The Best of Indie Horror: Christmas Edition

Christmas brings out the best and worst in many people the world over — thus, lighting a fire in the bellies of storytellers who wish to strike warm fuzzies or tantalising terror in reader’s hearts. You won’t find the warm fuzzy feeling here; that’s not what we do! Don’t forget the milk and cookies, you’re going to need some extreme comforting while reading this collection of frightful festive horror shenanigans!*

Frightfully festive horror shenanigans!

After releasing several best-selling anthology series, I wanted to do something new. Having worked with a tremendous number of authors over the years, I decided to gather some of my favourites together and do an unthemed book. [Best of Indie Horror, and The Best Of Indie Horror Christmas Edition] are the result of that idea. Inside the covers, you will find an array of styles covering a wealth of sub genres. I present you with, the best of indie horror. ~ Kevin J. Kennedy

I don’t have this blog just to #SupportIndieHorror, I LOVE reading indie horror, and that’s how this blog was born. Almost a decade later and things have only gotten better! And I’m far from alone – we’ve watched authors grow, get famous, watched their books turn into movies, it’s crazy! I love being able to turn to The Dark Defender and say “OMG, I’m friends with them!” We’ve watched this genre grow, too! It’s never been easier for us Extreme Horror fans to find someone new to check out. Keven put together a kick ass collection of indie authors for this book of crazy Christmas shenanigans! Some names you’ll surely recognize, and a few you’ll be reading for the first time here. Check out this line up…

The book begins the way all holidays should – with traditions! TRADITION by Steve Stred in this case. Jacob, a man obsessed with Christmas. His quest for this year’s family tree begins with a heavenly spa, but things go south (see what I did there 😂) quickly when Jacob makes his first cut into o tannenbaum.

From there, see what Lex H. Jones has in store on the TOP FLOOR: SEASONAL FURNISHINGS AND CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS. One of the men on the night shift janitorial crew, Thomas, finds a weird door while cleaning the department store he works in. He follows the path up the stairs and finds a whole floor of outdated Christmas supplies, and displays! As he looks around, he can’t believe how different it is from the way things are today. Then he starts to get dizzy… Doesn’t it seem odd to him that the doorway was blocked off and hidden behind a mural? He didn’t even think that maybe there’s a reason it was so well hidden. Now look at him. SMDH.

When we make our way back downstairs, RJ Roles pits scam artist against scam artist in PENNIES FOR SANTA. The generosity of strangers is bypassing Todd and his bell-ringer bucket this year. Seems that Santa’s little elves are working on something of their very own this season. As for Santa, well, read on …

CLITORIS KRAMPUS is one of my standouts among these cheerful holiday tales. Zoltán Komor brings us a love story where Mrs. Claus still adores her husband after all this time, and goes to great lengths to prove it. And that’s only the beginning, honey!

Veronica Smith fills us in on the true story of those creepy little trolls that follow Santa around in LET THE DAMN ELVES DIE ALREADY. It’s about little Candace, who saw her first elf at age six. Ten years later she sees the elves again, but this time it’s on HER terms.

Another stand out story from this collection is THE MALL SANTA by Eric Butler. After a failed job, a missing sister, and an eighteen month hiatus, a group of ‘friends’ reunite for one more score – they are going to rob Santa! Santa might have other plans though…

Patrick Reuman tells us a bedtime story about Santa’s origins in SANTA CLAWS. His real name, how he knows if you’ve been naughty or nice, and what happens to the naughty boys and girls after their parents lay them down for a long winter’s nap and Santa Claws comes to town.

I love the nod to The Devil’s Rejects in A LAST CHANCE CHRISTMAS MIRACLE by Matthew V. Brockmeyer. There’s a lot going on in this one, and is a little bleak. It’s a great story, but I kind of want to take a shower and shake it off, lol. There is a little light at the end of the tunnel – but not for everyone! Maybe that’s part of the miracle…

BLOOD, BULLETS, AND BAUBLES aren’t the only things in this festive short by David Owain Hughes. It also comes with hired assassins, zombie elves, and Klaws – you’ll find out exactly WHO he is when you read it.

You’ll find out that Matthew A. Clarke is about to bring us a fun yuletide yarn on the very first page of GOLDEN TICKET. The real ‘baubles’ show up one story late in the lineup! Telling your kids Christmas stories on Christmas Eve is a beautiful tradition, and it’s even more fun when you know you’re not supposed to be talking about this particular story. But, if you can’t talk about butt stuff on Christmas then what’s the point?

Kevin J. Kennedy wraps up this anthology by telling us a tale about a brother and sister that reunite to spend the holidays together for the first time since their parents died. Too bad they’re doing it in THE CHRISTMAS CABIN FROM HELL. Once they notice the three evil snowmen outside the only door, it’s probably already too late! I am really happy to tell you that this does not follow the typical horror movie formula, so Kev gets bonus points for that!

🎅 AUTHOR CONNECT / STALKING TIPS 🤶

Each of these author links lead to their Goodreads profile: Matthew V. Brockmeyer, Eric Butler, Matthew A. Clarke, David Owain Hughes, Lex H Jones, Kevin J. Kennedy, Zoltán Komor, Patrick Reuman, RJ Roles, Veronica Smith and Steve Stred

The Best of Indie Horror: Christmas Edition is available for FREE with Kindle Unlimited. Pick it up on Amazon now!

EDIT: That’s it for this one guys. It was scheduled to post days ago, but I screwed something up trying to schedule it, so… here we are. I have R&R many holiday horror anthologies over the years, I can’t get enough of ’em! Tell me what your favorite holiday collection is in the comments!

Steve Stred got me curious about other family holiday traditions… I want to hear about your family, and any weird things you might have to do every year. If you guys play along, I have a fun one to share with you!

P, L & N💋

~sg

AUTUMN BLEEDS INTO WINTER by Jeff Strand

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Jeff is going to be so famous.
He is already well known, but I mean ooper-duper famous. Watch and see.
I also predict that AUTUMN BLEEDS INTO WINTER is going to be made into a movie. It’s going to be the kind of movie that has you yelling at the screen, cursing at the characters, and pacing the floor. I did all three while reading the book! The author picks you up, and sets you down right in the story, and I couldn’t tear myself away until the very end.

Autumn Bleeds Into Winter
by Jeff Strand
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Curtis has had a pretty normal life up till now, normal enough for any fourteen year old in 1979. He knows that kids are missing – being snatched up by an unknown psychopath, because nothing like that really happens to you, right? Especially in Fairbanks, where the darkest it gets this time of year would remind you of early evening anywhere else. Bad things happen in the dark… Don’t they?

Everything changes in the span of a bad yo’ mama joke.

You remember being fourteen… (if you don’t, you will! It all came rushing back while reading this!), sleepovers, junk food, bad jokes, farts, all of it happening with your best friend by your side… Jeff paints the awkwardness of adolescence so perfectly that I’d find myself cringing I’m remembrance of my teenage years. I’m hoping this one example can convey everything I’m trying to explain… The boys are sleeping over at Curtis’s house, and they get into an argument. For one reason or another, Todd gets way more pissed than usual and he’s just done. Eff this, I’m going home. Been there, both sides. Remember, it’s 1979, you don’t wake the ‘rents for these things. Just after Todd leaves, Curtis decides he needs to follow him. Not because he wants to apologize, or to make sure Todd makes it home OK. No. He’s going after him so he can scare the shit out of him before he makes it home! It’s not being childish. It’s not being mean. It’s being fourteen, with your best friend.
Before he gets the chance to scare him, Curtis sees a car pull up and someone start talking to Todd. His mind races as he watches his best friend willingly get into a strangers car at 1:am, and drive away. While he’s trying to think of any reason that this isn’t what he knows in his heart that it is, Curtis realizes something very important… he knows who is driving that car!

That’s just the beginning of the story. Just wait until you see how tough it is for a fourteen year old to get any adult to take him seriously, and how many wrong turns he makes while trying to find the answers about what happened to his best friend. I know, I usually don’t give details like that. But A: we already know what’s happening from reading the synopsis, and B: I had to try to explain how Jeff is able to make you ride shotgun through everything that happens, experiencing everything as it happens. It’s a draining experience, so much happens and this story went places I never expected.
You’ve got to read this – highest of recommendations here.

P, L & N 💋

sg

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Hogg

by Samuel R. Delany

The classic and controversial novel made available again; Acclaimed winner of the William Whitehead Memorial Award for a lifetime’s contribution to gay and lesbian literature, bestselling and award-winning SF author Samuel R. Delany wrote Hogg three decades ago. Since then it has been one of America’s most famous ‘unpublishable’ novels. The subject matter of Hogg is our culture of sexual violence and degeneration. Delany explores his disturbing protagonist Hogg on his own turf – rape, pederasty, sexual excess – exposing an area of violence and sexual abuse from the inside. As such, it is a brave but necessary book.

A shocking and contemporary insight into a parallel world of sex and cravings that lies in wait in the shadows of our own world.

“HOGG is the story of a man—a depraved trucker named Franklin Hargus, whom the people he works for call Hogg—and of the nameless boy who tells the story of three days of unspeakable sexual violence and devastation, which, together, they initiate in a small seaside American city in the middle of the last century. Hogg is a towering brute who makes his living as a rapist for hire. By the end of a series of vicious attacks, kidnappings, and mass murders, the reader will wonder who is more corrupt: the man or the boy.”

The narrator of Hogg is a Huck Finn–like youngster caught in society’s most sinister seams—but unlike Huck, he passes no moral judgments on the violence he takes part in . . .

Amazon

This got pretty gross.
But I had heard so many things about this novel of ‘sexual violence and degeneration’ that I had to read it. I’m really surprised that something this controversial was written over 30 years ago.
But, again… It got pretty gross.

You know what’s next, right? COWS. ‘Till next time…

P, L & N💋

~sg

IN THE BLEAK MIDWINTER by M. R. Sellars

THE SMALL TOWN OF HULIS, MISSOURI
HAS A KILLER CHRISTMAS SPIRIT…

… AND IT’S HIDING A KILLER SECRET.

In 1975 the small town of Hulis was ground zero in a frantic search for 10 year-old Merrie Frances Callahan, as well as an intense manhunt for her abductor.

35 years later, it seems the FBI would like to pretend it never happened.

Special Agent Constance Mandalay didn’t get that memo…

IN THE BLEAK MIDWINTER is based on the short teaser novella MERRIE AXEMAS: A Killer Holiday Tale, (see below) but it tells the whole story of ten-year-old Merrie Frances Callahan’s 1975 abduction, and the present day murders that are somehow intricately linked to that event.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆
5/5 Holiday Stars

I’ve been a Rowan Gant fan since I picked up my first copy of HARM NONE (I got it autographed, too – teehee), and I am so happy that SA Constance Mandalay got her own story! (soon-to-be-series 🙂 I can’t wait for Book 2: INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE!!).   ITBM is going to impact the rest of the RGI Series for me. Constance was already growing on me, but I like her character much more now.  Getting to go along with her on this investigation, and see how she handles the (I’m quoting Ben here…) “Twilight Zone” stuff without Rowan being there is eye-opening.  I definitely see her a little differently, and have more respect for her. She has earned her place in The Ghoul Squad, haha!  I would LOVE to see both Constance and Ben shake off their traditional beliefs and… well… a girl can dream.   ♥ Blessed Be!

SA Constance Mandalay is assigned what appears to be a 7-year-old cold case that echos the events of the 35-year-old child abduction. Unfortunately for all involved, the case heats up for a short time each year with a brutal murder that appears eerily staged, and occurs under impossible circumstances.

Undaunted, she faces the task with no backup, a mysteriously redacted case file, and the inevitable murder fast approaching.

Mandalay’s experience as the ‘handler’ for an FBI occult/paranormal expert (Rowan Gant) makes her the perfect choice for this investigation. However, even her brushes with the unexplained still cannot prepare her for the answer she was not supposed to discover…

You can find In The Bleak Midwinter: A Special Agent Constance Mandalay Novel @

Amazon, Goodreads, and Smashwords

You can find Merrie Axemas: A Killer Holiday Tale (#FREE) @

Amazon, Goodreads, and Smashwords

Where to find M. R. Sellars online:

M. R. Land, Amazon, Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Smashwords, YouTube, StoryFind, and if he ever decides to get back to pinning – Pintrest. I’m still trying to recruit all you horror lovers to switch to SlashBoard instead – it’s Pintrest for Horror Lovers! Maybe we can follow him there soon  series 😉

~

Merrie Axemas – Book 0.5 of the Constance Mandalay Series

LITTLE MERRIE CALLAHAN MAY BE ALL GROWN UP, BUT SHE STILL HAS AN AXE TO GRIND WITH THE MAN IN THE RED SUIT…

~

INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE: Book 2 of the Constance Mandalay series

THE END IS NEAR, IT JUST NEEDS A LITTLE PUSH…

COMING SOON…

~

Check out the entire Rowan Gant Investigation [RGI] series – I highly recommend the books I’ve read so far, and I’ll bet I say the same as I finish the rest of them.   

~

My autographed copy of HARM NONE can’t be replaced, so I was especially giddy when I saw that M. R. Sellars uses AuthorGraph! Now my ebooks are virtually signed  🙂   Stop by and get your new M. R. Sellars ebooks personalized, too!

~

Be sure to check out all of the M. R. Sellars and other WillowTree Press Author logo-ed swag available @ On The Edge Graphics: Purveyors Of Official Author Swag & Other Graphical Oddities  http://www.cafepress.com/otegraphics

 

)O(

PARALYSED by Matt Shaw

They had met in prison.
Dennis felt terrible about his crime, and judging from his beaten & bruised body… the other inmates didn’t find his deeds tolerable, either. Except for one man. One man befriended him when no one else could stand the sight of him. That man was Ryan, it this began a long, and very special friendship.

Things are different today, though.

Today is Dennis’s birthday. The card waiting for him from Ryan brings him no joy. He peeks his head into Ryan’s room to see if he’s awake, and the only words spoken to him by his best friend in the world are… “Please, kill me.”

PARALYSED is the new 5 star extreme horror novel from Matt Shaw. Continuing with his Black Cover series, and pushing boundaries of decency, Matt Shaw takes you on a journey with a serial killer and his accomplice, Dennis – a man who’ll do absolutely anything for his broken master.

This is promoted as one of Matt’s Black Cover extreme horror books, but it’s so much more than that. PARALYSED isn’t just a quick ride for cheap thrills – it’s a heartbreaking story about the friendship & love that developed between two of society’s cast offs. I don’t use that term lightly, either. I could feel my heart breaking as the story unfolded.  Only Matt could evoke this response from a tale about a convicted rapist, and his murderous best friend. (sl http://wp.me/p37DRX-1kO)

 

Like gore? Like horror? You’re in for a treat because Matt Shaw brings the crazy right to your kindle!  Stay up to date on All Things Matt, and be notified of new titles by following his Amazon author page, his official blog, and Matt Shaw Publications on Goodreads, and Facebook.

 

 

MONSTER by Matt Shaw and Michael Bray

Matt Shaw and Michael Bray – Reunited at last!

Ring-a-ring-a-roses,
A pocket full of posies;
Ashes! Ashes!
We all fall down.
~ common British version

Christina Cooper, like a lot of us, has a casual interest in serial killers. Her interest increased when people start disappearing from her area. Since 1991 sixteen people have gone missing, or been kidnapped – each case occurring at the beginning of August. People are comparing the details, or lack thereof, to the still unsolved Ripper case from so long ago. The mystery surrounding the case has become an obsession. She has her own ‘crime journal’ where she takes notes on the case, and keeps articles she finds. The headline in this morning’s newspaper announces the anniversary of the abduction spree. Today is August first.

At the gas station where she works, Christina passes time in creative ways. She has a secret game of creating morbid profiles of people she sees, creating a backstory and intricate scenarios for their ‘character’.
Her friend Jessie shares her passion all things macabre. She loves to hear the detailed descriptions of crimes committed by Christina’s characters, and enthusiastically encourages her to profile the customer in the white van.
The grisly account of rape and murder ‘committed’ by White Van Guy has Jessie mesmerized, and neither of them notice the customer that entered. When the woman slammed her items onto the counter, it was obvious that she’d overheard the brutal story being told about the man that they would soon learn is her husband – and she was NOT entertained.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Christina regains consciousness in unfamiliar surroundings, and panics.
“Do you want to know the truth?”
She’s starting to remember what happened –
‘Anniversary of summer abduction spree looms’
A customer coming into the gas station at closing time…
“It’s my son’s birthday.”
The woman from the other day… with an invitation?
A rag being pressed to her face…
“You’re the guest of honor.”
White Van Guy…

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

WARNING: THIS IS AN EXTREME HORROR NOVEL.

“There is gore. There is bad language. There are scenes of a sexual nature. There are scenes of domestic abuse. But hidden underneath it all is also a chilling story.” ~ Amazon

There are some uncomfortable scenes, but they are necessary.
The characters wouldn’t be the same without them, and their actions wouldn’t have the same impact.
These guys managed to have me in tears reading an extreme horror novel! So IMO – they did everything right.

 

MONSTER on Amazon / Goodreads

Visit the Official Websites of Matt Shaw and Michael Bray

DOCTOR SLEEP by Stephen King

36 years ago, one of Colorado’s great resort hotels, The Overlook, burned to the ground. Jack Torrance could not escape the hotel’s grasp, but his wife and son, Wendy and Danny, survived everything that The Overlook tried to throw at them, and emerged from the wreckage. The only other survivor was the hotel’s chef, Dick Hallorann, who’d come up from Florida when he got a ‘hunch’, and a mental call from Danny.
Wendy and Dick received multiple injuries from what happened to them inside The Overlook, but Danny came out physically unharmed. Wendy received a small settlement from the hotel, enough to help her and Danny get by while she recuperated. They ended up moving to Florida, not too far from where Dick Hallorann lived. The bond that was formed between Dick and Danny was strong, and they all kept in touch throughout the years.
Although Danny was physically OK, the poor kid was a mess mentally. He was too young to control his gift, or his curse. There’s no reason to pretend here, we all know what it is! Danny could not control the shining at this young age, so he couldn’t stop the ghosts from The Overlook from coming to him. In March of 1981, when Danny was eight years old, and in the third grade, he had a visitor from The Overlook. He woke his mom up, told her not to go in the bathroom, and after that he refused to speak. Wendy called Dick and asked him to come. He didn’t hesitate, and was there the next day. This is when Dick sat down with Danny and explained as much as he could about The Shining, as much as an eight year old would understand anyway. Dick also told Danny about his childhood, his shine at that age, and what his grandmother had done to help him.
He taught Danny how to lock these ghosts away, in a sealed box, on a high shelf in the far back his mind. This is a trick you can do IRL (in real life), too. Psychologists would call it repressing, but I say – “Whatever it takes to get by!!”

REDRUM RESURFACES

We flash forward in time, to a present day Danny. The child who had been abused by an alcoholic father, and who swore would never take a drink, is waking up in Hangover Hell and trying to recall the previous nights events. We learn about what kind of man Dan Torrance has grown into, and where he is at this point in his life.

Meanwhile, we are getting to know Andrea Steiner. Andrea is a 32 year old ‘wanderer’, doing what she needs to do to get by. She’s been ‘Dating for Dinner’, and while other girls are happy being picked-up with a quick drink and trip to the closest motel, that’s not her gig. Not a huge fan of men anyway, due to a father who spent eight years treating her like anything BUT his daughter, she preferred being taken to a movie instead of straight to the sheets.
Andrea doesn’t have to earn her money the way the others do. She has a unique talent. While watching Raiders of the Lost Ark with her date, his hand starts to creep into her lap and he’s not wanting any of the popcorn she has there. She whispers in his ear, and he falls into a deep sleep. So deep, in fact, that he doesn’t mind when she reaches into his pants, for his wallet instead of his willie, and liberates him from his cash.
This isn’t the first man who has fallen asleep in the theater with Andrea, and there is someone in the back row that has seen them all.

Rose The Hat

Rose O’Hare, known simply as Rose The Hat, is the leader of a tribe of people called the True Knot who travel across the country in search of sustenance. They are ‘family’ – what is tied can never be untied. They have been without a member who has a true ‘sleeper’ talent for quite some time, and Andrea is perfect.

The sustenance that the True Knot seeks comes from the ‘steam’ that children with the shining produce when they are slowly tortured to death. The more pain these children endure, the more potent their steam becomes, so…they do not die a quick death.

Elsewhere, there is Abra Stone. Abra Is a very special and unique twelve year old girl who has unknowingly predicted numerous tragedies ever since she was an infant.
Born with a caul, and blessed with second-sight, she knows that her abilities scare her parents – so she hides them, pretending that they no longer exist. Her ‘Momo’, Concetta, has always known she is two-minded, and is supportive. The True Knot is aware of Abra’s existence, and her power. Abra has seen visions of Rose The Hat, and is aware of the danger.
When Abra really needs someone to confide in…there’s always been Tony. Lately though, Tony hasn’t been around.
When Abra recalls a vision, a forgotten memory so strong she cannot handle it alone, she reaches out with everything she has and asks Tony’ s dad for help.

It looks like I’ve said a lot, but I’ve only scratched the surface. I wasn’t super excited to read this, thinking a sequel to The Shining couldn’t possibly be done. But, knowing that the rest of the world was reading it, I couldn’t possibly put it off. My friends were super excited to read it, so I wanted to be able to discuss it when they were ready.
I went in with mediocre expectations, and have to admit that I was drawn back in to the Overlook from the very beginning. By the time I finished, I knew it wasn’t just the hotel that held such an evil power, but the land itself.
The first part of the story, with a young Danny, was great. I loved being back with Dick Halloran and reading about his childhood with the shining. Wendy tried, but Danny wouldn’t have made it without Dick. I’ve always been grateful that he made it out of the hotel alive.
I barely touched on the adult Dan Torrance. During his travels, and short stays from town to town, when he does end up finding work – he’s always been drawn to working in a hospice (hot-spice), being hired anywhere from janitorial staff to an orderly. His shining helps comfort the dying patients in their final moments.:

Dan sees the early death flies, will they catch it in time?

This guy’s got one foot in the grave

When he settles in New Hampshire, it’s this gift that earns him the moniker Doctor Sleep.

His battle with drinking was a big part of the story, and at first, I wasn’t really keen on all the meetings and slogans. But, after I thought about it, I realize that it’s an important part of the story. He grew up with an abusive, alcoholic father, and the path that Jack Torrance went down is the same path that led them to the Overlook.

Everything came full circle.

In the authors notes, when Stephen King talks about Stanly Kubrick’s movie version of The Shining, he says “…the movie, which many seem to remember – for reasons I have never quite understood – as one of the scariest films they’ve ever seen.”
Now, that sure sounds to me like he isn’t pleased with Kubrick’s interpretation. That surprises me!

The Stanly Hotel in Colorado. In the Top 10 Most Haunted.

The 1997 The Shining, also known as Stephen King’s The Shining, is a more accurate adaptation of Stephen King’s vision. This movie was filmed at The Stanly Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. THIS is the hotel King visualized while writing the story, having stayed there prior. I only wish I had my photos of our trip there! It is a gorgeous place, I met many workers who were hired as extras in the movie, and spent an hour playing with chipmunks in the parking lot!

This was taken right before we left for The Stanly Hotel… hey it’s a good picture! This is a good enough reason to share it. hahahahaha

Rocky Wood: King said Rock knows SK’s work better than SK, and is his go-to guy for all things Shining while working on this book. He also said ‘look him up sometime’. So, I did.
Art, THIS is the guy you will probably want to get in touch with about ‘the incident at the boiler’.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Wood

Links from the ebook:

The Simon & Schuster Stephen King page –
authors.simonandschuster.com/Stephen-King
Normally, I wouldn’t even visit the page for more than just being sure that the link works. But, when I did, I ended up checking some things out. The main neat thing… Become a fan of Stephen King on the S & S page to find out about new releases by SK, recommendations, special offers, and more. Plus, get a FREE eBook when you join their mailing list – See more at:
http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Stephen-King/1666839#sthash.F6TXk9FT.dpuf

http://www.doctorsleepbook.com/
~ has a little description of the book with a picture of the cover. A link which reads ” WHERE IS DANNY TORRANCE?
Click to find out”. The click is a maddening circle, ending at the beginning. I think it’s a little piece of SK’s sick humor…

King reads from Doctor Sleep

Need a refresher?
The Shining

SURVIVOR by J.F. Gonzalez

BEFORE HOSTEL…BEFORE SAW..THERE WAS SURVIVOR

From the Back Cover
It is supposed to be a romantic weekend getaway. Lisa is looking forward to spending time alone with her husband—and telling him that they are going to have a baby. Instead, it becomes a nightmare when her husband is arrested and Lisa is kidnapped. But the kidnappers aren’t asking for ransom. They want Lisa herself. They’re going to make her a star—in a snuff film.
What they have in mind for Lisa is unspeakable. They plan to torture and murder her as graphically and brutally as possible, and to capture it all on film. If they have their way, Lisa’s death will be truly horrifying…but even more horrifying is what Lisa will do to survive.…

I was trying to save this as my ‘back-up’ book. The one I listen to on my way to work, and home from work. Then, I started reading on my lunch break. Pretty soon, it was all I was doing. Reading or listening to SURVIVOR by J.F. Gonzalez
You guys know I have a sick/twizted streak in me, and this book pushed my limits.
Walking to work & listening to the first chapter…
It’s a beautiful day, I’m walking along & smiling while listening about this young girl who is sneaking off to see her forbidden love before her parents get home from work. Aww. I get a little surprise when I realize who she’s sneaking off to see, but, a good surprise. Then… I start getting uncomfortable. Take a drink of my Mountain Dew, light a cigarette. It’s getting worse. I actually stopped walking, made an audible noise – someone looked at me, haha – almost gagged, then was a minute or two late punching in for work because I had to finish that section.

The story is about a young couple, Lisa & Brad, who are off to have a nice, and well deserved vacation. Lisa also has some exciting news to surprise her husband with! But, they never get their vacation. Something odd happens and the couple is separated from each other. While Brad is unable to help, Lisa is kidnapped and informed that she was chosen to be the staring role in a snuff film. She is taken to an isolated cabin, bound, and listening to her captor tell her about who her co-star is and about the underground hardcore extreme S&M community. Since she wasn’t familiar with the term SNUFF, the things she heard terrified her – because she is realizing that this is to be her fate. She meets her co-star, Animal, and the others involved in this project. As she is put through the torture of awaiting her fate while they put up plastic sheeting, Dexter style, and get out various equipment, something very unexpected happens and she is now sharing her cabin of horrors with another woman! Lisa is unfortunate enough to watch as this other woman is filmed first. Now she knows that no amount of talking could ever prepare her for what she just witnessed, and she also knows that this is to be her fate as well. Lisa is a fighter, though. A Survivor. And, I can’t believe the lengths she goes to – to try to survive this nightmare.
I’m not telling you anything else :p
As graphic as this story is, it’s not just about gratuitous sex and violence. There is a deep story here, full of twists and turns that you won’t see coming. It is graphic. Extremely so.

I downloaded this for free, probably an Amazon sale. But, I recommend buying it – under two STRICT conditions…
This book is really intense. Not for the squeamish.
Scenes of extreme violence, sexual violence, torture, rape, rape of things that should never be penetrated (eye sockets, gaping wounds, etc. I don’t want to post spoilers). There is some talk of animal torture, a flash-back of a horrible bunny death that’s pretty graphic, but… not too much of the animal stuff. The flash-back sets the stage, so just some mentions of this type of behavior are made. Umm…what else… minor drug references, no big. But, if you don’t think you can handle the SM/BD… don’t use this book to gauge your tolerance. Graphic. One horror author told me he had to stop reading at a certain point because it disturbed him so much. A different horror author told me she loved it. Six of one, ya know?
The other thing, this book needs an editor. In the worst way. Grammatical errors are not the issue, it’s spelling. I’ve never picked up any book that was this bad. I truly believe the authors keyboard could not make a capital ‘I’, because in most cases, the number 1 was used. There was one ‘/’, and other things. Detective Orr was only Detective Orr half the time, or less. It became Detective On, SUV was typically SW. Things like that are examples of what you need to be aware of.
I think the story was good enough to not lose points for that.
Most people I know WON’T be able to deal.
Joy Killar, Hon, your head will explode. You’ve wanted to hurt writers for comma abuse, don’t open this story unless you’re prepared to edit it – cuz I know that’s exactly what you’d do! (Love you!)
Consider these 2 things, if you can handle both, then please, read this book! And… let’s talk about it!! Tell me what you thought!! We can private chat about it if you want to discuss spoilers 🙂 This is the only thing I’ve read by J.F. Gonzalez, but… I don’t want to get on his bad side!!

JIMMY By William Malmborg

Psychology Today states that psychopaths are born, not made.

When the line between fantasy and reality is crossed, there is no turning back to the way things used to be.
Since turning the Hood’s abandoned fall out shelter into his private sex dungeon, and kidnapping Samantha King & Megan Reed, Jimmy Hawthorne is learning this lesson firsthand. It doesn’t take long before real life intrudes, and his fantasy of having his very own sex slaves reminds him of the rabbit he didn’t like taking care of as a kid.
Renacting his favorite scenes from bondage sites and fetish videos only get him so far. As the thrill and excitement wane, he considers just sealing up the shelter and walking away. But, he knows that he would still be drawn to them. Even in death, the call will always be stronger than his will.
Real life contains the regular intrusions as well. a new girlfriend, [Tina], the ass-hat classmates [Brett, Matt, and Paulie], who try to play the ‘bully’ role, and a younger brother, [Alan], who’s perception is just short of Hercule Poirot’s. The local police presence is growing, and his school prom is just around the corner.
All these things combined make for one kick ass and intense story.
This should go without saying, but, JIMMY is an 18+ story. Since I’ve reviewed a couple YA books lately, I figure it can’t hurt to throw that in.

http://www.williammalmborg.com/

Amazon’s William Malmborg Author Page

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SHORTS by Matt Shaw

A collection of short stories from the twisted mind of Matt Shaw

Please be aware that whilst ‘Insomnia’ and ‘I Lay Still’ are brand new stories – ‘The Review’, ‘The Food Critic’ (Parts one and two) and ‘The Mystery Shopper’ are from the now deleted title “Reviews, Critics and Mystery Shoppers”

A collection of short stories from the twisted mind of Matt Shaw

THE REVIEW is a story about an author, Alan Daleton, who is trying to cope with a ‘one star’ review that someone left on Amazon. This review, along with a few snarky comments made my some guy named “Matt Shaw”, is really starting to bother Alan. He can’t let this go, so he decides to take this reviewer up on his ‘challenge’. By the time he is through, Matt is wishing he’d kept his narrow minded opinion to himself!
This story had me all giggly, then the moment of OMFG! No effing way!! And I wanted to call someone & talk about it… but it was brand new..only released mere hours before I started reading. I couldn’t stand it! So, I emailed Matt. Got my initial reaction out of my system. Now…Dear Reader… I’m just waiting on you. Hurry up, already! I wanna talk!

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THE FOOD CRITIC – Part I
Jamie Mitchell, THE FOOD CRITIC, used to be a chef at one of the city’s greatest restaurants. The stress of his job was getting to him, bad for his nerves and his mind, so a career change was in order. Now, for his health, he’s on the other side of the table – eating and reviewing the meals, instead of preparing them. You can tell by the size of his ever increasing belly that he loves what he does.
He’s been seeing some great reviews for this new place, and he cannot wait to try it out for himself. The restaurant itself is nothing to write home about, so he is betting that the food must be to die for. It has to be, for people to forget about the state of the dining area. Things are not off to a good start, though. He’s had to wait ages to place his order, his waitress is a little bitchy, and his water is room temperature. Let’s hope things get better..
We’ll find out about his dining pleasure in part two…

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THE MYSTERY SHOPPER:
Does your work ever test you by sending in Secret Shoppers? We have a promotion going on right now, from the Coca-Cola people as well as my employers. We had someone come in just two days ago, asking some odd questions. Thankfully, Nikki was helping him. She answered all his annoying questions correctly, and with a smile. The Coke people gave her a $25.00 gift card, they gave the shift manager a$50.00 gift card (for training her properly, I guess), and they also gave everyone working that shift a code to download free music. That’s a lot of stuff for a ten dollar order! I wonder what the Secret Shopper got.
The Secret Shopper in this story, well… The Mystery Shopper, is Tom Peterson. He apparently doesn’t make enough from the companies that send him out, because he found an inventive way to supplement his income. If the people he ‘tests’ don’t score so well in his reports, then Tom might be persuaded to fudge his report. He has found that most employees don’t want their bosses to know what kind of piss poor service they provide. One poor guy took it so hard… well, why don’t you get to reading the story, instead of this review.
Make sure you let Matt know that I’m doing a good job…

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THE FOOD CRITIC Part II:
When we left Jamie, he had just gotten his pitcher of warm drinking water, and ordered his meal. Let’s see if his dining experience has gotten any better, shall we?
He is seated next to Matt and Alan – who are there celebrating the simultaneous release of their books. They’re not to excited to join in any conversation with Jamie, who is seated in the corner, being fat. The stage is set… on to the end of our story…

Jamie is brought his main dish, his stew, and he thinks it looks perfect. Beautiful veggies, perfect hunks of meat, and it smells divine! He devoured it quickly, tasting as perfect as it looked. His dining experience had improved dramatically, and he tells the waitress. She shows concern, finally, that his experience wasn’t favorable from Jump Street, and asks Jamie if he would like to speak to the owner, her father. Which he does. He has a very interesting conversation with the owner, and gets a tour of the entire restaurant. He also gets to find out why the reviews for this place are to die for.

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I LAY STILL:
He wakes up, sore & fuzzy headed. Trying to shake it off, to figure out where he is and why.
Faces coming into view above him. Talking. OK… he realizes he’s in the hospital, his family & friends surrounding him.
They’re acting kind of strange. He had wrecked the car driving drunk, they should me madder than this. Lie here in bed with him, as he tries to figure out why everyone is acting so odd.

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INSOMNIA:
This is the Matt Shaw take on Alfred Hitchcock’s REAR WINDOW. In this story, the main character has insomnia (hence the story’s title), which is why he sits up nights watching out the window. Some interesting things to be seen, when people don’t realize that they’re being watched! Even more interesting things to be seen when people suspect they’re being watched… or just don’t care.
A story of voyeurism, exhibitionism, and intrigue.

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Hands down, THE REVIEW was my favorite SS in this collection.
But, it would be hard to rate the rest in order! But… INSOMNIA does stand out, because… I finally made it into one of Matt’s stories!! All that time of hinting, pestering, begging, bribing, stalking & threatening finally paid off! I must say, I made out pretty easy, considering the conversation I had with eee brother and his mum! I thought I would be tortured slowly for that.

I made it! I’m a somebody!

Mandy Hartley got a shout out in the book, too.
If there were others, I missed the references…Sorry.

I LAY STILL, the other new one in this collection, is really good, too. I hate to admit this, but, when I read it the first time… I didn’t get the very end correctly. In my defense, I first read it while on break at work. When I re-read it… I had one of those *face-palm* moments, and when I realized where we just went… it became much cooler!

So, even if you’ve already read the first few stories, you need to pick this up to read the 2 new ones! If you’d like a personal autograph from me right on the INSOMNIA title page, private message me… I’m sure we can come to a monetary agreement! Hahaha!
Since we’re on the subject, don’t forget that you can get Matt to AuthorGraph many of his titles to you personally!

Since I’m plugging… have you read my interview – LOW TEA WITH MATT SHAW?