Holy Ghost Road by John Mantooth

 Some roads are haunted by the past. Some by ghosts. Some are even haunted by demons. The one Forest must travel is haunted by all three.

When she discovers Pastor Nesmith praying to a demonic entity in her family’s barn, Forest knows she must run. Enraged at the possibility of having his true allegiance exposed, Nesmith pursues Forest as she flees on foot, hoping to reach the one person who will believe her—her grandmother. Unfortunately, Granny is forty miles away, and Forest has no car, no phone, and no friends. To reach her, Forest will have to learn to see the world true, even as the demonic and the sacred wage war for her soul. 

Over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house we go... in a desperate attempt to escape the clutches of Pastor Nesmith and a fate worse than death.

15 year old Forest is wise beyond her years. She sees things that others can't. She has a special power and that is why Pastor Nesmith has his sights on her. Most of the town is under his spell, including Forest's mom who doesn't realize he only pretends to care about her to get closer to her daughter.

For the majority of the book we are on the run with Forest, or hiding, or escaping the clutches of the pastor's creepy blind sister who moves as if she can see. There is a lot of suspense at first, but it becomes repetitive after a while with so many close calls and near misses. The pace is a little slow for my taste. I really wanted to love this book but it was just an ok read for me. It was just too much of the same thing over and over. Run, hide, search for food, get caught, escape, run hide, rinse repeat. You may enjoy it more than I did.

My thanks to Cemetery Dance for the review copy,

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Perfect Union by Cody Goodfellow

 

THE FAMILY 

When Drew married Laura, he also married into the Kowalski family. But on a trip with his twin brothers-in-law into the backwoods of northern California to find their abusive, estranged mother, buried secrets will be revealed, threatening his fragile marriage and his sanity.

 THE COLONY 

Mom has joined a new family: Leviathan- a utopian colony that has taken the communist ideal to radical biological extremes, using the mutagenic honey from genetically tweaked bees to make ideal workers and flawless warriors. But the once-human hive is divided by a strike and brutal internecine war, and its tyrannical Chairman is eagerly recruiting scabs. With the Kowalski twins taking opposing sides in the colony's bitter feud, Drew is forced into a world where nothing is taboo and survival is the only law, where he must negotiate between the insane collective mind and the savage refugees, even as the battling forces of the commune work to reshape him into a tool to complete their... PERFECT UNION

It is not my usual type but once I started I just couldn't look away.

Drew is on a road trip with his two brothers-in-law. The plan is to pack up mama and move her and her belongings elsewhere before she ends up living too close to them. None of them have a relationship with her or want her around for reasons that become apparent later in the book. When they get there she is missing and there is a mix of relief and a who cares attitude other than some slight worry about the possibility of being blamed for her disappearance. At this point the reader knows where mama has gone... but our characters don't. 

A surreal mix of incest, child abuse, politics, and bees follows.

Yes. Bees. and I will never look at them the same way again.

I'm not sure what I expected from the synopsis but I was taken aback by this bizarro tale of family dysfunction that morphed into a satire of the far left versus the far right, communism, and sex in what I would describe as a dystopian ecological horror. 

If you are looking for over the top violence and a totally berserk plot this may be for you.

My thanks to Ghoulish Books.

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Sunny Pines by Glen Krisch, Bev Vincent, Kealan Patrick Burke, Ray Garton

 

After an absence of twenty-two years, childhood friends Connor, Miguel, and Jelica agree to meet at Sunny Pines, the mobile home park where they grew up. Sunny Pines had always been a violent place, where drugs and crime were prevalent and visits from the police commonplace. Some say it had been built on bad ground, a spoiled, cursed land. Nothing positive ever came from Sunny Pines, and those who managed to escape it carried the traumas from that environment wherever they wound up.

For the three friends, this is a solemn gathering and, hopefully, a way to put the past to rest. A recent fire destroyed the neighborhood, killing six and leaving many more injured. But their return does little to quiet their childhood memories. Instead, their arrival stirs every vile remnant of dysfunction into waking, and they must face their demons if they are to truly leave the mobile home park for good.

Even though this was a very quick read the characters were fleshed out enough for me to connect with them and envision their lives as children and adults. I wanted them to be ok.

Three childhood friends reunite at the burned out remains of the trailer park where they grew up, to face a timeless evil. As children, all they really had was each other to count on, bonded by the abuse and neglect that was their life in Sunny Pines. Now they will confront their darkest fears in an attempt to cleanse the grounds before it ruins more lives.

Four authors have come together to each write a section of this supernatural horror novella. I can't imagine how difficult that must be, like having four cooks with different recipes all cooking in the same pot and yet somehow they did not spoil the soup! 

4 out of 5 stars

My thanks to Cemetery Dance Publications

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Blood Sacrifices: Three Horror Novellas by Brian Moreland

 

THE WITCHING HOUSE
In 1972, twenty-five people were brutally murdered in one of the bloodiest massacres in Texas history. The mystery of who committed the killings remains unsolved. Over forty years later, Sarah Donovan is scared of just about everything, but today she must confront her fears as she joins her boyfriend and another couple on an exploring adventure. The old abandoned Blevins House, the scene of the gruesome massacre, is rumored to be haunted. The two couples are about to discover the mysterious house has been waiting all these years, craving fresh prey… Includes the short story prequel, “The Girl from the Blood Coven.”

THE SEEKERS
While living under a bridge with the homeless for six months, journalist Daniel Finley witnessed something terrifying. Something that nearly cost him his sanity. Now, two years later, he’s published a book that exposes a deadly underground cult and its charismatic leader who preaches a dark prophecy. Down in the abandoned subway tunnels exist unimaginable horrors that hunger for human flesh. And in a church of darkness, the cult’s numbers are growing. Soon Daniel’s worst nightmares are coming true. A fanatical army is rising to shed blood on the streets of Boston. *The Seekers is a re-release that was originally titled The Vagrants.*

DARKNESS RISING
Marty Weaver, an emotionally scarred poet, has been bullied his entire life. When he drives out to the lake to tell an old friend that he’s fallen in love with a girl named Jennifer, Marty encounters three sadistic killers who have some twisted games in store for him. But Marty has dark secrets of his own buried deep inside him. And tonight, when all the pain from the past is triggered, when those secrets are revealed, blood will flow and hell will rise.

When this gorgeous cover passed through my feed it grabbed hold of me like a magnet. I have previously read one novel and a short story by Brian Moreland and enjoyed them both, so I knew I could settle into Blood Sacrifices for a good gory time. I didn't even stop to read the synopsis, I just looked at the cover and dove right in.

The book opens with a prequel to The Witching House and sets the stage perfectly for the blood-soaked tale to follow. When urban explorers arrive to the old Blevins house they will learn the hard way that just because a building is abandoned does not mean there isn't something that still lives there.

Some of the language was a bit cringe worthy but it still managed to be my favorite. 

The Seekers is about Daniel, an undercover journalist who lives with the homeless while gathering material for a book, and the aftermath when he has written it. To be honest this one was just not for me. I was into it at first but I lost interest in the parts about the mafia.

Darkness Rising is an ugly and ultra violent story of abuse, torture, and revenge. Poor Marty just wants a friend or someone to love, any bit of kindness would be welcome. Instead, his one chance at love is ruined by three maniacs who kill for fun and profit, and they will be very sorry that they ever crossed his path. Marty is a character that I felt a lot of sympathy for even when he went from sweet to psycho. You'll need a strong stomach for this one.

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