Kill Them All

Kill Them All by Harry Shannon

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


My joy for reading Shannon's work led me to Kill Them All, book six of the Dead Man series, and my first dip into the series. It's a novella and can be read in less than a day, unless you read multiple books like I do.

Matt Cahill is a man who was frozen solid for three months before being brought back to life. Now that he is back, he can see that some people have something supernatural, something evil possessing their mind and actions. He is on the hunt for the ever elusive Mr. Dark.

In Kill them All, Cahill rescues a young girl deep crevice within the desert's rock. He is then the praise of the small town from which she comes from. They want to shower Cahill with beer, a free night at the hotel, and food, but he just wants to move on, continue his search.

A team of mercenaries, however, are on his trail. Someone wants to study Matt under the radar, and when the mercenaries find and forcibly take Cahill, his plans are ruined.

What comes next is like reading a fun western set in modern times, with shoot outs and fire. Some of the action near the end, except for maybe one or two things, felt very realistic to me. The characters are also very well drawn and I could picture them all clearly. My favorite was the town itself. A tourist town, it was built and maintained like the downtown district of the old Wild West. I would just love to visit such a town.

What it comes down to is that this is a short, fun ride into a modern western with a supernatural twist. If the rest of the series is this good, then I am a new fan and can't wait to read more.



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The Traveling Dildo Salesman by Kevin L. Donihe

The Traveling Dildo Salesman by Kevin L. Donihe

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A Fun, Twisted Ride Through a Perverse, Corrupt World.

Ralph is a door to door salesman with a briefcase full of sentient dildos. Stuck in a world corrupt with endless streets and houses, he survives by living off the promise (and hope)that once he has sold all the dildos in his briefcase, he will be able to leave and not have to sell the things. This is Ralph's dream as he rarely gets a break, and the only bus around town won’t let him on board.

What follows is an interesting cast of potential customers, failed getaways, and a giant eye in the sky that always watches Ralph while he tries to succeed in selling all his dildos. Which is something he has to do. There simply is no other way out.

What I liked best about this book is that not only is it really fun and hilarious, but Ralph and his determination to escape, his highs and lows within this journey, was really interesting to read. This sort of makes light of what I felt was the ultimate message, that it doesn’t matter how hard you struggle, you’re stuck where you are in life. Only those who fight hard can find a way out of their mundane, non-special consumerist lives. The deck is stacked against you, just as it is against Ralph, and I think that there is a very real meaning here. An important message about capitalism that people aught to recognize and look at. Study and dwell on.

Attached to this book are four short stories. The first one, Milky Agitation, didn’t really make an impression on me. If you feel the same way, do not let that deter you, because following are three strokes of genius that had me feeling disturbed even though I laughed, or simply whispered, "What the hell?"

Which is the best kind of story.

Get this book. I highly recommend it.









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Wilum H. Pugmire Has Been Hospitalized !

I don't really know Wilum. I might have met him at a few conventions or not, but I do enjoy watching his YouYube videos. I've always enjoyed his thoughts on the horror world and community, his stories and experiences.

I got an e-mail today by Will Hart with some sad news about Wilum. This is what he had to say:

"The Greatest Living Lovecraftian Author - Wilum Hopfrog Pugmire - Has Been Hospitalized with Heart Disease in Seattle!

I just got word today, that 60-year-old Wilum has been admitted to a Seattle area Hospital due to the worsening condition of his heart disease.

It looks like his heart may be in worse shape than anyone imagined; so there is no way to tell how much time he still has left to share with us.

I spoke with him a few minutes ago by phone, and he said I could reveal that he is in the hospital; but he's not sure when (or if) he's going home from there.

He has no computer access in the hospital, but I hope everyone will keep him in their thoughts, prayers, emails, and blogs; and that we will all be aware of just how special a person he is, and how much he has brought to each of our lives.

Will Hart"

My thoughts and well-wishes are with Wilum and his loved ones. I hope you get better soon, Wilum. In honor of him, I've uploaded a favorite of his YouTube videos of mine below.

Malice by Griffin Hayes

Malice by Griffin Hayes

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've been on a roll lately with my reading. One great book after another has passed through my hands all year, both independent and professional fields of publishing, too. When I decide to do my top ten reads of the year in month or so, it's going to be one of the most difficult lists I've ever had to make since I started recording these things.


One book that might make that list is Malice by Griffin Hayes. I felt a familiarity with the prose and characters almost right away. It reminded me of late summer nights I used to stay up and read the darkness away when I was a lonely teenager. Back then, I would read books from the likes of Dean Koontz, Robert McCammon, and Stephen King. Malice reminds me of them.


Lysander is the new kid in town. Right away he makes more than a few enemies, but he also makes some friends. Which is a good thing, because he's going to need their help. Something is after Lysander, something that is killing other people in town and making it look like suicide.



I don't want to go into too much more plot for fear of ruining things. But, let's just say that there are a few twists and turns and a lot of action along the way that will keep you guessing.


The two main characters interested me a lot, too. Both Lysander and Samantha were both the reason I was reminded of those other authors. Watching them develop and get out of the perilous dangers hunting them was a lot of fun. As this is a YA novel, I think that Hayes will have similar sixteen year old readers, identifying with always being the odd one, the outcast.







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Halloween 2011

For Halloween this year, Jen and I decided to decorate our dwelling with tombstones and zombies and pumpkins. It's the first time we've done this together; I'm not sure why we never really did so in the past. I think it was partly my fault. When I was a kid, my parents' never decorated for Halloween. So, technically, this was my first time.

Popping my Halloween decorating cherry went very well, too. I was a little nervous about carving the pumpkins. I have memories of trying to do so when I was a kid at school, and the horrifying results. The results of my pumpkin carving present day were pretty horrifying, too, but I'd say they turned out much better than those early, sloppy attempts.

It was fun carving them. Jen and I got ourselves some beer to keep our throats wet, put on some horror movies, and got to the slaughter. Here are some pictures of the end results:

This is my werewolf:

This is Jen's Cthulhu:

I fucked up his teeth, but here's my Jack Skellington face:

And Jen's haunted tree:

And finally, our outdoor display:

Okay, that's it. As you can see, Jen is much more talented at detail than I am. Who knows, maybe I'll choose some more complicated outlines next year. I'm not so sure that that's a good idea, though.

I hope that everyone's Halloween was as fun as mine was.

Coming soon: A review of Malice by Griffin Hayes. Plus some interesting news on my own writing front. I hope you stick around.

That Which Should Not Be!

That Which Should Not Be by Brett J. Talley

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I've been reviewing a few indie books lately. So far, they've all gotten four to five stars from me. Am I being easy on these writers, sympathizing with their independent ventures? Hell no. Of all the indie books I've read thus far, none have let me down. I'm sure that there is crap out there, crap meaning unedited writing that should is not, and perhaps never was ready for publishing, of which was the fear for small and/or self-published press before eBooks exploded onto the scene.

The latest one I've read is That Which Should Not Be, by Brett J. Talley. Let me tell you, this book is a brilliant mix of not just the Cthulhu Mythos, but many other myths and legends, religions and cults. While reading, I thought of Talley's book as an onion. You keep peeling back layers and layers of detailed, rich stories that's both fascinating and frightening. Yet the onion is one whole story. Talley obviously has a strong grasp upon the things he writes about, with the Cthulhu Mythos taking center stage, and it was a lot of fun to pick out all the Lovecraftian references, such as a boat named "Kadath".

We start the story with Carter (another reference), who is studying at Miskatonic University, of course. One of his professors has an important job for him. He must travel to an old port town called Anchorhead to retrieve a book called The Witch's Fire. This book, like the Necronomicon, is a dangerous tome, to be handled only by the most experienced of sorcerer. This leads Carter into an adventure where he is told tales of wonder and violent death at the hands of the Wengido, a cult, and an alternate universe on the sea. Each story brings us closer to the main story, and when it all comes together, it's like an explosion of tentacles and black, leathery wings.

If you enjoy the old classics by authors like Lovecraft and Blackwood, you will have no problem sinking into this one. It is, in the end, a terribly fun ride.




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The Hungry by Steven W. Booth and Harry Shannon

The Hungry by Steven W. Booth

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What makes this book a fun read is just that: It’s fun. It’s also full of action. Steve Hockensmith says in the first paragraph of the afterward: “What you hold in your hands is an adrenaline-fueled sprint through an obstacle course of horrors, and if you weren’t totally spent by the time you reached the last page of the story, you have stronger nerves than I.”

I cannot agree more.

I finished reading The Hungry a few days ago or more, but I had to wait to write my opinions of this story. At first I was a little disappointed, because the story is an expanded version of a short story found in Harry Shannon’s marvelous collection “A Host of Shadows”, so it felt like I was reading familiar material. Yet, once we got past the original short story, things blew up.

Literally.

And it never stopped.

The Hungry is like a punch in the face. It’s as though Romero’s Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead got married and had a baby and named it 28 Days Later. The story, in fact, was one of the most fun zombie stories I have ever read. I do not say this lightly.

Does it Involve a bad ass woman wearing a wedding dress as the cover suggests? Why, yes it does! Not only that, it is very interesting and somewhat comical as to why this woman, the story's protagonist, is wearing a wedding dress, and why she continues to have to wear the thing. Not only is the action jaw-dropping and terribly fun to read, the banter between characters makes this crazy ride even more fun.

This is my third book that I've read by Harry Shannon, and I am quickly becoming a fan. If this book is any indication of Steve Booth’s writing as well, I can’t wait to see what he can do on his own.

So, really, just get this book and read it. If you like fun and fast and action-packed, you will not be disappointed!




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