2 Great Reviews from HorrorAddicts.com!

Posted on September 15, 2012 by Nina D'Arcangela

2 Great reviews: Days with the Undead and Childhood Nightmares: Under the Bed on Horroraddicts.com!


(featuring works by Julianne Snow, Jack Wallen, Kim Krodel, Phil Hickes, Lisamarie Lamb, Joshua Skye, Kate Seren Monroe, John M. McIlveen, Amber Keller, Nina D’Arcangela, Colin F. Barnes, and Brandon Scott.)

Sirens Call Publications- Days with the Undead & Childhood Nightmares

Posted by David Watson on September 15, 2012

I recently read two books from Sirens Call Publications. The first book I want to talk about is Days With The Undead by Julianne Snow. This is a story of what happens when the dead rises and take over the planet, but its more then that. Days With The Undead is a survival manual that hopefully will save your life during the zombie apocalypse. The main character is a pathologist named Julie and her tale is told through a series of blog posts which started three days after Brooks VanReit rose from the dead.

Julie and her four companions are trying to escape ground zero and find a place where the dead have not taken over. They have a lot of challanges ahead of them including dealing with zombie chipmunks.

I really enjoyed how the story was told. The description of the dead coming to life in the hospital was great. I loved the way the people in the hospital reacted and the cover up that went on because the authorities didn’t know what they were dealing with. Another good scene was when the main characters we’re fighting the undead in a park and they have to decide if there survival is more important then rescuing two kids surrounded by the undead. At this point the survivalists had made it clear that surviving went above everything else. I didn’t know how the situation was going to go and to me that made it the best part of the book.

I also liked all of the different people that the five survivors meet on the journey. Not everyone reacts the same to the plague sweeping across the U.S. and Canada. Some people have lost all hope, Some people want to steal what ever they can get their hands on and some people just want to pretend its not happening. There is one funny scene in particular where a group of people are protesting the undead’s march across America.

What makes Days With The Undead different from other zombie novels that I’ve read is that its all told in first person. You get to hear Julie and her companion’s back stories as told by Julie. You also get Julie’s perspective on how society is falling apart and their plan on how they are going to survive. As the story moves along, you get to see her attitude change from being positive to loosing hope, to regaining hope as it looks like they may find an answer to their problems. If you like a good bloody zombie tale then you will love this one.

The next book I want to talk about is an anthology called Childhood Nightmares: Under The Bed. Its not often that I come across an anthology where I like all the stories in it, but I did with this one and it was impossible to pick a favorite. After reading each story I found myself looking up information on all of the authors because I had to find out what other works they had out there.

The anthology starts off with Forgotten by Jack Wallen which is a beautifully told, creepy ghost story, about a six year old child who gets visited late at night by a ghost of a girl with a big secret. I loved the conversations between the boy and the ghost in this one. Next up is Baby Teeth by Kim Kordel which is about a young boy named Brian who has been told some scary things about the tooth fairy. What made this story fun was hearing about all the things that Brian does to avoid having the tooth fairy come to his house. I also liked how scared he gets when he realizes that he is going to get a visit whether he likes it or not.

Julianne Snow also has a story in this anthology about a girl having night terrors. Help comes in the form of a doll named Madeleine. The ending of this one was shocking and funny at the same time. There is also a great story by Nina D’Arcangela called Bent Metal that centers on a girl who is having recurring nightmares of her brother dying. The description of the girl’s emotional state in her dreams is excellent, this story alone makes this a great anthology. Nina did a superb job of making me feel sorry for the main character, it was impossible not to feel her pain.

Another great one here was Seeing Is Believing by Amber Keller. There is a monster living in Timothy’s room and it wants his flesh. No one believes him so he decides to take a picture, but every night he has to fight for his life and the creature is determined not to be seen. The suspense in this one was gut wrenching.

Kate Monroe, the editor of this anthology also has a terrifying tale in the book called Show and Tell. This one is about a boy named Thomas that finds he has a monster under his bed, but its not really a bad thing, at least not for Thomas. Now he has a pet monster and all the people that picked on him are going to pay. This story was one of the most frightening and bloody stories in the anthology and I still felt sorry for Thomas.

Some of the other things you will read about in Childhood Nightmares: Under The Bed is a ghost who makes a teddy bear come to life, a little girl who has to battle a demon to the death and a kid who has to pay the consequences when he tells tall tales. You also get stories about a cursed suitcase, a tale about a murderer called The Shade and a monster that lives in a sock drawer. If this anthology is any indication of the quality of stories that Sirens Calls has to offer, then I’m really looking forward to future anthologies from Sirens Call Publications.

http://horroraddicts.wordpress.com/2012/09/15/sirens-call-publications-days-with-the-undead-childhood-nightmares/

Posted in Apocalypse, Childhood Nightmares, Dark Fiction, Days with the Undead, Horror, Sirens Call Publications, Zombies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Screampark by Jack Wallen

Posted on September 7, 2012 by Nina D'Arcangela

If you can scream, you’re still alive!

Screampark – one of the top haunts in the country, has a past that threatens to rip the fabric of the present apart. Turn of the century serial killer, Vinny “The Vicious” Manchetti, stripped innocent victims of their lives and souls for sport. Now he and some of his victims are back to wage a war on the grounds of Screampark.

A group of misfits and cast aways, lead by nerd-turned hipster Chris Davis, step in to save the park and wind up battling for their own lives.

Available on Amazon >>>

Posted in Amazon, Horror, Novels | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Doorways: Three Tales of No Going Back

Posted on September 6, 2012 by Nina D'Arcangela

by Ash Krafton

Doorways. Every life has them.

We walk through doorways every day. Sometimes, we don’t pay any attention to them as we go. Sometimes, we stumble through and curse them for tripping us up. Sometimes, we put great effort into opening certain doors wide enough to squeeze through, only to have them slam shut behind us again.

In the art of storytelling, a “doorway” refers to a place in the story at which point there is no way for the character to go back and alter their course. It’s a point of no return.

Sometimes the character makes the choice to pass through a doorway. Sometimes, the choice is made for them.

Life itself is a series of doorways–a string of rite-of-passage moments that connect the chapters of our lives like boxcars in a train. Like trains, life is often full speed ahead with no reverse. Only the doorways keep us from losing ground.

Doorways: Three Tales of No Going Back is a short story collection. Each tale depicts a doorway through which no character can ever return.

Cross the thresholds with them.

Available through Smashwords >>>

Posted in Authors, Dark Fiction, Novella, Short Stories, Speculative Fiction | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Chewing Braaiiinns with… Adam Millard

Posted on September 3, 2012 by Nina D'Arcangela

re-posted from Days with the Undead by Julianne Snow

Adam Millard is the author of twelve novels and more than a hundred short stories. His work can be found in collections and anthologies from Evil Jester Press, Angelic Knight Press, May December Publications, Bizarro Press, Sirens Call Publications, and Rymfire Books. Adam can be followed on Twitter @adammillard. For more information, including upcoming appearances and signed copies, go to www.adammillard.co.uk.

Now it’s time for the fun part! Let’s get down to business and ask Adam the age-old question – why Zombies? Is there anything specific that draws you to the genre?

I just find the whole concept fascinating. The methods by which one becomes a zombie can be anything, which is what makes a zombie-apocalypse so unpredictable. It can be anything from an uncontrollable virus to a passing comet. When a bite from a Sumatran rat-monkey can make zombies, you know anything can, and I just love the different scenarios. To me, zombie books and movies aren’t about the hordes of undead; they’re about the survivors, the people who suffer through the event and try to remain uninfected. It’s their story, not the zombies.

…

The Walking Dead certainly hasn’t hindered any of us that write in the genre. Tell us about your latest project; published or otherwise.

I’ve just finished the first draft on the final book in my Dead series, which is due to be launched at the Sci-Fi Weekender in March 2013. It was one of the saddest books I’ve ever had to write, which might sound stupid being a zombie novel. These characters have put food on my table for two years now, and how do I repay them? Well, you’ll have to wait, but let’s just say the book ties everything up neatly. I had a lot of fun with this one, and I’m looking forward to seeing what my amazing illustrator, Chris Taggart – who’s responsible for all the covers in the series – comes up with.

If you’ve missed any of the Dead series, now is the time to catch up! Here’s a look at the most recent book in the series, Dead Frost. If you’d like to purchase it, clicking on the cover will take you to Amazon, but make sure you read the rest of Adam’s interview first!

The world ended on October the seventh, 2011. Not with a bang, as some theorists predicted, but with a whimper. There was no fruition of a Mayan prophecy, no alien attack, no terrorist uprising, and no supervolcano eruption. It was a simple virus that finished mankind off; a superflu that couldn’t be cured once it had been contracted. A small group of survivors find themselves struggling to come to terms with the new world around them. Living in a disused army barracks, the group survive in relative safety, only sending scavengers for food and supplies when necessary. Shane Bridge had, until recently, been incarcerated in a maximum-security prison, but now that he is out, and the monotony of day-to-day life has become unbearable, the time has come to abandon the confines of the barracks and begin the search for his family. But death is never far away, and the flesh-eating hordes are the least of Shane’s worries. The Frost has begun…

If the Zombie Apocalypse were to occur right now, 5 things found in the room you are currently sitting will be your weapons – what are they?

I have a vintage typewriter, which has some weight to it but it worked for Paul Sheldon in Misery, so I’d give it a go. Looking round, I’ve realized that all my good weapons are upstairs, which is probably a silly mistake. I have a motorcycle crash-helmet next to my chair; I reckon I could put that on to prevent having my face chewed off, and also headbutt the zombies. I have a pair of scissors – a nice big pair, too, not ones for trimming toenails – a hefty Predator mask, which is hanging on the wall and could do some serious damage of utilized correctly, and a three-tier candelabra, which may or may not be sharp enough to spike the undead with. The room is pretty much baby-proofed due to having a small one running round. If I was upstairs in the armoury, though, the hordes wouldn’t stand a chance.

***

To read the rest of Adam’s interview, visit Days with the Undead

Posted in Amazon, Apocalypse, Authors, Horror, Interview, Julianne Snow, Novels, Zombies | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Litria – The M Series: Book One

Posted on August 24, 2012 by Nina D'Arcangela
by Jolie du Pré

Who’s lurking in Layneworth?

It’s the Buscettos—a charming family who live in a nice house.

Not quite.

The Buscettos look human, but they’re not human. They’re Zxxtergins, a type of little-known monster who has roamed the Earth since the fifth century. The youngest Buscetto, beautiful eighteen-year-old Litria, is in search of gorgeous females for sex, followed by food. Her nightly behaviour wrecks havoc, causing her family to fear exposure and resulting in grave concern, extra work, and late nights for Layneworth detectives.

When nude and mutilated dead women appear, almost daily, across Layneworth, Detective Brenda Martin, and her partner Robert Moretti, are on the case. The mayor, before his untimely demise, preached to beware of werewolves, and few believed him. But as the killings increase, Brenda thinks she may have more than just a serial killer on her hands. Will Brenda discover the true monsters, and what happens if she does?

Available on Amazon >>>
Posted in Amazon, Authors, Dark Fiction, Horror, Novella | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Chewing Braaiiinns with Caterina Torres

Posted on August 13, 2012 by Nina D'Arcangela

posted on Days with the Undead by Julianne Snow

The inaugural interview on Chewing Braaiiinns is with Caterina Torres!

Caterina is in her mid-twenties and graduated with a BA in Anthropology and a minor in Humanities. She goes by Cat for the most part and loves to write about the apocalypse, but not in the biblical sense of the word. Any sort of dystopian, end of the world stories seriously interest her as they have a lot to do with being part of the rat race of life, trying to climb the great ladder of success.

Now it’s time for us to chew some braaiiinns!

So Caterina, why Zombies? Is there anything specific that draws you to the genre?

I picked zombies because they are humanity’s greatest threat. It’s more of a possibility for a virus or pathogen to infect the nation and turn our neighbors into the walking dead, than for some monster to spring up and kill people. Plus, zombies could be our loved ones. What’s scarier than seeing a beloved try to eat us?

I completely agree with you – zombies are a huge threat to humanity. Let’s hope it never comes to that! Plug your latest project; published or otherwise.

My most recently published book is Zombie Whisperer, a tale about a woman who can mentally control hoards of zombies. It’s a psychic thriller that deals with terrorism and balancing the morality of our current economic turmoil.

She can speak to the dead. Only problem is, they’re still walking around.

After enduring a week-long flu, Jane Smith wakes to find out a terrorist organization has spread a deadly virus over the nation, changing anyone who’s infected into the walking dead. With no choice but to flee her home, Jane teams up with her boyfriend, Josh Williams, as they venture to find something better than the desolate land that was once called the home of the brave and the land of the free.

Driving across the country, Jane encounters some of the newly turned and finds she can hear their thoughts inside her head. Before she can understand her link to the undead, Jane and Josh are captured by the terrorists responsible for the virus because of one special reason: they know she can communicate with the infected and they want her to be a part of their fight to take down the rest of the world.

Afraid for their lives, Jane must decide if she should join the terrorists or use her new found powers to stop them.

Oh! Sounds awesome! How have I managed to miss this one?? What makes your Zombies different, if anything?

Click here to read more on Julianne’s blog >>>

Posted in Apocalypse, Authors, Fear, Horror, Julianne Snow, Zombies | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Girl by Brian Hall

Posted on August 7, 2012 by Nina D'Arcangela

Guest post on Kate Serene Monroe’s blog.

I’m delighted to welcome Bryan Hall to my blog today. Bryan is the author of The Girl, the first in a series of novellas to be published by Angelic Knight Press.

~

First, I want to thank Kate for graciously letting me invade her blog for a day to spread the word about the release of “The Girl”, a novella out today and part of The Southern Hauntings Saga.  Any good series needs a protagonist that can hold your attention, and I hope that Creighton Northgate fills that role.

Crate is the central figure in the Saga, and he’s got his fair share of baggage.  His intentions are noble enough on the surface – he meanders throughout the southeast (and occasionally a little further north) and helps people try to deal with their paranormal issues.  Ghosts, monsters, possession, bigfoot, and all the other stuff that we hear of in hushed whispers or see on the Discovery Channel’s shows Crate stares down on a fairly constant basis.

But he’s not doing this out of the goodness of his heart.  He’s making a decent amount of cash charging for his services, and while he lives out of his truck the guy is doing alright for himself.  But even the money isn’t the real reason he’s a nomad.  That’s because for all his skills and abilities at helping others with their paranormal problems, Crate can’t deal with his own.

He has his own personal ghost that won’t let him rest.  And no matter how far he runs, he can’t escape it.  And the ghost holds secrets that even Crate has forgotten, secrets that are too dark to face and too terrifying to remember.  So Crate runs, just as he’s been doing for the last decade.  But the ghost is changing.  It’s starting to communicate, and when it does it will lead him down a path that will only end at those secrets, one way or another.

Read more >>>

Posted in Authors, Paranormal | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Flowers For Evelene

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Nina D'Arcangela

by Joseph A. Pinto

Everyone has their demons… Doug Parkerson knows it all too well. He was haunted as a child when his loved ones left him one by one. Now, he wishes to put his grief behind him and reclaim his life. But there is one person who has never left him. One woman who was always there. Doug Parkerson is about to discover her overwhelming desires will become his own…

This book takes a dark twist down the gut wrenching path of soul shattering depravity brought on by one’s own inner demons. Are they real or imagined? Does it matter when you’re fighting for your survival?

*Note from Nina:
I don’t usually comment on the books I post here as I want this to be a place where everyone can look, choose, and judge for themselves. But I’m going to take the opportunity to comment on this title and make you an offer at the end.

When I first got involved in the publishing business, I entered one of those random “who wants to win my book” contests and it happened to be for Flowers For Evelene. When I got the book, I was surprised by the size of it, it’s 388 print pages, and I honestly wasn’t  expecting much as it was an indie book edited and pub’d by the author himself. But what I found was that I was extremely intrigued by the level of intensity in this piece. Now, anyone who actually knows me knows I’m in a writing group with Joe Pinto, so they might question my opinion. I’ll say this – I read the book before I knew him, I loved it, and it is one of the reasons I not only wanted to know more about him and his writing, but am proud to be a member of the writer’s group he founded.

His passion, intensity, and skill for his craft clearly show through in this book. For the  cost, this book is well worth the read.

And for all of us out there who believe we’ve managed to stuff our own little demons away, step into Doug Parkerson‘s world, you may find yourself very surprised!

The Offer:
I believe this author has so much untapped potential, and his book will kick so many people square in the teeth, that I’ll buy an Amazon.com Kindle eBook copy for the first 5 people to leave a comment and tweet this out! And if he ever ends up re-drafting it as it was the first piece he published, I’ll make sure those same 5 people receive a copy of the re-draft as well.

*note: while this book is in no way classified as erotica, it does contain a strong sexual element along with horror; if you are under the age of 18, or this is not your type of read, please don’t participate!

Let’s see who bothers to read to the end of the post, shall we?  ;}

Available on Amazon >>>

Posted in Amazon, Authors, Dark Fiction, Fear, Horror, Novels | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Passing Fancies

Posted on July 17, 2012 by Nina D'Arcangela

by A.F. Stewart

Bites of fiction, nibbles of imagination and feasts of invention.

Three tiers of tales, drabbles, flash fiction and short stories are contained within the pages of Passing Fancies, a collection of speculative fiction.
The majority of the stories are in the fantasy genre, but you will find a smattering of crime drama and sci-fi dropping by as well.

You will discover tales short to long, amusing to chilling, wandering about the pages waiting just for you.

Come flit through fantasy, mystery and space.

Available through Smashwords >>>

Posted in Authors, Dark Fantasy, SciFi, Short Stories | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The 13th

Posted on July 13, 2012 by Nina D'Arcangela

by John Everson

Castle House Lodge. A century ago it was an exclusive resort hotel. But for years it’s stood empty, a haunting shadow of its former glories. Now, after twenty-five years of rumors and ghost stories, the overgrown grounds are showing signs of being tended. The building itself has been repaired. Castle House has new occupants.

What was once a haven for the elite is now a madhouse, a private asylum for pregnant women. But are all the patients really insane? And is it just a coincidence that people have begun to disappear from the nearby town? David Shale’s girlfriend is one of the missing, and he’s determined to find the truth behind the mysterious Dr. Rockford and his house of secrets. He will learn the meaning of the red X painted on the basement door…and he will know the ultimate fear, the horror of…THE 13th.

Pick it up on Amazon >>>
or visit his blog >>>

Posted in Fear, Horror, Novels | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment