Posts Tagged ‘Gargoyles’

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Blurb:

January 1, 2000.
May 21, 2011.
December 21, 2012

These are just a few of the days humans prophesied as bringing catastrophic events that would end the world. We predicted nuclear warfare. Drastic climate change. A call from God.

We were wrong.

Cue the gargoyle invasion—laboratory bred mutants designed to slaughter humans. When the government goes AWOL and gargoyles are swarming by the hundreds, it’s up to the citizens of the United States to regroup and save themselves.

Meet Cliff Matthews, a teenage boy separated from his entire family with the exception of his younger sister, whom he is desperate to keep alive. Along the quest to save their lives, he encounters people who aren’t all that they seem. Everyday’s a battle, but if he can’t trust his own species, where does that leave his family?

And we can’t forget the man who may be willing to sacrifice Cliff’s life, if it means world domination.

In terms of doomsday, no one could’ve seen this coming.

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My Review

At first I thought this was going to be a simple story. It’s told from the point of view of Cliff, a fifteen year old boy, so I figured it would be uncomplicated. Not so.

This story has heart and well developed characters. I found myself skeptical at times about how Cliff reacted to events. Then I realized this was a young man, protecting his little sister, unsure if his parents are dead or alive, and coping the best he can. At times he seemed almost cowardly, but he wasn’t. He was just acknowledging his fear and then moving past it, becoming a brave young man.

While at the train station with his parents, his older brother, Todd, and his two young sisters, there’s a horrible explosion and Cliff loses track of his family. A mysterious girl rescues him from the fire and he’s able to locate one sister. They rush home to find his useless brother watching TV, seemingly unconcerned about the rest of the family. He did bring their other sister home, but there’s no sign of their missing parents.

When the gargoyles attack in their neighborhood, Cliff bumps into the girl who saved him at the station and along with one of his sisters, they flee.

Be prepared for lots of carnage. These gargoyles are intent on one thing only. Ripping, rending, tearing us to pieces. They don’t turn to stone in the daytime and are near impossible to destroy. Genetically engineered monstrosities bring on a bloody apocalypse.

I became very curious about Hunter. That’s the only name she gave Cliff. She seemed to pop up at opportune times. Close mouthed about herself, Hunter was a mystery to me and I wanted to know more about her.

Todd, the older brother, was a bully and an immature jerk. He heaped abuse on Cliff with gleeful malice and I looked forward to the day he met his downfall.

As these young people try to survive the horrific attacks of the gargoyles and the seeming abandonment by their government to protect them, they discover the gargoyles aren’t the only monsters they have to fear.

It’s important to me that the human dynamics play a big role in an apocalyptic story. If it’s just about what caused it, there’s no depth. How people react, whether good or bad, is true in real life and should be there in fiction.

I found myself putting the book down to take a break and picking it right back up to read a little more. The gargoyles were a nice touch to bring something different to an apocalypse and the characters kept me caring what happened.

4 Stars

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Excerpt

Angel’s chest was rising and falling rapidly as the gargoyles circled them silently. Hunter

had never wanted something more in her entire life than to live for another day. She

couldn’t even entertain the idea of little Angel being gobbled up by the big bad

gargoyle…

She squeezed her eyes shut.

Please, please, please, she chanted silently over and over.

She knew the type of wound a scratch had given Cliff. What type of pain would they

concur on her entire body? Would they eat her right away or save her for dinner? Would

they pluck out her limbs and eat them one by one?

Time stopped as the door creaked open. The gargoyles soundlessly cloaked themselves

back in the shadows. The stairs groaned as someone walked down the stairs without a

care in the world. Hunter could practically hear the gargoyles lick their lips.

She wanted to cry out and warn the person. But it was beyond her control.

That’s what you get for walking down the stairs so loudly. That’s what you get for

walking in the dark during a damn invasion, she reasoned. But her heart was saying

something else.

The person reached the bottom of the stairs. The gargoyles uniformly shifted through the

shadows. “Hey…” he said suspiciously.

He had realized his danger a second too late. He broke into a run, but the gargoyles

would be on him in a second. And he’d be dead.

“C’mon, sweetie.” Hunter whispered to Angel, crawling out from under the stairs.

Ignoring the cries of agony, pain, and sorrow, she raced up the stairs. The wood banged

against her ankles, but she didn’t stop. There was the cruel sound of cracking. Hunter

shielded Angel’s eyes from the scene and dared to look behind her.

The gargoyles were circled around the man. The predominantly bigger gargoyle bit his

neck. A gush of blood spewed across its face. The man’s eyes still stared at her, his

mouth formed in an O, as if he was trying to speak to her.

“I’m so sorry.” She choked.

She hurried up the steps, slamming her body into the door. The light washed over her

body, as did her relief. But her nerves did not settle.

~~~

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About the Author

Being the daughter of an accomplished author, E.S.P. grew up listening to stories and telling her own to classmates. After writing for several years and even publishing some short works, she finally decided to take the plunge to write (plus finish!)a full length novel. Thus, Dawn of the Apocalypse was born. When she’s not writing, she’s either reading books, blogging at whoistheserialreader.blogspot.com, or watching eighties movies.

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Blog Tour Giveaway

One signed copy of Dawn of the Apocalypse and a $10 Amazon Gift Card

Click on the rafflecopter below to enter.

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

To see all of my giveaways click on the gargoyle below!

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Welcome to Thursday Theatre

Here is where I’ll be posting video clips about books and movies.

There just aren’t many movies about Gargoyles out there.

Sure, you can catch some on the SyFy Channel. But. I’m always disappointed in the cheesy CG creatures.

My favorite gargoyle movie is from 1972.

I know, you can tell it’s a costume, but the same could be said for The Creature From The Black Lagoon, and I loved that movie too.

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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59Kz6G8174w]

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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vz21hmhWCSg]

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Do you have a favorite Gargoyle film or book?

Let me know. I’m always looking for something new.

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To kick off the release of The Fragile Things, V. Shaw is giving away free ebook copies of the dark fiction collection, The Lady of Chains and Other Stories.

This offer is only available via Amazon,

and will run between April 23rd – 27th.

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Description from Amazon:
“Remember; you have seventy-two hours to do the deed and not a moment longer. Cut her throat and remove her heart. That, my girl, is the only way to destroy the wretched creature.”
Greylock. A city supported by a network of scaffolding, bleeding rust and wheezing steam.
Patrolled by an army of ‘metal men’ – creatures who’re designed for nothing more than to kill and destroy. Nothing grows. Nothing truly lives.
Viola, a young orphan girl, has been thrust into this nightmarish world by the devious Mrs Casket, caretaker of the mysterious tower and maid to the Lady of Chains, a woman imprisoned without a sentence. A woman who almost single-handedly destroyed the world . . .
Viola has been gifted with a task which could either see her demise or be her salvation.
But who is the Lady of Chains? And why does she insist that she is connected to Viola? With the clock ticking and the metal men drawing near, Viola is about to learn that not everything in Greylock is what it seems.
A spellbinding novelette with elements of steampunk.
****
ALSO INCLUDES THE SHORT STORIES; Hansel and Gretel Rogan and the Gargoyle The Silent World
BONUS MATERIAL: Also contains a preview of the up-coming horror serial, The Fragile Things.

You can read my review here.

The Fragile Things

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Two girls on the road to self-destruction.
A village upon the brink of collapse.
A past which refuses to die.
The beginning of an epic four-part horror serial.
At seventeen-years-old, Jennifer should have the world at her feet. Instead, she’s an ex-heroin addict living in a council estate with Tony, her boyfriend and former dealer. Shunned by her family and friends, she dreams of something greater than she’s been given.
Beautiful and strange, Ebony has moved in across the street. She’s just lost the one person in her lonely existence to cancer. She’s also a centuries-old vampire, struggling to cope with murderous outbursts and the desire to be something more.
When these two lost souls meet, an unusual friendship begins.
But with the news of Morris, Tony’s sadistic best friend and drug-dealing partner, being released from prison, Jennifer knows it’s only a matter of time before his path of vengeance leads to her and Ebony, too.
With a cast of memorable characters, a village full of secrets, and a gripping story, The Fragile Things is a layered tale of friendship, hope, survival and what it truly means to be human.
Part I of The Fragile Things is available on Amazon on April 30th, 2013. And will be FREE  April 30th – May 2nd.
Mark your calendar and as soon as links are available, I’ll add them.
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For my giveaways go here.
For list of free e-books go here.

I love reading and reviewing short stories and collections. You get a little bit of everything and they are a challenge to review.

For today, I’m reviewing The Lady of Chains ~And  Other Stories by V. Shaw. Read more to enter the giveaway.

The Lady of Chains and Other Stories

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NOT SUITABLE FOR YOUNGER READERS

The Lady of Chains

Remember; you have seventy-two hours to do the deed and not a moment longer. Cut her throat and remove her heart. That, my girl, is the only way to destroy the wretched creature.”

Viola knew she shouldn’t have taken Mrs. Casket’s offer.  Viola’s heart stutters with each step up the long winding staircase. She really needs the money, but can she actually do this?

Greylock is a city of rust and steam, patrolled by metal soldiers who’s only purpose is to kill . They are best avoided. Nothing ever grows here and being an orphan, Viola struggles just to live.

It’s been chained up in the tower for years. If It ever escaped, it would finish what it started.

Mrs. Casket’s proposition seemed like a great opportunity, but now that she’s about to come face to face with The Lady of Chains, the Destroyer, Traitor of Greylock, Viola’s having second and third thoughts.

There is all kinds of weird in this story. A lady immobilized with chains, a machine with gears and valves that controls her movements, and a mysterious connection between Viola and the Lady. This novelette has depth and excitement.

I love the steampunk flavor and the well placed scenes of horror make this an edge of your seat read.  The author’s ability to develop her characters in-depth, describe the city as if I could see and smell it, and create a unique and startling plot just blew me away.

Hansel and Gretel

You know the story. Brother and sister tricked into the woods and abandoned there by their parents. They stumble around, lost and afraid.

In V. Shaw’s version of this tale, things are quite different. As time passes, Hansel and Gretel begin to change, to become a part of the forest. They are becoming.

This one surprised me. It started out familiar but then took a turn to the mysterious. It’s not the witch, eating children, you have to worry about.

The author got creative and gave you a whole new spin on an old fairytale.

Rogan and the Gargoyle

Megan regains consciousness, a peculiar metallic taste on her tongue. Probing her mouth, she pulls out a lump of flesh.

Then she recalls everything. The gargoyle grabbing her, taking flight, and the taste of its skin when she bites it.

They’d all been a part of the Health and Fitness class and went to the Highlands of Scotland to enjoy some rock climbing and camping. The lodge was isolated and outfitted with the barest of necessities.

Megan wishes she’d never went into the barn. That’s where she discovered the hideous statue.

When night fell, the statue came to life and picked them off one by one.

Big Dave, Meg and Rogan are all that’s left now.  If the stories are true, it turns to stone during the day. What should they do, run for it or try to hunt it down and destroy it?

If they’d had that one piece of necessary, need to know information, their decision might have been different.

Silent World

All the adults are gone along with most of the children. Alex and Thorn live in the farmhouse he was raised in. After taking her in, Alex tries to make life for her as normal as possible, as safe as possible, in a world of extreme winters and blistering hot summers.

They’ve been doing okay, keeping up patrols to destroy the Carpathians and meat-sacks that stumble upon the farm. Thorn is very good at taking them down. She’s very agile and ferocious for such a young girl. For all they know, they could be the only humans left.

Then there’s a knock on their door, more like a thump and a scrape. When Alex hears the faint cry for help, he risks opening the door. Standing there, in the white out of the winter storm, is a figure clad in fur and leather, face not visible . He rushes to catch the stranger when Thorn sidles up and conks the visitor on the head.

Alex stops Thorn from shooting the stranger and they put him in one of the kennels in the basement.

At first the young man wants nothing to do with them, but his infected wounds make him too weak to leave. Slowly nursed back to health, Finn begins to come out of his shell.

As the days pass, Finn grows stronger and becomes friends with Thorn. He treads lightly around Alex, not sure of how to act around him. Living in close quarters, they all begin to bond, to work as a team.

But Alex has a secret, a terrible one. One that puts them all in danger.

I’m still wondering if the beings are vampires or zombies or both. They don’t play a big role in the story though. Alex, Thorn and Finn are the major players and the author shows you their flaws, vulnerabilities, and loneliness. I enjoyed reading about them as they began to become friends. The relationship between Alex and Quinn left me curious. Not sure how I should interpret it. The hope the characters bring to each other, along with their struggle to survive allows you to bond with them and their story. You can’t help but care what happens.

All of these stories would be great as full novels. I’d love to know more. Each one has an element of horror but V. Shaw also brings to the table the fragility of human nature and our strengths when faced with impossible situations.

I gave this a Five for keeping it real.

Praise for Lady of Chains ~ And Other Stories

“V. Shaw’s talent for writing a good story is apparent in her very first book. The Lady of Chains and Other Stories doesn’t disappoint.” KDH Reviews
“The story is written to captivate the reader and it does this with the greatest of ease . . . I loved it and couldn’t put the book down.” Amazon.com
“A definite must read! Each story is a gateway into another world which takes your imagination to a whole new place with engaging & quirky characters. Very intriguing stories. Hard to put down.” Amazon.co.uk

About the author

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V. Shaw is the author of the short fiction collection, The Lady of Chains and Other Stories. Born in Scotland, she studied Film and Media at Stirling University. Having reviewed horror films for the now defunct FatallyYours.com, she has turned her attention to creating her own stories.

Writer. Urban explorer. Climber. Horror junkie. Beer guzzler. Book obsessed.
Cinema and television fiend. Nerd for life.

Her debut horror novel, The Fragile Things, is due to be released in March.

The Fragile Things

Her blog

Goodreads

Giveaway

V. Shaw is offering five e-books for the giveaway.

To enter, please leave your email address and answer this question, “What do you like about short stories and collections?”

Contest ends Jan. 16th.

Thank You and Good Luck.

Click on the cover to purchase your copy.