Review of: 'The Stake' by Richard Laymon
As quoted by Stephen King, "If you've missed
Laymon, you've missed a treat". His novel, The Stake is no exception
to this rule. He tells the story of horror writer Larry Dunbar and his close
friends who, whilst investigating an abandoned ghost town, stumble across
what appears to be a very old corpse of a naked woman. So what you ask?
The woman has a stake rammed through the middle of her chest.
As you can imagine, being a horror writer and all, Larry discovers he has
a story in this and for the life of him cannot stop thinking about the dead,
punctured woman. Burning questions centering around vampirism and murder
plague Larry until he decides that there is only one way to answer them;
pull out the stake.
To quote Dean Koontz as I have found this to be true; "No one write like Laymon and you're going to have a good time with anything he writes."
By S.D.
Review of: Llewellyn's Witches' Datebook 1999.
This practical little number I picked up at a local
mystical paraphernalia shop. It features beautiful illustrations and art
by Kathleen Edwards and Anthony Meadows throughout the book that make it
a delight to browse through. With text by D.J.Conway, Estelle Daniels, Gerina
Dunwich, Mario Furtado, Kirin Lee, Eadin McCoy, Caroline Moss, Ann Moura,
ShadowCat, Silver RavenWolf, And K.D.Spitzer, it contains fascinating and
useful information on:
Magical Timing Tools
The Eight Phases of the Moon
The Moon in the Signs
Magical Correspondences
The Origins of Halloween
The Future of Witchcraft
It contains great recipes and nice big spaces for each day of the year, each containing relevant notes including moon phases and quotes. A handy addition to any wiccans collection.
By S.D.
review of Joe Donnelly's novel; "Shrike"
The novel, Shrike, written by Joe Donnelly, dubbed
as the new King of horror, tells a chilling tale of a supernatural and merciless
murderer who loves to hide in the dark. The Town of Lavenford becomes its
victim, as it plagues the town with blood.
Jack Fallon is the one investigating the cruel and repugnant deaths, yet
he has no leads and no idea of who or what is responsible. And as they desperately
try to track the killer down, more bodies, mainly of young children, keep
appearing, sending Lavenford into a frenzy of fear. Then Jack comes across
a young Highland woman who has strange visions and soon as more dead bodies
are found, her visions begin to make a lot of sense. And it is she who has
the answers as to where to find the evil. The evil that has been given the
life of flesh and blood.
The Shrike is based upon the Butcher Bird. A bird then impales its prey
in trees, and is then able to shred its meal, and the killer takes on the
attributes of this bird, impaling its victims on hooks, and basically anything
that's sharp.
Joe Donnelly, a journalist by profession, has done a superb job on this
gruesome and sometimes graphic novel. Yet, it is his brilliant ability to
describe every detail which gets the reader to want more and more. He has
written five other novels, which are Bane, Stone, The Shee, Still life,
and Havick Junction, and has won several awards for research. And most of
his novels are based upon the ever colourful mythology of the Celts.
I for one love the novel Shrike, and it never bores me how many times I
read it. I just wish that I could write so brilliantly and stunningly as
one of my very favourite novelist, Joe Donnelly.
By Allysha Breadon.