Monthly Archives: July 2014

Little Visits of Horror

Fiction, , , , , ,

Terror Train

Length: 246 pages

Author: Multiple

Publisher: James Ward Kirk

Editor: Krista Clark Grabowski & A Henry Keene

Publication Date: 6/12/14

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

I am a big fan of the short story. As a matter of fact, I’ve written a few. Perhaps my love for the short story began when I was a little boy, my mother used to read to me at night. The book was “Little Visits With God” by Allen Hart Jahsmann and Martin R. Simon. Little Visits With God was published in 1957 and in short story form took a Leave It To Beaver approach to teaching young children how to handle different situations in a moral and Christian way. I’m sure my mother’s hope was that reading this book to me every evening would ensure that I would grow up to be a nice young man. I still have this book.

“Terror Train” is not “Little Visits with God”. I love the horror genre. The more terrifying, sordid and disturbing the better. This anthology is packed with horror stories and poems from over 30 authors. And yes, they all take place around trains. The eeriness of the book begins with a poem by Roger Cowin, and then eases into a great story by award winning author, Charie D. La Marr, which reminds me of a Twilight Zone gone wrong. Other authors include William F. Nolan an Edgar Allen Poe Award winner and author of Logan’s Run among other titles.

With collaboration such as this, there are many different styles of writing for you to appreciate or perhaps not appreciate. One such title “Steele Deliverance” by Michael Thomas-Knight starts out setting the scene for the story and it seems as if he had his thesaurus out writing adjective after adjective. Once the dialogue kicked in, I was absorbed into the story but it took awhile to get absorbed.

This book was an enjoyable read. Some times we need little visits of horror. I suggest that you purchase it and set it right next to your night table. If you have trouble sleeping, pick it up and read a story or two… as long as you can sleep with the light on.

Purchase this book here

Marrow Will Affect You to the Core

Uncategorized,

Marrow

Length: 16 pages

Author: Sabne Raznik

Publisher: Self-published by the author

Publication Date: 9/11/13

Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

 

I would like to preface by saying this is not the type of book I would usually consider reviewing but boy I’m glad I did. Marrow is a self-published book by poet, writer and artist Sabne Raznik. The book is dedicated to a specific young man that did not survive his cancer. It is also dedicated to all children with cancer, those who survived, those who did not. The proceeds of the book go to St. Jude’s Hospital to fund research for cures of childhood cancer. One can tell right away this book is personal to Raznik.

 

The 3 stories in Marrow are written in poetic verse. This brings quite a challenge to the author to tell a story with limited words but Raznik is an artist. The first story “Mrs. Albuninah” is the longest of the poems. It puts two women from different cultures in one hospital hallway sharing the same human emotions. Communication between the two is not easy but Raznik reminds us that worry and sadness are universal. As I continued to read, I could almost smell the disinfectant of the hospital. The picture is so beautifully drawn through words; I was carried away as if I were looking down the hospital hallway watching this unfold. Did I mention Raznik was an artist? Good writing stirs emotion and emotion is concentrated in these 15 pages.

 

I feel compelled to point something out. Because of the cause in which this book was written, I was reluctant to read the poems. This book bounced around in my book bag for 2 weeks before I was brave enough to read it. I was afraid of being the guy that gives 1 star to the “cancer book”. Across the room in my office is a mirror. I was lucky enough to catch my expression when I finished “Marrow”. It reminds me what I tell my dogs, “Close your mouth or you’ll attract flies!” The best things come in small packages.

Purchase this book here