The Whispered Tales of Graves Grove, edited by J.S. Bailey & Kelsey Keating. BHC Press, 2017

This is a collection of short horror stories, but it is a sort of concept album: The editors created the town of Graves Grove, gave it a short backstory, and then said Go! Every story is set there, there are some repeating characters, and an assortment of various supernatural beings. As with any anthology, there are some stories that were rather weak, and others that were good- a couple very good. Depending on what your taste is in supernatural and horror, you will surely find something enjoyable in this book. I only felt a couple of stories were poor. Some have graphic violence but most are lower key; some have mainly a feeling of horrible dread. A nice, solid collection. 

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In the Land of Dreams, by Lawrence Swaim. Top Hat Books, 2017

Protagonist #1 starts the story by telling us about his intake into a transitional residential facility in New York. He has knowingly made his way there (by talking about suicidal ideation at the emergency room) because he wants to be in the area when an ancestor of his comes to visit, an ancestor who is stalking him. This ancestor has knowledge of treasure of vast worth- and of a curse. When he shares this with the therapist and the other residents of the shelter, he is declared delusional. But it isn’t very long before the shelter has another new person: the ancestor, Barnt.

Most of the rest of the story is Barnt telling his story. Back when New York was barely New Amsterdam, his family was there. We learn about his business dealings, how he met his second wife- the most beautiful person on earth-, how they married, what happened after, and how the family came to be cursed by his actions. It is a very, very long story. He travels back and forth between New Amsterdam and his home in the wilds. He and his wife have sex constantly (no graphic sex, just saying it happened). We are left in the dark as to whether Barnt is a figment of the protagonist’s imagination, a ghost, or the person in the flesh, doomed to roam New York like some Ancient Mariner, telling his tale.

I have to say I had trouble sticking with this book. Every action Barnt took is told in great detail. In the end it is an unsubtle moralistic tale, which seemed like a very abrupt finish. I am afraid I can only give it three stars out of five. 

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Hounds of the Underworld, by Dan Rabarts & Lee Muray. Raw Dog Screaming Press, 2017

Set in near future New Zealand, in a world where cars are too expensive for most people to own, water is rationed, and the skies are smoggy, this is a CSI-ish police procedural mixed with horror.

Penny Yee has just opened a crime lab with a large loan from her parents- who want her to marry for money instead of working- and this is her first case. She is saddled with her brother/cousin (cousin, but adopted into her family) Matiu, an ex-con who is somewhat psychic and has a personal demon that just may be real. He works for the family car service, and is Penny’s official driver/body guard.

The case is a locked room mystery- a room locked from the inside, with not even a dead body inside, just empty clothes, an inscribed bowl, and blood. Lots of blood. Matiu finds the bowl irresistible, and, despite the crime scene tape, picks it up and has a nasty vision, of the “We cannot stop here this is Lovecraft country” sort. Things get weirder with every encounter- a visit to a dog fighting camp turns into a full on horror fest.

There is a bit of an X-Files vibe, with Penny the rational scientist and Matiu the psychic. The world that the story is set in seems pretty grim, but it is not post-apocalyptic grim. The author uses present tense narration, which I frequently find annoying but he made it flow. My big gripe with the story is that it ends on a bit of a cliff hanger, and I was not aware ahead of time that it was a series. Four stars.

The above is an affiliate link. If you click through and buy something- anything- from Amazon, they will give me a few cents. 

I received this e-book free from the Library Thing Early Reviewer program. 

Neither of these things influenced my review.