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zraitor's reviews
194 reviews
A Deep Horror That Was Very Nearly Awe by J.R. Hamantaschen
5.0
The third collection by J. R. Hamantaschen. If you've read the others you know what to expect more of, if not start at the first, or quickly turn the other way and think happy thoughts.
He continues his great character work, always wanting to know what makes people tick, how they think, everything. You get to know them, and enjoy them, then remember, oh yes, something terrible is sure to happen to them, or by them.
The stories have a fair bit of variety, ghosts, psychic powers, various mental issues, hints of Lovecraftian monsters lurking in the background, and something that will make you fear public restrooms if you didn't already! Throughout it, all is a dark humor and fun imagination.
I want to be able to talk more about the stories themselves, but it is rather difficult as they are more about the character's thoughts, and observations then mere plot. For example, Rococo Veins and Lurid Stains is about Kristen, a young woman who wants to kill herself, finds her suicidal thoughts attract ghosts who want to trade her life for their own, so they may come back. That is the plot, sure, but it's not really that simple. Summaries won't do most of the stories justice, it's more about getting inside the character's heads, experiencing it for yourself, seeing how you relate to what is going on and thinking about the implications of everything. That being said though, plenty of it is dark and violent, so don't relate too much!
He says in his introduction "For fans of mine, I view this collection as a fitting endpoint and an encapsulation of the themes and motifs I've explored in my short fiction (particularly with the last story in this collection: hopefully that's enough of an impetus to get you to read the whole book!)" I really couldn't put it better. No really, he's very wordy, did I forget to mention that? But don't worry, your kindle doesn't judge you when you look up definitions.
He is right when he mocks "hyperbolic introductions", this won't blow your mind or cure cancer, but it's just well written, and worth your time.
He continues his great character work, always wanting to know what makes people tick, how they think, everything. You get to know them, and enjoy them, then remember, oh yes, something terrible is sure to happen to them, or by them.
The stories have a fair bit of variety, ghosts, psychic powers, various mental issues, hints of Lovecraftian monsters lurking in the background, and something that will make you fear public restrooms if you didn't already! Throughout it, all is a dark humor and fun imagination.
I want to be able to talk more about the stories themselves, but it is rather difficult as they are more about the character's thoughts, and observations then mere plot. For example, Rococo Veins and Lurid Stains is about Kristen, a young woman who wants to kill herself, finds her suicidal thoughts attract ghosts who want to trade her life for their own, so they may come back. That is the plot, sure, but it's not really that simple. Summaries won't do most of the stories justice, it's more about getting inside the character's heads, experiencing it for yourself, seeing how you relate to what is going on and thinking about the implications of everything. That being said though, plenty of it is dark and violent, so don't relate too much!
He says in his introduction "For fans of mine, I view this collection as a fitting endpoint and an encapsulation of the themes and motifs I've explored in my short fiction (particularly with the last story in this collection: hopefully that's enough of an impetus to get you to read the whole book!)" I really couldn't put it better. No really, he's very wordy, did I forget to mention that? But don't worry, your kindle doesn't judge you when you look up definitions.
He is right when he mocks "hyperbolic introductions", this won't blow your mind or cure cancer, but it's just well written, and worth your time.
The Doom That Came to Dunwich: Weird Mysteries of the Cthulhu Mythos by Richard A. Lupoff
4.0
In the Secret of the Sahara, scientists and military from several countries investigate part of the seafloor that has suddenly parted. I'm sure you know what is down there, but it is still great fun. Luckily for them, one awesome cat happens to be part of the ship that takes them to the opening. Directly quoting here, "But this was no gentle pussy. My Lady Bast had been transformed into a warrior-goddess and she was not so quick to resume her domestic mien."
The Turret is about Parker Lorentzen, sent to Old Severnford to see about the problems of a system there. His boss says if a problem can't be fixed by him, it can't be fixed... Strange dream visits to a turret that resemble a glowing face, weird townsfolk,... uncomfortable distant cousin kissing... Pretty imaginative story.
Unfortunately, it drags in the middle, with The Devil's Hop Yard and the Documents In The Case of Elizabeth Akeley. I had to stop and start three or four times to get through each of these, they are slow, and I found them confusing. They were not completely terrible, however.
The next story Brackish Waters is almost the same, but I found it won me over in the end due to the transformation being so pleasantly described by the character, despite how awful one would think it would be.
The writing is great throughout, even in the stories that didn't click with me, and in addition to these you get a look at Dunwich after the events of 1928, a couple caught in a storm, a "giant spider" lurking about, cults, a Sherlock Holmes story, and a story set in the future, where Yuggoth has been found and is near .. Worth the read.
The Turret is about Parker Lorentzen, sent to Old Severnford to see about the problems of a system there. His boss says if a problem can't be fixed by him, it can't be fixed... Strange dream visits to a turret that resemble a glowing face, weird townsfolk,... uncomfortable distant cousin kissing... Pretty imaginative story.
Unfortunately, it drags in the middle, with The Devil's Hop Yard and the Documents In The Case of Elizabeth Akeley. I had to stop and start three or four times to get through each of these, they are slow, and I found them confusing. They were not completely terrible, however.
The next story Brackish Waters is almost the same, but I found it won me over in the end due to the transformation being so pleasantly described by the character, despite how awful one would think it would be.
The writing is great throughout, even in the stories that didn't click with me, and in addition to these you get a look at Dunwich after the events of 1928, a couple caught in a storm, a "giant spider" lurking about, cults, a Sherlock Holmes story, and a story set in the future, where Yuggoth has been found and is near .. Worth the read.
Terror in 16-bits by Matthew M. Bartlett, Amberle L. Husbands, Jonathan Raab, Adrean Messmer, Alex Smith, Julie K. Godard, Jack Burgos, Richard Wolley, Thomas C. Mavroudis, Sean M. Thompson, J.R. Hamantaschen, Amber Fallon, Orrin Grey, William Tea, Brian O'Connell
4.0
A, B, A, C, A, B, B
Most of these stories hit you hard and fast with the gore, which goes great with the gaming theme. There are a lot of authors here so you should find something to like, while any collection is usually a "mixed bag", I found them all to be good, if not great.
Up, Down, Left, Right, A + Start:
This collection has fifteen stories so we'd be here all day if I talked about them all and in detail but to do a few quick,
Centralia - Creepy location makes the story, and anyone who plays a mobile game isn't a real gamer and has it coming (kidding!)
Dr. Coagulant's Splatter Lab - Fun, action-heavy story. Chain-Saw is awesome. If you played Splatterhouse you know this captures it well.
I'm A Good Person, I Mean Well, and I Deserve Better-Sure you have your gore, character insights, and imaginative video game monsters come to life, but mostly you'll laugh at the bathroom bits.
Reset - This one gets a mention for some of the most wonderfully described gore/violence I've read. Really dark and well-done story.
Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A
So, if you're a gamer or horror fan, this will be a great time for you. Lots of variety, interesting scenarios, and a cool cover.
Most of these stories hit you hard and fast with the gore, which goes great with the gaming theme. There are a lot of authors here so you should find something to like, while any collection is usually a "mixed bag", I found them all to be good, if not great.
Up, Down, Left, Right, A + Start:
This collection has fifteen stories so we'd be here all day if I talked about them all and in detail but to do a few quick,
Centralia - Creepy location makes the story, and anyone who plays a mobile game isn't a real gamer and has it coming (kidding!)
Dr. Coagulant's Splatter Lab - Fun, action-heavy story. Chain-Saw is awesome. If you played Splatterhouse you know this captures it well.
I'm A Good Person, I Mean Well, and I Deserve Better-Sure you have your gore, character insights, and imaginative video game monsters come to life, but mostly you'll laugh at the bathroom bits.
Reset - This one gets a mention for some of the most wonderfully described gore/violence I've read. Really dark and well-done story.
Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A
So, if you're a gamer or horror fan, this will be a great time for you. Lots of variety, interesting scenarios, and a cool cover.
The Sleep Tight Motel by Lisa Unger
5.0
On the run from both the police and an abusive lover, a woman checks into a motel where things aren't quite right.
The writing is great in this one, Eve's thoughts on her situation, her bad relationship, and the mystery around her are all interesting and thought out.
Everything's described well, the motel and its surrounding are fleshed out, and feel real. Its emptiness, animal wood carvings, and the fog about give it that creepy horror setting. Oh, and of course, a woman's voice screaming in the night...
There are two stories here, with her hiding out in the motel, and what happened before she arrived there. The pace quickens in the end with the jumping back and forth between stories and gives a bit of welcome suspense with not her knowing what is real, and the truth being revealed to her.
If you've read/watched enough horror, you'll know whats going on immediately, but it's unlikely you'll care cause it's done so well.
The writing is great in this one, Eve's thoughts on her situation, her bad relationship, and the mystery around her are all interesting and thought out.
Everything's described well, the motel and its surrounding are fleshed out, and feel real. Its emptiness, animal wood carvings, and the fog about give it that creepy horror setting. Oh, and of course, a woman's voice screaming in the night...
There are two stories here, with her hiding out in the motel, and what happened before she arrived there. The pace quickens in the end with the jumping back and forth between stories and gives a bit of welcome suspense with not her knowing what is real, and the truth being revealed to her.
If you've read/watched enough horror, you'll know whats going on immediately, but it's unlikely you'll care cause it's done so well.
There's a Giant Trapdoor Spider Under Your Bed by Edgar Cantero
1.0
A sleepover grows "deadly" as the children imagine crazier and crazier things.
Starts out strong with the dialogue between the two boys at the start, and there is a bit of suspense with the spider being real or not .. but when the girls come into the room the story just gets outta control and hard to follow. I stopped bothering to try and make sense of things and just powered on to finish the story.
The Harry Potter references were just awful for me, as someone who isn't into that. A few would be fine, but just over and over... ugh. One line made me cringe and groan out loud... "Ian shrugged Ianly." Come on...
I still have no idea what happened, if any of it was real, or their imagination, and I just didn't like it enough to ponder anymore about it.
Starts out strong with the dialogue between the two boys at the start, and there is a bit of suspense with the spider being real or not .. but when the girls come into the room the story just gets outta control and hard to follow. I stopped bothering to try and make sense of things and just powered on to finish the story.
The Harry Potter references were just awful for me, as someone who isn't into that. A few would be fine, but just over and over... ugh. One line made me cringe and groan out loud... "Ian shrugged Ianly." Come on...
I still have no idea what happened, if any of it was real, or their imagination, and I just didn't like it enough to ponder anymore about it.
The Tangled Woods by Emily Raboteau
1.0
A film critic with a terrible personality takes his equally terrible family on a stupid vacation, yep, that's it.
Everyone is described as a moron in this one, and it's hard to disagree. Nothing is remotely interesting here. No horror, no drama, no point. Plenty of insufferable Harry Potter references, however.
The author throws out random social commentary then proceeds to do absolutely nothing with it. Yes, those are things, now back to this big block of nothing.
Making this all the worse, I thought this would be about a bored father forcing his family along on a murderous road trip. I couldn't even spoil what happens cause nothing does happen.
The absolute worst "horror" short story I've ever read. No one should read this, not even someone going through this whole horror collection.
Everyone is described as a moron in this one, and it's hard to disagree. Nothing is remotely interesting here. No horror, no drama, no point. Plenty of insufferable Harry Potter references, however.
The author throws out random social commentary then proceeds to do absolutely nothing with it. Yes, those are things, now back to this big block of nothing.
Making this all the worse, I thought this would be about a bored father forcing his family along on a murderous road trip. I couldn't even spoil what happens cause nothing does happen.
The absolute worst "horror" short story I've ever read. No one should read this, not even someone going through this whole horror collection.
The Midnight Eye Files: Volume 1 by William Meikle
4.0
Starts off with the usual trope, a small-time private detective is visited by a beautiful woman who is paying too well and probably not telling him everything. The cases in the three main stories lead to Lovecraftian monsters, shapeshifters, mermaids, and werewolves... There are lots of things here the author does his own spin on and it's pretty good. I don't really want to say much more about them, best to see for yourself how crazy it gets.
Derek Adams is a good character, he has a lot of inner thoughts to relate to, and I liked his friendship with Doug. He solves most of the cases by blundering through, getting drunk, getting beat up A LOT, and talking to people with heavy Scottish accents.
Which of course leads me to the downside, it is a fairly big collection and it drags on and feels repetitive at times. All the action and mystery gets padded out by a lot of bar visits, and I was pretty burnt out by the end.
Still, it's fun and easy to read. Definitely worthwhile.
Derek Adams is a good character, he has a lot of inner thoughts to relate to, and I liked his friendship with Doug. He solves most of the cases by blundering through, getting drunk, getting beat up A LOT, and talking to people with heavy Scottish accents.
Which of course leads me to the downside, it is a fairly big collection and it drags on and feels repetitive at times. All the action and mystery gets padded out by a lot of bar visits, and I was pretty burnt out by the end.
Still, it's fun and easy to read. Definitely worthwhile.
Stainless Steel Sarcophagus: Tales Of Lovecraftian Fantasy & Horror by Mark McLaughlin, Michael Sheehan Jr.
3.0
Stainless Steel Sarcophagus is about a strange mirror with a mind of its own that rolls around in a store, showing people's reflections as undead versions of themselves. It manages to be amusing and I prefer this sort of humor compared to the silly/goofy stuff that comes later.
The Dollmaker's Vengeance was okay but I really wasn't too involved with the character's revenge plot seeing as it's just a small snippet of a story leaving just the creepiness of living dolls that bite and such. Dreamland stories with these kinds of characters don't always work for me.
Queen Of the Vultures is another dreamland story and again showcases the humor in the first one that I like since it's more restrained and not being forced like the upcoming stories. A wizard of sorts seeks a vulture goddess that eats the undead.
House of the Ocelot brings yet another dreamland story. A man becomes interested in a strange house, and after bringing a robed person outside of it cookies and latte is allowed in. Inside he finds cat people who eventually bring him to Ulthar. Another one I enjoyed, and cats are the best, well ahem, most of them...
Oh boy, here we go. The next two just aren't so great, Unspeakable and Spawn of The Rancid Deepnessess... Full of the silly stuff that's beyond forced I warned of earlier, I appreciate the imagination and all but, no, just no.
The final story, Inside-Outsider almost ends up the same as the last two but thankfully it becomes a body horror that just barely manages to work somehow. Not quite sure how multiple people know what elephant testicles look like but, hey. The story gets grosser and weirder as it goes on and just dares you to finish.
I'd say the short collection is worth a read, and I'm sure others like the silly stuff in those two stories better than I. The writing is never bad and I enjoyed myself well enough despite the things I didn't like.
The Dollmaker's Vengeance was okay but I really wasn't too involved with the character's revenge plot seeing as it's just a small snippet of a story leaving just the creepiness of living dolls that bite and such. Dreamland stories with these kinds of characters don't always work for me.
Queen Of the Vultures is another dreamland story and again showcases the humor in the first one that I like since it's more restrained and not being forced like the upcoming stories. A wizard of sorts seeks a vulture goddess that eats the undead.
House of the Ocelot brings yet another dreamland story. A man becomes interested in a strange house, and after bringing a robed person outside of it cookies and latte is allowed in. Inside he finds cat people who eventually bring him to Ulthar. Another one I enjoyed, and cats are the best, well ahem, most of them...
Oh boy, here we go. The next two just aren't so great, Unspeakable and Spawn of The Rancid Deepnessess... Full of the silly stuff that's beyond forced I warned of earlier, I appreciate the imagination and all but, no, just no.
The final story, Inside-Outsider almost ends up the same as the last two but thankfully it becomes a body horror that just barely manages to work somehow. Not quite sure how multiple people know what elephant testicles look like but, hey. The story gets grosser and weirder as it goes on and just dares you to finish.
I'd say the short collection is worth a read, and I'm sure others like the silly stuff in those two stories better than I. The writing is never bad and I enjoyed myself well enough despite the things I didn't like.
Crustaceans by William Meikle
3.0
I mean just look at that cover, a giant crab eating someone... That's exactly what you get here, don't read it for anything else.
The two main characters aren't very deep. Shona, an expert in crabs, I guess, is just kinda there. She does nothing but follow the soldiers around, who have names and shoot things and that's about it, but not once does her knowledge come in handy. Her only background is she has a father who is also an expert. We learn he knew about the crabs years before the invasion and was forced into retirement for talking "crazy", and honestly the little we get on him makes him more of a character than Shona ever becomes, it is a shame we couldn't have swapped the characters out for each other.
The second, Porter, is well, a mean drunk. He gets roped into the story by trying to sell a giant crab he finds to a zoo. He sort of goes through a well, I wouldn't call it a redemption arc, more of a less of a jerk arc.
The whole thing works cause William Meikle is such a good writer, and he goes full into whatever he's doing, even if it is giant crabs attacking New York City.
There are problems with the kindle version, there are no chapters and paragraphs when changing characters so I was confused often and had to keep going back when I realized I was with another character, that really needs to be fixed.
So again, this a book about giant man-eating crabs. It is stupid and fun in equal measure. Clackety-Clack, Snickety-snick.
The two main characters aren't very deep. Shona, an expert in crabs, I guess, is just kinda there. She does nothing but follow the soldiers around, who have names and shoot things and that's about it, but not once does her knowledge come in handy. Her only background is she has a father who is also an expert. We learn he knew about the crabs years before the invasion and was forced into retirement for talking "crazy", and honestly the little we get on him makes him more of a character than Shona ever becomes, it is a shame we couldn't have swapped the characters out for each other.
The second, Porter, is well, a mean drunk. He gets roped into the story by trying to sell a giant crab he finds to a zoo. He sort of goes through a well, I wouldn't call it a redemption arc, more of a less of a jerk arc.
The whole thing works cause William Meikle is such a good writer, and he goes full into whatever he's doing, even if it is giant crabs attacking New York City.
There are problems with the kindle version, there are no chapters and paragraphs when changing characters so I was confused often and had to keep going back when I realized I was with another character, that really needs to be fixed.
So again, this a book about giant man-eating crabs. It is stupid and fun in equal measure. Clackety-Clack, Snickety-snick.