1963 Detroit is a hotbed of gambling, and the weekly baggage auctions keep a busy trade. Charlie Stewart and Joey Third are skilled in the art of successful bidding, but when Joey lands a mysterious suitcase, the thrill of winning turns to terror once they realize they’ve opened something sinister.
Inside the suitcase is an antique gramophone, and the music it plays is unlike anything they’ve heard before. A chanting voice speaks to them in strange words, evoking visions of a dark, frozen land. It’s a voice that makes them sick with addiction, and it continues chanting in their heads even when the record stops playing.
Charlie sets out to solve the mystery of the unholy music and how to turn it off forever. But the urge to listen grows stronger, and the more it plays, the more the aural virus spreads, until people begin to vanish . . . feeding an apparition that seeks immortality.
This was a short and spooky read. I had actually heard of these auctions before. I think I saw it on some reality show my husband may have been watching. People bid on abandoned or unclaimed property, forgotten or left behind by their owners or sometimes just lost by baggage handlers. You never know what is inside or what you've won until you open it later. Charlie and Joey are pals who live in the same run down apartment building and attend these auctions together. Occasionally they make some money off their finds, but more often than not the suitcases and their contents just pile up in their messy apartments. After one such auction, they open an antique gramophone and some strange looking homemade records. The music is horrible and the chanting is quite unnerving, but the more they listen, the more they feel compelled to keep listening. Charlie takes a record to someone who may be able to decipher what the chanting is saying, but Joey stays holed up in his apartment with the gramophone and other records, and the more he listens the more he begins to change. Even though Charlie is a good person with a big heart, he does have a habit of being late and a bit absent minded so I'm not sure I would want to count on him in a situation where time is of the essence. Just ask his girlfriend who has often been left waiting for him, or the neighbors in his building who can hear the chanting coming from Joey's apartment and are now compelled to keep listening.
As a reader who loves both horror and historical fiction I found this ominous tale to be right up my alley.
4 out of 5 stars
I received a complimentary copy for review.
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About the author
ERIC J. GUIGNARD is a writer and editor of dark and speculative fiction, operating from the shadowy outskirts of Los Angeles, where he also runs the small press, Dark Moon Books. He’s twice won the Bram Stoker Award (the highest literary award of horror fiction), been a finalist for the International Thriller Writers Award, and a multi-nominee of the Pushcart Prize.
He has over one hundred stories and non-fiction author credits appearing in publications around the world. As editor, Eric’s published multiple fiction anthologies, including his most recent, Pop the Clutch: Thrilling Tales of Rockabilly, Monsters, and Hot Rod Horror , and A World of Horror , a showcase of international horror short fiction.
He currently publishes the acclaimed series of author primers created to champion modern masters of the dark and macabre, Exploring Dark Short Fiction ( Vol. I: Steve Rasnic Tem ; Vol. II: Kaaron Warren ; Vol. III: Nisi Shawl ; Vol. IV: Jeffrey Ford ; Vol. V: Han Song ; Vol. VI: Ramsey Campbell).
Also through SourceBooks he curates the new series, The Horror Writers Association Presents: Haunted Library of Horror Classics with co-editor Leslie S. Klinger.
His latest books are his novel, Doorways to the Deadeye and short story collection, That Which Grows Wild through Cemetery Dance.
Outside the glamorous and jet-setting world of indie fiction, Eric’s a technical writer and college professor, and he stumbles home each day to a wife, children, dogs, and a terrarium filled with mischievous beetles. Visit Eric at: www.ericjguignard.com, his blog: ericjguignard.blogspot.com, or Twitter: @ericjguignard.
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.
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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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.
