The Sign of the Beast by Joyce Carol Oates

 

The National Book Award–winning and New York Times bestselling master of psychological suspense returns with the story of a young boy’s sexual awareness disturbed by cruelty, obsession, and rage.

Eleven-year-old Howard was born with a birthmark on his cheek. His Sunday school teacher mockingly calls it the “sign of the beast.” Too hateful to be named, for Howard she is only Mrs. S——. And she’s as careless in causing him misery as she is willful in arousing his shame. All Howard can do is look away—until he realizes he can turn the aggression on its head. When the hunted becomes the hunter, what will happen next? 

This is a short story that popped up last Halloween (or the Halloween before?) on Amazon's home page as one of several offerings to prime members and kindle owners. It sounded good so I downloaded it and then promptly forgot all about it until I went to borrow a book from what used to be the lending library and was told I had to return this book first to "prime reading" before I can download another. It's short enough to read in one sitting, 40 pages or so.

I settled in to read it today, and was not particularly impressed. It's not especially scary or thought provoking and I could not relate to any of the characters. I'm not sure where one would find a church that allows Sunday school teachers to dress in low cut and too tight garb more suited to trawling for men before last call than teaching bible lessons other than this story. Surely the church ladies would have objected to her attire even without knowing she had a thing for young boys. The birthmark on Howard's face seemed unnecessary since without it Mrs. S would have found another reason to fixate on him or other boys but then I suppose it was required for the title of the story. I can't say I cared much what happened to Mrs. S or Howard for that matter.

2 out of 5 stars

Get a copy

Joyce Carol Oates is a recipient of the National Book Award and the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction. She is also the recipient of the 2005 Prix Femina for The Falls. She is the Roger S. Berlind Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at Princeton University, and she has been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters since 1978. Pseudonyms ... Rosamond Smith and Lauren Kelly

Best Horror Novels of 2020

It was a tough choice but these are my picks for the best horror novels of 2020. If you have not read them yet, you are missing out. The title links will take you to the book synopsis, review, author info and Amazon page.

Snowball          Curse of the Pigman      Devil's Creek

Wormwood           Bad Parts                 Misfits

The Other People             In The Scrape          Until Summer Comes Around

Come Join The Murder          Dark Choir          Prepare To Meet Thy God

October's Gone by by Sean Platt and David W. Wright

From the bestselling authors of Yesterday's Gone, Karma Police, WhiteSpace, and more comes a new tense post-apocalyptic thriller that will leave you guessing until the very end.

On October 15, Elizabeth Coombs wakes up from one nightmare to find herself in another ...

Her husband and son have gone on a midnight fishing trip and the world outside has changed in subtle but unmistakable ways.

There’s a freak storm, strange lights in the sky, sounds that don’t seem right, and something lurking outside her rental cabin — something that should not be.

At first, Liz tries to tell herself it’s all in her head, symptoms of her mental illness, symptoms she tries to treat with pills. The same pills her abusive husband derides her for taking.

Maybe she’s just on edge because, in two days, she secretly plans to take her son and leave with her best friend, going far away where her husband can never hurt them again.

Everything will be okay, she tells herself.

But then her son returns home alone with no idea where his father is.

Just one problem, she knows her son is lying.

The boy KNOWS what happened. Why isn’t he telling her?

 

The first thing I want to say is that I enjoyed this book. I need to say that before I sound like I'm complaining. At the time of this review there is no description or synopsis on Goodreads, only a cover photo. When I started this book I did not realize it was part of a series, and I prefer to avoid series.

While this says it is a "stand alone" on Amazon  or possibly a prequel to the series as per another reviewer I do feel like I would have better understood certain things if I was acquainted with the other books.

I did like the characters, and did feel for the abused wife who as much as she wanted to protect her special needs son from his father, was mostly too weak to do anything about it, having suffered her own abuse as a child and thus continuing the cycle. The weird storm was creepy but I felt lost in trying to understand what the monsters and clicking were about. 

There is lots of suspense and tension filled moments in this well written story but I am not entirely convinced it is a stand alone.

I received a complimentary copy for review.

Get a copy

The Dead Boxes Archive by John F. Leonard

 

The Dead Boxes Archive is a chilling collection of short horror stories and horror novellas. Together for the first time in one volume, seven tales from the critically acclaimed Dead Boxes series.

Dead Boxes are scary things. Wonderful and dreadful secrets hiding themselves in plain view.
On the surface, they often appear to be ordinary, everyday objects. Items which are easily overlooked at first glance. Perhaps that’s just as well because the Dead Boxes are as far from ordinary and everyday as you can get. They hold miracle and mystery, horror and salvation, answers to questions best not asked and directions to places better left unfound.

This collection offers an insight into some of these delightfully eerie articles. A stunning omnibus of old school inspired horror, the brooding and ominous variety. Not to say that there isn’t a little gore and gruesome in the mix. But one of the beauties of horror is that it comes in many forms. Blood and guts don’t need to be stars of the show for a story to be dark and disturbing. Something that will stay with you long after the reading is done.

There are five tales that are available to buy as individual books and two more with limited availability. The exceptional Linger is previously only published in the charity horror anthology, Diabolica Britannica. The Screaming Mike Hawkins Story is new for this collection.

Some of these stories were new to me, others I have had the pleasure of reading previously. I really enjoyed most of them, but Burtbridge Boys was just not my cup of tea.

Of all the stories Night Service is my favorite, and is actually one of the best short stories I've read this year. It's the most wonderful time of the year. Christmas is approaching and there's no need to worry about the cold weather. Luke and Jessica plan to keep each other warm, and tonight's the night. It's the end of their third date and Jessica has invited Luke to come home with her. This must be his lucky night! Of course it would be better if he could afford a taxi. Wandering the streets looking for a bus stop well past midnight can put a damper on things. So can boarding a bus with a handful of unsavory characters. Things start to get uncomfortable before the bus even arrives, but once it does, well you'd have to be more brave than I am to board it. The ride is less than smooth and the destination is not at all the type of excitement Luke had been hoping for. The night service might not take you where you want to go but it will take you on a ride you'll never forget.

I loved the way the author turned the ordinary every day event of a bus ride into something extraordinarily terrifying.

Call drops 

Oddly enough, telephones have often been a source of nightmares for me. I do mean that literally, not just that I dislike talking on the phone. In my dreams it's a land line of the old fashioned rotary dial type. In this story it's a cell phone. A simple older slider model with no inner workings and no service provider that somehow manages to ring anyway, bringing brief but disturbing messages for it's new owner. The first time the phone rings it's shocking, as is the information Vincent is given by the disembodied voice when he answers the call. Further calls lead to far more gruesome discoveries. This was a short but shuddersome read that I would recommend to all who love horror and dark fiction.

Doggem was another story that I have read previously, and I enjoyed revisiting it here

It's been 20 years since I was the parent of a kindergartener, but I still remember my son coming home with a stuffed toy and a note from the teacher telling me it was our turn to host said toy for the weekend, and to record in it's diary the events of our time together. I don't remember what we shared with the class but I do remember keeping quiet about our cat dragging it to the litter box in an attempt to bury it or maybe murder it. Perhaps the cat sensed something? In this short story Doggem goes home with a very special boy. George is to host Doggem for the entire 6 week school break. This is more than enough time for Doggem to become privy to dark family secrets that even little George has yet to discover.
Is there such a category as whimsical horror? If not, I think the author has invented it. This was an enjoyable read that would have fit in perfectly as an episode of Amazing Stories or Tales from The Darkside.

A Plague of Pages was new to me, and showcases the peril of the written word in more ways then one. What if horror stories came true? And does the power to turn them into reality reside within the writer or the pen? Is it something that can be passed from one generation to the next? This was one of the gorier and creepier reads in this collection.

Linger  tells the story of a man who never knew his father, suddenly inheriting all of his money and a huge house full of bizarre objects. Is this the act of a repentant man wanting to make things right on his death bed? Or are their more sinister reasons for this last minute generosity afoot? 

The Screaming Mike Hawkins Story is the tale of a blues man with a life as fascinating as any legend of  Robert Johnson, the Mississippi blues singer who purportedly sold his soul at the crossroads and his life, although not cut short, came to a most horrific end.

I received an advance copy for review

Get a copy