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!

Review: SURVIVOR SONG by Paul Tremblay 2020

Review:
SURVIVOR SONG released in July 2020, so surely it had been written prior to the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Yet it is a remarkably prescient tale; even though the contagious virus is different (a mutant variation of a common already existent virus) and even though the transmission vector diverges (and is this case is far more violent than breathing in the virus), the novel provides an all too familiar look back at the recent past. I felt that the story's length could have been reduced by 20-25%, as toward the conclusion it seemed to go on and on (primarily the final experience of the two female protagonists), and I haven't reached my mental conclusion about the postlude, as to whether that additional material helped or hindered. However, I acclaim the remarkably strong female characters: there are two protagonists of equal weight, both female, and at least 4 other strong, determined, female characters, each of whom noticeably impacts the story. The riffs on friendship (the two protagonists especially, but also a pair of secondary characters later in the story) are inspiring and hopeful. There's also a riff on the extreme to which anti-vaccination conspiracy conviction and refusal of scientific thinking and logic can run.

Review: MERCY (THE LOST WARSHIP #2)

Review: MERCY
What a knock-out Reader's Hook! I've never encountered a Daniel Gibbs title I didn't enormously enjoy, but I believe MERCY may be my favorite yet! Mr. Gibbs is supremely talented at balancing imagined Alien traits and culture and religious and sociological systems as against the backdrop of human culture, society, military, and numerous religions, and placing all this against the vast backdrop of Space, known and alien. Plus for those devotees of military SciFi there's that continuing underpinning to elicit and to maintain intrigue. I can't wait to continue THE LOST WARSHIP Series!

Review: URANUS by Ben Bova

TBR PILE Challenge #4!

URANUS by Ben Bova is Book 2 of his OUTER PLANETS Series, which commences with NEPTUNE. It didn't quite meet my admittedly high expectations: I wanted more Astronomy, more Science Fiction; less I guess human nature, human villainy. I had hoped for more why's of this anomalous planet. Now Dr. Bova does design an intensely puzzling mystery, I admit. I also grant full kudos for his ability to delineate a Villain in extreme detail, so that I spent most of the novel in fury at the depredations and machinations of the human evil plotter [in this, not much different than real life]. >p> I also would have liked more detail, development, and background on the spiritual leader of the Habitat, who conceived the idea of implementing a refuge orbiting Uranus to house the poor and downtrodden of Earth and to provide new lives. He exemplifies the intent of the Statue of Liberty, and expansion on that would be intriguing.