Category: Reviews

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Epeolatry Book Review: Wrapped in Plastic and Other Sweet Nothings by Robert P. Ottone

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Title: Wrapped in Plastic and Other Sweet Nothings
Author: Robert P. Ottone
Genre: Dark Fantasy, Horror
Publisher: JournalStone
Release date: 27th October, 2023

Synopsis: Seventeen stories claw at you from that dark space in the corner of your eye in this new collection by Bram Stoker Award-winning author Robert P. Ottone.

In “Only That You Are Still Sane,” uncover the accidental and bizarre discovery of time travel. Meet an ordinary couple with sexual desires that are anything but ordinary in “Nibble.” Follow the harrowing story of Sleepy Hollow’s town constable in “A Mourning in Sleepy Hollow.” Tread carefully along the precipice of darkness in “A Most Curious Tome.” And in the title story, meet a lonely civil service worker who comes face to face with the darkness eating away at him.

Featuring six previously unpublished stories, Wrapped in Plastic & Other Sweet Nothings will force you to stare into the darkness within. Pray you don’t blink first.

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Epeolatry Book Review: The Haunting of Velkwood by Gwendolyn Kiste

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Title: The Haunting of Velkwood
Author: Gwendolyn Kiste
Genre: Gothic Fiction; Horror Literature and Fiction
Publisher: S&S/Saga Press
Release Date: 5th March, 2024

Synopsis: From Bram Stoker Award–winning author Gwendolyn Kiste comes a chilling novel about three childhood friends who miraculously survive the night everyone in their suburban hometown turned into ghosts.
The Velkwood Vicinity was the topic of occult theorists, tabloid one-hour documentaries, and even some pseudo-scientific investigations as the block of homes disappeared behind a near-impenetrable veil that only three survivors could enter—and only one has in the past twenty years, until now.
Talitha Velkwood has avoided anything to do with the tragedy that took her mother and eight-year-old sister, drifting from one job to another, never settling anywhere or with anyone, feeling as trapped by her past as if she was still there in the small town she so desperately wanted to escape from. When a new researcher tracks her down and offers to pay her to come back to enter the vicinity, Talitha claims she’s just doing it for the money. Of all the crackpot theories over the years, no one has discovered what happened the night Talitha, her estranged, former best friend Brett, and Grace, escaped their homes twenty years ago. Will she finally get the answers she’s been looking for all these years, or is this just another dead end?
Award-winning author Gwendolyn Kiste has created a suburban ghost story about a small town that trapped three young women who must confront the past if they’re going to have a future. 

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Epeolatry Book Review: Witch Wizard Warlock by Robert Allen Lupton, et al

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Title: Witch Wizard Warlock
Author: Various
Genre: Coming of Age Fantasy, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Independently Published
Release Date: 22nd August, 2023

Synopsis: The massive volume contains thirty-four stories about witches, wizards, and warlocks from the brightest talents writing speculative fiction today, writers from seven countries around the world.
Horror stories, fantasy stories, adventure stories, some with a touch of humor, and some that shouldn’t be read after the lights go out. Young witches, old witches, pretty witches, and ugly witches, along with wizards, good and bad, share stories with warlocks. Are there good warlocks – who knows.
Readers can attend wizard school, fight monsters and of course, evil witches and warlocks. They can journey on magical quests, seek true love, and even take sides in the American Revolutionary War.
Contributors to the anthology include the following, some of whom may or may not be a witch, a wizard, or a warlock, but they all have a magical way with words. Many of them have books available. If you like their story, consider one of their other works. Three Cousins Publishing would like to thank Alyson Faye, E. V. Emmons, Campbell Blaine, S. E. Lindberg, Carol McConnell, David Morris, Shebat Legion, R. L. Meldrum, Rose Strickman, Lawrence Dagstine, Catherine Jordan, Tim Pulo, Judy Mowdy, Donna Garren, Shane Porteous, Ann Tjelmenland, Kay Hanifen, Ann Solinsky, Jason Battle, Dwain Campbell, C. J. Carter-Stephenson, AE Stueve, Ayman Kole, Josh Schlossberg, Rie Sheridan Rose, Chris Adams, George Jacobs, Darren Lipman, Bill Durfy, DW Milton, Yvonne Lang, Robin Allison Lupton.. and Elizabeth A. Allen
One has to be careful when dealing with witches and the like, because none of us is ever quite as smart as we think we are, but hopefully that rule applies to those who seek to master the dark arts.
So here’s the book, sit down and light a candle, and make sure to keep a bell within reach. You never know when you’ll need to break a spell. Enjoy.

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Epeolatry Book Review: Aliens: Vasquez by V. Castro

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Title: Aliens: Vasquez
Author: V. Castro
Genre:  Science Fiction
Publisher: Titan Books
Release Date: 24th October, 2023

Synopsis: A groundbreaking Latinx Aliens novel by a rising star Latina author, featuring the fan-favorite character PFC Jenette Vasquez from the hit movie Aliens and the family she is forced to leave behind.
For the very first time, the canonical background of the breakout Aliens hero Jenette Vasquez, as well as the story of the children she was forced to leave behind as written by the rising Latina horror star V. Castro (Queen of the Cicadas).
Even before the doomed mission to Hadley’s Hope on LV-426, Jenette Vasquez had to fight to survive. Born to an immigrant family with a long military tradition, she looked up to the stars, but life pulled her back down to Earth—first into a street gang, then prison. The Colonial Marines proved to be Vasquez’s way out—a way that forced her to give up her twin children. Raised by Jenette’s sister, those children, Leticia and Ramon, had to discover their own ways to survive. Leticia by following her mother’s path into the military, Ramon into the corporate hierarchy of Weyland-Yutani. Their paths would converge on an unnamed planet which some see as a potential utopia, while others would use it for highly secretive research. Regardless of whatever humans might have planned for it, however, Xenomorphs will turn it into a living hell. 

 

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Epeolatry Book Review: The Complete Alien Collection: Symphony of Death by Alex White and Tim Waggoner

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Title: The Complete Alien Collection: Symphony of Death
Author: Alex White and Tim Waggoner
Genre:  TV, Movie & Game Tie-In Fiction; Science Fiction Adventure
Publisher: Titan Books
Release Date: 28th November, 2023

Synopsis: Collected together for the first time, this action-packed omnibus is filled with secrets, lies, and the silver smile of the deadly Xenomorphs. Across three epic novels, see how the Xenomorph doctrine of Weyland-Yutani and Venture is a short and angry road to hell.

The Cold Forge
Weyland-Yutani has suffered a devastating setback: the loss of the Xenomorphs they aggressively sought to exploit. True to form, they have a redundancy already in place… the facility known as The Cold Forge. When company man Dorian Sudler is sent to assess their progress, he discovers that there’s a spy aboard who may destroy the entire station… That is, if the Xenomorphs don’t do the job first.

Prototype
Corporate spy Tamar Prather steals a Xenomorph egg from Weyland-Yutani, taking it to a lab run by Venture… Former Colonial Marine Zula Hendricks has been tasked with training personnel to deal with anything that gets thrown their way, but nothing can prepare them for the horror that breaks out of Venture’s lab.

Into Charybdis
“Shy” Hunt and the tech team from McAllen Integrations thought it was an easy job—set up environmental systems for the brand new Hasanova Data Solutions colony, built on the abandoned ruins of a complex known as “Charybdis.” There are just two problems: the colony belongs to the Iranian state, and the complex is located above a series of hidden caves. Charybdis has a darker history than any could imagine, and its depths harbor deadly secrets.

The deeper they dig, the more Shy is convinced there’s no one they can believe. When a bizarre ship lands on a nearby island, one of the workers is attacked by a taloned creature, and trust evaporates between the Iranians and Americans. The McAllen integrations crew are imprisoned, accused of being spies, but manage to send out a distress signal… to the Colonial Marines.

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Epeolatry Book Review: Avatar: The Last Airbender–Imbalance Omnibus by Faith Erin Hicks, et al

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Title: Avatar: The Last Airbender–Imbalance Omnibus
Author: Faith Erin Hicks, Bryan Konietzko, Michael Dante DiMartino
Artist: Peter Wartman, Adele Matera
Genre: Kids, Fantasy, Action/Adventure 
Publisher: Dark Horse
Release Date:  August 30, 2023

Synopsis: Aang faces a decision from which there is no return!

When Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph return to Earthen Fire Industries–the factory owned by Toph’s father–Aang is surprised when their arrival is met with a cold shoulder. As soon as the team is asked for help at a business council meeting, the reason for the slight becomes clear: a massive bender-versus-non-bender conflict has gripped the town and is threatening to turn violent. In order to heal the divide and save the town, Aang and the team will all face tough decisions about power and identity that could tear them apart.

Join Faith Erin Hicks (The Adventures of Superhero Girl, The Nameless City) and drawn by Peter Wartman (Stonebreaker), in collaboration with Avatar: The Last Airbender creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko in this beautiful second edition of Imbalance! With a brand-new cover by Peter Wartman!

Collects Avatar: The Last Airbender–Imbalance volumes 1-3

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Epeolatry Book Review: Dark Woods, Deep Water by Jelena Dunato

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Title: Dark Woods, Deep Water
Author: Jelena Dunato
Genre: Horror
Publisher: Ghost Orchid Press
Release date: 19th September, 2023

Synopsis: In the depths of a remote forest, an enchanted castle preys on unwary travellers. The servants of the Goddess Morana sacrifice to their dark mistress every soul who crosses its threshold. One terrible night, three people who should never have met find themselves trapped there: a spoiled lady escaping an unwanted marriage, an aging warrior-prince on a deadly mission, and a resourceful rogue caught up in a botched heist. As their destinies entwine and the dawn approaches, the solution to the castle’s riddle becomes clear: if they want to escape, one of them must die.

A dark fantasy tale inspired by Slavic folklore, Dark Woods, Deep Water is the debut novel by Croatian author Jelena Dunato. Set in an intricately imagined world that staggers the line between fairytale and brutality, this novel will appeal to fans of Katherine Arden and Naomi Novik, as well as lovers of classic Gothic fiction.

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Epeolatry Book Review: Unquiet by E. Saxey

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Title: Unquiet
Author: E. Saxey
Genre: Gothic Horror, Historical Fiction
Publisher: Titan Books
Release date: 18 July 2023
Page count: 320

Synopsis: An intrepid young woman journeys across Victorian London and beyond in search of the truth behind the presumed death, and reappearance one icy evening, of her brother-in-law, in this gripping and mysterious gothic horror.

Perfect for fans of The Haunting of Hill House and readers of Sarah Waters.

London 1893. Judith lives a solitary life, save for the maid who haunts the family home in which she resides. Mourning the death of her brother-in-law, Sam, who drowned in an accident a year earlier, she distracts herself with art classes, books and strange rituals, whilst the rest of her family travel the world.

One icy evening, conducting a ritual in her garden she discovers Sam, alive. He has no memory of the past year, and remembers little of the accident that appeared to take his life.

Desperate to keep his reappearance a secret until she can discover the truth about what happened to him, Judith journeys outside of the West London Jewish community she calls home, to the scene of Sam’s accident. But there are secrets waiting there for Judith, things that have been dormant for so long, and if she is to uncover all of them, she may have to admit to truths that she has been keeping from herself.

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