Saturday, November 27, 2010
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Book 81 of 2010: Draculas by Various Authors
Losing at his battle with cancer, Mortimer Moorecock decides to find his own “cure”. He purchases an old artifact, more specifically a skull with elongated teeth. Shortly after the skull’s arrival, Moorecock uses the skull to “bite” himself. Immediately following, he goes into convulsions, which neither his nurse or research assistant can control, so they are forced to call for an ambulance. Once at the hospital Moorecock dies… well… not exactly. It appears that the skull was holding some special “venom” in order to transform those it bites into Draculas, aka vampires. And with one wild Dracula in a hospital full of people, you can only imagine what happens next.
Draculas is one of the most unique horror books to date. Not only is the novel written in sections based on different characters’ viewpoints, but it is also written by four of the best horror authors around: Jeff Strand, Jack Kilborn, F. Paul Wilson, and Blake Crouch. Each author writes from the viewpoints of the characters they’ve brought to life and the stories of each character are intertwined throughout as the madness runs amok at the hospital. While reading Draculas, I got the impression that each author was trying to “one up” the previous one by killing the next victim in a more horrific way, as well as adding in an even funnier moment/joke. This just made the story that much more enjoyable, as it was impossible to predict what was going to happen next. Sure, someone was probably going to die, but who and how? Most all of the characters are memorable for one reason or another, but the one that stood out most to me was Benny the Clown. I assumed he’d freak me out due to my coulrophobia (fear of clowns), but I actually was cracking up during most of his scenes. I just couldn’t believe some of the tricks he had up his sleeve. Yes, this is a horror book, but that being said, it’s definitely comic relief as well. The authors involved in this project are fantastic horror authors, but are also all known for having a comedic angle mixed within most of their writing. That fact alone makes them powerful authors and you can see that within the pages of Draculas. Definitely a horror novel not to be missed!
Additionally, Draculas is only available in e-format. This allowed the authors to get the novel out quicker to readers and also gave them the freedom to add in bonus material. And who doesn’t like “freebies”? Draculas is the first e-book that reads like a DVD. Featured is an interview with the authors, deleted scenes, alternate endings, behind-the-scenes of Draculas(which consists of over seven hundred emails between the authors), extra short stories, and more! For $2.99 for the Kindle download, what are you waiting for?
Contains: Adult Language, Adult Situations, Violence, Gore
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Book 79 of 2010: You Morbid Westphal by Steven Rage
YOU. Yes, “you”… are a poor soul in the hospital on your last legs. And as it is, you’ve “given birth” to one of the most horrible “people” ever possible…
MORBID. Born from “your” rectum, Morbid dispatches many other patients in the hospital in extremely horrendous and painful ways. However, the main suspect of these murders isn’t Morbid, but instead…
WESTPHAL. Living with his ghost step-dad, Sammy, and his pet aborted fetus, Chip, Westphal works as a night shift nurse, getting stuck with all of the worst patients. All those that no one else wants to fool with. Just to get through the day, Westphal has to dope himself up with the strongest narcotics possible and that doesn’t always help make things easier.
These three characters, as well as a host of other interesting “people” make up Steven Rage’s You Morbid Westphal. Both the characters and story format are unique- Rage has created a one-of-a-kind voice with this novella, which has enough story to fill a full-length book. A large chunk of the story follows Westphal day-to-day as he suffers through many horrendous tasks at work, in his dreams, and even just trying to obtain more drugs along the way.
As soon as I read the final chapters of this book I was ready to re-read it. I ended up waiting a few months before doing just that, but after a second read, I would be more than happy to do so yet again… and again… and again… You Morbid Westphal is one of those novellas that never get tiresome, as you pick up something different with each read through. You Morbid Westphal is not for the faint of heart, as it is full of numerous crude scenes that Rage describes in graphic detail. For many seasoned horror/bizarro readers, this will be a plus, but for those that can’t handle things over the top, beware! Highly recommended!
Contains: Adult language, Adult Situations, Sex, Rape, Violence, Gore, Heavy Drug Use
Review also posted at MonsterLibrarian.com