Title: The Night Will Find Us

Author: Matthew Lyons

Release date: October 20, 2020

Ah, the one that got away. Back in 2020, I want to say June(?), this book came through Kendall Reviews for review consideration and I jumped all over it. Back then, unfortunately, my Kindle could be a huge jerk and, while I accepted it, the PDF that was sent to me was completely unreadable. It happens. Not as much lately, but it didn’t matter what I did – straight PDF emailed, file converted to a MOBI, file converted to an EPUB, my Kindle wouldn’t display it in any way that allowed me to read it.

So, I had it purchased, but as review requests were stacked up, I put it aside onto my ‘normal’ TBR and it slowly made its way to the top of the heap.

And then it arrived.

And I wanted to just straight kick myself in the face for having had it wait there.

THIS BOOK IS EXACTLY WHAT I WANT TO READ.

THIS BOOK IS EXACTLY WHAT I WOULD WRITE.

Look, if you took Nevill’s ‘The Ritual’ and then threw it into a blender with A.M. Shine’s ‘The Creeper,’ and even a bit of David Sodergren’s ‘Maggie’s Grave,’ you’ll have an idea of what you’re in for.

What I liked: The story follows Parker, his cousin, Chloe, and their friends, Nate, Adam, Nicky and Josh (those two a couple), as they head into the woods of New Jersey to celebrate high school graduation.

Parker is struggling. His father has disappeared and his mom has turned to alcohol. With his downward spiral now evident with his friends, it makes for an occasion that should be an exciting time, but instead is awkward, tension-filled and making for short-fuses.

Look, this alone would’ve made for a solid ‘things are creepy here in the woods’ novel, but Lyons decides to completely throw us to the figurative wolves by having them go to an area that the soil itself is embedded with an ancient evil.

ANCIENT EVVVVVVIIILLLLL!

YEEEEESSSS!

God, yes. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

You know how much I love that.

So, Lyons gives us an explosive, emotional, completely unexpected scene, very early on that sets things in motion. We get a phenomenal obstacle, with great barriers and throughout, Lyons continues to push us ever forward, towards the darkness that awaits in an abandoned setting within.

Every something new was introduced, I wanted to pump my fist with glee, as this goes everywhere I wanted and more.

On top of that, we get resolutions for every single character, which is very rare indeed.

The ending was magical and even the epilogue dropped the ‘horror’ volume a few degrees to give us some closure and an update on how things went on after all was said and done.

What I didn’t like: Honestly, there was only one thing within the entire book that I scoffed at. I suspend my belief throughout 99% of reading anything, but this was the rare case where Lyons continued to beat people up and have them beat up. That was why, when one character ends up at the bottom of a cliff and seemingly ‘walks it off’ I was put off by that moment. That doesn’t happen. They were beat to hell and already on death’s doorstep, so even a two foot fall would’ve hurt them. Yet, they seemingly fall a solid ten-to-twenty feet and had almost no reaction to it. That was a hard one to push aside.

Why you should buy this: Man, just look at the title. And consider this. Ancient evil in a forest. Teens trying to survive. Both each other and the thing that dwells there. If that doesn’t have your hackles up and your credit card out, I don’t know what will.

This hummed along, and has easily cemented itself alongside so many great books on my ‘best creepy book in the woods’ list. Lyons nailed every single aspect of this.

Outstanding.

5/5

Hello, friends and fans!

It’s been a few weeks since my memoir, ‘The Color of Melancholy’ was released and I’m so very touched with the response. Somehow, it’s maintained a Bestseller Banner on the good ship Amazon for almost the entirety of its release – both in the US and Canada – and I’d like to think that’s more to the response than the niche categories that it has been placed in, but either way, I’ll take it! It has also been great receiving messages from people who’ve had similar experiences and upbringings and those who’ve snagged some of Andrew Pyper’s work through reading this as well.

As I mentioned in the afterword of the novel, developing and releasing this memoir was a cathartic experience for myself, but it was also a way for me to bypass journaling, something I detest with a passion. It was easier for me to write these moments in my life as I would a story, so instead of me writing say, ‘August 6^th, 2005. Dear Diary, today I was sad,’ instead I would write about the moment with adjectives and flourish and the way my brain processes things. Now, there’s nothing wrong with journaling or having a diary, do what works for you, but as for me, I approached it my way.

In the afterword, I also mentioned that somethings were omitted. In the editing phase, I realized some moments just didn’t fit or were either inconsequential to the narrative I was creating or slowed sections. In preparation for writing this, I read blog posts and watched a few podcasts on writing an effective memoir, and one thing that was unanimous across the board was to treat your life like a fiction novel, if you want to create a good reading experience for the readers.

Which I hope I’ve achieved.

As a thanks to everyone, I’ve decided it might be fun over the next little while to share a few of the omitted chapters. The sections that I feel were solid but just didn’t fit in the book itself.

So, without further ado, please enjoy this chapter that didn’t make the final cut about my first car crash!

(One note – the memoir features a photo section in the back of the book. With this being posted on my website, I have included photos within this omitted chapter. This is not indicative of how the book is, as getting the permissions to use the photos within the chapters, such as I have below, would’ve been a nightmare!)

*

In the Spring of 2003, I believe it was, I was in my first car accident. Or the first that I know of. I don’t believe my parents had a car accident when I was a child. If so, they never discussed it.

I was involved in an odd event, in 1997 or 1998. I was driving back to Burton from Nakusp, in my parent’s white minivan. Amanda and her friend at the time, Nicole, were with me. It was later in the day, dark out, and we’d just left Nakusp, going through the 50kph to 70kph section just as you leave the village. A vehicle with bright lights was driving into Nakusp at a high rate of speed, and as it went by, we heard a massive KAPOW! We weren’t sure what had happened, until we all kind of noticed it. Something had been thrown from the vehicle – either by a person or launched out from the back of their vehicle – and had smashed the front windshield. There was a significant ‘contact’ point with dense breakage and spiderwebbed cracks running over the rest of it. My parent’s WERE NOT happy when we arrived in Burton, but we weren’t sure what we were supposed to do. The vehicle was long gone by the time we understood what had happened and this was pre-cell phone days, so there was no point in pulling over and waiting for someone to drive by.

So, I drove us home and that was that.

As for my first ‘real’ car accident, that was a few years later.

It’s odd how the years begin to blur together, and it becomes difficult to remember exactly when it was. What I do know for sure, was that it was during the Spring and I’m 99% sure it was after my facial reconstruction. I know it was in the Spring because I was driving back to Castlegar so that I could get ready to write a Final Exam at Selkirk College.

I’d gone through a few vehicles in my young driving life. My first vehicle was after I’d graduated high school. A 1981 Chevy truck. I believe it had a v10 engine? Sure, let’s go with that.

(My truck was even this color!)

All I remember was I could drive super fast in it and that it went through gas even faster. This one didn’t last long, the cost of gas to drive between Nakusp and Castlegar quickly becoming prohibitive, so I traded it in at a dealership in Castlegar for a 1988 Chrysler LeBaron.

(The LeBaron I had even had a sick turbo injected engine! Vrrroooom-Vrrroooom!)

It had a sweet digital dash and a stereo system that popped. We had our ups and downs over the time I had this car. At one point, the fuel pump went, which meant it would randomly turn off while driving – no care for where I was driving at that moment – and it would come to a sudden halt. This happened once, as Amanda and I and a Nakusp friend, were driving back from Castlegar to Nakusp. We had just arrived at Crescent Valley when we had to stop for construction. They were repaving the highway, and as I came around the corner near where the gas station was, I gulped deeply as the flagger turned their sign to stop.

The car immediately died.

I hopped out, reached under with the handy wrench I now always had with me in the car, and tapped three times on the fuel pump while Amanda turned the key in the ignition and the car started. All I hoped for was for us to make it through the construction as having a line of cars behind you wouldn’t be ideal to suddenly stop and have to restart it. Sure enough, that’s what happened. The flagger turned her flag, we started, I begged and pleaded for the car to make it and at the half-way point of construction, it died and stopped. Horns honked, I hopped out and clanked the bottom and the construction workers laughed and yelled obscenities at me and my situation.

The fuel pump was repaired that weekend and the car, and I resumed a loving relationship for another year or so after that.

When that one died, along came a 1994 Pontiac Sunbird. I really loved that car, even if it was only in my life for a brief time.

(This was legitimately THE nicest picture I could find of a Sunbird online that was the same color as the one I had!) 

It drove smoother than the LeBaron and the speakers were significantly better as well. Though, I will say, Eiffel 65’s Europop album sounded better in the LeBaron than the Sunbird.

On the day of the accident, I had left early, wanting to get back to our basement suite in Castlegar midday so that I could get a solid afternoon of studying in, in preparation for the final the next morning.

I hated the pomp of the morning final at Selkirk College. They were held in the gymnasium of the school. So, every student who’d be writing an exam would have to wait in line down the narrow hallway that led past the weight room and outside.

At exactly 8:55am, the doors would be opened and as you entered, your instructor would direct you to your specific, assigned seat. At exactly 9:00am, a bagpipe player would arrive and play the national anthem or some other song – they all sounded the same on the bloody bagpipes at nine in the morning – and once done, a school administrator would go over the rules and then you could begin. I was always a fast exam writer, never spending much time rethinking my answers (which is why I was probably always a solid B student in College and University), but this also led to the awkwardness of usually being the first person to be finished. We’d have three hours to write the exam. I’d be done in forty-five minutes. I’d then sit for another fifteen minutes working up the courage to get up and leave, knowing the ccccrrrrkkkkk of my chair legs on the gym floor, followed by the screeqqq, screeqq, screeqq, of my shoes on the floor would have every other student in the gym looking at me.

The only time I remember not being the first one done was in my first year at Selkirk. The process of getting the exam had just begun, the bagpipe guy long gone, the administrator saying, ‘And you may all flip your exams over and begin,’ and we all flipped our exams.

And I kid you not, thirty seconds later, a guy who was in our Intro to Anatomy Course shouted out, ‘Oh, fuck this,’ got up, brought his exam to our instructor, and stormed out. Never did see the guy again.

Anyways, so, I was cruising down Highway 6, on my way back to Castlegar. As always, I was dismayed to not have seen a Bigfoot near Lemon Creek, and as I neared the straight stretch along an area known as Perrys, I swapped out the CD I was listening to, and slid Rammstein’s Mutter album into the player. This was back in the time of having a CD player in the car where you’d remove the face plate and take it with you whenever you left the car.

Simpler days, really.

I’ll readily admit that as I crested the hill and the two or three kilometer straight stretch lay before me, I pressed the gas a bit harder, buoyed by the industrial stomp of ‘Mein Herz brennt,’ and, as ‘Links 2 3 4’ began, I pretended to sing along as I drove.

And then the car appeared.

Off to my right, Harasemov Rd connected to Highway 6 and as I got almost directly to where its gravel turned into the highways cement, the car – couldn’t tell you what kind – drove directly onto the highway. I remember thinking, ‘Huh, that lady isn’t even looking left,’ before it was directly on the highway in front of me.

(Taken from Google maps, this is the exact spot I would’ve been in when the car pulled out directly in front of me, just off to the right.)

At this point, I was travelling around 75 mph/ 120kph, and she was going roughly 18mph/ 30kph. I nailed the horn, cranked the wheel left to miss her, and immediately saw a vehicle hurtling towards me. The speed limit there (back then at least) was 62 mph/ 100kph, which meant they were coming at me fast. I slammed the wheel to the right, narrowly avoiding the oncoming traffic, but realized I was now sliding sideways across the road, heading towards the ditch. I don’t know if I froze at the understanding that I was about to crash, or what, but suddenly I was weightless and the car went into a roll – sideways – which it continued doing, until it ended up upside down against some trees.

I coughed a few times, dangling from the seat, my seatbelt having stretched but still holding me in place. There was dust and dirt and glass and branches and all kids of debris everywhere and all the while ‘Links 2 3 4’ continued playing, until the engine sputtered and shut off.

I couldn’t reach the button to unclip the seatbelt. Mentally I started running through scenarios on how I’d be able to get out of the car, when I heard someone screaming and footsteps rapidly approaching.

“Oh my God, he’s dead! He’s dead!”

Whoever was yelling this, continued to yell it over and over, until an older man popped his head into the car, and we looked at each other.

“You, ok?” he asked.

“I’m not dead,” I replied.

“He’s not dead,” he yelled back to the woman still screaming that I was dead.

“Can you feel your legs?”

“Yeah, I just can’t get my seatbelt undone,” I said.

“Hold tight,” he replied. He tentatively crawled in, trying the button, but nothing happened.

“Let me grab a knife,” he said, after clicking the button a half-dozen more times. He left, returning momentarily with a Swiss Army knife, and sliced through the belt, which allowed me to drop with a hard clunk to the roof below. I crawled out through the shattered passenger door window and stood, things already stiff and sore.

“I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry,” the lady who’d pulled out in front of me was saying while she was blubbering and bawling her eyes out.

“You should’ve fucking looked,” I said, being completely un-Canadian in that moment and not apologizing back.

“I know, I’m so sorry,” she kept going on and on.

I walked away from her, not wanting to deal with her continued blabbering, because I was the one who no longer had a fucking car.

Of course, there was one other thing that really dates this incident and the location. We were in the middle of nowhere and cellphones were not a thing. Even now, I don’t believe they have cell service in that area.

So, while I’d been spinning through the air, someone had driven like a mad person to Winlaw, the closest town, and called the ambulance service. The ambulance was dispatched and, having no car to drive anywhere, I sat on the tailgate of the truck owned by the man who’d rushed to see if I was dead.

Thirty minutes later, the ambulance arrived, lights and sirens on. They came over to ask how I was doing and let me know that because they were called, they’d need to take me to the hospital. I asked if I could go to Castlegar, as Nelson wouldn’t work for me, as I figured once I was discharged, I’d need to walk home, what with my car crumpled in the ditch. Then, because of the ‘seriousness’ of the accident, I was strapped to a back board and had a neck collar put on me. Unfortunately, we didn’t think things through, so they had to cut my jacket off to put a blood pressure cuff on my arm. I was sad about that, as it’d been my all-time favorite jacket up to that point.

It was a Selkirk College Kinesiology Program jacket that I’d help organize and order. There was a ridiculous mess up with the jackets, a story for another day, but I loved how the jacket fit, felt, and looked and now it was gone.

Before the ambulance started to drive, I asked if they could call my mom and let her know. I didn’t remember the number to the coffee shop Amanda was working at, so I knew my mom would let her know. They said sure, arranged for that to happen by radioing back to the station and then the ambulance drove me to the Castlegar hospital.

Once there, I was examined thoroughly, nothing of note discovered, but wasn’t allowed to leave until someone could pick me up. Not long after, my mom and Amanda arrived, both looking devastated. Turns out, my mom had been called, and the person had simply said that I had been in a serious car accident and was being rushed to the Castlegar hospital via ambulance and for her to get there ASAP. So, for the entirety of their almost two-hour drive to Castlegar, Amanda and my mom assumed I was on death’s doorstep.

I found it hilarious.

They did not.

Overall, I recovered well. We drove back to Nakusp, and I spent the night at Amanda’s, waking up the next day in ridiculous agony as every muscle in my body was locked tight.

A few days after went back to Nelson, to meet with a police officer to give an official statement. They estimated that the car rolled five to seven times, based on where I left the road and where I ended up. From there, we went to the junk yard where the car had been towed. I made sure to grab my CD binder out (we all had one back then), the random crap I had in the car – backpack with school binders and books, etc., and then quickly removed the CD player – face and deck – from the dash as that bad boy was coming with me.

I had been given a police file and ICBC (Insurance Corporation of British Columbia – the one and only place in BC that you register your car through and get insurance from) and contacted the school, getting a re-write date for the exam due to the circumstances.

Two last things before wrapping this up and moving on.

The first was that, from this accident, ICBC gave me a check for $5000 for the value of the Sunbird to go towards a new(er) vehicle. My dad and I went to Kelowna on a weekend to look for cars. After going to four or five places, I saw the one I wanted. A 1991 Volkswagen Jetta. White, with some sleek body trim that most of them didn’t have. On top of that, it had a subwoofer installed in the trunk, so that when you dropped the middle panel of the back seat, you could see the cage covering it and the system PUMPED. That was a big selling point for me, loud music. Only problem – it was a standard and I didn’t know how to drive a standard.

(The version I purchased didn’t have as nice of rims as this, but it did have a mini black spoiler-thing on the trunk, which this one is lacking.)

“No, problem,” my dad casually said, “you’ll learn quick.”

My dad took it for a test drive, did a cursory examination of the engine and the underbody and a deal was struck. Then, my dad hopped in our minivan and took off back to Burton, a three-hour drive away.

With all the confidence I could muster, I gave a wave to the car salesman, got in, started the car, slowly let the clutch out while giving it some gas and whhhhaaa-thunk. Stalled. Started the car, slowly let the clutch out, gave it some gas and WHAAAAAAATTTTT got it going. I pulled onto Harvey Ave, aka the busiest road in all of Kelowna, managed to keep it running until I was near Orchard Park Mall, when the light ahead turned red and whhhhaaaa-thunk, stalled. I was panicking by this point. If you’ve never been to Kelowna, the main strip there is notorious for the start-stop traffic. If you hit one red light, you’ll hit them all and people will often complain of it taking them forty-five minutes to drive from one end of the road to the other, which is only about five kilometers wide.

I stalled the car two more times, before I threw on my hazard lights and the guy behind me exited his car and came to the driver’s side door. Thankfully, it wasn’t to shout and rage, but to ask if I needed help. I did, I said. He helped me guide the car into the parking lot of Orchard Park Mall, where I thanked him profusely, and then proceeded to go find a pay phone, call my mom, and let her know that I was parked at the mall and had no way of driving the car home.

I’m honestly not sure why my dad didn’t drive the car home, while I drove the minivan? It would’ve made WAY more sense, but sometimes that’s the way things go, yeah?

My mom called the Fauquier ferry – love how small the place is that she called the ferry – and when my dad arrived, roughly two-and-a-half-hours-later, they let him know that he needed to turn around and drive back to Kelowna to save his dumbass son who couldn’t drive his new car.

Meanwhile, I went into the mall, grabbed a bite to eat at the food court, bought a new CD from HMV and a couple music magazines and proceeded to lounge in my new – but undrivable – car, until he arrived.

Once back in Burton, it would take me the entirety of the following day to really get comfortable with driving a standard and for many years after, I made sure all my cars that I had were stick shifts as I loved driving them so much.

And, as you’ll come to find out, this car, the white Jetta, would later be dubbed Steamin’ Sally by a friend.

Lastly, ICBC contacted me about the accident and said that because I’d been taken by ambulance to the hospital, and the accident had been deemed 100% at fault to the lady who pulled out in front of me, ICBC would be paying for the ambulance, and they wanted to settle my case with them. I had no idea what that meant, so the kind lady (who clearly understood she was dealing with a novice and totally gullible young person) said that she had a check for $2000 for me, if I’d sign the forms closing my case and confirming that ICBC wouldn’t be liable to pay for any future medical treatments that I may need because of the accident.

$2000! Sign me up!

Amanda and I drove straight to the ICBC centre in Nelson, signed the forms, deposited the cheque and once it cleared, I probably spent at least a quarter of that money on CD’s alone!

Ah, the innocence of youth. And having zero idea on financial issues.

*

Hope you enjoyed this omitted chapter!

If you read this and liked it but haven’t grabbed a copy of my memoir yet;

Universal link: mybook.to/thecolorofmelancholy

Amazon US link:

Amazon CAN link:

Amazon UK link:

Title: Midnight Masquerade

Author: Greg Chapman

Release date: October 31st, 2023

Full disclosure here – I not only consider Greg to be a great friend, but he’s also done three book covers for me (Churn the Soil, An Endless Darkness and the upcoming When I Look at the Sky, All I See Are Stars). Saying that, Greg’s a professional and he knows my thoughts will be my thoughts on his work. Saying ALL OF THAT – I should also state, Greg is one of my favorite writers. His work shimmers and seethes with creepiness and emotion. I think, of all of his work, the one that isn’t my personal favorite was his his debut novel – which was a great time – and it was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Debut Novel! So, it’s safe to say, I was excited when Greg asked if I’d like to take his next collection, ‘Midnight Masquerade’ for a spin.

What I liked: Featuring nine entries of varying lengths – from short story up to novella – Greg showcases his ability to create masterfully crafted, tension-filled pieces that focus around some truly memorable characters.

I’ve already read a few of these, so I’ll be brief on those, as you can find my longer thoughts in my other reviews, but ‘Vaudeville,’ ‘The Last Night of October’ ‘Left on October Lane’ and ‘Octoberville,’ are just phenomenal stories in their own rights and are worth the price of admission alone.

The new entries are all excellent. ‘The History of Halloween,’ follows a Halloween historian – coincidentally born on Halloween – who finds out that there is some truth to what some people thought might happen to those born on that day. ‘Midnight Masquerade,’ was so well done. This one follows a young woman, Emma, who attends a group meeting for victims. Once there, someone gives her an alternative to the meeting and she takes it. Normally, I wouldn’t pegged this one as my favorite of the new ones, but there was one more that topped it. First though, let’s talk ‘Thirty Years Later.’ While it does tread familiar ground – thirty years later, four former friends are ‘reunited’ over what happened back in high school, stories like these will always have me intrigued and Greg does a great job of keeping the reader on the edge of their seat.

The highlight within this collection for me was ‘Happy Daze.’ With shades of Michael Douglas’ 1993 film ‘Falling Down,’ we meet Harvey the Clown, a man who has dedicated his life to making sick kids smile. When he learns his wife is embarrassed by him and his clown group hates him, things unravel quickly. This was filled to the brim with emotion and showcases Greg’s trademarks perfectly.

What I didn’t like:  Having had read a number of these before, my biggest concern for this collection is that those who’ve already snagged the other releases previously may not grab this one, in which case they’ll be missing out on how phenomenal the new stories are. I get it, I really do, I’ve done it as well, but for someone who wants more people to read and love Greg’s work, I worry that this may be a limiting factor for some.

Why you should buy this: If you’ve not read any of Greg’s work before, this is the perfect place to start and even better – this one will be launched on Halloween, so will definitely be a timely release for those loving the Halloween season. Greg’s such a talented writer and I hope this one rockets out of the gate and finds so many more readers to discover and love his work as much as I do.

5/5

Title: Ashtrays and Kittens

Author: P.A. Sheppard

Release date: May 31st, 2023

Thanks again to P.A. Sheppard for sending me some of his books to check out. After reading the fun ‘The Nightcrawler,’ his latest, ‘Ashtrays and Kittens’ was up. I had zero idea going in what it was even about, but Sheppard had said that it was one of his personal favorites, so that had me intrigued, knowing this one excited the author as much as it did.

What I liked: The story follows a former Army member who is now an investigative journalist. He’s been tasked with interviewing a notorious serial killer, a guy who believed strange objects were in each of his victims and he’d have to kill them and cut them out.

From there, Sheppard takes us on a crazy Urban Fantasy tale that rips back and forth between the history of the events that led us to this moment, as well as the current battle raging that brings about the potential demise of the human race.

We get plenty of great world building and historical context, which gave us the ‘why’ about is happening and as some betrayal’s stack up and the reader no longer can trust who we think we can trust, it heightens the tension.

The ending was great. A very cinematic finale that ‘wraps’ things up but with a cheeky grin suggesting more is to come.

What I didn’t like: Urban Fantasy can be hit or miss for me. It sometimes can come off as very silly. That wasn’t the case here, but what it did create for me was some odd moments when people were no longer called by their names and were sudden Bear or Cat etc and I had to try and recall who was who.

As well, for our MC being a former Army Ranger, he seemed very timid and meek and not someone who had experienced the front line of war or the rigors with getting to that rank.

Why you should buy this: Fans of fast-paced, mildly bonkers Urban Fantasy should be all over this. It starts out with a very intriguing opening and explodes from there. Definitely a fun read and one that goes in a number of very exciting directions.

4/5

Title: Death Freaks on Hell’s Highway

Author: Carl John Lee

Release date: July 22nd, 2023 on Godless, August 18th, 2023 on Amazon

UNCLE CARL is back!

Carl John Lee is an enigma. A time traveler. Living his life off the internet grid, off the social media highway, just existing enough to share that a new book is out and kindly replying when someone tags him in a review.

I’ve been fortunate to have developed a bit of a relationship with Carl since his debut ‘The Blood Beast Mutations’ was released and I’ve been lucky enough to have him to a cover for one of my novels (Incarnate).

But that doesn’t mean Carl doesn’t have any tricks up his perverted sleeve.

No, he surprised everyone by stealth releasing this, his newest piece of filth, just last Saturday, the 22nd of July. We’d had a few emails back and forth, with him asking me my thoughts on the Godless website, he was curious, and I swore up and down that it was the perfect home for Uncle Carl’s brand of voyeuristic debauchery. When I got an email from him saying – ‘hey, here’s my newest, it’s on Godless today,’ I was over the moon and once I was back home from our mini-vacation dove right in.

What I liked: ‘Death Freaks on Hell’s Highway’ is everything you would expect from a Carl release and more. We have horny men, horny women, dicks, pussy, tits, death, gore, sodomy, rape, cemetery filth, forced voyeurism, blood drinking, and slit throats. And that’s all in the first section of the book at the hotel.

We follow Roy and his wife Michelle, as Roy escorts her to a wellness retreat. Roy has severe PTSD from Vietnam. Michelle has some sort of complex mental condition where she blacks out, kills things and doesn’t remember it. After they pick up a hitchhiker, things go balls out as Michelle turns on her husband and joins forces with the hitchhiker, a man named Carter, who lives to kill and fuck. And kill. Leaving Roy for dead, they continue on to the aforementioned hotel, where blood is painted on every wall and semen almost follows after. Almost. But I won’t spoil the ‘why,’ and I don’t want to get ahead of myself. There’s a funny pun there, but you’ll have to read the book to understand it!

As the story goes on, we get a new female character with a mysterious backstory, who Roy uses to steal her car and continue on his way, trying to track down Carter and Michelle.

Look, the closet I can get to describing this is as though Rob Zombie released an NC17 version of The Devil’s Rejects, but before anyone was allowed to watch it, they had to do a bag of coke, wrap an elastic around their cock or have a vibrator shoved up their vagina turned on to full blast and then sit back and enjoy it.

It’s a lot to take in and a fucking great time while you’re entrenched in that world.

The ending is a two-parter, Roy’s storyline finishes as does the secondary female character. I’ll talk about that in a second, but with Roy’s part coming to an end, it was as fitting way for it to conclude and made for a gruesome adios.

What I didn’t like: Well, for other readers, this hits every single trigger warning well out of the park, so reader – enter at your own risk. Carl just may get himself cancelled with this one.

As for me – I had no care in the secondary character. She came, was there, and then her story returned at the end and was closed off. I don’t think she was necessary and other than adding in some grotesque kills, the story would’ve been just fine without her.

Why you should buy this: Carl John Lee writes the books that were the movies we all snuck back out to the living rooms after our parents went to sleep, to watch. They are the soundtrack to us kids born in the early eighties who loved Easy Rider just as much as Friday the 13th. We get fun characters, tons of T & A (and C for the ladies), and we get a story that is such a fun distraction from everything else, you just can’t help but smile.

I’m a huge fan of Carl John Lee and I’m hoping that with this one being his first entry into the Godless world, more extreme horror fans will find his work and discover a refreshing writer from a bygone period.

5/5

Available here on Godless as an ebook now;

https://godless.com/products/death-freaks-on-hells-highway-by-carl-john-lee

Amazon Kindle Preorder and Future Paperback link here;

Title: We Spread

Author: Iain Reid

Release date: September 27th, 2022

After the one-two punch of ‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things’ and ‘FOE’ I was very, very curious of what Reid would offer up for the trifecta of creepiness. I personally enjoyed ‘FOE’ more than ‘ITOET’ but I imagine each reader will have a different favorite based on the order of having read those.

See that banner up there? I made it!

Canva is cool for simple stuff like this. But also, those are my most three recent ‘real’ releases. I say that with no disrespect meant to ‘An Endless Darkness: The Novellas,’ but that was all reprints of one type or another.

Hello, my name is Steve Stred and you might wonder just what in the Hell is going on.

In what way do you mean?

Throw out a category and something WTF is going on.

But, if you mean this post – well – there’s a reason for that.

See, I’ve had this website for years, and for a while, I used it mainly as a blog, in that I post my book reviews here, the 3Q’s series, etc and my new releases. And for a while, I did a what’s up, where weekly and then monthly, I wrote a true and true ‘newsletter.’ I don’t have a real newsletter, nothing like the – sign up and get a free book – type dealy.

No, I have this.

And I often have books on super discount or free, so I’ve just never made an effort to do a ‘newsletter.’ But, the times they are a changin’.

So, every few months, I’ll do a wrap up and fill you in on what you might’ve missed over the previous few months. I’m active on almost every social media site there is, but not everyone is, so this makes sure those who only follow me here don’t miss any of the good stuff.

Buckle up, this one’s a bit longer!

With us almost at the end of July, I figure let’s jump back to the start of the month and go from there.

We started the summer off with a bang – heading out to Jurassic Forest for Canada Day! Jurassic Forest is only about a 40 minute drive for us, just north of Gibbons, and we get an annual membership as we often go a half dozen times over the summer.

This trip started with excitement for Auryn, as when we arrived, they had a Jurassic Park replica Jeep, complete with a crazy raptor!

After seeing that, we went and did mini-golf there for the first time!

We had a blast and then made our way around the trails. Just as we were nearing the end of the second trail, the sky opened up and rain, thunder and lightning began. Luckily, our trip was at its end, so we didn’t miss out on anything, unlike those who had just arrived. The lightning strikes were so close that the trails had to be evacuated!

Our next adventure was heading out to Chickakoo Lake a week later. It is also about a 40 min drive for us, heading north west. We love visiting the area and hiking around the paths. Sadly, this day wasn’t to be enjoyable, as our bug spray was empty! I even thought it was low but didn’t think to grab the other can. We were swarmed for the duration of our 5km hike, but as always, the mosquitos seem to like me more than Amanda or Auryn!

Like most of Canada, our summer has been dictated by the horrendous wildfires and poor air quality. For us, it actually started back in May, even before I ventured to Toronto for the Andrew Pyper/Demonologist celebration. Here’s a photo I took a few weeks back that kind of sums up our everyday.

This was taken from the parking lot of Kingsway Mall, here in Edmonton, looking back at downtown. This was taken around noon on a Saturday, but for the most part, this could’ve been taken at anytime during any day of the week. It has put a bit of a damper on some of our outdoor time, as the smoke somedays is too thick to be out in, but we have still been managing to get out and about.

Just this past weekend, I turned 42 years old. On Friday, July 21st to be exact!

On that day, two things happened. The first was that I had a book come out. The second was that we decided to take a trip up to Grande Prairie, Alberta to visit the Philip J. Currie dinosaur Museum. If you’ve followed along with me on social media, you’ll know that Auryn is dino-obsessed. So much so, that Drumheller has become an annual visit spot for us – and we’ll be going there in August again.

But, we’d never been to the museum just west of Grande Prairie, and decided it would make for a fun trip. Auryn was excited for a few reason. 1 – we were going to stay in a hotel. 2 – the hotel had a pool. 3 – we would be going to a dinosaur museum AND then go bowling later on.

(The Grizzly Bear in the conservation room at Philip J. Currie)

(Auryn being attacked by fossils!)

The museum was solid. Maybe a quarter of the size of Drumheller’s Royal Tyrell, it’s one that we’re glad to have gone and visited, but not one we’d specifically make the trip to see again. If we are passing through, then we definitely will stop, otherwise, it wasn’t what we expected especially as a destination place.

That evening, Auryn and I went bowling and arcading while Amanda got some well deserved down time.

For bowling, Auryn and I met up with my friend, Brett Plaxton. Brett and I connected some time back on social media, and have stayed in touch ever since. This was our first time meeting in person and it was great! We bowled, arcaded and then ate pizza on a giant rock in the parking lot, much to Auryn’s hilarity.

Say what you will about the negative aspects of social media (and I’ll write about social media further on) but so far, every person I’ve connected with and met in real life has been just wonderful. Whether it was J.H. Moncrieff in Winnipeg, the dozens of folks in Toronto, or meeting Brett in GP, it has been fantastic having this tangible connection after developing a digital relationship.

Now, before I move on, I do need to circle around to one of the reasons Auryn was excited for the hotel – the pool.

We checked in at about 3pm on Friday. Auryn immediately wanted to go to the pool. So, him and I went and spent about 90 mins there, before going to dinner. Saturday morning, we got another 90 mins or so in between breakfast and needing to leave for the museum. When we returned from the museum, we hit the pool again for almost 3 hrs. AND – not done yet – Sunday morning, before check out, we got almost another hour in. That’s right. We were in the pool for around seven hours!! Holy moly, was Auryn excited to spend time in the pool!

After we checked out, we then drove from Grand Prairie to Wandering River, where we spent the night with Amanda’s mom at their seasonal camping lot.

Now, I’m back in Edmonton for the week, while Auryn and Amanda are in Fort Mac for the week.

At the end of August, we’ll be heading to Calgary for Auryn’s 7th birthday, which is crazy. We’ll be doing the usual fun stuff, so I can’t wait!

Now, jumping back up – the other thing I did on Friday, July 21st, was release my first non-fiction piece – my memoir – ‘The Color of Melancholy.’ This is a very personal project. It is an examination of my life, my struggles with depression, my goal/attempt (and failure) to reach the Olympics and how I found Andrew Pyper’s novels and developed a friendship with Andrew. Andrew kindly provided a phenomenal and moving foreword and for those who like collecting books, the ebook and paperback feature a stunning cover by Christy Aldridge and the hardcover has a gorgeous cover from Don Noble!

To my utter surprise – the memoir has been very well received! My first best seller banners on Amazon US and CAN, hitting number one on both sites in a number of categories AND getting the new release banners as well! INSANE!

If you still haven’t snagged a copy – no worries – but here is the universal link to make it easier for you ha!

mybook.to/thecolorofmelancholy

As well, I just wanted to showcase how wonderful my readers have been.

let’s start with Mastodon. I would say Mastodon is the novel I’m now known for, was released in January of 2022. It seems like just yesterday! But nope, 18 months have come and gone and now, the book is starting to hit some huge milestones. Namely, it has passed 500 ratings on Amazon US and is approaching 500 ratings on Amazon CAN! It is also closing in on 800 ratings over on GR! Not bad for a book about the forests of the Rocky Mountains and an author who spends exactly ZERO dollars on marketing haha!

Mastodon is also nominated for a Splatterpunk Award for best novel and in August we’ll find out if it takes home the hardware or not!

And let’s not forget about my February 2023 novel, Churn the Soil. It has been finding new readers as well and it’s been amazing seeing the response to this one! Nearing 250 ratings on Amazon CAN and passing 250 ratings on Amazon US already has been very unexpected and just so amazing!

As well, I recently had Don Noble redo the cover/wrap for my novella, The Girl Who Hid in the Trees.

I was finding more and more covers far too similar to the original and decided to go with a very vibrant and different direction!

You can snag a copy here;

mybook.to/girltrees

Lastly, I want to touch on Social Media.

Now, nobody cares about my thoughts on this, but here we are!

Twitter is now apparently X. Threads has started – emerged – faded – returned. Facebook keeps kicking. IG is there but wants to be Tik Tok. Tik Tok is tough and hard to gain traction if you don’t show your nipples or your vagina. It’s also very time consuming. Well, they all are to be fair. Blue Sky wants to be Twitter (X?) but isn’t gaining the traction it needs as you need an invite code.

I made a joking post recently where I posted and then copy and pasted and screenshot over and over. The reality of the author’s life these days. Make one post. Copy and paste a million times.

Which is what brings me here. To this point.

I’m going to continue using Twitter (X?) as well as IG and FB as my primary social media pages until otherwise. I will be pasting stuff on the other sites but won’t be as active there, as I simply don’t have the time. I’m most likely going to shutter Hive. I don’t know if anyone actually goes there anymore.

Anyways, all of this is to say – if you are getting rid of your accounts – follow me here!

And, I will note – WordPress is still only randomly showing me when a comment comes through. I will try to reply to them, but it has been hard finding them!

Anywho. Let’s end it there.

If you want to see what other books I got out there check the Universal Link;

author.to/stevestred

Take care and enjoy the summer. I’ll be back with a new ‘newsletter’ in September!

Title: The Killing Circle

Author: Andrew Pyper

Release date: September 16th, 2008

‘A father and son used to live here.’

I first read this in April of 2020.

It was the last of Andrew’s books I hadn’t read and I held off on it because I was worried I might not like it, the synopsis teasing that this release was more in-line to be a crime-thriller than a supernatural read. Having read it twice now, the book IS more crime-thriller than anything else, a psychological-horror novel that races around the streets of Toronto and ultimately ending up in rural Ontario, but no matter the ‘genre’ labelling, you’d be hard pressed to find a creepier novel out there.

Also, the first time I read this one, I raced through it, completely captivated and desperately wanting to know what happened. The ending was a gut punch, so I decided to wait until doing a re-read of this one, until I felt the timing was right.

For this re-read, I took my time, savoring it, as though now I’m enjoying a glass of wine after having slammed the beer.

It also should be noted – for those two or three people in the world – that I’ve spent the last half dozen years pushing people (almost daily) to read Andrew’s work. I’ve essentially forced myself into the periphery of Andrew’s work, and (almost daily) get a DM/message from someone asking what book should they start with for reading his work or asking my thoughts on one of his books or his characters. I am no expert – and I’d even suggest others out there most likely know his work inside and out better than I – but I also don’t shy away from the fact that Andrew’s work has been paramount to my life – both as a reader and a writer (Hell, I just released a non-fiction book about just that!) and I’d like to think I do a decent job of getting others to discover his wonderful style of crafting a story.

And lastly, before I dive into the ‘review’ portion, I just want to note that 2008 is the fifteenth anniversary year of this novel being released. In May of this year, we celebrated the tenth anniversary of Andrew’s novel ‘The Demonologist’ releasing, and while it was that novel we focused on, ‘The Killing Circle’ is just as deserving as receiving celebration!

What I liked: At it’s basic level, ‘The Killing Circle’ can be described as a novel about a widower – TV critic Patrick Rush – who navigates life while raising his young son, Sam. Until one day, Patrick decides he finally wants to write the novel he’s always dreamed of writing and joins a writing group.

But, this is an Andrew Pyper novel, which means nothing is what it seems. And while this came out in 2008, you can lay comparisons of this novel with ‘Lost Girls,’ ‘The Homecoming,’ ‘The Only Child,’ and even ‘The Demonologist.’ The search for the truth. The realization that the truth was closer throughout the entire novel. And that sometimes a journey is needed to return everything as close to ‘normal’ as it can be.

As Rush continues to visit the writing circle, Pyper does a few neat things.

The first is the meta aspect.

Throughout, Andrew infuses this in the ‘real.’ Real places. Real world -isms. Characters based on real people (I can only assume Conrad is someone Andrew’s had dealings with in the past. Possibly Angela as well). And even the book itself. At first we follow how Rush becomes an instant-bestseller with ‘The Sandman,’ the story he stole from another writing circle member. But ‘The Killing Circle’ becomes a thing-within-the-thing as we learn (full-circle moment) the truth, the horrifying ‘why’ and the ‘what-next.’

Andrew even takes a swipe at Canada’s beloved Booker Awards, with Rush attending a pretend version of the event and eviscerating the usual attendees and even more common winners and celebratory authors. It can be seen as bitter, sure, especially considering an author of Andrew’s pedigree and bibliography having not been even nominated, or it can be seen as another sarcastic take on this ‘Toronto,’ Andrew’s ‘Toronto’ that is just like the real one, but shaded grey with the artistic license. It lends itself even more to the meta-ness of the entire novel.

Oddly enough, while this was written probably sixteen years ago – to be released fifteen years back – much of what Andrew describes about the city felt as though it was an observation from today. A city scorched by heat, humid as fuck, and how the buildings get taller, the rent gets higher and the mix of people coming and going makes for a reduction of knowing your neighbor.

In May, when I went to Toronto for the first time, my entire weekend. I was walking the streets of ‘The Killing Circle’ with the author who wrote ‘The Killing Circle,’ while surrounded by the buildings that keep getting taller and the rents getting higher.

The second aspect that Andrew does so well with this is the layers.

Patrick is a suspect. Patrick is a victim. Patrick is having to constantly look over his shoulder while also looking forward in fear of the Sandman. The members of the writing circle dip and dash within the story itself, ebbing and flowing to create a constant mix of chaos and anxiety. The story itself practically drips anxiousness from each page. We remain perplexed until the very, bitter end.

The third aspect that Andrew throws at us is the emotional aspect.

His son, Sam, loves him more than anything. As does Patrick to him. So, when the book opens with Sam being taken and Patrick desperately searching for him, Pyper throws us to the emotional wolves from the get go. From there, we get the news of Patrick’s wife, Tamara, dying young, of how his employment status changes and how, even up until Sam is taken, Patrick struggles with how to keep Sam safe, as new developments unfold.

Lastly, Andrew has a penchant for ‘non-typical’ endings. What I mean is – he’s a big five published author – an award-winning, and internationally lauded writer, yet not a single one of his novels end like you’d expect an author being published through these houses should end. We don’t get happy endings. We don’t get ‘everything-tied-up-in-a-neat-bow.’ When I read this the first time, I bawled my eyes out when it ended. Same thing here. Patrick’s story, ‘The Killing Circle’ novel, and the exploration of grief that Pyper infuses throughout this, come to an end and it left me devastated once again.

What I didn’t like: I think the only thing of note this time around, was that parts of the story may feel a bit dated – much like with ‘Lost Girls’ – in that it predates our current availability of technology. Patrick has to hoof it back and forth around the city to see if people are home, not able to fire off a text or DM. Patrick has to utilize the stacks to find clues about a characters real identity. It’s minor aspects, but is something that I pulls the story from the hear and now and firmly stamps a date on it.

Why you should buy this: The problem with having a favorite author who has released so many AMAZING novels, is that it becomes difficult to pick a favorite. When I first read this one, I declared it my favorite of his work. Now, having re-read it, I think it still remains there, but depending on the day (and the DM), other works from Andrew raise their hands up high to be chosen. ‘The Homecoming’ with its PNW fuckery. ‘The Only Child’ with its world-wide galivanting. ‘Lost Girls’ with its lady of the lake. ‘The Demonologist’ with its race against time and a demon. And ‘The Guardians’ with its small-town-coming-of-age-ghost-story brilliance.

It’s also odd to think ‘The Guardians’ came after ‘The Killing Circle.’ I was dumb-struck when I came across this passage in ‘The Killing Circle’ on my re-read.

‘People used to live in every empty house you’ve ever stood in, and this makes them no less empty.’

An inter-connection between these two novels, separated by three years of publication date. It reinforces my long held belief that all of Andrew’s works are thematically connected, that grief and journey are always at the forefront, always paramount to the ‘why’ of the characters we are introduced to and follow.

As for ‘The Killing Circle’ itself, if you’ve not read any of Andrew’s work and you’re looking for a not-so-horror-y-but-still-edge-of-the-seat-y read, look no further. This one races along, has plenty of twists and turns and ultimately leaves you gasping for air. A novel of the highest order.

5/5

Title: Kings of the Wyld (The Band #1)

Author: Nicholas Eames

Release date: February 21, 2017

It’s funny, as someone who tries their best to read and support as many Canadian authors as I can, I had no idea Nicholas Eames was Canadian before reading this book. Additionally, over the last few years, I’ve connected – as an extension through Andrew Pyper – with Guy Gavriel Kay. Recently, Kay has popped up everywhere for me, and now that I’m done this, and having read the acknowledgements, it was profound that Eames had been inspired to write this novel (and series) through Kay’s writing and that Kay is a Canadian, much in the same way I was inspired to pursue my passion of writing horror when I discovered Pyper’s ‘The Demonologist’ and found out Andrew was also Canadian.

The wheel always turns.

With this one, I was excited, as I love popping into the fantasy genre from time to time, and as I await the third novel of Gwynne’s The Bloodsworn Saga, I felt it was a perfect time to read book one in Eames The Band series.

What I liked: The beauty of this novel is its heart.

From page one, we meet Clay ‘Slowhand’ Cooper, retired mercenary and former member of The Kings of the Wyld, a band of warriors who became legends with their exploits. Long retired, he is now enjoying a life of ease, married with a young daughter. All is well, until his friend, Gabriel – also a former member of his band – shows up and begs him to come along, to get the band together, and to travel across the world to save Gabriel’s daughter.

This launches us into a phenomenal quest where Clay and Gabe make their way from Clay’s home, across the lands, recruiting their old bandmates and eventually crossing the Heartwyld, the most notorious forest in all the lands. Along the way, Eames sprinkles in some fantastic banter, humour, heart and lots of really well done action sequences. We get amazing creatures, bloody battles and a daeva that has been hired to find the group and return one of them to collect the bounty on his head.

Eames has created some wonderful characters with this group, no matter how gruff and angry some of them are and when we hear some of the details sprinkled here and there of their former exploits, it really elevated their various traits and reasons for doing things the way they did.

The ending was fantastic. A massive battle worthy of a Peter Jackson adaptation, we had the heroes race into battle against an endless horde of creatures and crooks and at the end, we get a one-two punch of emotions that made the journey all the more powerful.

What I didn’t like: Honestly, I wish this book was expanded and broken into three releases. Book one would be the band getting back together and would end when they battle at the Maxion (or however it was spelled!) before they continue on. Book two would be an expanded version of their journey across the Heartwyld. So much happened and a lot of it was summarized to move the story along that I found I was a bit annoyed that what could’ve been 100 pages of action was whittled down to two paragraphs. And last, the third book, would be the battle at Castia and Gabe and Clay’s journey’s resolving.

Saying all of that – and minor spoiler here – Even though this book was phenomenal and worked in the 450 pages or so that it was, there wasn’t a big heartbreaking moment anywhere in here. You kind of expect one of the group to have their head lopped off or for them to be devoured by a troll or dragon, but sadly, no big loss takes place.

Why you should buy this: One obvious bonus of this not being three books, is that it is the rare epic-fantasy novel that is wholly contained as a single release and readers who get put off by the potential of a series never being concluded don’t need to worry with this. Saying that, there is a second book out, following Gabe’s daughter, and I’m looking forward to diving into that some time in the future.

Overall, this one was a book I absolutely adored. The characters, the setting, the journey and the danger all worked to create a novel that’ll stay with me for many moons. Well done, Eames. Onto the next.

5/5

Title: Bee Tornado

Author: Chris Sorenson

Release date: July 31st, 2023

For those who fell in love with Sorenson’s horror debut ‘The Nightmare Room,’ book one in his Messy Man series, it felt like an excruciatingly long wait between book two and book three. I mean, not Rothfuss or RR Martin long of a wait for the next in the series, but it was still a solid break and once released, we all devoured it.

And then the next wait began. The wait for Chris’ next book. And when we finally got word on it arriving, earlier this year, we all collectively held our breath. Chris then deployed a fantastic marketing plan for his novel ‘Suckerville,’ which I had the honor of beta-reading. And he knocked it out of the park. But – and this was met with a collective gasp – within days of ‘Suckerville’ dropping – Chris hinted at another book on the horizon. ‘Bee Tornado.’ I shit you not. And, once again, to my sheer amazement and surprise, Chris reached out to ask if I’d like to give it an early read. ABSO-FUCKING-LUTELY.

I’m having a hard time remembering the last time we had two back-to-back creature-feature bangers like what Chris has done with ‘Suckerville’ and ‘Bee Tornado.’ It would be akin to going to a drive-in theatre and watching ‘Tremors’ and ‘Lake Placid’ on a double bill. Two different-but-same movies, both filled with heart, some humor and ultimately some of the best survive-at-all-costs-against-the-insane-things-trying-to-kill-us moments.

What I liked: ‘Bee Tornado’ follows Derek. He’s struggling to carry on, after his wife was killed in a horrible accident involving a tornado, leaving him and his early-teenaged daughter to continue. He’s drifting through life, his and his wife’s ‘odditorium’ store shuttered and the bills piling up.

But what he doesn’t know is that someone trying to make a quick buck has disturbed something that had been hibernating in the hills for centuries, and now they’re loose and looking for their nectar.

From that point on, it’s completely a battle between massive bees and those trying their all to stop them. We get some amazing secondary characters, fantastic action sequences and some truly over-the-top deaths which will make anyone who’s ever been stung second guess staying put the next time a bee comes near them.

The ending to this was spot on and really topped the emotional cake with a really nice topper. The father-daughter relationship that we watched weave between poor and poorer throughout came back around and it made for a wonderful way to see this one finish.

What I didn’t like: There are some secondary characters who you immediately know are simply there to be stung and killed off – its expected – but a few of them seem to be a bit more heavily invested in, only for their storyline to mean almost nothing. It happens, but for a few of them it made for an odd moment when you realize some of what you’ve followed won’t be tied up in a neat little bow!

Why you should buy this: I mean, if you loved ‘Suckerville,’ this is a no-brainer. But if you haven’t read that and are looking for a fun, over-the-top, action-packed thrill-ride, look no further. Sorenson is in his wheelhouse here and has created a totally awesome, cinematic horror novel.

Loved it.

5/5