Condemned by Christopher Renna

 

The suburb of Newman, Connecticut, nurtures its upper-middle class clichés. It's a picturesque community that boasts ambitious career-oriented parents and overachieving children. The residents prefer to keep family matters behind closed doors, locked away in their high-priced Colonial homes, hidden from the eyes and ears of curious outsiders.

Conner and his two best friends, Trevor and Adam, are enjoying their senior year of high school. Competitive and popular, they're focused on academic and athletic successes paving their way to college. But the sudden death of their former friend, Jared, forces them to tackle a new challenge, a growing interest in the unofficial cause of Jared's death: Possession by the devil.

Gossip threatens to reveal secrets. A paranormal investigator arrives in town seeking demons and fame. As media attention mounts, Conner and his friends must confront the rumors head-on to salvage Jared's memory. Then they must accept the reason why they allowed their friendship with Jared to crumble. Because the devil is in the details.

The sudden death of a healthy high school boy brings a flurry of attention to the town when it sparks rumors that he died during an exorcism. His former friends set out to find the truth, and grapple with the guilt of not having made enough of an effort to remain friends with Jared when they first noticed the strange changes to his personality that may have marked the beginnings of demonic possession.

The beginning of the book was a little slow and seemed more like a mystery than a horror. It took a while for anything scary to happen and I was anxious for it to pick up speed and get to the good stuff. Some of the actions and reactions of the parents seemed unrealistic but the friendship between the boys felt genuine to me.

There were some creepy happenings revealed when the boys look back at a week they spent together in a cabin on the lake which was the beginning of the end of their friendship with Jared. It was not until that point that I felt fully invested in the story. I think at it's heart this was a story of good against evil, deep and abiding friendship, and the sacrifices someone may be willing to make for those they love.

I received an advance copy for review.

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We Make Monsters Here by Richard Newby

 

In a country built on dreams, nightmares swell beneath the surface. Monsters face job insecurity in a new age. A group of former friends gather for one last game. A pizza delivery driver’s search for the ultimate high becomes an odyssey in body horror. Romance blossoms between a DJ and a woman who wants to be dinner. A soldier returns home from war but isn’t what he seems. The lessons learned at a family dinner have bloody consequences. History darkens the present as an underground boxing match leads a young woman to a path of destruction.

These stories and more sift through the pieces of 21st century American wreckage as the pursuit for identity and belonging take dark twists of fate. Discover what we’ve sown in this place we call home. Discover what happens when a society based on winning ultimately loses. Discover the truth, that above all else, We Make Monsters Here.

This dark collection of grim stories contain an eclectic mix of humor, horror, sci-fi and parable. Most of the monsters are of the human variety. While not every story was a big hit with me, the reason I ended up giving this book a 5 star rating was because the stories that I did love, were so crazy over the top good. The kind that make me wish somebody in Hollywood would pick up a book once in a while, and read a new author instead of rehashing sequels and remaking played out tired plots.

My favorites in this collection were A Dinner Date, in which a lonely young woman who is obsessed with a strange fetish thinks she has finally found the man who can fulfill her bizarre desire.

The Weed, which brought to mind two things from the 80s, a combination of Nancy Reagan telling me to just say no to drugs and Stephen King's comedic portrayal of Jordy in Creepshow, although the moral of the story delves deeper.

What I Learned About Ghosts off Route 64 shows that sometimes people are not haunted by ghosts, but by the actions of other people.

In Doughboy A man brings home a toy that can feed on and mirror the values he and his wife have passed on to their children.

War Mother is a heartbreaking reminder that the casualties of war don't just occur on the battlefield but continue long after the war has ended, and can spread to those who never fought.

The final story Black-Bone Pit was in my opinion the star of the show. It is a visceral tale that put me through a wringer of emotions. It is one of my favorite types of horror, full of small town secrets built on a dark history of evil. In the end, justice delayed does not always mean justice denied.

 5 out of 5 stars

I received a complimentary copy for review

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About the author

Richard Newby is an author and pop culture journalist covering film, television, comic books, and horror. His coverage has appeared at The Hollywood Reporter, The New York Times, and Fangoria. He resides in Columbus, Ohio, with his wife and son, along with their cat and dog.

Twitter: @RICHARDLNEWBY

Irish Gothic: Tales of Celtic Horror by Ronald Kelly

 When Irish eyes are dying

Breath chills till time is over,
Death pulls slowly graveward
To rest ’neath sod and clover…

Ireland… Sweet Erin…The Emerald Isle. In the bright and bonnie light of day, it is a place of beauty, history, and good humor. Of rolling green hills and stone walls at every step of a mile. A kind blessing for health and happiness, and a pint in your hand at the village pub… as well as the sound of fife and fiddle, the lilting tune of laughter, and the cheerful dance of a jig.

But, as the sun takes leave and dusk descends, deep shadows and the dank of an evening mist claim the Land of Saints. Within the cloak of night, boogies and beasties roam the moors, keen for the echo of lonesome footsteps and the alluring scent of fear and dread. Banshee, selkie, leprechaun, and fairy alike. The restless spirit of the Sluagh and the bestial form of the werewolf, hungry and on the prowl.

In Irish Gothic: Tales of Celtic Horror, Ronald Kelly returns to the land of his ancestry and explores the dark superstition and frightful folklore of Ol’ Éire. Seven stories of Celtic gothic terror… tales to quicken the beat of the heart and chill one’s bones to the very marrow.

Irish Gothic arrives in plenty of time for Saint Patrick's day as we wait in the heart of winter for the spring thaw, bringing seven stories of myth and folklore to further chill your bones. There's also a crash course in Irish creatures and cryptids included at the end along with an informative Gaelic/English translation for some of the terms that may be unfamiliar to you. I found it quite helpful.

My favorites in this collection were Flanagan's Bride, which I could hear play out in a lilting Irish brogue in my head. The lads in the pub don't believe any woman would ever marry Flannigan but they are in for a shock when he brings his bride home.  

In Diabhal's Timepiece an intricately carved grandfather clock makes a couple feel uneasy and connects to something dark and dangerous in the husband's distant memory.

Another favorite was Postcard from Kilkenny, about a man who might have a vampire in the family.

A Fine Wake For Nana Ferree finds the towns people in mourning for a much beloved elderly woman. When one young woman upholds her promise to fulfill Nana's final wish things take a dramatic turn. The Spawn of Arget Bethir finds a man of God suffering nightmares of becoming a werewolf. Or is it more than just a dream? 

I enjoyed this peek into a land of rolling hills, lush green valleys, and dense woodlands, where the luck of the Irish does not necessarily mean good luck and Irish eyes are not always smiling but sometimes wide with fear.

I received an advance copy

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About the author

Ronald Kelly was born and raised in the hills and hollows of Middle Tennessee. He became interested in horror as a child, watching the local "Creature Feature" on Saturday nights and "The Big Show"---a Nashville-based TV show that presented every old monster movie ever made ---in the afternoons after school. In high school, his interest turned to horror literature and he read such writers as Poe, Lovecraft, Matheson, and King. He originally had dreams of becoming a comic book artist and created many of his own super heroes. But during his junior year, the writing bug bit him and he focused his attention on penning short stories and full-length novels. To date, he has had ten novels and eight short fiction collections published. In 1992, his audio-book, DARK DIXIE, was included on the nominating ballot for a Grammy Award.

He currently lives in Brush Creek, Tennessee with his wife, Joyce, his two daughters, Reilly and Makenna, and his son, Ryan (Bubba).

Elizabeth by Ken Greenhall

 

Elizabeth thought that she was a young girl like any other girl - until the day that she looked into the mirror and saw the truth. Her family wouldn't have believed it even if she had told them - which she had no intention of doing. Elizabeth had far different plans for them - and only God could help them. He didn't - and Elizabeth set out to prove how hellishly far she could go.

Elizabeth is not your average 14 year old, and although she is descended from witches I'm not convinced that alone is at the heart of her actions. Elizabeth seems to have no real feelings or emotions. She is quite cold and detached from everyone, other than an apparition that observes her from the mirror.

Does Elizabeth have actual powers or is she just deluded? Does she suffer some sort of mental illness? She definitely feels no empathy but has taught herself to imitate it, much like someone with borderline personality disorder. Nothing seems to phase her, be it murder or sex acts, as she narrates the story on a very even keel whether she is telling you about a recent death or what interrupted her plans for an evening of incest.

I think Elizabeth could best be described as a cross between Carrie and Lolita, and I am at a loss of how I feel about it. 

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About the author

Ken Greenhall was born in Detroit in 1928, the son of immigrants from England. He graduated from high school at age 15, worked at a record store for a time, and was drafted into the military, serving in Germany. He earned his degree from Wayne State University and moved to New York, where he worked as an editor of reference books, first on the staff of the Encyclopedia Americana and later for the New Columbia Encyclopedia. Greenhall had a longtime interest in the supernatural and took leave from his job to write his first novel, Elizabeth (1976), a tale of witchcraft published under his mother’s maiden name, Jessica Hamilton. Several more novels followed, including Hell Hound (1977), which was published abroad as Baxter and adapted for a critically acclaimed 1989 French film under that title. Greenhall died in 2014.