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One-Legged Reviews
Reviews and Ramblings on Books, Movies and more.
Friday, April 8, 2022
Friday, September 4, 2020
OF WITCHES...... by Steve Stred
OF WITCHES........ by Steve Stred
Published Sept. 4th 2020
Published by Black Void Publishing
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(from the book description)
“Of Witches…” the newest collection by dark fiction author, Steve Stred,
brings together eight stories all revolving around one of history’s
great curiosities – the witch.
Steve Stred will once again take you into the deepest, darkest places.
Accompanied
by fifteen stunning photographs/illustrations, as well as an amazing
foreword from Miranda Crites, this collection is sure to quench your
crone thirst.
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I am always excited when a new book arrives from author Steve Stred. I have know Steve for a few years now and have been lucky enough to read all of his work, even was able to Beta read a few. It is always a thrill to watch a author grow and to see their work change from book to book. Steve has done just that. Every book just keeps getting better and better. Whether it be a period tale of cannibalism, a families trial in the woods, a boy and his wagon or even a very extreme tale of cults and devils, Steve pushes the boundaries and always gives the readers something new.
That leads us to his newest offering, OF WITCHES..... This is an 8 story collection of stories all based around, you guessed it, witches. Six of the stories are brand new for this collection and 2 have been previously published.
Lets take a look at the stories one by one....(as always spoiler free)
IN WAVES
One man waits day after day on the beach with his son waiting for his true love to return. This is a tale of love, loss and the power of the sea.
A CAVE, IN THE WOODS
The tale told by a drunken man in a bar. Could it's horrifying secrets be true, and will the listeners of the tale be able to survive it's grisly end.
This story leans a little more towards the authors' more graphic and gore style.
GRANDMA'S LETTERS
Tommy's Grandmother has died and all she has left him is a brown box full of letters. Alone in his room he discovers a secret hidden within the letters and a strange message. Could Grandma have plans for Tommy? Even from the grave!
THREE WORDS
A camping trip for a young couple turns into a nightmare as they encounter a mysterious hag in the woods. It all comes down to the whispering of three words.
THE WITCH
This story was originally published in LEFT HAND PATH: 13 MORE TALES OF BLACK MAGICK back in 2018. This tale was one of the first stories I had ever read from Steve and I am excited to see it reprinted here again for new readers. This is the longest of the stories in the book and it does not disappoint.
The story centers on 3 witches that live in the forest outside of small rustic town. They keep to themselves and the town folk leave them alone. That is until on of the itches falls in love with a bard from the town that triggers consequences that will that will change the lives of all involved.
The author has crafted a perfect period piece story reminiscent of the classic fairy tales. There is so much character building done within this tale. these may be old haggard witches, but we also see another side of them, that which we do not expect.
This tale has all the horror and death you would expect, but in the end this is a story of family and the strong bonds of trust and love created just on the other side of the darkness.
THE TREE (THE WITCH PART 2)
This short tale is a direct continuation of the above story. We learn more about the fate of the Bard, the Witches and more following the events that transpired at the conclusion of THE WITCH. A fitting and beautifully melancholy end this story.
WON'T YOU OPEN THE DOOR
This story takes place in the same "world" as THE WITCH and was originally published in THE HORROR COLLECTION: SILVER EDITION.
To me this story almost plays out like a murder mystery. Young Ezekiel and his friend Oliver set off on a journey to return to the property where his brother was murdered by a witch. The trials they endure on the journey are hard, but will not prepare them for what they find at the end of their endeavor.
THE ASSISTANT
Kyle always wanted to be included in the family business. Even when that business was dealing with the dead. What should have a been a routine job turns into a night of horror as Kyle is faced with a task for a woman who should be dead, and is more than she appears.
As an added bonus there are 15 beautiful photographs/illustrations thru-out the book done by Miranda Crites that really help set the creepy and dark tone of the book.
This is a great collection that will thrill old and new readers alike. The author shows us that there is so much more to the lore of Witches than poison apples and gingerbread houses.
OF WITCHES..... can be purchased in ebook and print on AMAZON.
You can read more about the author and illustrator on their web pages!
Monday, July 13, 2020
GUEST POST: “Why is Horror Fiction Relevant Now?” by Pete Mesling
My original title for this post was “Why is Horror Fiction Relevant in 2020?” But I quickly realized that the answers are the same for me as they’ve always been. Still, they bear revisiting:
We really ought to start by answering with another question. Why is horror’s relevancy so often called into question? There seems to be an assumption that horror is somehow a lesser genre than all others, when the truth is that it’s just as prone to excellence, mediocrity, and dreck as every other genre.
Horror is broad enough to contain the full range of human emotions, to an extent that other genres routinely struggle with. It can be fantastic or realistic, thrilling or moody, sad or humorous, romantic or mysterious, quiet or extreme. The sky’s the limit, in other words. Try slipping an axe murder into a bodice ripper, on the other hand … It’s not that it can’t be done, but I’d want to be awfully careful.
Perhaps more than any other literary genre, horror has the potential to illuminate what we have in common as a species, regardless of differences. How so? Because it tends to bring diverse groups together to face off against a common enemy, whether it’s a monster, an environmental anomaly, or a human killer. When we come face to face with a true Other, we’re given the chance to see that the otherness among us pales by comparison to our commonality. Robert McCammon’s Stinger is a fantastic example of this precept in motion. On the surface it’s a science fiction story about one alien chasing another alien across space until they both end up in Texas, where the predator puts up a force field around a small town to prevent his quarry from escaping. But really it’s a horror novel, because the inhabitants of the troubled little town of Inferno are also trapped as a result.
How can we expect to confront the deepest, darkest problems of our times if we fail to address them in our art? Don’t get me wrong. Not all fiction needs to confront violence, racism, end times, etc., but much of it should. There’s a lot of darkness in the world, and it seems to me that if we want to move toward the light, we need to be able to recognize, and avoid, its opposite. Know your enemy.The late Jack Ketchum had it right when he said in a workshop I attended that if you’re going to bring violence into a story, you’d better be prepared to go all the way. I also once attended a reading by Steve Rasnic Tem in which he mentioned that his abhorrence toward all types of violence was the impetus behind his novel Ubo.
These points aren’t meant to serve as an outline of rules. That’s another great thing about the horror genre. Just when you think you’ve pinned it down, a visionary comes along and changes things up. Mary Shelley set a certain standard, of course, by making her monster in Frankenstein sympathetic (another science fiction novel that’s really a horror novel, by the way). Some hundred and seventy years later, Clive Barker would take this thinking to new heights. Others have been redrawing the boundaries of the genre in recent years as well: Josh Malerman, Victor LaValle, Paul Tremblay, to name a few.
Do I see these things at play in my own work? I think I do. I hope I’m not overly conscious of them while I’m writing, but I think the above observations show themselves in my collection Jagged Edges & Moving Parts, for instance. My next two or three books will not be in the horror genre, but when I return with a planned collection of all-supernatural tales of terror, you can bet some of the ideas touched on here will be on my mind. May they haunt you pleasantly as well.
Thank you Pete for a great guest post and for sharing it with us here at One-Legged Reviews.
Make sure to check out Pete's new collection Jagged Edges & Moving Parts available now in ebook and print.
To learn more about the author and his other works, make sure to visit his official site.
Wednesday, June 24, 2020
ROCK 'N' ROLL HEAD CASE by Lee Widener
head attached to his arm, wielding magical powers and dispensing the world's
worst life advice, he sets off on a freakishly bizarre road trip to stop a literal
monster from becoming the President of the United States, learning questionable
lessons along the way.