Archive for the ‘Creatures’ Category

Most of you know how much I like collections and short stories. Corpus Corruptum is an anthology with something for everyone.

I’m a huge fan of Adam and Evans Light and have read and reviewed many of their stories. These two brothers write horror like it’s meant to be written. Their short stories and collections leave you shaking in your boots.

I’m currently reading this anthology and will be reviewing it soon.

Now for the good stuff. It’s free to download from Amazon now until midnight on December 30th. Go here to get your free copy.

The Corpus Corruptum

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These stories are our mutant children, fever dreamed hallucinations that don’t necessarily fit into any particular genre – no matter how weird they are, we love them anyway.
THE CORPUS CORRUPTUM collection peeks into what happens when the body goes bad, the most universal of all human fears. We hope you enjoy it.

About the authors

About Adam Light and where to find him.

I have spent the better part of my life in northeast Florida, but I was born in West Virginia. I was consumed at an early age by an unquenchable thirst for the written word. Words, in general, when I think about it.

I was a quiet bookish kid, but after moving down south I grew into a wild and rebellious teenager. I grew my hair long, became enthralled with heavy metal music, and all the rest.

I’ve mellowed somewhat, but I love life, I love my family, and I love to write stories. I have a mad passion for it.

I am proud of the stories I have written and sincerely hope that readers like myself have enjoyed reading them as much as , and plan to continue tapping away at this keyboard until my fingers won’t move anymore.

Thanks to everyone who has supported my madness so far; I look forward to sharing much more of my mind’s crazy ride with you.

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To purchase Adam’s books, click on the covers.

Books written with Evans Light

About Evans Light and where to find him

Evans Light has lived here and there across the United States, from the mountains to the beaches to the desert, and currently chooses to reside in a warm, southern state where the living is easy.

Frequently drawn to uncommon experiences, Evans has thrown himself headfirst into a wide range of unusual situations, from testing low-level-entry parachutes with British Army Airborne units to travelling the vast reaches of inner space using sensory deprivation tanks. He is the proud father of fine sons and the lucky husband of a beautiful wife.

Evans Light has been in love with the written word from an early age, and works in a wide variety of genres, including horror, thrillers, sci-fi and humor – but stories of the “Weird Tales” variety still remain his favorite. Evans is currently hard at work completing a collection of short stories entitled “Obsessive Deceptions”. Each story from this compilation is being released as a stand-alone title on Amazon as it is finished. The first five have been collected in the anthology “Stories, Inc.”.

Evans is also writing his first full-length novel, which is expected to be released sometime before his death.

Author contacts

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You can find all of Evans Light’s books here.

Evans Light

I’m thrilled to announce that Starkiller, Book #3 of the Undermountain Saga is now available!

You can get Undermountain for free on Smashwords here. Get started with this series today!

Starkiller (The Undermountain Saga, #3)

Starkiller is the stunning final act in The Undermountain Saga.

While the wicked bigfoot leader, Hanameesovenama, plans First Contact with the human race, Danny and Breyona race to stop the vile tangoga boss, GorVit, from using the starkiller weapon to destroy the sun.

In their search, they find an ancient king who may hold the key to preventing the apocalypse.

Keep reading to learn about the beginning of this saga.

Undermountain (The Undermountain Saga, #1)

Two teens from different worlds . . .
Seeking refuge from their troubled home lives, sixteen year olds Danny Michaelson and Breyona Lewis join a group of teens in the Canadian Rocky Mountains for a ten-day hiking excursion.

. . . the encounter of a lifetime . . .
Six days in, Danny and Breyona come face to face with a creature of legend–an eight foot tall beast they tag as “bigfoot.” But this is no mere animal, and it doesn’t want humans knowing its secrets.

. . . friendship, love, and loyalty . . .
Swept into the hidden city of Undermountain, Danny, Breyona and their friends find themselves in a race for survival against alien forces determined to take control the earth.

Afterlife (The Undermountain Saga, #2)

Afterlife is the stunning second book in The Undermountain Saga!

They think their adventures are behind them . . .
The six teens who were rescued from a mountainside in the Canadian Rockies are now famous. But only they know the true story-of what they discovered, what they survived-of Undermountain. Those secrets bind them together and pull them toward an ill-fated reunion.

. . . the war between tangoga and bigfeet still rages . . .
The tangoga boss GorVit searches for a lost technology, the terrible weapon of a vanished race. And he’ll happily use Breyona as leverage to get Danny’s help.

. . . the power of ultimate destruction hangs in the balance . . .
Thrust into the midst of war, and into the arms of a beautiful queen, Danny races on a collision course with destiny. And Breyona, still testing the limits of her amazing powers, must choose between what she desires and what is right.

. . . friendship, loyalty, and temptation . . .
One will give in.

One will give up.

One will give all.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8j926g4C1A]

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To read my reviews of Undermountain and Afterlife go here.

About the author and where to find him.

Eric Edstrom

Eric is an author, songwriter, husband, father, and guitarist. He is the author of UndermountainAfterlife, and Starkiller,  the YA science fiction series The Undermountain Saga.

He’s also written Shadow of the Oak, Book #1 in the Sal Van Sleen series and is currently working on the next installment.

Eric loves working out with kettlebells and eating pretty much anything with peanut butter.

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Click on these covers to purchase the books.

and Book #1 of the Sal Van Sleen Series

Another great short and it’s free from Dec. 18th through Dec. 22nd. Get your free copy here.

Keep reading to find out how to get another free book by Adam!

THE CONTINUANCE AGENCY (The Continuance Saga Volume One)

The Continuance Saga: Volume One

The day the world ended, Daniel was sleeping.

In exchange for some game tickets from his father, Daniel is cleaning the basement. It’s not his idea of fun, but he can’t wait to see the look on his fiancee Colleen’s face when he shows her the tickets.

The only ventilation is from the door at the top of the stairs and it’s hot as an oven. The old sofa is calling his name and it’s surprisingly comfortable, lulling Daniel into a deep sleep.

Something wakes him up. Daniel hears a horrible racket coming from upstairs. It’s his mothers screams. He shakes off the cobwebs of his nap and rushes to help her and falls flat on his face. His legs aren’t working right. He tries it again and finally makes it up the stairs. What he sees is unimaginable.

His mother is kneeling over the body of his father on the kitchen floor. He’s gasping for air, his face is turning black and blood is leaking from his orifices.  Daniel hardly has time to grasp his father is dead before whatever it is takes his mother too.

What could kill so quickly? Could it be chemical weapons? When he first came into the kitchen, out of the corner of his eye he saw a black substance similar to oil withdrawing under the door and back into the vents. Was this what killed his parents?

Daniel doesn’t have time to think about that right now. He has to get to Colleen. He has to make sure she’s alright. She was supposed to be here already. But it’s too late. He finds what’s left of Colleen upstairs in his bedroom.

Now he’s alone. He doesn’t know how long it’s been since the black clouds containing the things came.

Then he receives the letter. The Continuance Agency has invited him to take shelter with them. Who are they? What do they really want? These are some of the questions Daniel asks himself. He is running low on water and supplies and needs to make a decision soon.

This story starts out deceptively normal. Then all hell breaks loose and you’re taken on a ride like a speeding train wreck. From the end of the world to The Continuance Agency at the end of the line, you’ll experience horror upon horror that gets your endorphins pumping.

Once the story takes off, the author doesn’t give you a chance to relax. It’s a short story after all, and he has lots to tell you.

Be careful at the end. It comes to a screeching halt with a heck of a cliffhanger. Adam better write fast. I need to know what happens next in The Continuance Saga. I need to know quick!

I gave this a FIVE. It’s a great beginning to the saga, had me hooked from the first few sentences, and never let me stop until I reached the end.

       

I just did a review of another short tale by Adam Light. You can read my review of Taken here.

Jack Harden is your average good-old-fashioned American truck driver.
You can ask the girl he’s got duct-taped in the back of his cab, she’ll tell you.
Oh, don’t worry – it’s okay. His wife knows all about it.
She told him to do it.

It’s still free to download until Dec. 20th here.

About Adam Light and where to find him.

I have spent the better part of my life in northeast Florida, but I was born in West Virginia. I was consumed at an early age by an unquenchable thirst for the written word. Words, in general, when I think about it.

I was a quiet bookish kid, but after moving down south I grew into a wild and rebellious teenager. I grew my hair long, became enthralled with heavy metal music, and all the rest.

I’ve mellowed somewhat, but I love life, I love my family, and I love to write stories. I have a mad passion for it.

I am proud of the stories I have written and sincerely hope that readers like myself have enjoyed reading them as much as , and plan to continue tapping away at this keyboard until my fingers won’t move anymore.

Thanks to everyone who has supported my madness so far; I look forward to sharing much more of my mind’s crazy ride with you.

Goodreads

Amazon

To purchase Adam’s books, click on the covers.

Books written with Evans Light

Heads Will Roll

by Lish McBride

Heads Will Roll: A Tor.Com Original

Illustration by Hannah Christenson

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I just discovered this short story through Tor. Just happened to spot an email and opened it up out of curiosity.

Whoa! I don’t think I even blinked while reading this.

Lena’s not your typical animal trainer. And when she and her unicorn partner, Steve, decide to enter a fight, it’s definitely not your typical fight.

Lena is the epitome of tough. She can hold her own with the best. Half human and half Valkyrie, she has much of the warrior women’s strengths.

Her partner, Steve, is a snow-white unicorn. You don’t see many of them around, and definitely not in the fighting arena.

The unicorn is a symbol of purity and usually has to be starved, beaten and driven insane in order to get them to fight.

That’s not the case with Steve. He’s a full partner with Lena and has a mind of his own. Unicorns choose their own names and I wouldn’t want to make fun of Steve. He’s 18 hands of snow-white fury.

It’s a good thing Lena and Steve speak telepathically, otherwise the job they’re here to do would be near impossible.

This short fiction blew me away. You get to meet so many cool creatures. There are nemean lions, harpies, hags, manticores, wepawets and waheela’s to name a few.

I’m partial to the Waheela. Kind of a cross between a wolf and a polar bear.

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I also liked the Wepawet. It’s an Egyptian God with the body of a man and the head of a jackal.
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I’m in awe of Lena. She’s smart, tough, and funny, and adores Steve. She also swings a mean blade.

Steve is wise, sarcastic, and always has Lena’s back. They make a dynamic team. Woe to the creature that has to fight them.

There are several other characters I became fond of, but I can’t tell you about them without spoiling your reading pleasure.

I’m amazed at how much I got out of this short work of fiction. Lish McBride added all of the right ingredients and created a short tale that hit me with the impact of a full novel.

I hope she continues with these characters. I really do.

For now, I’m going to start reading her Necromancer series. They look really good, and if her writing stays true to form, I’m sure I’ll love them too!

       

About Lish McBride

Image of Lish McBride

Lish McBride was raised by wolves in the Pacific Northwest. It rains a lot there, but she likes it anyway. She spent three years away while she got her MFA in fiction from the University of New Orleans, and she liked that too, although the hurricane did leave much of her stuff underwater. Her main goal in going to college was to become a writer so she could wear pajamas pretty much all the time. She enjoys reading, movies, comics, and preparing herself for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. Currently, Lish lives happily in Seattle where the weather never actually tries to kill you, with her family, two cats, and one very put-upon Chihuahua. She is slowly building her garden gnome army.

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Books by Lish McBride. Click on covers to purchase.

I’m excited to be a part of the Cover Reveal for Redemption, The Alexa Montgomery Saga, Book Four by H.D. Gordon. I love this series!

A Redemption Final

Title: Redemption (The Alexa Montgomery Saga #4)

Author: H.D. Gordon

Publisher: ShareAread

Release Date: December 21, 2012

Formats:  E-book

Goodreads TBR

Cover Artist: Regina Wamba

Redemption
The final test is here. The war is no longer a worry of tomorrow, but a reality of today. Turning back is no longer an option. Maybe it never was. It is time for Alexa Montgomery to look fate in the eyes. Death waits there for certain. The only question is… for who?

I’m a huge fan of this series and look forward to reading Redemption soon!

About H.D. Gordon

A HD Gordon

H. D. Gordon is the author of The Alexa Montgomery Saga. Blood Warrior, the first book of the Alexa series was her debut novel and has held a spot in the top 100 fantasy bestsellers for over a month. Half Black Soul is the second book in this series and H. D. plans to complete Alexa’s tales by the end of 2012. In June of 2012, Joe, a fantasy novel about a young clairvoyant, was released as well. H. D. is a lifelong reader and writer, a true lover of words. When she is not reading or writing she is raising her two daughters, playing a little guitar, and spending time with her family. She is twenty-three years old and lives in the northeastern United States.

Karla Calzada

Director of Public Relations /Publicist

ShareAread, Connecting Authors with the readers who love them.

http://sharearead.com/

karla@shareAread.com

Content/Giveaway Manager & Co-Founder

http://passionatebookdivas.com

karla@passionatebookdivas.com

Founder

http://karlacc-bookaddict.blogspot.mx/

You can find all of H.D. Gordon’s books here.

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To join in, copy and paste these rules and the above banner into your Fanged Mania post and add your link to this week’s Fanged Mania post at Elisabeth Wheatley’s Blog. Fanged Mania is a Friday meme counting down to the release of Fanged Princess and displaying all things vampire and awesome. Fanged Mania posts can be a review of a vampire book, a quote from the latest Vampire Diaries episode, a showcase of a cool vampire book’s cover, or whatever you like so long as it is vampire related. Don’t forget, participants will be entered in the drawing to win a fanged-abulous prize pack!

The prize pack I mentioned includes Vampire Diaries and Breaking Dawn posters as well as a paperback copy of Erica Steven’s Captured (my review here) and the complete collection of The Vampire Hunter’s Daughter stories by Jennifer Malone Wright, in paperback, too! =D

Oh, and the contest is international. And the more Fanged Mania posts you have, the more entries you get! So what are you waiting for? Hop on the bandwagon!

Today’s post is about the vampire novels I will be reading. To purchase them, just click on the covers.

Indiana, 1818. Moonlight falls through the dense woods that surround a one-room cabin, where a nine-year-old Abraham Lincoln kneels at his suffering mother’s bedside. She’s been stricken with something the old-timers call “Milk Sickness.”

“My baby boy…” she whispers before dying.

Only later will the grieving Abe learn that his mother’s fatal affliction was actually the work of a vampire.

When the truth becomes known to young Lincoln, he writes in his journal, “henceforth my life shall be one of rigorous study and devotion. I shall become a master of mind and body. And this mastery shall have but one purpose…” Gifted with his legendary height, strength, and skill with an ax, Abe sets out on a path of vengeance that will lead him all the way to the White House.

While Abraham Lincoln is widely lauded for saving a Union and freeing millions of slaves, his valiant fight against the forces of the undead has remained in the shadows for hundreds of years. That is, until Seth Grahame-Smith stumbled upon The Secret Journal of Abraham Lincoln, and became the first living person to lay eyes on it in more than 140 years.

Using the journal as his guide and writing in the grand biographical style of Doris Kearns Goodwin and David McCullough, Seth has reconstructed the true life story of our greatest president for the first time-all while revealing the hidden history behind the Civil War and uncovering the role vampires played in the birth, growth, and near-death of our nation.

Dear Mom,

I might be a wee bit late for Cousin Missy’s wedding. It’s been a tough week. Turns out, my blind date from hell was literally from hell. Guy bit me. Next thing I know, I’m being chased all over the city by vampire hunters. And did I mention that I got fired, too?

Bright side-I met a man. Thierry de Bennicoeur. How great is that name? Anyway, he’s sexy, six-hundred years old, and a tad suicidal, but no one’s perfect, right? And we have a deal-he’s gonna show me the ropes of the vampire world, and I’m supposed to help him end his existence. Or maybe I’ll just try to convince him life is worth living – no small challenge with the mostly immortal, let me tell you. I’ll admit it’s a complicated relationship. But with any luck, I just might have a date for that wedding after all…

Hugs and Kisses,

Sarah

The House of Night series is set in a world very much like our own, except in 16-year-old Zoey Redbird‘s world, vampyres have always existed.  In this first book in the series, Zoey enters the House of Night, a school where, after having undergone the Change, she will train to become an adult vampire — that is, if she makes it through the Change.  Not all of those who are chosen do.  It’s tough to begin a new life, away from her parents and friends, and on top of that, Zoey finds she is no average fledgling.  She has been Marked as special by the vampyre Goddess, Nyx.  But she is not the only fledgling at the House of Night with special powers.  When she discovers that the leader of the Dark Daughters, the school’s most elite club, is misusing her Goddess-given gifts, Zoey must look deep within herself for the courage to embrace her destiny–with a little help from her new vampyre friends.

Daniel ‘Jerry’ Jericho is a your average teenager. Outgoing, curious, smart, friendly, likes cars, rock music, movies, drinks, smokes, is moody at times, a few parental issues, girl troubles, has supernatural blood, decapitates monsters in his spare time…you know, the usual.

Its been three months since he found out that vampires, werewolves, ghosts, witches and pretty much every other horrible thing you’ve ever dreamt about are real. That was around about the same time he decided he was going to protect as many people as he could from them.

Backed by his best friend Goose, his uncle Joe, the vampire vixen sisters, Cass and Claire, the annoyingly mature fourteen year old psychic Rachel and the peaceful super-vamp Sophinia, Jerry is going to school during the day and hunting evil at night all the while desperately searching for answers about his unnatural blood.

When large groups of supernatural creatures that were targeting him start getting massacred without warning, Jerry thinks it’s possible that he may have an ally out there protecting him.

Unbelievably powerful, undeniably intelligent and indescribably beautiful, Aria isn’t just an ally, she’s every teenage guys greatest fantasy. Not to mention the fact that she has a thirty foot wing span. And when she offers Jerry protection and answers to all the questions that have plagued him since this began, he thinks his dreams have come true.

So why are his instincts telling him that this woman is more dangerous than anything any of them have ever seen before?

Most preternatural creatures just want to eat people.

Aria wants to play…and this is a game like no other.

Start playing and start praying.

Let the games begin.

2/8 of the Blood Heavy series.

WARNING: This novel contains strong language and violence throughout.

“Perdu” –the first novella in the science fiction and fantasy series, Redire de Vampyrus…

“I hope it was as good for you as it was for me.”

Ruth and Eugene Flowers desired the American dream: two kids, a big house, and a dog. But it wasn’t meant to be–at least not initially. When a surprise package literally fell into their laps, however, the Flowers would finally get their wish (sort of). Soon, it all goes awry, as mysterious deaths followed by a disappearance permanently disrupt their lives. Meanwhile, many years later, a grown-up Valerie Green, a nearby neighbor’s daughter and high-school sweetheart of their son, Zan, hits it huge in the Big Apple, first landing at Columbia University, then at the New York Pioneer, the hottest online periodical in the city. When she is forced to cross the path of hotshot FBI special agent, Dr. Devean Rasr, she doesn’t realize she is also wading much deeper into the biggest, most dangerous, and most challenging killing spree in the history of NYC.

These are just some of the books on my huge list and don’t include the ones I’m already reading.

See anything you like? Click on the cover to get it. Got any new suggestions? Just let me know.

I know it’s a time to eat, drink and be merry. For me that means popcorn, iced tea and movies with some friends!!

Here are some Scary Merry Christmas movies I’ll be watching.

Haven’t seen this one yet. New one to watch!

This one is creepy fun.

Santa has an attitude!

What’s Christmas without zombies?

Self explanatory:)

Ooh! Pretty scary!

One of my favorites.

I may be lame, but I just loved these. Killer snowman and killer snowballs! Plus, it snows in the tropics! There’s hope for me and a white Christmas!

And Christmas just wouldn’t be right without some gremlins!

                

I still find it hard to believe that the santa at the top of the post came from this one!

Any movies I missed? Open to suggestions!

I wanted to let you know about Kevin Howard‘s new release, Precipice: The Beginning.

Precipice: The Beginning

Is this cover not amazing!

The End is only the Beginning….
It wasn’t the first time Lieutenant Travis Daniels had been far from his wife and son. Leading an elite team on countless missions, dodging death at every turn-it was what he was trained to do. And returning to his family was always his driving force… but this time might be different. Imprisoned for an unsanctioned intrusion into a hot zone, Travis and his elite team took a deal to assist in the colonization of Mars to evade the death penalty. While stationed there, Travis’ only source of sanity were the brief video conversations he was allowed with his family. When the last transmission received showed choppy images of the city in darkness and blurs of humanoid creatures running through the streets, Travis and his team must decide to either stay on Mars or find a way back to his family-unknowing of the hell that Earth has become.

This sounds so good!

I’m getting ready to read this now. Can’t wait to tell you about it.

I have just read Faithful Shadow by Kevin and loved it. You can go here to enter the giveaway and read my review.

About the author

Kevin Howard lives with his family in Washington.  He worked in Yellowstone National Park for the summer season as part of a family tradition.  Kevin, his wife Melissa, and his two young children enjoy spending summers there.

Contacts

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  Get your copy by clicking on the cover image.

Who knew that he knew voodoo so well.

Bad Juju

by Dina Rae

Bad Juju

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Tom and Jessica Novak are proud to be doing God’s work. They’ve traveled to Port au-Prince as part of a missionary group with others of their church. They’re going to help with rebuilding the island after the 7.0 earthquake that shook all of  Haiti, causing massive destruction.

Their 15-year-old son Henry’s Asperger’s Syndrome had them questioning their decision. He’s intelligent and quite functional, but changes in routine, surroundings and new faces could cause problems. Henry doesn’t communicate well or understand social interaction.

But Henry’s the one that urged them to go. He’s been obsessed with Haiti. So here they are, the whole family, including Henry’s younger sister Natalie, who’d rather be back home. This is not her idea of a great summer vacation.

Since Henry’s been doing so well, they decide to extend their stay. If they had only left earlier, they wouldn’t be searching for their missing son. Henry has simply vanished and wandering away from the protection of the armed camp is dangerous. There are a lot of bad people out there and he wouldn’t stand a chance against them.

If they had only known the reason Henry wandered away, they never would have brought him there.

My favorite character is Jake. He befriends Henry when they meet in detention class. They aren’t really bad boys, just a couple of kids who got in a little trouble.

Jake is a kind-hearted boy, helping out the elderly residents in his trailer park. He does odd jobs, cleans house and run errands for the less able ones. You wonder how he turned out so well when you learn he suffers violent beatings from his uncle. After losing his parents he came to live with his aunt and uncle and his aunt suffers the same abuse.

Jake brings Henry home with him after school to introduce him to his favorite neighbor, Lucien.

Lucien is a powerful bokor, a voodoo priest, and with his black skin, unruly, long white hair and piercing eyes, he looks every bit the part.

It becomes a regular routine for the boys to visit with Lucien after school and after much pleading, he begins to teach them about Vodun, the voodoo religion, beginning with simple spells and hexes.

Lucien feels death coming for him and can’t bear the thought of all his vast knowledge and power going with him to the grave.

After Jake receives another very brutal and bloody beating, the three decide to create a voodoo doll to rid Jake of his uncle.

This is where it all starts to go weird.

Bad Juju was a surprise. I thought it was going to be all about voodoo, raising the dead, and voodoo dolls. Well, it was. I learned how to do voodoo, what the religion is about, good and dark arts of it, and how to raise someone from the dead. Some of it creeped me out, but a lot of it was really funny.

Having the characters as teen-age boys made this story. Boys will be boys and they had me rocking and  rolling! I can’t wait for you to meet the dead guy.

Getting back to the surprise part, there were several deeper subjects tackled throughout this book and I could tell the author did a lot of research and included that knowledge in the story to make it believable and engaging.

If you’re looking for something different, look no further. Bad Juju has plenty of interesting characters, some tough topics, plenty of laughs, and lots of scary voodoo magic. Oh Yeah, I almost forgot the zombie!

I felt like I got a crash course in voodoo, like voodoo for dummies.

     

And now please welcome Dina Rae. She’s here to tell us about zombies! Afterwards, follow the link to enter her amazing giveaway!

Do You Know Your Zombies?

With the so-called zombie apocalypse approaching, one must be educated about the different kinds of zombies before prepping for defense.  First, there is the most common and believable-the human that turns into a zombie because of mental collapse, disease, infection, and/or radiation.  They stagger around dazed and confused and cause panic to others.  Then there is the man-made monster kind or the kind Hollywood and horror authors like me tend to capitalize on.

Zombie interest continues to fascinate the world.  Jeffrey Dahmer drilled holes then poured acid down his victim’s heads in hopes of creating his own zombie.  His madness didn’t work.  Can man make his own zombie?  Are these monsters real?

According to Wade Davis, author of The Serpent of the Rainbow, zombies are real.  They are a product of the Voodoo religion.  He was originally hired by a pharmaceutical company to find out about the drugs Voduists used in their death rituals.  He believed that datura also known as zombie’s cucumber was a plant that could medically make one who ingested it appear to be dead for a certain length of time.  Sounds like the stuff Juliet used to fake her death.  Could Shakespeare known about the magical zombie-making plant?

Datura or sometimes Cimora, a close relative of Datura’s, eventually wears off but leaves the victim in a state of confusion, highly susceptible to the art of persuasion.  Presto!  A zombie slave is at the captor’s disposal.  Mr. Davis didn’t just find his datura flower, but witnessed zombie phenomena as he immersed himself within the Haitian culture.

Bad Juju is a unique blend of horror, romance, and fantasy.  Besides The Serpent and the Rainbow, I read volumes of other Voodoo material and watched hours of TV specials.  Some of the terms I learned can be found below:

Bokor: A wizard who practices black magic, a zombie maker.

Loa: deity/spirit

Ghede Family: A family of loas known as the spirits of the dead.  Three barons rule the family.  Baron Samedi is the loa of resurrection.  Baron Kriminel is the most feared loa associated with cannibalism and souls.  He’s honored on The Day of the Dead.  Baron LaCroix is the loa of the dead and sexuality.

Poppet: Voodoo doll

Ti-bon-ange: “little good angel”  The part of the soul that represents a person’s individuality.

Gros-bon-ange: “great good angel”  Part of the soul that is collected into a reservoir of the Cosmos or spirit world.

Baka: Voodoo spirits in animal form.

Loup Garou: werewolf

Djab: a devil

Dessounin: Death ritual that separates the gros-bon-ange from the body.

Bizango Society: Secret society of Vodouists.  They have Freemason-like qualities such as aprons, secret handshakes, oaths, hierarchy, and symbols.  Legend states they change into animals at will.  They are known for stealing black cats and boiling them to death for Voodoo services.  They drink each other’s blood from a human skull chalice.

You need to check out Dina’s Holiday Bonanza: An Unholy Trinity of Dina Rae’s Novels. Go here to enter her awesome giveaway. Gift cards and books, books, books!

About Dina Rae and where to find her

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Dina Rae is a new author here to stay.  As a former teacher, she brings an academic element to her work.  Her three novels, Halo of the Damned, The Last Degree, and Bad Juju weave research and suspense throughout the plots.  Her short story, Be Paranoid Be Prepared, is a prequel of sorts to The Last Degree, focusing on the James Martin character.  Dina also freelances for various entertainment blogs.
Dina lives with her husband, two daughters, and two dogs outside of Chicago.  She is a Christian, an avid tennis player, movie buff, and self-proclaimed expert on several conspiracy theories.  She has been interviewed numerous times in e-zines, websites, blogs, newspapers, and radio programs.  When she is not writing she is reading novels from her favorite authors Dan Brown, Anne Rice, Stephen King, Brad Thor, George R.R. Martin, and Preston & Childs.

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I’ve got another scary one for ya!  Plus another Giveaway!

Faithful Shadow

by Kevin J. Howard

Faithful Shadow

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Yellowstone National Park is on fire. The skies are smudged with smoke and the air is filled with the pungent scent of burning brush.

Underneath Yellowstone, the creatures maze of tunnels are filling up with smoke. It has to find a safe place until the fires are put out.  One unlucky fireman gives it that opportunity.

For Joseph Rand, a park ranger, things are heating up, and not only because of the fire. People are disappearing mysteriously. They seem to just vanish, leaving no trace.

Taking advantage of the lack of business at the Old Faithful Inn, a landmark in the park, some of the summer employees head up to the hotsprings to soak in the warm waters and camp out for the night, and do a little partying.  When they wake up the next morning, two of their group are missing. Their belongings are still there but there’s no trace of their friends. After much searching, it’s decided they need to head back and notify the park rangers.

Joseph is nursing a bad hangover when the kids rush in, talking over each other, claiming their friends are missing. He doesn’t see it as an emergency and patronizes them, saying maybe they went off to be together. This infuriates the group. They can see his shaking hands and smell the reek of stale booze on him.

When Joseph tells them he’ll go check it out they leave to report to work. What he finds isn’t much.  No trail to follow, but a few drops of blood are on the ground. Perhaps he was too hasty in writing this one off as young people having fun. Another call pulls him away from the hot springs, it’ll have to wait.

Now a fireman has gone missing. One second he was standing by his supervisor, the next he was gone. With the fire line close by, there’s no time to waste and the firemen and Joseph spread out to look for anything he could have fallen into. There are plenty of sinkholes in the park.

They find one and when they holler down, the fireman answers. It’s a ways down, so they rig a harness and lower a man down to get him. Strangely, he is now farther down the tunnel and in bad shape, too weak to help himself. When they finally get him topside, he’s so weak they have to take him back to the Inn. One man notices the injured man’s jacket is bulging in the back, like somethings underneath, but then he’s distracted and thinks of it no more .

What piggybacks the fireman is now a guest in the Inn. It’s cunning, malicious and hungry. Always hungry. And it gets a devilish delight in terrorizing its prey.

Hell has come to Yellowstone and it’s just getting started.

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

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Creature stories are my favorite reads. Whether they’re on land, under the sea, or on another planet doesn’t matter. As long as there’s carnage and terror I’m happy.

I know, “I ain’t right.” Can’t help it.

Faithful Shadow has all the carnage you could ever want, and once it starts it doesn’t stop.

I could take or leave the young group of friends. I found most of them shallow and self-centered. Probably a good thing I didn’t warm to them, as many meet bloody ends.

Joseph, the park ranger, has a huge drinking problem and a lot of baggage. It took a while, but I started to get him and was really pulling for him by the end.

There are a couple other characters I really liked, you’ll know who I’m talking about when you read the book. They added depth with their own stories.

Now, the creature! It’s something else. I kept trying to picture what it looked like and never really got an image in my mind. Maybe it was too dark:) Anyway, I shopped around and this is kind of what it looks like in my mind.

spooky forest photo: Spooky Green Forest SpookyForest.jpg

Do you see it? Oh, well I guess it’s too dark. But it’s in there, looking right back at you, edging closer. Can you hear it?

If a story makes me rub my hands together, chuckling with evil delight, it gets 5 Stars!

       

Congratulations Kevin. Your debut novel gave me shivers!  I’m first in line for your next one.

And now for the giveaway.

Kevin is giving away 5 e-books of Faithful Shadow.

To enter, please leave your email address and answer this question, “If you’re cornered by the creature would you faint, fight, or run?”

Contest ends December 15th. Good luck everyone.

About the author

Kevin Howard lives with his family in Washington.  He worked in Yellowstone National Park for the summer season as part of a family tradition.  Kevin, his wife Melissa, and his two young children enjoy spending summers there. 

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http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/faithful-shadow-kevin-howard/1112436638?ean=9781432794354

Faithful Shadow will be offered for $0.99 from now until Christmas for the
Holiday Season. A great price to celebrate the holidays and the coming release
of my second novel, Precipice: The Beginning. Voted the Scariest Author of 2012
by Outskirts Press for Faithful Shadow.

Click on the cover image below to purchase.