30 Days of Creature Features: GOBLINS

They want the children!

Someone is taking children from their homes on Roanoke Island, and gruesomely slaughtering their families.

After a small, hideous-looking creature is discovered at one of the murder scenes, Chief of Police Marcus Hale realizes whatever is responsible for the killings isn’t even human. Hale suspects a bizarre link to the past, to the end of the 16th Century, when the island’s first settlers disappeared, leaving only the word Croatoan carved into a tree.

But something far more sinister than he ever imagined is at work. And if it isn’t stopped soon, the entire island’s population will perish. Just like it did so many centuries ago.

David Bernstein has been one of my favorite authors for years, so I dug around to see if I missed any of his books and found GOBLINS. The story flips between the POVs of the humans and the goblins, which is not something I expected from the author. Honestly, I wasn't sure this would be a good idea. I thought this might make the goblins cheesy instead of chilling.

At first, the characters seem stereotypical for this sub-genre of horror, but they are believable and not the usual close-minded small-town folk. They know something is slaughtering entire families and acknowledge this might not be a serial killer after all. Some of them are even willing to consider the folklore woven into their history is an attempt to warn and protect future generations.

While not as frightening as Bernstein's other stories, I still recommend this one to fans of 80s monster movies.

As always,

Astra Daemon

Halloween Reading: Consumption Week | Plentiful Bounty | AstraDaemon

Women and children have been mysteriously disappearing from Evan’s town. And now Evan may know why. He was climbing a tree in the woods when he saw a decrepit old man toss a helpless woman into the mouth of a hideous tree-like creature.

Evan knows he can’t stop the man and the creature by himself, but he also knows no one will believe a kid with such a wild story. Only his best friend, Peter, can help him confront this terrifying evil. But if they aren’t careful, they will soon be missing too.

THE TREE MAN by David Bernstein is told through the POV of a thirteen year old boy, who has witnessed something supernatural and horrific. He then decides he must have been "chosen" to stop the evil in the forest, and enlists the help of a friend. Unsurprisingly, everything goes wrong, but the boy's deadliest mistake happened before he even tried to fight the old man and the tree.

I have been a fan of Bernstein for years, and I think this is one of his very best stories. I hope the author continues to write in this style. On a side note, I also love the cover art.

As always,
AstraDaemon

P.S. Don't forget to leave a comment to enter the giveaway for this week's autographed paperback.

Supernatural Battle

DAMAGED SOULS by David Bernstein has so many levels, I don't know where to begin. A man facing the life-changing consequences of what seemed like an insignificant decision at the time, the supernatural battle for the future of mankind, avenging the death of a loved one, interconnected fates...so much going on in this novella - never a dull moment. I also love the depth that Bernstein adds to the main character's relationships, particularly with the wife.

I've been a fan of Bernstein's for some time now, but this is unlike any of his previous work, proving the author knows his horror and doesn't limit himself to any particular sub-genre. Even though there are supernatural creatures in this story, the realistic events are the most terrifying. Some of the gore comes in spurts, but the rest of the story flows quite easily with an impressive buildup to the final struggle.

The ending is a spectacular way to tie up any loose ends, and provide the perfect closure. I recommend this book to any horror fans who miss the old-school methods of tearing the heart out of readers, and serving it still-beating within the pages.

As always,
AstraDaemon

Everything Has A Price

RELIC OF DEATH by David Bernstein begins with two mobsters who find a briefcase locked up in an old safe. When they open the case, they see what they think will solve all their problems. As with any cursed object, they end up dead, with the briefcase beginning a journey from one desperate person to another.

Each character sees what they need, but the price is always their life. At the very end, the story circles back around to the beginning. While the story is entertaining, I wish the author had included more of a backstory for the case.

Maybe a sequel could be written for the new Keeper, and offer readers the origin of the briefcase.

As always,
AstraDaemon

New Species Emerges

It has been a long and trying journey for Jack, Maria and Zaun. They’ve fought numerous battles, seen friends die and the dead reanimate.Jack has been mortally wounded and an old enemy is back in play. It will take the combined efforts of all three to defeat him, and those that survive will have to push onward and venture forth into uncharted depths as a new enemy is born and the undead evolve.

MACHINES OF THE DEAD 3 by David Bernstein begins at the exact moment book two ended. Cable is hunting Jack, Zaun and Maria, and the three friends just want to find Jack's sister. The bots are adapting and evolving, and the undead are no longer the single-minded flesh eaters they used to be.

The action is great, especially the hand-to-hand combat scenes. I am satisfied with the ending...to a point: I think Maria needs her own book. I really want to know what she finds in North Carolina. After everything she went through to help Jack, it doesn't seem fair to leave her storyline unresolved. I would also enjoy seeing some battle scenes between the survivors and The Wild Ones.

If Bernstein doesn't have time for a novella, I would settle for a short story.

As always,
AstraDaemon

Nanobots and Inmates

New York City has fallen. The bot epidemic has spread across the country. Undead roam the lands. Armed with an assortment of weapons, Jack and his crew head north into the snow-covered countryside in search of his sister, but soon find themselves in the middle of a war between the people of Cliff House and a gang of escaped inmates led by the infamous serial killer known as Cannibal.

MACHINES OF THE DEAD 2 by David Bernstein is a great follow-up, and continues to maintain the mixed theme of sci-fi and horror. Although Jack manages to escape the underground bunker, and reverse the effects of the nanobots that reanimate the dead, he faces a new challenge in the second book, in the form of a psychopath called Cannibal.

The first book ended with Jack deciding to look for his sister. In the sequel, he heads north, and finds himself in the middle of war between two compounds: the people of Cliff House, and the escaped inmates that follow Cannibal. I don't want to give away any spoilers, but one of the inmates proved to be a far more interesting adversary than Cannibal, and his fight scene with Zaun was pretty damn good.

While I loved the detail that Bernstein has put into the development of his main characters, I have to admit that I wasn't impressed with Cannibal at all. I get it: people - alive or undead, who eat human flesh, are scary, but I think Bernstein could have come up with something more original and frightening than the whole "crazy guy leading inmates & attacking the peaceful group" scenario.

Check back for my review of the final book in the trilogy.

As always,
AstraDemon

Sci-Fi Undead

The dead are rising. The island of Manhattan is quarantined. Helicopters guard the airways while gunships patrol the waters. Bridges and tunnels are closed off. Anyone trying to leave is shot on sight.

For Jack Warren, survival is out of his hands when a group of armed military men kidnap him and his infected wife from their apartment and bring them to a bunker five stories below the city.

There, Jack learns a terrible truth and the reason why the dead have risen.
With the help of a few others, he must find a way to escape the bunker and make it out of the city alive.

In MACHINES OF THE DEAD by David Bernstein, nanobots are to blame for the zombie apocalypse; Dr. Eugene Reynolds was originally attempting to create a way to heal wounded soldiers while at the same time speeding up their recovery. The military wanted to use the new technology as a weapon, prompting Dr. Reynolds to alter his experiments, but one of his test subjects, a homeless man named Derek Mayfield, escaped from the underground lab into the city above them.

After the initial outbreak, Jack and Zaun are two of the last survivors in the city, and they are given refuge in the underground bunker where the laboratory is located. Jack discovers many of Dr. Reynolds dirty little secrets, including his sadistic plans for the few remaining survivors. With the help of some soldiers who want no part in the ongoing experiments, they escape the bunker, only to find that the government was not able to contain the outbreak.

Sounds like a straight-forward plot, but Bernstein throws in a lot of surprises that I wasn't expecting, and the various levels of action made me feel like I was on a rollercoaster in an undead hell - just when things appeared to be slowing down, I was thrown through another loop of terror. The book ends when the group of survivors decide to split up to search for any family members that might have found a way to stay alive despite the chaos.

Check back for my review of the sequel...

As always,
AstraDaemon

Heads Will Roll

WITCH ISLAND by David Bernstein has the setting and characters one would usually find in an 80s horror-thriller. While not even close to the outstanding level of writing Bernstein is capable of, this novel is still quite entertaining. Anyone looking for a deep meaning or complex relationships need to look elsewhere, but horror fans looking to pass a few hours on a plane, train or bus will not be disappointed.

The concept of the witch cursing her murderers and damning their descendents is somewhat similar to The Grudge. The way in which she exacts her revenge is more like the action in Freddy vs. Jason, where everyone is screwed.

I wasn't crazy about the ending. After all the pain and suffering on all sides, I would have preferred some resolution for the witch. In any case, I read this book in one sitting, and, as I stated earlier, this is a great way to pass some time.

As always,
AstraDaemon

Monday Murder [Book Review]

Apartment 7C by David Bernstein is not quite at the level I've come to expect from this author. If I weren't already a fan, I'm not sure this story would have won me over. Granted, it's a short story, but the characters are flat, almost stereotypical, with no major plot twists...Bernstein can do much better than this.

The story is told through the POV of an elderly woman. She's living next door to a young lady being brutally beaten by her husband. No one dares help the victim because her husband is a detective with some shady connections. What appears to be a case of domestic abuse is revealed to be something more sinister. Unfortunately, Bernstein spends more time focusing on the violence, rather than the secrets that are uncovered.

However, it's well-written, it held my attention from beginning to end and has some unpredictable moments, so Bernstein fans will still want to add this to their collections.

As always,
Ursula K Raphael