Final Review of the Year — Melinda West: Monster Gunslinger by K. C. Grifant

Cover image courtesy of 
Brigids Gate Press
Illustrated by Luke Spooner

Who remembers that old sci-fi western Wild Wild West, with Will Smith and Kevin Kline? Or if you’re really into ancient entertainment viewing, who remembers the TV series that inspired it? Well, if either of those versions of Wild Wild West were ever your cup of tea, then Melinda West: Monster Gunslinger will be a treat. 

Granted, this is less of a sci-fi story and more of a pulpy horror western, but the crossover vibes are similar. This is a plot-centric piece of storytelling with a touch of steampunk flavor for fans of, say… Supernatural. And I am a fan of Supernatural. 

Author K. C. Grifant has woven a tale of monster hunters, pleasantly diverse ones, in an alt western world that resonates with parallels to our own American wild West history. She creates sympathetic villains and morally gray heroes out for justice—for themselves— and against an underworld they have yet to understand for its horrific power. It’s not necessarily deep, but it’s well written and fun. A welcome diversion for fans of multi genre pulp fiction. 

I want to thank the author for providing this ARC to potential HWA readers. Click on the cover image for a link to Amazon.

Sing Our Bones Eternal -- A Darkly Poetic Mermaid Folktale

 

Cover Image courtesy of
author

Sing Our Bones eternal is a richly drawn fantasy where seafaring Bluebeards hunt mermaids to sacrifice to their god, a magical tree named Kilda who will grant favor for those sacrifices. Senga is the primary character, the daughter of one such hunter, and a hunter herself, although she’s going through a major identity crisis, believing that bewitching may have occurred to transform her from mermaid to human.

Abilene, a mermaid captured by Senga's family for the purpose of sacrifice, spends time with Senga while in captivity, and she is more than willing to convince Senga of the awful truth.

The author has a highly picturesque style of writing. The world these characters inhabit is drawn in splashy poetic—and often horrific detail. There’s no doubt that a lot of heart went into the telling of this story. It's a darkly detailed romantic fantasy that doesn’t shy away from themes of abuse, loss, sacrifice and sexual awakening, dressed in a folkloric world of mermaids and satyrs and werewolves.

But it can sometimes be hard to follow because of the rich style of writing. The story unfolds from multiple points of view that had me pausing to ratchet back, trying to remember who was who and what their connections were to the other characters in the story, and because of it, I often felt a bit disconnected from those characters. But for the right audience—that being dark romantic fantasy—this story is sure to entertain.

This is not the kind of story I normally choose, so take that into consideration when I rate this a four. It’s ultimately not my kind of story, but it’s well written on multiple levels, and I recognize that quality. I want to thank the author for providing this ARC.

Tap the cover image for a Goodreads link.

Reviewing Horror in November — A Short Story Collection, and Splatterpunk

 As a newer member of the HWA—Horror Writers Association—I have had the opportunity to access a boatload of ARCs from authors in hopes of getting attention to be considered for Brahms Stoker. This was a member perk that I wasn’t expecting, but I’ve taken advantage of it by trying to review as many as I can read. I’ve posted reviews of several, and I wish I could read faster. So, below are the ones I’ve finished for the month of November. Two great books for two different horror audiences.

Cover image courtesy of
Death Knell Press

First up is Impulses of a Necrotic Heart, a collection of short stories by Red Lagoe. I adored this collection of quick reads. The stories have a lot of heart, sometimes heartbreak, sometimes vengeful, sometimes with a dash of soul. They tackle subjects ranging from body horror specific to being women, to managing the loss of loved ones, to coming to terms with death to penance and retribution.

What more can I say about this collection of short stories except that they were nothing less than fantastic. Red Lagoe handles them with a delicate hand while not shying from the horrific aspects of every one.

Highly recommended reading, especially if you only have time for a snippet here and there. Five Stars.

You can purchase the book here.

Cover image courtesy of 
Black Void Publishing

Next up, a bloodbath of a book with a pair of Native American MCs. Churn the Soil by Steve Stred.

This is a police procedural with a gruesome horror backdrop, as we follow two characters, Office Brown and Nancy—a resident of an outlier settlement along the border of an Alaskan/Canadian No man's land. And it’s literally that—a no man's land, where the inhabitants of the settlement have come to accept their role as keepers of a stretch of clearing between them and the forest beyond it, even though they aren’t sure why. The clearing must be maintained, and no one is to set foot in the forest beyond it.

But someone does just that, a young girl who challenges the notion, then winds up dead in the most gruesome way. Border resident Nancy receives a spiritual calling to find answers, as does Officer Brown, who was once a member of the settlement as a child. The townsfolk don’t like police interference though, which makes investigation, with wildly supernatural elements in play, difficult.

Stred's writing style is succinct, short chapters that are easy to commit to, with enough pull at the end to draw you into 'just one more' chapter. He doesn’t rely on flowery prose which, for the most part is an effective and streamlined method of story telling here. This is the right kind of story for Stred's chosen writing style. Also, if you’re looking for something to read with a Native/indigenous connection, this can go on your list, as The Border is essentially an outlier indigenous community. Both Officer Brown and Nancy are of indigenous heritage, and I like the fact that Stred doesn’t lean heavy into tropes regarding that heritage. The horror touches on Hopi folklore without the intent of caricature.

This is a solid 3+ read for me, while not quite tipping into 4 territory. The gore is a plus. I like the main characters, although I wish we had a chance to go deeper into their psyches at times. There was one particular villainous twist that I saw coming, so that eventual reveal didn’t hit me like I wished it would have done. Also, because I brought it up so often in my reviews this year, it passes that Bechdel test. Not by much, but Nancy is a strong female character and that's always a plus for me. All in all, this was an imaginative and blood filled take on a monster from Hopi folklore.

You can purchase the book here.

 

Quick Book Review — I Died Too, But They Haven’t Buried Me Yet — by Ross Jeffery

Cover Image courtesy of Clash Books

Henry is an ass. I know, some book review sites will get their panties in a bunch (looking at you, Amazon) because I used a swear word, but Henry IS an ass, and every single character that inhabits Ross Jeffery’s story here would agree. Fuck, Henry would even agree. He is a seriously flawed MC; a misogynist, a homophobe and a past-his-prime ex-husband with some serious anger issues. So, if you don’t like seriously flawed main characters like Henry, this book won’t be for you. 

I love seriously flawed main characters—I mean, I wouldn’t make the time to hang out with ones as belligerent as Henry, but I love to read about them with the hope that they will grow. There are other reasons to give Henry a chance. He's grieving over the loss of his daughter. Twelve years have passed since her disappearance, and the case is essentially closed. But Henry is still grieving, and the process involves burying pieces of her on the anniversary of that disappearance. Well, not pieces of her, per say, but pieces of his memories of her. Because Henry is guilt ridden. For whatever reason, he blames himself for what he has come to accept as her death. He is also coping with the help of a therapy group whose members are equally—and inadequately grieving over the deaths of loved ones. So, Henry is in good company. And his best friend Josh, also grieving over the loss of his wife, is a standup guy. His compassion and tolerance helps make up for Henry's lack of it. 

Henry's daughter Elsie comes back to haunt him in terrifying ways with the help of one new member of the grievance club, and he's not a friend but most certainly may be a foe preying on Henry’s guilt. Josh is the one who tries to save Henry from traveling deeper down the road of despair as he tries to justify the strange happenings that he too has witnessed. 

I’m liking a lot of elements of this story. Jeffery brings the horror to the table. He manages grief like a grief ninja, and there are moments when I found myself truly invested in what happens next. But the storytelling pace did feel uneven at times. There are moments that dragged for me, like the three pages of trepidation that it took for Josh to open a letter. Once we get there, Jeffery delivers, but those three page beforehand…like pulling a loose thread that has no end. It gets aggravating. And speaking of Josh, I felt like the storyline involving his grief was left incomplete. But Henry’s story is the main story, and it comes to a heartbreaking end. 

I have to admit that I was not as surprised by the ending as I hoped I would be. But it’s a logical ending, an appropriately tragic ending, and it affords the opportunity for a grieving character to grow where he needs to grow. Another strong point, the characters rang true to those above mentioned flaws. Jeffery knows how to create solid characters whose actions and words ring true. Anyway, I'm rating this one a 3.75, which bumps it to a 4 here. I’m holding back from a higher rating mostly because of those drawn out passages that delayed getting to the literal punch of the horror. But the horror bits, once we got there, were worth it. Thank you to the author and publisher for the ARC.

Quick Book Review --The Girls in the Cabin by Caleb Stephens

Cover Image courtesy of Joffe Books

The Girls in the Cabin is a solid entry in the psychological horror/thriller realm with plenty of triggerry topics to be aware of, if you need mention of that. I'm going to try my best to avoid spoilers here, while touching on those potential triggers.

The gist of the story is this: A father and his two daughters, Emma (8) and Kayla (teenager) go on a camping trip after the death of their mother to cancer. The trip is an attempt to get past the loss and to bond as a family, but this is a challenge because of deeper, more complicated reasons. The girls have lost trust in their dad. Some reasons are legitimately his fault. Others are just a part of the grieving process, of losing their mom who is portrayed as the anchor of the family. And of course, a camping trip, the wilds...the youngest has an accident in the midst of a freak storm, and the only hope of saving her comes when they find refuge at a woman's home in the middle of nowhere. This is story one -- a grieving family trying to move on and to forgive each other in order to become a family again.

Then there's story two -- Clara, the owner of the house. Clara had an abusive upbringing that flags many triggers--rape, child abuse, domestic abuse, and author Stephens does not shy away from the details. She is broken, but she's a survivor--and maybe the friends and remaining family that she has is the glue that has kept her together. One of them is a confidante named Sydney, another girl who met with Clara when they were kids at a cabin in the woods. They formed a special bond during their childhood years, and Sydney grew to become Clara's protector--mostly from the awful men in Clara's life.

Enter Chris and his broken family into Clara's life where she still longs for the perfect family that was never hers to be had. Also enter, jaded and overprotective Sydney, and you have what could have been the makings of a romantic comedy. But this story is far from a romantic comedy, and the terror that awaits these two families comes together with increasing , graphic detail.

It's a tense and terrifying read, which is what it should be. Well done.

This may seem a weird criticism though, but I don't really like the book's title. Most of the story takes place on a dilapidated farm in a rundown, two story home. I guess it's true that these girls came together at a cabin during their childhood, but the cabin itself is from a memory and kind of insignificant. Maybe that's a whiny criticism on my part, but it still bugs me. A little.

Mental health issues also play a big part in this story (a trigger for some). Portraying mental health issues in horror can get tricky. It can come across as offensive for some, and while this story veers dangerously into cringey mental health issues territory (no spoilers on how here...), I'm happy to say that I felt like the author handled those issues with a fair level of compassion and understanding.

A solid, thriller with a lot of cringe worthy, tortuous horror. Oh, and one more thing. It passes the Bechdel test. Easily. It's amazing how often the horror I read seems to reach that bar.

Thanks to author Caleb Stephens and publisher Joffe Books for the ARC review copy of the book.