Survive The Cursed by Ashton Abbott; The End is A Monster Mash-Up

 

Survive The Cursed by Ashton Abbott; The End is A Monster Mash-Up

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: There have been many Post-Apocalyptic works of fiction that predict the future will be overrun with supernatural monsters that will destroy humans and become the dominant species. Zombies are the most frequent survivors. Vampires have also had a shot at living forever in the Post-Apocalyptic wasteland. Occasionally, werecreatures and very rarely witches and other magic users come out to play in these future games. Well, Survive The Cursed seems like a novel length explanation that the author , Ashton Abbott couldn't decide which monsters to be the primary antagonists, so she decided on all of them.

In the future, humanity is reduced to living in enclaves on abandoned areas like Avery Winters does with her parents and other assorted humans in what used to be Eglin Air Force Base on the Florida panhandle. On a personal note, my father was in the Air Force and we lived in Eglin for a time from 1985-1987. I attended elementary school grades 2-4 there, so it is a fascinating and eerie experience reading about and imagining a place that I once lived becoming part of a Post-Apocalyptic universe. But I digress.

Anyway, Avery and the other humans hunt for monsters and kill them in brutal attacks. They study the movements, strengths, and weaknesses of witches, zombies, vampires, and werecreatures, find out where they are located, and kill or imprison them before they attack the humans. 

It's a difficult life and Avery has grown jaded and used to the constant fight against these monsters. She is old enough to remember life before the monsters, usually through minor things like eating cereal, wearing different clothes, or going to school or friend's houses. That's all gone as humanity has almost completely been wiped out except in small pockets and everyone has to fight and struggle to survive. 

Fighting for survival is such a new normal for Avery, that she is deprived of empathy, understanding, or compassion. She is so driven to kill the monsters that she ironically has lost her own humanity. She ignores the medical experiments that her father performs on the monsters that are captured. She vows that if one of her fellow soldiers is transformed into a monster, she would kill them without a second thought. She demonstrates this during an assignment when a couple of her closest friends are attacked by zombies and become zombies themselves. 

Avery only sees the monsters as cardboard adversaries until she is assigned guard duty over the imprisoned monsters. She is forced to look her enemies in the eye and converse with them. She particularly captures the interest of Whitney, a saucy temperamental Witch who wants to go down fighting and Mattias, an enigmatic and calm Vampire who wants to plead his case to his captors. 

The longer that Avery talks to and listens to her captives' perspective, doubt enters her mind. She questions the purpose of her fellow human’s, particularly her father's motives with his experiments. Avery admires Whitney's defiance and tenacity and is drawn to Mattias’s charismatic personality and almost human appearance. 

Before the monsters were a monolith, something easily destroyed and disposed of. Now she has to concede that they have names, identities, families, emotions, personalities, and possess admirable traits that she never considered. 

A twist occurs that causes Avery to challenge everything that she once believed. She is ostracized and her concept of friends and enemies have reversed. She sees humanity in those she thought of as monsters and monstrosity in those she thought of as human. It makes one wonder if there is any real distinction between human and supernatural characters and where the monsters begin and end. 

  

The Counterfeit Zombies of Noc (The Legend of Guts and Glory Freedom Fighters of Nil Book 2) by Jessica Crichton; Sequel to Dr. Fixit is Glorious

 The Counterfeit Zombies of Noc (The Legend of Guts and Glory Freedom Fighters of Nil Book 2) by Jessica Crichton; Sequel to Dr. Fixit is Glorious 

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: As this review contains spoilers, please read my review of the previous volume, Dr. Fixit's Malicious Machine . 

Even though Dr. Fixit Malicious Machine, the first book in Jessica Crichton’s The Legend of Guts and Glory Freedom Fighters of Nil series stars twins Trevor and Tabitha Tate AKA Guts and Glory respectively, Trevor is the main protagonist who tells the story and goes through the most changes. The second volume, Counterfeit Zombies of Noc evens the score by giving the spotlight to Tabitha and spinning the series into a deeper more cerebral direction.

When last we left our heroes, they were transported to a parallel universe called Nil by the enigmatic Dr. Fixit and were caught up in a gang war between Kids and Teens. They found their mother but lost their older sister after she was recruited to join the Teens. Their mother revealed the family's connection to this strange place and the truth behind this youthful war engineered by Dr. Fixit who is not what he seemed.

In this volume, the Tate twins and their new companions have to travel to the land of Noc to find out information from Marie, a former scientist who was a part of Fixit's past. Along the way they encounter zombies and other creepy creatures. Meanwhile, Tabitha is questioning her own self worth and the meaning to her name, Glory. Her reflection and intellect may end up being her only allies as her party dwindles and more Kids are abducted and brainwashed into becoming zombies.

Counterfeit Zombies of Noc is good the way other good second volumes of most series are. It raises the stakes, makes things darker, and plot and world building give way to deep characterization. 

The previous volume was dark enough in creating a parallel world where gangs of children fight gangs of teenagers and where teenagers are revealed to be mind controlled puppets who follow Fixit’s will. This volume increases that sense of abandonment and manipulation of other people's free will.

When the Twins and their friends first encounter the zombies, there is a bit of dark comedy as they stop pursuing the kids and then just as quickly wonder in befuddled confusion over why they are chasing them. This first impression makes the Reader think that it is going to be a parody of zombie movies, books, and shows. Maybe this volume might even be funny? But this might give the Reader and characters a false sense of security.

The Tates and their friends follow the zombies to their headquarters and they learn the circumstances of their brainwashing. Unfortunately knowing it and fighting against it are two different things. The zombies return to their programming and come after the kids. Worse in an almost Invasion of the Body Snatchers manner, most of the kids are brainwashed as well. 

In one chilling chapter, Trevor, Guts, is converted. It's eerie to see this once sweet brave kid who would have died to protect his sister now coldly stalking that same sister and treating her like an enemy that he must destroy.

After reading about the full effect of the zombie’s manipulation, it puts their introduction in a more disturbing light. Rather being a humorous random shout out to zombie media, it instead takes on darker implications. The hold on the zombies was temporarily broken to gain the kid's trust and lure them to their lair. A final reveal over who the zombies really are makes the hold on them even more sadistic and cruel. It's a deliberate ploy for the main villain to tighten one final screw of humiliation into these young people. 

Besides the darker plot, Crichton gives her characters depth, most notably Tabitha. While Trevor became Guts, leading by courage and valor, Tabitha is uncertain. She was once an intellectual, the brain to her brother's brawn. Now she is stuck with a name, Glory, that she doesn't understand.

In this world, everyone's names are either given by themselves or someone else who recognizes something unique about them. They could reflect their appearance like “Shark” (who has sharp teeth), convey their interest (“Books” the resident researcher and genius), or personality traits (the aforementioned “Guts.”)

This leaves Glory confused. Glory is such a loaded term one that doesn't seem helpful in battle so why is she one of the presumed heroes of legend? Asking others’ opinions doesn't help because they suggest “pretty,” “spirited,” and other adjectives that Tabitha does not feel that she is. 

Tabitha is crippled with self-doubt and anxiety that impairs her own defenses and abilities. In a strange Fantasy Science Fiction novel, this is a very realistic portrayal of someone with Anxiety. Fears and insecurity can overcome someone's life even if they aren't a hero destined to save a dystopia parallel universe. That person often downplays their achievements and talents as their questions and fears take over their lives. This is what happens to Tabitha. She rejects the name Glory for a time and considers herself a load to the group, something that their enemies gleefully use as a means to taunt and break her.

It is when Tabitha has to fight the zombies alone that she recognizes the power that was dormant and was waiting to be released. She recognizes that just as any group of fighters need Guts, they also need Glory, a light, a purpose, and a reason to keep fighting. In a climactic chapter, Glory truly accepts her name and her place in this world.

Crichton knew how to draw Readers into her world before and now knows how to keep them there. There are definite hooks for a sequel so let's see if she knows the best way to take her Readers out of that world.

New Book Alert: Cinema 7 by Michael J. Moore; Nightmare Inducing Zombified Children Are The Ultimate Fear In This Dark Disturbing Supernatural Horror

 

New Book Alert: Cinema 7 by Michael J. Moore; Nightmare Inducing Zombified Children Are The Ultimate Fear In This Dark Disturbing Supernatural Horror

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: I really thought after all the psychological thrillers and supernatural horrors that I have read and reviewed over the past five years, I thought that surely nothing could scare me. Yes folks, I was immune from nightmares. 

Clearly, Michael J. Moore was on a mission to prove me wrong.

Because no sooner than I began reading the first chapter of Moore's gruesome dark disturbing horror novel, Cinema 7 a chapter in which Kim, a little girl stabs her mother and mother's boyfriend at the behest of a monstrous figure in her room than my subconscious became severely affected. 

Not only does that lovely image begin the book but three other children do the same to their families leaving six parents dead and four children self made orphans and missing. Oh and right before these not so adorable tykes commit these horrific murders, they go through a change that seems to be a composite of the evil monster sexually abusing them then eating them alive.

 Not only do these kids become undead psychopaths but their bodies are altered to make them almost demonic with gravelly deep voices and orange lights in place of eyes. Ah yes, reading this book late at night with the lights off does wonders for an already fragile psyche that imagines killer demon children with glowing eyes. (The description does not do it justice. Trust me, Moore's writing style definitely makes the Reader shiver with unbridled terror.)

Unfortunately this attack is not an isolated incident. Kyle McIntosh, a local high school boy with a tenuous connection to where the murders take place (his former girlfriend, Claudia, lives in the same trailer park where they happened), runs into the children in their demonic glory. Terrified, he tells the police who surprisingly believe him (video camera footage also showed the kids). Unfortunately, attacks are starting to increase as this strange monster possesses more kids and more family members turn up violently murdered leaving Kyle, his friends, family, and his new girlfriend, Marie, to face this seemingly unstoppable army bent on violence, mayhem, and revenge.

The Nightmare Fuel is palpable throughout this book. It's the type of book where a seemingly happy family could one night fall prey to violence by their youngest child who barely understands what they are doing before they pick up a knife and slaughter their parents, older siblings, and pets.

 There are some ghoulish images of small infants unable to walk, all of a sudden springing up to commit murder. A toddler whose neck is broken during an escape attempt has a conversation with his older brother with his head leaning over what remains of his neck. And those eyes, the glowing eyes burn from the page into the Reader's souls. 

What also makes this situation more monstrous is how it starts and how it continues. I won't reveal too much but the monster is motivated by hatred at someone. Someone human did something horrible to begin this rampage and was never caught. Sometimes as horrible as the supernatural is, the natural, the human can be far worse.

There is also the fear over how unstoppable this attack is. The monster goes throughout the town attacking family after family. Even the protagonists' families are attacked. It is not understated how this attack traumatizes everyone involved. Almost a whole generation of an entire town's childrens are possessed and parents are violently killed. Those that survive are certain to have the worst kind of PTSD imaginable. All because one character did something horrible and another sought revenge by punishing everyone around them.

The fear factor of the monstrous children and their leader's motivations and origins are the most memorable parts of the book. It overshadows some of the downfalls of the book. Kyle's romance with Marie is the stuff of typical teen angst and brings down most of the plot, except when the attacks affect them personally. Also his earlier relationship with Claudia ends up being unnecessary, especially since she herself barely appears in the book and is mostly talked about barely shown. Kyle and Marie also make some questionable decisions that are probably meant to make the Reader suspicious, but since they are proven to not be important. They don't lead to anything except for the Reader's exasperated sighs over how foolish these characters act.

But what can't be forgotten is how terrifying the monsters in this book are. It is the type of book that is best read in the dark for a good scare but only after checking the hallways, through the windows, and the children's bedrooms for pairs of eerie glowing orange eyes.

New Book Alert: Voodoo Warning by R.E. Wood; Thriller About Plane Crashes and Zombies Is Reminiscent of 1970’s Films

New Book Alert: Voodoo Warning by R.E. Wood; Thriller About Plane Crashes and Zombies Is Reminiscent of 1970’s Films





By Julie Sara Porter


Bookworm Reviews





Spoilers: R.E. Wood’s horror novel, Voodoo Warning is reminiscent of those old disaster and horror films from the 1970’s. It doesn't have much in the way of deep characterization or themes beyond mere survival. But it makes up for that in genuine suspense, graphic description, and the kind of thrills that you expect from this kind of book.

The book begins on a passenger airplane in the 1970’s. It has many of the standard characters you expect in such a story: the stalwart Colonel with his fed-up wife, the doctor who is conveniently on board in case they need a medical emergency, the arguing couple and the hippy couple (this is the ‘70’s), and the hero caught in a love triangle between an innocent naive college student and a sharp tongue experienced school teacher, and of course the crew: the gorgeous flight attendant, the handsome pilot, and the loyal co-pilot. The characters are pretty flat. They are more like plot devices for the thrills and horrors to happen to them rather than people who are suffering because scary horrible and things are happening to them.


This is one of those books where the plane no sooner takes off than you know it's going to crash.

And crash it does. It crashes in the uncharted areas of Peru. The first couple of chapters make the Reader think this is going to be a survival story somewhere between Lord of the Flies and The Poseidon Adventure in which the survivors pull together and


find a way out becoming either closer because of the journey or turning on each other brutally. Unfortunately, the disappearing corpses (not to mention) the book's title) lead the book into horror-zombie territory.

There are genuine chapters that produce chills particularly when the characters enter a creepy mansion. They are being stalked by a sinister mambo and his bloodthirsty tribe. Yes, uncomfortable stereotyping is present in this novel too. Voodoo practitioners are the antagonists here. Though one character does the Readers a favor by differentiating the Voodoo practiced in this book from the Voodoo practiced in Haiti and New Orleans. However, most of the book features passages this side of Voodoo presented in Hollywood movies. The novel pays as much attention to real life spiritual paths as it does to its characters.

But that's not what is to be looked for or found in this book. Reality and characterization take a back seat to chills and scares. Wood delivers on those. Does he ever.
Many creepy moments occur when the characters are caught inside the mansion with the Mambo outside and they fall prey to creatures floating in and out of the shadows, chanting whispering among the trees, and a deep voice warning them to get out.


Not to mention that many of the characters are equipped with their own personal emotional baggage that already puts them on the edge. Couples fight. Lisa, the naive student has jealous eyes for Mary, the schoolteacher when she and Jim, the hero flirt with each other. Some characters are mourning the deaths of the other crew and passengers.
The atmosphere is scary enough when the creatures are outside allowing the supernatural creatures to creep in slowly with the emotional tension. When the Mambo unleashes his powerful attacks on the survivors, it is graphic and bloody, but almost not as scary as the tension that preceded it.


When the survivors are taken out one by one and some characters are witness to the rituals, it is everything you expect from a horror novel. There is blood here and mutilations there and a native tells the plane crash survivors how his mother died in a ritual when he was young. The chapters with the Voodoo tribe should produce some chilling mental pictures and nightmares.


However, for genuine fear, the build up is scarier than the execution. Sometimes, the creatures in the shadows are more terrifying when they are subtle and left to the imagination than when they are present in all of their gory glory.

Voodoo Warning is an exciting novel even if it's kind of predictable including the end which is one of the most clichéd obvious endings in the genre. But if you want a genuine scare for Halloween, this is a good suggestion for that. However, R.E. Wood wrote novels that are scarier and are better written making them more memorable as well as scarier.