Carrying up some boxes that needed tended to, I sat them in the side kitchen and looked toward the backroom. The door was quite clearly closed. We then set out down the hallway, keeping our eyes and ears on alert. I paused by one particular doorway and opened the door wide, commenting to my father that our most recent investigations had uncovered quite a bit of activity inside. Leaving the door open, we preceded down the hall and into a room that was set up as a sort of museum of oddities.

We at once noticed several items out of place and  looked the room over thoroughly. Then I noticed that the side door,  that led to the kitchen, was open. The very one I had noted earlier being closed.

We stepped back out into the hall only to discover a chair was now there by the museum door. A chair that had not been there when we entered.

Moving further down the hall, the door I had left open was found to be closed.

Curiouser and curiouser.

And that’s how I spent my Thursday afternoon.

How was yours?

A captivating occult detective thriller by a master of the genre

Rated: 5 out of 5 stars

The first half of Descendant sucked me in from the get-go even though, after the first few chapters, I was not quite sure where the story was going. Still, I was captivated. This was due in large part to two things: (1) Freeman’s writing style and (2) the characters: The enigmatic Dr. Landon Connors and the FBI agents, Martin Crowe and Selina Wolfe. I recognized, immediately, that my imagination and my thirst for an adventure was now in the hands of a writer fully confident in his craft and completely in control of where ever he was about to take me. And, damn, can this guy turn a phrase. Bob Freeman is a hell of a wordsmith. One note of warning to readers, however: if you’re not at least moderately versed in esoteric lore and occult literature or even just words that were more or less common language back in the middle ages, you may find yourself puzzling over certain words and phrases peppered throughout the story. This is quite clearly Freeman’s realm, his comfort zone. He knows this stuff up one side and down the other and he doesn’t think twice about dropping terms like “eldrich power”, “widdershins”, “preternatural”, “magickal working’, “homunculus”, and so on, into the dialog or the descriptive passages. Not that it really matters. Trust me. Freeman’s writing is so good you’ll “get it” even if you don’t exactly know the meaning of a word here and there.

The primary characters, agents Wolfe and Crowe, are colorful, smart, emotionally driven, wise-cracking, resourceful, tough and just plain fun to watch. Er, I mean to read. Well, that’s just the thing. I always had the impression that I was actually seeing them, like watching a movie. Man, I love these two characters! They each have very distinct personalities that play off each other extremely well. If this was a movie, I’d have to say the casting was perfect. Wolfe and Crowe have a terrific chemistry going on.

And monsters? Your want monsters? Demons? Creepy, dangerous, hideous, shape-shifting creatures from Hell that will delight in ripping your beating heart out of your chest and then devour it like sucking down a slimy delicacy and then go looking for seconds? Then watch out. You’ve come to the right place. They’re everywhere, in the woods, in the shadows of back alleys. Hell, they could be your neighbors. Like I said, they’re everywhere. And that’s the problem. That’s what Wolfe and Crowe are all about. They’re demon hunters and they carry big guns, not to mention an assortment of magickal weaponry, bewitching spells and some pretty nifty psychic wizardry that comes in handy when the final showdown explodes across the pages of this exciting, masterfully written and highly intelligent thriller.

Shadows Over Somerset, my first novel, has been out of print for a while now. The first in the Cairnwood Manor series, its return to print is long overdue. In the next few months it should be available in kindle format, with Nook, ePubs, mobis and the rest to follow shortly thereafter. As you know, I’m not the biggest fan of eBooks (except for comics), but I see the writing on the wall. That’s not to say I’m abandoning print. A limited edition trade paperback and hardcover will be made available as well.

In time, Keepers of the Dead will follow suit and I’m planning something special, and experimental, for In Time’s Shadow, the third installment in the Cairnwood Manor series.

The Wolves of Cairnwood have been silent for too long. I’m bringing them back with a vengeance…

Landon Connors’ Caliburn

Three bedrooms, three baths… a two story library…
and a ghost in every room.

The Soft Whisper of the Dead
Charles L. Grant

Salem’s Lot
Stephen King

I Am Legend
Richard Matheson

Anno Dracula
Kim Newman

Interview with the Vampire
Anne Rice

Hotel Transylvania
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

Hard to argue with that list, with the only notable game-changing absences being Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist and Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite. Still, no need to quibble. All six entries are brilliant in and of themselves, but the only one with far-reaching impact, in my opinion, is Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire. It’s not my favorite of the lot as I prefer both ‘Salem’s Lot and I Am Legend to it, but the cultural significance of Interview is really unparalleled. Anne Rice redefined the genre in so many ways and, while the series got away from her in later books, those initial tales of Lestat were something altogether wonderful, magical, and innovative.

Your mileage, of course, may vary. Regardless of the outcome, these are six novels very worthy of inclusion in a competition to honor the centennial passing of the premier vampire novelist of any century. Bram Stoker’s legacy is as eternal as the fabled creatures of the night he immortalized in print.

I’m pleased to announce that I’m now on staff at the Crow’s Caw, joining reviewers Jassen Bailey, Nick Cato, Jordan Norton, Lee Thompson, and Sheri White, discussing and dissecting books both new and old. There are few things in this world I love more than books. I trust my reviews will continue to reflect that.

Dark forces are afoot in Vinewood, Georgia, a deceptively sleepy town where the dead don’t stay dead and a sinkhole is as sinister as it is deadly. Violent events both natural and supernatural build to a chaotic crescendo of horrors that will threaten the entire town and everyone in it.

An odd handful of townsfolk put their lives on the line to save the town — but the darkness may swallow them up before they have a chance.

“Hot and thick, the atmosphere reeks of earth, blood, and decay. The astringent air carries with it a sense of malevolence and resentment. No matter where you look, no matter how shallow you breathe, this town will touch you.”
—Kelly Tomblin, Horror-Web

Randy Chandler is the author of Daemon of the Dark Wood, the forthcoming mystery novel Dime Detective, and HELLz BELLz. He also co-authored Duet for the Devil with the late t. Winter-Damon and has contributed short stories to numerous anthologies, including Acid Grave’s own Living After Midnight: Hard and Heavy Stories. Randy has been a magazine editor/publisher, a freelance book reviewer, a mental health worker, a gas-pump jockey, an ambulance attendant, a soldier in Vietnam, and a funeral home flunky. He often haunts fields of carnage where angels and devils do battle.