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Book Review: Spirits by Sheri Sebastian-Gabriel

Spirits by Sheri Sebastian-Gabriel

Haverhill House Publishing, 2019

ISBN-13: 978-1949140088

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition

 

Spirits come in many forms, and some say that those in the liquid form can lead to those of the demonic sort. Debut author Sheri Sebastian-Gabriel  tackles alcoholism, and beats the snot out of it, in a novel that delves into the horrors that can come out of falling prey to this crippling addiction.

Tori Garrett is one of those suffering from her addiction to the bottle, living every day under the specter of drinking or recovering from a rough day or night. She’s particularly haunted by an act that destroyed most of her life: she struck and killed a teenage girl with her car.  She has lost everything: her job, her friends, her former life.

The mother of the victim, Carla Perez, seeks to make Tori’s life a living hell for killing her daughter. What she does to strike back is both horrifying, and utterly affecting to any parent.

Once Tori hits rock bottom, she travels to picturesque Cape May, New Jersey, a favorite place of hers, now in the off-season, to hide and to find herself. She shares the Seaside House Bed and Breakfast with a kind woman who attempts to bond with her while healing from her tragedies. They both encounter another damaged soul, Chris Silver, who is dead set on putting Tori on the path to redemption, in an attempt to fix himself.

Together, this odd group of people fight a seemingly unwinnable battle that is all too real, while spirits of the supernatural sort begin to creep in and curl the edges of reality for all of them. Their battle brings to mind the best in horror history (such as those in IT, Ghost Story, and Strangers). It’s that powerful.

Sheri Sebastian-Gabriel has penned a fine first novel that will hit audiences hard. Her writing is smooth, like an aged Scotch that burns on the way down, scorching the throat while blurring the line between the real world and fiction. This is definitely horror, but could hold up just as well as a personal foray into the relationships that exist between friends and strangers, and how alcoholism can destroy just as much as supernatural demons. While some people may seem similarities to The Shining, it’s strong enough to be different and stand on its own. Haverhill House continues to impress with its publication of outstanding work.  Recommended.

 

 

Reviewed by David Simms

 

Book Review: Rose by Rami Ungar

Rose by Rami Ungar

Castrum Press, 2019

ISBN-13: 978-1912327430

Available: Paperback, Kindle Edition

 

Rose wakes alone from a deep sleep, disoriented, unable to remember most of the past two years, and, in a horrific discovery, discovers she is part plant. She is soon joined by Paris, who tells her he is her fiance, and saved her from a stalker who had fatally harmed her by taking her to his greenhouse and casting a Japanese spell on her that saved her life but appears to have gone somewhat awry. Since it’s winter, and freezing outside, as a plant she is trapped in his greenhouse and connecting apartment with no choice but to trust that he is telling her the truth, although observations of his behavior show that he can be disturbingly erratic and possessive.  Despite her memory loss, Rose’s character hasn’t changed, and she finds it difficult to believe that she would have willingly agreed to marry Paris. A search of his apartment one day when he is out leads to the discovery of a secret diary (in Dutch, a language Rose happens to know) as well as his Japanese spellbook. The diary details Paris’s relationship with Rose, but something about it doesn’t seem right. When Paris’ father breaks into the apartment and discovers Rose, he is shocked, because it has been in the news that Rose was kidnapped and her fiance was killed by a stranger who violently attacked them. The two of are caught and dragged away on a cross-country journey where neither of them knows what might happen next, except that it won’t be good.

Paris reveals that his actions toward the women who reject him and their lovers stem from a traumatic incident that occurred when his father sent him to a camp that promised to “make him into a man”.  He has learned to command spells from the Japanese spellbook that give him the ability to take what he wants, control other people, and torture and kill people, and intends to use these on Rose and his father.  However, a cruel, mischief-making Japanese demon controls the spellbook, and after enough mayhem ensues, gives Rose an opportunity to end Paris’ cruelty and madness and save herself… at a price.

The first half of this book is creepy because the reader is getting only Rose’s perspective, and with her trauma and amnesia she is not a reliable narrator. In addition, only the least observant of readers will miss the way Paris gaslights and terrorizes Rose, while at the same time expressing his adoration for her. The setup screams “abusive, violent scenario” and watching Rose come around to this understanding is kind of like watching a trainwreck in slow motion. There’s also some pretty strong and heavy-handed foreshadowing about societal expectations of boys and men and the unintended consequences of toxic masculinity and bullying, which Paris claims is the origin of his behavior.  The second part is where Ungar’s fantastical imagination of ways to torment people comes into its own (although I’m curious about his idea to use of acupuncture needles to cause pain, since they’re supposed to awaken self-healing and cause soreness at the most). He does not shy away from describing the impact of Paris’ spells and insanity. I don’t think I will ever get the vivid descriptions of tormented trees out of my head. One thing I found particularly disturbing was that Paris used a spell on the young teenage sisters of the women he tortured to make them fall in love with him, assist in torturing their siblings, and become his willing sexual slaves (this isn’t graphically depicted, but what you do see is bad enough).

Rose is supposed to be a tale of the supernatural, but with the exception of the protagonist, the supernatural aspect takes a backseat to the human antagonist and his agenda for almost all of the book. And for most of the book, the supernatural terrors are more of an enhancement of the methods and agenda of the villain, rather than the main force driving the story. The ending is pretty close to being a deus ex machina, and left me feeling unsatisfied. However, I did like the character of Rose and her resilience in spite of baffling and frightening circumstances, and I feel like the book successfully spotlighted the damage gaslighting and toxic masculinity can have on individuals trapped by circumstance and those they touch. Ungar successfully evinced feelings of dread in this reader, and while readers of extreme horror probably won’t be fazed, it was more than gruesome and stomach-turning enough for me.

It isn’t often that a novel with a sentient plant as narrator comes along, so Rose is worth checking out just to see what Ungar did with the concept. And although I found the ending somewhat unsatisfying, the journey there with Rose was worth taking.

 

Book Review: EVIL by Wol-vriey

EVIL,  by Wol-vriey

Burning Bulb Publishing, 2019

ISBN: 978-0-9977-7304-0

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

 

Wol-vriey’s latest, EVIL, reads like a pastiche of 80’s horror films and 70’s creature features: all the elements are there.  Creepy farmhouse in the middle of nowhere?  Check.  Protagonists who do dumb things?  Check.  Freaky monsters from Hell?  Check.  Drinking, drugs, graphic violence and graphic, needless sex?  Check, check, check, and check.   It’s not to say that combining tried and true elements like the above is a bad thing– it can still be fun.  This story is entertaining, but it does feel a little predictable at times.  It’s a decent effort from a splatter-specialist author that his fans will probably enjoy; it just isn’t quite up to the level of his best works.

Ronan Higgins is the classic “farmer in the middle of nowhere”, which, in this case, is western Massachusetts.  When his 19-year-old daughter dies in a farming accident, Fate intervenes in the form of a tall man who appears from nowhere, known as the Bargainer. Ronan cuts a deal with him to get his daughter back, but Ronan’s end of it involves planting special seeds the Bargainer gives him, which need to grow in human flesh.  Lots and lots, of torn up, bloody human flesh.  Ronan conveniently has a large outdoor birthday party planned for his 29-year-old niece Sylvia the next weekend, so there’s your victim supply.  You can guess the rest; it’s a late night drink, drug and sex party, and most of the people are quickly disposed of in messy fashion, either by Ronan or the demons from Hell that show up.   The rest of the story concerns those plucky few survivors who endeavor to avoid becoming exotic fertilizer for the Bargainer and Ronan’s seeds.

This is a nice, simple story with some creative ideas, and enough blood and entrails to keep the gorehounds happy.  There are axes, chainsaws, and someone getting nailed to a pallet while still alive, plus demons burning people to death– enough to satisfy the hardcore readers.  The story moves at a quick pace;  it just feels a bit light and predictable in places.  The demons in the story add a new dimension to the narrative, but they get very minimal page time, and little is given to explaining the Bargainer or his minions.  The characters behave in foolish ways, like they do in any 80’s cinema splatfest, so you can usually predict what’s going to happen to them, which takes away from some of the fun.  The end does toss in a little twist, but overall, the reader will be able to guess what will happen a few pages in advance.  It’s still fun, but the predictability does flatten out the excitement somewhat.

If you liked Wol-vriey’s writing before, EVIL probably won’t change your opinion.  It’s entertaining, but you might feel like it was a good idea that could have been a bit better.  If you haven’t read him before, you might want to start with one of his other books.

 

Contains: graphic violence, graphic sex, drug use, rape.

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson