cosmic horror – Tattered Covers & Broken Spines

Parachute

A novella of cosmic horror by Holly Rae Garcia

5/5 Star Review

If you were a child in the 80s or 90s, you will likely remember the parachutes from physical education class. Those were always fun days in school – the whole class gathered around in a giant circle with the parachute spread out in the center. Everyone would take a handful and lift at the same time and you would stare up into the rainbow colored dome as it circled above your head. Magical days, amiright?

For the characters in Holly Rae Garcia’s Parachute, this is not the case. Angela Rodriguez and her friends have just graduated high school and are hanging out together for one of the last times before they all go their separate ways. When they start to reminisce about the parachute from their grade school days, they decide to break into the abandoned elementary school and see if there is still an old parachute in the gym. They luck out and find one, but when they spread it out and lift it up they realize this parachute is nothing like the one from their childhoods. Every time they lift it up, they are exposed to a strange new world. They think they’ve figured out the rules for coming and going, but are about to be proved terribly wrong.

Parachute is a fun cosmic horror novella. What starts off as a nostalgic trip quickly unfolds into realms of unknowable terror. Each new world that the teenagers venture into is worse than the last. Garcia does a fantastic job of disorienting the reader, as the standard momentum of time is thrown out the window as the teens hop in and out of realities. It could be minutes, it could be days. In a lot of ways, Parachute reminded me of an episode of The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits. My only complaint is that I wish we could have spent more time in some the worlds – they were fascinating! Overall, I greatly enjoyed this little novella and I think you will to.

Two Novellas to Check Out if You Like Cosmic Horror

The Ethereal Transit Society by Thomas Vaughn and Last Case at a Baggage Auction by Eric J. Guignard

If you are looking for a couple of great novellas in the vein of cosmic horror – I have two fantastic recommendations for you!

Let’s start with The Ethereal Transit Society, the debut novella from Thomas Vaughn. This story follows the last three members of a doomsday cult on their road trip to find the body of their former leader. Their adventure leads them deep into the heart of rural Arkansas, following what they call the Transit Frequency in order to be in the right place for the end of the world. The Frequency has left its mark on the town and the remaining members are greeted by strangeness when they arrive. I hesitate to say more as this is such a quick read, but if cults and/or cosmic horror is your jam, you do not want to miss this little book. 5/5 Stars.

The second novella is a little more cosmic horror adjacent, but it still scratches that itch. Last Case at a Baggage Auction by Eric J. Guignard follows the story of Charlie Stewart and Joey Third. It’s 1963 in Detroit and Charlie and Joey bid on unclaimed baggage. Sometimes they win treasures, sometimes they win trash. At one particular claim, Joey finds an antique gramophone and records that play a creepy chanting in a language that neither man understands. While Charlie works to find out what’s on the records, Joey falls into a routine of listening to them nonstop. He sees visions of a dark and frozen landscape and a strange bearded man. This is an intense little read and delves into mysticism, the supernatural, and a physical opening into the distant past. 5/5 Stars.

Cosmic horror seems to be a little harder to find in modern horror, but there is a strong subset of authors who are killing it if you look a little deeper. I am happy to say that these two little books fit right into that niche. Definitely check both of these out!

Junji Ito: Master of Horror Manga, Part III

Here we are again, revisiting my favorite horror manga creator, Junji Ito. Click here for Part I and Part II. This time around we’re taking a look at four volumes – Deserter, Remina, Sensor, and The Liminal Zone.

Let’s start first with my favorite of the bunch, The Liminal Zone. This volume is made up of four stories – Weeping Woman Way, Madonna, The Spirit Flow of Aokigahara, and Slumber. Weeping Woman Way is the story of a young couple who stop in a small country town and encounter a weeping woman, a hired woman who cries and mourns the dead at funerals. The young girl is so saddened that she is unable to stop crying, even after they leave the town. They decide to return and uncover the truth of these weeping women. Madonna tells the story of a corrupt priest who falls in love with beautiful, young women and convinces them that they are the blessed virgin herself. A plan that works for him until he can no longer keep his affairs a secret from his jealous wife and she goes on a rampage. The Spirit Flow of Aokigahara follows a young couple into the suicide forest. Norio has been stricken with a fatal disease and his girlfriend, Mika, decides to join him in death. Their first night, they see a faint glow and decide to follow it the next day. They discover the mystical spirit flow of the forest and Norio becomes obsessed with riding it every night. The final story, Slumber, is about a man who falls asleep at night and wakes up each morning convinced he’s killed the night before. This was a 5/5 Star read for me. Ito excels in short story form and these are some of his best.

Deserter was another 5/5 Star collection. This bind-up contains twelve short stories – standouts for me included: Deserter, about a WWII soldier who went AWOL and hid away at a friend’s farmhouse; Where the Sandman Lives, a story about a man who can’t fall asleep for fear of his dream self coming out and taking over his daytime body; A Father’s Love, a story about a father who can possess his entire family; and The Long Hair in the Attic, a cautionary tale about being a playboy.

Sensor is the story of Kyoko Byakuya who is drawn into the mysterious village of Kiyokami, a town covered in volcanic hair. The shining golden fibers form a protective shell around her when a nearby volcano erupts. When she emerges, all of her hair has been replaced by the beautiful golden hair. What follows is a strange tale of cults and cosmic horror. Another 5/5 Star read.

The final volume was my least favorite of the lot, but it’s still worth a read at 4/5 Stars. Remina tells the story of a scientist and his daughter. Dr. Oguro discovers a new planet that’s emerged from a wormhole. He names the planet Remina, after his only daughter. His discovery is met with great fanfare and his daughter rises to popularity because of it. Everything is going great until they discover the planet is approaching earth and devouring everything in its wake. The population begins to fear Dr. Oguro and his daughter and become obsessed with the idea that by destroying them, they can save their planet.

If you haven’t caught on by now, you should absolutely be reading Junji Ito if you like horror.

Walk the Darkness Down

A horrific western novella of cosmic proportions by John Boden

4/5 Star Review

I have to start this review with a confession: I received a copy of this book for review from the author last fall and it slipped through the cracks. I’m embarrassed by the amount of time that it took me to get to this wonderful little book. Do yourself a favor when you pick this one up – Don’t let it sit on your TBR pile. Read it immediately and read it slowly. Savor it.

This was my first read from John Boden and I was impressed. Boden commands the English language and manipulates it into gorgeous metaphors that paint the landscape of this novella. As you read, you want to meditate on the images that are being drawn in your mind. The world of this tale is just so rich and so brutal that it demands your complete attention.

Click on the cover art to purchase from bookshop.org.

Levi is a man who is no longer a man. He has been warped by the ancient evil that has invaded his mind. Jones is a man on a quest to find himself, as well at the man who killed his mother. Keaton is a man on the run from crimes he did not commit. Jubal is a boy whose parents are dead and has been left to care for his twin sisters. Walk the Darkness Down is the story of how these four come together and their ultimate showdown.

One tidbit about this novella that I will share with you is to pay attention to the names of the people and the towns, hell – even the horse. If you are familiar with folks in the horror community, you will see a lot of cameos and mentions throughout. They are fun little Easter eggs to find. It takes nothing away from the story if you don’t notice them, so don’t let this deter you from picking up this book.

If a violent and gory western imbued with cosmic horror sounds like your cup of tea – I highly recommend this read!

If you follow the horror community on Bookstagram or Twitter, you may have noticed a surge in the horror western sub-genre. If you don’t and are looking for more new books in this vein, check out Death’s Head Press. They have just started releasing titles for their Splatter Western line: The Magpie Coffin by Wile E. Young and Hunger on the Chisholm Trail by by M. Ennenbach.

A Cosmology of Monsters

A generational novel of cosmic horror by Shaun Hamill

5/5 Star Review

I am not normally lured in by cover blurbs, but this one – this is the one that got me to pick up the book:

“If John Irving ever wrote a horror novel, it would be something like this. I loved it.” —Stephen King

If there is one element of story I think of when I think of both Stephen King and John Irving, it would have to be character narrative. Both authors have an incredible talent for creating characters that are people you know, or have known. They are friends, lovers, acquaintances, family members. As it would turn out, A Cosmology of Monsters completely lives up to the comparison.

In my opinion, Monsters is, at its heart, a generational family drama with elements of cosmic horror and weird fiction woven throughout the narrative. I came for the characters and stayed for the horror. You should know that going in. If you are taking the plunge and are expecting a straight horror story, you may be disappointed. This is a slow-burn. If you enjoyed King’s Revival or Duma Key – this would be a book you would absolutely love. It’s a novel that takes its time, but as it unfurls it is so very, very good!

Noah Turner is our narrator and the book is broken up into four parts – The story of Noah’s parents and the story of Noah’s childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. We follow the family’s highs and lows as they revolve around the designs of a great haunted house that grows from a front yard set-up to a full-size attraction called, The Wandering Dark. The family experiences loss and heartbreak and as the reader, we are there for every moment. Throughout, there are glimpses of the weird, the abnormal, and every taste leaves you wanting to know more. I hesitate to say anything else as this is a book I think you should walk into blind.

A Cosmology of Monsters is the number one contender for the best novel that I have read so far in 2020. It’s going to take to take a real doozy to unseat this one, but even then, I don’t think anything could drop if from my Top 5. If you like weird fiction or quiet, literary horror – you are doing yourself a disservice if you let this one go by without a read.

Gone to See the River Man

A genre-blending novel by Kristopher Triana

5/5 Star Review

I will say it again, once more for the readers in the back: If you are a fan of the horror genre and haven’t yet read Triana, you are seriously missing out! With his latest release, Gone to See the River Man, Kris carves out an expertly crafted blend of extreme, cosmic, and folk horror.

Lori is a lady who has never been lucky in love. Her relationships never seem to flourish, or even come to fruition, due to familial challenges and trauma. As the novel opens, Lori is writing to an inmate named Edmund Cox, a notorious serial killer. She can’t explain exactly why, but she feels a kinship with him – a sameness – and wants him to divulge his secrets only to her. After a face-to-face visit with Edmund, Lori decides to take him up on a quest he asks her to undertake. The task is simple: Find his family’s cabin along the river, retrieve a key, and deliver it to the River Man – Edmund even draws a map. Lori, along with her handicapped sister, Abby, embarks on this seemingly simple journey that will finally prove her devotion to Edmund. Lori quickly realizes this may not be a simple journey after all and the sisters find far more than they ever could have bargained for.

I don’t believe the location of this novel is ever specified, but it has a distinctly Appalachian feel. When you veer off the beaten paths in this region, you will find it’s a completely different way of life and rich with its own folklore. Every bit of the River Man story sounds like it could have happened anywhere in the area. I hesitate to say any more because I don’t want to spoil this book for anyone, but the blending of folk lore and cosmic horror in this story is just phenomenal. Triana’s use of colors as descriptions near the end of the sisters’ journey is Just. So. Good. A highly recommended read!

Please note that I did receive this title as a review copy in exchange for an honest review. I have also done a spotlight post on some of Triana’s other titles here.

In the Shadow of Spindrift House

A novella of cosmic horror by Mira Grant

4/5 Star Review

Have you ever wondered what an episode of Scooby Doo would look like if it was written by H.P. Lovecraft? Minus all of the racism and bigotry, of course? Well, look no further because that’s exactly what Mira Grant has done with this tightly written novella.

Our protagonist, Harlowe Upton-Jones, was raised by her paternal grandparents and foster family after her mother and father were murdered by a mysterious cult. During her formulative teen years, Harlowe, her foster brother, Kevin, and their two best friends, Addison and Andy, started solving mysteries in town and became rather well-known around the Chicago area. The problem? Teenagers don’t stay teenagers forever and the real world has real costs, like liability insurance, and there is not a lot of money in mystery solving. While the rest of the group is ready to move on from their former fame, Harlowe is still trying to keep the band together and proposes one last case: The Mystery of Spendrift House. A seemingly unsolvable mystery with a big payout.

In the Shadow of Spindrift House is a fun mix of cosmic horror, haunted house shenanigans, mystery, and unrequited love. It’s a big story for a small book. Grant makes it work, but I would be a liar if I said I didn’t want more of this tale – it would have made an excellent full-length novel.

One of my favorite things about Spindrift House is the atmosphere that surrounds it. Grant writes it as if it were another character in the story. The house is a living, breathing being and the foggy, wet New England air is the cloak that it wraps itself in. It’s just perfect!

In the Shadow of Spindrift House was published as a deluxe edition hardcover from Subterranean Press as well as an affordable ebook edition.

Garden of Eldritch Delights

A Cosmic Horror and Fantasy Collection by Lucy A. Snyder

4/5 Star Review

September has passed, but I am still wrapping up reviews from the month-long anniversary celebration for The Ladies of Horror Fiction. This lovely team celebrated their first full year of spotlighting the amazing ladies of horror! There was a read-a-thon taking place for the entire month of September and it featured five different reading challenges – check out this link for the details!

I read Garden of Eldritch Delights for Challenge #2 – Read a Book by a LGBTQ+Author. This was my fourth “official” pick for the read-a-thon.

This was my first read of Lucy A. Snyder and she is most definitely an author who will be making rounds in my ever-growing TBR. With Garden, Snyder weaves a wonderful collection combining cosmic horror, science fiction, vampires, witches, and straight out fantasy. Somehow, it all works very well together. Snyder has a talent for telling tight, complete stories with a small amount of words – a talent not all writers have.

Garden of Eldritch Delights starts out strong with That Which Does Not Kill You – about the real-life pains of a broken heart and Sunset on Mott Island – an end-of-the-world tale about a doctor with revelations and a woman caring for her dying mother in a dying world. It continues with some of my other favorites: The Gentleman Caller – about an unexpected sex worker, her familial gift, and how the grass isn’t always greener; Executive Functions – a story that I will always look back fondly on every time I have to deal with an asshole in the workplace; and A Noble Endeavor; about a young slave girl who changes the world.

While some stories were a little weaker than others, there is not a bad, or even a just okay, story in the whole collection. Every single one is worth a read. I love that Snyder can write strong, empowered female characters without making them feel like a trope. These women all have unique personalities, strengths, weaknesses – they are real, they are every woman. Do yourself a favor and check this one out.

Sour Candy

A cosmic horror novella by Kealan Patrick Burke

5/5 Star Review

This year has been full of new-to-me authors discovered through Twitter and BookTube. Sour Candy by Kealan Patrick Burke is another one of those finds. Many of his books are spoken of highly, including Sour Candy, but I chose this one solely based on its cover – it’s gorgeous!

One of the first things that I love to do when I buy a new book is to read the first sentence – it often will determine where the book ends up on my TBR pile. Sour Candy made it to the top of the heap: “Four months to the day he first encountered the boy at Walmart, the last of Phil Pendleton’s teeth fell out.” Tell me that doesn’t drag you right in?!

I don’t really want to say too much about the plot, as this is only a novella, but the story is essentially this: Phil Pendleton is a childless divorcé whose life is forever changed after accepting a piece of sour candy from a child at Walmart.

I went in expecting this to be solely creepy kid horror, but was absolutely delighted to discover the strong cosmic horror elements contained within. Although, don’t get me wrong – there is definitely enough of the creepy kid element to go around! Burke manages to craft a complete, spooky story with a well-developed plot and characters in only 75 pages – quite a feat! This is the type of novella that keeps bringing me back to the medium. Highly recommended!!

A Weirdish Wild Space

A collection of essays from Mary SanGiovanni

5/5 Star Review

Night Moves was the first body of work that I read from Professor Mary SanGiovanni – and I was not disappointed! I initially became familiar with her from listening to her cosmic horror podcast, Cosmic Shenanigans and as a co-host on The Horror Show with Brian Keene. If you are a fan of the genre and not listening to these podcasts, you are sorely missing out. Not long ago, I was listening to an older episode of one of these two shows and Mary’s essay collection, A Weirdish Wild Space, was mentioned. I was thrilled to hear that she had a non-fiction collection and I ordered it straight away.

This collection of essays spans from 2004 to 2016 and absolutely runs the gamut as far as content is concerned. In these essays you will find Mary’s thoughts on writing; on being a mother, sister, lover, and woman; her perspectives on the infamous Dorchester/Leisure fiasco, remembrances, the anatomy of the Silent Hill franchise, and so so so much more!

For me, personally, my favorite takeaway was not a particular essay or thought, but the overall feeling of the collection. Many of the essays hit home pretty hard, especially those related to relationships and depression. On a logical level, you know that you are not alone and certainly not the first to feel this way – but it is so comforting to read someone else’s words and know, in your heart, that there is someone else who has felt the same way that you have or who has had a similar experience.

I highly recommend this collection – it is a fantastic snapshot of the last 15 years told through the voice of one of horror fiction’s foremost leading ladies.