Review: I'LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS by Andrew Wolter

It has been too long since we've heard from one Andrew Wolter.

The man is a prolific writer with many, many irons in the fire right now but just in time for the holidays, he has found the time to time to bestow a scary little stocking stuffer upon us, I'll Be Home For Christmas.

I'll Be Home For Christmas is the story of Jessie Sutter, all alone in the family home after the death of his mother, dealing with the first Christmas since her passing.  Christmastime holds the fondest memories of his childhood for him, because it was a time when the family acted as a family; no fighting, no screaming, only peace.

Wolter savors every word he writes and just as swirling wine in a glass releases the wine's bouquet, his storytelling swirls around us, enveloping us in his words.  You will keep reading til the end, as I did, as Jessie recalls a surreal meeting with Santa, the secret that Santa gave him and the reason why his hair and beard are white.

I'll Be Home For Christmas is a delicious little tapas of a tale, a tasty morsel to tide us over til Wolter's next big book and you will devour it in one sitting.  It's dark, it's glam...it's Christmas.

Happy Reading!



(This counts towards the 2013 Horror Reading Challenge hosted by Midnyte Reader)

Miscellany

Some more interesting tidbits from the web:

Andrew Wolter has released the first chapter of his New Mythos novel Seasons in His Abyss  here; the novel is due for release in Fall 2012.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia has a very interesting post up called "Two Racists for the Price of One" that discusses Robert E Howard and H P Lovecraft, their beliefs and writing today in the genres these two men helped create.  Her and her partner Paula R Stiles also have an amazing new anthology in the works but they need help in funding the project; you can read more about  Sword and Mythos here and here, plus the ways you can help give this new project wings.

Also, blogger Jessica Strider of Sci-Fi Fan Letter has a post here that features a very inspirational endcap display that she created at the bookstore she works at, that itself draws inspiration from a series of posts done earlier this year by that prolific bloggess Sarah from Bookworm Blues; as both Jessica and Sarah point out, disabilities in science fiction and fantasy is a very important but under discussed topic.  Please take the time to read the posts written by Sarah and seek out the books from Jessica's still growing reading list.  You will find it a very enriching experience.

Happy reading!

Review: Much of Madness, More of Sin by Andrew Wolter (Shadow City Press)

Much of Madness, More of Sin is the first short story collection from Andrew Wolter and what a twisted and erotic journey he takes us on!  In these tales men are driven to desperate acts and gods and devils seduce unsuspecting souls into darkest sin...

...The Feast of Bacchus is weird and erotic and sets the tone for the rest of the collection.  In it, a young man is getting ready to stop hustling on the streets but the city's celebration of the god of wine may be the wrong night for one last trick... 

...Jailed is a story of a desperate man who is given the chance to escape his own personal torture of suspecting his lover of cheating; but in confronting his fears, he may have traded one hell for another...

...If Not For Death reminded me of an old Tales From The Crypt story with its lost souls rising from the dead to extract their vengeance...

...Everlong is a short, sad love story that tells us True Love reaches from even beyond the grave and never lets go...

...Being Human is another type of love story with a dark twist that involves madness, obsession and murder...

...In the Shadow of Hades  is a story about a lonely abused girl trying to fit into the wrong circle of friends; but the girls she befriends are only playing a game with her, a game with terrible consequences...

...The Baths at the End of the Road  is a creepy tale of sex and horror and is definitely one of my favorites in this collection.  In it, the kinky scene of a bath house becomes a nightmare from hell that the protagonist has to escape from or be trapped inside the bath house forever...

...Trick Of Fate is the second story in the collection to feature a serial killer, one with a crazed personal mission that an unsuspecting young street hustler falls victim to; can another young man stop the killing and find redemption at the same time?

...Joseph's Request is an erotic story of possession that I thought perfectly blended sex and horror; another stand out!

...A Cub's Tail is about a youth with daddy issues on a daddy hunt with an ending that is as surprising as it is gruesome!  I actually said "Ooh Andrew, no you didn't!" while I was reading this!

...Much of Madness, More of Sin, the closing story is the longest and most transgressive in the collection and my favorite.  In it madness and sin culminate in a tale that made for both erotic and yet discomfiting reading.

I really enjoyed Much of Madness, More of Sin.  All the supernatural elements are properly otherworldly and seem even more horrific up against the background of the Phoenix, Arizona area that Wolter knows so well; contrasting our own familiar world with the unspeakable nightmares that he visits upon it, Wolter is able to permeate his work with a restless sense of anxiety.  The pacing is quick but I still felt I got to know the characters and cared about what was happening to them.

Much of Madness, More of Sin is a great introduction to Andrew Wolter's work and writing style.  I know he has something special planned with his upcoming New World Mythos that will delve even deeper into madness and sin, so I can't think of a better way to gear up for that tentacled horror then to loose yourself in this collection.  It would be a sin not to!




You can purchase Much of Madness, More of Sin here.