Hilda, the Wicked Witch is the first novel in Hilda, the Wicked Witch series. Grimhilda is supposed to be wicked and she is. But she is wicked in a fun way.
The story begins in three locations. One is with a motorcycle gang on its way into a bar. The other is in a bookshop and the third is in front of a mirror. With the slap of a hand all three parts come together and Hilda is let loose on our world.
Our world gets a pretty harsh meeting with Grimhilda the wicked witch – the witch from Snow White.
The moments of gentle humour are many. We have the bar, the coffee experience, the road and so on. They just keep on coming. Kater’s writing is good and he brings me into this short story about a woman that I ought to be more afraid of but that I cannot help but adore.
Strange that not more people seem to have read this novella. The House is a tale that could just as well have been a horror tale if Hudson had twisted it slightly. All of the elements were there.
The dream of eternal life and power to rule the world have been wonderful recipes for all kinds of stories, in this case a science fiction post-apocalyptic tale. I personally do not get why people would want to live forever, nor rule the world. Imagine the boredom and insanity you would probably end up dwelling within. Maybe the yearning for this dream is a form of insanity.
I like this part of T.J. Hudson’s tale. There is certainly an exploration of the lengths some people are willing to go to in order to obtain their desires for more, more, more.
Through Char and Charlotte we get to follow the measures taken to achieve the dream of immortality and complete power and the counter-measures needed to prevent that insanity.
For some reason the reader is warned about The House being written in British English. Does one actually need that warning? I get violence and sex, but British English. Maybe the author is just taking the piss.
For once I feel as though a novella has been reviewed by its target audience. Scary Mary is intended for a YA readership and most of the links below reflect that. I am definitely nowhere near that age but still enjoyed the tale of young Mary.
Bullying sucks in a major way. There is something about the year after year grinding down of one’s self-image that makes life more challenging than it ought to be for a child/teen-ager. Sure, most children and young adults (well, even adults) experience bullying from time to time, but many years? Being different makes it easy to become a target. Having a disturbing ability would make it even simpler for people to leech on to you.
Including this element in Hunter’s novella about Mary was a plus for me. I also liked that Mary was wounded but not broken by the years of ostracism.
I see that Scary Mary is supposed to be a horror novel. Horror seems a strong word. Mystery with a ghost element seems like a better description. The ghost was mean but didn’t quite tilt over the horror wall. There is the history of the house. That is kind of horrorish.
My favorite part of Scary Mary was the dog. A wonderful twist. Absolutely adorable and an idea for people who struggle with allergies.
A Turn of Curses is a novella about 66 pages long. You can get it in a PDF version on the author’s website. With only 66 (or 29 in PDF) pages A Turn of Curses is a short and easy read (unless you are dyslexic).
Selina is an incredibly dedicated healer. In spite of knowing that as soon as one end of her mark touches the other she will die, she keeps on healing all who need it. Would I have this kind of dedication? For the poor she is a gift. A healer willing to heal all regardless of class is unpopular with the priests. As they see it the healing gift should be reserved for the “deserving classes”.
For some reason Faldon, a feyquin (horse shapeshifter) has decided that he needs to stop Selina from reaching her next destination. What we get is a battle of wills.
What did this story give me? Well, as stated above it made me think about how dedicated I would have been myself to helping others? If I knew my life was on the line would I have kept on going? I hope I do not have to find out. Selina’s ability to accept life for what it was impressed me and the ending fit with the story. Sad is just part of life.
In the case of Smite Me, Oh Dark One the title was what made me read it. In the story we get a bit of existentialism and family troubles.
Acerbus, God of Darkness, is a fun god, one that plans for the long haul. Lux, the God of Light, is the one that takes himself terribly serious. He has long speeches and flowery sentences. Silly bugger. He really ought to use his brain every once in a while. Lux does say what the other gods want to hear, so they follow him. Sound familiar, anyone???
This is a 26-page great short story that lightened my mood and left me smiling. I will definitely read it again.
You need to begin reading the Alexa’s Travels series with Bone Dust & Beginnings. While this short-story/novella calls itself Prelude, it is not. Instead it is a continuation of the story of Alexa, part Descendant of Jesus Christ and part Fire Demon.
I am not certain if being part Fire Demon is something that is part and parcel of being a Descendant. Being one does give the “possessed” fairly cool powers. I doubt their victims would agree.
Alexa’s trusted group of men (pets as she calls them) are still stuck to her. They feel fortunate in having such a person to look after and who looks after them. Together they get to fight strange creatures and bad people.
Preludeis fairly well-written. Editing issues are few. I doubt if I am its intended audience.
I love the cover by Misa Buckley. She has managed to get that dark, gritty feeling of the short story that Chantal Halpin has created.
Foul is Fair is a 10-page long short story about the witch Sam – not a very powerful witch. Although not powerful magically, Sam does happen to have the strength of “The Terminator”. Sam works for an insurance company that also protects people in the Community (paranormal).
Like in the real world politicians have something to hide. Vampirism might not be the most common thing one tries to hide (that I’ve heard) but you never know. You know there is going to be someone who is threatening to out the politician – just the way of the political world. Sam’s job is to prevent this from happening.
Sam, herself, seems to be hunted by a witch-hunter. Witch-hunters are judge and jury in one. If they suspect you of black magic you are a goner. This is where Chantal Halpin follows the trend in paranormal writing – Sam feels extremely attracted to the witch-hunter. He, of course, is a hottie.
Despite the predictability of the hottie hunter I enjoyed this short story. Halpin’s resolution was fun. Sam’s character is what makes the story. Obviously anything else is difficult as the story is only 10 pages long.
Don’t let this cover fool you. This is not some idyllic tale of life in a sunset, Oooh, no! What we have here is a regular old who-dun-it with some unexpected revelations for Sheriff Steele.
Some shots are heard in the night, a body is found with some strange marks on his neck and the Sheriff’s own son Kevin seems to be implicated in the crime. Kevin is adamant that he had nothing to do with the crime (naturally). While the Sheriff wants to believe him, he decides (good for him) to be thorough in his investigation. As the investigation progresses the weirdness increases.
I loved the ending. Perfect. What we have here is a clever way of looking at the paranormal, one that does not fall within the all-too common trap of paranormal literature of today. Mr. French keeps the pace up and the gore down. A nice addition to the world of literature.
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Cover art by Ricardo Guimaraes Cover Illustration for A Prayer for Dead Kings Alex Tooth
What would happen if you were offered the world and you didn’t want it? I think about that sometimes. Am I happy with the life I have?
I loved Hjorn. Here he finds an axe that promises him “the power thou seekest” and the poor fellow isn’t looking for any more power than he already has. His only response to the talking axe is “That’s unusual”. “Thou wilt rule the world” the axe says and Hjorn just shrugs.
Hjorn’s character is wonderful. This guy is about the most down-to-earth person I have ever met. The battle of wills that ensues is hilarious.
Scott Fitzgerald Gray has done an amazing job in building up his two main characters. They complement each other so well. Whoever heard of a needy axe? Well, now you have. What a great story this was!
Cover design by (studio)Effigy, from an image by Jose A.S. Reyes. The background to the main image is the cover art for A Prayer for Dead Kings and Other Tales (in which the story first appeared), which is an illustration by Alex Tooth
I love it when I get such detailed information on the cover art. The knife is very appropriate to A Space Between.
Scott Fitzgerald is a demanding name to give your child. Talk about pressure. Fortunately Scott Fitzgerald Gray manages to live up to the expectations of his name.
A Space Between is a dark short story. Talk about dysfunctional family. Love, secrets, betrayal, ambition and murder are all part of the game.
Charan and Jalina make an interesting set of siblings. Their love/hate relationship is what drives A Space Between. Add to that the accidental death of their father and we have the recipe for an interesting tale.
I found myself liking Charan and Jalina. Their love and the murder are very much against societal mores, but society is a fluid thing shaped by its members. Their discovery of two magical artifacts changes their ability to see each other.
It was strange reading A Space Between. Gray’s writing was so beautiful I forgot to pay attention to what I was reading. I got caught up in the flow of the words. I have said this before and probably will again: There are some advantages to being within the autism spectrum. Because my “thing” is words I get the pleasure of finding myself lost in them. A Space Between was a word autists/aspergian dream.
For those of you who aren’t that lucky rest assured that the quality of Gray’s writing is high.
Goblintown Justice first appeared in 2011 in the Carnage & Consequences Anthology. It is the second story in the Shotguns and Sorcery series.
Goblintown Justice is definitely a mystery with Max Gibson as its investigator. Max Gibson is one of the main characters of the Shotguns and Sorcery series. He is a pretty tough guy who just happens to be a sorcerer.
Max lives in Dragon City. Dragon City is like any rough city in the world. It is divided between the powerful and the ones not so powerful. Rich and poor are as usual placed in different parts of the city and the various races also tend to congregate among their own. So, nothing unusual there. Even our capital Oslo is like this – and we are a puny country.
We find the police looking for easy answers because they want some body to blame. This time they blame Sig, one of Max’ acquaintances. Since the victim is one of their own Dragon Guard the police are especially keen on getting their perpetrator. But Max does not think that Sig did it and he is given a short space of time to prove it.
Power and corruption, fear and power, rich and poor are all found in this short story. In an amazingly short time Matt Forbeck manages to show the helplessness of the weak. But the weak have Max Gibson to bat for them and that is not such a bad thing. He fights well, takes a beating without giving up and manages to give as well as get. I like Max Gibson’s character – this hard-shelled adventurer.
I had great fun reading Goblintown Justice and wouldn’t mind reading more of Matt Forbeck’s work.
Cover photograph by Robert Glen Fogarty Cover design by Kathleen J. Cheney
Three short stories are presented in A Hand for Each. The stories are: A Hand for Each, Masks of War and Fleurs du Mal.
A Hand for Each was published in 2007 in Shimmer’s Pirate Issue. From it we learn that if your ship is conquered by natives of some island and all of its crew left dead except yourself, you had better get off that ship as soon as possible. Otherwise you are going to be in serious trouble.
I guess you could say that A Hand for Each is reminiscent of The Flying Dutchman. That would make this a semi-horror story, although with the ending it might be more appropriate to call it a horror story. I like stories like these. I just know how it is has to end but I keep on hoping that I am wrong. (It probably doesn’t help that I often read the ending before I get there).
Masks of War was published in 2008 in Fantasy Magazine. It is obviously a story about masks of some kind, in this case a literal one. Sergeant Grey is given the job of tagging along with a German soldier who has had his face disfigured. Once the soldier puts on a mask to hide his disfigurement something strange happens and off the both of them go.
Masks of War is a story about hope and change. Sometimes it is possible to right a wrong, to change your path in life by acknowledging what has gone forever. I found it fascinating to follow along with the two ex-soldiers as they watched the amazing unfold.
Fleurs du Mal was published in 2010 in Beneath Ceaseless Skies. I think you could probably call Fleurs du Mal a horror story. We have here a story about possession, a really strange type of possession. Good thing I have the opposite of a green thumb. Any plant that comes near me had better run for its life.
Fleurs du Mal was fun. It’s story has all of the ingredients that a mild horror should have. I am unable to read anything harder than that. The oh, oh feeling came back again and again and I kept a running commentary on the characters of the story. (I do this with movies as well.)
So, all in all A Hand for Each was fun to read and I definitely kept reading through all three stories. Good job Kathleen J. Cheney.
The Diablo Ouija is a Haward Mysteries short story. The Haward Mysteries are about the police officers Remy and Theo Haward at the Sorcerous Crimes Taskforce’s, Murder Squad. With a name like that for a task-force you can probably imagine that their investigations most probably involve something inexplicable. The title of the short story also makes it obvious we are dealing with the super-natural/para-normal.
I’m not saying the twins are insane, but a little unorthodoxy is the least of their qualities. They are on the look-out for an incredibly dangerous magical item: (drumroll) The Diablo Ouija. Three teenagers are already dead and Remy and Theo suspect they have not seen the last victims yet. When they turn to Theo’s old boss, retired DCI Swanson, for information about the old case, they discover something they had not previously known, something that will lead them into dangers untold.
Like most brothers, Theo and Remy are very different. In spite of their differences, they are willing to go to any length to make certain the other brother is safe. The Diablo Ouija tests their loyalty to each other. We get plenty of creep-factor but no tipping over into horror. An enjoyable tale.
Imogen married her Guaire O’Donnell from Iron Shoes. Their puca heritage has made their son Patrick (2yrs) adept at unbinding. Unbinding is a good way to keep your parents and the staff on their toes. Soon he will have a playmate in the child Mary Stewart is close to giving birth to. Then a mysterious man turns up in their parlor.
Snow Comes to Hawk’s Folly is fantasy but mostly about family (blood or otherwise). Love, worry, fear, anger and pride were all part of their family cocktail.
Sometimes the past comes and bites us on our behinds. Do we let what has happened control our reactions today?
As with Iron Shoes, Snow Comes to Hawk’s Folly was written in minor key. Everything takes on a different texture when words are played on the black tangents.
humanitysdarkerside 