True Power

A MEMORY OF HAPPINESS by Erik Lynd is essentially a story of hate and loss. A warlock remembers being attacked by a village, but the same people now need his help. Even though he is powerful, he is not sure if he has the power to forgive, until another shows him something else even more powerful than magic and forgiveness.

A family drama set in a fantasy short...solid writing, but not as entertaining as some of the author's previous stories.

As always,
AstraDaemon

The Never-Ending Sacrifice

THE PLAYGROUND OF LOST CHILDREN by Erik Lynd is one of his best stories yet. The author mixes the supernatural with crime drama, creating a dark thriller about a detective facing her childhood fear. The flashback to the day her little brother disappeared is perfectly placed, and the playground appears to be a terrifying version of a fairy circle. The ending is bittersweet.

I usually prefer stand-alone stories, but I'd love some kind of sequel to reveal more of the history behind the secret place in the woods.

I also recommend IN THE PIT, which features another character experiencing flashbacks to a troubled childhood.

As always,
AstraDaemon

A Deadly Decision

Escaping from the killer was the easy part, surviving the frozen mountain landscape is another story. When a hunter gives her a second chance at life, Emily must decide what she is going to do with it: safety and comfort or vengeance.

THE PRINCESS, THE HUNTSMAN, AND THE MONSTER by Erik Lynd features a subject found in news headlines and twisted into something resembling a fairy tale. I kept expecting a supernatural element, so the ending really caught me off guard. Basically, this is a coming of age story, with Emily discovering who she really is. Very different from Lynd's previous work.

As always,
AstraDaemon

Damned & Discarded

HIS DEVIL by Erik Lynd is a flash fiction piece about a father who bails on his family for two years, then makes a violent entrance one night, with trouble on his heels. I'm vexed because the author never reveals what is really going on with the dad, and the ending is abrupt. Lynd missed an opportunity to write a longer, more horrific story.

BEING IT is a bonus short story about a businessman being sucked into a twisted game of tag. His sudden downward spiral is something readers will recognize as something most of us fear in real life: to be dismissed without so much as an afterthought.

While the two stories are definitely worth reading, most of the e-file is a sample promotion of another title by the author, which I could've done without. I do recommend DREAMS, IN THE PIT and PSYCHOPOMP by Erik Lynd.

As always,
AstraDaemon

Post-War Alien Contact

THEY EAT THEIR OWN by Erik Lynd is a sci-fi short set in the future, after an extensive war with aliens. With no victory in sight for either side, a treaty was created, but some will never feel peace.

Jake just wants to be left alone with his dog Max, but one of the aliens crashes onto his land. This triggers a flashback of basic training, where the human soldiers are warned, "They eat their own." As a result, the surviving aliens become stronger, unless they are completely destroyed.

The ending is somewhat predictable, but the post-war setting is very intriguing. I wouldn't mind reading a full-length novel about the war itself.

As always,
AstraDaemon

Wet and Lonely

DARK ON THE WATER by Erik Lynd centers on a grieving husband who lost his wife to a drowning accident near their lake house. There's more focus on his feelings than the past events with his wife. There is a moment with the neighbor, who has also lost his wife to suicide, when the lake appears to have a sinister secret. Unfortunately, the author lets the moment pass without any follow-through.

This is not a horror story. At best, one might be able to call it paranormal-suspense, but the lack of action is disappointing. Lynd has written much better stories than this.

As always,
AstraDaemon

A Quick Drop & A Sudden Stop

THE HANGING TREE by Erik Lynd is a very short story. (Most of the e-file is a preview of Lynd's horror novel, Asylum.) The author had me hooked as soon as Old Man Rudy began his ramblings about the Hanging Tree's dark history. The dynamics of the friend group, and the conflicts between their families fueled the suspense.

The turn of events isn't really surprising, but the ending is somewhat abrupt. I would have read an entire novel about the boys and the tree. Lynd does an amazing job of fleshing out the main characters in just a few pages, but he left me wondering about the nature of the tree and its companions. The author could do so much more with this premise.

As always,
AstraDaemon

Jeremey Deserves Better

SIEGE OF THE BONE CHILDREN by Erik Lynd begins with a grieving father and a memory of a cryptic revelation from his son: "Not me dad, you." Malcom didn't understand why his son felt the need to build a cardboard fort for him, nor did he realize it would be the last thing they did together, before his son is killed in an accident.

"The creaking of the stairs woke him from a sweaty sleep."

From that point on, I was absolutely terrified for Malcom. I also wondered, more than once, if Jeremy had some special gift of sight. I experienced this nightmare as both a parent and a child. Malcolm's son included so many surprises within the fort, increasing the the suspense and drama with every detail. The ending, unfortunately, really aggravated the hell out of me.

I hate to be THAT reviewer, but I can think of several other ways Lynd could've chosen to end the battle. I think Lynd basically gave the finger to Malcolm, and the author needs to do right by Jeremy. PLEASE WRITE A SEQUEL.

As always,
AstraDaemon

Pain and Suffering in the Lair [INTERVIEW]

About a year ago, in February 2018, I reviewed Children of God: Poems, Dreams and Nightmares From The Family Of God Cult, co-written by Craig DiLouie and Jonathan Moon:

"Children of God: Poems, Dreams and Nightmares From The Family Of God Cult is an astounding collaboration between Craig DiLouie and Jonathan Moon, featuring a fictional literary collection written by cult members coping with PTSD through writing. Do you understand? These two authors created The Family of God history and the cult's surviving members, complete with personal backgrounds, individual traumatic memories and their own voices. Take a moment to let that level of creativity sink in." (Read the full review here.)

I first became a fan of DiLouie through his Infection series and his novel Tooth and Nail. I learned to expect brutal military battles with nightmarish extremes and heavily traumatized characters struggling with amorality. In contrast, I never knew what to expect from Moon, whether it was psychological symbolism in Heinous or the supernatural undead in Hollow Mountain, but I became a fan knowing I was always guaranteed one hell of a reading experience.

When I learned these two apocalyptic authors had written something together, I was equal parts excited and fearful. I wondered what godless abomination the two could have created, and entertained the possibility I would be scarred for life after reading their novel. Nothing in my horror career could have prepared me for the overwhelming despair and suffering found within the Children of God.

I thought it would be a great way to start the year by bringing both DiLouie and Moon into the Lair, and digging into the dirt with the two...

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Co-authors, Craig DiLouie (L) and Jonathan Moon (R)

Let’s get to it. How did this project come into existence? Is this something you discussed at a horror convention or some late night gathering over the net?

DiLouie: Children of God is a book of poems written by the survivors of an apocalyptic cult that committed mass suicide. Unable to talk about their experiences for years, they finally open up when a psychologist treats them using poetry therapy, which has proved successful for victims of trauma such as war veterans. The survivors use all sorts of poetic forms—sonnets, villanelles, rap songs, free verse, and so on—to tell for the first time why they joined the cult, what they hoped, and how it all went wrong.

Jon and I came up with it at Crypticon, a regional horror con in Seattle. We knew it likely wouldn’t be a big commercial hit, but we were in love with the idea and had to make it happen.

Moon: Craig is being modest. This baby is his brainchild and he was kind enough to let me play along. He had the basic idea and we brainstormed over Crypticon weekend. We spent weeks building the mythos and characters through phone calls and emails. Over the next few months we started almost deconstructing the larger story we had into all these different threads- each unique and able to add varying dimensions to that story.

This is quite a departure from the fiction you’re both known for. Did that make co-writing easier or more difficult?

DiLouie: As a novelist, sure, it was hard to find my voice with poetry, but as a writer, it was really just learning to ride a new type of bike. One I got into it, I had a lot of fun. Really, in the end, getting the story right wasn’t the poetic format but finding the characters and what they wanted to say. Once we created these people and believed in them, we tuned into their silent screaming and gave them a voice.

Jon was instrumental in all this. One of the first things he said was, “We’re going to take these people seriously.” Which was the perfect mindset for doing it right. As a result, we told their stories with respect and something like love, allowing the horror to reveal itself in a natural way.

Otherwise, I find it easy to co-author something when you let the other writer do their thing. I took on several characters and wrote their poems, while Jon took on others. That provided even greater variety in the voices and emotions for the ensemble cast of characters.

Moon: This came together remarkably smooth in my opinion. I dabble in poetry, so it was fun to build the story through poems. Working with Craig was very easy for me despite our styles being so different. I felt like it was a welcome challenge to us both to get outside of our various comfort zones to create something as intense as what we envisioned together. We shared the goal of creating something powerful early and once we had the core story we each had the freedom to create the various lenses through which we present it.

How did you approach the research? Did you find yourselves becoming emotional or overwhelmed with the source material?

DiLouie: The storytelling was emotional for me in that you have these people who are just a little broken but then find a family and a simple view of the confusing world that makes sense to them. They believe with all their heart things are going to change, and Jesus is coming back in their lifetime. That level of belief and commitment leads to increasing isolation and self-immolation until the decision comes down from the group’s leader that they aren’t waiting for Jesus, Jesus is waiting for them. So you have this beautiful thing—family, sacrifice, hope, faith, love—that slowly becomes perverted into something evil largely due to these things being driven to the edge for a goal that just wasn’t going to happen.

Otherwise, I read a lot about cults and why people join them. The thing is people in cults don’t see themselves as cultists. To them, they’re in a family of like-minded people. I was fascinated about the psychology of it, how somebody could slowly and willingly lose their identity and take a belief to the point of self-mutilation, murder, and suicide. I’m hoping readers will come away from Children of God not just with a good story but with some understanding of these people. Even at the end, even after everything the survivors went through, some of them still long for being back in the group. They may have left the cult, but the cult never left them.

Moon: I have been fascinated with cults since I was young. To me they represent so many things about humans and our behaviors in groups outside of mainstream society in one way or another. I have always wondered about them as group thought examples and since watching the news reports of the Heaven’s Gate cult when I was in high school I have focused as much on how each individual in that group can personally get to the point of full dedication, even to the point of violating their own socially excepted morals. We strongly focused on the religious aspect, which as Craig mentioned, follows a trajectory from positivity and hope to depraved and tragic violence. This was honestly a challenge to me in getting into that kind of an all-consuming devoted mindset our characters shared.

What has been the general reception of this novel? Do you think the mix of writing styles is a strength or weakness?

DiLouie: The poetry collection has been very well received, but honestly, poetry is a hard sell, and it’s difficult even to break into the horror poetry community unless you dedicate yourself to the form. Jon and I also recognized we may be good storytellers but not razor-sharp poets, though that fit the fact average people were expressing themselves through poetry.

None of that mattered. Jon and I knew all that going into it and didn’t care. We wanted to create something beautiful and horrific, and I believe we succeeded. So while Children of God hasn’t been widely read and likely never will, those who have read it understood it and were affected by it. That for us was a big win. That’s what we wanted. I’m really proud of it.

Moon: I concur fully with Craig here. We knew it was experimental, and could be a hard sell overall, but we were too excited to not follow it all through. None of my work is written with hopes of massive sales or fame, just not my style. Most of my own work is created just to get the story out of my head. I have a small crowd of awesome and dedicated fans and as long as they are digging what I’m doing I am fine. So far most who have read CoG have enjoyed it. I call that successful. I too am proud of what we created together. I think our styles blend with the cast of characters to the point I bet most people couldn’t pick which of us created which characters. Just all gelled together.

What are you hoping to achieve with this book? Are you pushing the boundaries of horror or experimenting with a mix of genres?

DiLouie: We wanted to show the tragedy of horror coming from something beautiful being twisted, while experimenting with many poetic forms to tell a story of faith and love disintegrating into madness.

Moon: I definitely feel like we focused on a more realistic form of horror, pulling it from emotions which I think many people can relate to on one level or another.  The cult members came from all walks of life, each susceptible to the cult for their own reasons. To me we demonstrated how most people, given the right circumstances, could be caught up in something like this. For sure a new kind of terror for me to work with.

How many readers have confused this for nonfiction?

DiLouie: The conceit is the survivors of a doomsday cult wrote the poems, which Jon and I edited. This makes the poetry collection epistolary literature—“found footage fiction.” Some readers have confused it with nonfiction. I’m conflicted about it to be honest. While belief it’s real heightens the enjoyment a la The Blair Witch Project, I don’t like fooling readers. Honestly, I’m hoping readers will add belief it’s real to their willing suspension of disbelief, if that make sense.

Moon: I have had more people ask me, “is this for real?”, than anything else I have ever written.

Will fans ever see another collaboration from the two of you?

DiLouie: I enjoy collaborating on works or series where each author does their own thing and it all comes together. With Children of God, this approach worked beautifully. That being said, I have so many projects on the go I’m not sure how much time I have to contribute to any more collaborative projects. If I do, I’d love to work with Jon again. He’s a good storyteller, brings pride but not ego to his work, and has a wonderfully twisted imagination and turn of phrase.

Moon: I also really enjoyed working with Craig, and if the right idea cooked up between us I would always be down to work with him again. It would have to be down the road a bit because I am 8 kinds of busy right now. I have only collaborated with a few people- Craig and Tim Long- both were wonderful experiences for me. Chances to work with fantastic writers to create something together is all win.

What do you have planned for 2019?

DiLouie: This year, I wrapped up my self-published WW2 series Crash Dive, which sold very well, and next year I’ll be launching another. I also enjoyed publication of my dark fantasy novel One of Us in hardcover, audiobook, and eBook from Orbit, one of the best sci-fi and fantasy publishers in the world. In February, it’s coming out in bookstores in trade paperback. This is a Southern Gothic misunderstood monster novel author Claire North described as “The Girl with All the Gifts meets To Kill a Mockingbird,” which nails it. Then my next novel with Orbit, Our War, will be published later in 2019. This one is about a brother and sister forced to fight as child soldiers on opposite sides of a second American civil war.

Moon: I will be earning my Master’s in Anthropology in 2019! Fiction-wise I have a few projects just about ready to release, just held captive by my own self-doubt. Between fall 2018 and summer 2019 I hope to release my first collection of poetry (In Memory of Autumn Leaves), a collection of all my work with Jordan Krall’s Dynatox Ministries, and two or three novellas. I have an EPIC fantasy novel, okay two novels so far, I have been working on for the last 3 or 4 years, hopefully 2019 will see it get closer to done. Also, been working on a brutal and emotional population control novel for a few years which I’ll have time to work on after I finish my Master’s thesis.

Special thanks to DiLouie and Moon for making time for this interview! Once again, I am recommending CHILDREN OF GOD to any readers interested in the cult phenomenon or any horror fans looking for something different from the usual slash and dash.

"A journey like none other that lives and breathes its progression of faith and destruction." ~HorrorNews.net

As always,
AstraDaemon

It Was An Accident

Samuel is a prisoner, innocent to some, guilty to others. But his prison is different than any other. Here the dead have a habit of coming back to life, madness is just around the corner, and the only real escape is into hell itself.

In the Pit by Erik Lynd is full of terrifying twists. Samuel wakes in his cell into what appears to be a night terror. His reluctance to explain his fear lands him in solitary confinement, where he experiences flashbacks to his troubled childhood. He thinks he might be going crazy, but the secret within the prison walls is more insane than any of Samuel's thoughts.

Lynd's vivid descriptions of the abominations surrounding Samuel left me feeling as trapped and frightened as the prisoner. I focused so much on his tortured soul, the ending came as one hell of a surprise.

As always,
AstraDaemon

Reality or Delusion? You Decide.

An ancient evil born in the fire at the dawn of time with an insatiable hunger for violence and dread. Cursed with a weak physical form in our plane of reality HEINOUS seeks out hosts to do his bidding and feed his need for brutality and atrocity. Gavin Wagner is a decent kid from a happy home-not exactly the kind of person you think of as an instrument of evil. Gavin spends his time hanging out with his friend, smoking ganja, and wandering around the woods. After making a sinister discovery in the woods Gavin becomes the newest host for HEINOUS, a monster unlike any other. Gavin is forced to witness the despicable visions of former hosts as the demon instructs him to destroy those he loves most. Gavin struggles for control as Heinous unleashes him on a wild spree of terror with only one possible outcome.

Heinous by Jonathan Moon is not shocking, frightening or gory, and that left me a little confused about what the author had planned for this story. There is an incredible build up of the madness and suffering that Gavin felt and thought before he committed his atrocities - under duress, as he claims, but when it comes to the actions of Gavin, Moon sort of glosses over the monstrous carnage...with the exception of his dreams. So, I can't be sure if that was the author's way of showing the reader how Gavin was deluding himself.

I did find Heinous interesting because the author uses a lot of psychological symbolism that will have you questioning the sanity of the main character, Gavin Wagner, from the very beginning. The one attribute of Heinous that is somewhat scary is the thought that some people reading this book might be able to relate to Gavin's predicament with the source of his sickness: blaming a force beyond his control, and not being able to tell anyone about it.

I especially enjoyed the way Moon divides up the book by alternating between Gavin's dream sequences and Gavin's descriptions of major events in his life (I've only seen this style in one other book). Moon moves beyond foreshadowing, and paints a macabre picture of the struggle between the subconscious and the conscious that could eat away at anyone's sanity. Moon runs with that particular theme, and creates a desperate climax towards the close of Gavin's story.

As always,
AstraDaemon

Dreams vs. Memories

Desire will drive a man to do many things and make many mistakes. When magic and witch's brew are involved, however, those mistakes can have unimaginable consequences.

Dreams by Erik Lynd opens with a rather intriguing flashback, setting the main character, Gary, apart from the typical patron of psychics. He belongs to a coven and believes remembering his dreams will help him advance in his lessons. Unfortunately, Gary is obsessed with the coven's leader, Sheila. The means to the end become the end...of Gary.

I feel sorry for Gary in a way. I know what it's like to dream so vividly, for so long, and waking up with extra memories. I think anyone who is into lucid dreaming will really enjoy this short story. Gary's misfortune would make a great full-length novel.

As always,
AstraDaemon

The Word of The Children

Children of God: Poems, Dreams and Nightmares From The Family Of God Cult is an astounding collaboration between Craig DiLouie and Jonathan Moon, featuring a fictional literary collection written by cult members coping with PTSD through writing. Do you understand? These two authors created The Family of God history and the cult's surviving members, complete with personal backgrounds, individual traumatic memories and their own voices. Take a moment to let that level of creativity sink in.

Fictional or not, the diversity, both in form and tone, of each entry is exquisitely crafted...intense, dramatic and heart-wrenching. Not to mention, the great detail and research put into the introduction of this masterpiece. I would even venture to call this historical fiction, as the stories within are strikingly similar to The Family International led by David Berg, and the Journal of Self by Kathleen Adams, which is referenced as a healing tool is a legitimate form of self-help.

The days leading up to the mass suicide and murder of the cult's followers, as well as the final day, are laid out through the haikus, sonnets and song lyrics of the surviving members. Some have finally turned away from their former family, while others can't seem to let go, even after the torture and killings they've witnessed. Through the eyes of children, parents and the elderly, readers are shown how these lost souls were brought into the fold.

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While this book is a work of fiction, the authors based the characters and events on real events involving past and present cults.

As always,
AstraDaemon