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Tuesday 20 December 2016

Review: The Stone Man

The Stone Man The Stone Man by Luke Smitherd
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Modern day War of the Worlds.

I went into this book blind. I didn't even read the synopsis. I've heard a few things about Smitherd and thought I'd give him a go, The Stone Man seems to be his most popular book so that seemed to be a good place to start.
I listened to the audiobook edition of this piece. Firstly, I have to say, the narration was spot on. It was really easy to listen to and it pulled me in pretty quickly.
I'm not the biggest Sci-Fi fan so I wasn't sure what to expect from this, but I'm happy to say that I loved it. In fact it's one of the best books I've read this year and it's pretty much guaranteed that I'll be checking out future works from Smitherd.
I don't want to say much about the story, that's not what I do in my reviews and I think that's what the synopsis is for anyway. I'd rather just give you my opinion of the story.
And that is, don't hesitate, check it out and I guarantee you won't regret it.

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Monday 7 November 2016

Review: Gemini: A Psychological Horror

Gemini: A Psychological Horror Gemini: A Psychological Horror by Stuart Keane
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Warning. Do not read if easily offended!
This book is all kinds of messed up, and really pushes some boundaries.
I'm very hard to shock, but there was even one point where I was thinking "Jesus Christ I can't believe they did that"
If you like fast paced, all out brutally violent stories. Then this is right up your street!
It worked very, very well and was a lot of fun to read.
Definitely recommend.

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Sunday 23 October 2016

Review: Project Apex

Project Apex Project Apex by Michael Bray
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

That was very, very good.
A terrifying look at an apocalyptic threat that could in reality, actually happen.
A science experiment gone wrong, or right depending on which side you're on.
It's happened before. This was a really really, good story. The whole concept is just bone chilling.
The action scenes were spot on and I spent the entire time just thinking how awesome this would be as a movie.
I'll definitely be checking out the sequels to this book.

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Tuesday 20 September 2016

Review: Before you Sleep

Before you Sleep Before you Sleep by Adam Nevill
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three very good, very creepy stories. I particularly enjoyed the last one.
All the way through you could feel a sort of sinister undercurrent. Actually gives me shivers down my spine just thinking about it.
Well worth checking out!

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Sunday 18 September 2016

Review: Tar: An apocalyptic horror novella

Tar: An apocalyptic horror novella Tar: An apocalyptic horror novella by Iain Rob Wright
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another great tale from Iain Rob Wright. This was a lot shorter than most of his works, quick readers could probably do it in one sitting.
I don't want to say much about the story as I don't like to give anything away. What I will say it that the ending took me by complete surprise!

It was also a pleasant surprise to find a handful of short stories in the back of the book from other authors as well. Some new names and some well known, such as Matt Shaw and Michael Bray.
All of these stories are very, very good. From the new names as well as the old.

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Thursday 8 September 2016

Review: Twisted Bitches: a tale of Extreme Horror and Revenge

Twisted Bitches: a tale of Extreme Horror and Revenge Twisted Bitches: a tale of Extreme Horror and Revenge by Matt Shaw
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Not the first collaboration I've read from
Bray and Shaw, and won't be the last.
This was a good, fun read. I thought early on that I'd guessed where this story was going.
Man was I wrong. I mean, honestly, I've never been more wrong.
Couldn't have guessed this outcome in a million years.
Defo worth checking out.

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Sunday 4 September 2016

Review: Woom: An extreme horror

Woom: An extreme horror Woom: An extreme horror by Duncan Ralston
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Well that was, without a doubt, the most messed up thing I have ever read.
Don't get me wrong. It was a fantastic read. In fact it's probably the best thing I've read all year.
But my god, that was seriously, seriously messed up.
I need to go take a shower.

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Thursday 1 September 2016

Review: Flesh

Flesh Flesh by Richard Laymon
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I was listening to the audiobook of this. It was quite a struggle at times. I can't exactly pin point what I didn't like about this book, it just didn't work for me.
I've preferred the other stuff I've read by Laymon far more.

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Tuesday 30 August 2016

Review: Downward Spiral: A Dark Chapter Press Unlimited Short: D

Downward Spiral: A Dark Chapter Press Unlimited Short: D Downward Spiral: A Dark Chapter Press Unlimited Short: D by Gary Pearson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Good story. Can't say too much without giving anything away.
Let's just say. You know those days when you're really, really pissed off and you just wanna.....


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Review: Upon Waking

Upon Waking Upon Waking by J.R. Park
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I've had a few people tell me that I need to check out J. R. Park.
Well I finally gave in. I'm so glad I did! This was a really fun read. It's brutal, and I mean ridiculously, graphically violent.
I was squirming more than once. I loved every minute of this and it felt as though I'd read it all in about five mins. So fun it just flew.
Definitely one to recommend.

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Friday 26 August 2016

Review: JEDI Summer: With the Magnetic Kid

JEDI Summer: With the Magnetic Kid JEDI Summer: With the Magnetic Kid by John Boden
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Jedi Summer - well that book just ruined my early night. I enjoyed it so much that I had to stay up
And finish it. Everyone loves a good
Coming of age story don't they? At least I do. This one was different though. It wasn't all perfect memories of laughs, smiles and bike rides. Some of this book was genuinely quite saddening. But a lot of it actually brought a smile to my face as well. I was born mid eighties so didn't really encounter the joys of childhood playing out until the decade after this story is set. That doesn't matter though, the sentiment is there and I could relate to a lot
Of it.
This story is by no means horror, but there were certainly some parts that set a chill down your spine. No one said they saw a ghost as such, but then, they didn't say that the hasn't seen one either.
I think we've all had those moments when we've raised serious questions about something we've seen at one point or another in life. Was it really there?
All round this was a breath of fresh air to read. Very unique and very fun. I would really have loved it to have carried on, but then. It couldn't. Summers over.

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Review: Darkness on the Edge of Town

Darkness on the Edge of Town Darkness on the Edge of Town by Brian Keene
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Darkness at the edge of
Town- I've really enjoyed a few things by Brian Keene. The Rising especially, this one is up there with that.
It's very similar to
Under the dome and the mist, but having said that it's also very unique in its own right.
A great story of how mankind can turn to hell when the lights go out. This was a fun book to read and I loved pretty much every minute of it.

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Review: Skud

Skud Skud by Lewis Duncan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Skud- this was my first read of Lewis Duncan. In fact I think it's his debut release, so I wasn't really sure what to expect. I have to say that I enjoyed it a lot. It's action packed for sure with some pretty brutal scenes. But it's more than just a crazy zombie story. It's compassionate, you feel the love that skud has for his sister and everything in you wills them to survive this encounter.
Really good story and I'll be reading more from mr Duncan.

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Monday 25 July 2016

Review: Scars of the Broken: The Roger Huntington Saga, Book 3

Scars of the Broken: The Roger Huntington Saga, Book 3 Scars of the Broken: The Roger Huntington Saga, Book 3 by Ryan C. Thomas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It's no secret that I am a huge fan of Ryan C Thomas. The first book in this series "The Summer I Died" is the whole reason I write, myself. That book just blew me away. Then I tried the sequel, "Born to Bleed" and once again, I loved it!
It was done the way a sequel is meant to be done. Not just the same story churned out again with different characters and surroundings. It's a completely unique story following Roger Huntington after the events of the first book.
This third installment does it once again. This in itself is a completely unique story. It's so different to the first two installments, but it doesn't lose any of that stuff that made you love it in the first place.
It's got the gore, it's got the scary and creepy bits, it's got passion, it's got friendship, action, you want it? It's got it.
I can't praise these books enough. Just do yourself a favour. If you haven't read the first two yet. Go and get them and then read this.
If you have already read the first two, then you probably agree with me and most likely already half way through this installment.

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Thursday 21 July 2016

Review: The Fireman

The Fireman The Fireman by Joe Hill
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wow this was a big read.
A great story, the whole Dragonscale epidemic was just awesome. It was completely unique and that gave Hill free reign with the different levels of the disease and how some can control it and some can't.
This really is a great read, I love everything by Hill. He is probably my favourite author right now.
The only reason I've given this four stars instead of five, is because, like his father, Hill sometimes has a habit of padding things out and making it drag a bit. There were a few times within this book that I felt a little bit bored because it became slow moving, but then suddenly it would drag you straight back in again.
Overall a very very good book, I just think at perhaps 500 pages rather than 750 it would have been a great book.

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Wednesday 13 July 2016

Review: The Bazaar of Bad Dreams: Stories

The Bazaar of Bad Dreams: Stories The Bazaar of Bad Dreams: Stories by Stephen King
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Overall this was an okay collection. Like many of these, there were some good and some bad.
I was expecting a few more big hitters, but I think that's just because it's Stephen King and you always expect something really special from him.
Overall a decent read, but there are a few stories that could've been left out.

"The introduction to this audio, read by Stephen King, is a prime example of why authors should get narrators to do the full audio for them. This sounds like a ten year old reading his homework out loud in class"

"skipped this first story because I've already read it. It's a good story though, original review is here I liked this one!
King does like his monster cars doesn't he!
This was only a shorty, but it was creepy and fun. I wouldn't say it's scary. You could probably read this to kids aged 10 and up as a scary story. But it is a good story.
I enjoyed it."

"Perfect Harmony - A bit unsure on that story. It was quite sad, but as a stand alone story didn't really do much. I saw the ending coming from a mile off. I think that was supposed to be the little shock at the end, but it didn't really work."

"Batman & Robin have an altercation. I really enjoyed this one. Took a very unexpected turn towards the end. It was both saddening and heart warming throughout. It actually reminded me a lot of a similar story I've written myself, but the end really caught me by surprise."

"Dune - I didn't really like this one. It was quite slow and dull. And I saw where it was going long before it actually got there."

"Bad Little Kid - This story was quite a bit longer than the others. It was really quite good. Again, you could call the end pretty early on, but the journey there was still enjoyable. I think this would make quite a good episode on a Twilight Show sort of series."

"A death - I've read this short before when it was in NYT so I've skipped the audio. original review was..
This was a very short story. It's available to read for free at "The New Yorker" online.
I don't really want to give anything away. It's difficult to say much apart from it's a good story.
Not one of Kings best, but that would be impossible with such a short tale. My only quarm with this is that I guessed the"

"The Bone Church - Don't really know what to say about that. I think it was supposed to come across as a drunken rambling.....but that's all it did. The story wasn't very good, it literally just sounded like a drunk mouthing off."

"Morality - this is another i'd already read so skipped, but it's a good story original review was..
This Shorty was pretty good. It's only about 40 pages but that's all it needs to be. This was just a bonus story in my blockade billy book so I thought id give it a go.
It's very different to other king stories, but just as good! If you have a spare half hour then check it out"

"Afterlife - This story was quite interesting. A little bit depressing as well, but a cool theory of what could be."

"UR - I was surprised by this story. When it started it felt like really bad and blatant advertising for kindle. But as it went on it got a bit more interesting. It did take about 50% of the story to get to that point though. Once it got going it was really good. I was kind of expecting a killer twist at the end, but I suppose it's good to guess them wrong sometimes."

"Herman Wouk is still alive - hmmm I think this story may have been better if the introduction hadn't pretty much told me exactly what was going to happen.
One thing I loved in this story though. This quote -
"The body weakens, but the words never do" that's beautiful."

"under the weather- yeah not much to say. didn't like it"

"Blockade Billy -Firstly, I'm not a baseball fan. Far from it, in fact I think it's one of the most boring sports there is. Luckily you don't have to be a baseball fan to enjoy this story. It's a very quick read, I did the lot in less than two hours. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it still has that little kiss of horror in there to keep king fans sweet.
Well worth the read!"

"Mr Yummy - Wasn't really into that one. Basically an old dying man with heads keeps seeing death in the form of a man he used to long for. Just depressing really."

"Tommy - Nope, sorry. Just an old little hippy rant. Wasn't even a story, or a poem as it says."

"Drunken Fireworks - I'm going to have to come back to this one in the paperback. I cannot listen to the audio for that short anymore. Then narrators voice is grinding. It's horrible."

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Sunday 5 June 2016

Review: Levana's Wish

Levana's Wish Levana's Wish by Susi Moore
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a decent short read. It's only a five minute read, but sometimes that's all you want.
People underestimate the difficulty in getting a short story right. You have to make your characters and story grow all within a very short amount of time, but also not make it feel crammed. It was done very well in this short.
It's quite different to what I would normally read. A romantic horror of sorts if I had to categorise it, but the author asked if I would take a look in exchange for an honest review so I thought it worth a go.
I don't want to go into any detail on the story because it is so short and I don't want to ruin it.
I would say if you've got five mins spare or want a quick read, then go and check it out.
I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

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Review: The Rain Dancers

The Rain Dancers The Rain Dancers by Greg F. Gifune
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I always enjoy Gifunes writing. He is a very good story teller and even in parts of a story that aren't particularly scary, he has this eerie feel about him. You can almost sense the darkness in the tale.
This was a decent story, but not as good as some of the others I've read from him. Mainly because I guessed the outcome very early on. I won't go into that as I don't want to ruin it.
This is worth a go if you fancy a quick read, but if you want to sample some of Gifunes stronger work then I would highly recommend The Bleeding Season.

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Monday 23 May 2016

Review: The House That Hell Built

The House That Hell Built The House That Hell Built by Matt Shaw
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Take THE SHINING, THE BEAST HOUSE CHRONICLES and THE HAUNTING. Put them together and you've got THE HOUSE THAY HELL BUILT.
This was a really fun read. At times it was scary, at times it was gory and violent. It all blended so well together. The idea of the three stories running alongside each other worked really well I thought.
Three writers that we already knew were more than capable of telling a good story have come together and pulled of a cracker in this one.

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Saturday 21 May 2016

Review: Sam

Sam Sam by Iain Rob Wright
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Really enjoyed this book. It's not just your normal possession story. In fact you could possibly even describe this as a bit of an action story, but of course it still had all the creepy elements of the traditional possession tale.
I've had a few people recommend this book to me and it took me a while getting round to it, but I'm really glad I did.
Highly recommended.

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Wednesday 4 May 2016

Review: High Moor

High Moor High Moor by Graeme Reynolds
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was unsure when I started this book if I was going to like it or not. I've never been the biggest werewolf fan. There are very few really good werewolf books and movies. Lots of others have tried and failed.
This book, however, really won me over. It starts with what can only be described as a coming of age tale. You get to know the characters and you really feel for them.
As the story progresses so does the killings/fights etc. These are all very well written. You can picture it all as its happening and it doesn't come across as ridiculous, which sometimes these mythical fights can do.
If werewolves were real I would imagine this is exactly how they would fight.
Overall a very strong story and it's made me want to check out the sequel.

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Friday 29 April 2016

Review: Brazen: A Dark Chapter Press Unlimited Short: B

Brazen: A Dark Chapter Press Unlimited Short: B Brazen: A Dark Chapter Press Unlimited Short: B by Matt Hickman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a really good short story. As with all Hickman's tales. He has you thinking one way, then he goes in the complete opposite direction.
Very powerful, very brutal and a killer twist.

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Sunday 17 April 2016

Review: Where The Dead Ones Play: A Supernatural Horror

Where The Dead Ones Play: A Supernatural Horror Where The Dead Ones Play: A Supernatural Horror by Kyle M. Scott
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

First things first.
This is the first book I've read in as long as I can remember that I wished I hadn't read just before going to sleep. I was looking to the corner of my room to check if any shadows were looking back.
This is a really creepy story.
Besides all of the scary stuff, this story showed a lot of emotion. The relationship between father and son is portrayed perfectly. I have a young child myself and could relate a lot to the fathers emotions and feelings.
All in all, a very scary and powerful story. Possibly the best book I've read this year.

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Thursday 14 April 2016

Review: Anniversary Dinner: A Dark Chapter Press Unlimited Short: A

Anniversary Dinner: A Dark Chapter Press Unlimited Short: A Anniversary Dinner: A Dark Chapter Press Unlimited Short: A by Shaun Hupp
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Good story. Short, fast paced and really packs a punch.
Don't want to say too much as I don't want to spoil it, but this is a great lunchtime read.
Go check it out.

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Monday 11 April 2016

Review: O is for Orifice

O is for Orifice O is for Orifice by Iain Rob Wright
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I liked this one a lot. One of the best in the series. I don't want to say anything because it will give the story away, but if you woke up with that stuff happening to you, you would certainly freak out.

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Thursday 21 January 2016

Review: Jeremy: Evil Has One Name - A Horror Novella

Jeremy: Evil Has One Name - A Horror Novella Jeremy: Evil Has One Name - A Horror Novella by Matt Hickman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

First things first, a quick disclosure. I have worked closely with this author on other projects. Please note that this in no way reflects on my review. If anything, this would make me more critical on his work.

I loved this book, part 1 in a brilliant coming of age drama, a powerful story of a neglected child who is bullied at school, until one day something happens and it changes him.

Part 2 is all out crazy, the contrast from part 1 is so great that they blend together perfectly. I don't want to say anything to give anything away, but just trust me. It's out there!

Well worth a read. I've enjoyed everything that I've read from Hickman so far and he doesn't show any sign of slowing down anytime soon. Great job.



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Review: Slugs

Slugs Slugs by Shaun Hutson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a really good book. I fell out of routine a bit so it took me ages getting through it, but I'm glad that I stuck with it because it was well worth it.
The story itself was very good. The concept, oh god. The whole thought of the slugs.....
My skin was crawling the entire time I was reading!
Definitely worth checking out.
Highly recommend.

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