Book Talk…7/14/17

Traci Kenworth

Robert McCammon, James Renner, Kaaron Warren, Brian Hodge, Bill Schweigart, and Mick Garris reveal sinister secrets and unsavory pasts in a haunting anthology of short stories collected by acclaimed horror editors Brian James Freeman and Richard Chizmar.

“Lizardman,” by Robert McCammon is the tale of a hunter versus the ultimate monster. I enjoyed it but felt the ending could’ve been a bit better. It’s not horrible, I guess I just wanted something more out of the hunt.

“A Monster Comes to Ashdown Forest,” by James Renner was a haunting tale of Christopher Robin and friends. I wish I could unread it, but it was a good monster tale. Just because I liked Winnie the Pooh like a lot of people.

“The Furtherest,” by Kaaran Warren. Ick. Bodies in the sand. Seekers. Not my favorite.

“West of Matamoros, West of Hell,” by Brian Hodge. Oh, wow. This is a gruesome, gory tale that frightens me at the idea of ever being stranded in Mexico. I guess it works best because if one’s unfamiliar with a country, or even familiar, it’s all the tales that come down the pipeline about how violent and horrible the whole place is. This is about a band and their music and one of their fans who is pure evil. It will give me nightmares for weeks to come.

“The Expedition,” by Bill Schweigart. The tale of Nazis in search of weapons of the monster variety. Different. The Nazi in question is almost likeable as he’s determined to keep the monsters from his Fuhrer. That was a little unsettling for me, because you don’t intend to like people who did such horrible deeds back then.