Housewife of Horror

The House by the Cemetery John Everson Flame Tree Press 4* ***SPOILERS*** “Some things should remain buried” Synopsis: “Rumour has it that the abandoned house by the cemetery is haunted by the ghost of a witch. But rumours won’t stop carpenter Mike Kostner from rehabbing the place as a haunted house attraction. Soon he’ll learn that fresh wood and nails can’t keep decades of rumours down. There are noises in the walls, and fresh blood on the floor: secrets that would be better not to discover. And behind the rumours is a real ghost who will do whatever it takes to ensure the house reopens. She needs people to fill her house on Halloween. There’s a dark, horrible ritual to fulfil. Because while the witch may have been dead... she doesn’t intend to stay that way.” Thank you to Flame Tree Press for sending me an advance copy of The House by the Cemetery to review. Some things should most definitely remain buried. A murderous witch undoubtedly should. If there was ever a tale about a man being led by his, ahem, ‘other’ brain, this is it. Mike, a carpenter is tasked with making an already haunted house safe, to be opened as a haunted house attraction. Seems like a great idea doesn’t it? The end result, the cattle are taking themselves to the slaughter. I got many American Horror Story feels from this book; I could picture it in my mind, the different cast members of AHS and which parts they would be perfect for. It really felt like a story that Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk had come up with during the creative process for their next series. It’s a shame really that they have already done the haunted house theme (series 1). I can live in hope though right? Mike, divorced, living hand to mouth and pay check to pay check, is struggling to pay the rent. He reluctantly agrees to a job offer from his friend Perry, to work on reconstructing Bachelor’s Grove, an infamous haunted house complete with a creepy cemetery. It is to be opened in the run up to Halloween and a scary money making attraction. He meets a girl, Katie, falls for girl and does everything she asks no matter how twisted or bizarre it may seem. Love really is blind. That was my one fault with this book; Mike was a little too accepting of the situation. Even at the end, all the murders, the bloodshed, and he just seemed to be very blasé about it. He would complain, and say he didn’t agree et cetera et cetera, but Katie would smile sweetly and bat her witchy eyelashes and he would be back to being her good boy. That one thing was my only annoyance. I think we needed a man with a bit more fight in him, not an absolute pushover. Katie really didn’t have to work for it. Also, I have to admit, it was not a huge surprise to find out Katie was a ghost, or even the witch for that matter. It was sadly pretty obvious from early on in the book, although that didn’t curtail my enjoyment. I felt the haunted house within a haunted house concept worked really well, I loved all the different room ideas and the overall layout and decoration of the house really did sound great. I felt there was maybe a lack of any ‘actual’ haunting within the house when it was open to the public, unlike the subtle incidents, of entrails, noises and footsteps whilst Mike was working on it. That subtle approach was perfect for building atmosphere in the earlier stages of this novel. I would have appreciated a few unintended jump scares from resident ghostly inhabitants during the open house, which would have been a treat alongside the actors dishing out the scares. I think introducing some other spectral figures would have given the house more of a back story, showing us that many people died there over the years. While we were limited with ghostly visitors, despite being told numerous times of the vast paranormal presence within the house, we were not left totally disappointed. It wasn’t until the very last night of business that the ghouls came out to play. Those last few chapters were great, a very big finish, a huge kill count, it was an absolute blood bath that wouldn’t have been lost on an eighties slasher flick. The House by the Cemetery, released 18th October 2018, is available for pre-order from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/House-Cemetery-Fiction-Without-Frontiers/dp/1787580016/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1537108789&sr=1-1&keywords=the+house+by+the+cemetery 4/5 – We all love a good haunted house story don’t we? Lesley-Ann (Housewife of Horror)

The Sea was a Fair Master

Calvin Demmer, 2018

5* Book review

 

Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads: “The world’s fate lies with a comatose young girl; an android wants to remember a human she once knew under Martian skies; men at sea learn that the ocean is a realm far different from land, where an unforgiving god rules; a school security guard discovers extreme English class; and a man understands what the behemoth beneath the sea commands of him.

The Sea Was a Fair Master is a collection of 23 stories, riding the currents of fantasy, science fiction, crime, and horror. There are tales of murder, death, loss, revenge, greed, and hate. There are also tales of hope, survival, and love.”

 

I love horror shorts, short films and short stories. Some are downright terrible, while others are terrifyingly great. It’s surprising what can be packed into a 5 minute video of a few pages in a book. I’m one who loves to be scared, I want to be clinging onto my fiancé Andy, the child in me scared of what might be lurking behind the sofa or under the bed. There is a damsel in distress within me who loves the feeling of being protected by my man during scary scenes.

 

This collection of short stories from Calvin Demmer titled ‘The Sea was a Fair Master’ is quite frankly a masterpiece.  I would absolutely love to see a few of these, Hangman and Trashcan Sam in particular, expanded into novellas if not full novels. Within the pages of ‘The Sea was a Fair Master’, are great stories; I was genuinely unnerved by a few.

 

‘Hangman’ is one of my favourites from the collection. An unsettling tale of the ‘Extreme English’ class, one class you absolutely cannot fail. The penalty is death.

 

Another I particularly liked was ‘Graves’. This is a sad story of death and the struggle to move on. This is one that tugged on the heartstrings a little.

 

‘Trashcan Sam’, now this is an interesting one. I would love to read more of this, to see where it started and how it develops. This is creepy world of garbage looters and the random oddities they find in peoples trash. It’s rather disturbing I thought, and possibly my overall favourite. It’s hard to choose as they are all so good.

 

You can find ‘The Sea was a Fair Master on Amazon here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sea-Was-Fair-Master-ebook/dp/B07CT4KNB3/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1537707584&sr=8-1&keywords=the+sea+was+a+fair+master

It’s also free via Kindle Unlimited.

 

Check it out, please, it’s worth your time.

 

5/5 I LOVED IT

Lesley-Ann (Housewife of Horror)

Siphon

A.A. Medina

5* review           

Hindered Souls Press

 

“There is an urge inside you”

 

“Dr. Gary Phillips, the resident hematopathologist at Claybrook Medical Center, is a lonely man struggling with the duress of an all work and no play lifestyle.
Burdened with an unhealthy infatuation with his co-worker, a burning disdain for his boss, and an abusive relationship with his grandfather, Gary just can't catch a break.

That is, until a workplace accident ushers in a bizarre, but empowering experience that evokes a new sense of self, forcing repressed memories to surface while encouraging him to pursue his fantasies with unconventional methods.”

 

Well what can I say? WOW... this is a really great intense story. I got lost within this during my lunch breaks at work. They say everyone finds something different within a story, a different meaning. To me this was a story of neglect, a boy who lost his parents when he was small. He was never told the whole truth on the matter, and was forced to live with his cold unsympathetic grandfather. This is also a story of resentment, a man, trapped in the mundane cycle of day to day life. In a job that he didn’t really want; a hard ass boss always on his case; a turbulent home life; and the unrequited love of a woman. It is also a story of obsession. Gary is infatuated, lustful, completely obsessed with his colleague Wendy. He is obsessed with her to a dangerous level; this obsession becomes his eventual undoing.

I was bearing witness to a descent into madness. This was the steady mental decline of Gary as the tolls of his work, his grandfather and his isolation fed on him, akin to vultures preying on the wounded.

His unquiet mind is silenced by the blood; it felt like this was his comfort, and his release. It presented him with something tangible to focus on during his waking hours. His ‘possession’ by another force was his mind's way of dealing with the unnatural acts he was participating in. I feel it was also his mind's way of processing his guilt over the eventual murder of his grandfather. The idea of this split personality, a separate being, a godlike creature, taking over one’s body and doing what he couldn’t do gave him the sense of self he needed. The blood, giving him a new found confidence, as what do they say ‘blood is life’.

 

I highly regard this story; this is a most definite re reader for me. It will be going on my personal favourites shelf. I felt a real sense of connection with Gary. He is just a guy, struggling to find his true way in the world and he lack of self identity, his fear and his repression is his eventual downfall. It’s heartbreaking in its own way.

I cannot recommend this enough. A.A. Medina is one talented writer and I for one cannot wait to read more from him!

 

5/5 – Perfect in every way

Lesley-Ann (Housewife of Horror)

The Siren and the Specter

Jonathan Janz

Publication Date: September 6^th 2018

Flame Tree Press

 

 

I received this book courtesy of NetGalley and Flame Tree Press in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

 

This book has had a lot of love over social media and various book review sites; it has popped up on my news feed time and again with its 4 and 5 star reviews and I’ve seen numerous posts about how scary and terrifying it was, and I admit I was very excited to receive it in exchange for a review. I was a little late to the party with this, but thankfully it was still available to request via NetGalley.

 

To me, this was a story about a love lost, and the search for forgiveness, not from other people, but the journey to forgiving yourself. This was a story about moving on, finding peace, and closing the door on a dark chapter of your life.

 

Synopsis: “When David Caine, a celebrated skeptic of the supernatural, is invited by an old friend to spend a month in “the most haunted house in Virginia,” he believes the case will be like any other. But the Alexander House is different. Built by a 1700s land baron to contain the madness and depravity of his eldest son, the house is plagued by shadows of the past and the lingering taint of bloodshed. David is haunted, as well. For twenty-two years ago, he turned away the woman he loved, and she took her life in sorrow. And David suspects she’s followed him to the Alexander House.”

 

I enjoyed it, I really did, although I personally didn’t find it scary. From reviews I have read and various posts I have seen in relation to it, I had expected to be shaken to my very core by this one. To me it was a great story no doubt, with an eclectic mix of characters, ranging from the sweet, the decent, to the downright seedy. I found the majority of characters interesting; I became very fond of the lead protagonist, David Caine, as well as growing to love Jessica as the story developed.

 

Two characters I had problems with were Mr Templeton, the caretaker of Alexander House, and his daughter Alicia. To me, they felt to be ‘filler’; they seemed to serve only a gratuitous purpose. The discovery of Alicia’s severed head seemed to be inserted only for shock value and then her father who responds in anguish was a bit of a ‘blink and you miss him’ character, brought in to pad the scene out. One minute he was trying to kill David and Ralph, the next he was helping them escape the house. This was the one part of the book that felt a little messy to me, a tad pointless. Alicia’s character hadn’t been developed enough for me really to be bothered by her grim demise, it felt more like she was just introduced so she could be killed.

 

I wish more had been done with Ralph’s character. After the revelation of what he had done, or more accurately, what he had allowed to be done, I really wished that his story had been allowed to develop a little more. I would have loved to see a bit more before his confession, and a lot more after. I think he was a decent guy overall, he had just made a bad decision to get through life – don’t we all sometimes? We all have regrets, dark secrets that we want to stay hidden, sins we wish we could undo. A part of me wished that he hadn’t have been killed the way he was, but again, it developed the story somewhat with regards to David and the undoing of his perpetual scepticism,so I can see why it was played out in such a way.

 

I really enjoyed the seedy Shelby family, Honey... oh dear lord, what a nightmare of a woman. Her bullish husband and her two innocent children, it was heartbreaking at times. Especially Ivy - the poor girl endured a lot. I really liked David’s interaction with them, the inner monologue of deciding what to do, should he go to the police or not. It really fitted well with the sad times we live in, with this kind of family unit being everywhere. The sad truth nowadays is you find yourself torn, you might want to help, take a child in and feed them, make them feel safe for a little bit, but you can’t. We now live in a world where if you so much as smile at a child you can be accused of all kinds. I have even read ridiculous news stories where a father was arrested for taking a picture of his own child in a park. We have created this madness, this world where we are all too scared of accusation and repercussion, to help people now. I appreciated that it was alluded to within the book, intentionally or otherwise.

 

The Siren aspect of the story is another part that I feel wasn’t touched enough on. We only receive a brief synopsis of this during the book, and it felt a little like a Marvel post credit scene at the end.

 

Overall I very much enjoyed The Siren and the Specter.  I have several issues with it, but with that, it’s a great story. It is about love and loss, as well as the sad truths of some families and the twisted way friendships can end up. It didn’t feel like a great ghost story, and I was definitely more interested and involved with the characters and the developing plot, rather than with the haunting, which just felt more like a secondary side story.

 

It’s a fantastic read despite what I found to be flaws.  It’s interesting and thought provoking and does have a few horrifying moments near the end.

 

3/5 – not terribly scary but a great story nonetheless.

 

Lesley-Ann (Housewife of Horror)

Ramsey Campbell

Flame Tree Press

Publication Date: 6^th September 2018

 Book Review

 

 

“They feed so Skiá feeds”

 

I had the pleasure of receiving a copy of this book to review in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and Flame Tree Press.

 

My fiancé is a huge Ramsey Campbell fan so he was just as excited as me for me to begin. His writing has been a great source of comfort for Andy over the years and he takes every opportunity he can to re read the books he owns. I can see why, the writing is so fluid and detailed, pulling you in one sentence at a time, engulfing you with this feeling that you are there, right in the middle of the unfolding drama. I was dragged in from the start with this book; the increasing tension, the desperation to know just exactly what was happening, I found it hard to put down, only stopping when real life traumas like work got in my way (even then I was reading it on my lunch break, so engrossed that I didn’t hear my colleague trying to talk to me for over 10 minutes).

 

I really appreciated that we were never given the full picture of what was happening until quite near the end. I knew from the start there was something ‘off’ with the Greek Island of Vasilema, there was something unseen and unspoken, a darkness that lingered and terrified. Only the locals seemed to know, but they appeared to ignore it, or at least pretend to.

 

The tone of the story was very much about our mortality and prolonging life. The focus of the book surrounded Ray and Sandra, as well as their children and grandchildren. We are aware from the beginning that something is wrong with Sandra, we can feel the concern and protectiveness that Ray has for her, confirmed when he proceeds to put on a facade of normality for the rest of the family. He doesn’t want to ruin the family vacation. The descriptiveness of how frail Sandra was, the writing was both delicate and yet intense, fully encompassing just how brittle she appeared to be, and how she was deteriorating before Ray. The way she was then invigorated, seemingly from a bite, or the island, or a combination, gathering her strength back very slowly over the two weeks, was beautiful to read yet unnerving all the same.

I found all the subtle references throughout the book relating to mortality, and the curse of immortality I felt, very well thought out and very well placed. The driving force of the story, the family, their relationships, and their coming to terms with Sandra’s illness, was so well integrated with the underlying tension of darkness. It was claustrophobic in parts, this all encompassing, all controlling darkness; it seemed to be the all powerful force on the island. Even the buses wouldn’t stop after dark.

After the initial night, Sandra had been bitten by some kind of insect after falling asleep on the balcony outside their room. While Ray and Sandra awaited the rest of the family at a local taverna, Chloe’s Garden, the waitress seemed to be quite disconcerted with Sandra’s bite. Responding with “I pray not” when Ray comments “at least my wife won’t get bitten here”. There were also the seemingly religious women on the bus, blessing Sandra, Tim and Jonquil (the three members of the family in total who had been bitten) every time they boarded; we found near the end of the book that it was only these three family members whom the women had been blessing, and no one else. They appeared to know that they had been tainted in some way by the island. I particularly enjoyed a scene over dinner one evening in Chloe’s Garden, in which birthday greetings of a long life were conveyed, and rebuked, as they are seen to be more than a curse by the locals.

From the start you could feel the underlying oppression, a dark force, something that wanted to feed, that needed to feed. The phrase, “They feed so Skiá feeds” becomes more and more unsettling. Even more unnerving was what felt like captivity in some ways, they just couldn’t leave the island. Boat trips cancelled, the owners of tour boats and fishing boats refusing to take them – ‘them’ referring to Sandra, Tim and Jonquil. There is a notion mentioned several times relating to ‘coming back to find your memories’, rather than to re-live them, I found this to be very unsettling indeed, what happens to you here that you forget after you leave? The story ended with the family leaving on the ferry away from the island, with Sandra, Jonquil and Tim trying to remember the details of their two week vacation. It was ambiguous yet implied that they were beginning to forget.

 

5/5 – If I could give it more I would. This book is beautifully thought out and so amazingly written. It really gets you thinking, and stays with you afterwards.

Lesley-Ann (The Housewife of Horror)

The Mouth of the Dark

Author: Tim Waggoner

Book Review

Publication Date: 6^th September 2018

Publisher: Flame Tree Press

 

“You’ve got the eye”

 

As a horror fan, and all round crazy fan-girl, it is always the stranger the better that I love. I love randomness, oddities, crazy, the unusual and the downright illogical. I relish the weird and the wonderful with a fiery passion, embracing it and all its wondrous madness. This book, this wonderful book, The Mouth of the Dark, is all of these things and more.

 

There is nothing I can say that could do this book or its author justice. Tim Waggoner, you are a literary genius. This is an extraordinary tale, a frightening, exciting, and thrilling ride from start to finish. The Mouth of the Dark has opened up a whole new world of wonder for me, I feel inspired by it, and I feel that it has cracked open a creative door within me that I don’t think can ever be closed.

 

We meet Jayce Lewis, a regular guy, a desperate father who is searching for his daughter, Emory. He knows something is wrong, he is deeply worried. He and Emory are not the closest anymore, not since the divorce, something he regrets deeply, but they keep in touch. She has gone missing from her home, in the Cannery. No one seems to believe him, that she is in danger, missing, abducted maybe; even her mother thinks everything is fine, and that she is just loved up and holed up with her current boyfriend and will get in touch eventually. Jayce knows, he can feel it, something isn’t right and he isn’t leaving until he finds her, he will do anything to find her, his little girl.

 

The Cannery has a questionable reputation; it is not the safest of places to live by any means. It wasn’t what he would have wanted for his Emory, but she is an adult now, she has to make her own way in the world, and he respects that. A lot of strange things happen within the Cannery, it’s a place for the unknown, the darkness, and the shadows. A different kind of life thrives here. While asking around about Emory, he meets Nicola, a curious woman who saves his life after he is attacked by some of the Cannery’s strangeness. She offers to help him find his daughter, it’s just a matter of can they trust each other, and can Jayce accept what he is about to find out. His whole life is about to change in ways he could never have imagined possible.

 

The Shadow, a world of dark wonder where the impossible is real, everything you could imagine, and the things you would rather not, it’s all real, and it’s here. A world existing alongside our own, just out of sight for most people, ‘normal’ people. Jayce soon discovers he has ‘the eye’, he can see the things most can’t, he is a part of the shadow, he just didn’t remember he was.

 

The Mouth of the Dark is a truly fascinating read, it has everything. We have lunatic killers, sex toys with a life of their own, dog eaters, clones, gladiator style fighting, melting heads and even a pinch of romance. It has something for everyone, and it is all wrapped up in a perfect twisted bow.

 

 

 5/5 – Extraordinarily exhilarating. You won’t be disappointed.

 

Buy it here:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mouth-Dark-Fiction-Without-Frontiers/dp/178758013X/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1535301921&sr=8-6&keywords=tim+waggoner

 

Lesley-Ann (Housewife of Horror) 

Drakon Unchained: Blood of the Drakon

N.J. Walters  

Release Date - 27th August 2018

Entangled Publishing

She had dedicated her entire life to this, to finding her childhood friend, the one person who had made her feel special, who had made her feel like she was worth something. Was she about to find him? Was everything about to change?

Victoria Marshall, a women with a rare ability, she has visions of both the past and sometimes the present through her dreams.

Luther Henderson is the tough and handsome head of security for a very dangerous man,  Herman Temple; a man Victoria hopes can lead her to Sergei, her childhood Drakon friend, and Katherine, his wife. She knows that they are being held captive, as well as tortured, she has unfortunately seen this through her visions. She just doesn’t know where they are or why this is happening.

She only took the job as Temple’s assistant because of a vision she had seen that evening, after her job interview. She realized then that he could be the one, the one to lead her to Sergei. He knows something, he has deep secrets, deep ties to covert organisations, she knows he is involved somehow in this nightmare. She is swimming with sharks and there is blood in the water. This is a dangerous game she is playing, one that could cost her her life.

Victoria is drawn to Luther, and he to her. It’s magnetic; they can’t stay away from each other, even though they both know the dangers of fraternizing within their employment under Temple. Employees have vanished for less.

 

I had the kind pleasure of receiving an advance copy of 'Drakon Unchained: Blood of the Drakon', to which I volunteered to read and review. I was not disappointed.

I was drawn into the book straight away; I felt an immediate connection with the characters, especially Victoria and Luther. I was immersed in their growing relationship from the get-go, I could not get enough, I found this book hard to put down if I'm honest.

I really admired the strong and independent woman in Victoria, she knows her own mind, she has dedicated her life to her mission, nothing and no-one will stand in her way. She is afraid yet fearless, she is independent yet isn’t too proud to take comfort with Luther. She is such a warm character, strong, intelligent, beautiful and fragile. A character I grew to care for and admire.

I’m ashamed to say this was the first N.J. Walters book I have come to read; it definitely won’t be the last. I felt a strong sense of immediate attachment, the realism in the writing connected me deeply with the story and the characters involved, good and bad. I was so deeply invested in fact that I was quite emotional in parts and also by the end of the book, I could feel the tears beginning to well up. I felt a great deal of empathy with the characters, again Victoria and Luther specifically.

“She’d never belonged anywhere before, or to anyone, and his touch silenced the old voices in her head that whispered she wasn’t good enough, that no one wanted her because she was flawed”

I swear the above extract could have been written about me and my lovely soon-to-be husband.

N.J. Walters’ writing is beautiful; the story flows easily chapter to chapter, taking you along on Victoria’s dangerous journey into the realms of the dangerous ‘Knights of the dragon’, on her quest to free Sergei and Katherine, and her growing relationship with Luther. I felt like I was there, I felt like I was along for the ride, and what a ride it was.

This is book 5 in the ‘Blood of the Drakon’ series,

Now as I have said previously, I have not read any other N. J. Walters material, so I cannot compare to the previous books or how the story flows from there. I can say with confidence that this didn’t hinder the story one bit. I felt there was plenty of detail included; well enough explained that I never felt lost or confused.

 

I whole heartedly give this book 5/5.

I look forward to reading more from N.J.Walters in the future (and from the past).

 

Lesley-Ann (Housewife of Horror)

https://horrorhousewife.net/

Creature

Hunter Shea

Publication date – September 6^th 2018

Flame Tree Press

 

“Yep, better it was a figment of her imagination, a bit of spoiled gruel. If the shadow wanted to stay in the kitchen, let it”

What can I say about ‘Creature’......

It’s never a good idea to go to a cabin in the woods now is it.

Amazing book! I was totally enthralled from the start, the characters, the setting, the relationships, and of course, the monster; all wonderfully knitted together in this fantastic book. This was a thrilling read from start to finish. Exciting, emotional, intriguing – The dream sequences especially.

I found myself very involved, I felt like I was there, part of the family. The relationship between Kate and Andrew, Kate with her illness, and Andrew taking care of her, it was really something. It brought up quite a lot of emotion within me, I really felt for them, really cared for them. They are such a beautiful couple.

Andrew wants to do something perfect for his wife Kate, so he surprises her by taking a leave of absence from work and whisking her away on a summer vacation in her ideal lakeside cottage in Maine, surrounded by beautiful woodland and the neighbours a good few miles away. They won’t be disturbed, not by the neighbours anyway.

I really loved that this book wasn’t so much about the horror, and more, a lot more about the characters, specifically Andrew and Kate. The daily struggles of balancing home and work life. Andrew, working a job he hates (we all know that struggle) so much to pay the bills and take care of his wife. And Kate, suffering with a debilitating autoimmune disease (Lupus and Ehlers-Danlos), struggling every second with her pain, not just physically, but emotionally. She has a constant battle with her inner demons as they manifest themselves into her reality.  It was the little things, the tenuous relationship with her mother, who favours her brother Ryker, as well as her close bond with Ryker and his wife Nikki. I loved the little nicknames they have for each other, Andrew referring to Kate as ‘Crip’ was adorable I thought.

I appreciated how deep into their personal lives we were taken, the anger Andrew feels at times towards Kate for being ill, and then at himself for feeling that way. It really hit home how difficult it must be living in a situation like that, how frustrating and crushing it must get. How helpless you must feel sometimes when all you want is for the person you love to be well and happy, and how terribly difficult it must be to see them suffer. And it goes without saying, how much of a waking nightmare at times it must be for the person suffering.

The part of the book I found most disturbing was not the monster and the carnage it created, but Nikki, Kate’s sister in law. For me, she was the most terrifying aspect; her change in personality was truly shocking. The nastiness and hate that came from within her when her husband was killed was horrific. What was even more frightening to me was how true this is, after such a traumatic experience, seeing her husband die in such a way, I could very much understand her anger and resentment of Kate.

I am very grateful I was given the opportunity to read this book prior to its release date. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did.

5/5 – I’d struggle to give it anything less

Lesley-Ann (Housewife of Horror)

Rattus New Yorkus

Author: Hunter Shea 

Release date: 21st August 2018

Lyrical Underground Books

Kensington Publishing Corp.

 

"Possibly a thousand rats were on our tail, their own tails bobbing like Satan's spaghetti"

 

I had the pleasure of receiving an advance reader copy of Hunter Shea's 'Rattus New Yorkus' to read and review.

"They're bigger.. They're smarter.. We're what's for dinner"

This is such a fun book to read, I love horror like this, monster horror, animals in some shape or form taking over, taking charge, being in control, it's great. As a proud owner of two rats, I definitely got a kick out of this story.

Degenesis, a new experimental rodenticide created by Dr Randolph 'Ratticus' Finch. It doesn't kill the rats, but sterilizes them so they cannot reproduce, or so it's meant to.

Instead, Manhattan is overrun, there are more rats than ever before and they are much more aggressive, not to mention they are reproducing at unparalleled levels.. and they have become organized.

Chris and Benita 'Benny' Jackson, exterminators on the city payroll, are one of the teams tasked with ridding New York of its ever growing rat problem.

Chris and Benny are currently in the midst of a divorce, they are still working together and living together and generally get on well. I really enjoyed the relationship between them, it made a refreshing change that they were not 'together' as it were. We didn't have to put up with any romance or sexy scenes, it was just straight up circa B-movie horror.

They had delivered the Degenesis to several sites across the city, setting it in the traps with the hopes that the rats would eat it. They always seem to take the food from the traps, they are just generally too clever to get caught in any of them. When Chris and Benny return a few weeks later to one of the sites, a restaurant, they are shocked to discover that rather than a decrease, there had been a bit of a baby-boom in the rat kingdom.

While carrying out a preliminary examination of the area, they found a large nest, filled with many baby rats. They were shocked to see how much the population in this particular area had grown in spite of the Degenesis, but they were even more surprised at what happened next. They were surrounded.. and the rats were not leaving, they were not scared, they were ready to attack.

The descriptions involving the rat take-overs were great, I could really see it in my mind's eye. I really loved the idea of thousands upon thousands of these 'mutant' rats just pouring out of the walls (took me back to one of my favorite movies, Aliens, "They're coming outta the walls. They're coming outta the goddamn walls".

Rattus New Yorkus is a great book, a fun getaway from those real life stresses. It's very easy to read, no complicated science babble or over convoluted plots. It's very simple and straight to it. I very much enjoyed reading it and I am immensely grateful I was given the opportunity.

 

4/5 - A lot of fun, enjoyable horror, great banter between the main characters. Give it a go if you get the chance.

And for the Star Trek fan in me, I love the line "the Borg-like rats" - Thank you Hunter Shea.

 

Lesley-Ann - The Housewife of Horror