Book Review | All That's Fair by S.H. Cooper

All That's Fair is a horror short story collection by S.H. Cooper. 

A maiden looking for love in all the wrong places.

A mother in an endless search for missing children.

A crone whose passing is marked by the tinkling of tiny bells.

All That’s Fair is a collection of twenty-two short horror stories themed around women who are made up of anything but sugar, spice, and everything nice. Be they human, ghost, or something else entirely, one thing holds true for all: These are not the girls you’ll find (or want) next door.

All That's Fair contains 22 horror short stories. These short stories really are short which helped make All That's Fair a fun book to fly through. Several of Cooper's stories made me think this would be a great collection for adults like me who grew up loving the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark volumes.

Don't get me wrong in my comparison to Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. The comparison fits because she has such a fun storytelling style that I love, but her stories are also disturbing.

After loving her novella The Festering Ones {my review}, I jumped at the opportunity to read All That's Fair, and I'm so glad that I did.

My favorite stories in the collection were The O'Sullivan Song, Twelve Hands, The Crone's Woods, The Wishing Sisters, and The Hardest Lesson.

⭐⭐⭐⭐★

Content warning: suicide

Review copy provided by the author

Book Reviews | Little Paranoias: Stories by Sonora Taylor

Little Paranoias: Stories is a horror collection from Sonora Taylor.

Is it a knock on the door, or a gust of wind? A trick of the light, or someone who’ll see what you’ve done?

“Little Paranoias: Stories” features twenty tales of the little things that drive our deepest fears. It tells the stories of terror and sorrow, lust at the end of the world and death as an unwanted second chance. It dives into the darkest corners of the minds of men, women, and children. It wanders into the forest and touches every corner of the capital. Everyone has something to fear — but after all, it’s those little paranoias that drive our day-to-day.

I've been really excited to check out Little Paranoias. Earlier this year I read Sonora Taylor's novel Without Condition, and I was looking forward to checking out more of her work. (She also published a story on the Ladies of Horror Fiction podcast so be sure to check that out!)

One thing I really loved about this collection was the varying lengths of all of the stories. From flash fiction to poetry to longer stories, it never felt repetitive, and I never got bogged down. I have a hard time sitting down with a collection or an anthology and reading it straight through. I didn't have that trouble at all with Little Paranoias. Each of the stories held on to my attention, and I flew through the collection.

Fall is the best time of year for reading short stories, and Little Paranoias is a solid collection I would recommend putting on your list.

⭐⭐⭐⭐★

Review copy provided by author

Book Review | The Sea Was a Fair Master by Calvin Demmer

The Sea Was a Fair Master is a collection of flash fiction from Calvin Demmer.

The world’s fate lies with a comatose young girl; an android wants to remember a human she once knew under Martian skies; men at sea learn that the ocean is a realm far different from land, where an unforgiving god rules; a school security guard discovers extreme English class; and a man understands what the behemoth beneath the sea commands of him.

The Sea Was a Fair Master is a collection of 23 stories, riding the currents of fantasy, science fiction, crime, and horror. There are tales of murder, death, loss, revenge, greed, and hate. There are also tales of hope, survival, and love.

For the sea was a fair master.

The Sea Was a Fair Master was such a fun read. I want more!

The Sea Was a Fair Master is a collection of 23 flash fiction stories. I have been toting these stories around for a few weeks now reading them when I had just enough time for bite size chunks. I'm going to have withdrawals now that I have finished the last story.

I always feel like the shorter the story is, the harder it must have been to write. I'm really impressed that Calvin Demmer was able to intrigue me and entertain me with such short selections.

If you are in the market for some wicked little stories, The Sea Was a Fair Master is a great collection to pick up.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Review copy provided by author

Book Review | Terror is Our Business: Dana Roberts' Casebook of Horrors by Joe R. Lansdale and Kasey Lansdale

Terror is Our Business is a collection of "supernormal" investigation short stories by Joe Lansdale and Kasey Lansdale.

Award-winning author and “Champion Mojo Storyteller” Joe R. Lansdale (Hap & Leonard, Bubba Ho Tep) and his daughter, author / country singer Kasey Lansdale, have joined forces to bring you a short story collection showcasing the new dynamic duo of supernatural sleuthing, Dana Roberts and her sidekick Jana!

Terror is Our Business gathers together all of Dana’s and Jana’s previous cases in a single volume, and features an all-new adventure, “The Case of the Ragman’s Anguish,” written exclusively for this collection.

Join Dana and Jana as they investigate—and battle—angry jinns, malevolent shadows, ancient travelers, and soul-sucking shapeshifters. With two tough, resourceful women on the case, the specters from “the other side” won’t know what hit them!

Terror is Our Business was such a fun read for me. The stories in this collection were influenced by Algernon Blackwood, William Hope Hodgson, and Seabury Quinn. If you've known me for a while, you know how much I love Algernon Blackwood. I will be bumping my Seabury Quinn collection up the TBR immediately.

I could see the Algernon Blackwood influence immediately in the first story The Case of the Lighthouse Shambler. A solid mix of Blackwood and Lansdale was a slice of heaven for me.

I mentioned earlier this month that I was craving creatures that dwell in the dark. The setting in The Case of the Angry Traveler absolutely satisfied that craving for me. It was perfect timing!

The only complaints I had were actually addressed in Joe Lansdale's introduction to the collection. The beginning stories were framed with an old school storytelling device that put a bit of a wall between the reader and the story. There were also a lot of similarities between the original Dana Roberts tales. These minor complaints dropped off midway, though, as the character Jana entered the book and offered a fresh perspective on the remaining stories.

Overall, I had a blast with Terror is Our Business. It hit on so many supernatural elements that I love. If you are a Lansdale fan or you love weird fiction reminiscent of Algernon Blackwood, H.P. Lovecraft, or H.G. Wells, you will want to read this collection. I'm sad that I don't have any more Dana Roberts stories. I will be anxiously awaiting the opportunity to read more.

7/10: Recommended Read

Review copy provided by publisher

Book Review | The Call of Cthulhu by H.P. Lovecraft

The Call of Cthulhu is a short story (novelette) by H.P. Lovecraft.

One of the feature stories of the Cthulhu Mythos, H.P. Lovecraft's 'the Call of Cthulhu' is a harrowing tale of the weakness of the human mind when confronted by powers and intelligences from beyond our world.

I'm enjoying my trek through the works of Lovecraft, but The Call of Cthulhu is going to get a low rating from me.

This isn't the first time I've tried to read The Call of Cthulhu so I knew what to expect. I was going into it with a fresh perspective and a fresh love for Lovecraft this time, though.

The Call of Cthulhu is where we get to briefly meet the Great Old One Cthulhu. As the seminal work that an entire mythos is named after, The Call of Cthulhu is underwhelming. The actual entity Cthulhu, however, is a huge human form that is part octopus and part dragon. That's awesome.

I'm continuing to enjoy the atmosphere in these stories. I may not be a fan of Lovecraft's use of language, but atmosphere is something he does very well.

"It was voodoo, apparently, but voodoo of a more terrible sort than they had ever known; and some of their women and children had disappeared since the malevolent tom-tom had begun its incessant beating far within the black haunted woods where no dweller ventured. There were insane shouts and harrowing screams, soul-chilling chants and dancing devil-flames; and, the frightened messenger added, the people could stand it no more."

Even though this story is not going to be on my list of favorites, it's one I will probably revisit. Lovecraft's writing is so complex, there is bound to be more to discover and it can only get easier with each read.

I feel like The Call of Cthulhu is where a lot of people start reading Lovecraft. I've seen it suggested as an appropriate place to start. I'm obviously not a Lovecraft expert, but I wouldn't start with this one simply because the writing is unbearable at times. Hopefully in the near future I can provide an alternate suggestion.

4/10: Not My Thing

Book Review | The Thing on the Doorstep by H.P. Lovecraft

The Thing on the Doorstep is a horror novelette from H.P. Lovecraft.

"The Thing on the Doorstep" is a short story written by H.P. Lovecraft, part of the Cthulhu Mythos universe of horror fiction. It was written in August 1933, and first published in the January 1937 issue of Weird Tales.

Daniel Upton, the story's narrator, begins by telling that he has killed his best friend, Edward Derby, and that he hopes his account will prove that he is not a murderer...

I've probably read more things derived from Lovecraft than actual Lovecraft tales, but I've been making an effort to read Lovecraft more the last few years.

I was a little leery heading into reading The Thing on the Doorstep simply because it is part of the Cthulhu mythos. While I have enjoyed many of the derivative works, I haven't had success with the original Cthulhu stories. I'm much more drawn to stories like The Shunned House and The Horror at Red Hook. I love hauntings and atmosphere and let's not forget the phosphorescence.

I have a whole new love for Lovecraft after reading The Thing on the Doorstep, though.

The Thing on the Doorstep was not an easy story to get into. Lovecraft's writing is probably why I have abandoned many Lovecraft stories over the years. It took me three tries of picking up The Thing on the Doorstep and starting over from the beginning to finally connect with it. I had to slow down and keep rereading to grasp what Lovecraft was saying through his complex and excessive writing style. Once the story got underway, though, his writing was much more accessible.

I say that as a warning to stick with it and not a warning to stay away from it. In the end, I absolutely loved The Thing on the Doorstep. I don't want to give any spoilers so I will just give you the opening sentence:

"It is true that I have sent six bullets through the head of my best friend, and yet I hope to show by this statement that I am not his murderer."

It's only 40 pages long so I'm not going to divulge what is happening.

There was so much I loved about The Thing on the Doorstep - the characters, the atmosphere, the suspense. I really enjoyed the storytelling despite the bloated writing.

I'm in the mood to spend my October reading short horror so you will probably hear more about Lovecraft before the month has ended. I'm looking forward to revisiting and persevering through some of the Lovecraft tales that didn't work for me in the past.

As for The Thing on the Doorstep, it is currently my favorite Lovecraft tale.

9/10: Highly Recommended

Have you read any Lovecraft? I would love to hear your favorite Lovecraft story if you have one!

Book Review | The Night Cyclist by Stephen Graham Jones

The Night Cyclist is a horror novelette from Stephen Graham Jones.

"The Night Cyclist" by Stephen Graham Jones is a horror novelette about a middle-aged chef whose nightly bicycle ride home is interrupted by an unexpected encounter.

I loved this story from Stephen Graham Jones. I'm a runner not a cyclist, and damn it, now I want a bike.

I've never experienced so much suspense in a bike ride before. I swear this entire tale could have just been the main character chasing after a creature of the night on a bicycle and I would have loved it. There was a bit more to The Night Cyclist than that, though.

Everything about this story felt authentic - from the restaurant field (the main character is a chef) to what it must really feel like to be a cyclist.

The Night Cyclist weighs in at 32 pages. I would only recommend it to folks who love reading short stories, but I do without a doubt recommend it. I laid down my $.99 so I could read it on my Kindle, but you can read it for free on Tor's website here: https://www.tor.com/2016/09/21/the-night-cyclist/

8/10: Great Read

Review | The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

First published in 1892, "The Yellow Wallpaper" is written as the secret journal of a woman who, failing to relish the joys of marriage and motherhood, is sentenced to a country rest cure. Though she longs to write, her husband and doctor forbid it, prescribing instead complete passivity. In the involuntary confinement of her bedroom, the hero creates a reality of her own beyond the hypnotic pattern of the faded yellow wallpaper--a pattern that has come to symbolize her own imprisonment. Narrated with superb psychological and dramatic precision, "The Yellow Wallpaper" stands out not only for the imaginative authenticity with which it depicts one woman’s descent into insanity, but also for the power of its testimony to the importance of freedom and self-empowerment for women.

I was completely unaware of this little gem until last week. Now that I've read it and perused my Goodreads, I see that several of my friends have read and loved it, and it's one of the "1001 Books to Read Before You Die" selections.

So how did I stumble upon this story? I was looking to see if I could get my hands on a cheap copy of House of Leaves. House of Leaves completely defeated me earlier this year. I had to return the copy I was reading back to the library, but it's one that I don't want to give up on. As I was searching Amazon, I noticed that the results list for House of Leaves reads like a giant list of horror recommendations. All of the books listed were the ones you always see on the "best of" lists. Listed amongst these horror staples was "The Yellow Wallpaper".

Ooh, what's this?

The Yellow Wallpaper was written in 1892 and has since entered the public domain. You can get the Kindle version free on Amazon or download a free ebook off of Project Gutenberg. What also caught my eye was the audible version for $.97 (after my membership discount). How's that for cheap entertainment?

So I gave the audiobook a listen. My initial reaction was not good toward the narration. The narrator was actually a really great narrator, but this story is a feminist story. It's a first person narrative of a woman told through her diary. A male narrator was the wrong way to go here. Correction: It seems the narrator may in fact be a woman. (I'm so sorry!)

But the story! The story is about one woman's descent into madness. After being diagnosed with nervous depression, she's locked away to "rest" in this bedroom with yellow wallpaper. We've all been around a pattern in cabinets, flooring, wallpaper, what have you, that starts to look like a face. (Right?) This woman is kept from her work which makes her feel useless, she's anxious and depressed, and she's stuck looking at this yellow wallpaper all day.

I can imagine my sanity would dwindle, too.

The Yellow Wallpaper turned out to be an awesome story to stumble upon, and I highly recommend it. It's a short story so if you're interested, you hardly even need to set aside time for it. Just go read it.

9/10: Highly Recommended

Book Review: Ghosts by Gaslight edited by Jack Danin and Nick Gevers

Ghosts by Gaslight is an anthology of steampunk and supernatural suspense edited by Jack Danin and Nick Gevers.

Book Description

Seventeen all-new stories illuminate the steampunk world of fog and fear!

Modern masters of the supernatural weave their magic to revitalize the chilling Victorian and Edwardian ghostly tale: here are haunted houses, arcane inventions, spirits reaching across the centuries, ghosts in the machine, fateful revelations, gaslit streets scarcely keeping the dark at bay, and other twisted variations on the immortal classics that frighten us still.

I've been reading stories from Ghosts by Gaslight: Stories of Steampunk and Supernatural Suspense all month, and it is such a gorgeous book. I'm a huge fan of anthologies, especially in October, and there is a certain literary beauty to the Victorian tales in Ghosts by Gaslight.

While every story in Ghosts by Gaslight is supernatural in nature, the steampunk element is subtlety interlaced throughout the anthology. This was perfect for me since I just started getting acquainted with the steampunk genre this past year.

If you love Victorian style ghost stories, Lovecraftian tales, and an eerie side to your steampunk, you are sure to appreciate Ghosts by Gaslight. It's an anthology that will go in my permanent collection.

7/10: Recommended Read

Review copy provided by publisher

Review: 19 by Aaron Patterson

A few days ago, Mr. Aaron Patterson tweeted out to the universe that his short story 19 was free on Amazon. This is one of the many reasons I love twitter. Thankfully, I follow Mr. Patterson.

19 tells the story of a family who is cursed with predictions of death. Aaron Patterson provided this information in the product description:

This is based on a true story and because of the facts and how hard to believe they seem I turned this into a fiction short story. I added in some back-story that is all made up but the main plot happened to friends of mine. This is a thriller drama, medical and all about a family that is cursed with death, and all because of a rose.

If you want something different and a little off the path, give "19" a try. And think twice the next time you stop and smell the roses.

I am such a fan of short works, and 19 was a great short story. It reminded me of a story my 8th grade English teacher told me after being off for funeral leave. Her brother-in-law had died on a road that several men in her husband's family had died on. He had a heart attack. His brother and his father also died on that road. Her husband was still living. If I were her I would never let him near that town again!

Whether Patterson's 19 is a true story or not, I will add it to the list of tales I love to tell around the campfire (and during Earth Hour where everyone turns their lights out for an hour. I can't purposefully turn out all the lights without breaking out the ghost stories.)

If you love sitting down and getting a complete tale in one sitting, 19 is a great short story to grab.

Download a copy of 19 | Join me on twitter!

Review: Unsavory Delicacies by Russell Brooks

Unsavory Delicacies is a quick and entertaining short story trilogy by Russell Brooks.  All three stories begin in a restaurant but end as unique and enjoyable tales.

Creme Brulee unveils the end of a covert operation and introduces us to Ridley Fox.

To The Last Bite chronicles the first glowing review of a food critic.  I'm glad I review books instead of food!  This one made me nervous (in a good way).

Ridley Fox is back in Shaslyk and Morozhenoe.  This time he is taking down the son of St. Petersburg's most powerful crime boss.

Each story in Unsavory Delicacies offers a fast delight, but the whole collection can also be enjoyed in one sitting.

Unsavory Delicacies is the first book I've read by Russell Brooks.  I look forward to checking out more of his work.

Amazon | Amazon UK | Smashwords | B&N | XinXii

Review copy provided by the author

Review: Crooked Stick Figures by Lee Thompson

I love a good short story.

Book Description

As an agent for the Child Protective Services, John McDonnell has seen his share of evil people and evil acts. But nothing has prepared him to face what's behind the door of his most recent assignment.

"He don't like you playing children's games," says the little girl who opened the door.

A voice inside him screams, Get out of here!

But it's already too late.

John McDonnell has been called to investigate a report for Child Protective Services.  He never knows what he's walking into with each new case.  Nothing could prepare him for his latest assignment.

Crooked Stick Figures is an excellent story full of atmosphere and suspense.  Thompson's storytelling is vivid and well paced.  This story is the first work I have read by Thompson, but his story Before Leonora Wakes is quickly approaching the top of the to be read pile.  In fact, I think it just jumped up a spot or three.

I got Crooked Stick Figures free through Darkside Digital.  If you like a creepy tale, take a moment to check it out!