Source: From Theresa Braun for review. This in no way alters my opinion or review.
Deadman's Tome: Monsters Exist by Various
Series: Deadman's Tome
Publisher: Lulu.com
Publication Date: June 12, 2017
Format: Paperback
Rating:
Goodreads Synopsis:
From the time we are
young, we fear the monster under the bed or in the closet, making it
impossible to sleep without a nightlight. Then, we hear stories of
Bigfoot, and maybe even the Mothman around campfires. When we are
adults, we wonder if there might actually be supernatural creatures
lurking in the shadows. Are these tall tales and urban legends only
metaphors for what horrific things humanity is capable of-or do monsters
exist? Go to some terrifying places with this cast of authors. You will
be dragged into mystifying realities where demonic fairies hide, where
devil monkeys lure carnival-goers to their demise, where Goatmen seek to
destroy their prey, and where the goddess of death puts out a hit on
victims of her choice. These shocking tales will have you biting your
nails and locating that childhood nightlight. Because, in the end, we
all know monsters do exist.
Review:
I don't read a lot of scary/ horror books, mostly because I am a chicken, but the editor of this short story compilation asked me if I was interested and so I figured I would give it a go. The Tome contains about 14 stories from different writers and all of them contain a monster to the books theme. I had fun reading these, I read a few every evening for a few days and they were all pretty entertaining in their own ways.
A few stood out because they really creeped me out, there was one about a monster under beds that ate hands and feet and there was another about a very strange carnival that was kind of confusing but also very disturbing.
Overall I enjoyed it, and I left it for my husband to pick up next. If you are looking for horror and short stories this would fit your need perfectly.
About the Authors
Master Vermin by Wallace
Boothill
Wallace Boothill lives on the top floor of an old house
in Baltimore, the city where he works as a teacher. Direct all correspondence
to wallaceboothill@gmail.com or to @WBoothill on Twitter, if you prefer.
Legend Trippers by Theresa
Braun
Theresa
Braun was born in St. Paul, Minnesota and has carried some of that hardiness
with her to South Florida where she currently resides. Ghost hunting and traveling
are two of her passions, often drawing her to haunted castles in faraway lands.
She writes all things dark, and her short fiction can be found in The Horror Zine and in Schlock! Webzine, among others. Upcoming
pieces are set to appear in Unnerving
Magazine's Hardened Hearts, as
well as Disturbing Behaviors.
The Murder of Crows by S.J. Budd
Originally
born in Cornwall, southwest England, myths and legends surrounded her
childhood, and S.J. Budd has always been fascinated by anything out of the
ordinary. It was in this strange and ancient land where she developed a passion
for writing.
She loves
writing short stories exploring dark fictional worlds and its mysterious
inhabitants, and is currently working on her first novel. Her day job is a
journalist for www.findahood.com, and
she also blogs on her site http://www.sjbudd.co.uk.
Her work has
appeared in Sanitarium Magazine, Siren’s Call, Deadman’s Tome, Innersins,
Aphelion, Bewildering Stories, Blood
Moon Rising Magazine, Shadows at the
Door, Danse Macabre Magazine, The Wild Hunt, Morpheus Tales, and Freedom
Fiction.
Twitter:
@sjbuddj, Her debut
collection of short stories, Spells and
Persuasions, is out now on Amazon.
Wicked Congregation by Gary Buller
Gary Buller is an author from
Manchester England where he lives with his long suffering partner Lisa,
daughter Holly, and dog Chico. He grew up in the Peak District where hauntingly
beautiful landscapes inspired him to write. He is a huge fan of all things
macabre and loves a tale with a twist. He is an associate member of the Horror
Writers Association.
Playing Dead by S. E. Casey
Not long after celebrating his twenty years of service in a
Boston accounting firm, S.E. Casey began to write. As an attempt to quell an
unspecific desperation and stave off a growing resentment of everything, he found stories
wedged in the unlikely spaces of the crush of numbers, balances, and accounting
formula. On a whim, he began to write these paranoid liminal tales. His
expanding collection of existential horror has been published in many magazines
and online publications, the listing of which can found at www.secaseyauthor.wordpress.com.
Lake Monster by Mr. Deadman
Mr. Deadman dwells in the underworld, living amongst only
the best and greatest of celebrities, dictators, and serial killers. He is
somewhat of a health nut and partakes in a healthy lifestyle of booze, cigars,
and hookers.
Mr. Deadman is rumored to be an associate of, or perhaps even be, Jesse Dedman.
It is easy to confuse the connection between Jesse Dedman and Mr. Deadman,
since some drunk on YouTube (Jesse Dedman) claims to be the man responsible for
the horror zine. The connection becomes even more suspicious when Mr. Deadman
has been outed for giving Jesse Dedman ideas and inspiration for The Bleeder series, The Master's Torment, and The
Cradle of Ruin—all of which are available on Amazon.
Never Sleep Again by Calvin
Demmer
Calvin Demmer is a crime, mystery, and
speculative fiction author. He has had over thirty stories published in various
magazines and anthologies. When not writing, he is intrigued by that which goes
bump in the night as well as the sciences of our universe. Find out more at www.calvindemmer.com or follow him on
Twitter @CalvinDemmer.
The Voice from the
Bottom of the Well by Philip W.
Kleaver
Philip W. Kleaver is a writer of horror, fantasy, and science fiction.
He lives in Baltimore, but was raised in a small, Massachusetts town somewhere
in Lovecraft country. He is the co-author of Psychodelic: Strange Tales of Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll (available
on Amazon). His work has previously appeared in Shotgun, Deadman’s Tome:
Trumpocalypse, Deadman’s Tome: The
Ancient Ones, and Zero Flash Fiction.
Follow him on Twitter @pwkleaver, or check out his website at pwkleaver.wordpress.com.
Eclipse at
Wolfcreek by Sylvia Mann
Sylvia Mann lived on 750 acres of land in West Virginia
that serves as the setting for "Eclipse at Wolf Creek," where she
dabbled in bee keeping and goat herding (more like rounding goats up who
escaped the electric fencing). While she never saw Mothman on the mountain, she
did see some pretty odd looking creatures, such as the jumbo, rat-like
nutria that appeared after floods and looked to have fed off nuclear waste.
In 2007 she was
a finalist in Glimmer Train’s Family
Matters contest with the first chapter of her memoir, Love Me ‘til My Eyes Go Black. In 2012 she earned her M.F.A. in
fiction from Warren Wilson College.
Currently, she lives in South
Florida and teaches creative writing.
Follow Sylvia on Twitter:
@fivedollarhat
No. 7 by William
Marchese
William works "the day
job" in lower Manhattan, while still finding time to get his writing
career going. He has been published in Hindered
Souls, Deadman's Tome, and has a
forthcoming story titled “Daddy” in Unnerving
Magazine. He is currently an affiliate member of the Horror Writers
Association.
You can follow him on Twitter
here: @Wcmarchese, or visit his website at www.wcmarchese.com.
Criatura by John
Palisano
John Palisano has a pair of books
with Samhain Publishing, Dust of the Dead
and Ghost Heart. Nerves is available through Bad Moon. Starlight Drive: Four Halloween Tales was released in time for
Halloween, and his first short fiction collection All That Withers is available from Cycatrix Press, celebrating over
a decade of short story highlights. Night
of 1,000 Beasts is due soon from Sinister Grin Press.
He won the Bram Stoker Award© in short fiction in 2016
for “Happy Joe’s Rest Stop”. More short stories have appeared in anthologies
from Cemetery Dance, PS Publishing, Independent Legions, DarkFuse, Crystal Lake, Terror
Tales, Lovecraft eZine, Horror Library, Bizarro Pulp, Written
Backwards, Dark Continents, Big Time Books, McFarland Press, Dark Scribe Magazine, Dark House Press,
Omnium Gatherum, and more.
Non-fiction pieces have appeared in Fangoria
and Dark Discoveries magazines.
Bitten by Christopher
Powers
Christopher
Powers lives in Essex, United Kingdom, with his wife and son and works
full-time as a content copywriter. He's been writing scary stories for many
years, and loves to scour market stalls and thrift stores for horror
paperbacks. His previous works can be found at DeadLights Magazine and Deadman's
Tome. He can be contacted at powers1902@yahoo.co.uk
and Twitter @Powers1902.
Kelpies by Leo X.
Robertson
Leo X. Robertson is a Scottish process engineer and
emerging writer, currently living in Oslo, Norway. He has work published by or
forthcoming in Helios Quarterly,
Unnerving Magazine, Twisted50, and The
Stockholm Review of Literature,among others. He also runs the "Losing
the Plot" podcast, where he talks to writers, editors and readers about
anything and everything. Find him on Twitter (@Leoxwrite), Goodreads or check
out his website: leoxrobertson.wordpress.com .
Bloodstream
Revolution by M.R. Tapia
M.R.
Tapia has had his short stories appear in several publications including Deadman’s Tome, Empty Sink Publishing,
and Hindered Souls Vol 1. His short
story “Stella Reign” is a 2016 Pushcart Prize nominee. His novella The Die-Fi Experiment and his debut
novel Sugar Skulls are both scheduled
to be released in the fall of 2017 through Hindered Souls Press. He writes out
of Northern Colorado.
