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zraitor's reviews
194 reviews
Oak Avenue by Brandi Reeds
4.0
A husband, wife, and their daughter move into a haunted house, each affected in their own ways by what's there.
Ana, stuck alone in the house while her husband, Edison works and stays at a hotel, begins to hear whispers and see strange things after finding a door under a rotten tree they have removed.
Her daughter says "Zo" over and over, and Edison becomes a heavy drinker and violent. With it being a small town, everyone treats her as an outsider. How trapped Ana feels as everything goes on is well conveyed.
The only downside is that this is an overdone storyline. We've all seen/read this before. Seeing more from Edison's point of view would have been nice too, but I understand it was necessary to keep some mystery and show how alone Ana felt. It's still very well done and a good read though.
If you've been reading the Dark Corners in order you just had four terrible stories in a row, but this one at least lets the collection end on a good note. Real characters, real horror, and no forced Harry Potter references.
Ana, stuck alone in the house while her husband, Edison works and stays at a hotel, begins to hear whispers and see strange things after finding a door under a rotten tree they have removed.
Her daughter says "Zo" over and over, and Edison becomes a heavy drinker and violent. With it being a small town, everyone treats her as an outsider. How trapped Ana feels as everything goes on is well conveyed.
The only downside is that this is an overdone storyline. We've all seen/read this before. Seeing more from Edison's point of view would have been nice too, but I understand it was necessary to keep some mystery and show how alone Ana felt. It's still very well done and a good read though.
If you've been reading the Dark Corners in order you just had four terrible stories in a row, but this one at least lets the collection end on a good note. Real characters, real horror, and no forced Harry Potter references.
The Remedy by Adam Haslett
1.0
A man with an illness in his stomach that no doctor can cure seeks out expensive alternative treatment.
Another short story that feels longer than it is, this one is just a bunch of doctor visits with the main character's inner dialogue. It reaches interesting a few times, but never good.
This can in no way be considered horror, Derrick spends most of the book happy and thinking things might just get better. I know the end is terrible, but it is more like a bad punchline to even worse joke.
I was left feeling bored, and frustrated, and with lots of questions. Not in the good weird story way, more in the that was so dumb and makes no sense if you think about it for a second kind of way.
Another short story that feels longer than it is, this one is just a bunch of doctor visits with the main character's inner dialogue. It reaches interesting a few times, but never good.
This can in no way be considered horror, Derrick spends most of the book happy and thinking things might just get better. I know the end is terrible, but it is more like a bad punchline to even worse joke.
I was left feeling bored, and frustrated, and with lots of questions. Not in the good weird story way, more in the that was so dumb and makes no sense if you think about it for a second kind of way.
Miao Dao by Joyce Carol Oates
1.0
A girl coming of age finds refuge from ALL EVIL MEN with feral cats, but when she loses the one she brings into her home she becomes darker and darker.
Some serious men-hating in this one told me it was just the main character's POV at first, but that got harder and harder to believe as it went on. All the characters besides Mia are just there to be there, and have no real personality and only do things to advance what little plot there is.
But mostly, it was just boring. Every time it got remotely interesting, it'd just drag out the point and beat it to death. Boys like boobs... men are bad... got it, move on to some story already... By the time it gets to the obvious end, I wasn't scared or saddened, or anything other than relieved it was finally over.
Some serious men-hating in this one told me it was just the main character's POV at first, but that got harder and harder to believe as it went on. All the characters besides Mia are just there to be there, and have no real personality and only do things to advance what little plot there is.
But mostly, it was just boring. Every time it got remotely interesting, it'd just drag out the point and beat it to death. Boys like boobs... men are bad... got it, move on to some story already... By the time it gets to the obvious end, I wasn't scared or saddened, or anything other than relieved it was finally over.
Operation Norway by William Meikle
5.0
We see much more character stuff going on here, for Banks at least. With the death of other squad members weighing him down, he and the Squad go off to Norway for another mission that of course is going to go wrong...
The other squad members are still much the same, with the new ones feeling like they are just there and I kept forgetting about them. You'll see the usual banter and things from all of them.
The action and gore are there as usual and don't let up much, but when it does there were great descriptions of scenery and inner thoughts from Banks.
The creature is fun and though somewhat explained still remains mysterious enough by the end, which I appreciate. Good merging of SciFi and legends. Was nice they had a little difficulty fighting it and didn't just mow it down. I liked the moral dilemma too, even if it forced Banks to make stupid choices to make the plot work.
Another great entry in series, I'm eager to see what awaits in Operation Mongolia. (Death worms!?)
The other squad members are still much the same, with the new ones feeling like they are just there and I kept forgetting about them. You'll see the usual banter and things from all of them.
The action and gore are there as usual and don't let up much, but when it does there were great descriptions of scenery and inner thoughts from Banks.
The creature is fun and though somewhat explained still remains mysterious enough by the end, which I appreciate. Good merging of SciFi and legends. Was nice they had a little difficulty fighting it and didn't just mow it down. I liked the moral dilemma too, even if it forced Banks to make stupid choices to make the plot work.
Another great entry in series, I'm eager to see what awaits in Operation Mongolia. (Death worms!?)
Dark Melodies by M. Wayne Miller, William Meikle
4.0
A really well-written collection but unfortunately the repetition wore me out by the end.
The theme running through almost every story is music being used as a key to open up a Lovecraftian other world. Rhythms and melodies, fingers drumming out beats, the same beat playing over and over in one's head, and drinking heavily to drown it out is used in almost every story.
Entire paragraphs of the same thing were also repeated that describe this other place and its effect on the person that goes there. If you read these by themselves you wouldn't notice or care, but seeing them back to back it gets old.
But despite this issue, this is a great collection. The writing otherwise flows, it's always exciting, and the characters are varied and strong. It all leads to another excellent Derek Adams story which does the themes the best, making for a packed short story with all the good stuff. I'd recommend reading it first actually, so it's not hurt by you reading too many similar stories beforehand.
The theme running through almost every story is music being used as a key to open up a Lovecraftian other world. Rhythms and melodies, fingers drumming out beats, the same beat playing over and over in one's head, and drinking heavily to drown it out is used in almost every story.
Entire paragraphs of the same thing were also repeated that describe this other place and its effect on the person that goes there. If you read these by themselves you wouldn't notice or care, but seeing them back to back it gets old.
But despite this issue, this is a great collection. The writing otherwise flows, it's always exciting, and the characters are varied and strong. It all leads to another excellent Derek Adams story which does the themes the best, making for a packed short story with all the good stuff. I'd recommend reading it first actually, so it's not hurt by you reading too many similar stories beforehand.
The Lesser Swamp Gods of Little Dixie by Jonathan Raab
3.0
Another adventure for Kotto that I just didn't enjoy as much as the first book...
When he arrives at Little Dixie you get these amazing and creepy corn men, who are equal parts funny and scary .. but it mostly does away with the crazy over the top stuff in the first.
Kotto himself is more subdued than before, I assume because there is no Richards character to ground him so he was made to tone it down a bit. While he was over much at times, he was always fun, and he just wasn't here.
In the first I never knew what was coming next, here it just becomes a battle between good and evil. I was under the impression the hell stuff was just how people decided to describe it lacking anything better, I didn't realize it was meant to be literally hell and heaven, I found this to be disappointing.
With all the conspiracy stuff pushed aside I wasn't as interested. There were a few fun battles, and lots of gore still, so I'm not outright hating it, I just didn't like the new direction.
To sum it up, I'd like more crazy and fun conspiracy Kotto, and to heck with Warrior of Light Kotto.
When he arrives at Little Dixie you get these amazing and creepy corn men, who are equal parts funny and scary .. but it mostly does away with the crazy over the top stuff in the first.
Kotto himself is more subdued than before, I assume because there is no Richards character to ground him so he was made to tone it down a bit. While he was over much at times, he was always fun, and he just wasn't here.
In the first I never knew what was coming next, here it just becomes a battle between good and evil. I was under the impression the hell stuff was just how people decided to describe it lacking anything better, I didn't realize it was meant to be literally hell and heaven, I found this to be disappointing.
With all the conspiracy stuff pushed aside I wasn't as interested. There were a few fun battles, and lots of gore still, so I'm not outright hating it, I just didn't like the new direction.
To sum it up, I'd like more crazy and fun conspiracy Kotto, and to heck with Warrior of Light Kotto.
The Fossil by Greig Beck
2.0
A device from the future found in the past sets off a series of murders throughout time...
Lots of characters, but they're all pretty poorly done. This one is the detective, this one a soldier... nothing genuine about them. At a certain point, I stopped bothering to keep track of them and just went along for the ride.
Which is my problem with this story mostly, everything felt secondary to the constant jumping around between characters and time periods, nothing was developed at all.
I couldn't tell if the story contained a twist or I was supposed to know all the time due to how poorly paced and confusing this was.
At any rate, it was just disappointing save for the action scenes, which were pretty good but just not enough to save it.
Lots of characters, but they're all pretty poorly done. This one is the detective, this one a soldier... nothing genuine about them. At a certain point, I stopped bothering to keep track of them and just went along for the ride.
Which is my problem with this story mostly, everything felt secondary to the constant jumping around between characters and time periods, nothing was developed at all.
I couldn't tell if the story contained a twist or I was supposed to know all the time due to how poorly paced and confusing this was.
At any rate, it was just disappointing save for the action scenes, which were pretty good but just not enough to save it.
Operation Mongolia by William Meikle
4.0
Well ... It's book eight of this, you know to expect soldiers brewing up coffee, smoking, and bantering in-between shooting monsters.
Sent off to a desert on another rescue mission, everything soon goes wrong. Or does it go right? Their superiors have to be doing this to them on purpose.
They battle the conditions of the desert area and deal with previous injuries a bit more than the death worms. Oh right, the monster this time is Mongolian death worms, but to be honest I was a bit disappointed by them.
Everything is there, flesh-eating and electrocution, and they were certainly gross but they just seemed a retread and didn't measure up to the spiders or isopods. Again like the snakes, they were just not much of a threat, and while obviously, the squad will prevail I never felt any suspense.
While it's certainly a quick read, the action is less compared to the previous books and more spaced out. Of course, lots of time was given to scenery and finally giving the squad members besides Banks some backstory, so I can't complain.
One of the people they were sent to rescue is given his own POV sections and it was nice to see the squad from someone else's viewpoint. He had a great personality and he made me laugh out loud at the end.
So despite being let down by the creature, the adventure and characters still gave me a good read.
Sent off to a desert on another rescue mission, everything soon goes wrong. Or does it go right? Their superiors have to be doing this to them on purpose.
They battle the conditions of the desert area and deal with previous injuries a bit more than the death worms. Oh right, the monster this time is Mongolian death worms, but to be honest I was a bit disappointed by them.
Everything is there, flesh-eating and electrocution, and they were certainly gross but they just seemed a retread and didn't measure up to the spiders or isopods. Again like the snakes, they were just not much of a threat, and while obviously, the squad will prevail I never felt any suspense.
While it's certainly a quick read, the action is less compared to the previous books and more spaced out. Of course, lots of time was given to scenery and finally giving the squad members besides Banks some backstory, so I can't complain.
One of the people they were sent to rescue is given his own POV sections and it was nice to see the squad from someone else's viewpoint. He had a great personality and he made me laugh out loud at the end.
So despite being let down by the creature, the adventure and characters still gave me a good read.
The Cavern by Alister Hodge
5.0
An expedition into a cave goes horribly wrong...
Don't know how accurate the caving stuff is, not into that, but the horror certainly is there. Real tension isn't usually found in these things, but it is here...
That is accomplished by how brutal and descriptive the violence is. It's gone over in detail, and it's gory and that's great. These characters, mostly young thrill-seeking types, are really gonna get it. They are all likable enough I had only one problem with them... how dumb they are going forward at one point in the book when they find a creature that there is no way you'd continue on with knowing about. Nope.
Most of the story is seen through the character of Sam, a paramedic and rock climber who goes along with this group after hooking up with Ellie. But there are lots of characters and they are handled well, as they deal with this creature and town and its history.
Of course, it's the creature that steals the show, The Miner's Mother is a shape-shifting being that is slowly given background as it goes on. This was perfectly paced and doesn't reveal too much, too fast, but you definitely learn much about the monster. The mix of old townsfolk legends and other explanations for her were creepy and well done throughout the story.
Tight spaces, underwater scenes, and incredibly gory. A great horror story.
Don't know how accurate the caving stuff is, not into that, but the horror certainly is there. Real tension isn't usually found in these things, but it is here...
That is accomplished by how brutal and descriptive the violence is. It's gone over in detail, and it's gory and that's great. These characters, mostly young thrill-seeking types, are really gonna get it. They are all likable enough I had only one problem with them... how dumb they are going forward at one point in the book when they find a creature that there is no way you'd continue on with knowing about. Nope.
Most of the story is seen through the character of Sam, a paramedic and rock climber who goes along with this group after hooking up with Ellie. But there are lots of characters and they are handled well, as they deal with this creature and town and its history.
Of course, it's the creature that steals the show, The Miner's Mother is a shape-shifting being that is slowly given background as it goes on. This was perfectly paced and doesn't reveal too much, too fast, but you definitely learn much about the monster. The mix of old townsfolk legends and other explanations for her were creepy and well done throughout the story.
Tight spaces, underwater scenes, and incredibly gory. A great horror story.
Freaky Tales From the Force: Season One by Jared Collins, Jonathan Raab, S.L. Edwards, Charles J. Martin
5.0
Freaky Tales From the Force is the often mentioned TV show in the other two Kotto stories. This book covers season one of it and is it great? Yes, it is.
The format allows the overarching story to keep switching point of views and subjects keeping it constantly fresh, and not suffering from the usual ever-diminishing returns of weirdness that often happens in such tales. It manages to retain the over top crazy in the others but has good characters and keeps offering all kinds of viewpoints on the absolute insanity going on. You know, it's not just going LOOK HOW WEIRD AND GOOFY I am, it's still offering good plot and meaningful development to ground it.
But of course, it IS weird and goofy. Space vampires, nazi mages, slime monsters, wendigos .. well that's SOME of it. The battle against the space vampires is the plot that runs through the different stories, or episodes. Some of these are written by different authors, and that also plays into keeping it fresh throughout the collection.
The main characters are back, Kotto is once again his crazy conspiracy self. There are a lot of small character things thrown in, Veronica with her tree monster dreams, Richards musing about his soldier past, and poor Dean running around with his camera always annoyed and lost. A story has Richards and Kotto seemingly switch attitudes between skeptic and believer and it was really funny. Some stories have other deputies sworn in which pays off in the end.
Well, really most of it is funny. Kotto yelling at monsters to stop eating his constituents, an undead being promised "Train Weirdos", fidget spinners being said to have mind-controlling properties, the line “Against Goblinry, For The People." just making me laugh... I could go on and on.
It ends finely after the "Season Finale", which contains a bar fight, and Richards firing on a big rig with a machine gun purchased with taxpayer funds, which he believes makes Kotto proud. And of course, so much more action packed into that one but I'm done going on. Just go read it.
The format allows the overarching story to keep switching point of views and subjects keeping it constantly fresh, and not suffering from the usual ever-diminishing returns of weirdness that often happens in such tales. It manages to retain the over top crazy in the others but has good characters and keeps offering all kinds of viewpoints on the absolute insanity going on. You know, it's not just going LOOK HOW WEIRD AND GOOFY I am, it's still offering good plot and meaningful development to ground it.
But of course, it IS weird and goofy. Space vampires, nazi mages, slime monsters, wendigos .. well that's SOME of it. The battle against the space vampires is the plot that runs through the different stories, or episodes. Some of these are written by different authors, and that also plays into keeping it fresh throughout the collection.
The main characters are back, Kotto is once again his crazy conspiracy self. There are a lot of small character things thrown in, Veronica with her tree monster dreams, Richards musing about his soldier past, and poor Dean running around with his camera always annoyed and lost. A story has Richards and Kotto seemingly switch attitudes between skeptic and believer and it was really funny. Some stories have other deputies sworn in which pays off in the end.
Well, really most of it is funny. Kotto yelling at monsters to stop eating his constituents, an undead being promised "Train Weirdos", fidget spinners being said to have mind-controlling properties, the line “Against Goblinry, For The People." just making me laugh... I could go on and on.
It ends finely after the "Season Finale", which contains a bar fight, and Richards firing on a big rig with a machine gun purchased with taxpayer funds, which he believes makes Kotto proud. And of course, so much more action packed into that one but I'm done going on. Just go read it.