Sarasota VII by Lo Galluccio, reviewed by Debbie

Sarasota VII by Lo Galluccio

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars

"Sarasota VII" is so intensely personal that reading it feels like an intrusion, like listening to someone's late-night conversation with their lover, like shoving your face right into the breast of a nursing woman, like clomping in Wellington boots through a delicate tracery of flowers.

It's as if Lo Galluccio has opened her private diary and printed its contents on the page: raw, unedited, begging to be prised open and understood. Death and sex intertwine like lovers, neither making sense of the other, but unable to part.

"She's taken from you. You've been vandalized by a rummaging god. She becomes a compacted star in your cosmos, the rings through which you become, like Saturn, denser than before--heavy with shame and longing--but furious enough in your suspension to fly."

Whatever new definitions the narrative tries to place on the sister's death, whatever consolations are offered--"Girls who become mistresses through whom you become a man, not the boy that death fueled"--the loss is always there, tangible, demanding to be understood, to be redefined, to be hidden then sought in allegory. Every possible means of understanding the death is attempted, rotated, abandoned, re-tried, holding the death at the centre of the narrative, allowing it to force its way into every thought, every action. Here our determination to ignore death is the ultimate taboo; here death will not be ignored.

In the second section, the narrator is dealing with a second death: her father's. Half of this narrative is, it seems, missing, and so it ends tantalisingly with much unsaid. Here, we have perhaps a gentler, more accepting view of death, yet it's still all-pervasive. "Because I'm fatherless I wound up in his shiny black rental car." Grief brings about strange outcomes; grief motivates everything, even though it's the great demotivator. Everything comes back to the black hole death has made in the narrator's life; everything is attributable; everything is coloured by it. Nothing can ever be the same.

This collection will appeal to those prepared to deal with an onslaught of emotions, to those who are prepared to take the time to let it soak into their understanding, to those who've been there. It's outstanding in its rawness, in its willingness to tell it like it is. Not for the faint of heart.

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The Pines by Robert Dunbar, reviewed by Xysea

The Pines by Robert Dunbar

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars


This is a chilling tale set in the rural Pine Barrens of New Jersey, a region as known for its inbred, throwback inhabitants or 'Pineys', as for its swampy, humid and dense woodland. The story centers around a team of ambulance drivers, a couple of small-town sheriffs, and a series of deaths that occur, leaving behind bodies so mangled it looks as though wild animals have been in a frenzy. And yet, there are clues that these are no animals anyone's ever come across before. Thus start the rumors, the stories, of a devil, a Jersey devil, hunting its prey, tearing it limb from limb and doing unspeakably horrible things to the corpses....

The tension builds, and the bodies mount, as Athena, (one of the newer ambulance drivers) becomes deeply embroiled in the investigation. Is her involvement the result of her colleagues' unquestioning attitudes towards the deaths? Or is it because she's the single parent of a son who seems to be autistic, but who has an amazing ability to know the thoughts and intentions of the unknown assailant? Is this really a freak talent or something more sinister?

Using rich language and imagery, Robert Dunbar has written a timeless tale of horror and suspense. All the elements of the traditional horror novel are explored, with just enough twists and turns to engage the reader and lend the story some uniqueness. There are a few stray subplots that could have been edited out, and it seems they possibly were in previous editions. However, this has been promoted on the back cover as the 'uncut version, in paperback for the first time!'

While these subplots don't particularly enhance or detract from the novel, per se, they just don't take the story anywhere new. I have read quite a few horror novels in my time, and when I was younger I'd make the rounds of the more popular authors. In the end, what kept me from continuing with them was their predictability--the nubile thing in the woods gets attacked (usually in an overtly sexual way), there's a mysterious connection between the 'thing' and a human (usually involving telekinesis)--and this novel is, unfortunately, as predictable. That doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad novel, but for someone like me, who has read a lot of horror, it did take a little something out of the reading. I suppose I was hoping for a bit more uniqueness or originality, and I didn't find it here.

Still, this is a pretty good book for any horror fan to curl up with on a dark and snowy night...as long as they're far from the Pine Barrens of New Jersey.

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Twenty-Five Things About GUD

1. If asked whether I'm male or female, I answer "female". I also wonder why anyone asks.

2. My first issue was called Issue 0. This has created lots of headaches for the editors, who keep forgetting that Issue 3 is not the third issue. And so on.

3. I'm created online by editors from the US and the UK.

4. I'm available in both print and .pdf formats direct from GUD.

5. I'm also available as a multi-format eBook from Fictionwise.

6. My first three issues (0-2) are even available for the Kindle.

7. One of the stories in Issue 2 (that's my third issue, for those who aren't paying attention), Painlessness by Kirstin McDermott, won the 2009 Aurealis Award for Best Horror Story.

8. Each of my issues so far has had a different instigator. But I hear it's kaolin's turn again soon.

9. Whenever I visit Debbie, her cat bothers me.

10. kaolin NEVER takes me snowboarding.

11. The cover for Issue 3 can be made into a model Steam Bat. Why not give it a try?

12. At the time of writing, the editors have sent 9,682 responses to would-be contributors.

13. The editors have decided that only 1.9% of submissions are good enough to snuggle between my covers.

14. Sue lays me out every time.

15. Twenty-five is a lot.

16. Issue 5 has had the most submissions.

17. Julia shares me with Michael. Aww, romantic!

18. Sal doesn't come to see me as often as I'd like.

19. Almost every week, I give away a review book to our readers.

20. I have 200 pages.

21. Yes, 200!

22. I only accept submissions via my online form.

23. Library Journal wrote me up recently.

24. If you open an account, I'll give you a FREE .pdf from one of my issues!

25. I'm GUD. And I'm good, too.

Through A Glass, Darkly by Bill Hussey, reviewed by Debbie

Through a Glass, Darkly by Bill Hussey

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars


In Bill Hussey's debut novel, a centuries-old pall of evil hangs over the small village of Crow Haven, personified by a mysterious figure known as the Crowman. When the young Simon Malahyde disappears apparently without cause, and young boys are abducted, then found dead and mutilated, DI Jack Trent is paired with his colleague and ex-girlfriend DS Dawn Howard to investigate.

Trent is already familiar with the supernatural. A childhood near-death experience has left him infested by demons that give him intimate insights into the thoughts and histories of anyone he touches. He also receives visions of the future--visions that insist Dawn's son Jamie will be a victim of the serial killer currently terrorising the area (except Crow Haven itself, which seems inured to strange deaths and malice). Dawn takes more convincing that the threat to Crow Haven is not mundane, and she becomes sidelined as the investigation takes Trent into stranger and stranger parts--including a marvellous hidden library.

The enforced proximity between jilter (Trent) and jiltee (Dawn) makes for a constant thread of tension running through the novel. The more Trent yearns to be close to Dawn, the more he must push her away, for his emotional attachment to her feeds the demons that he has always tried to keep penned within a cage of logic. The demons have already killed his mother; he can and will give everything to prevent that ever happening again.

The narrative is slow to build to the climax, and it feels somewhat weighted down by the density of Hussey's writing. The investigation is followed minutely, and there are digressions into various aspects of the relevant backstory, all of which tends to create a feeling that the story isn't going anywhere soon. Yet Hussey writes well, and imbues the reader with confidence that this is all going to come together at the end. Which it does. The tension becomes more effective as the final confrontation approaches, and the worth of the slow build-up becomes evident when the reader realises they are fully engaged with Trent, and concerned for his welfare.

There are some great aspects to the book--the above-mentioned library, for one, and the way everyone knows there's something not quite right about Simon Malahyde, but nobody really wants to face what it might be. Definitely one for the Horror fan who prefers to get more in their favourite genre than just blood and gore.

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Aurealis Award for "Painlessness" in GUD Issue 2

Reposted from GUD, here are Painlessness author Kirstyn McDermott's thoughts on winning the Aurealis Award for Best Short Horror Story.

How cool is this? First my story, "Painlessness", wins an Aurealis Award for Best Horror Short Story and now I get asked to write a guest blog post for GUD. The story, by the way, can be found in Issue #2, along with many other fine works. Go, shoo, buy yourself a copy right now and then come back to finish reading this. Seriously, I can wait.

The Aurealis Awards, for those who don't know, recognise the achievements of Australian speculative fiction writers and, increasingly, illustrators. Science fiction, fantasy, horror, young adult, graphic novels - the awards cover a wide field and each year the lists of finalists for each category should be considered mandatory reading for spec fic afficiandos. Especially this year. Especially the Horror Short Story category. Obviously. ;-)

"Painlessness" is a story of which I am still immensely proud. And I can say this with certainty, because I just read it again for the first time since it was published way back in January 2008, and I didn't vomit once. Not even a little bit.

The way I write, most of the time it's like excavation. I'll randomly chip away at the bedrock and find these interesting, odd-shaped bits and pieces, most of which I'll carry around in my pockets for months or years before I eventually stumble across that one last chunk that holds it altogether. And then I start to write.

Sometimes it all falls apart half way through, but most of the time I have the right pieces and they stick together fairly well. Occasionally, they make something quite unexpected. "Painlessness" was a bit like that. I thought I knew what it was, how it would look and feel; I thought I knew the end. But it managed to surprise me in a lot of ways, as the best stories do when you're writing them, and I still don't know where some parts of it came from. I don't remember digging them up from anywhere. But they're sharp and bright and it hurts a little to read them and really, that's what a good horror story is about. Right? And I'm allowed to say that because, hey, it just won an award. :-)

So, many thanks to Sal Coraccio and the fine editorial team at GUD. They not only accepted my story but put up with a minor primadonna act during the editing. And it's a much better piece for it.

And seriously, go to the Aurealis Awards website and track down as many of those shortlisted titles as you can, across all the categories. We have some mightly fine talent working down here in Australia, some of the best writers and artists you'll come across anywhere. Trust me, your time and effort will be well rewarded.

I,AM by Deon Sanders, reviewed by Sal

I, AM by Deon C. Sanders

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars

"At first, when darkness covered the earth and the sun rested in the propensity of God, entrenched in the darkness was I,AM-a force of relentless evil."

The premise of Deon Sanders’ work of horror is that an evil entity, I,AM, battles directly with God--and loses. God summarily slices I,AM into three parts (an Unholy Trinity?) using a "Lance of Transgression" and converts the parts to stone.

After a brief retelling and slight re-spin of the seven-day Genesis introduction, Sanders tells us that God

"...chucked the first rock into the bottom of the Black Sea near the shores of Odessa. He propelled the second rock into the hottest part of what would become the Sahara desert in Algeria hidden under mountains of sand. Then, with great thunder, God threw the last rock to the top of where the North Pole would be, near Greenland. The rock landed in a frozen iceberg under a massive peak on the tip of the Arctic Ocean."

From this passage one can garner a sense of how language is used by the author throughout the one-hundred-and-five-page book; "chuck", "propelled", "threw" -– "rock, rock, rock". The point is made, and articulately enough – but not artfully.

The plot begins in earnest by revealing that the battle, now myth, is inscribed on an ancient scroll. Along with this is a map showing the locations of the three pieces and the Lance (which turns out to be an amulet). Naturally, the path is full of peril and tests of purity; there are many attempts–-none fruitful.

Eventually, we are introduced to a character named Kumhuma who, not intending to seek the scroll nor the amulet (Lance of Transgression), is drawn to them both, finding his own challenges along the route. Once the scroll is found it is moved to a presumably safer location, and Kumhuma, in secret, dons the amulet.

Predictably, the location is betrayed, with violent results, to an evil group of mercenary Americans (financed by "Egypt, Europe, India and the United States without the President’s knowledge"). The amulet, however, makes its way safely to Kumhuma’s brother Michael, in Chicago.

Sixteen years later, the stones, now found, arrive in Chicago to be ceremoniously unveiled. It is during this event that the stones re-unite to form the evil I,AM--it seems that the only one who can stop the ensuing terror is an amulet-protected Chicago Homicide detective named Michael Zeiss -- Kumhuma’s now-grown brother.

Part of the full rebirth of I,AM involves a human host and this provides another opportunity to show a taste of the book’s particular writing style and sense of humor:

"Mary walked somewhat hindered, due to the extra weight of her pregnancy. Being huge, her belt barely went around her stomach, her breasts were just about to jump out of her shirt, and her derriere could eclipse the sun... The voice of I,AM rang out and was all Mary could hear. She turned and hightailed it to the exit of the exhibit room, but the doors had a mind of their own. They closed right in front of her and she was trapped."

A larger portion of the rest of the book describes the many evil doings of I,AM as he flexes his inhuman (perhaps "too human") muscles to murder and cause chaos. We follow Detective Zeiss as he, and those near and dear to him, fight the monster-–or die trying.

Sanders’ greatest strength in this multi-genre work is that he can spin an epic tale based on widely-held beliefs while adding something elementally new. Some of the writing may be elementary, but this does have the benefit of propelling the story forward at a brisk and engaging pace. Given the long time-line of the work the result is, on balance, positive.

If you enjoy horror along with stories based in religious faith, political intrigue or detective drama I’M sure "I,AM" will fit quite nicely on your shelf.

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