Tagged: review

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Epeolatry Book Review: The Incubations by Ramsey Campbell

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​Title: The Incubations
Author: Ramsey Campbell
Genre: Horror, Supernatural Thriller
Publisher: Flame Tree Press
Date: 26th November, 2024

Synopsis: A collectable hardcover edition for Ramsey Campbell’s 60 years in publication.

 Leo Parker’s stay in Alphafen seems idyllic, but after he leaves, the nightmares begin: an airport turns into a labyrinth, his own words become treacherous if not lethal, and what are those creatures in the photographs he took? Even the therapy Leo undertakes becomes a source of menace.

 Perhaps Leo has roused an ancient Alpine legend. Even once he understands what he brought back, his attempts to overcome its influence may lead into greater nightmares still…

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Epeolatry Book Review: The Parliament by Aimee Pokwatka

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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 Parliament
Author: Aimee Pokwatka
Genre: Horror
Publisher: Tordotcom
Date: 16th January, 2024

Synopsis: The Birds meets The Princess Bride in this tale of friendship, responsibility, and the primal force of nature.
“Murder owls are extreme,” Jude said. “What’s more extreme than murder owls?”
Madigan Purdy is stuck in her hometown library.
When tens of thousands of owls descend on the building, rending and tearing at anyone foolish enough to step outside, Mad is tasked with keeping her students safe, and distracted, while they seek a solution to their dilemma.
Perhaps they’ll find the inspiration they seek in her favorite childhood book, The Silent Queen….
With food and fresh water in low supply, the denizens of the library will have to find a way out, and soon, but the owls don’t seem to be in a hurry to leave…
The Parliament is a story of grief and missed opportunities, but also of courage and hope.
And of extremely sharp beaks.
At the Publisher’s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

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Epeolatry Book Review: Madness from the Sea: The Dreamlands by Jonathon T. Cross

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​Title: Madness from the Sea: The Dreamlands
Author: Jonathon T Cross
Genre: Occult Horror
Publisher: Independent
Date: 6th September, 2024

Synopsis: Finn came of age knowing nothing of the world that once was. Cthulhu was released prior to Finn’s birth, and madness has since loomed over humanity. 
Although Cthulhu never left R’lyeh, his call continues to lure victims by the boatload.
On every continent, societies prepare their young against Cthulhu’s telepathic reach. Teaching them to resist the allure of R’lyeh, lest they be swayed to their doom.
Bad dreams and monsters under the bed are no longer scoffed at, they are active threats to humanity’s survival.
No one is exempt, no location is beyond reach, not even the depths of one’s mind are off-limits.
The frailty of humankind has never been on grander display.

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Epeolatry Book Review: Ghost Apparent by Jelena Dunato

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​Title: Ghost Apparent
Author: Jelena Dunato
Genre: Dark Fantasy
Publisher: Ghost Orchid Press
Date: 24th September, 2024

Synopsis: Betrayed, deposed and presumed dead.

When her father is killed in a bloody coup and her uncle seizes the city, Orsiana pleads for help with the only power still willing to listen, unaware that the gods will use her as a pawn in their own game.

Thrown back on the streets of Abia, armed with the gods’ double-edged gifts, Orsiana must thwart her uncle’s plans and learn what it takes to rule a proud, stubborn city that thrives on artifice and wit. She will plot, fight and use lethally tuned verse to stir a rebellion. But just when her uncle’s Machiavellian schemes start to topple, a new player will enter the game, and the gods will raise the stakes. It’s easy to fight an enemy you hate, but how about an enemy you fall in love with? If she wants to win, Orsiana will have to risk the last precious thing in her possession: her heart.

A story of revenge and recovery, Ghost Apparent blends the history and folklore of the Eastern Adriatic with the bloody treachery of the Renaissance courts and is a perfect read for the fans of dark political fantasy.

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Epeolatry Book Review: Dark Tide Book 18: Blood and Bullets by Keith Lansdale, Michael Knost, James Aquilone

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​Title: Dark Tide Book 18: Blood and Bullets
Author: Keith Lansdale, Michael Knost, James Aquiline
Genre: Western Horror
Publisher: Crystal Lake Publishing
Date: 25th October, 2024

Synopsis: Prepare yourself for a chilling journey through the American frontier with Blood and Bullets, an anthology featuring three gripping novellas that blend horror, paranormal elements, and the harsh realities of the Old West.

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Epeolatry Book Review: The Songbird & the Heart of Stone by Carissa Broadbent

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​Title: The Songbird & the Heart of Stone
Author: Carissa Broadbent
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Bramble
Date: 19th November, 2024

Synopsis: Mische lost everything when she was forcibly Turned into a vampire–her home, her humanity, and most devastating of all, the love of the sun god to whom she had devoted her life. Now, sentenced to death for murdering the vampire prince who Turned her, redemption feels impossible.

But when Mische is saved by Asar, the bastard prince of the House of Shadow with a past as brutal as his scars, she’s forced into a mission worse than execution: a journey to the underworld to resurrect the god of death himself.

Yet, Mische’s punishment may be the key to her salvation. In a secret meeting, her sun god commands her to help Asar in his mission, only to betray him… by killing the god of death.

Mische and Asar must travel the treacherous path to the underworld, facing trials, beasts, and the vengeful ghosts of their pasts. But most dangerous of all is the alluring call of the darkness–and her forbidden attraction to Asar, a burgeoning bond that risks invoking the wrath of gods.

As her betrayal looms, the underworld closes in and angry gods grow restless. Mische will be forced to choose between the redemption of the sun or the damnation of the darkness.

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Epeolatry Book Review: The Spite House by Johnny Compton

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​Title: The Spite House
Author: Johnny Compton
Genre: Gothic, Thriller, Mystery, Ghost story
Publisher: Tor Nightfire
Date: 7th February, 2023

Synopsis:

A terrifying Gothic thriller about grief and death and the depths of a father’s love, Johnny Compton’s The Spite House is a stunning debut by a horror master in the making―The Babadook meets A Head Full of Ghosts in Texas Hill Country.

Eric Ross is on the run from a mysterious past with his two daughters in tow. When he comes across an ad for a caretaker for the Masson House, Eric hopes they have finally caught a lucky break. The owner of the “most haunted place in Texas” is looking for proof of paranormal activity. All they need to do is stay in the house and keep a detailed record of everything that happens there―provided the house’s horrors don’t drive them all mad, like the caretakers before them.

The job calls to Eric, not just because of the huge payout, but because he needs access to the secrets of the spite house. If it is indeed haunted, maybe it will help him understand the uncanny power that clings to his family, driving them from town to town, too afraid to stop running…

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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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