An Echo of Children by Ramsey Campbell

A slow burn, chilling horror in a gorgeous edition. Ramsey Campbell always delivers...

Coral and Allan Clarendon have just moved to the seaside town of Barnwall with their young son Dean. If an uncommon number of children have died unnaturally in Barnwall throughout history, surely Dean must be safe with his parents. Could their house be a source of peril? Allan and Coral seem to think so, since they call for an exorcism. Allan’s father Thom believes his wife is wrong to think the ceremony has left Dean in worse danger. But if she’s alone in seeing the terrors that are gathering around him, how desperate will her solution have to be?

Two sets of parents are visiting their children and 6 year old grandchild in their new home. Things seem a bit off right away. Jude is the first to notice that her grandson, Dean, is excessively polite and that her son and daughter-in-law constantly correct everything he does. He is not allowed to play with his toys, and his only friend is invisible. Could it be just a lonely child's way of coping, or is this imaginary friend something more? The other grandparents and even her husband are dismissive of her concerns at first.

This is a slow-burning horror told with Ramsey Campbell's usual flair for the subtle and insidious. Things escalate gradually as Jude begins to research the dark history of the home and the town. I could feel her fear and frustration at being the only one willing to acknowledge that something dangerous was happening, and it was about to get worse. I was so angry at the way she was treated when her son and in-laws tried to gaslight her into believing that everything she noticed was just a product of her own mind. So many times, I wanted to scream at her husband to stand up for her. I believed you, Jude!

4 out of 5 stars

My thanks to Flame Tree Press

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What Remains by Corey Niles

 The White, mysterious, undulating clouds from which no one and nothing return, is overtaking the northern United States. Food and supplies are scarce, extremist religious groups are taking hold, and anarchy is rampant.

Ex-boyfriends Alexander and Sebastian are fleeing south. Their only hope of escaping its grasp is reaching the equator, where the destructive path of the White is believed to end.

As the feuding pair come face to face with an even deadlier threat and the White draws near, they must contend with their broken relationship, their future, and what it really means to survive.

Alex and Sebastian were best friends, turned lovers, who hit a rocky patch in their relationship just before a mysterious, moving cloud of unknown substance began to consume everything in its path. They are broken up but stuck with each other as they try to escape this weird happening known only as "The White."

Word is, that if people can make it to the equator, they will be safe.

Alex and Sebastian will have to help each other to survive. They have very different personalities. Alex cares only for Sebastian and their survival. Sebastian wants to help people along the way, even if it means he might lose his own chance to live. Their broken relationship and its cause create a lot of tension and bickering along the way.

Food is scarce. Some roads are blocked by abandoned cars. Others by a cult like group of people who are kidnapping survivors in the belief that The White will cleanse them of their sins.

This is a dystopian, end of the world as we know it, survival horror.  Will they reach their destination?

I would recommend it if you are looking for a quick read in a suspenseful horror thriller.

My thanks to Crystal Lake Publishing

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Coffin Moon by Keith Rosson

 From the author of the “exciting, suspenseful, horrifying” (Stephen King) Fever House, a Vietnam veteran and his adopted niece hunt—and are hunted by—the vampire that slaughtered their family.

It’s the winter of 1975, and Portland, Oregon, is all sleet and neon. Duane Minor is back home after a tour in Vietnam, a bartender just trying to stay sober; save his marriage with his wife, Heidi; and connect with his thirteen-year-old niece, Julia, now that he’s responsible for raising her. Things aren’t easy, but Minor is scraping by.

Then a vampire walks into his bar and ruins his life.

When Minor crosses John Varley, a killer who sleeps during the day beneath loose drifts of earth and grows teeth in the light of the moon, Varley brutally retaliates by murdering Heidi, leaving Minor broken with guilt and Julia filled with rage. What’s left of their splintered family is united by only one desire: vengeance.

So begins a furious, frenzied pursuit across the Pacific Northwest and beyond. From grimy alleyways to desolate highways to snow-lashed plains, Minor and Julia are cast into the dark orbit of undead children, silver bullet casters, and the bevy of broken men transfixed by Varley’s ferocity. Everyone’s out for blood.

Gritty, unforgettable, and emotionally devastating, Coffin Moon asks what will be left of our humanity when grief transmutes into violence, when monsters wear human faces, and when our thirst for revenge eclipses everything else.

Duane Minor is home at last after the Vietnam War. The things he did and saw haunt his nightmares and his marriage. But all the trauma he has been through is nothing compared to what he soon has to face at home. He and his wife have taken in her sister's child Julia, after a tragedy left her homeless. Julia knows trauma too, and Duane will do anything to protect her.

Working for his in-laws at the bar below his apartment should be an easy job. Even for someone who has given up drinking. It shouldn't be dangerous. It shouldn't be deadly. But one fateful night changes everything, and Duane and Julia become the hunted and the hunters when a vampire destroys everything they have except for each other.

It's been a long time since I read a vampire novel this good. There is plenty of blood and gore, but it's also a tale of how far someone would go to protect their family. It's the choices we make and the choices that have been stolen from us along with the consequences. There is vengeance and redemption, grief and loss, with unforgettable characters both living and undead. 

5 out of 5 stars

My thanks to Random House Publishing.

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Saving Thornwood by David Surface and Julia Rust

In the cemetery at Thornwood Asylum, two girls meet when a door between the 19th and 21st centuries miraculously opens.

In 2022, Annie Blake's world is shattered when her father suffers a psychotic break and ends up in Thornwood Hospital. Annie's father, an architect and activist, is trying to save Thornwood from developers who want to bulldoze the historic site and deprive the community of a vital mental health resource. Desperate to help her father, Annie struggles to find proof that a famous reformer was once incarcerated there.

In 1856, Mary Donovan and her younger brother were separated when they were committed to Thornwood Lunatic Asylum. Mary fights to find her brother and escape but is caught and suffers abusive treatment from staff, until the director of the asylum takes her under his wing. Dr. Jonathan Blackwell plans to groom Mary as his "success story" to help build his reputation in exchange for allowing Mary to see her brother.

When both girls are driven to their breaking points, they flee to Thornwood cemetery, where the border between their worlds opens, and they encounter each other face to face. Can they find a way to trust and help each other before time runs out?

In the 1800s, Thornwood Asylum was a living hell for those who were sent there. More a dumping ground than a hospital, not just for the unwell but the unwanted, unloved, and even the misunderstood. This is where Mary and her little brother are sent by their cruel aunt, who wants to be rid of them.

In the present day, it offers real treatment, and for some in the community, it is their only lifeline to get the help they need. This is where Annie is visiting her father after he suffers a psychotic break while working on a way to save Thornwood from the greedy developers who want to tear it down.

These two girls, in their most desperate moments, in the same place, but centuries apart, somehow meet through a rift in time.

The timeline with Mary and her little brother broke my heart. They never would have ended up in such an awful place if their aunt had one shred of kindness. Treatments for mental health issues in those days consisted mostly of torture, punishments and starvation. Those who sought to work in such places seemed sadistic types who enjoyed tormenting the patients. It made me wish I could go back in time and take them in. 

At least in the present day, Annie had her mother for support while her father was on the psych ward, where he received proper care and medication. The moments when Annie and Mary were able to be together were my favorite parts of the book. The authors successfully blend fantasy with deeply relatable, poignant emotion while showing how far we have come and how far we have left to go in addressing mental health. 

My thanks to the authors for the paperback copy.

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About David Surface   About Julia Rust