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Book Review: Asylum (Selected Papers from the Consortium for the Study of Anomalous Phenomena #3) by Sarah Hans

Cover art for Asylum by Sarah Hans

Asylum (Selected Papers from the Consortium for the Study of Anomalous Phenomena #3) by Sarah Hans

Raw Dog Screaming Press, 2024

ISBN:: 9781947879683

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

Buy: Bookshop.org  |  Amazon.com

 

Asylum is a quick, less than 100 page novella that seem to be all the rage nowadays.  It’s fast fun, and good enough for a couple hours of escapism.  This one could have gone on longer, if it had been fleshed out in a few places.

 

When you have four meth junkies (Ashleigh, Connor, Dean, and Kayla) on the run from the cops, what’s the logical place for them to hide out?  Why, an abandoned asylum on a mountain, of course!  Most of the story takes place in the asylum, as the four of them wind up with more than they expected.  For the necessary supernatural element, it’s the legend of Perry the Panther, some sort of cat-man that supposedly resides in the area.  As might be expected, four addicts who soon run out of meth will be at each other’s throats, and they quickly are.  Naturally, a creepy asylum needs something to make it abnormal, and in this case it’s the large number of cats who inhabit the building.  A feral colony, or servants of Perry?  Everything quickly devolves into survival, as the four humans not only have themselves to contend with, but the weird things happening at the asylum as well.

 

The writing is fine, and good enough to keep your attention through the 93 pages.  There aren’t really any unexpected twists, and the plot can be guessed reasonably well as you go along.  But, as long as it’s written well enough, and this is, it really doesn’t matter.  As noted earlier, this is one that actually had the potential to be a longer and better story.   Most of the book focuses on the characters, and there isn’t a ton of attention paid to the cats and Perry.  Developing that angle further would have given a nice boost to the story, as they are the big unknown in the story, and part of what keeps you interested.  Furthering that backstory would have increased the ‘fear of the unknown’ factor, and given the story more lift.  As it is, it’s a good book, but it could have been better..

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If you need a quick horror story to pass an evening or two, this will do it, but let’s hope for further development of Perry and the cats at some point.  They are intriguing enough to warrant revisiting.

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

 

 

Posted on July 27, 2024 by , Reply

Graphic Novel Review: Beasts of Burden: Animal Rites by Evan Dorkin, art by Jill Thomspon

Beasts of Burden: Animal Rites by Evan Dorkin, art by Jill Thompson

Dark Horse, 2018

ISBN-13: 9781506706368

Available: Hardback, paperback, Kindle ebook

Burden Hill is a peaceful suburb like any other, with well-kept yards, families, and their adoring and loyal pets…some of whom happen to be paranormal investigators. Witches, demonic frogs, werewolves, and zombie dogs are a few of the problems these brave investigators face in Beasts of Burden: Animal Rites.

The main characters in this are a group of dogs and one sassy cat. Wise dogs are summoned by the neighborhood dogs when they need guidance, something these brave souls are always ready to give. There is a black cat “familiar” looking to redeem herself in the eyes of the animals she once tried to kill. Humans have very little influence on the story, and when they are interjected into the story, it is heartbreaking and powerful simply because of the choices the animals in the story make willingly or are forced to make at the power of the supernatural.

Dorkin expertly weaves tales about loyalty, courage, acceptance, personal accountability, and a host of other very human emotions all bundled in these animal bodies. Each creature has a distinct personality. They even have their own religion, which the reader gets a glimpse of when the dogs hold a funeral service for dogs who were killed because of careless drivers. Adding Thompson’s beautiful artwork makes Dorkin’s story even stronger. It’s easy to take a few minutes to get lost in some of the fine details she includes in the panels, especially regarding the story of Hazel needing help finding her lost puppies.

Award-winning comics creators Evan Dorkin (Milk & Cheese) and Jill Thompson (Scary Godmother) first introduced the characters of Beasts of Burden in The Dark Horse Book of Hauntings. They both won Eisner awards for Best Short Story (Dorkin) and Best Painter (Thompson). Animal Rites collects the earliest stories and the four-issue comic series Beasts of Burden. This isn’t exactly a kid-friendly read, so if you have young readers of Scary Godmother, be aware that there is content that may be disturbing. This would be a good read for YA and above depending on how well they do with such. I will say that there were a few times I had to take a few minutes between stories because of how much this team is able to call up emotions so effectively using animals as the storytellers. It’s truly beautiful, terrifying, heartbreaking, and hopeful all in one book. Highly recommended.

 

Contains: blood, brief nudity, mention of animal abuse

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Posted on May 28, 2018 by , Reply

Book Review: Clowders by Vanessa Morgan

Clowders by Vanessa Morgan

Amazon Digital Services, 2018

ASIN: B078GTVF7Z

Available: Kindle edition

 

Author Vanessa Morgan acknowledges that the real city of Clervaux, in Luxembourg, is not noted for supernatural events, or for being a haven for cats.  However, in the fictional world of Clowders, the human inhabitants of  Clervaux are vastly outnumbered by cats, a clowder of cats (“clowder” is the collective noun used to describe a group of cats). The story starts when an American couple, Aidan and Jess, move to Clerveaux with their young daughter, Eleonore. Aidan, a self-absorbed wanderer, has been hired to work in a veterinary practice in Clervaux, and Jess has agreed to the move to please him and save their marriage. What they have not been told, although it is common knowledge among the villagers, is that a tengu (a spirit of the mountain and forest found in Japanese folklore) protects the village’s cats, and if a human kills a cat, the tengu kills nine humans.

 

Aidan and Jess are driving home from an unsatisfying night with colleagues from the veterinary clinic, when Jess accidentally runs over and kills a cat.  The tengu stalks the family, although they are still ignorant of the curse.  Others, who have lived in Clervaux much longer, sense that they are all doomed, but still do not tell Jess and Aidan.  When the villagers learn about the accident, they turn against the newcomers, fearing that they will be among the nine victims.  When Jess and Aidan finally learn about the curse, they plan to leave.  But can they escape?

 

Morgan does a good job in describing the flaws and foibles of the characters.  Although the death of the cat was simply an accident, the characters’ weaknesses and actions contributed to it.  For example, although Jess had drunk the least, was her driving impaired by drinking more than usual because of worry and jealousy at Aidan’s flirting with another woman?

 

In the ebook version I reviewed, Morgan gives away the plot before the book before the book’s introduction. There is one instance of in which “of” is mistakenly used for “off”. Morgan has a good story here; Clowders is worth reading. Recommended.

 

Contains: moderate sexuality, moderate gore

 

Reviewed by Robert D. Yee

Posted on March 17, 2018 by , Reply
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