Karla's Literary Korner

https://www.goodreads.com/author/

Monday, August 12, 2024

The Aggregate by G. Owen Wears

Genre: Horror

Format: eBook

Pages: 362

Rating: ★★★★

Synopsis:

Criminal noir and cosmic horror by the author of “The Place of Stars & Bones”.

There is dust on the horizon and dust in the fields. The sky is a burned-out shade of white and cicadas haunt the trees and rooftops. It is late September, and Lucy Ashwood has just finished the last unremarkable day of her life.
By morning, Lucy finds herself lying in a puddle of gore. The dead number three: two men from the MontVida Corporation and one sheriff’s deputy. They came to serve notice of genetic patent violations, and to evict the Ashwoods. When the Ashwoods push back, the end result is an accidental bloodbath. Lucy’s contribution involves feeding the dead to her pig, Wilbur. The contribution of her cousin, Arthur, involves his connection to a criminal collective known as the Aggregate. They say they will help the Ashwoods...for a price.

Subject to waking nightmares and crippling guilt, Lucy goes on the run. As her visions grow ever more vivid, Lucy begins to suspect there is more to what happened at her home than simply murder. Meanwhile, the Aggregate has decided to call in its favor for assisting the Ashwoods, thrusting Arthur into a world of violent revolution. Neither Lucy, nor Arthur, nor the Aggregate realize there is something else at work, something malevolent that has sprung from the very soil beneath their feet. It speaks through Wilbur, through the drone of the cicadas, through the hot dry wind. When it finally gains a foothold it will force its way through the veil between worlds, Lucy and the rest of humanity be damned.

Review:

"You assume that the building blocks of life have a sense of morality, that your genes share your ideas of right and wrong. All life is selfish, Lucy Ashwood. There is no virtue in the face of extinction."

MontVida is a vast corporation that controls the majority of land. They have implemented their genetic hybrids to produce super crops, but in the process, they have banned farmers from using their patents. It has caused farmers to do everything in their power to protect their farms from having any crossovers. Filtering, green housing, and fencing. The work is hard, the earth is dry, and the food is sparse.

MontVida have come to the farm of the Ashwoods, blaming them for violations of their genetic patents. The Ashwoods fight back, and the result ends in blood and death. It also ends life for the Ashwoods as events only continue to get worse and it becomes the downfall of their existence.

The Ashwoods reach out for help from the Aggregate, notorious for their crimes against MontVida, they have no respect for life and once called upon, you owe them your life. They will stop at nothing to earn their comeuppance. Their goal is to destroy!

Amongst the chaos and death, there is something sinister occurring. There are whispers, voices on the wind, and in the trees the cicadas drone their music upon the ears that hear. It speaks though Wilbur, Lucy Ashwoods Eurasian Boar. She must listen and heed the warnings. All of life is hanging in the balance of this malevolent being.

There is a lot that occurs throughout this story. World building and character development, deceit of characters that stay a bit obscured behind the scenes, the cosmic anomaly that causes a mass destruction, their goal to preserve their own existence, and many horrific deaths.

A mix of crime noir, cosmic horror, fantasy, dystopian, and speculative fiction. This takes us on a journey of disturbing imagery and grotesque monstrosities.

All in all, I enjoyed reading this book as it kept me quite intrigued!

**A very kind thank you goes out to Mar at TBM Horror for sending me complimentary copy, much appreciated!

Goodreads Author Link:

Amazon Author Link:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/G.-Owen-Wears/author/

About the author

G. Owen Wears was borne in Pasadena, California in January of 1982. Despite his West Coast origin he has spent the last thirty odd years living along the Colorado Front Range. After high school he attended a local art college where he discovered that he prefers writing far more than painting. Currently he is the editor of “Exterus”, a fantasy and horror anthology that began publication in 2015. He makes his home in Loveland, Colorado where he spends his time reading, writing, and walking the many paths that line the Big Thompson River.

Review Links:

Backwaters (12 Murky Tales) by Lee Rozelle

Genre: Horror Short Stories

Format: Paperback

Pages: 322

Rating: ★★★★★

Synopsis:

Dare swim these waters?

Welcome to Tallapoochee, a Southern backwater plagued by an experimental toxin that’s turning townsfolk into genetically modified freaks. Follow a puzzling trail of atrocities committed by an enigmatic river cult. Delve into thrilling tales of body horror, bizarro, and the weird. Read the unthinkable testimonies of the living and the dead.

This “water-breaking” collection of twelve intertwined stories combines body horror and Southern Gothic humor in a clash between a cabal of dark scientists and gospel-preaching wrestlers with a secret past. In turns terrifying and bizarre, Lee Rozelle’s new fiction is a shocking journey into murky medicine, conspiracy, and the horrors of watershed destruction.

Review:

"This whole world is catfishing."

Tallapoochee, where the backwaters run murky and sludgy. Filled with toxins that turns anyone who encounters the waters into monstrous atrocities. Abhorrent anomalies and deformities occur, producing bodies with things that dingle and dangle, putrescent, putrid, and pungent.

The river cult are the worshipers of the murky waters, recruiting others to their cause.

Scientists creating uncanny, humanoid creatures.

Many minds falling into madness.

And bugs, lots of bugs! Interesting bugs, but bugs!

These quirky tales take us into the deep south of Alabama. The characters are telling stories of their bizarre transformations and encounters with the strange and unusual. Each of the stories are interconnected which makes it cohesive but each of the scenes give us different viewpoints for each setting and character.

Backwaters is unlike any book I have ever read. I have read many other bizarre books, but this one takes the cake. Truly creative and imaginative! I had to give it all the stars because of the originality. Creatures galore, body horror, disturbing descriptions of unnatural occurrences, offbeat twists, and even a little kink.

If you are a fan of bizarro, sci-fi, horror, and uncanny tales, then you will most likely enjoy this one!

Goodreads Author Link:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Lee-Rozelle/author/

Amazon Author Link:

BookBub Author Link:

ttps://www.bookbub.com/

Author Website:

https://leerozelle.com/

ABOUT LEE

From an early age, reading and writing were the only things I could do with any aptitude. People laughed at things I said when I was a child, so I became a show-off. And I think I might have become a perfectly normal human being, too, were it not for Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, that dog detective cartoon from the 1970s featuring creatures like “The Ghost of Captain Cutler,” “The Creeper” and “Space Kook.” I was captivated by the show’s combination of monsters, mysterious settings and goofiness. Then I got my hands on MAD magazine, Creepy and Eerie, Stephen King and Poppy Z Brite, Twisted Sister tapes, David Lynch movies, and everything I could find by William S. Burroughs. I was for all intents and purposes useless at that point, so I became a college professor.

As a fiction writer, I’m the author of the horror story collection Backwaters: 12 Murky Tales and Ballad of Jasmine Wills, a novel that takes on reality TV, body shaming and hicksploitation. I’ve published short stories in Cosmic Horror Monthly, Southern Humanities Review, If I Die Before I wake vol 3, Shadowy Natures from Dark Ink Books, HellBound’s Anthology of Bizarro, Dark Dossier Magazine, Steel Toe Review, and the Scare You to Sleep Podcast.

On the scholarly side, I’m the author of nonfiction books Zombiescapes & Phantom Zones and Ecosublime. I’ve published articles in Twentieth-Century Literature, Mississippi Quarterly, ISLE, Canadian Literature, Studies in the Novel, and South Central Review. I’ve presented academic papers in such places as the Sorbonne, Tsinghua University in Beijing, Dogus University in Istanbul, and the Warsaw School of Social Psychology. I’m a professor of English at the University of Montevallo, and my areas of expertise are ecocriticism and critical theory.

Publisher Link:

https://www.montagpress.com/about

MONTAG PRESS presents the very best in experimental, weird, subversive, speculative, science, historical, and horror fiction, in either a narrative or dramatic structure, with a strong plot, well-developed characters, and engaging voices.

Review Links:

https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/

Friday, July 26, 2024

The Corner of Her Eye: Book Two: The Road by J.J. Carpenter

Genre: Horror Suspense/Historical Mystery

Format: eARC

Pages: 262

Rating: ★★★★★

Synopsis:

THE MUCH-ANTICIPATED SEQUEL TO THE KEEPER IN THE CORNER OF HER EYE SERIES.

"If you fail...much worse things will happen...much worse things, will come for you."

Charlie White thought this was the end. She thought once she accepted her fate as a Keeper of Purgatory, her story would conclude. But she's just scratched the surface; this is only the beginning.

As she grapples with an ever-expanding new world beyond the grave, she begins to draw imbalanced, disturbed and helpless spirits to herself in greater and greater numbers. How deep must she venture through the layers of purgatory? And who else — or rather what else — lurks in the shadows of limbo?

It's not just Charlie whose sanity, life and reality are under threat anymore. But just how much rests on her shoulders? And will she figure out how to fulfill her duty before she runs out of time

Review:

"La vie, c'est comme une bicyclette, il faut advancer pour ne pas perdre l'equilibre."

Charlie has returned to continue her journey as a keeper of the spirits. The mysteries of the spirits become deeper as Charlie must discover more of how to keep the balance. Her encounters begin again as she was taken to the Old Great North Road. A road built by convicts by hand all while shackled. The task was laborious and dangerous. They were treated poorly, often beaten, and starved. Their spirits linger, tethered to their past, unsettled, and pained. Charlie must figure out who they are and free them so at last they may be at peace. The effects on Charlie are weakening her strength and she is pulled into the dream more often. She must use all of her strength to stay tethered to her friend and the outside world or become lost in the dream world.

The spirits continue to connect to Charlie much more often which has caused her to solve more than one mystery at a time. It has her questioning the connection and the encounters of certain spirits of which she is not familiar. She must protect the balance, for if she fails, it will cause much worse to occur putting her in more danger and possibly the lives of her dearest friends.

Steeped in the deep history of the Old Great North Road and Australia's First Nation People, the story brings us on a dark journey of mystery and pain. The corruption of the corrections treating the convicts as life with no value, overworked, beaten, starved, scourged, and often put to death by hanging.

Taken back during a time of unrest added a foreboding atmosphere, but also a richness into the history of Australia.

As Charlie delves deeper into the mysteries, the loss and pain can be felt deeply as it unsettles the heart and soul. Emotionally felt moments causing me to take some time to pause and reflect. But there is so much more. Deepened friendships, love, trust, and protection.

Charlie is a character that is most intriguing as her story is unique and takes us into places of the unknown. It sparks the imagination and stirs the curiosity.

I have enjoyed book one and book two and I am quite looking forward to book three!

Goodreads Author Link:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/JJ-Carpenter/author/

Amazon Author Link:

Bookbub Author Link:

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/jj-carpenter

About the author

JJ Carpenter has been writing books since she was six years old - a collection of kooky tales she would staple together and hide in a shoebox under her bed. Penning her first novel at the age of 12, her love of all things creepy, supernatural and wild has never left her. Join JJ as she journeys through haunted places and chilling mysteries across the beautiful country, and rich history, of Australia.

JJ was born in Canberra, Australia. She spent her childhood in various locations, including the Barossa Valley, South Australia, and Hampshire, England. As an adult, she's spent much of her career living and working in the South Pacific: Solomon Islands (twice), Vanuatu, Fiji and beyond.

Review Links:

https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/

Lost (PLZ Tethered Version) by Linkin Park

Just a scar somewhere down inside of me
Something I cannot repair
Even though it will always be
I pretend it isn't there (this is how I feel)
I'm trapped in yesterday (just a memory)
Where the pain is all I know (this is all I know)

And I'll never break away (can't break free)
'Cause when I'm alone

I'm lost in these memories
Living behind my own illusion
Lost all my dignity
Living inside my own confusion

But I'm tired, I will always be afraid
Of the damage I've received
Broken promises they made
And how blindly I believed (this is all I know)

I will never break away (can't break free)
'Cause when I'm alone

I'm lost in these memories
Living behind my own illusion
Lost all my dignity
Living inside my own confusion

I try to keep this pain inside, but I will never be alright
I try to keep this pain inside, but I will never be alright
(I'm lost) I try to keep this pain inside, but I will never be alright
(I'm lost) I try to keep this pain inside, but I will never be alright

I'm lost in these memories
Living behind my own illusion
Lost all my dignity
Living inside my own confusion

Wednesday, July 17, 2024

Words Made of Flesh by R.A. Busby

Genre: Horror

Format: Paperback ARC

Pages: 114

Rating: ★★★★★

Synopsis:

New Bedford, 1899

Harrison Quire has a problem. Haunted by memories of his lover, he's only lingered on the periphery of a life. When he visits the Whisperers' Club to hear a few horror stories, he never expects he'll become one.

Late one winter night, Harrison hears old George Burgess tell his tale of an unusual book. The book, Burgess explains, is made of flesh. It is alive. And so hungry. Harrison is soon enthralled by the story, but will he be consumed by it?

Words Made of Flesh is the latest novella from Shirley Jackson Award-winning author R. A. Busby.

Review:

"You have chosen this book, but you see...it might just choose you back."

This is a story about an insidious book. A book where words come to life upon the page and must always be preserved, for if not, the consequences may be catastrophic. George Burgess is in possession of this book, and it is now his duty to pass it on to another.

Harrison is the chosen receiver of this book to protect and preserve. As he sits and listens to George's story, he learns the truth of the horrors of what lies within, and the haunted life of his dear friend.

Set in 1899, the atmosphere sets us into old Victorian homes and old book shops where the most coveted books fill the shelves. Candlelight gatherings among friends sharing dark stories. It's a haunting tale of forbidden love, and hidden secrets. An abusive relationship between father and child that lingers deep within. But, as with all books, secrets are revealed and the words come to life within our minds and our hearts.

The prose is stunning and thought provoking. I often returned to many passages and pondered upon the effect that it was having, yearning for more. Not a story to be rushed through for every detail leads us through a whole experience. It unsettles and stirs the heart and soul.

Beautifully haunting!

Highly recommended as it has all the reasons why we love books and reading. How important the written word is and how we hunger for the stories. How the words written upon the pages live on forever.

"Books are hungry things. They yearn for our attention, demanding we sit for hours and hallucinate a shared dream. Despite the separation of cultures and centuries, the minds of the writer and reader are fused through the words."

**My thanks and appreciation for the complimentary advanced readers copy from Cemetery Gates Media.

Goodreads Author Page:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/R.A.-Busby/author/

Amazon Author Page:

Author Website Link:

https://rabusbybooks.weebly.com/

About the author

Author of Corporate Body and Words Made of Flesh, R. A. Busby is the winner of the 2020 Shirley Jackson Award for short fiction. When not writing stories to scare you, R.A. Busby goes running in the desert with her dog.

Publisher Website:

https://cemeterygatesmedia.com/

Review Links:

Thursday, July 4, 2024

Through the Ravenous Night We Ride by Calvin Demmer

Genre: Horror Short Stories

Format: eBook

Pages: 117

Rating: ★★★★

Synopsis:

Secret societies, serial killers, malevolent criminals, and other evils stalk these pages.

Review:

“Leave the others out of your plight. They’ve earned their place and are here to watch. If you disobey, they will draw close around you, like a noose around your neck, until you’re dancing in the flames.”

Death and darkness. Sacrifice and purgatory. Humanity served up as monsters. Punishments doled out against the sinners that cross the lines of the despicable. The thirst of the games played amongst those who must be the winner.

"Through sickness and health, for better or worse, and sometimes not even at death shall we part."

Where dreams become reality. The places where one must prove that they are worthy. Blood paints the walls of happy homes. Immortality, bad trips, and murders abound in visceral, blood-soaked fright.

Death has been visited upon mired souls.

It takes talent to be able to write a short story and wrap it up in just a few pages. To make it make sense and give it an ending that stays true to the story. I always enjoy CD's short stories. The stories here are more focused on the horrors of humans, the monsters they could become, abhorrent acts occur that are brutal, and that is what adds the fright factor.

Recommended for an entertaining quick read!

Goodreads Author Link:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Calvin-Demmer/author

Amazon Author Link:

Author Website Link:

https://calvindemmer.com/

About the author

Calvin Demmer is the author of The Sea Was a Fair Master and Dark Celebrations. When not writing, he is intrigued by that which goes bump in the night and the sciences of our universe.

Review Links:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/

https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/

Monday, July 1, 2024

The Black Testament (Book of Shadows 4) by Michael Penning

Genre: Occult Horror

Format: eBook

Pages: 249

Rating: ★★★★★

Synopsis:

Hell grants nothing without sacrifice...

Haunted by the tragic loss of her mother, fearless occultist Anna Jacobs now carries on their ghost-hunting legacy alone. When a cryptic message from beyond the grave leads her to an abandoned village wrapped in silence and shadows, she crosses paths with a tormented family living in hiding. But they have dark secrets of their own. Anna's arrival awakens something ancient, something that should have stayed hidden, and she soon becomes entangled in a mystery much older and more sinister than any she has encountered before.

Beneath the eerie calm, the desolate village guards an unholy relic: the Black Testament, a grimoire gifted by the Devil himself to one of history's most infamous witches. The infernal book has claimed many lives through the centuries, weaving a legacy of death and destruction — but it may also be Anna’s only hope of saving her mother’s soul from damnation.

Prepare to be spellbound and return to a world of fierce women, dark magic, and terrifying evil in this newest chapter in the bone-chilling Book of Shadows series!

Review:

“In the dark, the shadows crawl. The night’s embrace consumes us all. The weeping trees, they call my name, and in my dreams, I play his game…” “Voices call from below; ancient power, the seeds I sow. The moon weeps blood, the stars turn black; the Devil’s hand guides my track…”

In a long-forgotten village, where there is an enshrouding darkness, where shadows linger, there is an ancient evil waiting for its release from the deepest depths beyond the veil of life.

A family living in seclusion to protect their lives from persecution.

A ghost hunter who is called from beyond the veil must travel to the abandoned village because there is something there that she needs to uncover. Something with a power so dark and evil and unholy it has claimed the lives of the innocent through centuries of time.

The Black Testament: a grimoire, gifted by the devil himself to an infamous witch.

As all their lives entwine, they must battle the evil that surrounds them. It whispers malicious intentions to follow the darkness that lies deep within, causing them to do unthinkable harm against each other, weakening the bonds that have served as their protection.

The atmospheric writing pulls us into a dark and foreboding tangled web of secrets and lies. The secluded home of the family lying at the precipice of a dark haunting forest filled with deathly whispers is claustrophobic, bleak, and gravely disturbing. The characters are intricately woven into insidious despair as they fight for survival. It's a layered tale of mystery and buried motives.

I enjoyed this so immensely, it was exciting, captivating, and the dreadfulness seeps into the bones. I am completely intrigued to read the other books in this series as I know there is so much more to learn and be enchanted by within the Book of Shadows.

Excellent, compelling, and a definite top 10 contender in my reading journey!

Goodreads Author Link:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Michael-Penning/author/

Amazon Author Link:

Author Website Link:

https://michaelpenning.com/

About the author

Michael Penning is a bestselling author and award-winning screenwriter of horror and dark fiction. He has been obsessed with all things dark and spooky since before he could finish his own sack of trick-or-treat candy. When he's not coming up with creative ways to scare the hell out of people, he enjoys travelling, photography, and brewing beer. He lives in Montreal with his wife and daughter.

Review Links: