Dark Tide Book 10: The Dead Shall Rise. Three stories by Armand Rosamilia, Erin Louis, and Jay Wilburn. Crystal Lake’s Dark Tide Series.

Prepare Because Death is Coming by Jay Wilburn. This story takes place a couple of generations after the zombie apocalypse outbreak. The town of Dry Stretch is ignoring a warning that a horde of zombies is heading their way. This story touches on human error when in the face of deadly assaults. You could learn a thing or two with this story to help your survival rates when it actually does happen.

Zombie Diner by Armand Roamilia. Grady and his family stop at a diner for a quick bite to eat on their vacation trip. The zombie outbreak happens right when they get their food. A highly entertaining family drama during the chaos of when it first happens.

Dance with the Dead by Erin Louis. A group of people in a strip club try to survive the zombie outbreak. Sometimes hilarious, sometimes gross, and most often, bloody delightful. I really enjoyed this witty story. It’s different from most zombie stories.

All three authors bring a different stage of the zombie apocalypse and what to do and what not to do in the event of an apocalypse. There are a lot of lessons to learn here! This should be on every zombie aficionado’s bookshelf. And any of you preppers, you need this, too.

Impulses of a Necrotic Heart and Other Afflictions by Red Lagoe

Releases September 1, 2023

Anytime Red Lagoe publishes a book or has a story in other books, I need the book. Lagoe has quickly become one of my favorite authors of all time. Her writing is deep and I can relate to many of the stories she writes. It is like she can dig into my soul and tell me this is what you need to hear right now, at this moment in your life. Even though the stories are horror and obviously fiction, some have a deeper meaning for us to interpret. Here is a breakdown of the 15 stories in this collection.

Impulses of a Necrotic Heart - A young man wants out of a nefarious family lifestyle. This is a dark story, with a poetic feel to it. 

Hollowed Hearts - Wesley is in the sixth grade and is dealing with all the struggles of being in middle school. He just wants to fly away and leave it all behind. The heartache is easily interpreted with Lagoe’s words. 

Don't Make It Awkward - Hannah just wants to play football with the boys. She has proven many times she is capable of keeping up with the boys. This story goes from a 10mph story to a 150mph, a totally unexpected twist!

Consumer Alert - Meredith has a shopping addiction that has escalated when her daughter stops by to check on her. This is a gruesome story.

Infectious Glow - Chuck loves astronomy. When a star becomes a supernova he heads to the roof of the apartment complex he lives in, to get a better look at it. I think there is a bit of Lagoe in this story, because she loves astronomy, too.

Arachnus - Jamiah can’t handle spiders. Especially the ones where you can hear the ‘crunch’ when you step on them. Yeah, Jamiah, me too! Icky story, spiders…

The Glass Labyrinth - Isaac has purchased an old rundown mirror maze in an old building. The building has a dark past. An odd story, but I enjoyed it a lot.

Dogwood - Elijah is busy painting walls in his home and watching his little girl play outside. The artwork that accompanies this story is amazing. You gotta look closely at it.

Sensory Deprivation - When a couple decide to spend some quality time together, a life changing event happens. I hope this isn’t foreshadowing my vacation coming up!

Blood Bogged - A young lady is bleeding so much and she can’t stop it. I feel like this story is revealing a deeper meaning. 

Tangerine Sky - A woman had a traumatic past that prevents her from handling certain aspects of life as an adult. This kinda tugged at the heartstrings a bit.

Here For You - A mom sees how motherhood changes a person. A dark and disturbing story.

Legacy - Ryan can’t seem to get rid of an evil in his life. His sister is of no help, either. A freaky story.

Fourteen Gallons - A couple are spending the last days of life wondering when their time is up. I love this story. A bit of romance at a bleak moment in life. 

The Haunting of Swan Lake - Danny returns home after his dad has died. A dreadful story.

I enjoyed every story in this collection. At the back of the book, Lagoe gives a brief description of how she came about the story. She covers a lot of sub-genres of horror in this book. For 

every story, there is artwork that she has drawn to accompany the story.

If you haven’t read anything by Red Lagoe, you seriously need to fix that. An absolutely amazing author. 

 Puzzle House by Duncan Ralston

Releases September 15, 2023

I haven’t read a lot of Duncan Ralston books, and after finishing Puzzle House, I realize I need to read some more Ralston stories. Puzzle House is a fabulous story with lots of violence, drama, and animosity. 

A group of six strangers are notified of Alexei Vasiliev’s death and they are the beneficiary. When they all arrive on the day of reading the will, they find out there is more to receiving Alexei’s millions. They have to complete six puzzles. They can leave right away with nothing, or they can work together and complete the challenges. - they all agree to stay. They quickly learn that these puzzles have consequences, some of which can be life or death. 

Ralston has crafted a story of unique puzzles and with special outcomes. The characters are all relatable, with enough background information to get a good feel for the players in this story. The setting, being in a house filled with puzzles, is quite imaginative. I bet it was a blast coming up with these puzzles and the outcome of each player, with the choices they have to make to get to the end. There are lots of twists and turns. Things happened that no one could possibly predict. It ends with an unresolved situation, keeping open to the possibility of a second book.

I highly recommend this story for a fast and bloody good time. Ralston has a fantastic imagination, and it shows in this book.

Tombstones by J. D. Allen

Out of all the J. D. Allen books I’ve read, this is my favorite one. It’s different from most any

short stories out there. I’ve said it before, J. D. Allen is a great writer that needs more love.

I haven’t been disappointed yet. 

Sheriff Ridio is having an eventful day. The City of Luna Vista is having a crazy day, too. Over at the cemetery, tombstones are rising from the cursed ground. Names are on the tombstones of the current living. Then, the deaths begin. Horrible, gruesome deaths.

This little story gave me quite an uneasy feeling. There are some grisly and ghastly scenes that definitely had me cringing. You might need a strong stomach for this one. It isn’t over-the-top horrible stuff though. I think it was just the right amount for the types of scenes he writes. 

I have read almost every book J. D. Allen has written. It’ll be a sad day when I run out of his books. I like his writing, obviously, and his stories are a nice, quick detour from the horror stories that are popular today. If you want a fast, fun, and horrifying story, you definitely need to grab a J. D. Allen book. There are so many to choose from!

The Devil Within Us All by William F. Gray

A three-part horror literary novel with tons of action. There are a lot of characters and events in this story. There is a page with a list of all the characters to help keep track of who is who. 

Rappahanok Falls will never be the same. An evil figure drives into town and manipulates others to commit aggressive acts of violence. Friends turn on each other. Families are torn apart. The evil figure is causing Rappahanok Falls to fall apart. Those who are not swayed to violence are fighting to stop this evil from destroying the entire town.  

Sometimes, when you start a book that has a list of the characters and their jobs before the story even begins, it makes some of us leery. Throughout the story, I did have to look at the list of characters because I would get confused. Even though I had to look, the story kept my attention, and I didn’t find it a problem referring to the list. 

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this story because this kind of story can get confusing real quick. Gray did such a great job that I do hope to read more of his books. If I had to explain Gray’s writing style… I would say it is engaging and straightforward. At almost 400 pages, he doesn’t use a lot of filler. The smooth writing style makes the story quick and entertaining. 

If you are looking for a deep story with hidden meaning, The Devil Within Us All is a great book to put on your TBR. 

 

Everything Went to Shit: A Horror Collection by R.E. Sargent

Everything Went to Shit is a collection of nine short horror stories. All nine of them are five-star stories, in my opinion. Sargent’s writing style is smooth and precise. I liked how easy it was to get lost in these stories. Before I knew it, it ended so quickly and was a fantastic collection of stories to experience.

Daniel Volpe wrote the foreword and shares that he thinks this is a great collection for an intro to some extreme horror. However, the seasoned extreme horror readers will thoroughly enjoy this collection, too. I totally agree! A fabulous collection for everyone!

Killer Radio is about a DJ buying his first radio station. He has lots of plans, hopes and dreams with his new station. There are some folks though, that don’t like his music choices and make it clear they are not happy with his station. A truly awesome one-of-a-kind story.

‘Til Death Do Us Part is a love story, of sorts. Tyler meets the love of his life at a local coffee shop. Things are going great until they aren’t. The twist in this story was so unexpected and out there, I loved it!

Reunited is an amazing story of a mother mourning the loss of her daughter. An emotional and horrific story of mourning and revenge. This one really touched my heart, and it is still with me. I think this story is probably one of the best shorts I have read in years.

The next story, Lucy, is about Lucy who runs a business that helps people deal with unsavory types of other people. This is one of those catch-22 stories. Hopefully, when you read this one, you’ll see what I mean.

Shadow of Torment is a crazy story! A kid is constantly bullied and his online buddy helps him escape the torments of the abuse. He comes to rely on the companionship and support from his online buddy. Man, the outcome of this story… I didn’t see that coming at all!

No Sanctuary is another insane story with a twist. Kristen is in one of those love/hate relationships. I want this story to be a novel!! You get fear, gore, fire, revenge, and more!

A Shattered Mind. Subliminal messaging is turning a regular man into a mad-man! This story belongs on the Twilight Zone show. It has that weird, what-the-hell-is-happening-oh-my-god-did-I-do-that feeling.

Stayed Awake All Night is about a young man that can’t fall asleep because his nightmares are so surreal and he’s worried how real they feel. A fabulous story.

The House on the Hill. Woody is way down on his luck, but karma always has a way of sneaking in next door. I will say this is a great if-you-hate-your-job type story that’ll satisfy you, hehe.

I am excited to jump into some more of Sargent’s stories. He is a brilliant writer, and I enjoyed every moment in this book. I definitely recommend this one to all levels of horror readers!