Midnight Mattress by Austin Mooney

 

A new employee works the overnight shift at a mattress store that sells beds full of monsters. A traveling student eats a fried tarantula only to find it bites back. A jogger is forced to use a kitchen knife and hammer to keep her neighbor’s skull and kneecap from fusing together. A young man running from his past gets wrapped up in a small fishing town’s bizarre ceremony for sacred beasts that lurk beneath the ocean’s surface.

In Austin Mooney’s debut short story collection, Midnight Mattress, horror and humor combine in 25 exciting tales that echo influences from Stephen King, Shirley Jackson, Junji Ito, H.P. Lovecraft, and 80s horror movies.

I have mixed feelings about this collection.

There are some excellent ideas. Minor editing could streamline several of these stories into 5 star reads. Unfortunately, many of them are weighed down by the excessive use of adverbs and adjectives. For example, I would rather read that an evil scream filled the room, instead of  "A blaring, sharp, agonizingly evil and terribly distressing expulsion of energy in the form of a scream filled the room."

Several stories held my attention, even if the writing style was not always to my liking. I will just briefly mention a few:

As children, we are warned against taking candy from strangers. It's a shame the women in Picnic have forgotten that lesson. They will regret accepting a sweet treat from the stranger who interrupts their fun.

Moss is another cautionary tale when it comes to accepting gifts from strangers. When a package is delivered with no return address, the recipient is at first intrigued but then horrified by the contents.

A strange malady is taking hold of anyone who hears about it in The Folding Man. When a woman tries to help her neighbor with his affliction she may be the next to suffer.

In the middle of a cold rainy night, 4 children in pajamas show up at a mountain inn begging for a room. The kindly owner provides shelter in One Night At Connor Inn.

Short stories are not easy to write. Every word needs to lead the reader through a concise beginning, middle, and end. The majority of these stories have a verbosity that distracted me from what would have been a good scare. If you can look past that you will see this is an author with an ability to come up with unique story lines. I hope he will continue to hone his craft because I see talent there.

My thanks to Austin Mooney.

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You Should Not Be by C.R. Langille

 Strange things happen between the stars and the deep timber. Things most folks don’t care to think about. Our grasp on reality is fragile at best. Sometimes only taking a knock at the door or a whisper on the wind to push us past the breaking point. Inside you’ll find 13 tales of terror spanning familiar places to locations best left unseen. Jump on in if you dare, but don’t listen to the dead, because they lie, and if you hear the woods creaking, it’s too late.

I love short horror stories, but as is sometimes the case, not all of these thirteen tales worked for me. I prefer definitive endings over vague, abrupt conclusions. Some readers enjoy filling in the gaps with their own imagination, so don't let me dissuade you.

A simple yet effective scare can be found in The Great Joining. A woman who is in the house alone is suddenly plagued by a banging on the door. Is it a stranger in need of help or something more sinister? I was completely creeped out! 

A student is bullied for being nonbinary until an unusual friend sticks up for them. Pun intended. You'll see why when you read about the old oak. I love stories where bullies get what they deserve so this was a hit with me.

Night of The Wormheads  is a story about a festival that is disrupted after a meteor falls to earth. This was just a lot of fun, and a little gross.

You Should Not Be, is a retelling of Oz from the perspective of the witch, after she has melted. 

These were my favorites, yours may differ.

My thanks to Timber Ghost Press.

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Dark Things Crawl Out by C. S. Magnuson

 

In silence she wakes. In silence she takes.

Four different men have been locked inside the new jail in the town of Tiefer Spalt, built from the limestone of the Hellion Ridge mines. But no one comes to check on them...No one comes to let them out.

And something strange waits in the snow outside, singing, inviting nightmares.

Four paths have met at the crossroads, and choices need to be made.

Their lives will never be the same.

One mountain. One chance. Will they be able to save themselves?

Something has awakened in the mining town of Tiefer Spalt. An ancient evil has been disturbed by the blasting and digging. 

An unusual number of snake bite deaths are occurring.

A rich man, a drunk, a moonshiner, and a serial killer have been left to starve and freeze in the jail. Nobody has come to check on them for days.

What do these events all have in common?  You'll have to read to find out.

Dark Things Crawl Out is a moderately paced folk horror told from multiple points of view including a depraved serial killer. I could not muster up much empathy for any of the characters other than the moonshiner, and I wish his wife had played a bigger role in the story because she was the most intriguing character of all. 

We learn through flashbacks how these prisoners landed in jail together, but it's not until much later that we find out the reason they have been abandoned there. I was getting antsy by then for the pace to pick up, but the ending made it worth the wait.

4 out of 5 stars

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My thanks to Horrorsmith Publishing.

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The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern by Lynda Cohen Loigman

 

It's never too late for new beginnings.

On the cusp of turning eighty, newly retired pharmacist Augusta Stern is adrift. When she relocates to Rallentando Springs—an active senior community in southern Florida—she unexpectedly crosses paths with Irving Rivkin, the delivery boy from her father’s old pharmacy—and the man who broke her heart sixty years earlier.

As a teenager growing up in 1920’s Brooklyn, Augusta’s role model was her father, Solomon Stern, the trusted owner of the local pharmacy and the neighborhood expert on every ailment. But when Augusta’s mother dies and Great Aunt Esther moves in, Augusta can’t help but be drawn to Esther’s curious methods. As a healer herself, Esther offers Solomon’s customers her own advice—unconventional remedies ranging from homemade chicken soup to a mysterious array of powders and potions.

As Augusta prepares for pharmacy college, she is torn between loyalty to her father and fascination with her great aunt, all while navigating a budding but complicated relationship with Irving. Desperate for clarity, she impulsively uses Esther’s most potent elixir with disastrous consequences. Disillusioned and alone, Augusta vows to reject Esther’s enchantments forever.

Sixty years later, confronted with Irving, Augusta is still haunted by the mistakes of her past. What happened all those years ago and how did her plan go so spectacularly wrong? Did Irving ever truly love her or was he simply playing a part? And can Augusta reclaim the magic of her youth before it’s too late?

I was so pleased to be invited to read the latest historical fiction from Lynda Cohen Loigman. I have enjoyed her previous books and expected no less from her newest.

Told on two timelines mainly from the point of view of Augusta Stern, we move back and forth from the 1920s when she was a young girl coming of age, to the 1980s when she is an elderly woman forced into retirement. 

Augusta grew up in an apartment over the pharmacy that her father owned. Losing her mother to diabetes at a young age shortly before insulin treatment existed fueled her passion for pharmacology.  When Great Aunt Esther moves in to help the family, Augusta develops an interest in natural cures. Esther had been known as a witch in her old village. Maybe there is some magic in the way she can sometimes cure what doctors can't. 

Decades later when Augusta is pushed out of her job, she reluctantly settles in a Florida retirement community. Could it be magic or fate that the man who broke her heart 62 years ago is also a resident?

This was an enchanting story. The historical accuracy of the days when whisky required a doctor's prescription and diabetes was a death sentence lent a touch of realism. 

I loved Esther and her middle-of-the-night kitchen witch escapades that Augusta's father eventually made peace with although he disapproved.

I would recommend it to any fan of historical fiction or anyone looking for a light-hearted, quick and easy read.

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