Author: Amie DeStefano

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Epeolatry Book Review: Cold Snap by Lindy Ryan

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Our reviews may contain affiliate links. If you purchase something through the links in this article we may receive a small commission or referral fee. This happens without any additional cost to you.

​Title: Cold Snap
Author: Lindy Ryan
Genre: Horror
Publisher: Titan Books
Date: 15th October, 2024

Synopsis: A grieving mother and son hope to survive Christmas in a remote mountain cabin, in this chilling novella of dread, isolation and demons lurking in the frozen woods. Perfect for fans of The Only Good Indians, The Shining and The Babadook.

Two weeks ago, Christine Sinclaire’s husband slipped off the roof while hanging Christmas lights and fell to his death on the front lawn.
Desperate to escape her guilt and her grief, Christine packs up her fifteen-year-old son and the family cat and flees to the cabin they’d reserved deep in the remote Pennsylvania Wilds to wait out the holidays.
It isn’t long before Christine begins to hear strange noises coming from the forest. When she spots a horned figure watching from between frozen branches, Christine assumes it’s just a forest animal—a moose, maybe, since the property manager warned her about them, said they’d stomp a body so deep into the snow nobody’d find it ’til spring.
But moose don’t walk upright like the shadowy figure does.
They don’t call Christine’s name with her dead husband’s voice.

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Epeolatry Book Review: Draakensky by Paula Cappa

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Our reviews may contain affiliate links. If you purchase something through the links in this article we may receive a small commission or referral fee. This happens without any additional cost to you.

​Title: Draakensky
Author: Paula Cappa
Genre: Fantasy, Magical Realism
Publisher: Crystal Lake Publishing
Date: 27th September, 2024

Synopsis: The Chief of Police discovers an elderly woman dead in the Mianus River. There is a ghost who resides here and flings its words through the spinning air. River magic too, streams across Draakensky Windmill estate, conjuring a secret in Bedford, New York.
Sketch artist Charlotte Knight arrives on Draakensky to a bright opportunity. She is hired to illustrate the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke under the direction of Jaa Morland, the recluse spinster of Draakensky. Jaa, a believer in ghosts, instructs Charlotte to ‘draw the ghosts.’
From the first night, Charlotte hears the watery voice of Draakensky’s ghost speak to her. Sinister dark eyes watch at the window. Fear mounts when a strange man stalks her through the village cemetery and shops. When a wicked force of nature strikes Charlotte, warning her to flee Draakensky, she is shaken to the bone.
Needing solid ground, Charlotte meets the local restaurant owner, Marc Sexton, who knows the ghostly Otherworld and the magickal practices from his Celtic ancestry; he sports a silver wolf amulet at his neck. Their romance takes Charlotte into a piercing adventure through darkness and doubt, passion and aching love.
As dark magick accelerates on Draakensky, Charlotte is driven into realms of owl magick, witchcraft, and necromancy. She battles her own fear of ghosts and wrestles with how to trust Marc Sexton, a man with hidden realities.
If magick is destiny, then Charlotte must survive the world of ghosts or surrender to a more powerful source in this literary tale of mystery, sorcery, and love.

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Epeolatry Book Review: Crocodile Tears Didn’t Cause the Flood by Bradley Sides

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Our reviews may contain affiliate links. If you purchase something through the links in this article we may receive a small commission or referral fee. This happens without any additional cost to you.

Title: Crocodile Tears Didn’t Cause the Flood
Author: Bradley Sides
Genre: Short Story Collection, Weird Fiction/Horror
Publisher: Montag Press
Publication Date: 6th February, 2024

Synopsis:  Bradley Sides merges the South with the weird in his latest collection of magical realism short stories, Crocodile Tears Didn’t Cause the Flood. Here, a boy creates a guide to his beloved pond monster, a parent weighs the consequences of the coming apocalypse, a man protects a jar of delicate moths, a test taker fearlessly faces death, a young woman rejects ownership of her vampire family’s farm, a father leaves a letter for his ghost daughter, and a flood of broken robots sparks pure joy. Full of grief, loss, and, somehow, even hope, Sides’ fantastic stories boldly and tenderly explore the complexities of humanity.

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Epeolatry Book Review: Island of the Dead by Brian Keene

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Our reviews may contain affiliate links. If you purchase something through the links in this article we may receive a small commission or referral fee. This happens without any additional cost to you.

Title: Island of the Dead
Author: Brian Keene
Genre: Horror, fantasy
Publisher: Apex Book Company
Publication Date: 15th August, 2024

Synopsis: Einar, an enslaved barbarian, plots his escape from a war galley transporting troops and a mysterious weapon to far enemy shores. But when an apocalyptic storm at sea leaves Einar and his fellow captives shipwrecked on a strange, uncharted island, friend and foe alike must band together against a steadily growing horde of the undead … and even worse dangers.

Not even death is an escape from the Island of the Dead!

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Epeolatry Book Review: The Extravaganza Eternia by Kristin Osani

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Our reviews may contain affiliate links. If you purchase something through the links in this article we may receive a small commission or referral fee. This happens without any additional cost to you.

Title: The Extravaganza Eternia
Author: Kristin Osani
Genre: Fantasy and Mystery
Publisher: Ghost Orchid Press
Publication Date: 23rd July, 2024

Synopsis: Supernatural circus performer Leathan doesn’t let herself get close to anyone. It’s too painful when her curse literally rips those connections out of her heart. That’s why she does her best to weed out the friendship sprouting between her and Renni, the gregarious star of the show.
When Renni is murdered, the ringmaster tasks Leathan with catching his killer. But all signs indicate the culprit is one of the Extravaganza’s own, and the more she learns about her fellow troupers, the farther she feels from the truth—and the closer she is to forming fatal new attachments.
A darkly fantastical mystery reminiscent of The Night Circus and Even Though I Knew the End, THE EXTRAVAGANZA ETERNIA will enchant and delight.

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