Book Review: The Writhing Skies

I'm an absolute fan for anything Betty Rocksteady puts out, and this novella is proof to why this is. The Writhing Skies is a trip through a nightmare where everything squirms, drips, and tries to enter your body. Rocksteady has truly found the magic of capturing a dream and stapling it to the page, the world is twisted, things morph from real to unreal, you can't trust what you are seeing.

Sarah's world becomes a terrible scary place all from one sad decision. In her hunt to find any scrape of humanity in the nightmare, she is forced to look back at the one thing she'd rather ignore. Her boyfriend Derek is a jerk and her friend Tiffany is trying her best to help, but is being overcome by the nightmare. Beneath the haunting imagery is a story about decisions and how quickly life can change. My heart hurt at the pain that Sarah went through, I wanted to reach through the pages and hug her, support her and show her the strength we see her gain through out the story. I also really wanted to throttle Derek.

Within the novella are twenty black and white drawings from Rocksteady. The style reminds me a bit of Max Fleischer/Betty Boop cartoons, except with a bit more creepiness to them. I think the addition of drawings adds a connection between you and the characters, seeing Sarah's face while being attacked by glowing creatures leaves you itchy and wondering what you'd do in that situation. There is also something haunting seeing cute drawings of people while they have strange growths covering their skin.

There is a magic here that you have to discover. Rockysteady has a way to mix the tragic and haunting to punch you in the gut. You'll be terrified to look up into the sky one moment and the next moment practically in tears at what a character has gone through. I am always going to be on the look out for the next book by Betty Rocksteady. I believe after this one, you will be too.

Purchase from Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing

Book Review: The Lamb Will Slaughter The Lion

Margaret Killjoy's The Lamb Will Slaughter The Lion is probably one of the most smoothest, lyrical books I've read in a long time. It's so smooth that you won't even realize you finished it when you reach the last page. Killjoy's prose is this beautiful thing that can cut and heal you while sending you on a quest to discover what is happening off the beaten path.

Nothing is wasted, everything has a reason. Each person, thing, and demon is there to hook you and keep you moving through the story. You'll finish it only to realize you are reading a book about living in a free society; how punks and hippies and misfits can work together to make a beautiful community away from those that would try to rule them. We find ideas on the challenges that can come with this type of society, how relationships can strengthen or weaken us, the power of true friendship, and how if you summon a three-antlered deer to protect you, you better be prepared when it takes it job seriously.

Danielle Cain is a traveler, born to be on the road, constantly moving. I'd say a drifter, but I don't think that's the right word. She's travelling because she wants to. Her friend Clay committed suicide and she wants to know why. Clay had been sending her letters from Freedom, Iowa, a sorta punk commune. When she gets to the town, she is greeted by a large, blood red deer with three antlers. Killjoy delivers us this deer to throw us off, like look at this, some strange shit is going on around here. And you know what, it works. Because not only is there the deer, there is also a bunch of animals running around with their chests blown out, rib cages open revealing nothing inside.

Freedom is place for those that are sick of society. They've founded a town on the principal that everyone is equal and law can't control you.  Food, work, participating in the town is all your choice.  For the most part everyone seems to be pretty happy. Danielle is instantly wary of the place, but eventually comes around to seeing that it can be a good thing, just not something for her.

There is also the little problem of the creepy deer. After Danielle meets some of Clay's friends, there is a pretty tense scene of the deer attacking someone and ripping out their heart. We find out that a couple of people(including Clay) summoned Uliksi to protect them from a guy trying to run the town. Now, it just hangs around town, watching and judging those it deems harmful to Freedom.

So we have a magic in the world. Killjoy does a great job of not making the magic over the top, instead it feels more like an extension of nature. It isn't something everyone knows about, Danielle freaks out a bit at the concept of magic, while everyone else has been living with it long enough to accept it. I like how Killjoy uses magic as a way to spice up the place without making it a full on fantasy story. Reminds me a bit of a Neil Gaiman or Susanna Clarke story.

Danielle and her new friends are where the heart of the story lies. They team up to stop Uliksi from killing again while at the same time fighting off those that want Uliksi to stay around. Killjoy pairs Danielle up with different characters on their search through town to find out how to send Uliksi back, which gives us a chance to see who lives in this town. We meet punks with tattoos, families, transgender couples, basically all the people I've hung out with one time or another. They all felt so real and so familiar. I feel like I've seen them at basement punk shows, or at the tattoo parlor, or at a cash only bar. I could hear their voices, see their punk vests, hell I'm sure I've seen the same bands as some of them.

This makes it so hard when you have to decide which side you are going to be on: the side trying to remove Uliksi or the one thinking he needs to be there. I mean it is nice to know there is this spirit that'll come down and remove anyone that is threatening to destroy the town. But, it is killing people and it could easily come down and judge a certain action unfavorable and kill again. Basically, it has become a ruler and that goes against what the town is all about.

In the end, this is a solid piece of work. I don't think I ever felt a spot that seemed slow or cumbersome. Even in the parts without action, you have these awesome moments of friendship and connections that amazing. And it is an interesting thought experiment, can a town like Freedom truly exist? I think it could. Obviously there'd have to be some sort of way from keeping the larger society out of it that isn't a protector spirit. But, it does make you think.

The back of the book mentions that this is part of a series. I really hope the next book comes out soon. I am really eager to see what Danielle Cain's next adventure is going to be, and what idea Killjoy is going to explore next.

BUY IT!!!

Book Review: Haunted Nights

      Haunted Nights is a collection that oozes Halloween, it bleeds black and orange, carries a turnip, is cloaked in shadows, and breathes fog. No matter what time of year you read this, for instance May(like I did), all you'll think about is the terror that lurks in the month of October. Ellen Datlow and Lisa Morton collected 16 short stories focused on Halloween/All Saints Day and squeezed them into a form of concentrated evil that'll help jump start the true terrors of Halloween.

      It's a fascinating collection that pivots from the past to the present and even up to the moon for the future. All of them are centered around Halloween, but not necessarily on the actual day. Most of them use Halloween just as a backdrop to deliver a terrifying story. What makes it interesting is how the stories revolve around the history and lore of Halloween. I really enjoyed digging deeper into the holiday and found at least one new thing about Halloween in each story. 
     You'll find a lot of horror fiction's big names in the table of contents, from Seanan McGuire, Stephen Graham Jones, Garth Nix, to Brian Evenson, Kelley Armstrong, and S.P. Miskowski. All of them find interesting ways to scare you into not trusting the shadows during October 31st. I love the fact that each story puts a great twist on one aspect of the holiday. Some of the stories will freak you out, others might make you angry, some will keep you up late, and maybe one or two will make you sad. I give a ton of credit to Datlow and Morton for mixing up all the stories to create a sine wave of feelings to carry you through the book.
     Now to pick out some of the stories that especially stuck with me...
     Jonathan Maberry's A Small Taste of the Old Country puts us in 1948 Argentina with two "not" German men meeting an Austrian baker. The two men realize how much they miss Germany when the baker offers them some food from the old country. He invites them to his kitchen for a late night feast and a special holiday celebration. I loved how inventive and twisted this story was. I thought it was going to go one way, with the allusions to the ovens, all of the food, everyone hiding who they truly are. But, at the ending I was pleasantly surprised to find out what the baker's true plans were. This is one of those stories that you are happy to discover because of how different it is.
     A Flicker of Light on Devil's Night by Kate Jonez is a heartbreaking story about a mother trying to care for her kids, one who might have made a deal with a demon. The apartment they live in is run down, in a terrible part of town, and the mother is struggling with a very angry and disrespectful son. Let me tell you, he is a real piece of work, cussing out his mom, pushing her down the stairs, threatening his younger sister. I mean, the mom is doing her best to keep the kids safe and wishing she could give them a better life, but sometimes there is nothing you can do but just hope for the best. You'll wish you could jump into the story and help them by the end of it. God, I hated that son, he was just the worst.
     Nos Galan Gaeaf is a dark story about a boy not happy with himself because he is in love with the wrong girl. Kelley Armstrong sends us to a little town following the ancient Welsh tradition of Nos Galan Gaeaf, where each citizen puts a rock in a bonfire. If the rock is still there in the morning, they get good luck, if it isn't, they'll die sometime that year. The boy, Lance, can't believe he is in love with Seanna, the bully. He hates himself for it and blames her, so to fix the problem, he decides to remove her stone from the fire. But, to add more to this tradition, there is a monster that will hunt down the last person out on Nos Galan Gaeaf. So, we now have a race against time to determine if Lance can do his terrible act or not. It's a suspenseful story that will have you rooting for Seanna, the main character Lance is a bit of a tool that needs to learn to deal with his emotions. I think there is something special in a story that has you angry at the main character, plus it's a really neat exploration of a Welsh tradition.
      In probably the most heartrending story of the bunch, All Through the Night by Elise Forier Edie we follow Maggie while she tries to navigate New York's Five Points. She lives in squalor, eating dirt, and maybe lucky enough to get a piece of a thick cake called barm brack. She meets a sly man named Blai Orrit, whom Maggie believes isn't human. Blai Orrit offers her riches for the child in her belly. Of course she refuses only to discover that she might have taken the gift by accident. She spends the next year trying to take care of the child and hoping Blai Orrit never comes to collect. However, the following year she finds that her baby has been switched for a changeling. From there it just gets sadder as she tries to find her child. This story hit me right in the feels. It's one of those cautionary tales that does not have a happy ending and leaves you feeling sad. It's perfect.
     There are so many other stories in here that are amazing. What I gave you above is just a taste of what you'll find. I highly recommend you hunt this down and bring it out every October. Read one story a night and you'll have a pretty awesome lead up to Halloween.

Book Review: Exit Earth

I’ve noticed a pattern to end of the world movies: a band of heroes figure out a way to stop the storm, destroy the meteor, or deter a missile at the last minute. Basically, humanity finds a way to save the world. But, what if we were to zero in on the everyday person? What if there is no way to stop the world from ending? In Storgy’s Exit Earth, we are given this microscopic view of the people that have to deal with the consequences of a higher power. Throughout the collection of 24 stories we explore the before, during, and after of a cataclysmic event and what it takes to survive.

When I heard about this anthology through Kickstarter I knew I was going to put my money down and help it get published. And I’m really glad I did. Each story is unique and wonderful in its depiction of “real” people going through a terrible situation. Accompanying the stories are beautiful full color pieces of art, as well as an afterword from the authors.

I want to make it clear I did have a hand in bringing this to light(my name is in the list of supporters). But, a lot of other people also wanted to see this come to fruition, possibly because they thought it was a cool concept or wanted a handbook for surviving the future.

Storgy went into a lot of hard work voting on the best stories to fit the theme of Exit Earth. Some of these stories will make you sad, others might make you laugh, and a few will just leave you feeling depressed. All of them, however, do a great job in taking a mirror to real life and reflecting the terrible things we could do to each other when faced with impending doom. Or we are past the doom and just trying to survive. At the end of this collection I found myself wondering what I’d do if I was faced with any of these situations. Which I think is the perfect reason why these stories are in the book.

I’d love to go into detail on each piece, but I think I’d do a disservice to the work the authors put into their stories. Besides, there’s 24 of them and in the end I think you should just read it. But, they are all so good, it’s hard for me not to highlight a few of them. So bare with me as I try to give you a little taste of what you might find within these covers.

Rachel Connor’s How to Curate a Life is a disturbingly close-to-home tale regarding a family trying to delete a deceased daughter from the internet. They go to a business that can collate the life of a loved one, but the family wants them to go one step further, hating the idea of possibly seeing her face somewhere online. It’s crazy how true this is going to be soon, or how true it probably already is for quite a few people. Connor delivers a remarkable story that’ll make you wonder how much of your life is going to exist in the world after you are gone.

When the Tide Comes in by Joseph Sale gives us the final moments before the earth is destroyed. Everyone knows it’s coming and there is nothing anyone can do about it. So what does everyone do? They get wasted, have sex, steal things. Basically, no cares are given. But, the morning of the end of the world, three people sit on the beach, each holding back a secret from the others. Only when the clouds part do they decide it is time to open up. I love this story because there is so much heart in it. That feeling of using hopelessness to finally reveal how you feel is so real. I’m sure everyone has something buried away that would only come out when death is imminent.

And the Waves Take the Words by Phillip Webb Gregg is just awesome. He takes the simple concept of someone stranded on a deserted island and makes it more. A woman is on an island, she sees the bombs explode in the distance, then things start washing ashore. She collects them, starts building stories about the items and where they came from. Eventually, she writes the story of the world on the beach. It’s one of the shorter stories in the collection, but, man does it pack a wallop. You’ll feel strong and devastated about what is lost.

Okay, let’s do one more…

The dark and disturbing Ken from Jessica Bonder. A never ending war needs soldiers. Supplies for humans are running low. Women can become War Moms, donating their unborn babies to the war. However, not everyone supports this idea, they protest the moms and the cause. When one mother gets an eight hour window to explore, she discovers that the papier-mache effigy is not the only thing that will burn. This story is pure power. I found myself screaming at the mom to get out of there and get back to the centre. Bonder found a joyful thing like a fair and corndogs and turned it into a suspenseful look at what someone will sacrifice to survive in this world.

I could go on and on about the different stories in this book, from revolutions, to trying to find food, to visiting old Earth. Each one is just a slice of the bigger picture of the end times. I can guarantee that at least one or two of these pieces will stick with you long after you read it. If you are feeling a bit paranoid about society, want a glimpse of possible timelines, or just want to read some kick-ass stories, Exit Earth will have what you are looking for.

I'll do you a favor...go here and buy it!

Book Review: Rosalynd

Stephan Franck's Rosalynd is a beautiful graphic novel that tells the backstory of Rosalynd Van Helsing. Yep, that Van Helsing, the one that fought Dracula. This is his great great great granddaughter, and she is as much of a badass as he is. Though you don't get to see that in this story. In this story we see her beginning.

We are in Germany during the early twentieth century with a young Rosalynd and her sister Beatrice. They are living with their parents hiding from the vampires that have been hunting their family. One night, they are found and we get a heartbreaking story and understanding on what a badass Rosalynd will become in the Silver books.

It is a short story, with only a couple of words on each page, however it's the art on the pages that tell the whole story. Beautiful black and white painting, charcoal, and pencil mix into a stark and lovely picture of Rosalynd's world. You'll find yourself flipping back and forth through the pages just to look at the work Franck put into the book.

I don't think you'll need to have read the Silver books(set years later, a crime caper including a team of experts trying to steal Dracula's silver) to appreciate this book, it sits on its own quite nicely. But, if you've read the Silver GNs it is great to see how Rosalynd became the ultimate vampire killer she is in these books. I'd definitely recommend taking a peak at this book, you won't be disappointed.

Rosalynd on Dark Planet Comics

Silver Comics

Stephan Franck

Finally, twitter stuff:
https://twitter.com/stephan_franck

https://twitter.com/fromdarkplanet

Quick note

I know it's been a long time since I've posted on here, and I've definitely haven't been doing the Witches Tales. I am writing still, I promise, but was given the advice, don't give away your work for free. Plus, most of what I've been working on has been stuff I'm trying to submit to places, so I don't want to ruin a chance at getting published. 

However, that doesn't mean this blog is going to die. In fact, I have something I can start doing with this that will help give it a lot of life: book reviews! Around Christmas time of 2017 I started doing book reviews for Storgy Online. It's a blast to do and I've been reading a lot of great books. In between reading the books they give me, I can squeeze a book or two in, and I'll post my thoughts up here with them.

So look out for some great and not so great book reviews coming your way!