new horror books

Class Three (Book Review)

November 20, 2014 By Horror Palace Leave a Comment

Duncan P. Bradshaw is the author of the new book entitled “Class Three” and he delivers somewhat of a different spin on a zombie apocalypse. With rather colorful characters the reader is thrown into a world where a typical day turns into something nobody expected, except for one particularly eager character called Phillip.

Bradshaw starts the story with a chapter/intro that introduces villains that are in fact human. Unlike many writers who prefer to use an intro as a way to capture the attention of the reader and leave it as it is, Bradshaw’s intro is linked to two important sections which the reader will discover later in the book. The second chapter introduces Jim, Sophie and Phillip. Fourteen hours before the “apocalypse” takes place, Sophie leaves Jim at a restaurant after deciding that their long term relationship is a dead end. Depressed and hurt Jim goes to the pub next door and drinks until he is unable to stand up properly. In turn he calls his older brother Phillip to come and pick him up.

When Jim wakes up the next morning he is greeted with a series of strange and horrific events. Luckily Phillip was prepared for a zombie apocalypse and after picking up Jim they decide to make their way to their parents. For most of the people the zombie attack is scary and gruesome, but not for Phillip. He seems to find a sense of excitement, because he did expect it at some point or another. On their journey they meet other survivors, but also discover something that leaves them emotionally broken. Ultimately they decide to follow the trail of Sophie and her mother.

Bradshaw brings another dimension to the book by including the story of two particular zombies and their trail of destruction. However, one of these zombies can make things very complicated as the story unfolds. The other threat apart from the zombies is a religious cult that regards the apocalypse as the rapture. Part of their mission is to kill people so that they can come back as the hideous creatures and join their goddess in all her glory. In essence, everyone is infected and only by death can the zombies rise.

Instead of writing a book that is completely bound in horror, thrills and graphic death, Bradshaw implements a level of humor. This is mostly visible in Phillip, and Bradshaw manages to find a nice balance between gore and comic relief. Whereas Jim is the cautious character that prefers to think before he acts, Phillip is the one that prefers to take charge before thinking. The combination of the two gives the story a great entertainment value in addition to holding the interest of the reader.

Make no mistake; there is a fair share of chilling and disturbing moments. Bradshaw was definitely careful about the amount of humor he used and where he placed it. Nothing is taken away from the emotionally challenging sections and neither does Bradshaw leave a lot for the imagination. Together the separate stories of the characters reach a very interesting climax that doesn’t disappoint.

“Class Three” is definitely the type of book that can be converted to film and it won’t need many changes. Bradshaw’s connection with his characters is in my personal opinion the best part of the book. It’s not easy coming up with an original zombie theme and Bradshaw incorporated an element which sets it aside from all the rest.

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Reviewed by Damnetha Jules
Damnetha is a staff writer, horror book and movie critic.
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A Dark and Winding Road (Book Review)

November 6, 2014 By Horror Palace Leave a Comment

The collection of short stories entitled “A Dark and Winding Road”, written by Matthew Weber, is refreshing to say the least. It’s great to find a writer that is able to complement his original ideas with a superb talent for writing. He has truly breathed new life into a genre that has been lacking creatively on so many levels.

The first story “Guard the Park” takes you down an unsuspecting path where the end cannot be predicted. It is simply impossible to know what is going to happen next. As an opening number it is one of the most beautiful tales of horror ever written and it gives the reader a pretty good idea of what to expect from the rest of the stories. Then comes the second story entitled “The Shady Brake Baptist Fall Festival” and once again the reader can only keep reading in order to reveal the unpredictable ending. The demeanor of his characters and the tiny details that make them so real is astonishing. These touches are used in every story.

The plots of the stories have no real relation except maybe for the town in which these events occur. It’s typically a small community and the people are every day citizens that can easily be related to. As for the subject matter, it is obvious Weber has done his homework. Whether it’s about silently breaking the window of a car or the politics that surround global warming, the detail is perfectly added. He also made a point to keep the stories as varied as possible. Moving from one story to the next is almost like reading the work of a different author every time. With impeccable pace for every scenario, Weber is able to nail the art of combining a collection of short stories.

In all honesty, it’s difficult to stop reading, because every story motivates the reader for the next one. As a 3rd person narrator, Weber slides along under the radar without drawing any attention away from the characters. Instead he makes clean breaks between interactive personalities and this allows the imaginary cinema of the reader to really take flight. His ability to paint a scene with just the right amount of description is unbelievable.

Weber states in the foreword that the content is meant to be disturbing and this is exactly what he delivers. However, he doesn’t go over the top. In fact, the disturbing aspect is only one of many that the reader will experience. Expect to empathize with almost every character and expect to emulate the fear of the victims, because Weber’s literary ability is just that good. Not once was there a moment when I thought the phrasing was forced, a mistake many horror writers make in order to produce an emotional reaction. In essence, Weber did everything right and he did it at exactly the right time.

From a critical point of view “A Dark and Winding Road” captures everything great horror writers should strive towards. It’s engaging, thought provoking and most importantly, horrific. From a personal point of view, the next book I read is going to have a tough time stacking up to this collection.

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Reviewed by Damnetha Jules

Damnetha is a staff writer, horror book and movie critic.
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Terror Byte (Book Review)

November 3, 2014 By Horror Palace Leave a Comment

A mysterious flashdrive ends up in the hands of an unsuspecting victim. Unaware of its power, the victim explores the content of the flashdrive. Within a matter of minutes 30 people die a violent and horrendous death with no explanation or witnesses to the source of the mass murder. The case proves to be one that police logic won’t be able to figure out without some extraordinary theories, in addition to taking some extraordinary risks.

Detective Norton is the experienced individual who is responsible for figuring out the mystery. Unfortunately, he still has some demons to deal with and this only complicates matters for him. As he tries to pull himself together and find whatever is behind all the dead bodies, things take a dramatic turn for the worst. He comes into contact with a mysterious woman who gives him even more trouble, but she also might have the answers he is looking for. As they meet for a second time the case becomes more complicated and difficult to solve.

With a highly unlikely partner, Norton faces a wall of resistance towards clarity. All his experience and skill come into play as he partakes in high speed chases and life threatening confrontations. The odds are squarely stacked against him and nobody can be trusted. Will Norton survive long enough to find the truth?

The author, J.R. Park, has a great way of coloring the scene. He provides a lot of attention to details, both physically and mentally. Park also makes it easy to paint the scenario within the imagination and for a short story this can be difficult to do. The characters are well thought out as the story touches on the important aspects that give them life so-to-speak. Even though some of them play a tiny role they are quickly summed up within a single page.

The real magic of the story lies in the the action scenes along with the graphic explanations that accompany the death of the characters. Park leaves no stone unturned in describing the feeling of the horror as well as the tiny details of how injuries are inflicted. In this manner Park brings another dimension to horror and death.

Shrouded in mystery, the story takes unexpected turns. There is no telling who is going to die next or where the horror behind the mysterious murders is going to end. It’s suspenseful and sometimes even sincere, especially the leading character Norton. His internal turmoil over a situation he wanted to prevent keeps on surfacing throughout the case. Silently he wishes for death while his principles to see justice served keeps him from committing suicide. The lack of closure and the constant memory flashes only makes his mission more difficult. In some cases it places him in more danger.

Overall “Terror Byte” was written with a great pace and a nice build-up towards a surprising climax. The plot is original in terms of the threat, although some of the characteristics Norton shows have been used before. It’s definitely a book that can go into the “memorable” category.

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Reviewed by Damnetha Jules

Damnetha is a staff writer, horror book and movie critic.

Other books by J.R. Park:
Upon Waking
Punch

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Burning House (Book Review)

August 24, 2014 By Horror Palace Leave a Comment

Burning House is a new short novel by Daniel Marc Chant and it definitely falls under the Horror/Suspense genre. With a very original approach Chant takes the reader into a small town where the majority of the residents are living in poverty. It’s also a town where some strange events occur, giving rise to mysterious screams and even more horrific situations.

It starts with a curious prologue, which creates a keen interest then jumps into the setting for the story. A little girl wakes up in the middle of the night due to strange screams, but instead she finds smoke and flames. The apartment building she lives in with her parents is burning. As her parents desperately get her to safety she hears a cry from somebody who is trapped. In turn she alerts a firefighter by the name of Ellie McNeil. Captain Hunt, Ellie’s superior, gathers a small group of firefighters including her, and sets off into the building.

Their entrance into the smoke-filled building is uneventful and routine. The screaming comes and goes, leading them deeper into the lower floors. With every step their air gets less and time is crucial in this situation. All they expect to find is somebody who is trapped beneath the debris, but unfortunately they aren’t so lucky. A mysterious darkness remains on their heels, threatening to make the building their grave. When they finally find the survivor, Grace, she runs away from them. Captain Hunt takes this as a sign that she doesn’t need their help and orders the team to evacuate. At this point a section of the building collapses, trapping their way out. Now they also need to escape somehow, but the creatures lurking in the darkness aren’t going to let it happen easily.

Chant used a nice pace with the book. He paints a small picture of where the readers find themselves and doesn’t waste any time to get into the magic of the story. Chant’s choice of characters and narrative is a nice mix, because the former is based on everyday firefighters who need to believe in realistic laws if they are going to survive their dangerous job. Obviously Captain Hunt is the biggest skeptic of them all with 20 years of experience and making peace with the creature in the building is life-changing to say the least. As for the narrative, Chant keeps himself detached from the characters, but doesn’t lose sight of their emotions and fears. This also allows him to present every character in some personal manner.

The storyline itself is something different in terms of the opening chapters. For the reader Chant leaves little or no predictability. The horrific events inside the building present a mental, as well as physical challenge, which Chant balances evenly. The sense of mystery is never lost and the characters even develop some struggles within the rescue group. With all of them losing their grip on reality while running out of valuable time the suspense increases dramatically. Chant has great control over the creatures endangering the lives of the characters without indulging too much. They are ruthless and intelligent, making the situation so much more intense.

People who like reading stories that are driven by time and difficult choices, deceiving visions, dangerous creatures and not knowing what characters are going to survive will enjoy this book.

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Reviewed by Damnetha Jules

Damnetha is a staff writer, horror book and movie critic.
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The Stowaway (Book Review)

July 28, 2014 By Horror Palace Leave a Comment

“The Stowaway”, written by Clyde Edwards, is paranormal thriller that explores what happens when ones greatest dream becomes a living nightmare. The book features a unique plot that revolves around a classic adventure that quickly becomes supernatural horror.

The novel introduces the reader to a young man, Kit Cabot, who is being groomed to take over his family’s shipping fortune in 1808 Boston, Massachusetts. While Kit yearns for the approval of his father, he finds the day-to-day operations of the family business impossibly dull. Determined to do something more with his life, and attracted to the seafaring life of his uncle, Kit decides to stowaway on his uncles ship. Instead of being swept up in the life of adventure and romance he always imagined, Kit finds himself subjected to harsh 1800s maritime conditions and another stowaway with a sinister mission of its own.

Extremely well written, “The Stowaway” combines high sea adventure with dark horror. Combining a young man’s discovery of the realities of living at sea with the forced realization that inhuman entities exist and threaten the world, Edwards manages to create a world filled with both mundane and supernatural dangers. The characters in the story were all well-developed and, with the carefully crafted dialogue, kept the story moving at an even pace. However, while the story was well paced it was almost too short with the climax and conclusion occurring in rapid succession leaving one wanting to know what happens to Kit next.

Overall, “The Stowaway” by Clyde Edwards is an expertly crafted book that follows the tradition of maritime adventure and classic horror. Showing an excellent knowledge of life on the high seas during the 1800s, Edwards is able to build a claustrophobic sense of supernatural terror as the characters are forced to deal with the dangers of nature and an unknown horror possessing the ship. I highly recommend this book to any who love good horror with a supernatural flare and historical fiction.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Born in New Jersey, Clyde Edwards now resides in Philadelphia, PA. He has been writing thriller and horror fiction for nearly 15 years. He is currently working on his next horror novel Darkness Returns. Set in present-day Charleston, South Carolina, Darkness Returns tells the story of Lily, Nate, and Amelia, three childhood playmates who come together twenty years later to face a truth that no one wants to see. While living in a crumbling plantations, Lily Goodliffe is haunted by a murder victim from the past. Uncovering the truth about the ghost and even more recent murders, she must first deal with the strange occurrences that haunt her mind.

Reviewed by Damnetha Jules

Damnetha is a staff writer, horror book and movie critic.
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