Author: Corinne Pollard

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Epeolatry Book Review: Hemlock Island by Kelley Armstrong

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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: Hemlock Island
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Genre: Ghost Fiction, Occult Fiction, Horror
Release date: 12th September, 2023

Synopsis: Laney Kilpatrick has been renting her vacation home to strangers. The invasion of privacy gives her panic attacks, but it’s the only way she can keep her beloved Hemlock Island, the only thing she owns after a pandemic-fueled divorce. But broken belongings and campfires that nearly burn down the house have escalated to bloody bones, hex circles, and now, terrified renters who’ve fled after finding blood and nail marks all over the guest room closet, as though someone tried to claw their way out…and failed.
When Laney shows up to investigate with her teenaged niece in tow, she discovers that her ex, Kit, has also been informed and is there with Jayla, his sister and her former best friend. Then Sadie, another old high school friend, charters over with her brother, who’s now a cop.
There are tensions and secrets, whispers in the woods, and before long, the discovery of a hand poking up from the earth. Then the body that goes with it… But by that time, someone has taken off with their one and only means off the island, and they’re trapped with someone―or something―that doesn’t want them leaving the island alive.

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Epeolatry Book Review: Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward

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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: Looking Glass Sound
Author: Catriona Ward
Publisher: Viper Books
Release date: 8th August, 2023

Synopsis: In a cottage overlooking the windswept Maine coast, Wilder Harlow has begun the last book he will ever write.

It is the story about the sun-drenched summer days of his youth in Whistler Bay, and the blood-stained path of the killer that stalked his small vacation town. About the terrible secret he and his companions, Nat and Harper, discovered entombed in the coves off the bay. And how the pact they swore that day echoed down the decades, forever shaping their lives.

But the more Wilder writes, the less he trusts himself and his memory. He starts to see things that can’t be real – notes hidden in the cabin, from an old friend now dead; a woman with dark hair drowning in the icy waters below, calling for help; entire chapters he doesn’t recall typing, appearing overnight. Who, or what, is haunting Wilder?

No longer able to trust his own eyes, Wilder begins to fear that this will not only be his last book, but the last thing he ever does.

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How to Write a Sonnet

How to Write a Sonnet

 

Does the word ‘Sonnet’ make you flashback to your school days? Does the mere mention make your eyes water as you yawn while your mind wanders to escape? 

 

I was the same. I thought, ‘it’s too difficult’ and ‘I can’t write Shakespeare, so there’s no chance of a sonnet.’ You can imagine my horror when my poetry professor started her module with, you guessed it, sonnets! But she broke it down for me, and from practising and practising, I grew used to the ways of the sonnet. 

 

Rather than bore you with the details of the sonnet’s history and have an in-depth (yawn) look at the main four types (Petrarchan, Shakespearean, Spenserian, and Miltonic; for those who want to look them up), we’ll be focusing on making the sonnet relevant and unique to you.

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Epeolatry Book Review: The Night Visitor by Alyson Faye

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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 Night Visitor
Author: Alyson Faye
Genre: Occult Horror
Publisher: Demain Publishing
Release Date: 31st March, 2023

Synopsis: In the long hot summer of 1976 there is something ancient, and hungry stirring in the woods surrounding the peaceful town of Brintwood.

First the pets begin to go missing, then the daytime streets are emptier and Amy knows her best mate, Robin, is no longer himself.

She is forced to go on the run, find new allies and face the horror hunting her; a monster created by a madman’s long ago evil acts.

The night visitor and his army are on the move…

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Epeolatry Book Review: Neverest by T. L. Bodine

Disclosure:

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: Neverest
Author: T. L. Bodine
Genre: Ghost/Horror
Publisher: Ghost Orchid Press
Release Date: 25th April, 2023

Synopsis: One year ago, Sean Miller—journalist and mountain climbing enthusiast—reached the summit of Mount Everest and was never seen again. Unable to move on without knowing the truth of what happened, his widow Carrie insists on an expedition to search for Sean’s body so it can be properly laid to rest. Tom, Sean’s best friend and former climbing partner, agrees to serve as expedition guide and promises to keep Carrie safe on the mountain, despite their complicated relationship history.

Guided by a travel journal left behind by her husband, Carrie ventures into the frozen, open-air graveyard of the world’s tallest peak. But as Sean’s diary and Carrie’s experiences reveal, climbing the mountain is more than a test of endurance; it’s a battle of wills with an ancient and hostile force protecting the mountain—and the dead do not rest easy at the summit.

NEVEREST is a survival thriller with a hint of the supernatural that will appeal to fans of Ally Wilkes’ All the White Spaces and Amy McCulloch’s Breathless.

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Articles / Interviews

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WIHM 2023: An Interview With A.R. James At The UK Ghost Story Festival 2023!

2023 was my first year attending the UK Ghost Story Festival in Derby, which began Thursday 16th, Feb and ended Sunday 19th, Feb. The festival is one of a kind in Britain, so unsurprisingly it gathered an enthusiastic crowd with its packed programme of 33 speakers. Amongst them was A.R. James, who I was lucky to be introduced to (thanks, Lauren!). 

 

A.R. James is a queer, bisexual actor-writer of unsettling entrances and exits in many fiction forms such as flash, screen-plays, and scripts; co-founder of Sonnet Sisters, Six Lips Theatre, and The Podvangelist. Her existing works include Unknown (Stairwell Books), Little Irritants (Analog Submission Press), and 100 Friggin’ Poems.

 

If you couldn’t attend the UK Ghost Story Festival this year, then you are in luck, for I caught up with A.R. James to discuss and reminisce about the festival. 

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WiHM 2023: An Interview With T.L. Bodine about Neverest And More!

An Interview With T.L. Bodine

T.L. Bodine is the author of River of Souls, The Hound (the wattpad exclusive), The House of Lazarus and many other horror tales. She’s interested in the uncanny, and the way people interact with real problems. Her latest work, Neverest, crossed my path as a read that I just had to review for Horror Tree. It is a survival thriller with escalating dread as a widow follows her deceased husband’s footsteps up the treacherous Mount Everest. Neverest is T.L. Bodine’s first publication with Ghost Orchid Press and will be published in April 2023. After reviewing Neverest, I got in touch with Bodine (and thankfully she agreed) so I could ask some burning questions, but don’t worry, there’ll be no spoilers!

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Epeolatry Book Review: The Horror Collection: Sapphire Edition Edited by Natasha Sinclair

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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 Horror Collection: Sapphire Edition
Author: Natasha Sinclair
Publisher: KJK Publishing
Genre: Horror
Release Date: 14th, December, 2022
Synopsis: The bloodthirsty master of terror, Kevin J. Kennedy, once again brings insatiable horror readers a tremendous variety of original fiction from some of the best in the business.

Thirteen is unlucky for some — KJK Publishing has put together a memorable Horror feast for the mammoth thirteenth book in this series. It’s perhaps our favourite number!

From rising indie talent to authors who have been in the industry for decades. Your appetite is guaranteed a veritable smorgasbord of styles and subgenres to feed the pallet. Join us between the pages of this bestselling horror series for the thirteenth time.

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