Karla's Literary Korner

https://www.amazon.com/stores/J.-Cornelius/author/

Amazon Author Link:

BookBub Author Link:

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/j-cornelius

Author Website Link:

https://www.j-cornelius.com/

About the Author

J. Cornelius writes traditional and dark fantasy. His debut novel, Remembering Demons, is an epic dark fantasy novel with traditional fantasy and sci-fi elements. It is the first in The God Cycle series, a contemporary fantasy epic. Besides books, he also juggles a job as a full-time virus researcher and father of two beautiful girls and a boy for whom looks are too early to tell. He has also been a bartender, a food oil sommelier, a singer and composer of songs, and an embarrassingly avid dancer of dances. In his copious free-time he greatly enjoy making snaps and following the world of physics and cosmology, both of which have served as inspirations for the themes of The God Cycle.

Review Links:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/
https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/

Monday, January 6, 2025

THE APARTMENT: Fear Stalks the Halls (Part 3 Houses of Horror Series) by Kevin Bachar

Genre: Horror

Format: eBook

Pages: 264

Rating: ★★★★

Synopsis:

An unholy being is unleashed in the terrifying novel from the EMMY-award-winning producer and screenwriter of the LIONSGATE horror film THE INHABITANT.

What if the horrors of the past seeped into the present? THE APARTMENT is a place where every hallway, door, and staircase leads to madness. And where a serial killer by the name of THE HARVESTER has decided to stalk their victims.

Benjamin and his girlfriend Katherine move to New York City. Instead of stylish Manhattan, or hip Brooklyn, the couple end up on Roosevelt Island, a spit of land in the middle of the East River.

It's secluded and steeped in sordid history. The place was once known as the ‘Island of the Damned’ when it was home to a prison, a smallpox hospital, and a mysterious building where strange experiments occurred.

Review:

Katherine aka Kat has a special gift. Starting at the age of eight she has been able to see beyond what others are not able to. Pictures appearing in her mind showing her events happening or are yet to happen. Spirits appear to her at times, but there is one that is malicious, a bringer of doom.

After a traumatic experience at the age of eight, her ability goes dormant for many years. She has also become very susceptible to becoming terribly ill. She must be incredibly careful not to be exposed, so she mostly stays secluded.

"Time and trauma had etched their mark, leaving her with a perpetual wariness in her storm-grey eyes."

As her life moves forward, she has found love and a new future. She takes a huge leap of faith and moves to New York with her boyfriend, Benjamin. He chooses an apartment on a less populated island to help protect Kat from being exposed to illnesses.

Kat soon learns that the apartment building and the island have many hidden dark secrets, and it has awoken her ability. Once again, she starts to see disturbing and horrible things.

The other tenants seem strange and distant, often cranky.

"Some people are just not pleasant."

There is now a murderer among them. The crimes are heinous and have everyone on edge, feeling unsafe.

As thoughts of the island linger in Kats mind, her visions become more frightening, and her dreams become more disturbing. She does not quite feel like her normal self anymore.

Murder and mystery abound within these pages. Kat's character is so intriguing as she is not easy to figure out because of her ability, it turns one's mind to really wonder what is actually going on, what is real and what is not. The lingering spirits are unsettling because of how much pain they are in, lost and trapped. The most disturbing is learning what occurred on the island many, many years before, heart wrenching.

The end chapters are full of surprises!

Ghosts, paranormal, thriller, serial killer, mystery, and horror. This was a fun read!

Goodreads Author Link:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Kevin-Bachar/author/

Amazon Author Link:

BookBub Author Link:

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/kevin-bachar

Author Website Link:

https://www.kevinbachar.com/

About the author

I’m a national EMMY award-winning documentary filmmaker and WGA screenwriter. If you’ve watched National Geographic, PBS, or The Discovery Channel you’ve seen my work. I’m the idiot in the water filming sharks in murky water or vampire bats in pitch-black caves. But I sometimes like to leave the factual world behind and work in fiction.

The elevated horror film I wrote - The Inhabitant - was released through Lionsgate last fall and is available on Prime. A reviewer in The Guardian wrote - “...there’s a lot more finesse here in the telling of the backstory … and a sense of menace lurking around every corner in the bland suburban setting; together it evokes indie “elevated horror” features such as It Follows.”

Review Links:

Saturday, January 4, 2025

The Atropine Tree by Sarah Read

Genre: Occult Horror

Format: eBook

Pages: 317

Rating: ★★★★★

Synopsis:

Aldane Manor is an ancient home of low-beamed ceilings, crumbling walls, poison gardens, and deadly secrets.

When Alrick Aldane returns to his family’s house, he expects to simply inherit his father’s land and title.

Instead, he discovers that he is also heir to the property’s disturbing history--one full of witchcraft--and a ghostly mystery that could condemn him to a fate worse than death.

Review:

"The wood was stained in splotches of unnatural colors, the surrounding plaster absorbing the hues—purples, reds, yellows fading out from the doorway as if it were a portal to another world."

House Aldane is a manor with a dark history. When Lord Aldane passes, the family is now all gathered in the manor. Alrick is under the impression that he will now be Lord of the manor, but his older stepbrother, Aemon, has other plans. He has gone to great lengths to ensure he will be Lord, and he uses his position of power in an unkind manner.

Tredan is Alrick and Aemon's uncle who is also the alchemist of House Aldane. He works hard to save many ill orphan children, and he is now teaching Alrick the craft.

Alrick is a gentle soul and only wants what is rightfully his. He also wishes to help as many people as he can while keeping the family together and peaceful.

"No healing could occur with Aemon in power—he was a hot infection keeping the wound open. Alrick would be the medicine. If necessary, the scalpel."

Nelda is Aemon and Alrick's sister. She is fascinated with nightshade and belladonna, and the trees such as laurel and oleander. Her mother's garden is filled with poisonous plants which she indulges in to open the door to the other side.

As Tredan and Alrick work together to prove he is the rightful Lord, many hidden secrets become known.

"There was duty to consider. And not all of the voices in the Aldane halls were happy. Frightened maids. Cries of anger. And the dead. So many voices out of their bottles."

The Atropine Tree is a wonderfully written dark gothic horror novel. Fascinating characters and an engaging plot. Questionable practices, shattered lives as well as a decaying manor. Trapped souls, some hateful, and some that are favorable. Sickly scenes of death. Deeply buried secrets to unveil. A dark manor full of deceit, tension, danger, and adventure.

I really enjoyed reading this one, just fabulous!

**Thank you Bad Hand Books for the complimentary copy!

Goodreads Author Link:

https://inkwellmonster.wordpress.com/

Amazon Author Link:
https://www.amazon.com/stores/Sarah-Read/author/

Author Website:

About the author

Sarah Read writes and reads dark fiction in Colorado. She is Fiction Editor for Pantheon Magazine. When she's not playing with words, she's playing with yarn. Her hands are perpetually covered in ink.

Publisher Website Link:
https://badhandbooks.com/

"You can do a lot with a bad hand. We're bringing you the best horror, crime, and dark fantasy fiction."

Review Links:

Tuesday, December 31, 2024

It Lurks by Daniel Dean

Genre: Horror

Format: eBook

Pages: 96

Rating: ★★★★

Synopsis:

What starts as an ordinary Christmas night for John and Caitlyn, quickly turns into a nightmare after they crash their car on their way home. It's not the accident that changes everything, though. It's what's out in the woods. It's what they don't understand. It's what they can't explain.

Review:

Christmas, a time when creating memories should be happy and comforting, A time spent with family, friends, or who is most important in life.

For John and Caitlyn, Christmas was challenging. Time with family was an unpleasant experience. Leaving early, not wanting to be there anymore, they head out in a bad storm thinking that they could make it home safely. As the storm becomes more daunting, strange happenings begin to occur, resulting in crashing their car. As the hours pass by, they realize their situation is becoming dire and they must figure out what they should do to survive. Leaving the car and heading out into the woods, they come upon a cabin. Hoping to stay warm and safe inside, they realize that the real nightmare is just beginning.

"The storm turned angry as the seconds ticked by, but Mother Nature didn't distribute her wrath evenly. Instead, she targeted them."

There is something lurking outside, haunting, and sinister.

"The snowman sat just ten feet from the cabin window."

This is an entertaining novella. There are some creepy elements, but mostly I felt that this is a "mind bender." The characters are separated from their reality, but they never really have an answer as to why it's all happening. This leaves everything open to one's own interpretation and it has an open ending, which really keeps one thinking about what the hell just happened and why.

A fun winter read that may give one a different opinion of snowmen lurking in other people's yards!

** Thank you to the author for reaching out, it's much appreciated!

Goodreads Author Link:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Daniel-Dean/author/

Amazon Author Link:

Authors Linktree:

https://linktr.ee/danieldeanauthor

Review Links:

Sunday, December 29, 2024

Burning Glass (Book 2: The Glass Wings Series) by Elle Kaelee

Genre: Dark Urban Fantasy

Format: Paperback (ARC)

Pages: 342

Rating: ★★★★★

Synopsis:

She felt lifeless, her skin glowing like a siren on the hunt, a ghost adrift in the sea.

In the second installment of the Glass Wings series, Hadley has narrowly escaped her own kidnapping. Now hidden away in the remote mountains, she struggles to heal, haunted by her translucent wings and a mysterious shadow self that whispers only to her. But her peace is fleeting. The enigmatic Goddess Ayurveda seeks Hadley’s power for a dazzling and dangerous plan to rule over both the Earth realm and Myrilosis.

As Hadley grapples with her fractured heart and untamed abilities, she must choose between following the Goddess's treacherous path or forging her own destiny. But with the Kinnari and Vrae uniting to stop them, the world teeters on the edge of destruction. The fate of both Earth and Myrilosis hangs in the balance, and Hadley is key to either their salvation or their destruction.

Review:

"Gods were not symbols of bounty and harmony, they were symbols of retribution, of penance, of brutality. There was a special kind of sinister motivation, to create life and then torture it throughout its existence."

Discovering that she is Kinnari, Hadley continues her journey to discover more about who she is. She is confused, hurt, and angry. She has been claimed by her creator; Ayurveda, who is out to increase her power to become the ruler of earth and Myrilosis. She has Hadley assisting her to destroy many but after Hadley is separated from Ayurveda, she begins to question everything pertaining to her existence, her immortality, her new powers, and her feelings of betrayal and loneliness.

The Kinnari and the Vrae have come together to stop Ayurveda from her destruction. There is still descension between them and they are very unbalanced in their beliefs. With much of Myrilosis and its inhabitants now destroyed, there are few survivors left.

The earth's rotation is slowing, the moon is dying, and all is dependent upon the decisions that will be made.

Continuing from Book 1; Glass Wings, we learn so much more about the characters and we are introduced to new characters. The world building is expanded upon creating a vast, dark, magical realm.

Gods and Goddesses. Kinnari and Vrae. New characters from the depth of the sea. Morally gray characters. A wyvern. A realm with portals that allow entry to earth. A fantastical world!

A very adventurous, enjoyable, uniquely created dark fantasy!

**A truly kind thank you to Nicole Kincaid PA and Elle Kaelee for a complimentary copy, it is very much appreciated!

Goodreads Author Link:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Elle-Kaelee/author/

Amazon Author Link:

Author Website:

https://www.ellekaelee.com/

About the author

Elle Kaelee is a first-generation American author and mother who lives in the Pacific Northwest. After graduating with her B.F.A in musical theater, she gets inspired by people, relationships, and unique settings. This gives her an excuse to travel frequently. She also had raised an orange cat who yells like a seagull with her husband.

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

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

Sunday, December 8, 2024

My UnderSlumberBumbleBeast by Zoje Stage

Genre: Children's Fantasy

Format: eBook

Pages: 74

Rating: ★★★★★

Synopsis:

Nine-year-old Pru has many hobbies: inventing things, collecting stuff, and learning new and interesting words.

But her newest passion is discovering the source of the weird sounds she hears at night-coming from beneath her bed. Ever since she was very little, Pru suspected there might be a special kind of creature making a home in her room. But because UnderSlumberBumbleBeasts only come out in the dark, she had never seen one.

That all changes one day after Pru's mom asks her to clean her room-an ordinary request that sets off an extraordinary chain of events. And Pru's life will never be the same.

First depicted in the international sensation Baby Teeth, a novel for adults, My UnderSlumberBumbleBeast is a quirky and charming story about a girl with a most unusual way of making new friends. Watch what grows underneath the bed...

Review:

"One of my hobbies is collecting words--I really like finding words that roll around in my brain in a special way."

Pru is an endearing child with a healthy love of words and a big imagination. What many children fear, Pru rather takes an interest in all the wonders.

The possibilities are endless as each UnderSlumberBumbleBeast comes to life and opens a whole new world for Pru to discover. Her new friends need to be looked after and provided with care, but it has become overly complicated for young Pru. She sets her mind on figuring out a solution to her problem.

Written with vivid imagery, creativity, and including wonderful illustrations, My UnderSlumberBumbleBeast will surely capture the hearts of many children.

**All my thanks to Bad Hand Books for the complimentary Copy!

Goodreads Author Link:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Zoje-Stage/author/

Amazon Author Link:

Author Website Link:

https://zojestage.blogspot.com/

About the author

Zoje Stage is the USA Today and internationally bestselling author of the psychological thrillers Baby Teeth and Getaway, and the psychological horror novels Wonderland and Mothered. Her books have been named "best of the year" by Forbes Magazine, Library Journal, PopSugar, LitReactor, Barnes & Noble, Book Riot, and more. Dear Hanna—the follow-up to her international sensation Baby Teeth—will be available Aug. 2024. She lives in Pittsburgh with her cats.

Publisher Link:

https://badhandbooks.com/

Review Links:

Saturday, December 7, 2024

Kill Your Darling by Clay McLeod Chapman

Genre: Horror

Format: eBook

Pages: 167

Rating: ★★★★★

Synopsis:

The acclaimed author of Ghost Eaters and What Kind of Mother is coming to Bad Hand Books.

The body of Glenn Partridge’s 15-year-old son was discovered in a vacant lot nearly forty years ago. The police are still no closer to finding the murderer decades later.

Glenn refuses to let the memory of his son fade—or let anyone else within this small working-class community forget. His long-suffering wife signs him up for an amateur fiction-writing workshop at the local library, just to get him out of the house and out of his own head.

Rule number one: Write what you know—so Glenn decides to share his son’s story. The class offers him a chance to make sense of a senseless crime and find the fictional closure life never provided. But as Glenn’s story takes on a life of its own, someone from the past is compelled to come out of hiding before he reaches…

The End.

Review:

"Everybody's got at least one good book in them, so my book is about Billy."

Glenn and Carol have lost their child, their only son at 15 years old. He was brutally murdered, and the case was never solved. 40 years later, Glenn is still feeling the grief and the frustration of not knowing who murdered his son. He has let it consume his entire life, and he does not stop searching until he finds some sort of answer to what happened that senseless night.

The grief in this story is so palpable and unrelenting. My heart still feels the depth of the pain of the character's.

"She tried on a smile, and it didn't fit, so she took it away."

This is grief horror at its deepest level. It is not a beautiful story; it is not a happy story, but it is a story that reaches deep into the depths of ourselves, evoking empathy and compassion. The depths of a parents love and the lengths one will go to find some sort of closure and peace.

An unforgettable experience!

**Thank you so much, Bad Hand Books, for the complimentary copy!

Goodreads Author Link:

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/clay-mcleod-chapman

BookBub Author Link:

Amazon Author Link:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Clay-McLeod-Chapman/author/

Author Website Link:

https://claymcleodchapman.com/

Clay McLeod Chapman is the author of novels What Kind of Mother, Ghost Eaters, Whisper Down the Lane, The Remaking, and miss corpus, story collections nothing untoward, commencement and rest area, as well as The Tribe middlegrade series: Homeroom Headhunters, Camp Cannibal and Academic Assassins.

His new novel, Wake Up and Open Your Eyes, arrives on January 7, 2025. Upcoming projects include the novelette Stay On The Line (Shortwave Books), the novella Kill Your Darling (Bad Hand Books) and the creator-owned comic limited series Seance in the Asylum (Dark Horse Comics).

Quiet Part Loud, a 12-part horror podcast from Jordan Peele/Monkeypaw Productions, written by Chapman and Mac Rogers, is available on Spotify.

Chapman’s story late bloomer was adapted into a short film, directed by Craig William Macneill. An official selection at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, the short won Best Short at the Lake Placid Film Festival and the Brown Jenkins Award at the 12th Annual H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival.

Their second short, Henley, based on the chapter “The Henley Road Motel” from Chapman’s novel miss corpus, was an official selection at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. It won Best Short at the 2011 Gen Art Film Festival and the 2011 Carmel Arts and Film Festival. The Boy (SXSW 2015), a feature-length adaptation of Henley, co-written with director Macneill, was produced by SpectreVision (Elijah Wood, Daniel Noah, and Josh C. Waller) in 2015.

In comics, Chapman is the writer of the Marvel series Scream: Curse of Carnage. He has written Absolute Carnage: Separation Anxiety, Iron Fist: Phantom Limb, Typhoid Fever, as well as for Edge of Spider-Verse and Venomverse, The Avengers, Amazing Spider-Man, Ultimate Spider-Man, American Vampire, Scream: King In Black, and ORIGINS among others.

He is the creator of Self Storage (451 Media) and Lazaretto (BOOM! Studios).

Chapman is the creator of the rigorous storytelling session The Pumpkin Pie Show. In the twenty years of its existence, it has performed internationally at the Romanian Theatre Festival of Sibiu, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, New York International Fringe Festival, Winnipeg Fringe Festival, Edmonton Fringe Festival, Minnesota Fringe Festival, Dublin-based thisisnotashop art space, IGNITE Festival, Women Center Stage Festival and Impact Theatre Festival.

Chapman wrote the book for Hostage Song (music & lyrics by Kyle Jarrow). He is the author of such plays as commencement, the cardiac shadow and volume of smoke. His story-monologues birdfeeder, undertow and the wet echo have been featured in The Best American Short Plays anthologies.

Chapman was educated at the North Carolina School of the Arts for Drama, the Burren College of Art, and Sarah Lawrence College. He currently teaches writing at The Actors Studio MFA Program at Pace University.

Publisher Link:

https://badhandbooks.com/

Review Links: