Screams Replace Songs | AstraDaemon

THE MUSIC MAN by Amy Cross is more YA science fiction than anything else. This is nothing like the stories I've come to expect from Cross books. There's plenty of suspense, but not much else. Readers never learn the specific reason why the music is taken, and very little is revealed about the strange creatures responsible for the theft. There's very little character development, as well.

I instead recommend THE OTHER ANN by Amy Cross for a good sci-fi story.

As always,

AstraDaemon

Pray Really Tight

Many people have secrets. When your husband leaves after you lie down to sleep, what do you think he gets up to?

DIVINE DEATH by R.P. Healy is just as violent and graphic as his other stories, but the editing has finally improved. I keep returning to Healy's work like a rubbernecker to an accident. I just can't believe what I'm seeing. I return because I can see the lost potential underneath the gore.

I think Healy could write a solid crime-thriller if the author would stop focusing so much on shocking the reader with torture porn. The ending of this story is as gut-wrenching as when the killer cuts open his victim. The big reveal is the most frightening aspect of the entire story.

I really don't think I can keep reading Healy...the author's writing style is too much like A Serbian Film.

As always,
AstraDaemon

Trigger Warning For Sexual Assault

It is everywhere, watching while you sleep, waiting while you lie in bed. Evil, without shape, yet with any shape, it takes its form. The Black is living and endless, malignant and eternal, and it takes what it wants.

The Black by R.P. Healy should come with a warning. There are two rape scenes, one being quite graphic. The violence could trigger some readers. However, the story reminds me of the movie, The Crossbreed, but set in modern times. Again, I have to stress, Healy needs to invest in an editor.

As always,
AstraDaemon

Healy Is My Nemesis

There's a new show on TV. There are more talents than just singing and dancing. Talents of the flesh, talents of death and dying.

The Dead Show by R.P. Healy is a mix of Halloween 3: Season of the Witch, Into The Mouth of Madness, and A Serbian Film, which is a slight step up from Healy's story, Backwood Babies. However, don't expect to find any quality writing. I imagine Healy either writes while high on meth or worshipping Cthulhu, or some such mess.

I have to admit there is some potential buried under all the sickness, but Healy really needs to invest in a professional editor.

As always,
AstraDaemon

Helicopter Mom From Hell

The Last Word by Michael J. Evans is a story about a mother who is so rotten, she torments her daughters, even after death. Ramona, the eldest daughter, refuses to mourn for her mother, which enrages her mother's spirit even more. If I witnessed even one of the events that take place, I would have immediately called in a professional to deal with it. I can't, for the life of me, understand why or how Ramona could be so flippant about everything. While the story is captivating, I couldn't stand the ending.

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I've already mentioned in a previous post I have vivid and detailed dreams, including night terrors, some of which I call serial dreams because they can span anywhere from a few nights to weeks, months and years...kind of like having my own television show in my head and I am the central character. Often these serial dreams have evil entities I couldn't get rid of right away, so I had to deal with them every time I slept, until I found their weaknesses.

There was one entity in particular I couldn't get rid of...I tried all kinds of tricks from the many dream books I had researched (this happened before Google existed). Out of desperation, I decided to try the fight-fire-with-a-bigger-fire approach. My dreamself conjured up another entity to fight the first one. (I don't mean conjure as in summon, just visual manifestation within the dream.) It worked, and, unlike most horror stories, my plan did not backfire on me and the conjured entity dissipated.

Having experienced this, I wonder why characters in horror stories don't try something similar when faced with a major supernatural threat. You'd think the characters would be more open to trying new things to help themselves. If I found myself in Ramona's situation, I'd call on help from another departed relative. It's a thought, anyway...

As always,
AstraDaemon