It’s release day for a few authors whose work I really dig. Normally, I would send a few tweets across social media to get word out, but I wanted to take a little time to chat about these guys, their stuff, and hopefully convince you to load your Kindles with horror.
Practitioners comes from Matt Hayward and Patrick Lacey. If you’ve ever read these guys before, you know you’re in for a trip. If you haven’t ready them yet, it’s time to start.
Hayward’s What do Monsters Fear? is one of my favorite horror novels of the last few years. It’s pulp paperback fun that remains grounded in earnest with an emotional core.
I’ve read most of Pat Lacey’s work. In the interest of full disclosure, he’s a good friend of mine. That said, I confidently recommend him–though if I were hard-pressed to choose a favorite, it’s a toss-up between A Debt to be Paid and Dream Woods.
Here’s what Amazon says about Practitioners:
Dreams aren’t just for the sleeping.
After the murder of his wife, Officer Henry Stapleton struggles to move on. He begins experiencing nightmares that seem more like reality. Far beyond simple grieving. Looking for answers, he visits a mysterious new healing center, owned by real estate mogul Paul White. There’s just one problem. The man doesn’t exist. Though his name appears on his properties, there is no evidence of White’s birth, no social security number, no means of tracing whatsoever. Henry begins to believe White is to blame for these visions. And they’re spreading to others.
Joined by his partner George Patrick, the two travel deeper into the collective nightmare infecting Bellview, a once quiet town now in the grasps of unknown evil.
Reality may not be as concrete as Henry Stapleton once thought…
Kill Hill Carnage (love that title) is Tim Meyer’s latest. He has become one of the genre’s most prolific writers–this is his second release this month! What I like about Tim’s work is that he doesn’t feel obligated to hang around one subgenre for too long. He’s done quiet and creature horror quiet well and I read his Sharkwater Beach in one sitting last summer.
I haven’t read this one yet, but one look at this synopsis tells me that I’ll be visiting Kill Hill before the summer’s out.
These woods are dark and full of monsters…
In 1991, hell was unleashed upon Saint Christopher’s Summer Camp for Kids. The killers left behind piles of bodies and rivers of blood. Some say a family of inbred cannibals was responsible. A masked psychopath with a butcher’s knife is another popular theory. Some still believe a camp counselor lost his mind and went crazy on everyone with an axe. But there’s also the mysterious, derelict factory that sits nearby, atop Kill Hill. A place where urban legends are manufactured, the grotesque and bizarre.
Twenty-five years later, the factory on Kill Hill is still said to be operational, but no one can get near it. It’s safely guarded along with the secrets within. But there are a few loose strings and hitman Frank Harmon has been sent to tie them up. His kill list is short, but the night is long and full of unspeakable horrors. With the help of a few college students on an impromptu camping adventure, Frank must contain the mess at Kill Hill before it spreads to the neighboring towns. Before it infects the entire country. Before it invades the entire world.
From the fantastical, high-octane mind of Tim Meyer, author of Sharkwater Beach and In the House of Mirrors, comes his most frightening tale yet! Summer camp this year is at your own risk.
And, look, it’s my blog, so in closing you’re going to hear a little bit about my latest release, Under the Blade, too. If you like your horror combined with a sprawling small town mystery, then visit Forest Grove this summer and order yourself a copy today.
It’s a great time to be a reader. There’s lots of new horror out there, no matter your poison.
Happy reading.
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