Dark Fuse

All posts tagged Dark Fuse

Hi everyone! I’m back from Killercon 2012 and it seriously kicked ass. Made a lot of new friends and really pushed my career forward (when you get back from a writing convention, all you really want to do is work harder and write) and now I am back on the balls… um, er, I mean ball. So well I get these partials in shape to submit, here are some really great books I’ve read recently and my thoughts on’em. Click on the book covers to purchase them.

Enjoy.

CHOURS OF DUST by Justin Paul Walters

Chorus of Dust Justin Paul Walters writes a jarring story. Chorus of Dust was ethereal and the theme was one of longing and belief and confronting your fears.
The story follows a man named Adem Comeauxa. When his grandfather dies, he returns to the family farm after a mysterious absence to recollect his past and mend his relationship with his sister Sam (Of course with much trepidation). As Adem does this, he uncovers an evil on his grandfather’s cotton farm… an evil that will force Adem to test his beliefs and eventually come to a horrible truth.
Do yourself a favor and read this one. Chorus of Dust is really a great, solid story and I cannot recommend it enough.
Buy it at www.darkfuse.com in the eBook format of your choice for $4.99.

THE RAIN DANCERS by Greg F. Gifune

The Rain DancersGreg F. Gifune is in fine form with The Rain Dancers. Greg’s work is dark, psychological, emotional and moody. It makes you think and reflect and if that isn’t enough, in The Rain Dancers, we have creeps, spooks and surprises abound.
A couple, Will and Betty Colby, return to Betty’s old hometown to settle some business about her father’s passing. But then, one rainy night, a mysterious man named Bob Laurent shows up on the couple’s doorstep.
He claims to be a family friend yet he seems unfamiliar to Betty, and he knows things… things about Betty, her father, and even personal things about Will and as the night goes on and the storm rages, an ultimate secret is revealed, one that drives Will and Betty to the edge of darkness.
If you have never read Gifune before, you should start with this one. I really think it might be his best yet.
The Rain Dancers is available from darkfuse.com for $4.99 and comes in the eBook format of your choice.

THE DARK ONES by Brian Smith

The Dark Ones is a great read. It has all the elements that make an exciting horror tale: demons, sex, gore, blood by the buckets and most important of all, a great story.
A group of teenagers called the dark ones accidently release a demon upon a small town. The demon unleashes a foul and unholy wrath and only the dark ones know how to stop it.
It’s as simple as that.
Simple, yet you can’t stop thinking about it once you are done reading it.
I am an absolute fan of Bryan Smith and he didn’t let me down with this one. The thing I like best about Smith’s writing is that he knows how to set up a page turner and I’m always a sucker for stories like those.
The one I read was the Deadite Press edition, a much cooler cover by far, and Deadite Press pays their authors so why not go down to Amazon.com or Deaditepress.com tonight and nab it for $12.95.
Worth every penny and you’ll have a fun time to boot!

THE DROPPER by Ron McLarty

The DropperRon McLarty has written an  awesome book here. The dropper is a rich and deep read and every chapter reads like a short story all its own. While the story itself keeps a slow pace all throughout the book, you should stick with it till the end because The Dropper is satisfying.
It fills you up and you think about it even when you’re done turning the last page.
I know I did.
I was having trouble describing this fantastic book so I’ll just paste from the Cemetery Dance Website:
“Gutsy 17-year-old Albert “Shoe” Horn is an apprentice plumber and part-time boxer in England in 1922, but when his mother dies, he finds himself responsible for an abusive, alcoholic father and a younger brother with special needs.
This marvelous novel follows the indomitable Shoe’s day-to-day survival with poetic grit, cynical genius, respect, and deep affection as he navigates a world full of very real characters: the gentle giant McAvy, his slave-driving boss, the Irish louts that resurrect his temper, the tempting ladies who seek him out, his hilarious plumbing clients, and the formidable “Dropper,” who Shoe fears will take away the most true thing in his life, his brother.”
I haven’t read a book like this in a long time. Reminds me of Hemmingway’s or Fitzgerald Style. It has big, bold paragraphs that dance with each other creating a close and personal atmosphere and I think in time that this one will be a classic. Grab it from Cemetery Dance Publications when you can. $25 for the trade hardcover.

Here are some really great titles that I read this past month and my quick reviews on them.

Enjoy.

PASSENGER by Ronald Malfi

Ronald Malfi has done it again! PASSENGER was a fantastic read and so good that I read it all in one sitting.
The description of the book says more than I ever can about the set up but what it does not tell you is how you will feel after finishing this peice; contemplative, thought provoked. An errie mystery in the horror vein. I really cared for the main character and as you read he develops and we understand more about his memories. So in a sense, we see the main characters development progress before our eyes. It was a brilliant trick.
Malfi really knows how to write and he writes in vivid detail. The city streets, the mood, the atmospheare, it was all so well rendered.
Only qualm is its allways too short for me.
In the end though, Passenger was very entertaining and I highly recommend it.
Snatch it up at darkfuse.com

ALL-MONSTER ACTION! by Cody Goodfellow

RAAAAAWWWRRRR!!!
All monster action was serious fun to read. If you love movie monsters and have a hankering for destruction on an epic scale then trust me, this book is for you.
Cody paints my boyish dreams of big ass monsters and destruction. His imagination godzilla in scope and it is evident with each passing story in ALL- MONSTER ACTION. He throws everything at you and more; from a flying translucent man eating manta ray god to a 400 pound albino! My favorite story in the collection is Venus of Santa Cruz.
Oh yes… monster sex…
Hey! And I almost forgot, the book is illustrated and they are sweet looking.
Read this for your monster mash consumption and enjoyment. It was like watching a bad B movie monster flick only with a better plot and better writing.
Get it at swallowdownpress.com or amazon.com.
Its priced to move at $12.00!

HERO by J. F. Gonzalez & Wrath James White

Hero by J. F. Gonzalez and Wrath James White is a cold and razor sharp piece of fiction. It is roughly about a Civil Rights leader named Adelle Smith and her struggle with an angel of death type hospice nurse named Natsinet, who hates the woman she cares for and sees Adelle as the cause of all her pain and racist misery.
The novella runs 164 pages and deals with racial tensions, self hating, torture themes, redemption and heroisim. The story smashes stereotypes, especially in the climatic end scene.
Also the epilogue was particularly touching.
Gonzales and WJW write a seamless work and it is hard to tell where one ended and the other began. That is always a sign of a great writing team, just like Brian Keene and Gonzalez in the Clicker series, when I don’t notice the breaks in the story and things flow smoothly from chapter to chapter.
All in all, Hero is a classic concept story with a hardcore horror twist. If you are into redeeming /revenge stories and like a little hope thrown into the mix, then Hero would be right up your alley.
It is available from Deadite Press for the meager price of $11 bucks for the Trade Paperback or $5 for the digital edition.

DARK HOLLOW by Brian Keene

 Ahh, spring. Love in is the air, birds are singing and the flowers bloom…
so prepare to get banged!
Dark Hollow (Formally The Rutting Season) by Brian Keene is the prequel in his Levi Stoltzfus book series (Which includes the novels Ghost Walk and A Gathering of Crows).
The story is set in the backwoods of Pennsylvania and follows sexually frustrated mystery writer Adam Senft and his dog through a meeting with a not so fabled goat man named Hylinus. The satyr is the embodiment of sexually driven, depravity laced evil and as Adam and the rest of the town soon find out, is growing dangerously out of control.
Keene writes about Le Horn’s Hollow (which is the hollows real name), in such a way that it is truly horrible. He paints it as a shadowy, sinister patch of forest that harbors the dyadic satyr, Hylinus and when I was reading it, I could feel his presence behind my back.
Some critics have stated that Dark Hollow is nothing more than a manifesto of a sexually starved writer, but I disagree. I believe the true horror of Dark Hollow is the surmounting feeling of terror that Adam feels as he watches all those around him succumb to Hylinus’s madness and high sex appetite, and how Adam is helpless to control the situation.
Dark Hollow is also an interesting peak into the life of a real writer and I couldn’t help but think that maybe Brian’s character of Adam was mirrored after his own self.
Probably true. If I am right, I would love to know about it.
As for the pacing of the story, the novel starts out with a rocket ship to horror land but after the first four chapters, you better settle in for a long buildup (but Keene is a fantastic writer so it was easy to keep reading). But I urge you to stay with it because the climax is a shocker and well worth the investment of your time.
I enjoyed reading Dark Hollow and if you’re like me then you’re already a Keene fan and would appreciate the story.
It is available from Deadite Press (www.deaditepress.com) in trade paperback and will cost you $13.00 bucks.

ALL YOU CAN EAT by Shane McKenzie

When I got this in my review mail I said to myself ‘who the hell is Shane McKenzie’? Well now I know and take it from me, the guy knows how to write.
In All You Can Eat, his Novella  debut published by Deadite Press, he delivers a buffet of sick and disgusting gluttony. The story is fast and hard hitting, just like I like them, but the concept of the story is what kept me hungering for more.
Imagine for a moment that you are a worker at a Chinese restaurant that has food so good (A secret recipe) that its patrons gorge themselves and grow larger and larger and larger….
Now the supply has run out and you’re on the menu.
That’s what All You Can Eat is about in a nutshell but it really is a fun read and Jeff Burk at Deadite Press has never steered me wrong in the past.
So if your gullet hankers for a quick, satisfying read, give Shane’s novella a try. You will be full before you know it.
P.S. I don’t apologize for the puns. You can buy it by going to deaditepress.com.

And there you have it.

I have my hands full in July but I’m sure I will be able to squeeze a post or two in when the deadline demon isn’t looking. Till then have a happy 4th of July!