Take a Ride into the Weird Wild West with KC Grifant and Her 2nd Installment of the Melinda West Series

Cover Image courtesy of
Brigids Gate Press, LLC

Once again, KC Grifant offers up an entertaining, genre bending read with Melinda West and the Gremlin Queen. I had the fortune of reading the first installment of the Melinda West series over a year ago, and this second installment is just as imaginative as the first with an obvious tease for a third installment at the end.

I do recommend picking up Melinda West, Monster Gunslinger and reading it first in order to get to know the main characters and the Weird West world that they live in. It also sets up some important elements about Melinda’s backstory and her struggle with PTSD that might be confusing if you go into book two blind. But if you’re a series reader, this mashup of Wild West, Horror and even SciFi promises to have some longevity.

As with the first, this installment is plot centric and pulpy, and I feel like it pulls its story from a wellspring of pop culture Scifi reimagined for a Wild West world, with the obvious hat tip to Gremlins. There are touches of Alien, and the Borg in Star Trek comes to mind, but the story is still its own story and not some rehash dressed in Western duds. Also, Grifant populates the piece with a diverse cast.

I want to thank Brigids Gate and Grifant for approving this ARC request via NetGalley. And one final shoutout for the striking cover! Click on the cover image above, or the link below for purchase options: 

https://brigidsgatepress.com/product/melinda-west-and-the-gremlin-queen

Another Self Promo Post --This Time for Reals

 And I know, the last blog entry about an anthology barely included me in it -- the Dancer anthology -- which had a couple of my haikus and a lot of short horror gems from other writers. But this time I need to give a shoutout to Graveside Press and this beautiful horror anthology called Tiny Terrors: Spring 2025.

I have checked out Graveside Press in the past, and was blown away by A Mortuary for Songs by Elizabeth Guilt in particular. It inspired me to submit something to an open call for submissions, and I did, never thinking it would get accepted. But it did, and here it is: The Body and the Blood, among a list of over thirty stellar pieces by various authors. It's fresh out, as of today and while I haven't had time to read all of the stories in it yet, I have read a few. So let me touch on those three because, again, I was blown away.

The ones I chose at random to read gave nods to classic horror authors while maintaining their own originality.

Lawyer, Captain, Cook by Kevin Oldham tells the tale of a lawyer who makes a disturbing bargain while on a privateering journey across the high seas in order to save his own skin, as it were...

The Echo and the Altar by P. N. Harrison pays respects to Lovecraft, as a son discovers the reasons behind his veteran father's PTSD.

The Confession of R. N. Renfield (Undated and Unread) by Kay Hanifen presents Stoker's side character from Dracula and gives him an intriguing backstory.

and then there's mine, The Body and the Blood, about a priest on the edge of losing his faith until he finds himself locked inside his church with others taking refuge at the dawn of a zombie apocalypse. George Romero is mentioned... 

Okay, maybe my entry has a totally different tone, but that's the beauty of this anthology. There's a little something for the niche horror fan and a whole lot of everything for the general horror fan. The writing of the above three mentioned stories is stellar, and I give props to the Graveside Press editors who tackled mine. So go to the direct link at Graveside Press, or go to your favorite book retailer and buy your copy. It's a worthwhile edition to any horror reader's collection.

click for sales link

Self Promo Time—But Not Really: Reviewing Dancer, A HauntedMTL Charity Anthology

Cover Image
Courtesy of Czykmate Books

So, I’m between a rock and a hard place with this unique little anthology of horror. You see, I'm in it, and I have made a commitment to refrain from rating my own work. My contribution to this collection consists of two haikus, six total lines within 150 pages. So maaaayyybeee I can review it? Without technically rating it? The haikus are fantastic (haha jk), but seriously, the collection of short stories and poetry is worth a look. Standouts for me include:

Kevin Hollaway's graveyard crime story Unrest

Nicole Luttrell's environmental horror piece Everything Is Fine

Sci-fi horror The Hunger Between the Stars by Kody Greene

Kathy Sherwood's The Roadside Room about a dangerous one night stand

Glenn B. Dungan's weird The Bug Room about a boy and sentient bugs with cryptic lessons

Rob Swystun's touch of folk horror with Canta Hotinza, about a mysterious construction site spreading across the land

But that’s not all. Sarah Das Gupta has both poetry and short stories of merit, and the rest of the collection has the potential to resonate with readers of a variety of tastes and interests.

Better yet, the curator of this collection, Jim Phoenix, plans to give the proceeds of this book to a worthy charity, the children of Ukraine. Anthologies are a great way to get in a touch of reading when you’re too busy to commit to a full fledged novel. And this one is for a great cause! Check it out. I recommend it even if I’m technically a part of it. My part is two cents worth of the entire book, so I think I might get a pass this time. 😉

Find it here, or wherever you choose to buy your books.

The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias — A Gritty Noir Laced with Twisty Supernatural Horrors

Cover Image courtesy of
Mulholland Books

The Devil Takes You Home, by Gabino Iglesias is an intense and dark read about a man who deals with loss by burying himself in the shady life of a hit man. It’s a well written piece, and it takes some wild curves that rely on religious superstition to justify the weirder aspects of it. The main characters are also bilingual, so if trying to decipher passages of Spanish text bothers you, be forewarned.

I personally find the Spanish a challenge in a good way. First, it lends authenticity to the characters of Mario and Juanca in particular. Second, it gives me a chance to judge my progress in Duolingo, and I’m happy to report that I got the gist of what was being said. Most of the time. When I didn’t, I decided I was experiencing the story like the other gringo characters, and that could be considered important too.

The weirder aspects of the story, without spoilers, involve blessings and curses and devil magic, and they didn’t always land well with me —there’s often a fine line when it comes to suspending disbelief in stories like this—and sometimes I was scratching my head. In retrospect the supernatural horror elements are laid out in a way that connects the threads of weirdness, but I was definitely pausing to determine what was going on, on occasions.

Also, there’s not a lot to like about the main characters, with exception to their loss. If you need a main character to root for, you won’t find it here. This story is gritty and rough and it deals with how we get through loss, so it’s an interesting take on it from a horror perspective. And, of course, sometimes taking a ride with extremely flawed characters gives us a new perspective on things. Take the show Breaking Bad for example. This story brings us into a world of drug cartels and border crossings and Mexican gangsters doing heinous things, so if you like those kinds of stories, then you’ll want to check this one out.

Find it here, or wherever your favorite books are sold.

Into The Forest and All The Way Through — a poetry collection for the missing

Cover Image courtesy of
Burial Day Books

A collection of poems inspired by—and dedicated to—women throughout the United States who have gone missing or who have been killed with their cases left unsolved. This is an ambitious project to say the least, and a noble effort with the intent of shining a light on the prevalence of missing woman cases that go unsolved over the course of decades. Pelayo touches on two or three cases per state to fuel her inspiration, with a dedication to each case that inspired her.

The actual poems were hit and miss for me. The ones that hit, though, hit hard with a five star punch. Average them out with the still-worthy-of-merit misses, and I can give this a solid recommendation. The Horror Writers Association agrees with its Stoker Award nomination.

You can check out Into the Forest and other Cynthia Pelayo works of horror here: 

https://linktr.ee/cynthiapelayoauthor

A Mortuary For Songs by Elizabeth Guilt -- A Novelette that Packs a Punch

Cover Image courtesy of
Graveside Press

    Don’t have time to read? Well this little piece, published by Graveside Press, is only 56 pages and, wow! Just wow. There is so much in this piece—nostalgia, heartbreak, love and loss, hope and horror. It’s a moving story about a high school love affair that takes a gut wrenchingly dark turn. I highly recommend it. If you have memories of high school and the hold that music had because of the way it spoke to you and helped you escape—everything— then this story will hit home.

    A young man finds friendship in a troubled young woman as they increasingly bond over the power of music. His love for her grows as they make and share endless mixtapes in their quests for meaning. But he can't seem to break past the thin shell that hides her real secrets. Until he does. And it's heartbreaking.

    If you need a taste of what this author--and this newish horror press has to offer, check out A Mortuary for Songs. You could find it at your favorite online book retailer. Or you can check it--and other merch--out at the Graveside Press website here: --GRAVESIDE PRESS MERCH-- 

Gag Order -- A blog entry that's NOT a book review but that is an exercise in free speech

Well, it has happened. I work for a small business in an office with six employees, two who are predominantly out in the field all day, so four people plus the on again off again appearance of the business owner, and today—today the three of us, out of four, were given a talk. The three of us out of four were asked to refrain from political discourse in the office because it makes the one (plus potentially the two who are not in the office for the majority of the day…) uncomfortable.

We are an office of predominantly women. Our boss is a fiscally conservative woman of the Silent Generation, and when she brought us together to have the talk, after the one who is also conservative in his political views left the office on a break, she visibly cringed because she had to bring up the topic. She prefaced it with her own admission to having screamed in frustration at the previous evening’s news—her, a conservative. But she “suggested” that we refrain from political conversation in order to keep anyone from being uncomfortable. Anyone. As in the one person not in attendance who voted for "the guy," the toddler president pushing the envelope like he's reached his terrible twos.

This is where we’re at, folks, being told to "be nice," because we, the "liberal snowflakes" of the past decade might offend the MAGA held-hostage-right for merely mentioning the shitstorm raining down upon us. And I get it to some extent—we have to work together, and HR is HR because no one in the workplace should have to endure unnecessary abuse. But mentioning the Superbowl, and asking about who got booed, or suggesting that the halftime show was good because of its artistically conveyed message, is not abuse. 

I've worked at this small business office for well over a decade, and you didn’t see me running to HR when the political right of the office dynamic was up in arms over "infringement" of their gun rights. Or when someone received a personal package there because they didn’t want it to be stolen off their porch. That package was an AR-15. We tolerated the discourse over the 2nd Amendment and the border. We even engaged in it with civility. So forgive me if I take offense to being told that I can't say that calling it the Gulf of America is ridiculous. And stupid. Or that Musk taking a financial hit of billions of dollars is the start of a hopeful day. My boss—who agrees with those two sentiments in particular, is suggesting that I zip it, because it makes that one employee uncomfortable.

And why is he uncomfortable? Are we objectifying him for his sexy physique, or demeaning him by telling him to shut up and get us our coffee? No. Are we belittling him or yelling at him or telling him that he’s not smart enough to understand? No. It is my opinion that he's uncomfortable because he can’t join the conversation. He can’t defend having voted for the wrong side, and we—who are simply talking about the previous night's outrageous news and shaking our heads in casual conversation, aren’t allowed to do that because it doesn’t provide a safe space for the guilt ridden minority. Or maybe he’s not as guilt ridden as we wish he would be, but he knows we are angry and he knows there is nothing he can do to muzzle us outside of work.

We will cater to the gag order. We will maintain our office silence; you know the kind, where the argument ends with her saying "fine," then following up with nothing. Nothing at all. Not one word. It's an uncomfortable silence, and it’s suffocating. That silence won’t bring the office together. Nor will it bring the nation together. Which is why I’m writing this because—surprise—I can’t stay silent.

And you shouldn’t either. Be safe out there, people. Also, be honored if someone calls you woke.

Horseman — by Christina Henry — A New Take on the Legend of Sleepy Hollow

 Author Christina Henry is not new to new takes on classic characters from classic tales of horror and fantasy. She's brought to life many stories that reflect inspiration from Alice in Wonderland, to The Little Mermaid, to Little Red Riding Hood and more. Horseman is my first read from Henry, and its story builds from the classic Sleepy Hollow tale.

Cover image courtesy of Berkley publishers

I was excited to read it. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving was required reading for young students born and raised in rural Central New York, but you don’t need to read it to be prepared for this story. Still, it doesn’t hurt to read the original first. Horseman takes place a generation later, where we meet an ancestor of the original characters, 14 year old Ben, who is being raised by their grandparents from the original story.

Main character Ben is a new teen who was born a girl but identifies as a boy. As you can imagine, this doesn’t sit well with the townsfolk of the late 18th/early 19th Century. Nor does it sit well with Ben's grandmother, Katrina Van Brunt—a key character from the original tale. Grandpa Van Brunt, or Brom Bones as he is known, is absolutely fine with it because young Ben reminds Brom of the son he lost—also Ben's father. As young Ben deals with identity, an old evil returns to the town—one that feeds on children by taking their heads.

I thought that author Henry’s folkloric take on the monster in the woods—the kludde—was well done, and the relationship between Ben and their grandparents was well developed. But I didn’t fully connect with the gender identity thread of the story. Ben’s struggle for acceptance was hit and miss for me. Sometimes the issue felt forced, yet sometimes it felt like the topic wasn’t full of enough depth. 

That having been said, I do appreciate its inclusion in the story. Women living as men did indeed exist in our long ago history, and I think it's important to recognize that. Henry's attempt to tackle the concept is a noble one, but the approach felt a bit blunt and modern within the context of the timeline, if that makes sense.

I’m not going to share spoilers, but there is also some villain monologuing that was a little bit annoying, and I wish that the villains had more dimension to them. But the story as a whole is quite clever and worth the read if you were ever a fan of the original tales of Sleepy Hollow.

Check out the links if you’re interested in the read: 

at Amazon       at Barnes and Noble       at Bookshop.org

Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse — Starting the New Year with an Old Classic

 And what a year it’s been so far. Less than one month in, and we’re battling devastating wildfires here in California, uncommonly freezing temperatures throughout the rest of the country, a shaky ceasefire agreement and a new political future in the United States that has a big segment of the population more than worried.

But I’m not going to get into politics. You can probably figure out where I stand on that front, and that’s all I have to say. Or if I really need to give you a hint, stop banning books and give to your local libraries.

I believe Hermann Hesse would have agreed with me. Steppenwolf takes place in Germany at a time of political turmoil, and while he doesn’t place specific focus on it, it is a time that's leading to war and fascism, and he’s not too happy about it—which may be partly why his main character Harry Haller is so depressed and planning his own suicide. And that’s the whole gist of the story. Harry Haller is depressed. He questions the meaning of his life, and life in general, and he has decided that at 50 years old, it’s time to kill himself. But then something happens—a mysterious sign over the doorway of a mysterious theater, and a mysterious woman who makes him rethink things.

This might be a good book to revisit at the Dawn of 2025… Anyway, a coworker suggested I check this book out. So, here's the extended review:

My coworker suggested I read this piece of classic literature before he finally broke down and gave it to me as a Christmas gift. Fun fact: that same Christmas, I gifted him a book too—Existentialism—A Very Short History. After reading Steppenwolf, I feel like I chose wisely.

The novel is about a man nearing fifty who ponders the meaning of life and of his own existence as an outlier/observer, and thus makes plans for his own suicide as he comes to the conclusion that people are destined to die anyway, and there is no joy to be had once you realize it. Then he comes upon a man with a sign, and a closed door to a theater that's "for madmen only." He meets an intriguing woman, Hermine—who reminds our protagonist Harry of a long ago friend named Herman, and she lures Harry into a quest to find all the possibilities of life, death, happiness and longing by living a more decadent and carefree life beyond the bourgeois lifestyle he leads and at the same time despises.

The bulk of the story is Harry resisting this path, until he doesn’t, then learning the lessons of possibilities once he gives himself over to the whims of chaos and unpredictability. Written in 1929 and set in Germany, the story suffers from some of the prejudices of its time, but I found it admirable to see it touch on current topics just the same. For instance, Herman partly falls in love with Hermine because of her resemblance to his boyhood friend Herman. And at one point, Hermine dresses like a man for the purpose of being mistaken for a Herman. So that touch of playing with gender norms is a great example of its existence—without condemnation—a hundred years ago.

If existentialism is a subject that intrigues you, then Hesse's Steppenwolf is a must for your literary shelves. It's a classic that should be available anywhere you look—even your local library.

A Chance at Free eBooks to Ring in the New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2025

Happy 2025 to all the fans of horror. I would be negligent if I didn't let you know about the book giveaway being headed by TheStoryGraph website, so if you're a StoryGraph user you're in for a treat! Two of my eBooks are eligible for giveaways on the site until January 18th.

Prophet Reborn and Perfect Sacrifices are books two and three of the Perfect Prophet series, so enter to win one of  fifty copies each. And if you do win, you can pick up the first of the trilogy --Perfect Prophet-- for only $1.99 at your favorite online eBook retailer.

Here are the links to TheStoryGraph, and best of luck!

Perfect Sacrifices link

Prophet Reborn link