Book Review

Quick Review: The Last Storm (2022)

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By Tim Lebbon

Available at AMAZON

With global warming out of control, large swathes of North America have been struck by famine and drought and are now known as the Desert. A young woman sets out across this dry, hostile landscape, gradually building an arcane apparatus she believes will bring rain to the parched earth.

Jesse lives alone, far from civilization. Once, he too made rain, but he stopped when his abilities caused fatalities, bringing down not just rain but scorpions, strange snakes and spiders. When his daughter Ash inherited this tainted gift, Jesse did his best to stop her. His attempt went tragically wrong, and he believes himself responsible for her death.

But now his estranged wife Karina brings news that Ash is still alive. And she’s rainmaking again. Terrified of what she might bring down upon the desperate communities of the Desert, they set out to find her. But Jesse and Karina are not the only ones looking for Ash. As the storms she conjures become more violent and deadly, some follow her seeking hope. And one is hungry for revenge.

Tim Lebbon brings us another, fantastic story that takes the usual dystopian future and turns it into something tangible and not a million miles away from where we are heading. Drought and famine are common place across North America and people are fighting to simply survive in the tough new landscape. Hope comes in the form of the mythical rainmakers, potential life-savers, who haven’t been seen for years. When one reappears and brings rain, it could be the answer to everyone’s prayers, or nightmares, as it isn’t just water that comes through.

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GNoH Review: Glorious (2022)

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Written by Joshua Hall, David Ian McKendry and Todd Rigney
Directed by Rebekah McKendry

After a breakup, Wes ends up at a remote rest stop. He finds himself locked inside the bathroom with a mysterious figure speaking from an adjacent stall. Soon Wes realizes he is involved in a situation more terrible than he could imagine.

Glorious is a well-written and directed film that is lean, fun, and gory. It has half a foot in some serious moral themes but doesn’t get bogged down trying to be too clever. It knows what it is, plays to those strengths and is a glorious example of what you can do with a contained horror.

Read the full review at Ginger Nuts HERE

GNoH Review: Darling (2022)

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By Mercedes M. Yardley

Darling has its demons. Cherry LaRouche escaped the claws of Darling, Louisiana at sixteen. When she is forced to return after her mother’s death, Cherry and her children move back into her childhood home where the walls whisper and something sinister skitters across the roof at night. While Cherry tries to settle back into a town where evil spreads like infection, the bodies of several murdered children turn up. When Cherry’s own daughter goes missing, she is forced to confront the true monsters of Darling.

Mercedes skilfully fleshes out all her characters and the backstories that have shaped their lives, slowly filling in the gaps and presenting each as distinct and unique.

Read the full review at Ginger Nuts of Horror HERE

Quick Review: The Thief of Broken Toys (2010)

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Author: Tim Lebbon

Available at AMAZON
ISBN-10: 0981297897
ISBN-13: 978-0981297897

When a father loses his son and his wife leaves him, he cannot tear himselfaway from the small fishing village where the boy’s memories reside. They’re all he has left. Thinking that his life is all but over, he takes to wandering the cliffs, carrying broken things that he always promised his son he would fix, but never did. They’re a sign of his failure, and they keep little Toby close. And then he meets the thief of broken toys, and everything begins to change…

I must confess, I was not very familiar with the work of Tim Lebbon before this volume hit the door mat. A prize involving a competition with The Last Storm and a Tarantula (I might tell you more when I review Storm) I had no real idea what to expect, but the cover blurb is intriguing so I got on with reading it as soon as I could.

At 150 pages, it didn’t take long.

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GNoH Review: Dark Stars (2022)

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Edited by John F.D. Taft

Created as an homage to the 1980 classic horror anthology, Dark Forces, this collection contains 12 original novelettes showcasing today’s top horror talent edited by John F.D. Taff. Within these pages you’ll find tales of dead men walking, an insidious secret summer fling, an island harbouring unspeakable power, and a dark hallway that beckons. You’ll encounter terrible monsters―both human and supernatural―and be forever changed. These stories run the gamut from traditional to modern, from dark fantasy to neo-noir, from explorations of beloved horror tropes to the unknown―possibly unknowable―threats.

Dark Stars is a celebration of the diversity, variety and joy of horror, an escapist delight to die-hard fans, and the start of a slippery, yet attractive slope for newbies.

So, grab a copy, settle in, and enjoy.

See the full review at Ginger Nuts of Horror HERE

Quick Review: The Shadow Glass (2022)

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By Josh Winning

ISBN-10 – 1789098610
ISBN-13 – 1789098617
Available at AMAZON

Jack Corman is failing at life.
Jobless, jaded and on the “wrong” side of thirty, he’s facing the threat of eviction from his London flat while reeling from the sudden death of his father, one-time film director Bob Corman. Back in the eighties, Bob poured his heart and soul into the creation of his 1986 puppet fantasy The Shadow Glass, a film Jack loved as a child, idolising its fox-like hero Dune.
But The Shadow Glass flopped on release, deemed too scary for kids and too weird for adults, and Bob became a laughing stock, losing himself to booze and self-pity. Now, the film represents everything Jack hated about his father, and he lives with the fear that he’ll end up a failure just like him.
In the wake of Bob’s death, Jack returns to his decaying home, a place creaking with movie memorabilia and painful memories. Then, during a freak thunderstorm, the puppets in the attic start talking. Tipped into a desperate real-world quest to save London from the more nefarious of his father’s creations, Jack teams up with excitable fanboy Toby and spiky studio executive Amelia to navigate the labyrinth of his father’s legacy while conjuring the hero within––and igniting a Shadow Glass resurgence that could, finally, do his father proud.

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GNoH Review: Burn Down, Rise Up

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Written by Vincent Tirado

Mysterious disappearances. An urban legend rumored to be responsible. And one group of friends determined to save their city at any cost. Stranger Things meets Jordan Peele in this utterly original debut from an incredible new voice.

Vincent Tirado’s prose is smooth and unfussy, but evocative and it draws you in. BDRU is a gateway drug for horror, perfect for any budding horror fans.

See the full review at Ginger Nuts of Horror HERE

GNoH Review: Classic Monsters Unleashed (vol. 1)

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Edited by James Aquilone
Written by various

Stories of famous monsters in a new horror anthology featuring Joe R. Lansdale, F. Paul Wilson, Jonathan Maberry, Ramsey Campbell, and many others. Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, the Bride of Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dr. Moreau, the Headless Horseman, the Invisible Man, the Phantom of the Opera, the Wicked Witch of the West–they’re all here, in this collection of horror short stories that reimagine, subvert, and pay homage to our favorite monsters and creatures. 

There is nothing too terrifying or too extreme here which feels fitting in many ways. Those classic films I was raised on, showing on BBC2 at 6pm in the UK when I was a kid, were never that scary. However, they were fun and still come with a reassuring element of nostalgia which is the same here. What we have is collection of stories that have the same source of influence but, with such a variety of writers, presents us with an eclectic mix of tributes to the Golden Age of Monsters.

See the full review at Ginger Nuts of Horror HERE

GNoH Review: Dark Stars

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Created as an homage to the 1980 classic horror anthology, Dark Forces, this collection contains 12 original novelettes showcasing today’s top horror talent edited by John F.D. Taff. Within these pages you’ll find tales of dead men walking, an insidious secret summer fling, an island harbouring unspeakable power, and a dark hallway that beckons. You’ll encounter terrible monsters―both human and supernatural―and be forever changed. These stories run the gamut from traditional to modern, from dark fantasy to neo-noir, from explorations of beloved horror tropes to the unknown―possibly unknowable―threats. (Amazon)

…Dark Stars is a celebration of the diversity, variety and joy of horror, an escapist joy to die-hard fans, and the start of a slippery, yet attractive slope for newbies.

See the full review at Ginger Nuts of Horror HERE