#Lovecraft Read-Along - The Dunwich Horror (Season of the Witch conclusion) #witchseasoncm

Well, folks, I really dropped the ball on the read-alongs this year. I started reading The Dunwich Horror and got stuck. I hate to say it, but I'm not a fan of this story. Not boding well for my first Lovecraft read. Not that I won't still read more of his. So, I had to bypass reading  Poe's The Pit and the Pendulum and Lovecraft's The Dreams in the Witch-House. I'll have to pick them up later, or maybe next year.

SPOILER ALERT - DO NOT KEEP READING IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THIS STORY

In my reading of various analyses of Lovecraft's work, one thing seems to be said more often than not. His short stories are too long. I would have to agree. I honestly thought Dunwich was never going to end.

What I did like was the whole mystery of what was going on at the Whateley house, and the weirdness of Wilbur with his strange appearance and accelerated growth. And his horrible death when attacked by a dog...the reveal of what he really was...was a shocker.

I also liked the parts regarding the Old Ones and Wilbur's efforts to bring them into this world. What I don't quite understand is what kind of monster is Wilbur's twin. It seems to be some tentacled, octopus type creature. I really don't think it sounds very scary. Is that weird? I know others know a lot more about Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos than I do, and so would understand this more. Apparently, Lovecraft introduced the entity Yog-Sototh as one of the extra-dimensional Old Ones in this story.

Strangely enough, what made things anti-climactic for me was that I knew all along that the creature who was locked up in the house, and that they were expanding the house for, was Wilbur's sibling. So the big reveal at the end just wasn't that big of a deal for me.

What did you think? Is this a Lovecraft favorite for you, or are there others of his you like better?

Kicking off Season of the Witch featuring #Poe and #Lovecraft Read-Alongs #witchseasoncm

Today's the day! Happy October and Halloween season! For some reason, I'm especially psyched this year. How about you?

Here's a refresher on the Poe and Lovecraft stories we will be reading and the schedule.

Week One - The Mask of the Red Death, Poe - Discussion on October 7/8
Week Two - The Dunwich Horror, Lovecraft - Discussion on October  14/15
Week Three - The Pit and the Pendulum, Poe - Discussion on October 21/22
Week Four - The Dreams in the Witch-House, Lovecraft - Discussion on October 28/29

In addition, I'll be reading a TON of scary books this month and sharing reviews. I'm also looking for guest reviews on scary reads, and/or guest posts on favorite spooky topics. Get in touch!

It's going to be a frightfully awesome Autumn!

Don't forget, the FrightFall Read-a-Thon starts Monday. You can sign up here at Seasons of Reading.

I'm also hosting a read-along of Stephen King's Salem's Lot over at my new reading community site, Gather Together and Read. Check it out here.

Announcing....The Eighth by Stephanie M. Wytovich #TheEighth

• Print Length: 135 pages
• Publisher: Dark Regions Press

After Paimon, Lucifer’s top soul collector, falls in love with a mortal girl whose soul he is supposed to claim, he desperately tries everything in his power to save her from the Devil’s grasp. But what happens when a demon has to confront his demons, when he has to turn to something darker, something more sinister for help? Can Paimon survive the consequences of working with the Seven Deadly Sins-sins who have their own agenda with the Devil—or will he fall into a deeper, darker kind of hell?

About the author

Stephanie M. Wytovich is an instructor by day and a horror writer by night.

She is the Poetry Editor for Raw Dog Screaming Press, an adjunct at Western Connecticut State University, and a book reviewer for Nameless Magazine. She is a member of the Science Fiction Poetry Association, an active member of the Horror Writers Association, and a graduate of Seton Hill University’s MFA program for Writing Popular Fiction.

Her Bram Stoker Award-nominated poetry collections, Hysteria: A Collection of Madness, Mourning Jewelry, An Exorcism of Angels, and Brothel earned a home with Raw Dog Screaming Press, and her debut novel, The Eighth, is simmering in sin with Dark Regions Press.

Learn more about Stephanie at her website and follow her on twitter @JustAfterSunset.

Praise for The Eighth

"The Eighth is a stellar horror debut from Stephanie Wytovich. An intimate, painful map of personal and literal hells that would make Clive Barker proud."- Christopher Golden, New York Times best-selling author

"Stephanie Wytovich's The Eighth is a savage tale of betrayal, regret, and the dark side of love in its many forms. The poetic imagery she sprinkles throughout balances the brutality with beauty." Chris Marrs, author of Wildwoman and Everything Leads Back to Alice

"A fierce and emotionally intense debut."- Craig DiLouie, author of Suffer the Children

"A brilliant debut from a major new talent, full of darkness, fire, and devilry. Indeed, the sins in this novel are so well realized that I fear just a little for Ms. Wytovich's soul."- Rio Youers, author of Westlake Soul and Point Hollow

“The Eighth is one of the most exciting books to come along in 2016 and one of the best debuts of the last decade or so. Wytovich is at the top of her game and gaining momentum like a runaway freight train, and you’ll be doing yourself a great disservice if you miss out on this monumental and hugely entertaining read.” – This is Horror

Buy the book

You can pre-order this book through Dark Regions Press website in e-book, trade paperback, and hardcover deluxe signed collector’s edition. They will be shipped in November.

Want to Feature?

If you’re a media site, blogger, or radio/podcast host, and you’d like to feature Stephanie Wytovich or review The Eighth, please contact Erin Al-Mehairi, publicist, at hookofabook@hotmail.com.

Guest Review: Jinx High by Mercedes Lackey #witchseasoncm

Book Cover Photo Credit: TOR

Book Review: Jinx High by Mercedes Lackey
Publisher: TOR
Publication Year: 1991

By Steven Arellano Rose, Jr.

Mercedes Lackey is mostly known for her high fantasy novels such as the Collegium Chronicles. Her settings are often Medieval-type, magical worlds. However, in her novel, Jinx High, Lackey deviates from her usual high fantasy elements and instead focuses on those of horror and dark fantasy in a modern day urban setting. It’s a deviation she does well.

Jinx High is a story about a witch who hunts down an evil force that is threatening the lives of a several teens. The witch is north-east coast romance writer Diana (“Di”) Tregarde. Di travels to Tulsa OK, the hometown of old college friend and fellow magician Larry Kestrel to teach a series of creative writing lessons in his teenage son Derek’s (“Deke’s”) high school English class. However, when she senses an evil magic that is trying to destroy Deke and several of his schoolmates, her mission goes beyond that of a teaching assignment. The evil force that Di must seek out and defeat? (Warning: potential spoiler ahead.) Deke’s fellow student and girlfriend, Fay Harper.

Published in 1991, Jinx High is probably one of the earliest horror stories to utilize the “monster” as hero--“monster” in that the character is of a type that has traditionally been portrayed as evil, such as a witch, vampire or zombie. So this twist comes at a time that predates the trend that it has become today in horror fiction.

The horror element climaxes in the prom night scene making the novel a tinge reminiscent of Stephen King’s Carrie but is far different from it. Still, the mood of the dark side of adolescence permeates and the black magic definitely enhances it. Yet the novel can hardly be classified as YA. Not only are they’re strong adult concepts and language, but the story is structured around the adult characters more than the teen ones. But even so, the 16-to-18 crowd can probably relate to it since that’s the age range of most of the adolescent characters.

Besides black magic, there are also plenty of monsters that it conjures in this story, such as demons that attack kids and spirits that possess a garage band’s guitars putting a curse on the kids at the prom.

The other element that makes this novel horror is that we are in several of the victims’ heads when they are attacked by the monstrous forces. Yet the story is also a quest to protect a population of students from being taken over by an evil sorceress. Because of this, we shouldn’t be too surprised if Fay is named after Morgan le Fay of Arthurian legend who has been portrayed as an evil enchantress. So the novel overlaps with the dark fantasy genre as well. However, interestingly enough, there is a bit of a science fiction element. Computer terms of the time (some that have survived through today) are applied to the magic such as the “construct”, the artificial human that Fay makes and that poses as her “Aunt Emily” but is really her slave.

The characters in Jinx High are well-developed and sympathetic, including Di. This is played out good in her relationship with Deke’s female friend and fellow classmate, Monica Carlin whom Di defends from a horde of demons. Also, Monica looks up to Di as both a model writer and mentoring friend. So the reader gets the sense of security through the interaction between Di and Monica. The story also does a good job balancing out the scenes of the teenagers with those of the adults. We both get the teen culture of the novel’s time period, such as in a scene with a group of kids playing a Nintendo, as well as that of the adults which particularly reflects a nostalgia for the ‘60s hippie culture so popular in the latter half of the ‘80s and through early ‘90s. After all, the kids’ parents are baby boomers.

The few flaws that I had with Jinx High were actually in Di’s character as much as she was among my favorites. For one thing, the story stays in her head too much when she thinks up solutions to challenges. For another thing, her verbal tick, “Jesus Cluny Frog”, though well utilized to distinguish her character, is overused to the point of annoyance on the reader’s part. But these flaws are out-weighed by the strengths mentioned above.

Even though Mercedes Lackey is mostly a storyteller of high fantasy set in medieval-type worlds, her Jinx High is really well-told as a modern day horror story. I recommend it to my fellow readers of dark supernatural fiction. It shows you that an author does not have to regularly write in a particularly genre to write it well.

Amazon/Kindle Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LHCFW5M

Visit Steven at his blog, A Far out Fantastic Site.

This post is part of...