Thursday Thistle by August V. Fahren Review

By August V. Fahren
Star Books
Review by: Terry Morgan
Review posted 10/04/2011

Thursday Thistle is a young girl that lives with two lazy sisters who always expect her to do everything and yet deal with their constant annoyance and her father. Thursday is not your typical girl. She likes insects that crawl on her and is sometimes labeled a freak. Her only happiness comes from going into her room to draw and to watch on VHS her favorite movie, Snow White.

Until one day while waking up in a sweat, she notices a mouse, not just any mouse, but one that talks. It then runs off with Thursday grabbing her things including her drawing materials, and chases after it. Thursday soon discovers her own fairytale world with so many odd things, including others who are named after days of the week.

Thursday Thistle is a bizarre fairytale of something never been seen before. This is no Alice in Wonderland, but has you slipping into different degrees of strange. I found it odd, yet the story provoked me to keep reading.

This book is not for the reader who is looking for a light moral type fairytale. It is not something you would read to your child for a bedtime story, unless you want to give them nightmares.

Take a step into Thursday's world and enjoy the darkness, the strange and a whole heap of new things you may have not thought you could see together.

Cinema of Shadows by Michael West Review

By Michael West
Seventh Star Press, LLC
ISBN: 978-0983740209
Review by: Dana Bell
Review posted 09/27/2011

A spooky old theater house - a series of mysterious deaths - a young girl with special powers…these ingredients are mixed into a paranormal investigation to discover the truth about what happened.

Set in the Midwest with plenty of local flavoring, the story follows a pretty much predictable plot line. Although, the angle about the gargoyles was an interesting touch - wait a minute - wasn't that used in Dr. Who? (giggle) Anyway, the possible parallel to the episode 'Blink' was nice, although it is possible the writer, Michael West, may or may not be familiar with the long running British series.

The final epilogue really came as no surprise, almost expected really, since many such horror stories take a final stab at their readers.

There are references to familiar series and movies, giving the story a modern day feel. Some of the language is a bit rough and the talk of female body parts and sex seems to be a common theme in most horror stories, along with the spooky elements.

There are a number of good sentences like 'The table erupted in laughter', 'Rust slowly feasting on the metal carcasses of forgotten film canisters' and a nicely done simile in reference to voodoo dolls and pins. Description is nicely done and the dialogue sounds like real people.

The labeling done for 'Preview of Coming Attractions', 'And now our Feature Presentation', 'Credits' and for the credit watchers, was a nice touch and in keeping with what the book was about.

There are also a few illustrations sprinkled in glorious black and white.

Highly recommended for fans of horror just for the imagery alone and wannabes of this genre should take lessons from a writer who has this skill mastered.

Just watch out for those gargoyles….

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Kill Whitey by Brian Keene Review

By Brian Keene
Deadite Press
ISBN: 978-1936383665
Review by: Ronnie Tucker
Review posted 09/10/2011

Kill Whitey, by Brian Keene, is the story of how a Russian stripper, called Sondra, manages to persuade an ordinary every day guy called Larry to kill her night club boss, Whitey.

The story starts off with some co-worker stuff, which is fair enough, but then it goes into several chapters of how Larry has been attending the strip club and has now become infatuated by Sondra. I've no idea why we need several chapters of Larry's perving as there's only so many ways to say a girl is hot. Once we've done the intro/perving stuff we get to some action.

The action is well done, there's good atmosphere, but it does fail to show any emotion at times. For example: in one scene Larry sees one of his good friends, and co-worker, lying dead in a pool of blood with his neck in shreds. Does he break down in tears? Go in to shock? Nope. Not a jot. He seems to quite easily go from being an every day guy into a gun totting, semi-invincible, maniac. Also there are some scenes that are obviously there for humour (to break things up a bit) but the scenes are a bit too Bill-&-Ted-ish. Something a bit more subtle would have been better.

I know it sounds like I'm being harsh on it, but I liked Kill Whitey. It's just that the end is pretty obvious once Sondra explains some background stuff to Larry, and Larry seems to act anything like a normal guy.

Even with those negative things that I've written, give it a read if you like horror films, and heavy metal, as there are quite a few references for you to catch.

Mangled Meat By Edward Lee Review

By Edward Lee
Deadite Press
Review by: Ronnie Tucker
Review posted 08/20/2011


If you read horror then I'm sure you've heard of Edward Lee. Known as the godfather of gore and writer of all things deviant, Mr. Lee has written many short stories in his illustrious career. This one, Mangled Meat, features a trilogy of short stories.

First we have The Decortication Technician. This one is more sci-fi than horror and is, in my opinion, the weakest of the three. A team of people are to crack open what seems to be an abandoned space craft. It's a nice enough story, but every sentence uses several technical terms (whether real or imaginary) and/or abbreviations (again, real or imaginary) and it's very jarring. Imagine being lectured by a NASA engineer who can only use space jargon. Not very nice.

Getting better is the second story, Cyesolagniac. This one is more like it. Short, sleazy, sick and has a nice twist ending. Poor Heyton is a bit of a deviant, and is addicted to pregnant women. Trawling a red light district he can't believe his luck when a hot pregnant hooker gets in his car. This one shows why many horror/gore fans read Lee's work.

Last, but not least, is Room 415 which is about a guy who is mentally affected by his ex-wife. So much so that he is unable to orgasm as memories of his ex flash into his mind and cause him to wilt. Indulging in some voyeurism he sees a hooker getting a sound beating which, he realizes, really turns him on and does make him orgasm! Disgusted that he came, rather than call the police, he investigates the rooms occupants. This one doesn't really have any gore, as such, but does show that Lee can write a good detective story.

Another good anthology from Lee I think. Room 415 had more feeling and atmosphere than the other two, but in sickness value Cyesolagniac wins.

Belong by George Wilhite Review

By George Wilhite
Lulu
ISBN:978-1257909230
Review by: Dana Bell
Review posted 08/15/2011

Ian is the very image of most young boys tormented by the bullies of his school and an undesirable to the girls. He finds refuge in a downstairs bathroom, makes contact with what he thinks is a beautiful woman in one of the stalls and they communicate by graffiti on the walls. Eventually, she sucks him into her realm and holds him as her sexual captive, until another young man, on a dare, accidentally frees Ian back into the real world.

From there, Ian learns of the terrible murder of a young girl who gave birth to the monster who kills men out of revenge for that terrible rape and death long ago. He learns the girl's identity, uses the power of her name to free her, and helps put matters right before scrubbing to the inevitable death he himself suffered twenty years earlier.

An interesting premise mixed with the power of urban legends, many of which the origins become forgotten or blurred with time. Set in a high school, a true horror to many young people and the growing sexual awareness that grows during those years, the author sets up a believable situation, including the story of how Ian was found dead - no explanation and in an embarrassing position.

Once the sexual torture scenes are over, the story becomes interesting, full of the promise the original opening scenes hinted at. The search for the truth of how the horrid creature in the mirror came about, its defeat, and the two trapped finally freed, gives the story a compelling and fulfilling ending.

Belong is a good novella with a well thought out story line, even with all the sexual cruelty and bondage images. Although it should be classified as male erotica, it is also a murder mystery, an urban legend and a little scary, although a bit too graphic in some parts, so much so it was almost cliché.

Fractured Time by Alan Draven Review

By Alan Draven
Black Bed Sheets Books
ISBN:978-0976994787
Review by: Terry Morgan
Review posted 08/14/2011

Donovan Vicar is a feeler. He experiences emotions, bad and good vibrations of sorts. One day while walking home from a class he taught, he sees a man. The man produces a strange feeling for Vicar, a really evil feeling. He gets closer to the man, then hesitates. The the man goes on to the bus terminal and disappears, making Vicar regret not doing anything else.

He approaches his mentor, Mason with the problem. They talk and soon Vicar decides to go onto the bus where he thinks the man went, only to realize soon after being let off that the time has changed. He is now in the past of where he lives in Bitternest and not only has the time changed, but a growing evil force is present that he learns is darker than anything he has come into contact with.

Fractured Time is a story of dealing with one's gifts for the greater good. It was an interesting story that leads the reader down the growing paths of Vicar and the people around him in the past where the story takes place.

The one issue I had is at times when characters would do something that would just not make sense at the particular moment. For example, when Vicar tells his Mentor Mason he feels a certain way, his mentor tells him he is being paranoid. Why would a fellow feeler tell another 'you are being paranoid?' Isn't feelings what they are all about and they should listen to them?

This book regardless of that one issue is a great read. Its settings make you feel as if you are time-traveling with Vicar and experiencing all the conflict and horror that comes from the Bitternest past. I will say that no matter what you do, after reading this, you may think twice about going on a long bus trip.