Archive for the ‘horror’ Category

Freakin Fridays #42 ~ Bad Wolf and B&B ~ Creeeepy

Posted: January 20, 2017 in horror, Paranormal or fantasy, reviews
Tags: , , ,
6

32468428  Bad Wolf (Bad Wolf Chronicles Book 1) by [McGregor, Tim]

Welcome to Freakin Fridays, where I share my reviews of books that scare you, thrill you, and get those endorphins pumping.

Oh yeah, have I got some good ones to share today!

B & B

by Amy Cross

32468428

Genre: Horror / Paranormal

c8df8-add2bto2bgoodreads2bblack

My Review

Que to the opening of The Twilight Zone. This one gave me the willies.

Bobbie’s done something unforgivable. Now on the run, in the middle of cold winter’s night, she seeks refuge at an old B & B. But this isn’t your normal bed and breakfast. The woman who checks her in barely speaks a word and her face is covered in gauze and the other guests are odd and won’t let her sleep.

She’s stuck between a rock and a hard place. Stay at the Inn with it’s creepy guests and mysterious goings on, or face the killer stalking the snowy streets outside. He likes to kill when the pristine snow covers everything in shining white. The blood looks so red then.

From the beginning, you are pulled into this mystery, and when the weird stuff starts happening, you won’t want to stop until you get answers.

This was creepy on so many levels. A pleasant surprise for this horror fan.

4 Stars

~~~~~

Synopsis

A girl on the run, hiding from a terrible crime.

An old B&B in a snowy city.

A hidden figure lurking in the streets, waiting for his next victim.

When Bobbie takes a room at the rundown Castle Crown B&B, all she wants is to get some sleep and make a tough decision about her future. Unfortunately, the B&B’s other guests won’t give her any peace, and Bobbie soon realizes that she’s stumbled into a world with its own rules. Who is the mysterious bandaged woman? Why is there a dead man in the bathtub? And is something deadly lurking in the basement?

Before she can leave, however, Bobbie learns that the city of Canterbury is being terrorized by a mysterious figure. Every time snow comes, the Snowman claims another victim, leaving their blood sinking into the ice. If Bobbie leaves the B&B and ventures out into the empty streets, she risks becoming his next target. But if she stays, her soul might be claimed by something even more deadly.

B&B is a horror story about a girl with a secret, and a building with a past.

Amazon

~~~~~

I grabbed this one free on Amazon. Click on the cover to get your free copy.

Bad Wolf

Bad Wolf Chronicles #1

by Tim McGregor

Bad Wolf (Bad Wolf Chronicles Book 1) by [McGregor, Tim]

Genre: Horror / Paranormal

c8df8-add2bto2bgoodreads2bblack

My Review

Two hardened detectives, a rampaging pack of wild dogs, and a killer who believes he’s a werewolf. I don’t know about you, but this sounds too good to pass up.

I enjoy police stories. There’s always that one guy no one wants to work with. John is just that guy. Tons of baggage and an eat shit attitude. Partnered with Detective Lara Mendez, neither ones happy about it.

As much as I loved the idea of the werewolf using his pack of wild dogs to kill, the dynamics between the two detectives was even better.

Lara wasn’t a pushover. She’d put up with lots of crap to make it to Detective. She wasn’t going to take any from John. How these two navigated around each other was a whole lot of fun. I wondered if they might actually end up being good together and kept my fingers crossed.

The killer and his dogs were super bad ass. Was he a werewolf? You’ll have to read it to find out.

And watch out for the ending. It’s a twister and I sure loved it. It wraps up this chapter and leaves things open for more.  A little birdie told me there is.

4 Stars

~~~~~

Synopsis

Detective Lara Mendes’s hard work pays off when she finally gets to join the homicide detail. There’s only one catch; she has to partner up with a cop no one wants to work with.

John Gallagher is a veteran homicide detective who wants nothing more than to work alone. When the Lieutenant partners him with Lara Mendes, his first reaction is to ditch her but a call comes in about a body on the river bank and the rotation says they’re up.

What they find are human remains, mutilated and partially devoured. Their investigation reveals a killer stalking the city with a pack of vicious, feral dogs.
And the suspect believes he is a werewolf.

But this is Portland, where crazy bastards outnumber normal ones ten to one. Except there’s another catch. The crazy werewolf guy? He isn’t crazy…

Author’s note: Bad Wolf is my first novel and remains a favourite. This free full-length novel is the first in the Bad Wolf series about two homicide detectives trying to stop a monster. A murder mystery and police procedural, it’s premise is simple; cops versus werewolves. I had an absolute blast writing this series. Now that’s it’s done, I miss these characters. The books, in order, are:

1 Bad Wolf
2 Pale Wolf
3 Last Wolf

This free book is the gateway to a world of monsters, gritty detectives and the werewolves that haunt the moonlit night.

Amazon

This is the cover on Goodreads. The one I used is from Amazon.

11312894

Which do you like most?

~~~~~

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways click on the lucky horseshoe below!

horseshoe photo: Horseshoe horseshoe.jpg

A Freebie just in time for the weekend! ~ Vampire Blood by Kathryn Meyer Griffith

Posted: January 19, 2017 in Freebies!, horror, Paranormal or fantasy, Vampires
Tags: , , , ,
3

I’ve been reading Kathryn’s books for many years now and still have several to go. These two books, Vampire Blood and the sequel, Human No Longer, are among my favorites.

You’re lucky today! For the first time ever you can get Vampire Blood for FREE! And I’ve provided a purchase link for Human No Longer, just in case you want to grab them both.

Vampire Blood

by Kathryn Meyer Griffith

Genre: Horror / Paranormal

c8df8-add2bto2bgoodreads2bblack

Click HERE for my review.

Synopsis

For years the vampire family lived in the shadows, hidden by the night and people’s disbelief; feeding on animals or throw away people who would never be missed. But as the family moves into an old theater, and uses it to cover up their crimes, the youngest of them are restless and determined to live as they like. Recklessly. Killing and feeding when and where they want. Feeding on who they want.

Only the parent vampires have managed to keep them in check. But no longer.

Unaware of the night stalking menace, the townspeople of Summer Haven, Florida, blithely go about their daily lives until, one by one, they begin to disappear.  Screams are heard in the night. Fear grows. The lost are never found…alive.

But Jenny Lacey and her father, who are hired to renovate the old Grand Theater, can’t escape when they find themselves caught up in the middle of the vampire’s war. And, in the end, it’s up to Jenny, her brother, Joey, and her ex-husband, Jeff (who she still loves and reconnects with in this novel…happy ending there), to get rid of the bloodthirsty fiends that are destroying their town…if they can.

Get your free copy while it lasts!

Go HERE for more sites. Go HERE for Amazon.

~~~~~

The Backstory of Vampire Blood 2015

By Kathryn Meyer Griffith

In 1990 or so I’d just got done releasing my first three paperback novels with Leisure Books, a romantic historical (The Heart of the Rose 1985) and two romantic horror books (Evil Stalks the Night, 1984 and Blood Forge, 1989), and because I wasn’t making much money on them, was looking, as most so-called restless young authors were doing, to move up in the publishing industry.
So I wrote snail mail letters to three established authors of the day – Dean Koontz, Stephen King and Peter Straub-asking for a little advice and a little help. What do I do next? I want to be one of the big dogs running in the big races. I want to make the big bucks. Be famous like you. (Ha, ha. I was so naïve in those days!)
Well, Stephen King and Peter Straub never answered my letters but one rainy fall night I got a phone call from Gerda Koontz (Dean Koontz’s wife) and she said Dean had gotten my letter and wanted me to have a name of a brand new agent who I should call or write to and say I was recommended by him. If I thought it strange that Dean Koontz himself wasn’t actually talking to me I was told by Gerda that he was a shy man and had had a particularly hard couple of months because of family problems (I think it had something to do with his father in a nursing home or something, but can’t exactly recall now) and he’d asked her to call me. She often did that for him, as well as helping him with the business side of his writing career. He (through her…and I got the impression that he was actually nearby telling her what to say the whole time) said I had to have an agent (I didn’t have one) and then he gave me the name of an ambitious one, Lori Perkins, just starting out and his advice on what I should do to advance as a writer.

I do remember being incredibly touched that he, a famous busy novelist that I admired- I loved his Twilight Eyes – would take the time to talk to me, even though his wife.
I took their advice and contacted that agent and she agreed immediately to represent me on my fourth book, Vampire Blood, no doubt, because I said Dean Koontz had recommended her. But Vampire Blood was the reason I’d contacted those authors in the first place. I thought it was the best book I’d done so far and wanted it to go to a better publisher than Leisure, which hog-tied their writers with a horrible ‘potboiler’ one-size-fits-all ten year contract with 4% royalties. Yes, I got a whole whopping 14 cents a book in those days, but they did print thousands of paperbacks each run and had a huge distribution area. I thought I could do a lot better. Anyway, Lori Perkins eventually sold it, and then three others after, to Zebra at 6% royalties and double the advances. They slapped a sexy blond vampire with a low dress on the cover and a hazy theater behind her. Lovely colors. An eye-catching cover. I was so happy. I thought I’d made it! Again,naïve.

My husband and I lived in this small town at the time and there was the neatest little hole-in-the-wall theater in a shopping center we used to go to…run by a family of a sweet man, Terry, and his wife, Ann, and sometimes their children, two teenage boys and a girl named Irene. Such a friendly, but odd couple. The run-down theater was their whole world. The kids helped take in the tickets, pop the popcorn and sell the candy snacks.

Now the minute Terry and Ann found out I was a published novelist they were my greatest fans. Terry went right out and bought all my books and read them. Terry always thought they’d make great movies. Next time my husband and I went to the theater Terry and Ann greeted us like old friends, delighted to see us, and refused to take a dime from us for anything. We got in free whenever we went from then on. Now in those days my husband, my son, James, and I were pretty broke. I worked as a graphic designer at a big brokerage firm in downtown St. Louis but my husband was in between jobs. We lived on a shoestring. Hard times. So I always was so tickled that we could get into the local movies for free. We went a lot, too, as we loved movies, especially science fiction and horror films.

One night I was watching Terry and Ann and their joy in running that little theater, with the kids bustling around doing their jobs, and I got the idea for Vampire Blood. Just like that! Use them and the theater as a backdrop for a vampire novel. Hey, wouldn’t it be neat, I offhandedly mentioned to Terry one night, if I wrote a book about a family of vampires that was trying to pass as a real human family, the man and woman wanting so badly to fit in and lead a normal life for a while, renovating and then running a theater together…but the kids are wild and, as kids always do, make trouble for them in the town…killing people? Terry loved the idea and I asked him if it’d be all right to use him and his family as a template for the vampires. He was thrilled to be part of anything to do with my books and said yes. So…I wrote this book about them (sort of), the theater (making it much grander than it was, of course), a small town terrorized by cruel, powerful vampires who can change into wolves at will….and a saddened lonely woman, her brother, and her ex-husband (who she still loves and ultimately ends up with again after he saves her life) who finds herself again, but loses a lot, as well, fighting these vampires. Vampires she doesn’t believe in at first.

I was very happy with the book when it was done and dedicated it to Terry and Ann when it came out in 1991. Terry and Ann were thrilled, too.
So Vampire Blood came out and did very well for me, second only to my Zebra 1993 Witches. As the years went by it went out of print like many of my 1970 &80’s paperback books and in 2015, with my other 21 novels, I brought it out again. I’d begun self-publishing in 2012 and will never go back to the legacy publishers. I love having complete control over my books now!

So…here it is…Vampire Blood…twenty-three years later, alive again and better, I believe, than the original because my writing then was done on an electric typewriter, with gobs of White-Out and carbon paper (I couldn’t afford copies), using snail mail; all of which didn’t lend itself to much rewriting. And in those days, editors told an author what to change and then the writer only saw the manuscript once to final proof it. Who knew what those sneaky editors were slipping in in between and before the final book was in an author’s greedy little hands. Hey, and I was working full time, raising a son, living a life and caring for my big extended family in one way or another, too. Busy, exciting, loving, happy and sad times.

A lot has happened to me and my family in these twenty-three years, as well. Both my parents, and my beloved maternal grandmother, the storyteller of her generation, have since passed away. My sweet musician brother, Jim, too. Many people we used to know have. Old boyfriends, old friends and relatives. I miss them all! I no longer have that agent; she went on to bigger advances and bigger writers. I lost my good job at the brokerage firm, bumped around in lesser jobs for years, always writing in my spare time, and now, at long last, write full time while my husband works way too hard in a machine shop to support us.
The theater closed sixteen years ago. Terry and Ann, heartbroken, were never the same. Ann is still with us, but Terry died years ago. We lost contact once they stopped running the theater.

I fought to get all my full rights back on Vampire Blood and self-published it in 2015 (as well as all my other 23 novels) and now only self-publish…which has allowed me to finally make a living at my craft.
But I’ll never forget those early days and the stories that came with them. Days of high hopes and far distance future dreams…some of which have come true and some which haven’t.

So, all you writers out there…never give up and never stop writing.***

Kathryn Meyer Griffith

Author Links

Twitter / Blog  / Author’s Den / Facebook / Goodreads / Amazon

~~~~~

After reading Vampire Blood you may find you want more! Go HERE to purchase a copy of the sequel!

Human No Longer

Sequel To Vampire Blood

Genre: Horror / Paranormal

c8df8-add2bto2bgoodreads2bblack

Click HERE for my review.

Synopsis

Jenny and Jeff Sanders become victims of a bizarre crime; leaving Jeff dead and Jenny in a temporary coma. She returns to her children. With Jeff’s death she must move back to her childhood home, a haunted farmhouse, in Summer Haven, Florida, where once they destroyed a family of vampires.

Jenny has no appetite. She’s edgy. Her eyes hurt. She thinks it could be trauma or grief. Until one night she can’t resist the night woods or the overpowering urge to drink warm animals’ blood–and accepts the truth. Her attackers were vampires.

Now she’s becoming what she once reviled. She can’t abandon her children but must find a way to live in the human world. At night she hunts, hides what she’s becoming and attempts to fit in.

Then townspeople begin dying. Like years before. With her blackouts, she fears she may be the killer, or is it her vampire attackers? They find her and demand she joins them–or her family will die. She resists until they kidnap her children. Then she has to find a way to outwit and ultimately destroy them.

Amazon

~~~~~

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways click on the lucky horseshoe below!

horseshoe photo: Horseshoe horseshoe.jpg

Saturday Screams #23 ~ I Am Not A Serial Killer: John Cleaver #1

Posted: January 14, 2017 in audible, horror, reviews
Tags: , , ,
4

Welcome to my Saturday Screams. This is where I share my love of horror and things that go bump in the night.

Today I have something different. I’m reviewing an audible book. I just started getting into audibles and, or course, I chose a scary good one. LOL

TITLE: I Am Not A Serial Killer: John Cleaver #1

AUTHOR: Dan Wells
NARRATOR: John Allen Nelson
PUBLISHER: Tantor Audio
PUBLICATION DATE: March 30, 2010
FORMAT: Unabridged Audiobook
LENGTH: 7 hrs. and 37 minutes
GENRE: Horror
.

c8df8-add2bto2bgoodreads2bblack

My Review

It’s kind of scary that I can somewhat relate to John Wayne Cleaver, the 15-year-old boy in this story. He has a fascination with serial killers and so do I. Where we differ is, while we both wonder what makes them tick, I just wonder why, but he worries he might become one.

 His therapist says he’s a sociopath and has plenty of the predictors pointing towards a serial killer. That’s why John has rules. He made them so he won’t become one. But there’s something inside him, sleeping now, but soon to stir. You see, there’s a serial killer operating in his town. But it’s not your normal one, or, I should say it’s not human.

As more people fall victim to the beast, the one inside John struggles to be unleashed. It may take a monster to kill a monster. And John worries that he won’t find his way back once it’s let out.

The first I heard of this story was I came across the movie. Being a horror fan, I watched it. It reminded me of Dexter, the serial killer show on Showtime. I’m sure you’ve seen it or heard of it. John could be a young Dexter, almost. He hasn’t taken to killing people, yet.

John is a fascinating young man. He’s intelligent and creepy at the same time. I worry whether he can keep his urges contained. He’s constantly fighting with his mother. She pushes him too hard, worried about what he might do and what he might become. I’d probably be the same way, thinking I could change him, make him normal. He knows he’s not normal, practices to appear that way, and tries to fit in. It’s a pressure cooker under that roof, waiting to let off steam. I just hope he uses that steam on the monster and not on someone trying to help him.

The first part of the story is mostly about John. About half way in you start to learn about the killer. Then it really gets going and the hairs on your arms will stand on end. It’s a race to the finish with plenty of action and a great ending. About that ending. I felt like it was kind of a vindication. Well done.

This is a study on character and humanity as much as it’s about serial killers and beasts. I found it thrilling and down right horrific, both must haves in horror.

I’m on to the next in this series, worried and excited about where John goes from here.

5 Stars

I received a complimentary copy from Tantor Audio.

My review is voluntarily given.

~~~~~

Narration.

This is narrated by John Allen Nelson. He was not what I was expecting. The stories told from a teenage boys point of view so I would have preferred a younger voice. His inflection is okay, but I just couldn’t help but feel like he was reading more than telling the story. If he’s the narrator in the second book, I’ll still give it a try. Maybe he’ll grow with the stories and grow on me.

~~~~~

Synopsis

John works in his family’s mortuary and has an obsession with serial killers. He wants to be a good person but fears he is a sociopath, and for years he has suppressed his dark side through a strict system of rules designed to mimic “normal” behavior.

Then a demon begins stalking his small town and killing people one by one, and John is forced to give in to his darker nature in order to save them. As he struggles to understand the demon and find a way to kill it, his own mind begins to unravel until he fears he may never regain control. Faced with the reality that he is, perhaps, more monstrous than the monster he is fighting, John must make a final stand against the horrors of both the demon and himself.

Click HERE to listen to a sample.
.
Purchase on: Amazon / Tantor
.
~~~~~
Author Dan Wells
.
Dan Wells image
.
Dan Wells is an American horror fiction writer and the author of the John Cleaver series. He is a graduate of Brigham Young University, earning his bachelor’s degree in English with a writing and editing emphasis. He currently resides in Orem, Utah, with his wife and four children.
.
~~~~~

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways click on the lucky horseshoe below!

horseshoe photo: Horseshoe horseshoe.jpg

Freakin Fridays #40 ~ A Christmas Tale ~ Review and Giveaway

Posted: January 6, 2017 in giveaways, horror, reviews
Tags: , , , ,
43

It’s a brand new year and time to share some new horror!

I’ve got a good one for ya.

~~~~~

A Christmas Tale

by Austin Crawley

28337038

c8df8-add2bto2bgoodreads2bblack

Genre: Horror

My Review

I’ve always enjoyed stories based on Charles Dickens tale A Christmas Carol.

Three good friends spend Christmas Eve together. They may live to regret it.

I remember gathering with my friends on the Eve of Christmas. I don’t think it entered our minds to do a seance. These three girls should have known better.

As each is visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and yet to come, they must face some horrible truths.

I liked where the author went with his story. There are no happy moments. All of the girls are forced to face things they fear, things they want to forget.

The atmosphere is eerie, the story unpredictable, and the ending is a shocker. What more could I ask for!

4 Stars

~~~~~

Synopsis

Few Christmas stories hold as much fascination as the story, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

Inspired by the Dickens tale, A Christmas Carol, three young women decide to hold a séance to raise the spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Future. They don’t expect a result, but what they call out of the aethyr gives them a creepy holiday they will never forget, if they live to tell the tale!

Amazon

~~~~~

Author Austin Crawley

Austin Crawley has written stories for more than ten years, usually involving ghosts, demons or spirits in some form. In 2015, he decided it was time to publish. He is currently working on a Dystopian series with a supernatural twist.

Blog / Facebook / Twitter

~~~~~

giveaway photo: Giveaway Banner for 42nd giveaway.png

Austin is giving away three eBook copies!

Choice of format – Mobi – ePub – PDF

Entry is easy. Please leave your email address so I can contact you if you win and answer this question:

If you were given a choice, would you want the Ghost of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, or Christmas Yet To Come to visit you?

Giveaway ends January 16th.

~~~~~

Other books.

28806244

Genre: Horror

Synopsis

In a small English village, an abandoned black post box stands testament to the failing Royal Mail service where post box collections have ceased and letters must be delivered to the post office in the local shop.

However, the residents of this village continue to drop irregular letters into the black box. Messages to dead relatives are not only delivered, but often requests for supernatural intervention are acted upon in the world of the living where the dead and damned can only enter by special invitation.

When a visitor learns of the black post box, he dismisses it as local superstition and chides the villagers for their simple beliefs, until he accepts the challenge to test the box for himself. What would you ask for, if you could send a message to the damned?

Amazon

~~~~~

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways click on the lucky horseshoe below!

horseshoe photo: Horseshoe horseshoe.jpg

The Friday 56 #133 ~ 77 Shadow Street

Posted: January 6, 2017 in horror, The Friday 56
Tags: , , ,
21

Welcome to The Friday 56 hosted by Freda’s Voice.

 

This is a really fun meme!

The only rules are to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader and find a sentence or a few (no spoilers) that grabs you and post it.

Then go over to Freda’s Voice and leave your link so we can visit your 56!

My 56 for this week is from:

 77 Shadow Street

by Dean Koontz

15797369

c8df8-add2bto2bgoodreads2bblack

Genre: Horror

From page 56 in the paperback.

He didn’t think he was a berserk killer, but he had never been tested.  One thing Winny had learned from books was that you had to be tested in life to discover who you were and what you were capable of doing.

~~~~~

Read on if you want to know more.

Synopsis

Welcome to the Pendleton. Built as a tycoon’s dream home in the 1880s and converted to luxury condominiums not quite a century later, the Gilded Age palace at the summit of Shadow Hill is a sanctuary for its fortunate residents. Scant traces remain of the episodes of madness, suicide, mass murder—and whispers of things far worse—that have scarred its grandeur almost from the beginning.

But now inexplicable shadows caper across walls, security cameras relay impossible images, phantom voices mutter in strange tongues, not-quite-human figures lurk in the basement, elevators plunge into unknown depths. With each passing hour a terrifying certainty grows: Whatever drove the Pendleton’s past occupants to their unspeakable fates is at work again. And as nightmare visions become real, as a deadly tide begins to engulf them, the people at 77 Shadow Street will find the key to humanity’s future . . . if they can survive to use it.

AMAZON

~~~~~

Leave your link and I’ll drop by your 56.

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

You can find a list of my reviews HERE.

For a list of free eBooks go HERE

To see all of my giveaways click on the lucky horseshoe below!

horseshoe photo: Horseshoe horseshoe.jpg

My Monday Minis Reviews #51 ~ Ink and Bone and Ink and Bone

Posted: January 2, 2017 in Fantasy, horror, Monday's Minis, Mytery/Thriller, reviews, YA
Tags: , , ,
12

27650023  27068793

Welcome to My Monday Minis Reviews where I share short reviews of books I’ve read. For today I’ll be sharing two books with the same titles but different authors and story lines.

Ink and Bone

by Lisa Unger

27650023

Genre: Mystery / Thriller / Horror

c8df8-add2bto2bgoodreads2bblack

My Review

After reading the synopsis for this book, no way was I not reading it.

A father and son shot, left wounded in the Hollows while the daughter, Abbey, is dragged away by her abductor.

A young woman, haunted by dreams and ghosts, paints her body with tattoos, slowly losing control of her gifts.

The Hollows, buried in winter snow, not giving up it’s secrets.

A mother struggling to stay sane, makes a last desperate attempt to find her daughter.

I enjoy it when a story pulls me in right from the beginning and the author did just that. I lost track of things going on around me and kept reading …. kept reading, until I was done.

The character’s are strongly developed and drive the story, and the plot is busy and exhilarating, reminding me of a dangerous winding road. You race around each bend, never knowing what waits in the road to send the story out of control.

A real page turner for anyone looking for a thriller with some suspense and horror, plus a bit of the paranormal thrown in.

4 Stars

Synopsis

An instant page-turner (Lisa Gardner) that straddles the line between thriller and horror…sure to appeal to a wide range of readers, including Stephen King fans. (Booklist, starred) A young woman’s mysterious gift forces her into the middle of a dangerous investigation of a little girl’s disappearance.

Twenty-year-old Finley Montgomery is rarely alone. Visited by people whom others can’t see and haunted by prophetic dreams, she has never been able to control or understand the things that happen to her. When Finley’s abilities start to become too strong for her to handle – and even the roar of her motorcycle or another dazzling tattoo can’t drown out the voices – she turns to the only person she knows who can help her: her grandmother Eloise Montgomery, a renowned psychic living in The Hollows, New York.

Merri Gleason is a woman at the end of her tether after a ten-month-long search for her missing daughter, Abbey. With almost every hope exhausted, she resorts to hiring Jones Cooper, a detective who sometimes works with psychic Eloise Montgomery. Merri’s not a believer, but she’s just desperate enough to go down that road, praying that she’s not too late. Time, she knows, is running out.

As a harsh white winter moves into The Hollows, Finley and Eloise are drawn into the investigation, which proves to have much more at stake than even the fate of a missing girl. As Finley digs deeper into the town and its endless layers, she is forced to examine the past, even as she tries to look into the future. Only one thing is clear: The Hollows gets what it wants, no matter what.

Amazon

~~~~~

Ink and Bone

by Rachel Caine

27068793

Genre: YA Fantasy

c8df8-add2bto2bgoodreads2bblack

My Review

A book about the Great Library of Alexandria, and a fantasy to boot. I was sold and knew it would be a good fit for me.

Owning books is forbidden in this world. You can view and read books through the use of alchemy, but can’t actually own a book.

I don’t know about you but I love my physical books. I just know I’d break the rules and something terrible would happen. And so it goes with this story. Jess breaks the rules with his illegal cache of books. How interesting as he’s assigned to spy on those who break those very rules. When something wondrous and potentially dangerous is created it could change the world. Chaos ensues and it’s not just books that will be burned.

Ooh, now how does that grab ya? Once I got familiar with this world I was quickly swept away. Lots of intrigue and suspense kept me enthralled right to the finale.

This is an exciting beginning to a promising fantasy series. I’ll be visiting it again.

4 Stars

Synopsis

In an exhilarating new series, “New York Times” bestselling author Rachel Caine rewrites history, creating a dangerous world where the Great Library of Alexandria has survived the test of time.
Ruthless and supremely powerful, the Great Library is now a presence in every major city, governing the flow of knowledge to the masses. Alchemy allows the Library to deliver the content of the greatest works of history instantly but the personal ownership of books is expressly forbidden.
Jess Brightwell believes in the value of the Library, but the majority of his knowledge comes from illegal books obtained by his family. Jess has been sent to be his family spy, but his loyalties are tested in the final months of his training to enter the Library s service.
When his friend inadvertently commits heresy by creating a device that could change the world, Jess discovers that those who control the Great Library believe knowledge is more valuable than any human life and soon both heretics and books will burn.”

Amazon

~~~~~

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways click on the lucky horseshoe below!

horseshoe photo: Horseshoe horseshoe.jpg

Freakin Fridays #39 ~ Review, Guest Post & Giveaway ~ When Animals Attack

Posted: December 30, 2016 in giveaways, Guest Post, horror, movies, reviews
Tags: , , , ,
9

I have time to squeeze in one more batch of horror before the new year!

Do you like to watch horror movies? I sure do! Watch them all the time. Have tons of DVDs, and am always browsing Netflix and On Demand for new ones.

For today, I have a special treat.

Check out When Animals Attack, edited by Vanessa Morgan. There’s 70 horror movies to be shared in the pages. You might recognize many of them, and find some you’ve missed.

I also have a fantastic guest post from Vanessa.

And there’s a giveaway, so don’t forget to enter!

~~~~~

Enjoy the guest post from Vanessa Morgan!

ANIMALS ON THE RAMPAGE – FROM NOVEL TO MOVIE

best-animals-on-the-rampage-novels

“Animals on the rampage” has always been a popular theme in both books and movies. To celebrate the release of the new movie reference guide, When Animals Attack: The 70 Best Horror Movies with Killer Animals, I want to tell you about six of the most popular “animals on the rampage” novels that have become movies.

Jaws by Peter Benchley

Jaws by Peter Benchley is without a doubt THE most popular “animals on the rampage” novel ever. Steven Spielberg turned this book about a great white shark into a movie, and the rest is history. In When Animals Attack, Warren Fahy (author of Fragment) discusses how he became obsessed with Jaws. It’s a fun, true story about DIY censorship, chocolate sharks, and beastly bestsellers.

Cujo by Stephen King

Stephen King considers Cujo to be one of his weakest novels. He was battling an alcohol addiction at the time and doesn’t remember writing it. However, the beloved family dog that gets bitten by a rabies-infected bat has always been a reader’s favorite.

The Birds by Daphne du Maurier

Technically, The Birds is only a short story and not a novel, but it’s impossible not to mention it in this list as Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 film adaptation made such an impact on the history of cinema. In 1994, this story about a small town where flocks of birds suddenly start to attack people got an unfortunate sequel called Land’s End.

Deadly Eyes by James Herbert

British author James Herbert is one of the most renowned names in the horror literature. I’m sure you’ve all heard of his novels Haunted, The Fog, The Rats, and The Magic Cottage. The Rats got a film adaptation in the 1980s called Deadly Eyes in which the ravenous rats on steroids were portrayed by dogs in costumes.

The Hephaestus Plague by Thomas Page

Based on the 1973 novel, The Hephaestus Plague by Thomas Page, Bug begins with cockroaches emerging from the fissures in the earth and setting humans on fire. You can’t consider The Hephaestus Plague (or Bug) one of the best horror stories about animals on the rampage because of its many unbelievable elements (such as bugs leaving written messages), but you can’t deny that it’s one of the most interesting and uncanny ones.

The White Buffalo by Richard Sale

This story about an albino buffalo on the rampage is more an adventure novel instead of a horror book, but one that is packed with a large amount of punch. The 1977 movie based on the novel has become a classic starring Charles Bronson, Jack Warden, and Kim Novak.

You can read in-depth essays on these books and movies (and many others) in When Animals Attack: The 70 Best Horror Movies with Killer Animals.

What are your favorite books and movies about animals on the rampage?

~~~~~

When Animals Attack

The 70 Best Horror Movies With Killer Animals

Edited by Vanessa Morgan

Published by Moonlight Creek Publishing

33295096

c8df8-add2bto2bgoodreads2bblack

My Review

I’m a huge fan of horror. You throw in some creatures that run, creep, crawl, slither, fly, and swim, and I’m in heaven.

This collection lists the 70 best movies that feature killer animals that actually exist in nature. No ghosts, vamps, weres, or demons are in it. How about lions, tigers, and bears. Bats, sharks, and piranhas. The list goes on.

I read this from front to back, realizing when I finished that I’d seen all but a few of these movies and many of them have a home on my DVD shelves. They go back quite a ways too. Feel free to skip around when reading. You might spot some favorites you want to check out first.

As it says in the description, some of these are quite horrific, some are eerie, and some are just plain fun.

I love B- movies. I don’t expect the best in CG, and often enjoy it when I can clearly see that the creature isn’t real. My sister and I love to pick the movies apart and try to never miss a one.

Some of my favorites are Day of the Animals, Frogs, Empire of the Ants……well, the list could go on and on. And I was thrilled to see that The White Buffalo was included in this list. It’s definitely a favorite of mine. Has almost a mystical tone to it. And Charles Bronson pulls off a fabulous performance, as does the “buff.”

Writers and authors come together to share about their featured movies and it gets quite interesting.

A must have for horror movie buffs. There’s something for everyone in these pages. You may find yourself surfing for some of these movies afterwards.

5 Stars

~~~~~

Synopsis

The definitive horror movie guide for fans of killer animals and “revenge of nature” films.

When Animals Attack: The 70 Best Horror Movies with Killer Animals provides a fascinating and entertaining insight into the cinematographic world of animals on the rampage. From well-known predators such as sharks and lions to unusual killing machines like turkeys, elephants, frogs, cats, and rabbits, there is no shortage of the species on display in this book.

Leading horror writers and filmmakers present their favorite “animals attack” films through in-depth essays. Some of the films are touching, some are repulsive, and some are just plain silly. Not all of these horror movies line up with the critical consensus, yet they have one thing in common: they have made the heart of the writer beat faster with excitement.

Purchase links for When Animals Atttack

Amazon US / Amazon UK / Amazon FR / Goodreads

~~~~~

Author Vanessa Morgan

Vanessa Morgan is an author, screenwriter, and blogger. Three of her stories (The Strangers Outside, Next to Her and A Good Man), have become movies. When she’s not working on her latest book, you can find her reading, watching horror movies, digging through flea markets, or photographing felines for her blog Traveling Cats (www.traveling-cats.com).

Social media links

Facebook / Twitter / Google + / Amazon / Newsletter

~~~~~

giveaway photo: Giveaway Banner for 42nd giveaway.png

a Rafflecopter giveaway

~~~~~

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways click on the lucky horseshoe below!

horseshoe photo: Horseshoe horseshoe.jpg

Got Some Zombie Christmas Reviews

Posted: December 21, 2016 in Holidays, horror, reviews, Short stories and collections
Tags: , , , ,
8

Looking for some creepy holiday reads? Look no further.

I have some fun ones for ya. Who wants zombies for Christmas?

A Zombie Holiday Trilogy

by Anthony Renfro

23197241

c8df8-add2bto2bgoodreads2bblack

Amazon

Synopsis

Find out what it takes to save Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve in a Zombie Apocalypse.

A Zombie Thanksgiving

My Review

They say the holidays are no longer celebrated because of the zombie apocalypse.

Try telling that to Dawn. All she wants is to bring a little bit of normalcy into their lives. To remind them they are human, that they are still alive, that there is hope.

Guns and knife in hand, Dawn sets off to the grocery store to see if she can find a turkey. I know, this sounds nuts. But people get desperate for the old days, the easy days.

As Dawn stumbles over dead bodies and crashed, abandoned vehicles, she inevitably runs across some shufflers. She takes care of them coldly, efficiently. This is the new way of life.

Meanwhile, back at the safe place, George is handed a note by another survivor in their group. It appears Dawn has left to get food. Fool girl. Doesn’t she know there are zombies out there. What is so important she’d risk this by herself?

I can’t quite put my finger on it, but somehow the author had me feeling the warmth of Thanksgiving. Even As Dawn and George fought off the ravenous zombies that want them for dinner.

Dawn’s fierce determination has me adding her to my list of top female protagonists. She’s not going to stop until she finds that bird!

And George is just as determined. Determined to find Dawn and get her safely back where she belongs. All limbs attached. I liked how his initial frustration turned to alpha male, to lover, as he set out to find her.

I had my fingers and toes crossed for these two. The ending was not set in stone just because it’s Thanksgiving. Maybe the zombies got a nice dinner. Nobody told them they don’t celebrate the holiday.

Synopsis

A woman risks life and limb in a Zombie Apocalypse in order to keep the Thanksgiving tradition alive.

A Zombie Christmas

My Review

He waited until the zombie messed with Rudolph to take him out. No one messed with his Christmas display. The loud crack of his gun brought more and he took care of them too. Then all was quiet again.

Relaxing in his living room, enjoying the lighted Christmas tree, the silence is shattered by the doorbell. Mike can’t believe his eyes. It’s four zombie carolers, singing songs. Or grunting them. Once he quits laughing he quickly dispatches them too. Their noise would bring others.

The loud knocking on his door is welcome. He’s been waiting for Jim and Fred. He needs them if his plan is to succeed.

The plan. Fight a way through the zombies to reach the mall. There, they will grab goodies for the kids in their neighborhood.  Everyone is struggling to make it through the apocalypse and the winter is brutal. A little something on Christmas morning for each child would bring smiles to their sweet faces. Would help them forget, for a time, what was happening outside.

Fred and Jim had taken some convincing, but when Mike explained his plan and they realized he’d do it alone if he had to, they were in one hundred percent.

As gruesome as this story got, it also cracked me up. Those zombie carolers were too funny. And the zombie shoppers, shuffling in and out of the mall with their packages, I could just imagine that scene, and laughed out loud. Nobody told the zombies they couldn’t have a Christmas.

I really liked Mike. He didn’t hesitate to take out the zombies yet kept his sense of humor. And by selecting the only other single men in the neighborhood, he didn’t risk leaving a family without a father and provider.

I think these three gents got as much joy as the children from their plan. It must have brought a small measure of hope and joy to them, playing Santa when the world was falling apart.

While I was writing my review, I happened to glance up at my Christmas tree, and what I saw cracked me up again. Sitting nestled on a branch was a little zombie mummy I had been given. I swear it winked at me.

Synopsis

Three men risk life and limb in a Zombie Apocalypse in order to bring happiness to surviving kids on Christmas Morning.

A Zombie New Year’s Eve

My Review

This short story is also offered in the authors collection, A Zombie Holiday Trilogy.

It is the longer of the stories and really hit home. Just how important is tradition when an apocalypse has occurred? How far would you go to keep a promise? Is there time for love when the world has crumbled?

Becky and Joe become separated during the zombie apocalypse. Both find themselves in dangerous situations as they strive to get to Acorn Drop, the place they first met, and share their promised New Years kiss.

Becky awakens surrounded by men in fatigues. A rough lot. They make their wants known and she tries to stall while making up a plan of escape.

You now that saying, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend?” Sometimes it’s true. These guys should have thoroughly cleared the house before letting their minds listen to their lower parts.

Zombies stumble out of one of the bedrooms and in the tussle, Becky makes her escape, only to have to fight her way through the ones outside.

Some of the men,  still pumped up on testosterone, pursue her and she must find a way to lose them. She doubts when they finish with her they’ll just let her go. And she has some place to be. Someone to meet. Something to do. Acorn Drop. Joe. Kiss.

Meanwhile, Joe is out in the open and vulnerable. The zombies are everywhere and he’s been spotted. Searching, he finally sees a house that looks safe and dashes inside.

First things first, he searches the house finding no immediate threat of zombies. Next, he checks the garage and finds a car. Could the keys be in the house? He reenters to search for them. There’s not much time as the zombies will eventually find a way in.

Joe soon discovers he’s not alone in the house. But it’s not zombies and it’s not people. Of all the houses, of all the streets, he had to choose this one. This is one battle he wasn’t prepared for.

He keeps his mind on his goals. Get to Acorn Drop. Find Becky. Kiss her like it’s the end of the world. But New Years is almost here and he’s got a long way to go.

I believe love is all we have when the world falls apart. Even if it doesn’t. Who will mourn you when you die? Who will fight for you, with you? What will keep you going when all seems hopeless?

The dynamics of people when faced with the thinkable has always fascinated me. Sometimes, the threat by man is every bit as deadly as the threat outside.

I’ve read many zombie books and I know there isn’t always a happy ending, but I have hope for Becky and Joe.

Synopsis

Becky and Joe are separated in a Zombie Apocalypse and risk life and limb in order to reunite for their New Year’s Eve kiss.

Bonus Short Story: The Dead of Winter

My Review

You never know what you’re going to get when you meet this author’s zombies. In one book, they were singing Christmas carols. LOL At one point in the story I thought I knew what they’d be doing. But nope, it was something else. Still made me laugh, until I took the time to picture them. Then it was pretty creepy.

The story beings with two strangers meeting on a brutally cold winter’s day. They decide to stick together. The odds are better for survival that way. Two pairs of eyes and ears to warn of approaching zombies.

It’s not long before they run into trouble, narrowly escaping with their lives. It’s now become vital that they find a place to hole up. The zombies don’t get tired. They don’t feel the cold. And they do not stop coming.

From the mind of Anthony Renfro comes a new kind of zombie,. A smart zombie, kind of. They do think, but that doesn’t necessarily make them that smart. Several scenes have me laughing and cringing.

The characters are few. Just two men and a cat. Not including the hoard of zombies.

It’s these characters and their struggles to survive that drive this short story. Make it a deep experience.

The harsh environment of cold winter makes their struggles even harder. It’s bad enough they have to worry about food and warmth. There’s also those zombies who don’t feel the cold.

Not one to shy from gory details, you get plenty here. And the author’s macabre sense of humor shines in the end. You won’t see it coming. Just like one of the characters didn’t. Since it made me laugh, I guess I have a macabre sense of humor too.

Synopsis

A short story about an apocalyptic nightmare in a crisp frozen landscape filled with winter and living corpses.Two men try to find safety in this dead world. Hoping to ride out the night. Hoping to find warmth and shelter. Hoping not to become food for the zombies.

Bonus Short Story: A Vampire at Christmas

My Review

The story opens in a tomb. All is calm. All is bright. The little Christmas tree in the corner casts a dazzling display reflecting off of the large coffin.

If you put your ear right up against the coffin, you might hear Jimmy Buffet singing Margaritaville. This handsome vampire loves being a vampire, loves Christmas, and is a fan of the southern artist and has been to many of his concerts. His powers enable him to fly to any location and blend into the shadows to enjoy the the shows.

He’s been waiting 364 days for this night and he grabs his bag of goodies and heads out. But first he must feed.

When he was a new vampire he killed at random. But after many years and witnessing the miracle of Christmas, the warmth and cheer of it, he became more selective. Only killing those who deserved it.

I am amazed at the power of this character with the story being just over 20 pages.

He coldly stalks and consumes his prey, yet he’s also gleeful and excited, like a child. He really gets into the Christmas spirit and spreads hope and joy. Not to his prey, of course, but to those who are in need.

I live in the south and have seen Jimmy Buffet in concert. Been to his restaurant. Met him a few times.  While I was reading this story, I hummed Margaritaville and thought, this vampire would like it here.

Synopsis

A short story about a Vampire who uses his riches and immortal skills to bring joy to those in need during the Christmas Season.

Bonus Short Story: The Lot

My Review

Looking for a Christmas tree? Come to The Lot and find the perfect one. Never heard of the place? Don’t worry about it. They have the best Christmas trees, even though the price is high.

What a creepy little tale. It comes out of left field and that’s something Anthony does so well.

I think I’ll stick with artificial Christmas trees, thank you very much.

Synopsis

This short story is about a Christmas Tree lot that has evil intentions.

5 STARS for this collection.

*****

A Zombie Christmas 2

by Anthony Renfro

32605810

c8df8-add2bto2bgoodreads2bblack

Amazon

My Review

Twas the night…. Well, it was not too long until Christmas and Mike Beem is at it again, rescuing someone in distress.

Last year Mike ventured out to get presents for all of the kids in his safety net. This year he needs to find one small boy and bring him home to his parents.

You’d think it wouldn’t be that hard. Zombies don’t do cold very well. Or do they? What about the ones that ski? Or drive a zomboni, oops, a zamboni? Some of the zombies are smart and have all kinds of deadly tricks. You just never know what they’ll do next.

This short story is a continuation in the Mike Beem Chronicles. I couldn’t wait to read it and it lived up to all of my expectations. Lots of zombies and the requisite gore that comes with them, plus some genuine new characters that you come to care about.

For all of you zombie lovers, add this to your list.

Synopsis

The Mike Beem Chronicles Volume 2

Can Mike save Christmas again?

This short story is about a boy lost. A family desperate. It’s Christmas in a Zombie Apocalypse and Mike Beem is once again aiming for another Holiday miracle. His goal this year isn’t toys for the kids in the neighborhood. His goal this time is trying to save one small life so another family doesn’t have to suffer the way he suffered. Can Mike save Christmas once again?

Bonus Short Story: The Lot

My Review

Looking for a Christmas tree? Come to The Lot and find the perfect one. Never heard of the place? Don’t worry about it. They have the best Christmas trees, even though the price is high.

What a creepy little tale. It comes out of left field and that’s something Anthony does so well.

I think I’ll stick with artificial Christmas trees, thank you very much.

Synopsis

A short story about a Christmas tree lot that may have hidden and deadly secrets.

Bonus Short Story: Fear of the Scarecrow

My Review

They say that vengeance comes at a price. One man sure learns that the hard way when he calls something up from hell to to his bidding. And so do his targets.

This would be the perfect campfire tale. The author sets the tone. Gives you the plot. Then scares the crap out of ya.

As this is a short story, there’s not a lot of character development. Not much is needed. You get the picture pretty quick.  It’s all over in about 15 minutes. If you like small bites of good old fashioned horror, you”ll enjoy this one.

Synopsis

This short story is about a desperate man hungry for revenge. Sometimes revenge comes with a price.

5 Stars for this collection.

*****

Author Anthony Renfro

Anthony Renfro

Anthony Renfro lives in Apex, North Carolina. He is a reader, writer, runner, husband, father, and stay at home dad – one of the toughest jobs anyone could ever do. He was born in Bristol, Tennessee, and is a graduate of UNC-Greensboro.

You can find him at many spots on the web, but if you really need to find his center in the social media storm it would be at his blog, apoetryjourney.wordpress.com.

Now reach out, just beyond the light, right into that big black space, and let him take your hand on a journey into cold dark places. You will be scared, and you may even be terrified, but in the end you might just find you liked the ride.

Find him on:

Blog ~ Amazon ~ Goodreads

*****

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways click on the lucky Flamingos below!

Saturday Screams #21 and Creepy Christmas

Posted: December 10, 2016 in Action/Adventure, Adult Fiction, Children's books, horror, reviews, YA Fantasy
Tags: , , ,
4

27263225  19238114  18755021

Welcome to my Saturday Screams.

Got some good ones to share today. A little bit of horror and some fun fantasy.

Let’s get to it!

~~~~~

Killer Young Adult Fiction

Shocking Tales Of Horror And The Post-Apocalypse

by Jackson Dean Chase

27263225

c8df8-add2bto2bgoodreads2bblack

Genre: YA Horror / Post-Apocalypse

My Review

I’m quite fond of collections and love horror and I’m so glad I read these.

Mr. Chase gives you thrills and chills with short stories, poems and books.  That saying, “You’ve been warned,” definitely applies here as the author pulls no punches in his descriptions.

From the supernatural to the paranormal to otherworldly, entities of terror roam these pages. The horror and suspense will have you looking over your shoulder at that noise behind you and glancing fearfully at that phantom something you glimpse out of the corner of your eye.

Be sure you have a torch handy in case the lights go out.

I’d recommend reading this at night so you get the full affects!

4 Stars

Synopsis

Killer Young Adult Fiction is the perfect midnight read. Demons, Ghosts, Vampires, Werewolves, Zombies and more are waiting inside…

This deluxe collector’s edition contains the complete 6-book Young Adult Horror series, plus two bonus books: “Hard Times in Dronetown,” and the all-new post-apocalypse shocker, “Alien Rain.”

That’s over 400 scary pages by YA’s best and brightest new talent!

Amazon

~~~~~

Creepy Christmas

by Toby Bennett

19238114

c8df8-add2bto2bgoodreads2bblack

Genre: Horror and Macabre Collection

My Review

You get five tales of horror and strange in this collection. And a bonus story about a sunbathing vampire.

These brief nibbles dabble in some dark horror. No characters are safe and there’s more than one kind of monster to fear.

I don’t like to play favorites so I won’t name any, but I sure would like a couple of these to be enlarged upon.

I got a sense of the author’s humor in these pages too, especially with the sunbathing vampire.

If you like quickies, these would be some fun stocking stuffers.

3 Stars

Synopsis

A ghoulish collection of zany and macabre tales that you can use to while away the long hours until it’s time to take the tree down again.

Thrill to “The Chimney Trap” – A boy sets out to catch Santa but what is really in that cage on the roof?

Howl at the sound of “Santa’s Paws” an interlude with werewolves based entirely on a weak pun.

Stuff yourself with the macabre contents of “Someone always feeds the children” – blind cannibals and a squirming Christmas dinner.

Feel the mounting fear of the man who truly discovered Santa in his monolithic tomb, “That is not dead that makes us eternal buy”!

Or just get away from it all in the sun with the “Recreational Vampire”

Something for everyone – as long as everyone likes five types of stories in: Toby Bennett’s Creepy Christmas.

Amazon

~~~~~

Creepy Christmas

by Jaimie Admans

18755021

c8df8-add2bto2bgoodreads2bblack

Genre: YA Children’s / YA Fantasy

My Review

All Kaity wants for Christmas is her parents to get back togehter. But there’s a problem, or several.

Mom’s new boyfriend for one. He gives Kaity the creeps.

And what’s with the snowmen. They mysteriously showed up one night. There’s something not right about them. And was Kaity mistaken, or was the one in her garden now closer to their house?

Anti-Claus is in town and trange scary things start to happen.it’s up to Kaity to get to the bottom of things and save Christmas.

Don’t let the ambiguous cover fool you. This is a delightful and a bit creepy Christmas tale of hope, friendship, and family. There are some heart-warming characters along with some creepy ones.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much depth there actually was to this story.

Grab a cuppa something hot, snuggle in, and enjoy this charming tale.

 4  Stars

Synopsis

Strange things are occurring in the neighbourhood. A mysterious snowfall, one Santa too many, and eyes of coal that watch you wherever you go.

Ten-year-old Kaity is busy trying to get rid of her mum’s creepy new boyfriend and reunite her divorced parents, but her curiosity gets the better of her when she meets the new mall Santa and his enchanting daughter Blizzard. Can Kaity help them save Christmas from being destroyed by Anti-Claus – a pretend Santa who is a permanent member of the naughty list?

It’s Christmas in the village of Chelferry, but this year the snowmen can move, the fairy won’t stay on top of the Christmas tree, and if you listen closely to the musical Christmas cards, you can hear the faint sound of screaming over the Jingle Bells…

Creepy Christmas is a 50,000 word (approx 200 pages) novel suitable for ages 8 and upwards.

This is free right now. Click on the link below to grab a copy.

Amazon

~~~~

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways click on the lucky Christmas kitty below!

christmas tree photo: TreeLightsCat TreeLightsCat.gif

 

When Blood Reigns by Barbara Custer ~ Excerpt and Giveaway

Posted: December 8, 2016 in Adult Fiction, giveaways, horror, Science Fiction
Tags: , , , , ,
7

When Blood Reigns
Barbara Cluster
Publication date: December 5th 2016
Genres: Adult, Horror, Science Fiction

Marked for death, Alexis accompanies her lover, Yeron, and four survivors of a zombie invasion on a search for the renegades who created a chemical that induces a zombie-like state. On the way, ravenous flesh-eaters attack Alexis’s team; one survivor turns on her. She realizes too late that the renegades have been tracking her every move. When officials capture her, she becomes deathly ill. Can DNA splicing save her? Will Yeron’s attempts at rescue jeopardize all their lives?

The author wanted you to know the book will be on sale fro $2.99 – regular 3.99 for the first month of release!

Goodreads / Amazon

.

.

EXCERPT:

Teodon pointed toward Laurel and held a finger to his lip.

“Do not speak out loud. I will understand the answers you think.”

Okay, Yeron’s badly hurt and so am I. I can’t move him without making his injuries worse.

“All right, then I will levitate him. I know how and I will not see him die. Go ahead of us and lead me to Quyeba’s laboratory. You must forget your injuries and pain. It may seem impossible, but Yeron needs your help. I cannot carry two injured people safely, and if you stay, Laurel will come after you again.”

I understand. Alexis struggled onto her hands and knees.

Harsh chewing and slurping sounds issued from Laurel. Despite the pain wracking her body, Alexis crawled toward the door.

She had to find her way back to the lab. Yeron was moaning, and his cries were growing weaker. Teodon lifted him. He depended on her to lead the way. Any second, Laurel would tire of Woehar and come after her.

Never mind the pain. Find help.

Gritting her teeth, Alexis began her Bataan Death Crawl. Her incisions telegraphed bolts of stabbing pain with each movement. It doesn’t matter; Yeron’s life is on the line. She mind-opened the panel and led Yeron and Teodon through the exit.

Once in the hallway, Teodon hesitated.

“Left or right?”

Woehar had made a sharp right to enter the killing field, Alexis remembered. Left.

She edged along the long stretch of hall. The throbbing from her incision and back brought to mind the pain she’d felt from the rheumatoid arthritis during her job as a respiratory therapist. Her chest tightened at the prospect of navigating that long corridor the way it used to when she faced a heavy shift. No painkillers were forthcoming. She kept going.

It was simple. Woehar had guided right from the laboratory, and then a long stretch of hallway, past two sets of doors, before making her right into the death camp. So Alexis retraced Woehar’s steps and looked for steel doors on her left leading to the lab. Adrenaline would carry her. She’d once read a tale about a mother whose adrenaline rush allowed her to lift a car off her child’s injured body.

Agony bled into her incision with every shift of her knees. The pain was worse in her lower back, where Laurel had kicked her. Sweat rolled down her forehead, dripping on the grid floor. She was leaving bloody handprints and a ribbon of blood. None of that mattered. She strained her ears, listening for familiar voices.

Seconds later, she did hear Quyeba and Zoltar. A few paces further, ungodly spasms tore through her back. The black dots returned. She called for help. She last saw Teodon kneel over Yeron, placing something on his wounded shoulder. Behind them, Laurel emerged from the corridor, growling, her mouth opened wide. The dots swelled and the screams died in Alexis’s throat as the darkness took her.

 

Author Bio:

Barbara lives near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she works full time as a respiratory therapist. When she’s not working with her patients, she’s enjoying a fright flick or working on horror and science fiction tales. She’s published Night to Dawn magazine since 2004.

Other books by Barbara include Twilight Healer, City of Brotherly Death, Infinite Sight, and Steel Rose; also novellas Close Liaisons and Life Raft: Earth. She enjoys bringing her medical background to the printed page, and then blending it with supernatural horror. She maintains a presence on Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, and The Writers Coffeehouse forum. Look for the photos with the Mylar balloons, and you’ll find her.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

 

giveaway photo: Giveaway Banner for 42nd giveaway.png

.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

XBTBanner1

~~~~~

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways click on the lucky Flamingos below!

Older Entries
Newer Entries