Tormentor by William Meikle

This is the story of Jim, he has recently lost his wife Beth so he decides to pack up and move to the wilds of Scotland. He moves into a house that is steeped in mystery and before long strange things begin to happen in the house. When he tries to find out what is going on, however, his enquiries are met with stony silence by many of the villagers. This only seems to deepen the mystery...

I love haunted house mysteries, and this was no exception. Willie took us on a tension filled ride, while Jim tried to come to terms with the loss of his wife, and the strange things going on in the house. The tension built up to fever pitch until the end when it all came together in a fantastic finish. The characters were great, Jim especially so, mourning the loss of his wife, drinking too much and just trying to get to the bottom of what was happening in his new house. The pace was relentless, and I found myself reading the story in two sittings. I love Willies work, and eagerly await his new releases, so far I haven't been disappointed!

The Hallow by Keith Deininger

This is the story of James. He lives with his best friend Vance and has a beautiful girlfriend, Allie. One day James sees a woman in the park, then she turns up at their house on their sofa. She gets up, and walks to James' bedroom, lays down and dies. Soon after, Allie takes him to a massive tree she calls The Hallow. From then on Vance stays in his room most of the time, making odd shuffling noises, and things around James start to get really odd....

This is another trippy, mind F@@k type story that this author is becoming famous for. I found myself thinking a lot about it for quite a while after I had finished it, and the more I thought about it, the more I understood what the author was trying to portray. The characters were ok, but I found it hard to care at all about Vance, he seemed so self-absorbed! The pace was cracking, I read this in two sittings. I think I will keep an eye out for more of this authors work, as I am enjoying his style more and more.

Within by Keith Deininger

This is the story of a town gone bad, the house at the centre of it all and four people who band together to try and stop the rot from spreading and to make things right again. For a long time the Upshaw Mansion has lain empty and abandoned, now a mysterious stranger has moved in and things are going rapidly wrong in Mesa Rapids. Could it have something to do with the painting the owner has commissioned?....

This is very much a trippy, blow your mind, is it real or not type of story, I have come to expect from this author. I will admit to being thoroughly confused in places, and now thinking on it again, I am not entirely sure what I was reading, but that didn't detract from my enjoyment of the story. The characters gelled well and the pace of the story kept me glued until the last page. Another fine novel from this author and DarkFuse.

After Midnight by Allan Leverone

This is the follow-up to Mr Midnight. Cait Connelly is recovering from the events of  months ago when she confronted her psychopathic twin brother at her birth mothers house. A confrontation that left her with both mental and physical scars, and her brother Milo in a secure hospital paralysed from the neck down thanks to a bullet in the face from Cait. Now Milo has developed terrible psychic powers and once again Cait's life is in danger.

This was a great follow-up to Mr Midnight. We are plunged straight into the action, and the tension is ramped up from the beginning. The action centres around Milo's relentless urge to do away with his twin sister, and whilst reading I was totally pulled into the action, as if I was alongside the characters while they went through their trauma's. This was completely unputdownable and I recommend it.

The Dunfield Terror by William Meikle

This is the story of Dunfield. A town that has a huge secret. During a huge snowstorm, an ancient evil returns. An evil that will try to take over the town with as much death and destruction as it can wreak. Frank is in charge of overseeing the town, and keeping everyone safe from the strange creeping fog. What he encounters in the fog will haunt him forever....

Told in three threads, two in flashback and then the present day - this is pure Willie at his best. A creeping fog and a Lovecraftian B-Movie type monster make for a fantastic story. Lots of suspense and gore and horror had me glued to every page. The slow unwind in the flashbacks revealed the secret, but it wasn't what I was expecting! I thought I knew where things were heading but in the last quarter Willie took me round a sharp corner and I threw away any ideas I thought I had! I totally recommend this one, with spades!

Oasis of the Damned by Greg F. Gifune

This is the story of Richter. She survives a helicopter crash in the middle of the Sahara. She finds herself at an old WW2 outpost. She is not alone however, she meets up with another crash survivor, Owens. He tells her that the outpost is built on an oasis, and they need to keep their wits about them once night falls. Soon she will find herself fighting for her very life.....

This started off quite slowly but once night began to fall, Greg's typically descriptive prose started to shine through and I was hooked on every word. With a principle cast of just two, the tension was ramped up to the max. About 3/4 of the way through I had a bit of a lightbulb moment and I thought I could see where the story was going. I wasn't disappointed! Another fine novella from Greg and once again from DarkFuse.

Facial by Jeff Strand

This is the story of Greg. He has hired a hitman to kill the man his wife is having an affair with. Now he has a dead body in his office. That's ok though, as Carlton, his brother, needs a fresh dead body to feed to the face in his basement floor....

Intrigued? I was, and found myself headlong into the funniest, goriest novella I have read in a long time. Its premise centres on the totally bizarre and for a moment things will not make sense. Stick with it though and you will not be disappointed. This start off and get progressively weirder from there! At some points I even laughed out loud, it was so funny. Jeff Strand has somewhat cornered the market in hilarious horror stories. I am SO glad he is part of the DarkFuse stable.