Publication date: February 11th 2021

Links: Amazon | Goodreads

A rash of strange and horrifying births sweeps through London in the new horror thriller from master of the genre Graham Masterton.

A SERIES OF STRANGE BIRTHS

A young woman is rushed to the hospital with stabbing pains. The chief surgeon performs a C-section, and delivers a catastrophically malformed foetus that is somehow alive...

A DEVASTATING ATTACK

Sewage engineer Gemma is plunged into a ghostly darkness in the tunnel where she works. She escapes, but her boss goes missing in the chaos. He is later found alive... but his legs have been severed and his eyes pulled out.

A SUPERNATURAL THREAT

DC Jerry Pardoe and DS Jamila Patel of the supernatural squad must team up once more to solve the mystery and save the city. But, if they are to succeed, first they must delve into the dark arts of witchcraft...

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It's been a long time since a book has gotten under my skin but reading The Children God Forgot, I truly had a moment where I thought "This book is going to give me nightmares." This was a very strange book: deformed fetuses roaming for new wombs to call home, a fatberg blocking the sewer with glowing malformed children taking replacement body parts, and last, but certainly not least, a reanimated witch formed of smoke and vengeance. All of those things individually would be enough of a plotline to carry any horror novel, but together are the things that nightmares are made of. 

Told in varying points of view, the plot on this one jumps around. You get just enough action to draw you in and wonder exactly what the hell is going on when it switches to another POV to pick up where it left off before. Typically, I hate this style of writing, but I will say in spite of that it kept my interest, especially when you have the scenes set as they are. There are occult vibes, as well as police procedural, heavy body horror, and of course, the paranormal. 

I do have to wonder though, as a woman, if this book weighs as heavily on male readers; I would imagine it doesn't. There's a particular horror in simply being a woman and having fears that are unique to the female persuasion alone. The fear of reproduction, of growing a life that is abominable instead of the perfect being it should be, and the fear of being violated. I struggle with that last word because what truly happens here, under other descriptions is rape. Not in the usual sense, but by one of the aborted creatures crawling or attempting to crawl inside another woman's uterus to continue to incubate. See what I mean by horrifying?  

There are also some sociopolitical themes here that are played a bit heavy-handed. The entire novel could be a statement on abortion. Not only do you have the many-limbed but cherub-faced fetus being terminated before term, but there's the woman showing up to punish those who participated in the terminations stating that all life is sacred. I feel like this book should have been written decades ago when racism and homophobia were casual and women were written based on the size of their breasts.

I ended up very conflicted about this novel. In the beginning, it was extremely effective horror. It's definitely a horror that relies on the reader's revulsion over scares. Somewhere in the middle though, the momentum of the plot starting lagging. Then it was a rush to the ending, curt and to the point, without a lot of explanation. This is one of those novels that is either going to leave you checking the sheets before getting in the bed or leave you apathetic. However, one thing is for certain, some of these scenes will continue to play in your head long after you've closed the book.

Publication date: October 28th 2020

Links: Amazon | Goodreads

Ever wondered what it would be like if hunted animals were able to fight back?

The Lodge unveils the mystery of a hunting lodge in the remote hills of the Scottish Highlands during the Christmas holidays. After the report of an accidental death at the lodge, Andrew, a young constable from the nearest town, drives up through a growing blizzard.

Snowbound, Andrew and the guests take cover at the lodge as the terrifying ordeal unfolds. These animals have souls. Souls that won’t rest until they’ve had revenge...

But will the hunters become the hunted?

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I love "when animals attack" eco-horror. It's one of those genres that I do tend to get a bit giddy about simply because I enjoy the concept of animals taking their revenge. The Lodge essentially follows that pattern. A guest at a hunting lodge in the remote Scottish Highlands experiences a harsh end, choking during dinner. Andrew, the constable sent to make sure there was no foul play at hand, then gets snowed in at the lodge with its owners and guests. 

 

There's no wait to get into the action as the guest dies in the first few pages. It's not long after that the weird stuff starts happening and there is plenty of weird. Eco-horror either plays itself completely straight or on the campy side. The Lodge is a strange mix of the two. On one hand, you have a horde of intelligent rats dismantling the vehicles so there is no escape and on the other, you have some Evil Dead taxidermy waling on the wall. There's absolutely some great imagery here though. 

The Lodge has a lot of flashback-style, character backstories, which honestly, didn't really further the book for me and distracted me from the here and now.  Taking the reader out of the story to a backstory blocked the flow of the novel as the flashbacks didn't always feel organic. While show vs. tell has always been a debated writing tool, the info dump chosen often here instead made them feel flat. 

I grew up in a hunting family and my husband hunts. None of my family, even the most enthusiastic of hunters, were ever like the ridiculous caricatures of hunters that are in the book. There are probably hunters out there like this, but I've not met them. On top of that, the actions of the characters just didn't make sense. They all seemed to be stereotypical ideals of what they should be, even the vegans. 

The Lodge seemed to have the perfect formula for a great read. There were multiple storylines that converged in the end, but there really weren't any surprises. It was intriguing enough to be a fast read but the plot seemed to get more convoluted as it went. I liked the idea but found the execution bland. 

Publication date: February 10th 2021
Links: Amazon | Goodreads

Fed up with playing by the rules, recent university graduate/ex-cum laude/ex-soccer star Kera MacDonagh changed her life forever when she read How To Be A Badass Witch. Much to her surprise, the spells actually worked. 

Within the first few weeks of on-the-job training, Kera’s new powers attracted all sorts of trouble. Now hunted as a magical vigilante, Kera stalks criminals in the darkness of Los Angeles while attempting to hide the signature of her supernatural powers. Kept safe by the trusting and kind Kim family, Kera decides to “come clean” to her boyfriend regardless of the consequences. 

With her world turned upside down, Kera struggles to balance her sanity. Will magic be enough to help her come out on top? She hopes so because the other way lies madness. 

About the Author 

MICHAEL ANDERLE has sold over 4,000,000 sci-fi/fantasy books worldwide either under his name or as a collaborator with other well-known authors. Anderle is the founder of LMBPN® (London, Milan, Barcelona, Paris, New York) Publishing, which publishes sci-fi/fantasy fiction by authors from USA, Australia, England, Canada, and various countries around the world. An “Amazon Top 100” ranked author, Anderle is popularly known as the creator of 20Booksto50K® on Facebook. He launched the group with the goal of sharing industry knowledge that helps independent authors to achieve their publishing goals. As a child growing up in Houston, Texas, USA, Anderle read books in the high fantasy and sword-and-sorcery genres and eventually developed a love of urban fantasy and sci-fi. At the age of 47, Anderle began writing full time and has since become a well-known author in the community. Michael Anderle resides in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. To learn more about Michael Anderle and LMBPN®, visit lmbpn.com.

March is for leprechauns, pots of gold, and lucky charms. 

Maybe you'll be lucky enough to find your next read in this roundup of the month's anticipated horror releases!

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