Creeped Out and Just a Little Bit Hollow

 

The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

After I finished this one, I wanted more. That is usually a very good sign. I enjoyed the story. It has a very strange, weird horror vibe. The Glory to God Museum of Natural Wonders, Curiosities, and Taxidermy is such an apt name for the museum where all this kinda-sorta takes place. I remember a similar kind of “museum” in Florida on the way to Panama City Beach that had a human fetus in a pickle jar. I wish now that I had paid to enter that place, but I digress. The main characters are quirky and odd in their own way, and for most of the book fit in perfectly with the oddities in this book but came off too cartoonish in some places. I have read elsewhere that Algernon Blackwood’s The Willows inspired this book. I cannot comment on any similarities as I have yet to read the latter. What I can tell you is that I will NEVER look at a willow the same way again. This other world is the stuff of nightmares. T. Kingfisher wrote a magical, twisted tale that wormed its way into my brain and took root. I know that what it left behind will stay with me and grow for a long time to come. I wish Goodreads had a sliding scale for their ratings as I wanted to, but I couldn’t quite bring myself to giving this s 4-star rating. Much of it is deserving of that and more, but some things the main characters did or didn’t do that broke the spell. And I wanted more of that Willow World.

View all my reviews

Most Anticipated Reads of 2021

I had Cynthia Pelayo’s CHILDREN OF CHICAGO as one of my most eagerly anticipated books. Lucky me, I got my hands on an ARC from NetGalley and Polis Books. I wrote a non-spoiler review last month. It is no longer on my TBR pile, but it should be on yours. 

I have heard nothing but good things about C. J. Tudor. Sadly, I have yet to read anything that she has written. That will change this year with THE BURNING GIRLS—already out January 19, 2021. It is another non-horror on my list. This crime story is a psychological thriller and set in one of those closely-knit British villages where something isn’t quite right. Throw in some missing girls, a sketchy parish priest, and a centuries-old site of executions for religious martyrs, and I am certainly in. I have a feeling that I will be going back and pick up more of her books soon. 

What can be better than an exhilarating spy thriller written by an intelligence veteran? One that was written by Alma Katsu—a real spy writing real spy thrillers with real women. RED WIDOW is coming out on March 23. I’m also looking forward to reading THE DEEP and THE HUNGER.

After THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS, I’m not sure my heart can take MY HEART IS A CHAINSAW by Stephen Graham Jones (8/31/2021, Gallery/Saga Press). In this one, we are “trapped in a slasher film as tourists go missing.” I live in Florida, and while we do make a lot of our living off of tourists, a few going missing… See? He is already making me think dark thoughts. Jones loves slashers, so this should be quite a ripping thrill-ride of a read. And if you want a fun romp into some strange territory, pick up NIGHT OF THE MANNEQUINS. I also picked up a copy of MAPPING THE INTERIOR, so he should keep me pretty busy this year. And knowing him, he'll have another half dozen coming my way soon, too. 

RELENTLESS is the second in the new Joe Ledger series by Jonathan Maberry (St. Martin's Griffin). I plan on dropping everything for this one. I need answers. I need adrenaline-pumping, page-turning excitement. I need someone’s head on a spike. If you like thrillers, sci-fi, tech, horror, and crime on a scale way beyond my imagination, go to your favorite indy bookstore and start at the beginning—NOW. If I were you, I'd also give the Ledger series additional attention in the form of audiobooks. Ray Porter adds an incredible level of reality to the stories. An excellent place to get your book is from Mysterious Galaxy. It’s one of Maberry’s haunts, and if you order from there, you might even be able to get a personalized copy. The man is a writing machine, but don’t let that scare you off. All of his books are imaginative, creative, and superbly crafted. I am also very excited for his upcoming dark epic fantasy, KAGEN THE DAMNED. I am currently reading INK. You must read that one as well.

V. Castro has a couple coming out this year. I cannot wait to get my hands on THE QUEEN OF THE CICADAS (06/22/2021) from Flame Tree Press. An urban legend and the Aztec goddess of death is enough to hook me. And speaking of goddesses, she has the GODDESS OF FILTH coming out in March of this year. It is a novella about 5 Chicanas, possession, and power.

Just in time for your summer read is another twisted tale out of Texas from Joe R. Lansdale. MOON LAKE is a stand-alone novel that is sure to deliver on anyone’s love of murder, mayhem, and some freaky, off-kilter humor that might leave you feeling a little guilty for laughing. Out from Mulholland Books June 22, 2021. 

I have been looking forward to the new DUNE movie that keeps getting pushed back—another victim of COVID. I thought that I would reread the first trilogy. Instead, I believe Kerstin Hall’s STAR EATER (06/22/2021, Tor/Forge) will be out soon enough and should give me all the space opera and political intrigue that I got from Frank Herbert all those years ago.

A few other notable releases this year: 

DUST AND GRIM by Chuck Wendig is on my radar for an October read. And I’d like to pick up DEATH & HONEY from Subterranean Press but the one that I could afford is sold out. That one has two additional stories—one each from Kevin Hearne and Lilah Bowen (Delilah Dawson). I still NEED to get the rest of Dawson’s SHADOW series. WAKE OF VULTURES was a fast-paced, albeit weird, horror/western that had me hooked from the start. 

I also have the first three books of John Scalzi’s THE INTERDEPENDENCY waiting patiently for me in my TBR. 

THE FINAL GIRL SUPPORT GROUP by Grady Hendrix (7/13/2021) Hendryx seems to have a way with women. This should be a good one. I also have HORRORSTÖR in my TBR pile. Both will be making their way to the silver screen. 

CERTAIN DARK THINGS by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (9/2/2021, Tor Nightfire) I plan on giving her one more try. She had received rave reviews for MEXICAN GOTHIC, and while I found it entertaining enough, it did not blow me away. Hopefully, this one does. 

Some that I missed from last year that I will be squeezing in are:

RING SHOUT P. Dejeli Clark

THE WORM AND HIS KINGS by Hailey Piper

TOUCH THE NIGHT by Max Booth III

SURVIVOR SONG by Paul Tremblay

THE TOLL by Cherie Priest

HIGHWAY 181 by D.S. Ullery

BROKEN by Don Winslow

STRANGE WEATHER by Joe Hill has been gathering dust on my nightstand. And that is a horror in and of itself. That will be rectified. And FULL THROTTLE. I have too many by Daddy King on the TBR: THE OUTSIDER, ELEVATION, IF IT BLEEDS, and THE INSTITUTE. 

And then there are rumors. Victor LaValle has been working on a new one. LONE WOMEN has a pub date in 2021, but I haven’t seen an actual date—yet. He has it pinned on his Twitter feed (@victorlavalle,) so I remain hopeful. I. CAN. BE. PATIENT. as I loved, loved, loved THE CHANGELING (2017, Spiegel & Grau).  

And Gabino Iglesias supposedly has a new one coming soon. He has been stingy with the details, but you can be sure that you will hear about it once he does have news he can share. If you are not familiar with his latest work, COYOTE SONGS, I highly recommend that you head out today—right now—and get a copy. This one is sure to rip you open with a machete and haunt you for some time to come.

There are more, of course. There are always new writers coming on the scene as well as new-to-me writers. What and who do you recommend?

REVIEW: Children of Chicago

CHILDREN OF CHICAGO is a caffeine-fueled story that is a melting pot of crime, horror, and myth, like the city itself. It is ever-changing—always building upon itself, but has it really? Something about this case is different from the start but, for Homicide Detective Medina, something all too familiar is gnawing at her. She is a wounded animal suffering tragic loss, and while the scabs may have hardened, have they have left scar tissue, and the wounds are still there. And the children are dying. 

This is a well-crafted story drenched in history and lore. Don’t expect Hollywood- or even a New York-ending. This is Chicago, and it has its own history. Has Cynthia Pelayo created a new Slenderman? Time will tell, but if it is anything like the story she has crafted, I certainly hope not. This is the first of what I know will be many great reads from this author for me. Thank you to NetGalley and Polis Books for allowing me an early lead of this e-ARC. If it isn’t already on your TBR pile, it should be. And if it already is, you should move it to the top. It would make a great read to kick off the 12th annual Women in Horror Month. It is out in early February 2021.

My Favorite Reads of the Last Year

I started 2020 by finishing off Mallory O’Meara’s Lady from the Black Lagoon. I don’t often read non-fiction, but this one caught my attention. The book is part biography and part memoir. One shouldn’t expect a tell-all biography of Millicent Patrick. Part of this tale is the writer’s own journey. I have always held a particular fondness for the Creature. Perhaps, that is because they filmed part of the second film, Revenge of the Creature, in my hometown. A couple of my other favorite pieces of old Florida, Wakulla Springs, and Silver Springs were used as sets for the original. O’Meara tells the tale of one of Hollywood’s often over-looked legends, Milicent Patrick. She was the Creature’s actual designer, and like so many other stories from our lives, her work was claimed by a man as his own. This book sets the record straight and does Ms. Patrick some justice. It is an excellent read for anyone who loves classic horror films, Hollywood, and digging into the murky waters of someone’s past.

I finished off Don Winslow’s The Cartel Trilogy. I read The Power of the Dog (2005) the year before and thoroughly enjoyed it. While the follow-ups, The Cartel (2015) and The Border (2019), were written more than ten years later, they seamlessly fit together. The series has great characters, a lot of violence, and wonderful cinematic quality—fitting since the FX Network now has the trilogy in development. There is still time to read these before the series airs as there is no date for production. Fingers crossed on this one as Ridley Scott is also attached. I will certainly be reading more of Winslow’s work. I love short stories, so I think I’ll dig into Broken next. I wonder, though, if I should read Savages and The Kings of Cool first? Any recommendations?

Rounding out my favorite non-horror read of the year is Jonathan Maberry’s Rage. It is the first of the second Joe Ledger series, Rogue Team International, and what a thrill ride! This action/military thriller has it all—terror, terrorism, horror, guns, blood, science, tech, and so much more. And none of it feels forced. Maberry’s skillful storytelling makes it so you could jump in here without having read the first series. However, I’d still recommend starting at the beginning—way back at the first book, Patient Zero (2009) because I would not want to miss one minute of the adventures of anyone in Ledger’s breakneck life. I am still digging through the anthologies for the many short stories that Maberry has shared. If action/military thrillers aren’t your thing and horror is, I also FINALLY got around to reading Ghost Road Blues. This one was pure horror, with a nice dose of small-town quirkiness to give this the feeling of an old story told at a campfire’s edge in the middle of nowhere.

I read a lot of new-to-me writers this year. The Only Good Indians by Steven Graham Jones was probably my favorite read. That’s the book I would name if some vengeance-wracked elk-headed woman were after me. I read Mongrels first because it is all about werewolves, and I have this idea for a story. And I am currently reading Night of the Mannequins. What a twisted and very different story that one is. This guy is a prolific writer, like a few others I’m reading. I’m talking about you, Jonathan Maberry. It’s almost too much for a slow reader like me to digest.

The ‘Rona hit at the end of the first quarter. We started wearing masks and social distancing, so I thought it only fitting to do a little distancing myself with Toni Adeyemi’s Children of Blood and Bone. It was a magical fantasy that transported me away for a little while. The audiobook was magic. 

I made a conscious effort to read horror, and other books, by women this year. I could and will do better in 2021. I read The View From Flyover Country. Sarah Kendzior gives us a look at how we ended up in 2020 from a political and social standpoint. We still have so much to do for equality in this country. I’m always up for something from Zora Neal Hurston. She was one of this country’s greatest treasures, so when a new or new to me book by her is published, I’m all in. Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick is a newly packaged telling of eight of her short stories. Wickedly funny and socially poignant. I got a little scifi fix from Charlie Jane Anders’s The City in the Middle of the Night—imaginative, inventive, and great characters. And I finally did make it back around to Ursula K. LeGuin’s The Left Hand of Darkness. I know. I know. What took me so long? I enjoyed it and was glad I finally got to it, but I hate to admit that it didn’t transport me to another world. The other slap to the wrist that I so rightfully deserve is for reading Octavia E Butler’s Kindred. That one did move me—right back to the days of slavery. It left me a bit hollow and wanting more. I will be picking up more of her work. 

So, where are the tales of terror? Well, I did get my hands on two of Paul Tremblay’s masterful books, Disappearance At Devil Rock and the short story compilation Growing Things and Other Stories. I wanted to read Survivor Song, but my TBR pile was so large this year. I will read it in 2021, as well as anything else the man chooses to write. I also managed to get in both of Josh Malerman’s Bird Box books. Malorie was a nice addition, although her kids… I’ll chalk that up to teenagers being teenagers. Another writer that I spent time with more than once this past year was Chuck Wendig. Wanderers might not have been the one to read during a pandemic, but I did and do not regret it. I also read his book on writing, Damn Fine Story. This one should be on every writer’s reading list. I did get one of Stephen King’s books in this year—Revival. It is a nice addition to his kingdom of horror, but like Wanderers, maybe a little too realistic in light of the times. I’ll be reading The Outsider this year. I’m looking forward to reading that one as well as watching the series simultaneously on HBO as I did with 11/22/63 and found it quite enjoyable. I had heard so much about Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic. It was entertaining with well-crafted characters and setting but a bit of a letdown considering all the hype. I would have liked less set up and more gloomy horror. Laurel Hightower delivered the goods with Crossroads. It had the very creepy Pet Semetary vibe. How far would you go to bring back one of your children from the dead? 

I have been in the process of writing my own Southern gothic horror tale for far longer than I had hoped but am making good progress. I’m revising much of it with the help of a writing coach. That was why I jumped off the horror ride and dove into a few classics in the genre. I read Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying. Is it wrong of me to say that I wished that I lay dying myself on many occasions while reading this one? I liked his others much better. For a more sordid tale, I treated myself to Cormac McCarthy’s Child of God. I love this man’s style and way with words. Let’s just say that I was delighted to see Lester Ballard get what Lester Ballard got. It is said that a good Southern gothic has grotesques. This dark tale had that and more. Before I returned to horror land, I took a spin with S.A. Cosby. Blacktop Wasteland is one worthy addition to anyone’s shelf of crime novels. The characters were frustratingly good; the action was adrenaline-inducing.

I finished up the year with The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires. I would have liked to give this one five stars and would have if it had been a story without ANY men. The women in this tale were marvelous. The horror was chilling. I will read Grady Hendryx again as I have Horrorstör sitting on my bedside table. I am still reading two books that I started in 2020. I already mentioned Night of the Mannequins. The other is The Hollow Ones by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan. I plan to kick off the year with The Hollow Places, adhering to the #LadiesFirst meme. Perhaps I am feeling a little hollowed out after the last four years.

I’ll follow this post up with some of the novels that I am most looking forward to reading in 2021. 

O’Connell Ye Faithful

It’s Christmastime. And we are nearing the end of what I am sure has been a long strange year for everyone. 2021 will bring more changes and require us all to adapt and modify our lives, yet again. Please be safe. Think of yourself as you make your way through this world, and remember to make others’ health and welfare an important part of your life. This world is a small place, and we need to get better at sharing it. 

With this in mind, finding safe things to do during the holidays can be challenging. How about a ride around some of your city’s best Christmas light displays? Here in North Florida, we have a magical neighborhood display that will transport you to another world. It is in the Blackhawk Bluff neighborhood off Girvin Road. I hear that the churches downtown look pretty spectacular, too. (Thanks, Rosemary!)

If you are on Spotify, check out this playlist I put together years ago. It is called O’Connell Ye Faithful. It is a mix of some of our favorites from years long ago—Doris Day, Dean Martin, Eartha Kitt, Leon Redbone, Harry Belafonte, Vince Guaraldi, and so many more. I hope you find as much peace and joy in it as Linda and I have.

Merry Christmas! Happy Hannukah! Happy Kwanza! Happy Festivus!

Wishing you a happy, healthy, and joyous holiday season.

Is it really possible to live an ordered and organized life? Is there any fun in that?

 

"Well, only got an hour of daylight left. Better get started"

"Isn't it unsafe to travel at night?"

"It'll be a lot less safe to stay here, your father's gunna pick up our trail before long"

"Can Loca ride?"

"Yeah, I can ride, Margaret, time to go! Maigret, thank you for everything"

"Goodbye Chenga"

"Goodbye miss"

"I'll be back"

Is there anybody out there?

No Reason Not To

 *gasp*

*gasp*

*pant*

*pant*

just read Harry Turtledove's No Period on the Tor website & dammit, the man seems to have found access to my brain (it isn't that he is writing about me, per se, although wouldn't that be a welcome bit of alternate history to think about since that is what the man is famous for), only I've never been divorced, and I don't think I've ever been Jewish—not in this life, anyway, which gets me to wondering if only I…
“No Period” copyright © 2020 by Harry Turtledove
Art copyright © 2020 by Scott Bakal

The Only Good Indians

This was one of my most anticipated novels of the year. It did not disappoint as it is easily in my top five of the year. Stephen Graham Jones is one of those prolific authors who has a number of tasty morsels and full meals out every year. I first read his werewolf novel, Mongrels, last year, and since then, I have been slowly working my way through some of his other works. 

The Only Good Indians is a literary slasher of guilt and retribution. It is the story of four Blackeet—Ricky, Lewis, Cass, and Gabe—and the aftermath of an elk hunt gone wrong. It is a tale of a deed done in the dark that follows each man and haunts them, and when you violate tradition and cultural norms, you will pay a price. We, too, pay a price because we care about these men. Jones drags us through life both on and off the Rez leading us to an epic battle the likes of which I have never experienced before. In the end, I was left sweating and gasping for breath. I know that I will never look at an elk or a ceiling fan the same way again.

POW/MIA There re still too many out there.

I came across this one at a yard sale a few weekends back. Captain Robert Di Tomasso – 7-29-66. He is still listed as missing. God bless.  

Learn more about the history of the POW/MIA bracelet.

If you are interested in ordering a POW/MIA bracelet or other related merchandise, download the order form from POW-MIA Families.