Review: Bedtime Stories for the Apocalypse

Bedtime Stories for the Apocalypse
by
Joel Arnold
Available as an e-book on Smashwords and as an e-book from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Good afternoon constant reader.
In a nutshell, if you like a short story collection that is chilling and thought provoking, then this book is for you.

Bedtime Stories for the Apocalypse is a tasty collection of stories, perfect for killing a little time, and getting a case of the heebee jeebees.

I'll hit a few of the high lights of this collection and allow you to discover the rest for yourself.

Shiners is set in a post-apocalyptic world, where something really bad has happened and it seems to have an not-from-this-world origin. We find out real quick what a "shiner" is and then are introduced to Gibson, a gent who is minding his own business and trying to get by. He meets a young lady and befriends her, only to have the experience backfire in a terrible way.

Padre Sapo, is the tale of a father who will go to any length to try to find a cure for the cancer that ravages his daughter. We meet up with the pair on the road, making their way to yet another "cure" this time from a priest, Padre Sapo, which when translated, means "Father Toad". Yes, from that name alone, you know this probably isn't going to end well, and you'd be right.

What if you started looking up something on the internet, and got x number of hits, only to look the next day and find out the number of hits had decreased, and decreased again the next day, until finally there were no hits at all? Which in turn leads you to start looking yourself up? That's what happens in Narcissus in Links. Makes you think twice about what it is or who it is you might be looking for on the internet.

Branding Day is one of the grimmest short stories I've read in a long time.
Children are involved. I think that, with the title, is all I have to say.

The stories I cited above are part of an overall collection that is written brilliantly. Horror excels in the short form and Joel Arnold shines in this medium.
But wait, there's more!
In the e-book edition of Bedtime Stories for the Apocalypse I read, there is an excerpt for a full length novel by Joel Arnold called Northwoods Deep. For some reason, I missed the part telling me this and I thought I was reading another short story. As the excerpt progressed, I was drawn along, deeper and deeper into the story until I reached the end and realized I was reading a preview... and was wishing I had more to read.
That is the mark of a good writer, to leave the reader wanting more.

Look out for this Joel Arnold.
He's armed with a pen and his imagination and he knows how to use them.

Review: Moonlit Daydreams

Moonlit Daydreams
by
Rebecca Carter
Available through Amazon in trade paperback or Kindle e-book, Lulu in paperback, on Smashwords as an e-book, and on Barnes & Noble's website as a Nook e-book.

Good evening constant reader. In a nutshell, if you like off the beaten path, into the darkened woods stories, that are short, to the point and visceral, exposing an interesting mind at work, then this book is for you.


Rebecca Carter has carved out a nice little niche for herself in the story telling world.
She spins five tales of oddness, that seem to begin out of no where, and end up right where she wanted you the reader, to be.

Story first is "Of the Children", a fevre dream of a story, about a scientist and her creation gone horribly wrong.
You see, Dr. Shaver and her science figured out how to make raptors ultra intelligent, and they were used to replace our military. Yes, you read that right. Raptors...as in the dinosaur, not the bird. Then came the outbreak...and chaos as the entire world is affected...and infected...including the raptors. And the raptors are smart enough to know they were used and are coming home to their creator.

Story second is "Hunger". We are the silent observer to Sarah's workaday world of frustration - working customer support is always fun, but there's something not quite right about Sarah. We follow her through a night out, and an incident which results in Sarah getting sick and having to resort to pig's blood and milk to feel better.
An unfortunate tale...where Mike meets Sarah and will wish he never had. Sarah isn't like everyone else - she's a vampire.

Story the third is "Midnight Strolls", where we the reader get to accompany Honna out on her prowls for prey. We have kidnapping and brutality from the female perspective, and it gets quite twisted and nasty. It seems chloroform is a girl's best friend...as well as a taser, shackles, knives, and that perennial favorite, duct tape. Oh and did I mention the gas soaked cotton balls down the throat?
I could go on, but you really should read this nasty nice piece of work for yourself.

Story the fourth is "Love", where one man's show of love, true love and caring, is one woman's one way ticket.

Story the fifth is "Special", the tale of one "special" young woman and her painful transformation into a werewolf. Think the transformation scene in the film An American Werewolf in London, times 10. Carter's detail makes you feel precisely what's happening.

Five little gems, short and to the point, but full of good writing. It's like you happened to stop by and pause a moment and look into the lives of these characters at very precise points in time and what points they are.
These are fully realized shorts, don't misunderstand. But if these are the sprouts from the seeds of Carter's imagination, good grief, imagine what the forest would be like!

For more on Rebecca Carter:
Rebecca Carter on Facebook

Review: Goners

Goners
5 Horror Shorts
by
Gerald Rice
Available as an e-book from Amazon

If you like horror short story collections that leave you wanting more from the author, then this book is for you.

Gerald Rice has crafted 5 short horror stories in this one volume, which I found to be very well crafted.  I read it in one sitting, which is rare for me, so that should give you some indication about how good the writing is.

The first story is "First Customer", and Rice builds a sense of urgency mixed with dread, leading up to a surprising ending.  Murray has achieved his dream of opening an outdoorsmans store and is all set for a first day of business.  We end up going somewhere I didn't expect and it sure wasn't where I thought we were headed.  I like that in a story and Rice didn't telegraph his conclusion.
The second story, "Goner", is a zombie tale that was completely compelling.  Written from the main character's point of view, we're along for the ride through a zombie-infested landscape.  We get to see how Terence handles extermination and elimination of said zombies.  There are some close calls and a satisfying ending.  I won't forget the stuffed penguin for a while.
"While You Work" is a gruesome excursion into the workplace, giving new meaning to "us" and "them".  My nose kept twitching after I read it.  You'll find out why.
"Mister Cumberland's Last Magic Show" was my favorite, even over the zombie tale. 
Floyd Cumberland is a stage magician unlike any other you've run into and I really wanted more. The enigmatic Malf, Mr. Cumberland's assistant turns into something quite a bit more by the story's end, and the story as a whole gives new meaning to "what you see might be what you get."
This story is crying out to be made into a full-fledged book, in my opinion.
The last of the five, "Things You Never Say" has us along for a road trip with a couple who may or may not be getting along as well as they should.  They come upon an accident and the tone of the story shifts somewhat.
It makes you think twice about being short with the ones you claim to love and care for.

Gerald Rice has a great writing style.  The stories move well, there are some terrific turns of phrase and they read quickly without bogging down.  Short stories are short for a reason and need to establish mood and setting fairly quickly to promote the action and Rice succeeds at juggling all these particular balls at one time.
He sites Stephen King and Al Sarrantonio as influences and I can see that quite plainly, though Rice has honed his own voice in these 5 stories.
Rice has written some full novels as well as Goners, and there is a second Goners volume as well.  I look forward to reading more of Rice's work in the future, and that's a great thing to say about an author just starting out.

For more information on Gerald Rice, please visit:
Facebook Gerald Rice Fan Page
The Ghost Toucher