Worm

I have had the pleasure of reading a couple of gems from horror novelist Tim Curran. His efforts on the creepy Fear Me was impressive, as well as the subterranean nightmare of The Underdwelling. I was anxious to try another of his novels and stumbled on a novella simply called Worm. It was originally published by Dark Fuse and now exists as an affordable ebook through Crossroad Press.

Curran places the reader on Pine Street in a normal, small American town. Quickly, readers are introduced to a half-dozen town residents and interesting facts about their lives. Interrupting these smooth character introductions is a riveting earthquake tremor. Shortly after, a thick black sludge erupts from the crevice and begins to envelop part of the street.

Like a 1950s science-fiction film, disgusting creatures soon emerge as if given birth through this sludge substance. These creatures have a malevolent desire to eat the town's inhabitants. Throughout the novella, the assemblage of characters interacts with each other in a unified attempt to survive the sludge and creatures. 

The pacing and action was superb, but I found myself with very little sympathy for some of the characters. They all seem to be flawed in ways that violate certain ethics and moral conduct for me personally. It is that disconnection with the character that seems to be the basis for my slight disappointment. However, Curran absolutely delivers a hair raising good time with his horrific creations. 

Worm is a throwback to films like The Blob and Night Of The Creeps in a modern style similar to Brian Keene's novel The Conqueror Worms. It is this delightful tradition and homage that makes Worm a quality read for genre fans. Get it HERE

Thirty Miles South of Dry County

Kealan Patrick Burke is an Irish author who won a Bram Stoker Award for his 2005 novella "The Turtle Boy". Along with editing anthologies, writing comics and short-stories, Burke has authored five full-length novels. I discovered the author through his novella Thirty Miles South of Dry County. It was originally published by Dark Fuse in 2016. Now, it exists in a collection called Milestone: The Collected Stories Vol. 1. It's self-published in both ebook and paperback.

Burke invites you to a place called mining community called Milestone. It's a raindrop on a rural route that few have seen...willingly. You see, Milestone is a place you visit once a lifetime after certain circumstances - dire or otherwise - have occurred. With invisible walls that seem to surround it, I felt like the town was similar to the video game/film Silent Hill. It's shrouded in fog and has mysterious forces that seem to affect people in different ways. The dead and the living call the town home. 

When an elderly, dying man named Tanner finds his friends have disappeared, he makes the fifteen mile drive to Milestone. There are many reasons why he has avoided the town his entire life. Once he arrives, he sees horrific things, including a mysterious self-appointed town mayor. To Tanner's dismay, the town knows his secret. What is it?

 
With Thirty Miles South Of Dry County, Burke presents a vivid portrait of rural America, brush stroking with remarkable detail considering his Irish upbringing. Tanner is the embodiment of the aging small town Southern man. The town of Milestone is a macabre exhibit that's surrounded with a smooth Gothic curtain. There's mystery, suspense and menace packed into this scary short novel.  

This book also irrigates previous roots sewn in Burke's novel Currency Of Souls by utilizing some of the same characters and locale. The two works are independent and compliment each other in much the same way that master storyteller Stephen King frequents Derry and Castle Rock. It is this enhancement that should satisfy long time Burke fans while still enticing newer audiences. Get the ebook HERE

Storm on the Island

Steve Fisher (1912-1980) was a prolific American author and screenwriter. Fisher cut his teeth on the early pulp magazines before transitioning into full-length novels and screenplays. I've enjoyed his short stories and was happy to discover another of his literary works on Archive.org. The novella is called "Storm on the Island" and it was published in the July, 1938 issue of The American Magazine. 

After her father‘s retirement from the Navy, Myrna invests some of his money into buying the Hawaiian Heaven Hotel off Pearl Harbor shore. She runs the small hotel and serves beer to the sailors who need a midpoint between the water and Honolulu. It’s a quiet, peaceful life until the emergency radio begins announcing that a Navy submarine has become trapped in underwater debris. After three days of monotone and grim announcements, the men on board have begun to lose the remaining oxygen. 

The sub, S14, is stuck on the ocean floor, wedged in discarded wooden wreckage with torpedo tubes that are jammed. Hoping for a rescue attempt, the Navy sends divers Harry Morris and Richard Brennan down to the vessel to attempt to clear the tubes. If they are cleared, the men can be safely ejected. But, the attempt fails and only Brennan makes it back to the surface alive. 

On the last night of the rescue attempt, readers learn that a guest in the hotel has been murdered and their corpse placed in a seldom used wine closet. Who’s dead, who’s the murderer and how is it related to the submarine disaster? The bulk of this complex mystery is brought to life when Brennan checks into the hotel awaiting a Navy request and the obligatory press interviews. 

Fisher’s hotel ensemble is a cast of likely suspects, each possessing a possible motive for murder. It’s a traditional mystery complete with a competent Hawaiian detective named Mulane probing for answers. Brennan and Myrna strike up a romance, but when Myrna’s father is murdered, all fingers point to Brennan as the killer. 

I really enjoyed this short novel, and found that Fisher was really in his element. Fisher himself served in the Navy aboard a submarine stationed in Hawaii, so his writing has a descriptive sense of realism. The romance angle is Fisher’s signature. Combining these two ingredients into a hotel murder mystery was brilliant. 

Storm on the Island is a captivating mystery with unique characters in an exotic location. Even better is that the story exists for free at archive.org HERE

Shiftling

Author Steven Savile was born in Newcastle, England in 1969. In 1997, he moved to Stockholm, Sweden and launched a prolific writing career. Savile has authored television and video game tie-in novels and stories in series titles like Warhammer, Stargate SG-1, Torchwood, Doctor Who and Stellaris. With over ten full-length novels and a number of short story collections and novellas, it was just a matter of time before I would stumble upon one. My first experience with the author is his horror novella Shiftling. It was originally published in 2013 by Dark Fuse.   

Shifting, set in the 1980s, blends coming of age storytelling with a small town mystery.  Like Brian Keene's Ghoul and Ronald Malfi's December Park, Savile crafts his story around a select group of kids who find their lives disrupted by evil. The story has the required elements of good, traditional horror fiction - a sinister house, an underground lair and a carnival. Savile could easily conjure an elementary ghoul or goblin to prey on these young characters, instead his mature talents as a creator goes well beyond that. 

This compelling narrative uses two time frames to present the events, one in 1985 and another present day. It is this retroactive sequence of events that allows readers to interpret the past through the characters' hazy recollection and misguided memories. The central horror concept is an old house and a series of underground tunnels where the terror resides. 

While there are certain horrific scenes throughout Shiftling, it is the coming of age factor and its shedding of innocence that headlines this thought provoking tale. Kudos to Savile for a fantastic effort and one that clearly shows innovative ideas are still on the loose. Buy a copy of this book HERE

The Old Man's Place (aka The Hard Guys)

John Sanford (1904-2003, born as Julian Shapiro) experienced a short career in law before discovering the literature of Ernest Hemingway. In 1931, Sanford wrote his first novel, The Water Wheel, the first of three independent titles that took place in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. After reading Sanford's amazing noir novel Make My Bed in Hell (1939), I was excited to try another of Sanford's novels. Thanks to Brash Books, The Old Man's Place was re-printed this year for the modern public. This Sanford novel was originally published as a hardcover in 1935. It was subsequently reprinted by Perma Books in paperback form in 1953. In 1957, Signet published the book as The Hard Guys. The novel was adapted into a movie in 1971 as My Old Man's Place. 

After his mother's death during childbirth, Trubee Pell was raised by his father, Walter, on a farm near Warrensburg, New York. After abandoning an unfortunate marriage, Trubee joined the army and served during World War I. It is there that he met two low-life scoundrels - James Pilgrim and Martin Flood. The audacious trio boozed it up during the war and afterwards bummed around the U.S. avoiding labor and responsibility. Out of ideas, Pell suggests that the three of them go back to New York and shack up with his father. 

Walter lives a simple, farming life in solitude. At first he's happy to see his son, but soon realizes that tribe has changed significantly since the war. The three men physically and verbally abuse Walter. They force him to work, cook their meals and provide free lodging. While mostly drunk, the men spend their days shooting, illegally hunting and robbing. During a home intrusion, James steals a stack of nude magazines. In one of the books, he finds an ad for dating. 

Like the dating apps of today, James sends out $1 and a brief biography explaining his physical appearance and attributes. The company then forwards this information to a woman in his area. In this instance, James' letter is sent to a young woman from New Jersey named Anna. Her parents have died and she is looking for a husband and a new life elsewhere. James, who is short and fat with rotten teeth, explains in his letter that he is tall, handsome and has a large farm. When Anna arrives at the Pell farm, she is shocked to find out that James does not fit his biography. In addition, she is surrounded by three vicious and sexually charged men in a foreign place miles away from anyone.

Sanford's The Old Man's Place is a carefully designed character study bursting with tension and intrigue. I found myself so emotionally invested in these characters and their raw, primal instincts. The author creates this slow spiral into some very dark places. The ethical, morally centered Walter experiences so much loss and heartache as a father. I was able to identify with this character so much and I felt so much sympathy for him. Anna, who borders upon the angelic, is pushed into this pit of vipers of violence and moral depravity. Sanford's narrative is saturated with rage and grief and has this unusual subtext on human suffering.

Like his novel Make My Bed in Hell, John Sanford is nothing short of extraordinary with The Old Man's Place. It's darkly wonderful and honest, well ahead of its time considering the 1935 publication date. Sanford is seemingly timeless, possessing a rare skillset that rivals some of the best noir authors of all-time. My hat is tipped to Brash Books for affordably inviting modern ages to experience this sensational author.

Get the book HERE

The Underdwelling

Tim Curran is a novelist from Michigan. Since 2003, Curran has authored nearly 15 novellas and over 25 full-length novels. His works are mostly horror-fiction with some fantasy and science-fiction elements. I've read a handful of his novellas and was anxious to try The Underdwelling. It was originally published in 2011 by the now defunct publisher Delirium. It now exists as an ebook via Crossroad Press. 

The tale is set in a small community in rural Michigan. It's here that third-generation miner Boyd works in the deep underground caverns of Hobart Mine. He has a wife and a baby on the way and isn't afraid of the backbreaking, gritty hard work. But, being the new kid in the caves warrants a sort of hazing. He's mistreated as an incompetent rookie by his co-workers. 

The senior crew members place Boyd on heavy grunt work on the lower bottom section of the mine. He's forced to dig out large limestone rocks so the crews can harvest the precious ore. After a disastrous break in the mine's interior walls, Boyd and four others fall into a huge underground chasm of petrified forest. 

As the five men begin to claw their way back out of the rubble, they are surprised to hear bizarre sounds coming from the lower darkness. Exploring this petrified forest, the group finds what resembles a village comprised of fossils of various animals. When the sounds start to creep closer, Boyd and his co-workers find that something is among them in the dark. 

The Underdwelling displays Curran's phenomenal storytelling skills. His descriptions had me breathing the dense dust and grime with these five characters. The sense of unease and isolation was so thick that I felt rushed just to read it. I wanted to escape this darkened prison and reach the surface light. The atmosphere, characters and pace made this story a real pleasure to read. Highly recommended. 

Get the book HERE

Tender is the Flesh

Augustine Bazterrica is an Argentinean writer of novels and short stories. Her second novel, Tender is the Flesh, earned literary prominence in her country. The 2020 Dystopian work has received international praise as a powerful, stunning look at capitalism and industrialized farming. After being encouraged by a friend, I borrowed her copy to check it out.

In the future, animals have been contaminated by a deadly virus. Due to the health risks, most of the world's animal populations have been destroyed. Due to lack of animals, cannibalism has become legal. Body farms have been created that raise humans in the same way that cattle are raised today. These humans (called heads) are raised to consume, so they have no intelligence beyond the walls of the cage. Their vocal cords are removed and based on ethnicity, race, age and gender, humans are packaged into categories and sold. Human meat (known as special meat) is then bought by processing plants (slaughterhouses) where the entire organism is used for food or manufacturing. 

Marcos is a second generation employee of the meat processing industry. He acts as an account executive for "meat runs" where he reviews processes and procurement. After experiencing the loss of a child, Marcos goes into a deep depression and his wife moves out. This loss evokes empathy for the people who are slaughtered. Most of the author's narrative is devoted to Marcos contemplating the whole meat industry and its negative impact on mankind. 

After Marcos is gifted a woman, high human grade, he begins to look after her. Naming her Jasmine, Marcos develops an illegal relationship with her that results in a pregnancy. If the law finds out he had sexual intercourse with a "head," he will be slaughtered. In order to keep the relationship and pregnancy a secret, Marcos hides Jasmine from his home and starts a process of resigning from his work. Complicating matters is the death of his elderly father and a strained relationship with his nagging sister. 

Tender is the Flesh is inspired by several novels. In many ways it resembles the 1953 dystopia novel by Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451. In this book, the protagonist begins to question the government's strict rules and the importance of free will. Other influences range from Aldous Huxley's Brave New World (1932) and the 1973 film Soylent Green, which was loosely based on Harry Harrison's 1966 novel Make Room! Make Room!. More recently, the Japanese anime The Promised Neverland, originally released in 2019, is close to the premise of the story.

As much as I wanted to like Tender is the Flesh, I found it too reliant on graphic torture and death. The central story of Marcos becoming an enlightened citizen was lost in the dense atmosphere of dismemberment and gore. Frequently, the author details the human slaughterhouse, the processes, and additional bi-products of this savage society. In disturbing scenes, Bazterrica describes the brutal torture of puppies and the raping of an adolescent girl. These scenes exist merely for shock value and reminded me of the insane carnage of Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door (1989).

I appreciated the social warnings and the clear criticism of animal cruelty, corporate greed and capitalism. There are positive takeaways, but it requires a strong stomach and the ability to distance yourself from the violence. I found it distasteful and over the top. Read at your own discretion. Get the book HERE