Things That Don't Belong in the Light by Matt Starr

What is your deepest fear? Things that exist in plain sight?
Those that hide in the darkest corners of your soul? 
Our deepest fears come in many forms. The seen and the hidden.
The real and the imagined. The flesh and the incorporeal.
Between the covers of this book, you'll find a bit of all this.
Monsters, real and imagined. The familiar and the alien.
So open the book. Be prepared to confront your worst fears.

Things That Don't Belong in the Light

Last year I read Prepare To Meet Thy God by Matt Starr and it ended up on my best horror of 2020 list. When I saw this short story collection I knew I had to read it.

These stories are dark and multifaceted. They don't always lead where you think they're going to take you. I'm just going to touch briefly on my absolute favorites.

 Debris is the tale of a man haunted not by a spirit but by an event. As he rushes off to be with his dying mother it made me wonder if we create our own fate or are we just steered along by circumstance. This is one that really creeped me out.

The Suffering of Jolie Bell is about a travel blogger looking for the next haunted place to write about. Generally she makes things up as she goes along, but this time she may have found the real thing.

The Light on the Other Side of the Crawl Space features two things that for some reason paired well together, a dysfunctional family and an awful lot of spiders. This was one of the more gruesome stories which is probably why I loved it. 

In Devil Like You a pharmacist is asked to provide the drugs that will end the life of a death row inmate but consequences follow.

Last but not least is I Was Not Offended which is an original twist on the old myth of selling souls for musical ability. Whether you are familiar enough with the legends to start humming about being down at the crossroads or whether you have no idea what I'm rambling on about this is one story that won't give you the blues. 

4 out of 5 stars

I received an advance copy from the publisher under no obligation to write a review.

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Peel Back and See by Mike Thorn

In spaces both familiar and strange, unknowable horrors lurk.

From the recesses of the Internet, where cosmic terror shows its face on an endless live feed, to a museum celebrating the sordid legacy of an occultist painter, this chilling collection of sixteen short stories will plunge you into the eerie, pessimistic imagination of Mike Thorn.

Peel Back and See urges its readers to look closer, to push past surface-level appearances and face the things that stir below.

I'm on a roll with short stories lately, and he's another collection with several I enjoyed.

If you like your fiction dark and disturbing this is for you.

My favorites were Mini McDonagh Manor that shows us you can't go home again, or maybe it's just safer if you stay away!

Mr. Murcata's Final Requests, is about the assistant of a dying man who does her best to fulfill his strange demands... until she makes an interesting discovery. @GorgoYama will make you think twice about those lovely friends you've connected with online. Wouldn't it be nice to meet them in person? Take this story as a warning before you do. In Dreams of Lake Drukka, a daughter is alienated from her father after her mother's death. She and her reluctant sister take a road trip and discover a dangerous truth.  In Exhumation, a man arrives at his cousin's funeral to find something otherworldly waiting to welcome him home. The Finger Collectors is a job title, it pays well as long as you don't ask questions. This was such a bizarre story it's hard to describe but I loved it.

The Furnace Room Mutant is something some high schoolers are just dying to see, but they should not have tricked their school mate into getting that key.

Virus is more than something that can mess up your computer and could be viewed as a cautionary tale before you click on any untrusted download links.

These were my favorites, yours may be different, you'll never know unless you peel back and see.

4 out of 5 stars

I received a digital copy from the author under no obligation to write a review.

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About the author

 

The Forest by Lisa Quigley

 

Everyone in Edgewood believes their annual tithes at the fall festival are what purchase Edgewood’s safety, but as Faye and her husband prepare to take over as town stewards—a long tradition carried out by her family for generations—they learn the terrible truth: in order to guarantee the town’s safety, the forest demands an unthinkable sacrifice.

In the midst of everything, Faye is secretly battling debilitating postpartum anxiety that makes her all the more terrified to leave the safe cocoon of her enchanted town.

When everyone turns against her—including her own husband—Faye is forced to flee with her infant son into the forest. She must face whatever lurks there and, perhaps most frightening of all, the dark torments of her own mind.

The Forest is an adult folk horror novel appealing to fans of The Lottery by Shirley Jackson and Bird Box by Josh Malerman, with a hint of The Changeling by Victor LaValle. It is Quigley’s debut novel.

Welcome to Edgewood, A picture perfect town that nobody else can find unless they've been invited. A glorious, safe haven of good luck and fortune where nothing bad can ever happen. This is where Faye has been born and raised. It is where she is meant to spend her entire life and where she and her husband are expected to take over as town stewards now that her parents are retiring from the role. As the time of the ceremony draws near, Faye learns the true cost of living in such a magical place, and the price is not one she is willing to pay. With very little time to plan, she makes her escape from the only life she has ever known. Can she survive the forest?

This is a chilling and suspenseful folk horror with a strong female main character. I loved the whole family dynamic and the stunning way the truth was revealed. This would have been a 5 star read for me if not for some repetition. The tension that was increasing kind of evaporated a few times but the fear factor was kicked up several notches for the ending.

4 out of 5 stars

I read a digital file under no obligation to write a review.

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Professor Charlatan Bardot’s Travel Anthology to the Most (Fictional) Haunted Buildings in the Weird, Wild World

“At Last, an Authoritative Compendium to (Fictional) Haunted Buildings for the Delight and Exploration of Reader-Travelers Around the Globe.”

For nearly forty years, renowned paranormal investigator Professor Charlatan Bardot has examined, documented, and acquired stories of haunted buildings around the world. Partnered with leading anthologist Eric J. Guignard, and gifted artists Steve Lines and James Gabb, the greatest of Charlatan’s discoveries are made available now in this comprehensive travel anthology!

From the Philippines’ tragic Ame-Soeur Clothing Factory, to Sweden’s reverent Fish Church; from Tanzania’s vengeful Unguja Restaurant, to Canada’s cursed Crow Island Lighthouse, Charlatan Bardot presents a lifetime of experience and insight into paranormal architecture.

27 feature stories and 36 tiny tales are included of haunted temples, diners, hotels, shops, hospitals, outposts, theaters, and other building types, along with maps, travel notes, illustrations, and more, all designed to provide an immersive experience for veteran travelers and armchair ghost hunters alike!

Enter Professor Charlatan Bardot’s Travel Anthology to the Most (Fictional) Haunted Buildings in the Weird, Wild World (2021 edition) and explore the strange and curious locales of the globe and of your imagination.

I'm going to be brief here. The title is a mouthful and the pages are a feast for the eyes and imagination. Illustrations, maps, and travel notes all combine to make fiction feel like reality.

The stories take you on a trip around the world, where you will become acquainted with several haunted places all from the safety of your favorite reading spot. 

Multiple authors with their own distinctive style add a unique flair and flavor to this anthology.

There are hauntings that occur in the usual places, such as the hospital in the chilling story Above Aimi by Thersa Matsuura but also more unusual settings such as the haunted department store in Ramsey Campbell's Still Hungry. These were just two of my favorites in this journey. 

Expect the unexpected on your travels and enjoy the trip.

4 out of 5 stars

I received an advance copy under no obligation to write a review.

Available for pre-order