Wednesday, April 20, 2022

The Haunting of Kinnawe House by Steven Rigolosi

 

THE HAUNTING OF KINNAWE HOUSE is a ghost story that spans two eras in American history. As the novel opens, 27-year-old Matthew Rollins, an aspiring pop singer, is watching his dreams rapidly swirling down the drain. His girlfriend has dumped him, and he’s suffering with terrible insomnia that is affecting his brain and his eyesight.

Then comes the email from a real-estate agent at York Village Realtors, offering information about Kinnawe House. This former preacher’s house, built in 1746, is now available for rent for the first time in its history. The offer is too good to refuse, so Matthew sublets his Hell’s Kitchen apartment and heads north to Agamenticus, Maine, where he expects to exorcise his demons, write songs, and get some much-needed sleep.

Matthew does not know of the connection between Kinnawe House and the Reverend Jonathan Edwards, who terrified the American colonies with his 1741 sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” For years, Edwards’ former lover, has threatened to reveal her child, Parthalán, as Edwards’ illegitimate son. When four hardy men from the reverend’s Northampton, Massachusetts, community ask Edwards to sponsor a new congregation on the rugged Maine frontier, Edwards sees the opportunity to rid his house of his blackmailer and the child who is a living reminder of his hypocrisy.
Edwards has reason to believe that Parthalán has chosen to study the dark arts, but he does not suspect Parthalán’s plan to build Cape Agamenticus, Maine, into a prosperous oceanside town that Reverend Edwards, and all God-fearing people of the colonies, would consider an abomination.

The narrative alternates chapters between the present, as Matthew struggles with failing health and increasingly violent delusions and hallucinations, and the past, as Parthalán populates his town, and his church, with a community willing to sell their souls for hearty meals and comfortable homes—until a mysterious family arrives to foment rebellion from within. Past and present come together as Matthew learns, little by little, of his family’s ties to Cape Agamenticus and Kinnawe House—and why Parthalán will not rest until the house has driven Matthew to take his own life.


I feel like I should have known with a synopsis this long (probably longer than my review) that this would be a convoluted story.
Matthew is a struggling musician who can't seem to catch a break. His mother is mentally ill, his girlfriend has dumped him, and his insomnia is so bad that he sometimes can not tell hallucination from reality. As if that isn't enough to deal with he has scars all over that mysteriously rip open and bleed profusely under certain circumstances.
When he is offered a stay in a beautiful secluded home on the peaceful coast of Maine if he will consent to be the caretaker it seems like a too good to be true opportunity where he can rest and relax and write some new music.
What he doesn't know is the horrific evil that has been present since the house was built, is still there, and waiting for him.
Told on two timelines that switch between the present day of Matthew and the 1700s when the house and non existent town were built we slowly learn the reason that Matthew never knew his father and the reason his mother went insane. 
Because of the dual timelines there are a lot of characters to keep track of, some of whom were part of a devil worshiping cult, and others who hoped to thwart their leader's evil plans.
It was a bit confusing at times because some of the characters also changed names to Americanized versions, and several characters from the 1700s are still with us in the present day, some wanting to protect Matthew while others want to drive him to suicide.
I do enjoy a good historical fiction and when you combine it with horror I enjoy it all the more. I would have preferred not to have the name changes. There are some genuinely creepy and well written occurrences that happen to Matthew but their connection to the 1700s was at times confusing.

3.5 out of 5 stars

I received an advance copy.


About the author
Steve Rigolosi lives in Manhattan and is the author of the Tales from the Back Page series of mystery novels. The third book in the series, Androgynous Murder House Party, was released in June 2009. The premise of this series: Have you ever wondered about the stories behind the advertisements in your local newspaper—-those ads for fetish parties, transvestite boutiques, discount psychotherapy, wicca conventions, Gothic/Punk events, and lonely-hearts seeking to re-establish contact with a ship that passed in the night? Each book in the TALES FROM THE BACK PAGE series looks closely at an advertisement placed on the “Bulletin Board” of The Clarion, a community newspaper published on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.



Friday, April 15, 2022

The Fervor by Alma Katsu

 

From the acclaimed and award-winning author of The Hunger and The Deep comes a new psychological and supernatural twist on the horrors of the Japanese American internment camps in World War II.

1944: As World War II rages on, the threat has come to the home front. In a remote corner of Idaho, Meiko Briggs and her daughter, Aiko, are desperate to return home. Following Meiko's husband's enlistment as an air force pilot in the Pacific months prior, Meiko and Aiko were taken from their home in Seattle and sent to one of the internment camps in the Midwest. It didn’t matter that Aiko was American-born: They were Japanese, and therefore considered a threat by the American government.

Mother and daughter attempt to hold on to elements of their old life in the camp when a mysterious disease begins to spread among those interned. What starts as a minor cold quickly becomes spontaneous fits of violence and aggression, even death. And when a disconcerting team of doctors arrive, nearly more threatening than the illness itself, Meiko and her daughter team up with a newspaper reporter and widowed missionary to investigate, and it becomes clear to them that something more sinister is afoot, a demon from the stories of Meiko’s childhood, hell-bent on infiltrating their already strange world.

Inspired by the Japanese yokai and the jorogumo spider demon, The Fervor explores a supernatural threat beyond what anyone saw coming; the danger of demonization, a mysterious contagion, and the search to stop its spread before it’s too late.


Japanese folklore and American history combine in this historical horror fiction set during World War II when President Roosevelt had people of Japanese descent, most of whom were American citizens taken from their homes and incarcerated in internment camps. The fear mongering and ignorance that breed hate groups and racism are accurately portrayed.

The story is told from alternating points of view and mainly follows Meiko and her daughter who are forced to live in one such camp when a mysterious illness begins to spread, Fran, a newspaper reporter who will risk her life to get to the truth, and Archie, the minister who is too easily swayed by his wife. 

The horror aspect has only a minor role in this novel so for that reason I would be more inclined to recommend it to fans of historical fiction. I would have liked more of the jorogumo, which is the shape shifting spider demon that makes a brief appearance. It was still a compelling story with lots of action and loads of suspense.

4 out of 5 stars

I received an advance copy.


Monday, April 11, 2022

The Night Road by Kevin Lucia

 

For most of her life, Grace Donaldson's passion has been running. As a star in Cross Country and Track and Field, Grace ran to win, because losing wasn't an option. For her, running was freedom, and she was only ever her true self when racing toward the finish line.

Her senior year, that all changed. Afterward, instead of running toward something, Grace started running away. From her pain, her anger, and her guilt. Now, as her younger sister lies on her deathbed from attempted suicide and Grace's darkness threatens to consume her, she discovers The Night Road, and the chance to run toward something again, instead of away... if she's willing to pay a terrible price.





Grace used to love running cross country, and track and field. Her sister Lilly was also a runner for a time, but it is Grace who won too many trophies to count.
These days running is not so much something she enjoys, as something she is bound to do. It is an uncontrollable urge, her drug of choice, her escape, and the only thing that makes her life bearable. She runs to forget, to be released for a short time of the guilt she feels, over her sister being in the hospital, close to death. 
She is out for a run when she first spots the crows, and another mysterious runner in black, the identity of whom she feels compelled to discover.
This is a story of love and guilt, regret and betrayal, told at a quick pace with a dash of Irish folklore to give it a nice kick. I was dying to know what led to Lilly's grim prognosis and why Grace blamed herself. There was mention of an "other thing" That Grace didn't want anyone to know which really piqued my curiosity and kept me turning pages to the shocking conclusion.
There are also some incredibly haunting illustrations included which I loved.
4 out of 5 stars


My thanks to Cemetery Dance Publications for the advance copy.

About the author

Kevin Lucia's short fiction has appeared in several anthologies, most recently with Neil Gaiman, Clive Barker, Bentley Little, Peter Straub and Robert McCammon.

His first short story collection, Things Slip Through was published November 2013, followed by Devourer of Souls in June 2014, Through A Mirror, Darkly, June 2015, and and his second short story collection, Things You Need, September 2018. His novella Mystery Road was published by Cemetery Dance Publications May, 2020.

Thursday, April 7, 2022

Below by Laurel Hightower

 

HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO TO HELP A STRANGER?

While driving through the mountains of West Virginia during a late-night snowstorm, a recently divorced woman experiences bizarre electrical problems, leaving her with little choice but to place her trust with a charismatic truck driver. But when an unexplainable creature with haunting red eyes gets between them, she is forced to make one of the toughest decisions of her life. Will she abandon the stranger who kept her safe—or will she climb down below, where reality has shapeshifted into a living nightmare?
 






Addy is taking a 500 mile road trip on her own when she ends up on a highway to hell that will test her sanity and her will to live.

"It came out of nowhere."

She is stranded on a dark stretch of road that is known for it's weird happenings and there's no help in sight. Addy has a history of not trusting her own judgement, letting her ex-husband talk over her, talk down to her, and decide for her. Now she only has herself to rely on.

This is my first time reading this author, and I was only about 10 pages in when I jumped online to order her previous book because her writing is exquisite. The scares are many, the pace is breathtaking, and at 106 pages I could have easily finished it in one sitting except for the fact that I wanted to savor it, and that just maybe there were times I was afraid to turn the page.
Below is terrifying, freaky, and yet somehow uplifting. Highly recommended to all horror fans.

5 out of 5 Stars

My thanks to Ghoulish Books and PMM Publishing for the advance copy.

Get a copy

Author's Website