A Boy in a Park: Tales of Wonder and Despair by Richard Parkin

April 27, 2020 By Leave a Comment


A Boy in a Park: Tales of Wonder and Despair by Richard Parkin
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Middle Grade, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Suspense/Mystery, Horror, Paranormal, Contemporary, Historical
Length: Full Length (188 pages)
Age Recommendation: 10+
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

The naive, misguided rascals in this charming collection of short stories wear their hearts on grubby, unwashed sleeves. From the boy who masters the art of conducting herons to the boy who just wants to be left to his daydreams, they long for a better life only to be led astray by talking animals, charismatic strangers, and their own too vivid imaginations.

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It was easy to forget that these tales were about ten separate boys because every one of them had the same naive, mischievous, and insatiably curious personality. Not only that, the background details of their lives were either nonexistent or so vague that one boy’s life story often blended into the next. Even their names were a mystery. I’ve never read a collection like this and truly enjoyed jumping from one world to the next while knowing that the protagonists would always be comfortingly predictable.

One thing I do wish the author had been more clear about were the time periods everything was set in. Some characters seemed to live centuries ago when orphans were left to live on the streets in large cities and fended for themselves from very tender ages. Other characters had a much more modern feel to them. Even these were educated guesses, though, as the narrator was always reluctant about explaining background information clearly. That made it hard at times to picture who the protagonists were and why they were so alone in the world.

There were so many genres represented in this book that I’d be hard-pressed to narrow it down to only one. Some of the boys lived in gentle fantasy worlds. Others were more firmly rooted in the horror, paranormal, or mystery genres. It was pretty interesting to move between all of these different types of storytelling as well to shift from what appeared to be the past and the present.

A Boy in a Park: Tales of Wonder and Despair was a mesmerizing collection that I’d recommend to anyone who loves being given a lot of freedom to come up with their own interpretations about what’s happening in a plot.

Filed Under: Horror, Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Blue Horse by Leslie Garland

February 3, 2020 By Leave a Comment


The Blue Horse by Leslie Garland
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Horror, Paranormal, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (91 pages)
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

A strangely dressed clergyman, wearing a pair of designer sunglasses, asks Peter for a lift to the Cathedral. And so starts four very strange and revelatory days of philosophical discussion on life and death, the nature of time and eternity, and resurrection. Desperately trying to understand, Peter is swept along from one situation to the next until finally he grasps what this strange and enigmatic man has been trying to explain to him.

A Red Grouse Tale which will keep you hooked and leave you with a lump in your throat.

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Philosophy isn’t a topic that is usually discussed deeply in science fiction stories. I was intrigued by the thought of combining these two things and pleased with how Mr. Garland mixed them together. This is something that’s mean to be read slowly and thoughtfully. Some of its messages about the nature of time and how humans experience it require work on the part of the audience in order to understand them, but I appreciated the challenge.

There were times when I wished that the paranormal themes were explained a little more clearly. Peter had an experience in one particular scene involving an animal that was beautifully described without giving the audience any hints about what it meant. As much as I enjoyed the process of putting clues together in general, I did need more help figuring this one out.

The horror themes were subtle but incredibly well done. I’m a huge fan of being scared by psychological means, so I was quite happy to see this included in the plot. Peter had good reason to be frightened in certain scenes. While there were plenty of other things going in, including those moments was critical to explaining what was happening and why it was happening. The author did a great job of communicating this to the audience while still expecting us to put certain things together on our own.

This is part of a series that can be read in any order the reader prefers. Anyone who enjoys it should definitely check out the rest of the Red Grouse Tales, too.

The Blue Horse was a delightful read that drew me back into a world I thought I might not get to visit again. I can’t recommend it highly enough!

Filed Under: Horror, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Night Terror by Ken Harris

December 12, 2019 By Leave a Comment


Night Terror by Ken Harris
Publisher: Shadow World
Genre: Suspense/Mystery, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Horror, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (67 pages)
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

A new dawn in horror lurks among the unsuspecting!Night Terror is about the rise of a man plagued with a terrifying condition as a sleepwalker killer. In this hair raising horror packed with suspense, mystery, and shivers. Dr. Otis Foster invites patient Christopher Gray to his office to cure him of a sleep disorder. What Otis really plan to do is use his unsuspecting patient to eliminate potential whistleblowers to his medical billing and scheme. Death and destruction materializes on a level even Otis could not predict. Follow along on this mind bending thriller that leads to an ironic confrontation!

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The character development was handled nicely. Otis felt like a real person to me. Both his flaws and his strengths were realistically described. There were times when his choices irritated me just like they would have if he were a friend or relative. I loved the fact that he was given so much leeway in the storyline to make mistakes. That’s an important part of being human, and it endeared me to this character very quickly.

It would have been nice to see more attention paid to the fantasy elements of the plot. Otis achieved amazing results with his patients because of something he had access to that no one else did. While the audience was told a little bit about where this power of his came from, I sure would have appreciated more information about why it existed and how it worked. Giving it as much attention as the main mystery plot wouldn’t be necessary, but explaining a few more things about it would have bumped my rating up by at least another star.

There was some great foreshadowing in this story. I had a good time picking it out in the beginning and seeing if my predictions about how it would come to pass matched what really happened. Luckily, I had plenty of opportunities to do just that. It made me want to read more from this author in the future!

Anyone who thinks hypnosis is interesting should give Night Terror a try.

Filed Under: Horror, Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

The Thirteenth Day of Christmas and Other Tales of Yuletide Horror by David Allen Voyles

December 11, 2019 By Leave a Comment


The Thirteenth Day of Christmas and Other Tales of Yuletide Horror by David Allen Voyles
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Holiday, Horror, Paranormal, Contemporary, Historical
Length: Full Length (174 pages)
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Remember that line from “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year”? “There’ll be scary ghost stories and tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago.” Telling ghost stories during the Yuletide season was a popular tradition during Victorian times, and David Allen Voyles revives the tradition with his collection of twelve original, frightening ghost tales and one novella, all set in the Christmas season. You’ll find a wide array of supernatural entities within The Thirteenth Day of Christmas and Other Tales of Yuletide Horror, from traditional ghosts to modern twists on familiar Christmas characters like Santa and Krampus. You’ll travel to a modern hotel in the Arctic Circle that’s made entirely of ice, as well as to a nineteenth century village in Bulgaria whose citizens have a unique yearly ritual with an enigmatic toymaker. There are ghostly mysteries to be solved, wicked children to be punished, haunted graveyards, possessed dolls, and even a humorous account of Santa’s visit to a haunted house on Christmas Eve. So turn down the lights, grab a cup of eggnog, and light the Yule log as you prepare to read these Christmas ghost stories. Just remember as you read them, you can cry and you can pout, but one thing is for sure–you better watch out!

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“The Toymaker” was the tale mentioned in the blurb about a nineteenth century Bulgarian village whose citizens have a unique ritual every winter with a travelling toymaker. Getting to know so many of the families who loved in this village made their world come alive to me. I had a good time seeing what their daily lives were like and what they hoped their yearly visitor might do for them. There were exactly enough hints about his identity to make it clear. I also liked the horror twist Mr. Voyles included in the plot. It was just as festive as it was scary.

There were a few stories in this collection that I thought would have benefitted from more development. “O, Christmas Tree” was one of them. It followed the Livingston family between the time they bought an artificial tree at a yard sale and Christmas Day. The tree they brought home was expensive, so the fact that they got it at such a bargain price seemed too good to be true. I was fascinated by this find and wanted to know more about where the tree came from and why it was sold for so little money. While there were some answers to be found later on, I had so many unanswered questions by the end of it about what happened to them and why their tree was such a strange object.

Merle and Gladys had enjoyed their brother’s annual Christmas visit for years when “A Promise Kept” began. When a heavy snowstorm started on Christmas Eve, they worried he wouldn’t be able to make it home this time and were relieved to see him once again after he did show up. I liked reading about the cozy holiday these siblings shared and was quite curious to find out what the science fiction, fantasy, or horror twist might be for such a wholesome get-together.

I’d wholeheartedly recommend The Thirteenth Day of Christmas and Other Tales of Yuletide Horror to anyone who is intrigued by the darker side of the holiday season.

Filed Under: Horror, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

The Writ of Years by Brit Mandelo

November 28, 2019 By Leave a Comment


The Writ of Years by Brit Mandelo
Publisher: Tor Books
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Horror, Paranormal, Historical
Length: Short Story (18 pages)
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

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Cursed objects aren’t something that I see very often in modern science fiction tales, so I was incredibly curious to see how this concept would be used by the author. The narrator was just about the last person on Earth who should have found this item. They had issues with self control for reasons that are better discovered by each new reader for themselves. The combination of a protagonist who was terribly impulsive and a rare object that really didn’t want to be touched only made this plot device even better.

The ending left something to be desired. There was so much foreshadowing in the beginning and middle that I was surprised by how many loose strings were left by the time the final sentence had been written. I definitely saw glimpses of what the protagonist’s fate would be, but it sure would have been nice to have a clearer understanding of how it actually played out in the end.

This story steadily dripped more and more information about the protagonist and the cursed item they discovered. I enjoyed the fact that I knew virtually nothing about either of them in the beginning but gradually put together their backgrounds as the plot progressed while still leaving plenty of room for the imagination to fill in the gaps. It only made the later scenes even more deliciously scary than they would have otherwise been.

If you’ve ever done something and then immediately regretted it, The Writ of Years might be right up your alley.

Filed Under: Horror, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Fangsiving by Ethan Long

November 18, 2019 By 1 Comment


Fangsiving by Ethan Long
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Genre: Childrens, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Holiday, Horror, Paranormal
Length: Short Story (32 pages)
Age Recommendation: 6+
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

It’s the fourth Thursday of November, and the members of Fright Club are cooking up something spooky . . . a Thanksgiving feast!

But when Vlad’s family arrives unexpectedly, they put their own spin on each of the dishes. Now, the rolls are as hard as headstones and the turkey has been cooked to death. Vlad loves his family, but they’ve made a mess of their meal!
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Can this monster-filled family come together to save their feast and celebrate what the holiday is truly about?

There’s always room for one more at this spooky dinner table.

A monster’s idea of how to make great mashed potatoes or pie obviously might not be exactly the same as how a person would make it. Some of the best scenes in this tale were the ones that showed how mummies, vampires, and other creatures of the night whip up a traditional – or not so traditional, as the case may be – Thanksgiving dinner. They were every bit as unusual and sometimes icky as I’d hoped they would be.

One of the things I didn’t like about this book was the message it sent about how people should react when their boundaries are disrespected. Vlad’s family purposefully messed up his recipes for various dishes for this feast. He had every reason to be angry with them for that. I wish the plot had made this clear and acknowledged the fact that he was not at all to blame for the conflict and hurt feelings there.

With that being said, I do see the value of encouraging young readers to do their best to fix things that go wrong. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes. While I wish this had been explored in greater detail as mentioned earlier, there is something to be said for forgiving people and trying to resolve conflicts no matter who is responsible for them. This is a good lesson for this age group, especially if the original problem is discussed with the audience afterwards and kids are made aware of the importance of being respectful guests in general.

Anyone who loves horror and homemade turkey dinners may want to give Fangsiving a try.

Filed Under: Horror, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Movie Review: Ostinato 

November 18, 2019 By Leave a Comment

Movie Review: Ostinato 

Director: Luke Luoh

Writer: Paul Deichmann and Luke Loh

Stars: Barret Coates, Alina Levyz, Kyle Line, Paul Deichmann, and Daniel Wang. 

Rated: 5 Stars

Review by: Astilbe
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There’s more than one side to every story. 

John’s character development was handled amazingly well. He had very little dialogue to work with, and yet he managed to show the audience dozens of hints about who he might be. No, I can’t go into any detail about what sort of person he was. This is something best discovered by each new viewer on their own. The clues are there for anyone who pays attention to subtle things like how he speaks to the audience or what facial expressions he makes. 

I’ll admit to being confused by what was going on in this film for the first half of it, but that turned out to be the best possible thing I could be feeling at that moment. This is the sort of storytelling that requires a puzzled audience in order to get its point across because we don’t know anything about who John is when we begin watching and the things he shares about his life don’t quite seem to fit into a coherent picture of who this guy was before violent things began happening to him. 

Speaking of the violence, this was definitely a horror flick from beginning to end. There was a psychological element to what John was going through, but the story had its fair share of gory elements as well. As with the other questions about who John was and why anyone would want to hurt him,  the film left a lot up to the viewer’s active participation and imagination. My interpretation of what was really going on could be wildly different from how someone else pieced together the same snapshots of this characters life. This was a good thing! 

Anyone who loves horror or tales that can be interpreted multiple ways as much as I do should definitely give Ostinato a try. 

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Musings, Movie Review Tagged With: ,

Selfies by Lavie Tidhar

November 14, 2019 By Leave a Comment


Selfies by Lavie Tidhar
Publisher: Tor Books
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Horror, Paranormal, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (32 pages)
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

“Selfies”, by Lavie Tidhar, is a creepy little horror tale about the fate of a young woman who makes the mistake of a lifetime when she buys a new phone in the local mall.

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One of the things I liked the most about this story was the fact that it wasn’t told in order. It was up to me as the reader to piece everything together chronologically. Not only was this a great deal of fun to do, it kept me perked up for any small clue about what happened to Ellie, the main character, or why her new cellphone was anything but the bargain she thought it was.

It would have been helpful to have a little clearer understanding of the antagonist or antagonists. While the plot did eventually give a description of them, it also seemed to contradict itself in one place as far as how many of them there were. It didn’t matter to me whether there was one or a dozen of them. I simply would have liked to know for sure what that number was so that the ending could have been a little easier to visualize.

Ellie was such a complex character. There were times when I shook my head at the foolish things she did after she realized her new camera was acting odd. She was so young, innocent, and broke, though, that I simultaneously understood why she’d shake off these moments as simple malfunctions. There was no way she could afford a new phone at full price, so I could see why it was so tempting for her to find innocuous explanations for what was happening.

Selfies should be read by anyone who thinks of themselves as horror aficionados.

Filed Under: Horror, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Randor’s Moon by J.S. Frankel

November 4, 2019 By 1 Comment


Randor’s Moon by J.S. Frankel
Publisher: Devine Destinies
Genre: Young Adult/Middle Grade, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Horror, Action/Adventure
Length: Full Length (239 pages)
Age Recommendation: 14+
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Randor Delphin, shy teen prodigy, bio-scientist, and total nerd, lives a lonely, orphaned life on the planet of Malloran, a colony of the now-dead Earth. Malloran has been at war with the neighboring world of Falanar, a warrior planet, but their differences will be set aside if aid is given, as a plague of unknown origin has broken out, and only the scientists of Malloran can help.

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Once there, they learn that they need each other in order to survive against the predators of that world, those that are animal, and those more than animal.

Not every hero is brash and bold.

The action-packed opening scene drew me into the plot immediately. Randor was unlucky enough to live in a time and place where war had reached his town. With that being said, he was also lucky enough to be part of a community that banded together in tough times and did everything they could to protect each other. I enjoyed reading about how they responded to the bombing, and I couldn’t wait to find out what would happen next. This was a fantastic introduction to this tale.

There were a few plot twists that I found hard to believe. For example, I struggled to imagine how an eighteen-year-old who had virtually no experience flying a spaceship was given one when his culture was so short on supplies due to the war. Surely they could have spared someone to fly him to his destination since there was a ceasefire happening when he left? There was also a twist related to the plague and Randor’s search for a cure for it. As smart and educated as he was, I had trouble believing that one person could do all of the work on this problem that he did. I’m mentioning these criticisms as someone who loved the premise of this book and really wanted to give it a higher rating. If the sheer desperation of his elders had been explained in a way that made a better case for why they took these risks, I would have happily knocked my rating up by at least another star.

I couldn’t have asked for a more interesting main character than Randor. His shy personality and struggles with making small talk endeared me to him immediately. It’s not every day I read a science fiction novel about quiet, gentle protagonists who act like this, so it’s refreshing when it does happen. Any personality type can be heroic. Seeing what that looks like for those of us who aren’t the life of the party makes me hope that other authors will step outside of the mold and imagine even more ways of being a hero.

Randor’s Moon should be read by anyone who has ever dreamed what life on other planets might be like.

Filed Under: Horror, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

A Cup of Salt Tears by Isabel Yap

October 29, 2019 By Leave a Comment


A Cup of Salt Tears by Isabel Yap
Publisher: Tor Books
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Horror, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (32 pages)
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Makino’s mother taught her caution, showed her how to carve her name into cucumbers, and insisted that she never let a kappa touch her. But when she grows up and her husband Tetsuya falls deathly ill, a kappa that claims to know her comes calling with a barbed promise. “A Cup of Salt Tears” is a dark fantasy leaning towards horror that asks how much someone should sacrifice for the one she loves.

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Makino had been through some hard times in her life, but the worst seemed like it was just around the corner when I first met her. Her reaction to the news that her husband was dying only endeared me to her even more. She loved him very much, and her heart was breaking as his health deteriorated. This was such a difficult experience for her that I kept hoping they’d somehow get a happy ending.

The ending was confusing to me. There were at least two different ways it could have been interpreted, but neither of them quite seemed to fit the tone of the beginning and middle. One of them was very bleak and felt totally out of character for what I’d learned about Makino’s personality. The other one seemed to have ignored important plot twists from earlier scenes. It would have been helpful to know what the author was actually trying to say and if the interpretations I came up with were close to how she imagined the final scene.

Kappas aren’t a monster I’d ever read about before, so I was curious to see what this one was like. His quiet intelligence surprised me at first. It also made me more curious to figure out his connection to Makino was and why he showed up just after her husband had been told there was nothing more the doctors could do for him. This was definitely a horror story, but it was like nothing I’d ever read before in this genre. I was impressed by how much thought the author put into developing the villain and his reasons for behaving the way that he did.

I’d recommend A Cup of Salt Tears to anyone who likes modern twists on old legends.

Filed Under: Horror, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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