Review: THIS DELICIOUS DEATH by Kayla Cottingham

This is author Kayla Cottingham's second novel, a Sapphic YA Horror with strong LGBTQ+ Rep, including a protagonist who is Lesbian/Bi, her best friend who is a Trans Internet influencer, and their two other close friends. Not only are they bonded by friendship; they are fellow sufferer/survivors of "the Hollowing," a mysterious viral disease which struck the planet without warning, affecting some of the population but not all. This brings in the theme of "outsiders," as [just as German-Americans were ostracized and Japanese-Americans confined to interment camps during World War II, while brilliant American minds sociopathically plotted Eugenics strategies] many of the unaffected populace shunned even their own family members and demanded that the "ghouls" be transported to isolated areas, such as deserts, far away from the untouched. For safety's sake, of course. This condemnation of "outsiders" is of course also reflected in the lives which our protagonists live, as individuals and friends who don't always adhere to the views of the majority. Compounding this is their status as sufferers of "the Hollowing," so that their tight-knit unending friendship is a bulwark and foundation against "normalcy."

Review: IT LOOKS LIKE DAD by Jason Krawczyk

How can I encapsulate my intense enthusiasm for this special novella? How to categorize? Mostly, just read it! I adored it and I think all Horror geeks should groove on this, especially those who also love science fiction, Multiverses, parallel Earths, time travel, wonderful riffs on the enduring Lovecraft Mythos [let me tell you: this author has NAILED the Cosmic deities, in my opinion, in their ineffable characters and complete indifference to humble useless humanity. He's really driven that point home, and then hammered it in.]

IT LOOKS LIKE DAD is also extraordinarily efficient Aversion self-therapy for both Thalassaphobia and Arachnophobia (the story is SO VIVID that I had to Google geographic distance to be certain I was far enough removed from danger!).

If you adore Apocalypse, Lovecraftian Horror, time travel, Multiverses, "super-hero/villains," body-crafting (wait till you read this!), race to read IT LOOKS LIKE DAD.

I read it yesterday and I want to go reread it already. I have one immensely favorite adorable character but I won't identify because I don't want to spoil the intense experience waiting on every new reader of IT LOOKS LIKE DAD. I'll be standing in line for each future offering from Jason Krawczyk and the illustrious Little Ghost Books.

No electrons were harmed in the making of this Review.

Review: CARMILLA by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

CARMILLA is remarkably Sapphic, in my opinion, for a book whose initial serialization occurred in 1861-1872, in the midst of the mostly repressive Victorian Era. [The also sensual DRACULA by Bram Stoker was published in 1897, a full quarter-century later.] Amazingly after many decades of Horror, I had not until now read CARMILLA. If I had as a child, surely I would have missed the sensuality and the obviousness of Carmilla's seduction of Laura, and her recent seduction of the General's niece, his ward. I noticed that her beauty is apparent to and acknowledged by these older men (one a father, one an uncle/guardian) but (thankfully) her beauty does not incite their lust, but only a sort of distant fondness and protectiveness, as a considerate shepherd might for his sheep. Also, CARMILLA is primarily a female-character story: Carmilla and Laura, Carmilla's earlier "incarnations" and her female victims, the older woman (chaperone) who purports (in every one of Carmilla's manifestations) to be the "young girl's" mother. Even the "secondary" victims (peasants and villagers) are primarily women. And of course, for whom is the story named? The deadly, unforgettable, CARMILLA.

Remarkable, I think, for a published mid-19th century story by a Western European (Irish) male author. For who holds the Power in this tale? WOMEN!!!

Note: I gave CARMILLA a 4 star 🌟 rating when I finished it, but a day later while pondering my review, I elevated it to 5 🌟. See my concluding paragraph!

Review: TELL ME WHAT REALLY HAPPENED

5 🌟 TELL ME WHAT REALLY HAPPENED by Chelsea Sedoti is a Super-Wow novel, YA Horror/Thriller/Psychological Thriller, which figuratively glued me to my seat while gluing my eyes open. I couldn't stop reading, and I'm still thinking about it, asking myself, "Well, do we REALLY KNOW the entire story yet?"

The novel is entirely contained in the format of police interrogation interviews (mainly responses)! So right away you realize, "Ohoh! Something really bad's happened here!" Just as Science and Sociology and Psychology has taught us that eyewitness accounts aren't always accurate: people see what they want to see, or what fits their conditioned perspective, plus the human brain automatically slides stimulus input into a framework, because it can't abide a puzzle: everything has to fit. Add in several individuals with their own disparate agendas, acting out of Character, all afraid to reveal the "truth," and the consequence is a hot mess of personality clashes, danger, wild arguments, and of course, two major themes: Internet Influencers...and Bigfoot. Yes, this is the Pacific Northwest, this is camping in a very scary woods, over the century-plus there's been lots of disappearances and deaths.

I appreciate the author's inclusion of both LGBT rep and the viewpoint of an adolescent Black male living in a small, predominantly Caucasian, community. These themes distinctly improved and intensified the story.

Release April 4 2023

Review: PARADISE-1 by David Wellington

Release April 4 2023

I was enrapt with this fascinating Science Fiction novel from the very beginning. I'd read and enjoyed earlier novels by this author, but PARADISE-1 is just special! Amazingly, the farther I read the more engrossed I became ! So happy this is just the first of a Series, as there are so many themes and occurrences yet to be unraveled: some science-fictional, some metaphysical (AI's achieving self-awareness; at what point is humanity no longer human but solely living creature), some-yes-paranornal (about the persistence of life after death, and of psychic manipulation). So very much to delve into, and there is not one spare minute to breathe! Total fascination throughout, and I am rabid for the sequel!