Author: J.W. Donley

Epeolatry Book Review: Confirmed Sightings by Bridget D. Brave, P.L. McMillan, Ryan Marie Ketterer

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Title: Confirmed Sightings: a triple cryptid creature feature
Author: Bridget D. Brave, P.L. McMillan, Ryan Marie Ketterer
Publisher:  Salt Heart Press
Genre: Horror, Weird
Release date: 1st June, 2023

Synopsis: Horror fans and cryptid lovers unite! Grab your popcorn and candy, settle into your seat, and make sure to silence your phone for this triple creature feature!

A Piasa for Christmas by Bridget D. Brave Kaycee has returned to her hometown and finally found her soulmate in the most unexpected package: a transdimensional, all-powerful creature once trapped in a temporal prison. Can true love prevail between this headstrong aspiring influencer and an ancient immortal god?

eyeofmoth.exe by P.L. McMillan When the crew of the CRS Piasa encounter a space station drowning in madness caused by a creature from Pre-Calamity Earth, they become desperate to get back to their ship and warn the Company in a race against the clock.

Once Upon a Time in Turu by Ryan Marie Ketterer When a jackalope from the good part of town ends up dead, Policefoot Orli is tasked with solving the bizarre murder before the already tense town of Turu erupts in cryptid fury. But it won’t be as easy as it looks when all the usual suspects are very unusual themselves.

With full page illustrations for each novella and a foreword by Laurel Hightower, this is one anthology you don’t want to miss.

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Epeolatry Book Review: Jurassichrist by Michael Allen Rose

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Title: Jurassichrist
Author: Michael Allen Rose
Genre: Bizzaro
Publisher: Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing
Release Date: April 6th, 2021

Synopsis: It’s time for Jesus to attempt his second coming, but linear time progression doesn’t apply to extra-spatial deities, so he ends up coming “again” long before the first time – the Jurassic period. Once he arrives, expecting to see a bunch of human beings who’ve been waiting for him for two millennial seasons, he is surprised to find himself in a weird civilization full of thunder lizards.

Jesus goes into Predator mode, arming himself to the teeth and slaughtering them wholesale, trying to find someone who’s capable of nailing him to a cross so he can get back home, however, dinosaurs don’t have thumbs. What they do have is the “hum,” a magical frequency capable of shaping the world. They have mythical metals. They have a sensible social contract. They have a bizarre, but seemingly decent civilization going.

Mammals however, are the most disgusting, rotten, violent things imaginable, and they seem to be evolving into something worse with the help of a little cosmic power. Something has been providing them with products that shouldn’t be invented for another billion years or so, from the as-seen-on-tv catalog, and they’re taking full advantage of it. Who is behind this forced evolution, and what could they stand to gain? Is heaven full of heroes, or gibbering lunatics?

It’s up to J.C. to set things right and stop the apocalypse and figure out whether the universe really should be run by a bunch of insane deities, or whether it’s better to wipe out heaven and let them sort it all out themselves! Action, adventure, insanity and good ol’ fashioned heresy!

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Epeolatry Book Review: The Lonesome Hunters

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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 Lonesome Hunters
Author: Tyler Crook
Genre: Graphic Novel, Horror, Fantasy, Comics
Publisher: Dark Horse
Release Date: February 1st, 2023

Synopsis:  From Russ Manning Award-winning and Eisner-nominated Harrow County co-creator Tyler Crook comes this supernatural fantasy about loss, power, and destiny. 

An old and out-of-practice monster hunter in hiding crosses paths with a young girl that forces him to confront these chaotic creatures. As the beasts invade their tenement, they set off on a supernatural road trip to stop these ancient evils in a story that explores the ways that youth informs adulthood and how early traumas can haunt us in old age.

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Epeolatry Book Review: Sisters of the Crimson Vine by P.L. McMillan

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Title: Sisters of the Crimson Vine
Authors: P.L McMillan
Publisher: Timber Ghost Press
Genre: Folk Horror, Cosmic Horror
Release Date: 6th December, 2022
Synopsis: John Ainsworth nearly died in that car crash. Soon he’ll learn there are worse fates. After a brutal accident, John awakens in the dilapidated Crimoria Convent under the care of thirteen unconventional nuns. Grievous injuries trap him within the borders of the ruined sanctuary and its strangely successful vineyard. When his body starts healing faster than nature allows, John’s questions quickly pile up. A pair of Church auditors arrive to look into the convent’s finances. It’s obvious the pair are unwelcome guests, but John has bigger concerns. The order’s annual ritual draws near and John begins to discover things that make him wonder if any of them are truly safe in the hands of the Sisters of the Crimson Vine.

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Epeolatry Book Review: Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee

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Title: Untethered Sky
Author: Fonda Lee
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Tordotcom
Release Date: 11th April, 2023
Synopsis: From World Fantasy Award-winning author Fonda Lee comes Untethered Sky, an epic fantasy fable about the pursuit of obsession at all costs.
A Most Anticipated in 2023 Pick for Polygon Book Riot Paste Magazine

Ester’s family was torn apart when a manticore killed her mother and baby brother, leaving her with nothing but her father’s painful silence and a single, overwhelming need to kill the monsters that took her family.
Ester’s path leads her to the King’s Royal Mews, where the giant rocs of legend are flown to hunt manticores by their brave and dedicated ruhkers. Paired with a fledgling roc named Zahra, Ester finds purpose and acclaim by devoting herself to a calling that demands absolute sacrifice and a creature that will never return her love. The terrifying partnership between woman and roc leads Ester not only on the empire’s most dangerous manticore hunt, but on a journey of perseverance and acceptance.

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Epeolatry Book Review: Hellboy: The Bones of Giants by Mike Mignola & Christopher Golden

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Title: Hellboy: The Bones of Giants
Authors: Mike Mignola, Christopher Golden
Illustrator: Matt Smith
Colorist: Chris O’Halloran
Genre: Graphic Novel, Horror, Comics
Publisher: Dark Horse Books
Release Date: July 27, 2022
Synopsis: When a startling discovery is made in Sweden, the B.P.R.D. sends Hellboy and Abe Sapien to investigate. What ensues is a wild adventure full of Norse legends, mythical creatures, and a threat that could bring not just Earth but the Nine Realms of Norse mythology to their knees.
Based on the illustrated novel by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden, this hardcover collection brings readers into Hellboy’s fight against the Frost Giants with stunning art by Matt Smith and colors by Chris O’Halloran.

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Epeolatry Book Review: The Legend of Korra: Patterns in Time

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Title: The Legend of Korra: Patterns in Time
Authors: Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko
Illustrators: Heather Campbell, Jayd Aït-Kaci
Genre: Graphic Novel, Young Adult, Comics
Publisher: Dark Horse
Release Date: November 9, 2022

Synopsis: Your favorite characters from Team Avatar and beyond are here in this collection of stories, from the heartwarming to the hilarious. Join Korra, Asami, Mako, Bolin, Tenzin, and more familiar faces from The Legend of Korra, featured in stories specially crafted by a bevy of talented comics creators! Be sure to add these all-new stories to your Avatar Legends library!

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Epeolatry Book Review: Les Femmes Grotesques by Victoria Dalpe

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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: Les Femmes Grotesques
Author: Victoria Dalpe
Publisher: CLASH Books
Genre: Horror, Weird
Release date: 1st November, 2022
Synopsis: In each of these stories, the reader is lured into a sinister shadow space, one both familiar and uncanny.

Life is strange, beautiful, and terrible in the world of Victoria Dalpe’s debut short story collection. Her characters run the gamut from nosy neighbors to boomtown prostitutes, sentient moss to ghouls with a taste for artist’s flesh. The stories contain chance encounters with truck stop mystics, haunted reality show renovations, and cat people roaming the western plains. In Dalpe’s writing, horror mixes with humor, and the ordinary with the macabre. Les Femmes Grotesques is a unique and lush reading experience. Tragic and transformative—an unabashed exploration of the dark feminine.

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