New Fave Author | Horror Review | AstraDaemon

AFTERTASTE & OTHER STORIES by Brett O'Reilly is one of the best short story collections I've ever read in my life. I can't really pick a favorite because every horror within these pages has something original and terrifying to offer the genre.

I didn't know what to expect...I've only read one other story by this author. However, this far exceeded any possible expectations I could have. The variety alone is impressive.

This will sound cliché, but, if you only read one book this year, make it this one. I can't wait to see what Brett O'Reilly writes next.

As always,

AstraDaemon

Come Hell or High Water | Horror Review | AstraDaemon

HORRORICANE by Edward Newton (Grinning Skull Press) is the second installment in the Tempests of Terror series. However, this book and HORRORFROST function quite well as stand-alones, even though they take place simultaneously in two different US states.

While the residents of Montana are dealing with a monster in a blizzard, Florida survivors are attempting to escape from a hurricane with its own elemental Kaiju. The assortment of characters create several layers to the story, and, although the first few chapters are spent setting up the various POVs and backstories, the brutal action is nonstop once it kicks off.

I was so impressed with the first installment, I placed HORRORFROST on my Top 2020 list. With that in mind, HORRORICANE is much more thrilling. Newton has raised the bar yet again, and I'm looking forward to finding out what has been happening in California. Not only is the Tempests of Terror series making my Best of 2022 list, I am recommending this one to all fiction fans.

As always,

AstraDaemon

Best First Impression | Horror Review | AstraDaemon

CROOKED ANTLERS by J.G. Martin is one of the best collections I've ever read. When I find authors who can write like this, I don't understand why more readers aren't willing to try something new.

Not only are the stories terrifying and thrilling, but there are interlude stories featuring agents from The Facility who investigate Events...I freaking love this format, and I would love Martin to write a novel or novella centered on this concept.

Everything is so well-written, if I had the resources, I would produce an entire television series for Crooked Antlers.

As always,

AstraDaemon

Saxon Returns | Horror Book Review | AstraDaemon

THE ANUBIS EXPERIMENT: CAPTIVATING TALES by Richard Saxon includes a mix of cosmic and psychological horror, which is so dark, I had to up my anxiety meds to get through this without a panic attack. I'm not exaggerating when I say these stories will burrow into your mind in ways you'd never expect.

This is the second collection I've read by Saxon, and the author uses science fiction more heavily to deliver some hardcore pain and suffering amongst the characters and settings.

Recommending this one to all horror fans.

As always,

AstraDaemon

Not Like Old Shaw | Short Story Review | AstraDaemon

THE DOOR TO EVERYWHERE by Matt Shaw held my attention from beginning to end, but I'm not impressed in any way. No character development, no real action...jarring ending without resolution. Not really horror, and pretty bland compared to what the author usually writes.

Shaw's recent stories are not nearly as entertaining as his creations from previous years. I hope he's not burning out. I miss his cosmic horror filled with supernatural creatures.

As always,

AstraDaemon

Compromised | Short Story Review | AstraDaemon

When special investigator Cort Davies accepts a deliver for a local biker gang, he sets into motion the dangerous conclusion to a long-term undercover assignment. Every moment of the following twenty-four hours has been planned and plotted to insure success, but all it takes is one command from the gang leader to unravel months of planning. A move that will put both Cort and the package–a woman bound and gagged in the trunk of the car–into a life or death fight they never planned on.

INFALLIBLE by Ruby Ransom is a decent crime drama, but seems more like a few chapters of a bigger story.

I hope the author will consider writing a full-length novel.

As always,

AstraDaemon

Extended Warranty | Flash Fiction Review | AstraDaemon

DEBT by Joshua Scribner doesn't seem like a complete story, even for flash fiction...more like a brief chapter from a longer tale. Nothing to really make it stand out from the "sold my soul" trope.

As always,

AstraDaemon

Difficult Navigation | Short Story Review | AstraDaemon

THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG-DISTANCE REPORTER by Daniela Tomova begins as an unusual acceptance of a world filled with revenants, making use of them for entertainment, and ends as a wicked mind trip.

I'll admit the unfolding of events at the end of the race went right over my head. I didn't understand any of it. So, even though the story held my interest from beginning to end, I wasn't able to fully enjoy it...I'm not a fan of stories which make me feel stupid.

Good luck to anyone else who attempts to navigate the ending.

As always,

AstraDaemon

Family Time | Short Story Review | AstraDaemon

PLOP by Samuel Small is a short story revealing the reason a man appears to be living in a haunted house. Pretty gruesome with satisfying ending.

As always,

AstraDaemon

Sci-Fi Twist | Flash Fiction Review | AstraDaemon

THE GUARDIAN by Bradley Poage is a flash fiction story with a mix of horror and sci-fi.

While this story is pretty good, I recommend THE CREEK and THE DOLLHOUSE, both by Poage.

As always,

AstraDaemon

Snap Decision | Flash Fiction Review | AstraDaemon

A TIMELESS PLACE by Joshua Scribner is a flash fiction piece with a great build-up, but rather abrupt ending.

I really enjoy Scribner's take on the connection between dreams and waking life.

As always,

AstraDaemon

Thrilling Twist | Short Story Review | AstraDaemon

THE SURPRISE by Ruth Anna Evans is my favorite story by this author. Her other shorts don't even come close to how awesome this one is. I expected a crime drama mixed with horror, but this has a supernatural twist I could never predict.

I wish this story had been longer. I'd love a sequel. I highly recommend this one.

As always,

AstraDaemon

*since this review, the story has been added to a collection, rather than sold as a stand-alone

Wild | Science Fiction Review | AstraDaemon

Billions of years in the future, the Earth is but a distant myth. The sun had become a red giant at some point and had swallowed the inner planets, but even that was only a memory. Now it had shrunk again to a white dwarf. The civilization, which had moved to the outskirts of the solar system, was forced to capture the last bit of the precious radiation and moved closer again. There a surprise is waiting for them...

FACING THE CREATION by Sebastian Steffens is a wild sci-fi ride. The narrator is an intriguing character, and the reveal at the end left me wanting more.

As always,

AstraDaemon

Silent But Deadly | Flash Fiction Review | AstraDaemon

IN THE AIR by Joshua Scribner is a flash fiction piece centered on the capture of a biochemist accused of murder. Everything about this story is quite a surprise.

As always,

AstraDaemon

Throwback Thursday | February Book Video | Recommend Reading | AstraDaemon

"The charm of horror only tempts the strong." ~Jean Lorrain



As always,

AstraDaemon

No Story | Flash Fiction Review | AstraDaemon

SLICE by Ruby Ransom is a flash fiction piece which reveals a single torture scene, rather than a story of any kind.

Complete disappointment after reading RECONCILED by the same author. The writing styles are vastly different.

As always,

AstraDaemon

A Murder | Short Story Review | AstraDaemon

CROWS by Bradley Poage serves as warning not to mess with nature. Pretty straight-forward...I had hoped for a twist at the end.

As always,

AstraDaemon

Judge Dee Relocates | Short Story Review | AstraDaemon

SEVEN VAMPIRES: A JUDGE DEE MYSTERY by Lavie Tidhar begins with the Dee and Jonathan fleeing a fire in Paris, while churchmen hunt down vampires. The Judge has an escape plan in place, but his human companion is not crazy about traveling to England with a group of vampires.

Before they even begin their journey to a waiting ship, one of the vampires is already dead. More die along the way. The Judge is not working in his official capacity, but is determined to discover the motive.

Not nearly as dark as the first two, but more serious than the third, this short serves more as a transition story, providing a new setting for the next installment. While offering a few more details about the vampire world, I'm hoping for more backstory about Dee.

As always,

AstraDaemon

One Minute Review 6 of 6 | Flash Fiction Review | AstraDaemon

ALL HE HAD TO DO WAS WAIT by Julio Miranda is a mix of bizarro and horror...could even pass for sci-fi, depending on your perception of events.

Kind of boring compared to some of the other Horror You Crave stories.

As always,

AstraDaemon

One Minute Review 5 of 6 | Flash Fiction Review | AstraDaemon

THE THANKSGIVING MONSTER by Julio Miranda is horrific, but quite entertaining. I think I'm going to burn for liking this story so much.

As always,

AstraDaemon

One Minute Review 4 of 6 | Flash Fiction Review | AstraDaemon

DOGGIES IN THE BASEMENT by Julio Miranda is extremely disturbing...too believable for comfort. People always make the scariest monsters.

As always,

AstraDaemon

Throwback Thursday | January Book Video | Recommend Reading | AstraDaemon

"Everybody is a book of blood; wherever we’re opened, we’re red." ~Clive Barker (Books of Blood)



As always,

AstraDaemon

One Minute Review 3 of 6 | Flash Fiction Review | AstraDaemon

I'LL NEVER FORGET BEATRICE by Julio Miranda took a turn I didn't expect. Chilling ending. Highly recommend.

As always,

AstraDaemon

One Minute Review 2 of 6 | Flash Fiction Review | AstraDaemon

YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE DONE IT, MILLIE by Julio Miranda is an excellent horror story about consequences. I hope Saul and his partner are given another story of their own.

As always,

AstraDaemon

One Minute Review 1 of 6 | Flash Fiction Review | AstraDaemon

THE GOAT KILLER by Julio Miranda introduces readers to something much worse than Chupacabra.

As always,

AstraDaemon

All About You | Warhammer Horror Review | AstraDaemon

For many long years through the Age of Chaos, the lands of Ghyran suffered under the yoke of the servants of Nurgle. Disease wracked the lands, and life became an unending cycle of horror and misery. Then came light, in the form of the Stormcast Eternals, Sigmar's celestial heroes. Yet light cannot destroy darkness, as Bered Davan has learned. A witch hunter, he is no stranger to the vile things that lurk in the Mortal Realms, but as he hunts the source of a contagion, he will be tested as never before...

THE HUNT by David Annadale is told through second-person, and this ruined the story for me. I didn't feel any connection to Bered, so I didn't care what happened to him.

Annadale's story THE VINTAGE is a far better Warhammer short.

As always,

AstraDaemon

Slow Death | Warhammer Horror Review | AstraDaemon

Life in the wild places of Shyish is not as life elsewhere in the Mortal Realms. How could it be, when Shyish is the Realm of Death itself? For one inhabitant of that benighted land, the dream of life within death becomes a nightmare when dark invaders come to Shyish and takes their skull for the pleasure of a dark god. Yet even death isn't always permanent in Nagash's domain, and the sole warrior has the chance to fight again and avenge themselves on their foes…

SKULL THRONE by Jake Ozga is a great mix of suspense and horror. The POV offers a thrilling twist towards the end.

I recommend both this short and Ozga's story, ABERATION.

As always,

AstraDaemon

Sci-Fi Drama | Warhammer Horror Review | AstraDaemon

On the agri world of Ballard's Run, an invasive alien weed is killing the crops and blighting the farmers who have dedicated their lives to working the land. Kavel is one such labourer. A former member of the planet's militia, he lost his family fighting the orks a decade ago. Now the so-called 'warrior weed' threatens to take all that he has left. But fate has other plans for him… A chance encounter with a wounded woman sets him on a collision course with a group that plans to bring destruction to Ballard's Run – and nothing will stand in their way.

THE CHILD FORETOLD by Nicholas Kaufmann is a short sci-fi story with a couple of unexpected twists. Good balance of action and introspection.

As always,

AstraDaemon

Throwback Thursday | December Book Video | Recommend Reading | AstraDaemon

“Danger doesn’t lurk at every corner. It’s just hanging out, waiting for fear and horror to show up.” ~Unknown



As always,

AstraDaemon

Face-Kick | Horror Review | AstraDaemon

SIGHT OF BLOOD by Ruth Anna Evans is a mix of family drama, supernatural circumstances and gut-wrenching horror.

I feel like Evans just ran into my house, kicked me in the face and ran back out.

I'd like to see her write more with this style.

As always,

AstraDaemon

Shocking | Horror Review | AstraDaemon

HAPPY NEW YEAR by Bradley Poage is an extreme horror short, and I was not prepared for the brutal ending. Consider yourself warned.

As always,

AstraDaemon