage of a charismatic caretaker, a young boy learns that the rules don’t apply to “exceptional” people; under the blinders of parental love, a parent considers the after-effects of his daughter’s criminal exoneration. One suburban dad finds himself inexplicably drawn to something he spies while walking the family pet, and another discovers buried compulsions awakened by his daughter’s dental deformity. Sorting through a deceased relative’s belongings, a family stumbles upon a horrific treasure, as a drifter with a dark secret wanders the Old West. While a military officer spends his days delivering despair, a procrastinator is consumed by guilt after making a deadly mistake, and a businessman stumbles upon a bizarre family photo gallery. Postpartum paranoia and isolation threaten one mother’s sanity until an outside threat pushes her over the edge while another mother picks at her son’s psychological scabs until he scrambles for release. Urban blight bears down on a convenience store owner; a middle-aged man takes a terminally ill acquaintance captive to avenge his lover’s death; a depressed suburban housewife makes a strange new friend, and a neglected teen finds solace and inspiration in a vicious classmate’s company. When her brother moves back into the family home, a woman becomes consumed by what he leaves behind; when a man disappears, his sister considers the warning signs he may have been leaving since childhood. One couple abandons urban life for the isolating wilderness while another plays a dangerous game, hoping to rekindle their relationship. While one son revisits the scene of his father’s horrific crime spree, another returns home to ponder his family’s well-hidden secret. From unique twists on traditional terror tropes to fresh frights found in the most innocuous of places, these tales will surprise and unnerve even the most veteran horror fans.

These 21 dreadfully dark tales held me captive from first to last story. This is unusual for me, for as much as I love anthologies I nearly always find myself skipping one or 2 stories in a book of this size. I never hold that against them, it's only the law of averages that deems not every story can be a winner with every reader. Somehow, Shadowy Natures beat those odds, at least with me. The only negative thing I could say, is that some of the endings were a bit vague for my tastes, but even then it did not take away from the fact that I enjoyed the story. Some readers may take offense at the subject matter in a few of the more gruesome tales. Don't say I did not warn you. A few of my favorites were: "Heart Skull Heart" by Bryan Miller  a contemporary tale that could have easily been ripped from today's headlines. Being based on reality made it all the more unsettling.
"The Wolf Gang" by Barrie Darke begins innocently enough as a man goes home with a coworker after a long day in hopes of a good night sleep, before an early start in the morning. It's not long before I questioned his judgement because if it were me I would have been too scared to sleep in that house. "In A Mother's Eyes" by Andrew Punzo Finds a lieutenant making the sad visit to inform a mother that her son was killed in action and getting a quite unexpected reaction. "Maternal Bond" by KC Grifant in which a new mom battles lack of sleep and postpartum depression really got under my skin as I recalled my own earliest days of coping with a baby who cried non stop. "Ring Rock" by James Edward O'brien is told from the point of view of a man who went along with his wife's wishes to purchase her dream home even though for him it was a nightmare come true. "Accessory" by K.N. Johnson pretty much blew me away. It was not what I expected from a simple beginning of a girl who was born unwanted to a father who only wanted boys.  This  was a twisty psychological horror that I won't soon forget "Itch" by Louis Stephenson was high on the gross out scale. after reading it I think I may have even grossed myself out by using that word.. scale. Yuck.  "Walking On Knives" by Mathhew R. Davis tosses us into the midst of a stale marriage looking to spice things up and finding the wrong kind of excitement. "Like Abigail Winchell" by Christina Delia takes a look at the fine line between friends and frenemies, be they real or imagined.
If I have not singled out other stories it does not mean I did not enjoy them, only that these are the ones still embedded in my mind, and that days after finishing this book I can still recall them off the top of my head. 

I received an advance copy for review.

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Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare

Quinn Maybrook just wants to make it until graduation. She might not make it to morning.

Quinn and her father moved to tiny, boring Kettle Springs to find a fresh start. But ever since the Baypen Corn Syrup Factory shut down, Kettle Springs has cracked in half. On one side are the adults, who are desperate to make Kettle Springs great again, and on the other are the kids, who want to have fun, make prank videos, and get out of Kettle Springs as quick as they can.

Kettle Springs is caught in a battle between old and new, tradition and progress. It’s a fight that looks like it will destroy the town. Until Frendo, the Baypen mascot, a creepy clown in a pork-pie hat, goes homicidal and decides that the only way for Kettle Springs to grow back is to cull the rotten crop of kids who live there now. 



17 year old Quinn and her dad have packed up what's left of their lives and moved to the small town of Kettle Springs after the devastating loss of her mom. Almost immediately, Quinn notices some animosity from the adults in town, mainly directed at herself, but also overflowing onto her dad. Not much later she notices that most of the adults are a bit hostile towards all younger people, especially her new friends who are known to be a bit on the wild side.
I don't normally read YA horror but this one looked like fun and it doesn't hurt to check in on occasion and see what's available for younger horror fans while still being able to point out to others that just because there are no graphic sex scenes does not mean a story can't be downright scary. You don't need to be afraid of clowns to get some thrills and chills from Clown In A Cornfield, especially considering that nobody is safe in this book whether they venture into said cornfield or not! This was a fun slasher type horror with enough murder and mayhem to satisfy horror fans young and old alike.
4 out of 5 stars

I received an advance copy for review.

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About the author
Adam Cesare is a New Yorker who lives in Philadelphia. His books include Clown in a Cornfield, Video Night, The Summer Job, and Zero Lives Remaining. He’s an avid fan of horror cinema and runs Project: Black T-Shirt, a YouTube review show where he takes horror films and pairs them with reading suggestions.

Curse of the Pigman by Asher Ellis

Failed baseball player Jason Dillon has just moved to the quiet, Vermont town of East Valley, but unfortunately, his timing couldn't have been worse. Though the entire 20th century only brought eight notable storms to the Green Mountain state, Hurricane Ivana has just arrived with a special delivery—a tree through Jason's roof. On his desperate trek to find help, Jason comes upon Sophia, a little girl who has been tied up and left in the woods. Despite his best intentions, Jason's attempt to help the child has interrupted the ritual of a neighborhood cult—a ritual that protects the town from an ancient demonic swine. With all the roads leading out of town impassable, Jason and his few allies must not only escape the pursuing cultists, but somehow survive a curse that has left the majority of East Valley's population with an insatiable hunger. Cultists, cannibals, and the demon itself must all be defeated if Jason and his friends are going to survive... The Curse of the Pigman



Storms, cannibals, and demonic swine OH MY! How could I not love this book, it had everything I could hope for in a fast paced home town horror, complete with cannibals, a curse, and a group of unlikely heroes who band together to defeat the ancient evil that had been unleashed by greedy and gluttonous men. Who could ask for anything more? Not this happy horror fan. When the hurricane passes, Jason is injured and his roof is demolished. With no supplies on hand he sets out on foot to seek shelter at a neighbor's but instead finds himself interrupting a cult's human sacrifice.

"Ten years, a meal. That's the deal"

With the ritual broken, the curse of the Pigman takes effect and few will survive.

I was hooked like a side of pork in the butcher's window from page one.

5 out of 5 stars

I received an advance copy for review.

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About the author
Asher Ellis currently lives in his home state of Vermont, where there are far fewer cannibals than his novel may suggest. A graduate of the Stonecoast MFA in Creative Writing program at the University of Southern Maine, he has written award winning short stories, plays, and films. When Asher isn’t killing college students on the pages of his fiction, he teaches them as a creative writing and English professor at Colby-Sawyer College in New London, NH.