Underground City of Demonic Shadows

ELDER ONES by James Loscombe comes across as an introduction to either a full-length novel or a possible series. I would read either one, if the author wished to expand upon this premise. I found the underground city with seals to be fascinating and terrifying at the same time. Not only does the author's writing style seem reminiscent of Lovecraft, but Loscombe takes some of mankind's most primitive fears and twists them into a modern cosmic nightmare. I really think this piece by Loscombe is too good to leave as a single short story, but I'm still recommending this to horror fans.

As always,
AstraDaemon

Outbreak Finale: Invitation Revoked

Follow Wilder and Butsko in the third chapter of the Outbreak series as they continue to fight the ever-evolving zombies while attempting to save humanity. The remaining humans thought they saw the worst the zombies had to offer, but one final mutation unveils the true face of the enemy and what their true intent is. 

After failing to destroy the zombies in Outbreak: The Mutation, and after discovering the secret behind the zombie’s mutations, Wilder and Butsko switch gears and decide to bring the fight to the deadly horde. This is their last shot at saving the world. Will they be able to thwart the zombie’s endplay, or is the world doomed by the ravenous horde?

OUTBREAK: ENDPLAY by horror author Scott Shoyer is the third installment in the series. THE HUNGER followed two groups, soldiers attempting containment and families visiting the zoo. THE MUTATION followed three storylines, with a variety of twists, as well as many new characters. ENDPLAY reveals the true source of the virus, and discover a secret hidden for decades from the human race.

While the series most certainly began as a horror story about a zombie apocalypse, by the third book, Shoyer has created a rather elaborate science fiction nightmare. Everything that befalls the survivors in ENDPLAY makes everything in the first two books look like a cake walk. Cheryl's growth as a character is inspirational, and the bond between soldiers Wilder and Butsko highlights the inner strength of humans. The family forged-by-fire becomes the key to saving the species...the one thing the virus couldn't destroy.

At first, the big reveal seems rather over the top, considering how small scale THE HUNGER is, but the survivors aren't willing to go gently. As a result, Shoyer delivers battle after battle with a highly explosive ending. While I'm fine with the trilogy as is, I wouldn't say no to a story set among the post-apocalyptic rubble.

As always,
AstraDaemon

Sunday Suspense Short Story

Jack Wrexall leaves his Heybridge home on a warm summer day - only to be embroiled in the sinister machinations of fungal antagonists.

Blackwater by Byron Black is a flash fiction nightmare centered around a young man named Jack. The story is similar in style to a Lovecraft tale, with the character's sanity slipping away in a countryside setting facing what appears to be a cult, as well as other mythos elements, but Black's idea of horror has limited interaction with the events presented within.

I think this story would be better in a longer format, with further character development and more intense action. However, Black does deliver the cosmicism.

As always,
AstraDaemon

Descent Into Madness

Into the Astral Lands is a cosmic horror short story centering around one man's struggle to keep his humanity while he fights to escape the gaze of entities that seem to exist beyond the confines of time and reality. Can Adam hold onto his sanity, or will he lose his wife, child, livelihood, and sense of self to the Astral Lands?

Into the Astral Lands by Eric Malikyte is a Lovecraft-styled short story, filled with despair, confusion and tentacles. Adam is the main character who comes to realize he's not only lost control of his life, but he has also ceased to be the center of his own universe.

The author mixes cosmic terror with metaphysical monstrosities to unravel and terrorize Adam's grasp of reality. While humanity thinks of itself as top of the food chain, Malikyte shows readers how fragile the human mind really is with Adam's journey into the astral lands.

As always,
AstraDaemon

Darkness, Darkness and More Darkness: The Madness

Horror In The Clouds by Scott Shoyer is a departure from the author's usual zombie novels, and not at all what I've come to expect from his standard of writing. The prologue is fantastic and pulled me in, only to bore the crap out of me with Damien's feelings of inner turmoil. The story picks up a bit once his family reaches the twisted town of Derleth, but everything is filled with darkness and madness...dark darkness and the kind of madness that makes the townsfolk go mad. While concentrating on the descriptions of the darkness and madness, Shoyer neglects the development of his characters. Did I mention the threat of darkness and madness taking over the world?

There are a few redeeming aspects to this story, such as the leviathan in the clouds, the description of the otherworld and the history of the Ancient Ones. The ending also has more action than the rest of the book combined, pulling me back into the story the way the prologue had in the beginning. The epilogue made me wonder if this novel is a stand-alone or the first in a series, but I personally have had enough of the Madness.

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I don't know why I keep reading Cthulhu-Lovecraft type of stories. I end up having the worst kind of night terrors...leviathans hiding below the surface of dark waters, reaching for me with their tentacles. I try to shape-shift into a dragon to fly away, but those monstrous bastards have quite a reach. Sometimes I'm having an OBE and I feel like something is hunting me in the clouds, so I race back to my body, always fearing I might get caught one night.

I've always wondered what happens to the authors who write these stories. Do they start seeing shadows where shadows shouldn't be? Do they ever look up at the sky and feel like something sinister is closing in on them? Maybe it's like that scene from In The Mouth of Madness, where the author is being manipulated...

As always,
AstraDaemon

First Review of 2017: Better Late Than Never

All Souls Day by Martin Berman-Gorvine is an alternate history book that mixes elements of HP Lovecraft with American history. It took me almost a year before I could finally read All Souls Day, but, when I finally did, I read it in one sitting. While I found the story thrilling, I think this novel might be better appreciated by YA fiction fans.

Before I get any further into my review, I would like to say that the book cover doesn’t do the story justice. However, I think most readers will be hooked as soon as they dive in. The sociological aspects are expressed through the lives of the teenagers, and there are many levels at play throughout the storyline. Convinced that their community has been saved by a demon, the people dedicate their lives to serving Moloch, but the more that is revealed about their way of life, the more one has to wonder if the people are living a lie perpetuated by the demon.

As a result, a group of teenagers are reluctant to participate in an upcoming ceremony requiring a human sacrifice. The plot centers on their attempt to escape, while figuring out who they really are without the labels assigned to them. This is not unlike a coming of age story taking place in the shadow of a horrific entity who controls and destroys the lives of the people supposedly saved from the devastation plaguing the rest of the world.

If you’re looking for something cerebral AND action-packed, I recommend this novel.

As always,

Astradaemon