Location: Canada
Member Since: Jan. 16, 2011

Rabid Fox


Biography

rabid reader, wrabid writer

Where to find Rabid Fox online

Twitter: wagthefox
Facebook: Facebook profile
Blog: http://waggingthefox.blogspot.com

Books

This member has not published any books.

Smashwords book reviews by Rabid Fox

  • Courting Morpheus on March 11, 2011
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    I enjoy anthologies, and every now and then there's one that shares a setting rather than a theme which adds a unique flavor to the book as a whole. It gives the sense that every story is connected in some tangible way. In this case, Jodi Lee's fictional town of New Bedlam provides the backdrop for fourteen short stories. Reading the book, I had the inkling that New Bedlam was not totally unlike The Blackstone Chronicles, John Saul's series of stories set within that one town, but New Bedlam is a town of a completely different beast. Not only is it a sandbox for all of the contributing authors, but the stories they write all revolve around writers too--drawn to New Bedlam by some otherworldly compulsion. New Bedlam is a quaint little town set somewhere between Toronto and New Orleans. The deliberate lack of a pinpoint on a map provides an extra bit of mystery to the place, giving it that "Everytown, U.S.A." vibe. There's a suspected serial killer in town, if the rampant rumors are to be believed, and the murders don't seem to have any rhyme or reason. The thread that connects them is authors--writers that have migrated to New Bedlam from all four corners and exhibit a proclivity towards darker fiction. A town full of horror authors. Perish the thought. I lucked out by winning a copy of this anthology through a contest Belfire Press. It piqued my interest when I recognized a few of the names in the table of contents. Louise Bohmer I know from reading and reviewing her debut novel, The Black Act. Then I saw Brandon Layng's name, whose short fiction I've already had a chance to read online, as well from visiting his blog regularly. I also saw Camille Alexa listed, who I recognized from the anthology Shadows of the Emerald City, in which we both have short stories published. Then there was Alethea Kontis (we each have stories published in the sci-fi anthology Zero Gravity) who provided the introduction to the book. Insomnia is the other shared theme in this anthology, and the disturbing dreams and imaginations of the writers holding influence on the real world. Hence the title "Courting Morpheus". It's a cool concept and varied widely by the stories Jodi Lee has selected for the book. There's some atmospheric stuff with Jeff Parrish's "Like Father, Like Daughter", some more eccentric style with Ann Tupek's "Aldevouring Chesterfield", and some stomach-turning horror with Brandon Layng's "Can of Worms." There's definitely something for everyone. It's a good read and a nice find among the small press, but if you're having trouble sleeping and looking for a book to curl up with in hopes of lulling off to dreamland, I'm not so sure this is the one you'll want to fill your head before you close your eyes.
  • The Bleeding Room on Feb. 07, 2012
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    I am almost always in the mood for a haunted house tale. I don't believe in ghosts or the supernatural, so you might think that's weird, but I just really enjoy a good ghost story. And after reading a glut of urban fantasy, I was especially ready to sit back with a good ol' fashioned horror novel like this one from Barry. Terrence Bennett is an author and paranormal investigator--a skeptical one at that. He and Jack and Hank, his two-man crew, head into the woods of southern Virginia to spend the weekend inside the subject of his latest book: Hammer House. While Jack and Hank are believers in the supernatural after a particularly eventful experience in a purportedly haunted site, Terrence holds a more skeptical and disdainful attitude towards ghosts and the like. Hammer House will take care of that, though. Have you ever been out in the woods and found an old, abandoned house? Just the sight of it is unsettling. It's a bit like seeing an old shipwreck on dry land. Well, Hammer House has that going for it and a whole lot more. The place is notorious among the residents of Ponderbrook for its multiple incidents of murder and death. Cozy. Terrence, Jack, and Hank set up shop inside the house and try to see if they can capture any evidence of the paranormal. The place instantly gives off a bad vibe, even with Terrence, but aside from weird experiences while there, their time there is relatively uneventful. Oh, some crazy stuff goes on, but their after evidence, not anecdotes. Terrence becomes obsessed with his book once he is back home with his wife and young son, and as days pass a subliminal grip seems to take him, with violent images overtaking him and a compulsive urge to both finish the book and act out some really grotesque fantasies intruding on his imagination. Meanwhile, Jack and Hank are unable to shake the eery things they felt while in Hammer House too, but it's when they scrutinize the film footage they recorded that they realize something really did happen out there in the woods, and they need to warn Terrence. When I first started reading this book and realized the main characters were ghost hunters, I became a bit skeptical about how much I would enjoy this book. That's because I am almost no interest in those ghost hunting shows that pollute cable TV. Have you seen them? You must have seen at least one. They're ridiculous, especially one I saw recently involving three guys who lock themselves in haunted houses, called Ghost Adventures. Fortunately, Barry's three guys are infinitely more likable, and the story is infinitely more engaging than anything I've seen from those real ghost hunters. It is damned difficult to approach the haunted house story with something fresh. Like vampires, it's a well-worn genre, but one that I love. And Barry took really good care of it by creating a house that harkens to some of those classic ones like the Overlook from The Shining and that house in Amityville, yet still creates its own identity, especially when the fifth window appears. I won't go into any more detail than that, just trust me that the house is like a sleeping dragon and that window is like the beast opening one eye. That's the impression I got, anyway. The book has its slow points, and there were a few times where the exposition got long-winded. And while I didn't have any trouble with the viewpoint changes among the main characters, there were points where the viewpoint switched to the spirit in the house, and that's something I've never been keen on. One of my peeves with ghost stories. Aside from some fat that could have been trimmed from the book, I really enjoyed it. If you have an affinity for haunted houses, or at least stories about them, you ought to consider this one.
  • The Red Penny Papers - Spring 2012 on May 24, 2012
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    It was through Camille Alexa's serialized novella, Particular Friends, that I discovered Red Penny Papers about a year and a half ago. It was a great bit of steampunk-ish storytelling that exemplified a tone brought forth by the periodical. It has become a go-to place for "sensationalist and fantastical fiction." And I recently had the chance to read their spring issue. This issue kind of ran the gamut with six stories, but I suppose there was a lean towards psychological horror this time around. The first story, "Bone Daddy," definitely had that psychotic tinge to it. Britney Smith presented two long-time friends who as little girls created an imaginary friend and guardian of sorts they called Mister Johnny Trick. But it's when the two women are reunited and one of them still holds a deep abidance to their bone daddy that things become really strange. The next story was a bit lighter fare, as Nicki Vardon's "Garlic Squash" blended a bit of fantasy and noir with a touch of farce about a world in which vampires are out in the open and one bartender tries to make ends meet, then receives an enticing offer from a bloodsucking customer. The two stand-outs in the issue came at the end, and from two authors with whose works I've become familiar. "Sacrifice" by Natalie L. Sin puts Japan in the spotlight with a wonderfully noir-ish horror story about a lovesick man forced to kill his best friends in order to save the woman he loves only to have his entire world collapse entirely, then have the ghosts of his deeds come back to haunt him in a way no one could have expected--no one but Natalie, that is. I've really liked Natalie's stories in the past, but this one I absolutely loved and I'll rank it easily as one of my favorites for 2012. And then there was Tonia Brown's "Pins and Needles, Silk and Sawdust." The story takes place almost entirely in a mortuary as a mortician works on the bodies laid out on slabs. But more than that, he talks with them and they talk back. There are three men from different walks of life, and a young girl. All dead, and all carry on a conversation concerning The Wizard of Oz, death, and their lots in life. This all takes place as the mortician is conflicted with the idea of his wife wanting to start a family, a notion he's long been against due to seeing far too many children brought in for him to work on. It's a sad story, but tempered with humor and a nice bit of poignancy at the end. I liked it, but when the Oz stuff was brought up by the characters, I was hooked. Another great find and really good work from Tonia yet again.