Title: Mama’s Boy and Other Dark Tales
Author: Fran Friel
Publisher: Apex Publications
We are wrapping up Women in Horror Recognition month with a book that exemplifies what women bring to the genre. Mama’s Boy and Other Dark Tales by Fran Friel is a collection that in one light is very diverse, is also tied together by recurring themes and ideas you don’t see much in horror.
Posted in Book Spotlight
Tagged apex publications, bram stoker finalist, children, dark fiction, deals with the devil, dogs, family, food, fran friel, hawaii, horror, humor, novella, pirates, psychological, rape, red hair, religion, serial killer, sex, short stories, supernatural, virgina, women, women in horror
Title: The Haunting of Hill House
Author: Shirley Jackson
Publisher: Penguin
“The literary effect we call horror turns on the dissolution of boundaries, between the living and the dead, of course, but also, at the crudest level, between the outside of the body and everything that ought to stay inside.”
-Laura Miller (from the introduction to The Haunting of Hill House)
To be perfectly honest, Laura Miller’s introduction will say everything about this book I wish to say and in a more elegant way. Though, unless you don’t mind spoilers, I wouldn’t read it until you read The Haunting of Hill House.
So where should I start? Madness? Ghosts?
Posted in Book Spotlight
Tagged beginner level horror, ghosts, haunted house, horror, literary, madness, psychological, shirley jackson, women in horror
Title: Spellbent
Author: Lucy A. Snyder
Publisher: Del Rey
When any book is nominated for the Stoker Award, it automatically has a quality that others won’t. Spellbent by Lucy Snyder is a urban fantasy about a novice witch, Jessie Shimmer, caught in the middle of a horrible accident that will change not only her, but the world she is a part of. Her boyfriend, Cooper Marron, is pulled into a hellish dimension while they were trying to call rain to end a drought. The damage caused by the rip in dimensions causes a cover-up of supernatural proportions with Jessie now considered a fugitive for things she never knew about or took part in.
Title: Morbid Curiosity
Author: Deborah LeBlanc
Publisher: Leisure Horror
Not only will this be the first post for Women in Horror Recognition Month, but this will also be the first Fan Horror Level Spotlight we’ve done. Morbid Curiosity is the story of twin sisters, Haley and Heather, that lost there father to physical illness and mother to mental. They are shipped from Louisiana to their paternal grandparents in Mississippi. They loss of parents, friends, and lifestyle is too much for both of them, but more so for Haley. A popular girl in school, Karla, decides to help them out by showing them how she became popular: Chaos Magic. And like it’s name implies, chaos slowly takes over the lives of Haley and Heather.
Posted in Book Spotlight
Tagged #wih, chaos magic, dark fantasy, deborah leblanc, extreme, fan level horror, Fear, gulf coast, horror, leisure books, Louisiana, Mississippi, snakes, teenagers, twins, women in horror
Title: Shades of Blood and Shadow
Author: Angeline Hawkes
Publisher: Dark Regions Press
When it comes to horror, the breadth of subject matter is limited only to the imagination of the writer. But, even with that large spectrum to choose from, there are subjects that tend to be missed or glossed over for the most part. One of them is history. There are some out there that write historical horror, but the ratio of them to everyone else is very low. Shades of Blood and Shadow is one of those few. Stories steeped in historical context or settings fills most of this collection. Hawkes has a great way of either writing stories within historical settings or creating the stories that are her truth that started the myths and folk lore we know. “Fallen” was a great example as a story about one of the fallen angels that rebelled against God with Lucifer. “The Relic: Father Santiago’s Bones” takes place during the Spanish Inquisition.
While most of these stories are supernatural, it doesn’t take away for the killing fact of some of the horrors that humanity has caused. “The Tour Guide” shows the fact that the scientifically advanced culture of the Mayans still had a barbarous side. “All Becomes As Wormwood” looks at the possibilities in the ruins of Chernobyl. Both historical insights to the fact that even with all our advancements, enlightenment, and knowledge, humans can still cause horrors. Sometimes we mean to. Others are completely accidental. But many times it is because we are too sure of ourselves. That pride in ourselves, our thoughts and beliefs, are usually the main culprit in the most terrifying moments of our past and present.
Horror Reading Level:
Samhain: Beginner
The Relic: Father Santiago’s Bones: Fan
All Becomes As Wormwood: Intermediate
The Heir: Fan
Opportunity: Intermediate
The Highwayman of Epping Forest: Fan
Last Breath: Intermediate
Incident Beside the Striped Tent: What the Fruit Seller Saw: Fan
The Piper of Glamis Hill: Intermediate
El Reptil Rey: Intermediate
The Tour Guide: Fan
The Woe Tale of Fiona MacLean: Beginner
Fallen: Intermediate
Average Rating: Intermediate
