The Summer of Consequences Rolls On!

Rich over at The Horror Bookshelf just posted my first-ever interview, so if you're curious about my writing habits, the official word on what's coming next, and more about what you may see in the future (including some things that you won't have learned just from being a constant reader on this blog), make sure to check it out!

Keep watching for more to come on the Summer of Consequences tour, and if you haven't already, make sure to pick up a copy for yourself and see what all the rave reviews are about using the links on the side of this page!

A Con By Psychos, For Psychos: A Review of Adam Cesare's The Con Season

I swear I'll get back to posting some other content here soon, but for now, I have another new review for you. This time up: Adam Cesare's latest, The Con Season.

I've known about this one for a little while, as it was one of the latest round of potentials in the Kindle Scout program (and one that I did nominate, to be fair), but after it missed its chance there, Cesare decided to go ahead and put it out himself. For that, I thank him.

The "Con" in the title refers to "conventions," a staple for any horror fan or for anyone who works in the horror field. Clarissa Lane is one of the later, She may have seen her glory days pass her by, but she's still out there, doing what she can all while fighting the effects that years of show business and the natural worries of aging are having on her. After well-meaning mismanagement leaves her dead broke, she ends up accepting an offer to be the Guest of Honor at a newly-launched horror convention that promises to be the most interactive experience fans could ever hope for.

As a huge fan of eighties slasher movies, I can definitely see how heavily they inspired this story, which is best described as a mash-up between Friday the 13th and My Name is Bruce. Without giving too much away, while the majority of the characters fit neatly into the roles you'd expect them to, it's this very sense of familiarity that makes the story so fun to start with. And while they don't all get that much "screen time", with only a couple of exceptions they're explored enough that you still find something to attach yourself to in them.

The villains here also feel all-too real in today's celebrity-obsessed culture, and I had to wonder at times if Cesare hadn't heard of something like this actually happening before, or if maybe his fellow convention-goers might want to keep a closer eye on him in the future. I did find it beautiful that there was no great motivation behind why they did what they did other than they could do it, and had the spare money to waste on doing it. It's quite possibly one of the most realistic motivations I've ever seen for a horror bad guy.

In a move that I personally found both irritating and genius, Cesare doesn't even let you off the hook at the end. While I'm sure he knows what the final outcome was, he leaves it up to the reader to figure out whether it's got the nice PG-13 horror ending, or the brutal and bloody unrated one. I have to wonder how many people who read this will go in either of those directions with it. I picked my ending; and whether it's the same as yours or not doesn't really matter. It adds a touch that makes the story personal to the reader without being overly vague, and I applaud that choice.

All in all, this was a fun, rip-roaring tear that evoked beautiful nostalgia for those bloody slasher days, all while feeling fresh and new. This isn't a story you've seen before, but it feels like one, which for me, was what made it worth the read to start with.

Kindle Scout doesn't know what they were missing.

4.5 / 5 stars

Get your copy of The Con Season from Amazon here!

The Disney Movie That Never Was: A Review of Shane McKenzie's Pretty Pretty Princess

I've got an interesting one for you today. It's by a horror author, but it's not a horror novel. The only way I can think to label it is fantasy fairy tale musical strangeness; but that's not a bad thing. Here's my take on Shane McKenzie's newest, Pretty Pretty Princess.

I’ve read Shane McKenzie’s work before, but it’s been either horror or bizzaro. If that’s what you’re expecting, Pretty Pretty Princess, his latest from Blood Bound Books is not either of those, though there are some hints of them here. Instead, it’s a fairy tale, and as the cover says, it’s a twisted one.

Prince Francis was banished from his home for not being “manly” enough for his father. Now he travels the land with his best friend, the talking pig Gavin, spreading word about his movement, the Princes for Ethical Treatment of Princesses (or P.E.T.P for short). See, he’s tired of the kings and queens locking their daughters away in towers and caves and dungeons then sticking monsters outside to guard them in the hopes that some brave knight will come and save them, thereby inheriting both the princess and her kingdom. Francis believes the Princesses should be free to choose for themselves, and wants everyone else to come around to the same way of thinking.

Then he gets himself swept up in one of the very quests he thinks abhorrent, and winds up meeting Pretty, a Princess, who’s undergone the traditional abuse. His hope isn’t that he’ll become her brave knight, but rather that she’ll help him spread the word about his cause, and change the world in the process. Naturally, things don’t exactly go according to plan.

Let’s go ahead and get this out of the way up front: this book does not take itself seriously. If you need any proof of that, you need look no further than Francis’s penchant for falling into a “song trance” where he sings about whatever’s on his mind at the time. And it’s not just him; when a tavern full of brutish soldiers does the same, you immediately see where’s McKenzie’s going with this. And it’s brilliant.

Every fairy tale trope you can imagine is on proud display here, from the Prince who’s too good for his own good, to the snarky animal companion that talks, to the wicked fool of a prince who ends up being the antagonist, to a final battle fought between men, goblins, a dragon, unicorns, flies, rats, and ducks. There were many points where I had to put the Kindle down so I could wipe the tears from my eyes as I laughed at the ridiculousness of it all, and felt safe doing so because I can’t imagine this was being played straight. When your tagline is “Disney on acid”, it’s kind of obvious where you’re going with it.

For all of that, the story is well-told, and the mental movie that played as I read was even animated in keeping with the theme. I don’t know about Disney on acid, but I can definitely see a bunch of disgruntled animators holed up in a room that reeks of pot smoke, hammering this out as a big middle finger to their bosses. And for the record: I would kill to see this as an animated feature one day. Just make sure to watch after the kids are in bed. No need to send them to therapy too soon!

All in all, this is the perfect thing to help you forget about your worries and stresses for a few hours, and left me hoping to see McKenzie do more in this strange style—or even world—sometime in the future!

5/5 Stars

You can get your own copy of Pretty Pretty Princess in either paperback or eBook from Amazon here!

Summer of Consequences - Review at The Horror Bookshelf

As the Summer of Consequences tour keeps rolling along, today I have a new review from Rich over at the Horror Bookshelf, so be sure to check it out, and keep watching for more on the tour!