Synopsis: A meek man enters a spooky theater for an all-night horror movie triple bill. An unscrupulous contractor messes with the wrong family. A single other discovers a bizarre link between her son and an unspeakable Lovecraftian horror. A con artist posing as an outcast from an Amish church gets more than he bargained for in the Indiana forest. And a college professor eager to make money by solving a decades-old cannibal atrocity learns the true meaning of terror in the Great Smoky Mountains.
In this collection of rarely-collected nightmares, you'll find tales of suspense, dread, and madness. It's time to take a journey to Jonathan Janz's Shadow Side. The second of the Night Worms exclusive books. Half the stories in this collection--Witching Hour Theatre, Old Order, and The Clearing of Travis Coble--are all available as individual short stories on Amazon. A Southern Evening had a nice twist to it and Witching Hour Theatre was wonderfully nostalgic, both in a "the community of late-night horror movies" sense and the "eighties slasher flicks" sense, but my favorite in this collection was Throwing Monsters. Quotes/Lines ((spoilers below!)) OLD ORDER -- I've known you for two and a half pages, Horace, and that's two and a half too long. -- "Dinner won't be ready for a while anyway, so you'll have plenty of good daylight to work." Ha. -- "What's that supposed to mean?" "It means you'll be gone by first light, a meal in your belly and your hands as soft as when you came." Call him out, Deek. <3 -- no wait I take it back, Deek, you can die too -- "I know who you are," the old woman said. "What I want to know is why you're in my house." Hi Agnes! ilu -- Agnes seems like such a goodhearted person (though I do hope it's a front so she can eat Horace's brain) -- Um, Belinda? Wha...? -- "Don't you have family?" "Haven't seen 'em in years." Probably because you do things like spy on girls when they're bathing you creep -- Okay what the heck is going on, is this some kind of fertility ritual? -- Please tell me all this expensive jewelry lying around the house is from all the people they've killed. -- "Or perhaps she would remember him fondly, a daring rogue who'd loved her and left without saying goodbye." ....ew. -- That's so cute, that you think they're calling the police instead of firing up the barbecue grill. -- "...Demeter..." Ooooh, harvest-related creepiness/sacrifice? -- Okaaaaaay I did NOT expect this to veer into rape/lobotomization. (I do appreciate the horrifying reveal as to what the 'pigs' are, but I'm not going to be reading this one again. Also, their nakedness 'revealing' that Daniel and Jimmy have vaginas-- why is that there? Why add that detail? Because it reads like a continuation of "look how weird and scary this family is" and ummmm.) On to the next one. Yeah. THE CLEARING OF TRAVIS COBLE -- ...does anyone know you're out here, Myers? -- You're meeting someone who's intelligent and prone to mind games *alone*? Yeahhh, this is gonna end well for you. -- 'Coble was innocent so there was no real danger in talking to him.' PFFFT. -- Uncle, wife, and kids disappeared without a trace? You are going to die. Only question is whether you find the bodies first. -- If this guy gets a hold of your notebook, you are TOAST. (well, I mean, even more than you already are) -- "I'll be going then." Wishful thinking... -- 'Ike was unbuckling his belt.' oh come onnnn A SOUTHERN EVENING -- 'and the goddamned Benbow urchins swarming all over the property like shabbily-dressed gnats' Aren't you a peach. -- 'Why couldn't men be men for a change?' yawwwwwwwn -- ...hang on just a minute is this character's name Mike Pence -- 'God, if those girls had been inside when the whole thing caved, there really would have been problems. Publicity like that could sabotage a project, not to mention harpooning a career.' *calling Melody from Wolf Land down on you* -- Tabitha, stab this condescending douche with a steak knife -- 'so far removed from civilization' Oh good, so the Benbows can kill you without interruption! -- 'His pants had been lowered to his ankles.' If this is another rape ending I am putting this book down. -- Aw, not the kids, they had nothing to do with this. -- 'what *happened* to Molly'? You remain, as always, a jackass. -- Fantastic twist there; I love it. THROWING MONSTERS -- "The monster only eats little boys who throw things when they're not supposed to." This is going to backfire on you SO hard. (I mean, the temptation is there as a parent, I get it, but it's not worth it) -- 'She hadn't meant to plant the idea, but she could see her words working on imagination, conjuring ghastly creatures and generally scaring the shit out of him. "Yes," she pressed on. "The Hitting Monster. The Screaming Monster." This poor kid. -- 'No apology. Eric never apologized. It was a point of pride for him.' Sounds like a real sweetheart. -- Not 'and her child would be *dead*' but 'and she'd get thrown in jail for neglect'? Go get eaten by that basement monster you just created somehow. -- "Were you watching him?" A beat. "Of course I was watching him." "How much did you see him drink?" "I didn't see him drink it." NOT THE TIME just explain so that poor kid can get help! -- 'but a couple of times--okay, a few times--she'd shaken him by the shoulders. If he'd only listen.' ... 'God, she thought. She loved him so much, but why did being a mom have to be so *hard*?' Ohh, hon. You need a therapist or at the very least someone to help watch the kiddo and a friend to talk to. -- Call. The. Cops. ((okay, depending, I mean they'd likely blame her for sleeping with Eric in the first place and therefore 'deserving' this shit.)) SOMEONE get the kid out of here, though. -- no no no NO do NOT go into the basement guard your child's door until the police get there. And CALL TOM. -- Bittersweet ending, it fits really well. And nice last line. WITCHING HOUR THEATRE -- 'He slid his hands into his coat pockets and crossed the street, careful to avoid a beat-up van dragging its muffler behind it like a spilled intestine.' -- A movie theater that shows a horror triple feature every Friday sounds like heaven and I want one -- Sid Haig!! :( -- "The feeling of community of sitting around a giant campfire with a group of old friends, was strong tonight." <3 -- "You could sit with me." "That would be nice." Aw, they're cute. -- 'Getting beaten to a pulp had to be better than feeling like a coward. Maybe.' Heh. -- I understand, Goth girl, that's when I would've left, too. -- You are gonna logic yourself into an early death Wilson. -- 'He had to go back inside because if he didn't, he might as well be dead anyway.' Your'e a good guy. Hope the two of you make it. -- Use one of the metal film reels! Better than nothing! -- Good boy. -- 'Both killers couldn't be dead. It was too soon.' This guy has seen Halloween. -- "You're a sick woman," he said, grinning despite himself.' <3 -- "One movie might be enough for tonight." They're still cute.
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SYNOPSIS:
When family man Joe Crawford confronts a young mother abusing her toddler, he has no idea of the chain reaction he’s setting in motion. How could he suspect the young mother is part of an ancient fire cult, a sinister group of killers that will destroy anyone who threatens one of its members? When the little boy is placed in a foster home, the fanatics begin their mission of terror. Soon the cult leaders will summon their deadliest hunters―and a ferocious supernatural evil―to make Joe pay for what he’s done. They want Joe’s blood and the blood of his family. And they want their child back. This is an intense book, to the point where I had to stop myself from growling at the characters and then having to explain to the kids why. 😄 I love that it starts off in high gear (in the hardest scene in the book to get through), stays tense the whole way through, and then somehow manages to kick it up even more at the end. Hell of a book, and I'm absolutely spending my @flametreepress coupon on more Janz stories. Notes I took while reading! -- How much do I want to be able to physically fling Angie and her mom into the sun? "It's called discipline!" YOU ASSHOLE I WILL... -- "Isn't that a bit...extreme? Can't Angie go to classes? You know, become a better mom?" No it isn't 'extreme' she was beating her kid in a parking lot wtf is wrong with you -- "How can they do that?" "Do what?" Michelle made a vague gesture. "Take her child away. Permanently, I mean." Because. She. Beat. Him. And now she and her equally creepy mom have been stalking you guys for a week. You want a kid to go back to that house? -- oh god the self-immolation scene is creepy as HELL -- "But Sharon...she lost her daughter, her house. She probably won't get custody of her grandson." Because she defended her daughter for abusing the kid and viciously attacked the people who tried to protect him. HOW IS THIS HARD TO GRASP. Once is understandable, twice is worrisome, three times and I'm suspecting Michelle is actually part of the cult. -- "It just seems right that we should pay our respects." "I don't have any respects." GOOD -- Joe why are you at the funeral you were doing so well -- My love for Darrell is eternal -- okay so Bridget and Mitch are clearly creepy cultists moving in next door to keep an eye on them -- "You have a daughter of your own, don't you, Joe Crawford?" "My daughter is none of your business." "I'll decide what she is." Ohhhh no either kill her right now or move to Alaska maybe both because this isn't gonna end well -- "You're not using my silverware for that." *snerk* -- DO NOT DRINK THE WINE IF THE MARTINS GAVE IT TO YOU -- I'm loving Janz's writing style. I'm gonna buy all of his stuff assuming Little Stevie and Lily live through this (I am still not over Gage from Pet Sematary dangit) -- "You're a real asshole," Joe said, "but I'm not gonna kill you." this is a mistake joe -- ugggggh I *knew* Gentry was a creeper -- "He's better off without her." "You're probably right about that." "Damn right I am." There we go, Michelle! -- the way Darrell dealt with Gentry = GOLD -- "Lily napped and I worked on the computer." "That sounds rough." JOE. You are gonna get your butt kicked and rightly so. -- Why are you exploring the house alone Joe this is exactly how people die in horror movies -- I honestly thought when he opened the car door and realized the cult had left something for him that it was gonna be the remains of the couple's dog and I was gonna be traumatized forever -- Stop it you two you are not allowed to go into the creepy church when nobody knows where you are -- Darrell noooooooooooo -- WICKER MAN FLASHBACKS -- HECK YEAH MICHELLE I'M SORRY I EVER DOUBTED YOU -- I may well get '"Now ladies. You don't want to--" His forehead disintegrated' as a tattoo because ICONIC. -- "To get my son." I'm not tearing up you're tearing up -- 'The first cult member impaled himself like an energetic hors d'oeuvre' **cackling** -- 'He'd be damned if this scrawny psychopath would put a hole in his head with something Joe had purchased at Sears' <3 <3 <3 -- also Joe is never going to hire anyone for his construction business ever again -- From my kidlet: "Mom! Time for bedtime story!" noooooo mommy is 20 pages from the end of the book go play -- SHARON I STG -- 'The boy didn't smile, but he didn't look afraid. And that was something, Joe thought. That was something.' darnit Janz quit making me cry All in all, an incredible book. I love the supernatural tinges, but that it wasn't *so* supernatural that you were left with the feeling that Lily was irrevocably doomed. Angie's actions were more of a self-fulfilling prophecy than a supernatural decree, and since Little Stevie and Lily are growing up in a loving home, that cycle is going to be broken. It's my favorite kind of horror novel: dark and terrifying, but with hope left at the end. Wholeheartedly recommend. |
A WORLD WITH A BLUER SUNMy reviews are set up a little like live-tweets: I write down lines I like/impressions as I read, and then transcribe. Reviews will contain spoilers, but I'll give a warning before they start. Archives
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