Book Review: Oddities of West Blankshire by Dan Holst Soelberg

When I received Dan Holst Soelberg’s illustrated book, Odditites of West Blankshire: A Book of Odens Grebal, it immediately put a huge smile on my face. You see, the book contains short, witty and often morbidly funny two-line poems accompanied by beautiful black and white illustrations. For an Edward Gorey/Charles Addams fan such as myself, Oddities and its Victorian characters coupled with its dark humor was exactly my cup of tea!

However, I’ve had this book sitting on my desk for quite some time, so I must apologize to author Soelberg as well as to you, dear readers. It’s a shame I waited so long to review this absolutely enjoyable collection that depicts the eerily odd children of West Blankshire (hence the title). Now that I’ve taken the time to review the book, it shall still remain on my desk because I just love looking at it every once in a while, especially when I need a good giggle!

If I had a home big enough, I would frame every single page in the book and display them! The artwork is that spectacular and unique! I love the Victorian characters and how they are often paired with such unexpected and morbid fates.

Here is a little taste of one of the poems (for full effect it’s best viewed with Soelberg’s illustration):

Consumed by his unceasing feline perversion
Van surgically fused himself with his Persian

If you are a fan of dark humor and memorably strange characters, do yourself a favor and check out Dan Holst Soelberg’s astounding and amazing Oddities of West Blankshire!

The book is a limited edition, so hurry to get your copy today!!

Buy it on Amazon!

Book Review: The Picture of Contented New Wealth by Tariq Goddard

The Picture of Contented New Wealth is an intellectual horror story set in a creepy old house in the English countryside. Something evil has been lurking in its dark paneled walls for as long as the house has stood, but ever since the Conti family has moved in the presence seems more…malign.

The evil presence soon reveals itself as demonic in nature, no matter how unbelieving the secular family is. Mrs. Conti soon becomes possessed and her young son falls under her power. It is up to the incredulous Mr. Conti to find a way to save his family.

Here is the official book description:

“In the brilliant red doom of a Hampshire Sunset, Brigit Conti can hear a voice behind her ears that is not her own. Bed-bound, and complaining of a rare bone disease that no Doctor can diagnose, her husband fears that the house they have purchased is a portal through which an older, more malign energy has passed, possessing his wife and son. Through their successive deterioration, his secular and agnostic world-view undergoes a metamorphosis, drawing him to a strange man from the hills: the Rector, their unlikely saviour. Or are he and his family merely victims of their own self-serving yuppie way of life?

The Picture of Contented New Wealth is a gothic tragedy set in the nineteen eighties, bringing proper characterization and a literary sensibility to the traditional horror story. Its mix of generic elements and mystical realism deal with the irreducibility of evil and its successful normalization in to our daily and dominant reality.” 

This eloquent novel is not your typical haunted house or possession story. Author Tariq Goddard weaves some heavy philosophical and religious themes throughout the novel, yet “heavy” shouldn’t be taken to mean that they weigh the book down. These themes help bolster the book’s story and make perfect sense in the grand scheme of things.

Goddard makes wonderful use of the large house the Conti’s move into, called Tyger Tyger, which, of course, brings to mind William Blake’s poem The Tyger (“Tyger! Tyger! burning bright/ In the forests of the night,/What immortal hand or eye/Could frame thy fearful symmetry?”). And Tyger Tyger House certainly does burn bright…with all the fires of Hell! Its long, shadowy corridors, whispering voices, shadowy figures and things that just don’t seem right certainly sent shivers up my spine! The experiences the family members face in the house are downright unsettling, including their son claiming to play with the family’s long-dead cat or their au pere’s horrifyingly real nightmares.

Equally horrifying is the possession of Mrs. Conti. Her husband is so disbelieving of the supernatural that he thinks she is just mentally ill, but after his continued experiences with both the house, strange occurrences and his sick wife, comes to believe in the supernatural. Mrs. Conti’s attacks keep getting worse, her appearance changing along with her demeanor. Her transformation is chilling to read and yet you can’t help but wanting to read more.

I haven’t personally read any of author Goddard’s previous works, but I sincerely hope that in his literary future he decides to write another horror novel. The Picture of Contented New Wealth crawled deep under my skin and remained there long after I had finished reading it. Its metaphysical horror story will certainly get you thinking all the while you cower under the covers!

Order it on Amazon!

Book Review: Simon Snootle and Other Small Stories by Lorin Morgan-Richards

In this tiny tome, author Lorin Morgan-Richards has woven the most whimsically woeful stories this side of Edward Gorey! While the seven stories and their accompanying illustrations are sure to delight, the binding and the outside cover of the book are sure to thrill as well. For, you see, the book is all hand-bound by the author and has the look and feel of a book that will be treasured for many years to come. In fact, it feels more like an heirloom art piece from the Victorian era than a book, but then that would discount its many imaginative stories contained inside!

Book Description:

Simon Snootle and Other Small Stories describe seven misguided tales of humorous woe by several downtrodden characters that are simply looking to be themselves. The book begins with Simon Snootle, a meager young man who lived most of his life at the bottom of a cistern with neighborhood cats. He is not aware of any tragedy of the situation, but rather makes the best of it, knowing that eventually more things will fall in as he did.

Simon Snootle is a unique and peculiar book and those with an appreciation for darker literature and odd tales in the tradition of such Gorey classics as The Gashlycrumb Tinies will no doubt cherish this pocket-sized collection of “small stories”. Its hopeless gothic romantic stance coupled with dark satirical humor and whimsical illustrations will definitely appeal to kindred spooky souls of mine who don’t take themselves or life too seriously.

Buy it on Amazon!

Visit Lorin Morgan-Richards’ Official Site!

Book Review: Garden of Ghosts by Scott Thomas

I am absolutely enthralled by the Victorian time period. The whole gothic mystique of the period – from the aesthetic of the clothing and architecture to the morbid mourning photography and the ever-present obsession with death – just feels so morbidly romantic! So it was with pure delight that I delved into Scott Thomas’ The Garden of Ghosts, a collection of short ghost stories set in the Victorian era. Thomas has crafted an eerie, unsettling tome that perfectly captures the time period’s interest in the supernatural, not to mention that the romantically mysterious Victorian era seems like a perfect place to set ghost stories!

All of the stories are written in Victorian style and feel as if they were plucked right out of someone’s diary. From fog-shrouded London streets to the snowy New England countryside featuring haunted houses, murderous apparitions, fearsome expanses of fields and gardens, vengeful ghosts and more, Thomas creates subtly frightening tales in the vein of Ambrose Bierce and Edgar Allen Poe. Thomas’ stories creep under your skin, linger with you for days and follow you into many deep, dark nights.

My favorites in this collection include Rush-bearing, a startling tale whose horror sneaks up on you, the poetic and lyrical Pressed Flowers, the eye-opening Syringa Vulgaris, the Jack the Ripper tale Mr. Pickergill’s Unusual Oak-wood Box, the amusing The Haunted Tobacco, the disturbing story of suicidal sisters in In the Long, Weed-Haunted Summer and Winterberry, about unsettled ghosts of soldiers from the Revolutionary War. The rest of the stories are all equally enjoyable and I didn’t find one that disagreed with me. They all offer something different, and to my surprise each contains a different tone and voice so that no two are alike.

The stories have a delicate, polite way about them, but underneath their seemingly tame exteriors lies something chilling and shocking. Thomas usually waits until the end of a story to shock you with some ghastly revelation, but all the stories have an underlying sense of dread that run throughout them. Make no mistake, these stories will stay with you long after you’ve read them and will haunt your waking and dreaming moments! On more than one occasion I had nightmares about spectral spooks after indulging in Thomas’ tales before bedtime!

The Garden of Ghosts is a very limited edition (only 100 books were printed) published by Dark Regions Press, so I urge you to get your copy…before it’s too late! It is truly a hauntingly beautiful collection of ghost stories and is unlike anything out there today!

The Garden of Ghosts is now available on Amazon!