He’s offering Awol: A Character Lost free for this Friday and Saturday!
May 22nd and 23rd.
You can get your free copy at the links provided further in the post.
Come on in.
Check out AWOL.
A Character Lost.
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My Review
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The story begins when the character finds himself in a dark, empty room. Not knowing how he got there, who he is, or where he is, he finally gets the courage to call out for help.
He’s answered, but not by a voice. Words light up on a wall. It’s worse than he imagined.
He’s a character in a book and it appears he’s wandered out of his story and ended up in the room. The author writes his answers and they appear on the wall.
The really bad thing is, the author didn’t write any notes and has no idea which story the character came from, so he needs his help.
This is a story of show and tell and the author guides the character, instructing him and supplying him with scant info on what he should do.
The room has ten doors, each labeled. The character must go through each door in order to find his home story. The author cautions him before entering that what lies behind each door could kill him and he’s not sure if the character will really die or return to the room. It’s an enter at your own risk thing and the character has no choice.
The character approaches the first door labeled Zombies and dives in, as did I.
After the first adventure I didn’t blame the characters hesitancy to go through another. Yet he must and he does. This continues through several more and I was with the character when he got good and mad at the author.
Between each new door, the character returns to the empty room, learns more from the author and goes through the next door. These interludes between each chapter are labeled Interlude.
He encounters many other characters in each story. After a while he learns not to become attached to them. The author’s monsters dispatch them in horrendous fashion.
As for the monsters, the character runs into some werewolves like nothing you could imagine. The werewolves are 8 feet tall, six feet long, with red eyes like lamps and drooling acid. Must not forget the tail of a scorpion that electrocutes you.
The vampires are brown and black spotted things riding black horses. Their eyes gleam yellow, they have no hair and only two fangs, no other teeth. And they have these really wicked whips.
There’s serial killers and these really gross wormy snake things, aliens, and many others. All of them are out to get ya too.
While you know the character goes through all ten doors, otherwise there wouldn’t be that many chapters, that doesn’t mean he finds his home story. It doesn’t mean he survives. The author gives no guarantees.
Half way through, the character is fed up, yet he continues. He must and the author needs him to. Otherwise the character will languish in the room and so will the story.
What kind of author doesn’t keep notes? And what’s with the stories? All of them are horrific. Is the author lying? Does he know which door will lead the character to his home story? Is that what the story really is, him having to jump through the hoops? If so, the author must be a sadist.
Unlike anything I’ve ever read before, the author pulled out all the stops. Monsters beyond imagination. A character lost and guided by his author. An author, frustrated at his own lack of foresight.
This is Anthony Renfro’s best work yet!
5 Stars
Blurb
Imagine that you are a character in a story.
You have a home.
You have a life.
You have it all.
Then suddenly you wake up alone and afraid in a cold, dark place. Somehow you find your courage and your voice. When you ask for help, words light up on a wall in the darkness. You read them and realize you are in the creative center of your author’s mind. Instead of rescuing you, the author asks you for help.
This book is about the journey of that character, as he moves from story to story desperately trying to find his home.
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.
It’s summer here on the Gulf Coast and you know what that means? It’s zombies time!
I don’t know why, but it seems I read a lot more apocalyptic stories, especially ones featuring zombies, in the summer. And have I got some goodies to share with you today.
Unleash The Undead is a collection of stories compiled by Samie Sands.
All kinds of zombie goodies in it!
Check out my review.
And don’t forget to enter the giveaway!
Oh yeah! Watch out for zombies. They be prowling this post!
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Unleash the Undead
Compiled by Samie Sands
MyReview
Lots of zombies in this one.
So many different contributions, from short stories, to flash fiction, to poetry.
And there are some great illustrations sprinkled throughout these stories. It made the reading even more fun.
I had some I enjoyed more than others but all in all a very solid collection.
I’m huge on the apocalyptic genre and zombies so I read this cover to cover without pausing.
I cringed. I laughed.
It may sound morbid, but the ones I liked the most had the worst endings. I know, I’m a sucker for the shockers and who expects a happy ending when the shuffling horde is out to eat ya. LOL I’d be disappointed if some of the main characters didn’t meet a grisly end, and these authors didn’t disappoint me.
Now that I’ve sampled these authors I’ll be checking to see what else they have to offer.
4 Stars
BLURB:
Delve into the horrifying world of the zombie apocalypse, as bought to you by the following authors and artists: J.L.Drake, Marina Hume, Matías Andrés Bravo Jara, Ana Prundaru, J.H., Dale Herring, Jonny Graham, Klarissa Del Rossario, Saadia Ammad, Akash Sagar, Rob Shepherd, Rhys Curtis-Thompson, Kayleigh Edwards, Diego Tonini, Lachelle Redd, Victoria Pagac, Noel Osualdini, Glen Holman, Mathias Jansson, Kyle Flack, Ceri Matthias, Gia Berryman, Max Ferreira, Diana Alexandru, Kevin S. Hall, Art Pic, Zoja Vladisavljevic, B.S. Purwanda and Samie Sands.
~~~
Enjoy the excerpt
Along with the thigh-high PVC boots, Lucy was also wearing a long-sleeved leather body suit and a pair of PVC goggles. Anna smirked; she looked like the lovechild of the steampunk genre and a member of Marilyn Manson.
“Well what was I meant to do? He came at me, all chompy and toothy so I stamped in his eye.” Lucy shrugged, moving to examine a shelf crowded with accessories.
“No, not Colin. I wouldn’t have blamed you for stamping in that pervert’s eye even if he wasn’t one of them.” Anna replied, rolling her eyes as Lucy found, and snapped on, a pair of leather gloves.
“He was my best customer.” Lucy grumbled.
“I mean the outfit.” Anna explained, shaking her head. “I realise you run a sex shop whilst moonlighting as a dominatrix, but do you really have to dress like that now? We’re in the middle of an apocalypse; you don’t need your uniform.”
“It’s an underwear shop! And this outfit is for practicality. It’s nearly impossible to chew through this stuff. I’ll have the last laugh when your jeans are in tatters and your legs have been eaten off, and there’s barely a scratch on me.” Lucy smiled, grabbing a bullwhip from the wall and coiling it around her forearm.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Samie’s debut novel, Lockdown has been published by Triplicity Publishing, and she is currently working on the sequel. She has a degree in Media and loves to gain inspiration for her writing from travelling. Check out her website http://samiesands.com
Most of you know by now how much I enjoy short stories and collections.
I’m excited to share Loss Angeles with you.
I’m not sure which genre to tag these stories as, so I’m calling it Life Fiction.
Come on in and check it out and enjoy the excerpt!
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About the Book:
Title: Loss Angeles Author: Mathieu Cailler Publisher: Short Story America Press Pages: 217 Genre: Short Stories Format: Hardcover
Set in the glamorous city of Los Angeles, California, LOSS ANGELES skips the shine and celebrity the city is known for and instead dives deeply into the lives of ordinary Angelenos. In each of the fifteen stories in this collection, author Mathieu Cailler examines the private lives of a diverse mix of characters. This collection of stories showcases the rawness of real life, the complexity of navigating personal challenges and internal conflicts, and the ever present possibility of encountering unexpected compassion and empathy.
The stories in LOSS ANGELES uncover the reality that the interiors of people’s lives often have huge holes in them. In the collection, a quiet divorced man, who is still deeply in love with his ex-wife, finally speaks up when his son’s soon-to-be stepfather becomes enraged over a broken birthday gift. A young man visiting his parents for the first time in nine years delays his presence at his family’s Thanksgiving dinner to see an old friend who was influential in his early life. Cailler also goes beyond loss and grief to reveal hidden human kindness in the stories of a widower, who steps out of his melancholy to save the life of a stranger, and an aging bachelor, who becomes a father figure for a wayward young woman.
In “Over the Bridge,” Ella is a teenager learning to manage her grief over the death of her mother and the new life she and her seven-year-old brother have with their father, with whom the children have not lived with since their parents’ divorce. While Ella is receiving weekly counseling at school, she continues to struggle with the changes in her life. When the counselor instructs Ella to write a letter to her father explaining the uncertainty and distance she feels in regard to her relationship with him, Ella complies and writes with the type of honesty that one allows when there is no plan to share what is written. But when Ella finds herself in a frightening situation with a boy at a party after consuming drugs and alcohol, the letter becomes the catalyst for a change in perspective for her father.
“Hit and Stay” is the story of a young married man making the long drive home from an out-of-town business trip. Penn is troubled as he drives his SUV through back roads to avoid the highway traffic. The quiet drive in the warm cocoon of the truck affords Penn the opportunity to reflect on the one-night stand he had with a new employee. As he contemplates how or if he will confess his mistake to his wife, Kimberly, Penn reviews his life with the woman he was once passionately in love with who has grown distant since the death of her mother. During the drive, Penn has an unfortunate accident that breaks the delicate hold he has on his volatile emotional state.
The conflict between familial violence and love is the foundation of “Dark Timber.” Clevie and his older brother, Roy, reluctantly accompany their father on a hunting expedition. Their father, an alcoholic recently released from prison after serving time for beating the boys’ mother, is determined to teach his sons how to hunt for their own food.
The relationship between father and sons is strained. Roy has personal experience with his father’s violent temper, but young Clevie remains hopeful that life with their father will improve. Neither boy is interested in hunting. Clevie is the most reluctant to fire on innocent animals. However, when their father comes face-to-face with a menacing predator, both boys instinctively respond to his pleas for help.
“LOSS ANGELES is a throwback to eclectic short story collections of past years and is only bound by the theme of loss in a very general sense,” Cailler says. “The stories are by turns fragile, tender, and always memorable. The characters in this book are as diverse as the city itself… they all have a story to share, and it was my job to do just that. I don’t believe in being predestined while writing; therefore, some of the stories end with a bit of hope while others reach their coda in a disconcerting fashion.”
Exposing emotions was Cailler’s focus when writing the collection. “I want the reader to relate to the feelings and sentiments expressed in the book. I think loss is the greatest bond we possess as humans, and there isn’t a single person around who hasn’t experienced it. We’ve all lost something dear to us, something profound,” the author says. “I think if a reader comes away from LOSS ANGELES feeling more connected to others and/or him or herself, I’ll have done my job. Whenever I write, I think of Plato’s words: ‘Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle.’ That’s something that I hope will resonate with the reader.”
Discuss this book at PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads.
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Book Excerpt:
Penn continued to drive through the night. Snow and gales of wind assailed his SUV as he barreled towards home, his foot steady on the gas, his hands positioned firmly at ten and two. Heat billowed from the vents on the dashboard and moved loose strands of hair on his face. He didn’t want to replay the scenario—the quiet L.A. hotel room, the closed drapes, the underwear on the floor, the moaning, the taste of her lips—but the SUV’s quiet cabin was a hotbed for reflection.
His headlights brushed a green highway sign, indicating that there were eighty-nine miles left on his journey home to Lake Tahoe. With the winter weather, it might take Penn more than two hours, but that was all right. How would he look at Kimberly after what he’d done?
“Don’t marry young,” people had told him a few years ago when he’d passed around the idea of proposing. “You haven’t tested the waters.” Cliché after cliché came at him, and while the marriage advice was stale and up there with “enjoy each day like it’s your last” and “don’t let anyone tell you something’s impossible,” it wasn’t amiss.
Becky had been with the company for a couple months now; there’d been some mild flirting, but Penn just thought that was the way she was, and he flirted back from time to time, knowing that it was just a game. Becky saw the wedding band on his finger; she could put two and two together.
But on this recent trip, Penn and Becky had found themselves at the hotel bar, overlooking the glimmering L.A skyline. There was a meeting early in the morning, and most of the company’s employees had gone to bed. She approached Penn and slid onto the chair next to his. They drank, and their eyes held one another in the empty bar. The piano man played his versions of “So What” and “Stardust,” songs that made people more attractive and made conversations more interesting. The right strap of Becky’s blue dress kept slipping off her freckled shoulder, and she left her smooth skin exposed longer than normal before bringing the strap back up. Her breasts were pressed up and together, and when she crossed her legs, one of her black heels dangled a few inches from her foot, making it seem as though she was already undressing. Penn remembered the way she reached over and touched his right hand.
The worst part was that Penn had only slept with Becky because of the confidence Kimberly had given him. Many times she’d reaffirmed his self-esteem, telling him he was worthy of love, that he was better-looking than he imagined, and that he deserved the best.
Penn believed the burden would be lightened if he told Kimberly, but at the same time, he thought the words might destroy her, and that’s not what he wanted. It’d taken cheating for him to know how much he loved her, but who would believe a line like that?
The tapping of a snare drum leaked out from the speakers, accompanied by the beat of an upright bass and the trill of a clarinet. He lowered the window and let the cold air flow into the sweltering cabin.
Was there a perfect scenario? Penn thought. He let his mind wander. When he got home maybe Kimberly would be crying.
What’s wrong? Penn would say.
I did something terrible, Kimberly would answer.
Kimberly would go on to tell Penn that she’d slept with someone else, that she was sorry, and that it didn’t mean anything. After that, he’d say the same thing. Two wrongs, one right. But even thinking about her sleeping with someone else made him sick. That wasn’t at all what he wanted.
High school sweethearts turned lovers turned husband and wife turned roommates—that’s what they were. Penn found it more and more difficult to make her laugh. Where there’d been kisses, there were now smiles. Where there’d been heat, there was now platitude. Where there’d been love, there was now familiarity.
~~~
About Author Mathieu Cailler
Mathieu Cailler is a writer of prose and poetry. His work has been widely published in national and international literary journals. Before becoming a full-time writer, Cailler was an elementary school teacher in inner-city Los Angeles. “I came to writing in a rather circuitous way. I always penned jokes for stand-up comedy appearances but later realized it wasn’t just comedy that applealed to me, but all writing.” A graduate of Vermont College of Fine Arts, Cailler was awarded the Short Story America Prize for Short Fiction and a Shakespeare Award for Poetry. His chapbook, Clotheslines, was recently published by Red Bird Press. LOSS ANGELES is Cailler’s first full-length book.
Hello and welcome to this week’s Two for Thursday Book Blitz #T4T
presented by Month9books/Tantrum Books!
Today, we will be showcasing two titles that may tickle your fancy,
and we’ll share what readers have to say about these titles!
You just might find your next read!
This week, #T4T presents to you:
Two and Twenty Dark Tales and Very Superstitious Anthologies!
Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!
In this anthology, 20 authors explore the dark and hidden meanings behind some of the most beloved Mother Goose nursery rhymes through short story retellings. The dark twists on classic tales range from exploring whether Jack truly fell or if Jill pushed him instead to why Humpty Dumpty, fragile and alone, sat atop so high of a wall. The authors include Nina Berry, Sarwat Chadda, Leigh Fallon, Gretchen McNeil, and Suzanne Young.
What Readers Are Saying:
“Great short story collection! Allegorical, interpretive, and entertaining.” – Levina, Goodreads Reviewer
“ EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED in this book” – Kwinn, Goodreads Reviewer
“I truly enjoyed the stories in this anthology. Some are dark and depressing, and yet beautifully told…” – Angie,Author
~~~~~
The stories are based on urban legends, myths, tribal tales and superstitions from around the world. A charity anthology to benefit SPCA International with stories by Shannon Delany, Jackie Morse Kessler, Stephanie Kuehnert, Jennifer Knight, Marianne Mancusi, Michelle E. Reed, Dianne Salerni and Pab Sungenis.
What Readers Are Saying:
“VERY SUPERSTITIOUS is a fine anthology for fantasy readers looking for something slightly creepy for Halloween reading.” – Liviania, In Bed With Books
“A collection of spook-licious tales that will taunt, and in a few cases, tickle the fear bone in any reader.” – S.A. Larsen, Author
A timely collection for a good cause, with some delightful surprises, full of myths and superstitions, and a vast array of stories that will make you laugh, cry and think.” – Tammy, Books Bones Buffy
Complete the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win!
‘Welcome to the world of the Runyons and the Feldsteds, two Mormon families in 1970s Maryland. Far from their Western American roots, they cling to each other like exiles clutching a precious box of topsoil from the old country.
“In The Boxford Stories you will meet Ada Runyon who always turns to Ruthalin Feldsted when she needs an ear—sharing her deepest confidences, her everyday musings, and her bits of horrified gossip. Yet Ada dies inside whenever Ruthalin’s country-cousin manners poke out in public.
“Latham Runyon, a history professor, and Erval Feldsted, a hospital engineer, bond every Sunday night over gooey desserts and vigorous religious discussion, a game their children call Stump the Rabbi. Underneath their balding heads and graying temples, each man desperately seeks a sign that God would choose him as a buddy.
“The Feldsted and Runyon children, running breathlessly through each other’s houses and backyards, have long considered each other substitute cousins. However, Ginni Runyon plots to change herself from the girl next door to the girl Marc Feldsted can’t live without.
“And when Boxford’s Mormons mix with the rest of the town, everybody could use a field guide to the other species.
“Laugh, cry, and shake your head with the Runyons and Feldsteds as they make their way through the decade that brought us leisure suits and urban decay.”
Now Latham stood before the steam-clouded mirror. He squirted shaving cream into his hand and swabbed it over his face.
It was not the best face, to be sure. He imagined how it would look to those sitting beside him in conference tomorrow. There he’d be, his arms folded as he sat on a hard metal chair way at the back of the gym, looking for all the world like Joe Mormon, with the standard white shirt, the standard wing tips, the standard bald spot, and the standard case of scriptures with a sagging, broken spine.
The young fathers nearby would look at him and think, I hope I don’t become that in twenty years. Their young wives would study his pocked cheeks and try to imagine just how bad the teenage acne had been. And teenage girls would decide that he was, no doubt, ten times cornier than their own dads. . . .
Then, when his name echoed forth from the pulpit, and he stood up, his seat-neighbors would look up from their chairs, surprised. They would kick themselves mentally for not taking note of him sooner, for not recognizing his eminence.
His children would look up. Our dad? God wants our dad?
His wife would bow her head humbly and compose a few eloquent remarks, in case they summoned wives to speak.
And as he walked up to take his new place, people would look up from their seats, squinting at him. And when he reached the stand, Elder Sperry would smile, remembering: Oh, yes, him. The one that likes Great Biographies, just like me. Elder Sperry would shake his hand, motion him towards his very own theatre-style seat, a far cry from the metal chairs at the back. Elder Sperry would make him say a few words at the pulpit, where Latham could look down on all those surprised people, who were still taking it in that Latham Runyon was their new stake president.
Praise for the book:
“Standouts include “Gypsy Holiday,” in which Ada’s anxiety over family friends not coming to Thanksgiving devolves into a stark admission of her loneliness and inability to connect with outsiders; “A Little Five-Minute Thrown-Together Something,” which lays bare the squirming insecurities of teenage crushes; and “Flirting Lessons,” which sees Ada’s teenage daughter, Ginni, taking a cross-country road trip with two friends that leads to panic when one goes missing. These stories are unexpected in their subtlety as they explore the reality of what it means to be Mormon—and human.”
–Kirkus Reviews
“’In an almost Faulknerian way, Carson finds the pulse of ambition and uses that tick to reveal the inner voices that can haunt us all, if allowed. We should be looking to the eternities, of course, but in the meantime, we have so many other things to worry us onward into the night, or at least until the next priesthood interview.”
–Association for Mormon Letters on “‘Atta Boy” in The Boxford Stories
Author Kristen Carson
“Kristen Carson was born in Idaho, the caboose baby in a family of six girls. She studied at Brigham Young University.
“Hearing tales of how green the grass was elsewhere, she pledged to move east of the 100th Meridian. Even though she’s never lived in the #1 place on her list (Lexington, Kentucky–have you seen those beautiful bluegrass hills?!), she enjoyed her years in Texas, Illinois and Pennsylvania. She currently lives in Indiana.
“Kristen’s stories and articles have appeared in The Indianapolis Star, Chicago Parent, Indianapolis Monthly, Dialogue: a Journal of Mormon Thought and Irreantum.
“She and her husband are the parents of four adult children.
“She loves her two cats for their affection, their paranoia and their sense of entitlement. She takes long walks wherever she goes, because she thinks the best way to see the world is at 3 miles an hour. She loves cooking. All the chopping, stirring and inhaling lend the perfect capstone to her day.
“Kristen is also an avid reader. No doubt she won’t live long enough to finish all the books on her list. Her favorite authors are Herman Wouk, Diana Gabaldon and Tom Wolfe.
“Check out her blog, where she writes about whatever she’s reading and cooking.
Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader and sponsored by readinglight.com. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.
I haven’t read the first two Hellfire & Damnation collections but I will fix that soon.
Most of you know how much I enjoy short stories and collections and horror and I got all of that with these.
Check out my review.
Enjoy the excerpt.
And enter the giveaway to win a copy!
Hellfire and Damnation III
by Connie Corcoran Wilson
Publisher: Quad City Press (March 1, 2015)
ISBN:978-0-982444-487-0
Category: Psychological Thriller, Suspense
Tour Date: March 16-April 30, 2015 Available in: Print & ebook, 114 Pages
My Review
I’m huge on short stories and collections so I knew I had to read this batch. The author states at the end of the book that she drew inspiration form true events on all but two of the stories. That explains why one of them felt familiar to me.
Some are scary and some are twisted. A few had me grinning sardonically. All are good.
There are the nines sins or as the author titles them, The Nine Circles of Hell. Each delves into crimes and punishments.
Circle One: Limbo – The Cave Robber
You’ll have an encounter with a giant cave spider.
Circle Two: Lust – The MOnster Within
Meet Brian, “The unhappiest man in El Reno,” who’s plotting revenge against his neighbor.
Circle Three: Gluttony – The Battle of Gate Pa
Crawl with the Maori warriors through the first tunnels used in warfare.
Circle Four: Avarice & Prodigality – Boxed In
Be there when a kidnap victim turns the table on his kidnapper.
Circle Five: Wrath & Sullenness – Do Not Go Gently
A cancer patient who thought he’d live forever does not go gently. Vows to be the worst patient ever.
Circle Six: Heresy – The Final Victim
A Reverend needs one more sacrifice for Satan.
Circle Seven: The Violent – KILLAL
An innocent computer game might not be so innocent.
Circle Eight: The Fraudulent – The Mirror
A heated car mirror solves a cold case.
Circle Nine: The Treacherous – A Losing Hand
It wasn’t hypothermia. It was murder.
I enjoyed all of these stories and enjoyed the authors comments afterwards. She explained a bit about each of the stories that came from true events and then where she got her inspiration for the two that weren’t. It was fascinating.
And the pictures peppered throughout the book made it creepier.
While most of these weren’t truly scary, they did have sin in each one. I think I sinned a bit myself when I celebrated some of the characters deeds.
These would be great reads for when you have only a short time, but I’d set aside enough time to finish all of them. They do suck you in and keep you going from one to the next, to the next…
4 Stars
~~~~
Description
Hellfire & Damnation III by Connie Corcoran Wilson is another tour of the 9 Circles of Hell described in Dante’s Inferno. It picks up where the first two collections of short stories left off, using the same framing device of stories that explore the sins or crimes punished at each of the 9 Circles of Hell in Dante’s Inferno.
The first book was the winner of the Silver Feather Award (Illinois Women’s Press Association), and the Gold Medal E-Lit Award (Horror category) from the Jenkins group. Five-time Bram Stoker winner Gary Braunbeck said of Book II in the Hellfire & Damnation collection: ” Seriously, Connie: can’t you write just one stinker so the rest of us will feel a little bit better?” Braunbeck added, ” Her writing is stronger, streamlined, and often lyrical, despite the nastiness her words describe. This is another impressive collection of tales from a writer I could very well learn to hate if she gets much better.”
Hellfire & Damnation III is another tour of the crimes or sins punished at each of the Circles of Hell in Dante’s “Inferno.” Like the second book in the series by Connie Corcoran Wilson, there are images whether it is a cave where teenagers are trapped, the lair of a psychopathic minister manipulating a young man of limited intelligence into murder, or a rage-fueled airplane traveler unleashing his pent-up fury on a Flight Attendant.
The author adds a From the Author, an informative peek into the creative mind of the author and the genesis of these 9 Tales of Terror. As one reviewer said (of Hellfire & Damnation II), “Connie Corcoran Wilson has written a book of short stories that will not only keep you up late nights reading, but might also keep you up long after you have stopped reading.”
He drove off in Dave’s truck, heading for Reverend Jeremiah Jones’ trailer, the useless wooden peg leg making a hollow tumbling noise in the empty bed of the truck, like a bird hitting a glass window. It sounded like a heavy object tumbling inside a package. It was a sound like a tennis shoe tumbling in the dryer, only with sharper percussions.
When he reached the trailer park, Lee parked under a large tree near the Laundromat just at the entrance of Happy Hollow Trailer Park. He grabbed the peg leg from the bed of the truck, tucked it under his jacket so no one would see what he was carrying, and began walking towards the Reverend’s plot. This was part of the plan. Jeremiah had explained to Lee that it wouldn’t do for them to be seen together. He wanted Lee to make sure he wasn’t followed and to come to his trailer on foot, using the back way. Lee did all this, as requested.
Upon reaching the entrance to the shabby trailer, Lee knocked on the door. He knocked a second time, more loudly. Lee was standing near the entrance to the attached Sacrificial Shed, as Jeremiah referred to the wooden shanty nearby. Lee thought he heard a noise coming from within. It was a faint sound, no doubt muffled by the sound-proofing. It sounded like a bleating animal. Lee turned away from the trailer door and moved towards the doorway of the nearby Sacrificial Shed. It was slightly ajar.
Within, he saw the specter of Jeremiah Jones, knife raised. A terrified creature, approximately three feet high, eyes glazed with fear, helpless, was tied in front of the Reverend. It was a small goat, immobilized by ropes. Jeremiah brought the axe-like weapon down on the animal’s head just as Lee opened the door to enter.
Jeremiah was breathing heavily from his exertions. The struggling wounded goat was bleeding and making a horrible noise in its death throes, still pinioned at the Reverend’s feet. Jeremiah Jones looked up at Lee Elliot and smiled the evil smile of an ogre. The grin of a conscienceless monster. The smirk of a manipulative Machiavelli.
“Did you bring his leg?” Jeremiah asked.
Lee shook his head yes. He reached beneath his jacket to pull forth Dave Downing’s prosthesis.
Jeremiah glanced at the leg. He looked up at Lee, stepping over the still struggling dying creature to come closer to Lee, bloody axe still in his hand.
“Where’s the money?” the Reverend asked.
“There wasn’t any,” said Lee.
“What? No money? There HAS to be. You took the cash, didn’t you?” Jeremiah screamed.
“No, Sir,” replied Lee. “There wasn’t any money. I killed Dave just the way you said to. I threw his body in a ditch out past Colona. Out near Interstate 80. I took his leg off. But there wasn’t anything inside it.”
“LIAR!” screamed the enraged minister as he lunged at the timid young man, bloody axe raised. “Stupid fucking liar! You took it, didn’t you? You took the money! Where is it? Give it to me!”
The Reverend Jeremiah Jones approached Lee with menace in his manner and murder in his heart.
In that moment, Lee Elliot wished he had brought the large butcher knife with him. But Lee had done as the Reverend Jones had instructed. He had thrown the knife into the raging Rock River, which was at near-flood levels this wet spring. Lee had no weapon. Nor had he thought he would need one.
The man he had trusted and aided in committing the most heinous act of his life was about to betray him. Almost the last thing Lee Elliot saw was also the last thing the goat had seen: a heavy axe-like weapon descending on his skull. Coming down so quickly and so forcefully that Lee had no time to fend it off.
As the weapon found its mark, Lee heard birds twittering. He was not sure if he was once again seeing the birds of Lucifer’s sign to him—the European starlings on his front lawn that day—or if neurons were firing stored memories in his head in death. With that last mortal impression of flocks of black birds tearing at the ground, ripping apart the blades of grass, laying waste to everything they touched, Lee Elliot became just one more in a long string of the Reverend Jeremiah Jones’ sacrifices.
The Reverend stood above him, bloody axe poised to strike again, muttering, “You moron. Lucifer always meant for you to be the final victim.”
View the Trailer:
Praise for Hellfire and Damnation II by Connie Corcoran Wilson:
“This collection of 11 short stories in the horror genre is organized around Dante’s 9 circles of hell in the Inferno–limbo, lust, gluttony, greed, wrath, heresy, violence, political corruption, and treachery. The stories are by turns chilling and blood boiling. The two times I read one of these just before sleeping I deeply regretted it. NOT bedtime stories folks. Haunting and satisfying.”– Joystory
“I love scary books. Among the first adult books I ever read were Stephen King and Dean Koontz. However, these days I find it hard to find good scary books – ones that don’t make me feel like I’ve read this before…and then I was asked to read Hellfire & Damnation II. Corcoran takes us by the hand and leads us through the 9 Circles of Hell, whispering to us the tales of those we find there and the events that have lead them to this nightmarish place. From the first story set in Limbo, Cold Corpse Carnival (giving me yet another reason to not want to be buried!), to the final circle of The Treacherous and The Bureau the reader will be checking behind doors, under the bed and sleeping with the light on!”–Kylie Purdie, Little Black Marks
“‘Hellfire and Damnation II’ is the sequel to Connie Corcoran Wilson’s first book of short stories published in 2011. This book is another tour of Dante’s ‘Nine Circles of Hell’ from his Inferno. It features eleven original short stories: from the 132-year-old corpse of Norwegian immigrant Ole Monson seeking revenge against the living for the desecration of his final resting place in ‘Cold Corpse Carnival’ to the most intimate betrayal suffered between two brothers in ‘The Bureau’. Each story highlights its particular Circle in a novel way, but is partially based on fact as explained by the author at the end. I really enjoyed this book – it was suitably horrific for me. Each story is well-crafted and believable, and I found myself very satisfied with each story’s pacing. I give ‘Hellfire and Damnation II’ an A+! and I look forward to reading more books by Connie Corcoran Wilson in the very near future!”– Mareena McGirr, Emeraldfire’s Bookmark
“Connie pens “Hellfire & Damnation II” in a plot that will really leave the horror with you. The illustrations are just unbelievably good and will get you really thinking about what you just read. I was totally satisfied with the amount of detail within each “circle of hell” she writes about. Now I really need to find the first book in the series to catch up with. Highly recommended for all who love the thrill of horror.”-Susan, My Cozie Corner
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I’ve read Connie’s The Color Of Evil Series and very much enjoyed them.
Award winning author, Connie Corcoran Wilson (MS + 30) graduated from the University of Iowa and Western Illinois University, with additional study at Northern Illinois, the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Chicago. She taught writing at six Iowa/Illinois colleges and has written for five newspapers and seven blogs, including Yahoo, which named her its 2008 Content Producer of the Year.
She is a member of ITW (International Thriller Writers), where she is a writer for their online newsletter, and a member of IWPA (Illinois Women’s Press Association, Chicago chapter), which awarded her its Silver Feather Award in 2012 and 2014, MWA (Midwest Writers Association), AWP (American Writing Program) and MWC (Midwest Writing Center), which named her its Writer of the Year in 2010. She has won numerous E-Lit awards, a NABE Pinnacle award, an ALMA (American Literary Merit Award), Lucky Cinda competition and two IWPA Silver Feather Awards (2012, 2014).
Connie’s third book in “The Color of Evil” series, ‘Khaki=Killer’ was just named a Page-turner of the Year 2014 by “Shelf Unbound” and Writer’s Digest magazine in its December/January 2014-2015 issue!
Her stories and interviews with writers like David Morrell, Joe Hill, Kurt Vonnegut, Frederik Pohl, William F. Nolan, Anne Perry, r. Barri Flowers, Valerie Plame, Allen Zadoff and Jon Land have appeared online and in numerous journals.
Connie Corcoran Wilson’s work has won prizes from “Whim’s Place Flash Fiction,” “Writer’s Digest” (Screenplay) and she has 25 published works. Connie reviewed film and books for the Quad City Times (Davenport, Iowa) for 12 years, wrote humor columns and conducted interviews for the (Moline, Illinois) Dispatch and maintains her own blog,www.WeeklyWilson.com, while also twittering (@Connie_C_Wilson), Connie Wilson Author.
Connie Corcoran Wilson was a presenter at the Spellbinders Conference in Honolulu, Hawaii over Labor Day (2012) and at Love Is Murder in Chicago (February, 2014) and will be a presenter at Writers for New Orleans December 19-21st. She has three ongoing series: THECOLOR OF EVIL, HELLFIRE & DAMNATION (short stories organized around the crimes or sins punished at each of the levels of Hell in Dante’s Inferno) andTHE CHRISTMAS CATS, which she writes for her granddaughters. (www.TheColorOfEvil.com; www.RedIsforRage.com; www.KhakiEqualsKiller.com; www.HellfireAndDamnationTheBook.com; www.TheXmasCats.com)
Connie lives in East Moline, Illinois with husband Craig and cat Lucy, and in Chicago, Illinois, where her son, Scott and daughter-in-law Jessica and their five-year-old twins Elise and Ava reside. Her daughter, Stacey, graduated from Belmont University in Nashville, and is currently a Southwest Airlines Flight Attendant.
If you’ve been following my blog, I’m sure you’ll recognize this Author. I’ve read all but a couple of his stories and loved them!
For today I’ll be sharing Trailer
A Short Story by Edward Lorn
My Review
Edward Lorn is a master of the short horror story. This one is no exception.
It’s not fit for man nor beast with a nor’easter raging outside, but Kay has no choice. She left her husband lying in a pool of blood, the frying pan she used to kill him sticking out of his face. Bullying her was one thing, but abusing her son, Tony, a boy with Down Syndrome, was not to be tolerated.
Now, on the road in the middle of the night in a blinding snow storm, Kay must find shelter from the storm when the car breaks down.
Her son had spotted a mailbox a ways back so they find it and follow a narrow path through the trees to a decrepit trailer.
But, before they can get to it, something rises from the snow. Something white, with glowing silver eyes and very sharp teeth and claws. Soon. more rise out of the snow and it’s a race to get to the trailer.
But will the trailer be protection from the screeching beasts outside?
Well, you know I can’t answer that question.
I’ll tell you this though. The beasts are determined to get inside and eat them up and the trailer has been long abandoned and falling apart.
The best thing about Edward’s short stories is his characters. He has this ability to flesh them out quickly. You feel you know them. But don’t get too attached to them. He’s not above knocking them off for a good scene.
Must not forget his creatures. They are all uniquely his own creations and bloody nasty too.
4 Stars
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Synopsis
The less you know, the better.
~~~
AboutEdward Lorn and where to stalk him.
Edward Lorn is an American horror author presently residing in the southeast United States. He enjoys storytelling, reading, and writing biographies in the third person. Once upon a time, during a session of show and tell, a seven-year-old Edward Lorn shared with his class that his baby brother had died over the weekend. His classmates, the teacher included, wept while he recounted the painful tragedy of having lost a sibling. Edward went home that day and found an irate mother waiting for him. Edward’s teacher had called to express her condolences. This was unfortunate, as Edward had never had a baby brother. With advice given to her by a frustrated teacher, Edward’s mother made him start writing all of his lies down. The rest, as they say, is history. Edward Lorn and his wife are raising two children, along with a handful of outside cats and a beagle named Dot. He remains a liar to this day. The only difference is, now he’s a useful one.
Thanks for stopping by for my stop on the tour for Skeletons by Kenneth Buff.
I have some scary good stories to share with you.
Enjoy my review.
And don’t forget to enter the giveaway!
I forgot to mention!
You can get this FREE on Amazon HERE for a limited time!
Skeletons
by Kenneth Buff
My Review
I’ve become hooked on short stories and collections and these are some good ones.
I’m going to break it down a tell a little about each one and then give an overall rating.
And Then There Was Only Us
They say sometimes psychopaths will be drawn to each, like a shared sickness. These two lovers find a portal to other dimensions and take their killing games to a new level.
They enter a dimension and torture and kill their other selves.
“You wouldn’t believe the shock on their faces the first time they saw us. You wouldn’t believe the pleasure on ours.”
Sooner or later something has to happen. The fun stops being fun, at least for one. Then what?
This was the first story and pretty horrific. Twisted psyches and a lust for pain and blood doesn’t make for happy ever after. Even killing yourself gets old. I kept waiting for one to turn on the other.
Re – Tailoring You
2PM. Punch the clock. Work. Punch out. Go home. Repeat.
The man is stuck in his dead end job at All-Mart, the store that has, “Everything you need.” Days, weeks, months, years pass in a blur, and he dies a little each day.
It didn’t come to him all at once. But gradually he realized the other employees were acting strange. They stopped talking. Some of his co-workers noticed too. They started calling them the pod people. I guess that’s from the movie, The Body Snatchers. I called them The Stepford Clerks.
Knowing its becoming dangerous, the group that hasn’t changed split up, trying to reach others like them. Trying to warn them and make their escape.
But, like with all good horror stories, it’s not going to be easy.
I kept waiting for Bruce Campbell to jump on a counter with his boom stick and shout, “Shop Smart. Shop All-Mart!”
Mom’s House
When Henry’s mother dies, Alice knows she has to go with him. She’s all out of excuses for not going to that house. Who would want to. They siblings claim they commune with the ghosts that haunt that place. What would Alice have to say to them?
The funeral is over and the days pass. Alice waits for them to go through their mothers stuff, but soon gets bored. They sit at the breakfast table every morning relating the ghostly visits they had the night before. Felling left out, she takes Henry’s advice and goes for a walk.
Something, a niggle of doubt, causes her to sneak back and peek in the window. They are sitting around laughing, not packing things up.
When Alice confronts them, things get ugly. Then dangerous. It seems Henry had a big secret. One about why he truly brought her there.
This one creeps up on you. Then the secret is revealed and the action kicks in. Alice didn’t strike me as tough or resourceful, but she fooled me. Let’s hope she fools them too.
The Second Coming Of Cortes
He’s come! Jesus has come to Pike’s Peak in Colorado.
It came straight from Jesus on the TV. He appears, inviting all the people of Colorado to climb to the top of Pike’s Peak, to be received by him and enter heaven. There’s a catch. They only have three days to get there.
Brian and Karen drag their son, Alex, to the greatest show on earth. He scoffs at this person. Would Jesus pull a stunt like this? Why Colorado and Pike’s Peak? Why only three days?
His parents are bound and determined he make the climb with them, but Alex wants nothing to do with it. Can he hold out or will he be dragged kicking and screaming to the top of the peak? And who or what awaits them there?
This was creepy. I’d be with Alex. I hardly think Jesus would appear on TV telling us to come to him. Yet again, modern times call for modern measures. Who knows.
You can imagine how bad it gets. All those frenzied people crawling over each other to get to the top, to Jesus and heaven.
It became a bloody mess, people crushed or shot to death. Makes you wonder how they ever thought those actions would get them anywhere but a fast drop to Hell.
The Decoder
Everyone is required to use their decoder until noon. Most of them keep it on until the mandated shut off time of 4 PM. But not him.
He can’t wait for noon so he can shut of the decoder. When it’s on, by the time you think about what you are going to do, it’s done. Time flies by in a blur.
A normal day for him is work, then home. Mow the lawn, do laundry, vac and dust, maybe paint the walls. It’s only 11:30. Imagine watching time crawl while everything you do flies by.
Noon. Done. Decoder off. He sits down to work on the book he’s writing. It’s a good story. Opposite from his, where the decoder slows time down.
I got dizzy just reading this. I’ve seen some movies where they show a person standing still while everything rushes by in a blur of shapes and colors. That’s how this story felt.
I felt the man’s book was about his wish. Perhaps he should write a story about no decoders at all.
All of these were good. I don’t usually play favorites but several scenes in re-Tailoring You got my blood pumping.
For most of you, all of these will creep you out.
Scare a few minutes off your life.
Or at least give you some nightmares.
Horror is as horror does.
4 Stars
~~~~
BLURB:
Skeletons, everyone has one, and in this collection of dark short stories they’re scratching their way to the surface for the world to see. In Skeletons you’ll meet a man who confesses his secret time traveling fetish, a cashier who investigates the eerie behavior of his retail co-workers, a torn lover who travels to her boyfriend’s haunted retreat, a teenager who’s town undergoes some unusual changes, and a father who’s personal time is moving a little too fast.
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Excerpt
And Then There Was Only Us
I’m not sure how it started. I know it was me that showed her the portal, but I can’t remember whose idea it was to start killing them. I believe it was hers, but I honestly don’t remember anymore. That’s part of using the portal. You go in too many times and it fries your brain. I couldn’t even pretend to know how many times we’ve gone in. I just know that each time we go back we kill them a new way. That’s one thing I do know. I could lie to you and tell you I didn’t enjoy it, but I did. No woman in the world is kinkier than my Stephanie. Once I showed her the portal, it didn’t take long for her to change the way we dealt with the doubles. Prior to our trips, I had always just waited till my double used the portal before exploring the past. That way there would only be one of me. Steph changed that. You wouldn’t believe the shock on their faces the first time they saw us. You wouldn’t believe the pleasure on ours.
We took full advantage of the fact that no one would ever know about their disappearances.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Kenneth Buff was born and raised in Wichita, Kansas. He moved to Stillwater, Oklahoma in 2007 to attend Oklahoma State University. He graduated in 2013. He currently spends his days working as an elementary special education teacher and his nights at Aspen Coffee, writing his next novel.
He’s offering his newest release free for this Friday and Saturday!
AWOL
A Character Lost
You can get your free copy at the links provided further in the post.
Come on in.
Check out AWOL.
A Character Lost.
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My Review
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The story begins when the character finds himself in a dark, empty room. Not knowing how he got there, who he is, or where he is, he finally gets the courage to call out for help.
He’s answered, but not by a voice. Words light up on a wall. It’s worse than he imagined.
He’s a character in a book and it appears he’s wandered out of his story and ended up in the room. The author writes his answers and they appear on the wall.
The really bad thing is, the author didn’t write any notes and has no idea which story the character came from, so he needs his help.
This is a story of show and tell and the author guides the character, instructing him and supplying him with scant info on what he should do.
The room has ten doors, each labeled. The character must go through each door in order to find his home story. The author cautions him before entering that what lies behind each door could kill him and he’s not sure if the character will really die or return to the room. It’s an enter at your own risk thing and the character has no choice.
The character approaches the first door labeled Zombies and dives in, as did I.
After the first adventure I didn’t blame the characters hesitancy to go through another. Yet he must and he does. This continues through several more and I was with the character when he got good and mad at the author.
Between each new door, the character returns to the empty room, learns more from the author and goes through the next door. These interludes between each chapter are labeled Interlude.
He encounters many other characters in each story. After a while he learns not to become attached to them. The author’s monsters dispatch them in horrendous fashion.
As for the monsters, the character runs into some werewolves like nothing you could imagine. The werewolves are 8 feet tall, six feet long, with red eyes like lamps and drooling acid. Must not forget the tail of a scorpion that electrocutes you.
The vampires are brown and black spotted things riding black horses. Their eyes gleam yellow, they have no hair and only two fangs, no other teeth. And they have these really wicked whips.
There’s serial killers and these really gross wormy snake things, aliens, and many others. All of them are out to get ya too.
While you know the character goes through all ten doors, otherwise there wouldn’t be that many chapters, that doesn’t mean he finds his home story. It doesn’t mean he survives. The author gives no guarantees.
Half way through, the character is fed up, yet he continues. He must and the author needs him to. Otherwise the character will languish in the room and so will the story.
What kind of author doesn’t keep notes? And what’s with the stories? All of them are horrific. Is the author lying? Does he know which door will lead the character to his home story? Is that what the story really is, him having to jump through the hoops? If so, the author must be a sadist.
Unlike anything I’ve ever read before, the author pulled out all the stops. Monsters beyond imagination. A character lost and guided by his author. An author, frustrated at his own lack of foresight.
This is Anthony Renfro’s best work yet!
5 Stars
Blurb
Imagine that you are a character in a story.
You have a home.
You have a life.
You have it all.
Then suddenly you wake up alone and afraid in a cold, dark place. Somehow you find your courage and your voice. When you ask for help, words light up on a wall in the darkness. You read them and realize you are in the creative center of your author’s mind. Instead of rescuing you, the author asks you for help.
This book is about the journey of that character, as he moves from story to story desperately trying to find his home.
And go HERE to enter the Goodreads Giveaway for a print copy!
~~~
Author 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.
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
Strings
by Ruthanne Reid
My 56
Then the slivers came, and I stopped caring about anything else.
They landed like meteors, foreign and destructive, erupting grass and dirt with the force and etheric power of their crashes. They shook the earth, making Barry stumble. And then it got worse.
~~~
Synopsis
Need help? You probably shouldn’t ask Grey.
He’s a runaway Fey prince in New York City. He feeds on love like some kind of vampire. He really doesn’t like people.
But sometimes, fate doesn’t care who you are or what you like. Sometimes, no matter what you do, you aren’t the one pulling the strings.
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Another fun little story by Ruthanne Reid !
I just finished the first book, A Christmas Dragon and will be reviewing both of these later.
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