I enjoyed this creative imagining of the Christ story to some extent. The tale is very different from what is presented in the Bible, but it's grounded in similar events and theology. I was intrigued to see where the story was going to go. I also enjoyed the art. It's illustrated in bold, simple strokes and a very basic color palette, but I felt like it worked well for the story. Ultimately there were some interesting ideas, but it was too short and failed to fully captivate me.

Illegal Cargo is a 96-page graphic novel about José Sendero, an elderly Salvadoran on a perilous journey to find his missing daughter. Inspired by the true stories of everyday immigrants on their way to the United States from places like South America and Mexico and the tireless work of humanitarian organizations like Las Patronas who support them. Written in English by Augusto Mora, a Mexican artist and author of various web comics, graphic novels, and short stories

These types of stories are always tough to read because they’re so heavily based on real trauma and events. The story is a heartbreaking one, and you really empathize with José and the other immigrants as they face numerous life or death perils on their journey. The point of this comic is to raise awareness about social issues just as much as it is to tell a good story. On both accounts it succeeds

In addition to following José I also enjoyed the storyline featuring the benign spirit (La Siguanaba: part woman, part horse skeleton) pushing him onward, as well as the one with the Mexican gangsters. The art is also gorgeous, the varying characters and terrain rendered in vivid detail and beautiful colors. The story moves quickly and ends on a somber, somewhat dissatisfying note (though I understand the point of it), but all in all I really enjoyed this book!

Congrats to @augustomora on a job well done, and special thanks to @abenttoe from @blackpanelpress for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review!

Woah, that synopsis really doesn’t come close to describing the insanity in this book! I’m going to be purposefully vague in this post because this book needs to be experienced and the best way of going into this is with no expectations

I thought the book had an interesting premise in the beginning. It’s fantasy grounded (poor word choice) in realistic human emotion. I felt for the main character and what she was experiencing. But then the book hits a certain spot and soars into apocalyptic speculative horror with a mix of stunning revelations and events

Not everything in this book worked for me (some awkward moments and dialogue, etc), and I felt like it could have used more meticulous world building. But to be fair it’s going from a single person waking from a tragic accident to an epic war between species in less than 130 pages. I promise if you read this book it’s not one that you will soon forget!

If you haven’t read Bird Box you should. If you have only seen the movie, still not cutting it. You need to READ it! I really enjoyed this book. It’s a testament to the psychological suspense Malerman weaves that so little happens (in a way) and yet I was so terrified the entire time. Lots of chill inducing moments, even if it’s just people blindly stumbling down a street. My biggest complaint is the lack of understanding you’re left with at the end of the book. But MALORIE is out now so I’ll have to dive into that next!

My worst vacation experiences amount to nothing more than sunburn, missed opportunities, and that end-of-the-week readiness to return home. But you hear stories of vacations gone wrong. Missed flights, unfortunate accidents, disease, and untimely death

And then you have WORST LAID PLANS, a collection of vacation stories that are even more insidious and terrifying in their telling

Like with all anthologies, there are some that fall short of the mark and others that knock it out of the park. On the whole though this collection really works. I also really appreciated the variety of vacation locales, from the typical beachfront resorts and cross country road trips to less common places like underground caverns and the streets of Malaysia

Overall this collection of stories was a lot of fun. I like books and movies set in exotic locations or about vacations gone wrong, so it was neat to get a bunch of snapshot stories in this vein. And while some were less than spectacular, most I really enjoyed.

A ghost story that’s not at all what I expected (for better or worse…but mostly better).

I love a subtle tale of tragedy and grief, but I also love a nonstop thrill ride of spooky scares. Rarely can books manage to handle both in a way that is balanced and believable, but The Midnight Lullaby certainly comes close!

This book covering a lot of ground in less than 200 pages, but it manages to do so in a way that hits a range of circumstances, conflicts, and emotions. Not everything lands perfectly, but what sticks is really good!

I really liked the set up of Benedict being the only member in a family full of exorcists who can’t see ghosts. It immediately allows for interesting conflict and character development. I also really liked the relationship between Benedict and Emmeline. I didn’t fully understand it at first, but as the story progressed I really began to care about them and the connection they have. It’s sad and beautiful, but it also leaves an undercurrent of ferocity and mystery to keep the book moving forward. By the end of the story, when I finally realized the full extent of what had happened to Emmeline and what was currently happening to the other characters, I was completely shocked and surprised.

The book also has a fair amount of family drama, which I didn’t expect but I ended up enjoying. The side characters might not be fully fleshed out, but their relationship to Benedict and each other pretty well is, and that’s what really matters here.

As far as spooky moments go, there were less than I expected. I had to adjust expectations as the first half of the book is fairly fright-free. But then a particular seance happens in the middle, and the scares and gore are quickly ramped up for the second half of the book. The climax and the resolution of the story are incredibly grim and depressing. So much so that it almost affected my rating of the book it was so dark. But after taking time to process and think about the book as a whole my qualms seemed to ebb and I ended up liking it quite a lot!

I’ll be honest, I haven’t read a lot of books about witches but they (at least the bad ones) terrify me. The dark and unpredictable power they hold over normal people is frightening, and everything about the setup for this book led me to believe I was in for a thrilling ride. It has an isolated cottage on a remote cliff, strange occurrences right from the beginning, and a back story about burned witches looking for revenge

Unfortunately, the story I got was less exciting than anticipated. Lots of crows, but not much in the way of scares. Loads of exposition dumps when I wanted more character development. And an ending that left me wanting and a little frustrated.

Despite its flaws the story kept me turning the pages to see what would happen. I liked the emphasis on spells/hexes/totems, and there were moments when I was genuinely concerned for Robyn’s safety. I also thought it was really neat that Robyn gains a powerful ally in the last third of the book. There were some cool ideas here, like the haunting of Robyn’s niece, but many weren’t fleshed out enough to fully enjoy.

I was beginning to think no one could top the brutal brilliance of Magpie Coffin, but there is a new contender in town! I may be becoming desensitized to gore as I read this series, but this book had me hand-to-mouth, fit-to-faint audibly gasping at its over the top insanity. This is my first time reading anything from this author (certainly won’t be the last), but I imagine this was written in a state of gleeful abandon. It’s FUN!

I was hooked from the moment the kids steal away in moonlight to spy on the traveling circus, where things go horribly wrong. Then they get better. Then they get worse again, in revolting and unimaginable ways. The story moves at breakneck speed, pausing only to wallow in scenes of vice and viscera. I truly couldn’t look away!

Though there were some moments I wanted to. Some icky scenes (including one with a baby and a bathtub, plus a character named Horsecock that I have conflicting feelings about). But I feel like this book best embodies the spirit of splatterpunk, more so than any of the others. And I love how the whole story unfolds over the course of just one night!

Do I wish there was more of the carnival crew? Of course! But I do like how the book acquaints us with a myriad of characters (the downside being not all are as fleshed out as I wanted them to be - I mean who really were those Truther kids anyway?)

Put up your boots and sit a spell. You’re definitely going to want to read this one. The pace is frenetic, frenzy-full of colorful characters and vignettes of violence. Silver River does indeed run red, and it bathes the reader in copious amounts of blood and a story they will never forget!

Wow, what a great story! It’s like a tale of Nigerian spiritualism from Chinua Achebe run through a filter of Clive Barker with a dash of Evil Dead thrown in. I can’t say too much without spoilers, but this was such a creepy and engrossing read for me. It’s rife with imagination and moments of straight up horror.

I loved the emphasis on Nigerian spirits and folklore. I also appreciated its attempt to explore Chioma’s double consciousness through a lens of magical identity. And the art is so cool in a fantastical sort of way. It does inventive and amazing work with the pages and panels like I’ve never seen before in a comic, every border bleeding into another and overlaid with smaller images to reflect the conflict and Chioma’s emotional state. It’s hard to explain, you just need to see it for yourself!

My only complaint is that the ending left me without a clear understanding of what all had taken place. That and the copy on netgalley is pretty fuzzy and hard to read at times. I truly wish I had a physical full-color copy of this beauty.

What do I want to see when I read short story collections? I want twist endings I don't expect, stories that delve into human nature without staying shallow, and a variety of story types/plots. I am happy to announce that HUNGER PANGS by Scott J. Moses delivers on all those accounts! Oh and for bonus points he also adds a brief personal note before each story, detailing some of the inspiration or process behind the tale. I LOVE when authors do that in their short story collections!

Besides the obvious chills and thrills, I feel like these stories have a lot going on beneath the surface. Whether its vampires, ghosts, monsters, or human beings everyone has hunger pangs for life. There's also a constant thread of people who don't necessarily live great lives, but who realize life can be great. Unfortunately they've often done something wrong or lost someone and now the greatness of life lies tainted and twisted. And while there are plenty of monsters, it's often the painful memories, trauma, and grief that are truly dangerous and threaten to consume us

Overall this collection of stories is very good. Moses is an excellent writer, and I really appreciated the variety of stories presented. I can't wait to see what else he has in store!

My favorite stories:
“Blues Exorcist”
“What’s in Your Name”
“The Scent of Souls”
“Hunger Pangs”

Check out my spoiler-free thoughts on every story on my blog!