Dark Fiction Review: Happy Bunny and Other Mischiefs

 

Dark Fiction Review: Happy Bunny and Other Mischiefs

Review by Casey Douglass

I’ve always been a fan of short story collections, especially those that feature weird, unsettling and thought provoking stuff. Rebecca Gransden’s Happy Bunny and Other Mischiefs is an assortment of fourteen twisted horror tales that comfortably fit this description, from the reality bending and unease inducing, to the stomach turning and “Ugh!” producing.

As a gamer, I’d have to say that my favourite story of the lot is Fuck It Cat and the Mod Hex From Hell. It’s a cautionary tale about accepting any offers or deals from random people in a pub. In this case, it just so happens to be a games console, and of course, the price is too good to be true. The console happens to have a game already installed, and it invites the player to create an avatar with certain things in mind, some relating to the real world. To say more would be to spoil the tale, but the story offers a pleasing glimpse of the dire consequences in hastily created player characters, and they are not just the “getting your warlock to level fifty and then realizing you can’t stand the playstyle” variety.

Another story that stood out for me is ReWipe, one that also happens to feature technology. This one takes place in a basement archive where two work colleagues, Nathan and Scott scour old VHS tapes, photos and other physical media for interesting stuff. The story begins with them discussing the announcement that there is officially nothing left to find on the internet that hasn’t already been shared. They are poised to start raking the money in as requests for what they have found go through the roof. Strange things begin to happen though. Nathan finds that clicking “like” on things on social media no longer works, and suddenly finding himself unable to “like” things online causes a kind of existential crisis for him. A clever and fun tale with food for thought about the way our technology use can derail our minds.

The final story that I wanted to mention is Slug Slick. It involves two brothers, Dimos and Yuri, a quiet stretch of road, and a dangerous game with some sinister slugs. Once the reader learns what a slug slick is, we are then treated to some serious consequences, but consequences that reveal a far bigger horror than the capers of two young boys. This is another story where technology plays a role, and one in which it is used in a disturbing and quite obscene way. What makes this story even more startling is the way that after reading it, I could fully imagine said technology being made in the real world, as us humans are a silly, profit-led bunch, with one eye on the sack of gold and the other looking everywhere except at the harm being caused.

I won’t go into any more detail about the other stories as I really don’t want to spoil them. I will say that my favourites were the ones that gave me food for thought or made a comment on certain elements of modern day life, such as industrialisation or thrill seeking. The others fell more into the kind of squishy quirky horror that seemed to carefully balance the gore with a kind of cosiness that kept things fun. Each story felt just the right length and none outstayed their welcome, which is a tricky thing to achieve. As far as some of the other themes, there are maggots, strange hybrid creatures with curious powers, cannibals and sacrifices, to name but a few; so something for everyone!

If you enjoy short horror stories and you’d like to take a closer look at Happy Bunny and Other Mischiefs, you can find it on Amazon.

I was given a review copy of this book.

Book Title: Happy Bunny and Other Mischiefs

Book Author: Rebecca Gransden

Published: 13th August 2024

Pages: 158

ISBN: 978-1445215570

Price: £12.30 (Paperback), £2.99 (Kindle).

My New Book Horrifier is Available on Kindle Now!

When I was a kid and on a long car journey, I would often imagine what it would be like if the distant traffic was vaporised by aliens, war, or even a marauding giant. As an adult, I still find myself doing this in a variety of circumstances; the more boring the situation, the bigger the challenge in spicing it up a little.

Early last year, I decided to create a collection of ten dark tales, each set in its own so-called boring situation. I imagined some suitable scenarios, and fed them through the ‘horrifying’ machine that is my brain. If, as John Milton says, our minds can make a heaven of hell and a hell of heaven, at the least, mine should be able to inject some interesting, darkly twisted elements into mundane activities.

So that’s what I did. How would I make a queue at the post office interesting? Or someone gazing out of the window? Or someone eating in a quiet restaurant? You’ll have to buy Horrifier in the Amazon Kindle Store to find out!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09PHCXWHJ - Amazon.com

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09PHCXWHJ - Amazon UK

If you have a Kindle Unlimited Subscription, Horrifier can be also be read as part of that.

Dark Fiction: What Monsters Do For Love

Love twists people into strange shapes. It can make monsters of the nicest people, and sometimes, turn a monster into something a little less monstrous. 

What Monsters Do For Love is a new horror anthology from Soteira Press. It consists of 3 volumes, each stuffed with tales of human and inhuman monsters; the shapes that love twists them into. 

My own tale: The Corrupter, is in Volume II.

Amazon links: Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3.

Bloody Red Nose: Fifteen Fears of a Clown Out Friday 13th

Bloody Red Nose: Fifteen Fears of a Clown Out Friday 13th

Bloody Red Nose: Fifteen Fears of a Clown is a new anthology of dark tales, tales in which the clown is the victim or hero, rather than the gurning evil-grin wearing psychopath. This particular anthology contains one of my own dark tales too.

The blurb: In a world filled with menace, dare to paint on a grin. The world is full of images of scary clowns: packs of grinning figures with knives plaguing towns; pom-pom clad serial killers; loners who like children in the wrong way. But clowns can be a force for good: it takes a kind heart to put other people’s joy first; keeping children entertained is honest work; what better disguise than one that makes the villains laugh? 

What if, rather than being childhood-spoiling serial killers, clowns were the victims or heroes of the story? When all the children at a party are poisoned, an entertainer’s profession and past both make him a prime suspect. An anti-corporate prankster discovers his guru might be just as callous as the capitalist world-view he claims to reject. A clown attempts to redeem the image of his profession by saving a group of teenagers from a serial killer. And twelve more stories of clowns facing humanity’s baser natures.

Bloody Red Nose: Fifteen Fears of a Clown releases tomorrow, Friday the 13th September 2019, and is available from the following retailers, among others, with the paperback costing £7.99 and the eBook version coming in at £3.99.

Amazon:

Paperback: https://smarturl.it/BloodyRedNosePrint

Kindle: https://smarturl.it/BloodyRedNoseKindle

Kobo:

https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/bloody-red-nose

Barnes&Noble:

Paperback: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bloody-red-nose-david-r-higgins/1133395384

eBook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bloody-red-nose-dave-higgins/1133387784

iBooks: 

https://geo.itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1479227618 

Book Review – The Mammoth Book of Kaiju

Book Review – The Mammoth Book of Kaiju

Review by Casey Douglass

Kaiju are back in focus once again, due in no small part to the Pacific Rim sequel hitting cinema screens around the country. If you are in the mood for yet more monster-created destruction, The Mammoth Book of Kaiju is a fairly hefty tome (580ish pages) that manages to squeeze in twenty seven tales featuring all kinds of leviathan-based shenanigans.

Blurb: Now, for the first time, a definitive anthology that gathers a wide range of larger-than-life short fiction with creatures that run a gargantuan gamut: the stealthy gabbleduck of Neal Asher's Polity universe; Gary McMahon's huge sea-born terror; An Owomoyela's incredibly tall alien invaders; Frank Wu's city-razing, eighty-foot-high, fire-breathing lizard; Lavie Tidhar's titanic ship-devouring monstrosity; a really big Midwest US smack-down related by Jeremiah Tolbert . . . and many more mega-monster stories to feed your need for killer kaiju!

I did dabble with the idea of giving a short opinion on each story, but with twenty seven to do, I think I`’ll just mention the ones that really grabbed me.

The Lighthouse Keeper of Kurohaka Island, by Kane Gilmour creates a world in which only first-born teenagers can see the world as it really is. That tropical storm devastating an island is actually a kaiju fighting with another creature, but the adults just can’t see it, save a select few who never lost their ability. I really liked this tale as the idea of people not being able to see creatures of this size was something that I hadn’t encountered before.

Postcards From Monster Island, by Emily Devenport is a tale with a different tone. An ill person finds themselves trapped in a city being “ravaged” by strange creatures. The difference with this tale is that they are not as hostile as they first seem. A refreshing change from the usual murderous tone of kaiju actions.

Seven Dates That Were Ruined by Giant Monsters, by Adam Ford. This tale is exactly as it sounds, following a truly luckless individual as they try to find love, but are thwarted each time by bloody monsters kicking off and ruining things. There is a comical element to this story and I quite enjoyed the way the existence of monsters is normalized. A little like opening the fridge and finding a baby kraken in the bottled water. Instead of screaming, it’s a case of “Oh bloody hell, not again!”

Running by Martin Livings. We live in a world were people love to do extreme things, like running ultra-marathons across deserts or parachuting from space. This story sees a group of runners that want to get in on the earth-rippling ground-shaking opportunity a walking kaiju presents. Again, a very novel tale that made me think about something that had never occurred to me before.

The Kansas Jayhawk vs. The Midwest Monster Squad, by Jeremiah Tolbert. This story is set in a world in which kaijus are created as part of the daikaiju economic stimulus plan, a plan for a post-scarcity economy in which there is a surplus of human labour. These kaiju roam particular areas and fight their neighbours, the damage they cause creating jobs and industry as they go. This tale follows a group of friends who want to get as close as possible to the action, but I must admit that I found the backdrop to the tale a little more interesting than the relationships between the humans.

The Mammoth Book of Kaiju is an eclectic read. Many tales feature stronger sci-fi elements, others are set in more traditional fantasy worlds. What unites them all is a love of the massive, the powerful, and the way that humans react when their status is reduced to that of a flea on a dog’s back. A few of the tales were a little too “weird” for me to really connect with, but I still valued reading them none the less. The Mammoth Book of Kaiju probably has at least a few tales that anyone would enjoy, and I would say that I thoroughly enjoyed at least twenty of the twenty seven tales. If you like large monsters, you should definitely check it out.

I bought this book with my own money.

Book Title: The Mammoth Book of Kaiju

Author: Various

Publisher: Robinson

ISBN: 978-1-4721-3564-3

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My Dark Tale 'Unravelled' to be in Irrational Fears Anthology

My fiction writing has sadly slipped since the start of the year. I did however, find something in an issue of one of my writing magazines that made me feel I had a chance with a submission. That submission was for FTB Press' Irrational Fears anthology and, I am happy to say, my story Unravelled was accepted. This is another great milestone for me when it comes to my writing so I am very chuffed. Stay tuned for more info.

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Dark Book Review – Death’s Realm

Written By Casey Douglass

Death’s Realm is the latest horror anthology from Grey Matter Press. It features sixteen tales that investigate what might happen when we expire and where we might end up after the event, many looking on the darker side of the available possibilities.

“Whether we choose to think about it or not, somewhere ahead of each of us on this road of life is a dark intersection where everyone will certainly arrive,” said Anthony Rivera, Grey Matter Press publisher and DEATH’S REALM editor. “It’s this much-dreaded and deeply mysterious convergence between life and death where the exceptional horror stories in DEATH’S REALM take place.”

I’ve read a fair number of Grey Matter Press’ anthologies and have come to know a little of what to expect, the twisted vistas, the warped characters and The Outer Limits style unhappy endings. Does Death’s Realm deliver another dose of what ails you? Read on to find out.

First, a brief summary of the stories:

Omniscopic by Rhoads Brazos – A lovely dark science tale that made my skin scrawl. Sometimes, scientific techniques reveal things better left unseen and unknown.

Some Other Day by John F.D. Taff – A unique way of showing that loss can cause all manner of problems if it isn't expressed properly.

Haunter by Hank Schwaeble – What happens while you sleep? Normal things I would imagine, but imagine if ghastly things happened! This story paints that picture.

Burial Suit by John C. Foster – An ex-con decides that his dead father mustn’t go to the next life alone; with bloody consequences for a number of people.

Nine by Aaron Polson – Two children and their anthropologist mother struggle to come to terms with loss, especially when it seems to entwine with her studies of a lost tribe.

Penumbra by Jay Caselberg – A tale following the efforts of a dead man to contact the ‘loved one’ he left behind. Flights of fancy and things not being all they seem make this a great read.

Foxhole by JG Faherty – Futuristic jungle warfare and companionship as two friends cross more than physical borders in their journey home.

Drowning by Gregory L. Norris – Water and the fear of drowning haunt a Titanic survivor to such a degree that his whole life is tainted by the fear of them and the ghosts they contain.

The Weight by Jane Brooks – Emotional and psychic baggage is given sinister form in this tale of one woman’s struggle for life.

Harder You Fall by Brian Fatah Steele – Necromancy and an uneasy association with your mentor all merge in this story of deceit and corruption.

Mirrorworld by Martin Rose – A Satanist tricks a man into becoming another item of curiosity in his apartment.

March Hays by Matthew Pegg – Convalescing after WWII, a man discovers that a place he knew as child has become the domicile of strange beings.

High Art by Karen Runge and Simon Dewar – A man who loses his wife is enjoying life now that she’s gone. He soon comes to regret his part in things however.

A Pirate’s Ransom by Jay O’Shea – Pirates get far more than they bargained for on an old abandoned freighter.

To Touch The Dead by Paul Michael Anderson – A psychic reader examines objects from the lives of the deceased and gets far more than he expected.

You Only Die Once by Stephen Graham Jones – A strange tale of death and waiting complete with bizarre creatures and dark rules.

Thoughts

As was stated at the start, each tale in this collection deals with the afterlife and issues that could arise if certain states and beliefs were true. As a consequence, the tone is unremittingly bleak, as would be expected. Stand-out tales for me were Omniscopic, Penumbra, Foxhole and March Hays.

Ominscopic has the air of ‘mad scientist’ about it, all crackling energies and forces best not tampered with. The descriptive passages that cover the bleak discovery paint a very detailed picture of something truly hideous. I liked it very much.

Penumbra takes place mainly in the wishy-washy fluid-like realm of the dead and is a love story unlike any other I’ve read. The language used and the shifting reality of what is happening make it a riveting read.

I enjoyed Foxhole for its mixture of seemingly traditional jungle warfare with super-advanced weaponry. I enjoyed the narrative as well but the setting won my heart.

Finally, March Hays was another favourite as it’s set in a seemingly normal world before little bits of ‘sinister’ start to creep in. I like it because it anchors the strange to the normal, rather than being disconnected and fluttering free. It’s also a story in which the reader doesn’t see all that is going on until the end.

The other tales are all likeable for varying reasons and I didn't actively dislike any of them. Death’s Realm paints a bleak picture of the afterlife and life in general. This I cannot applaud more. I give Death’s Realm 4/5, an enjoyable trip into realities not really meant to be known, written by authors who have visited them, in mind at least, many times over.

Visit the Grey Matter Press page here for more info.

I was given a free copy of this book for review.

Book Title: Death’s Realm

Book Author: Anthology

Publisher: Grey Matter Press

Released: 3rd December 2014

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Dark Fiction - Inheritance and Four Flash tales in Print

You can now find five more of my dark tales in two new Darker Times Collections. They were printed as a reward for placing in the Darker Times competitions during last year and into this one.

• Darker Times Anthology Volume 7 : My short Cthulian horror Inheritance.
• Darker Times Collection Volume 2 : Four pieces of Flash Fiction - Original, Mirror, Deep & Distance.

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Dark Fiction - Pollywocker in Print

The Darker Times Anthology Volume Six is now out in paperback and ebook format on Amazon. My story Pollywocker is inside, as I placed in the Darker Times competition and my prize was to be included. It's not like having my own book out but it's a step in the right direction at least. It's nice to know my work is out there in a physical form, which is refreshing when it has all been digital to date.

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