From Popper Gazette By Brutal Dreamer The Brutal Introduction to Myth Spinner's Dark Vigil: This devilish collection is written by one of the best masters of macabre; his dreadful words are like having sandpaper scraped across your tender flesh. You've not been in the bowels of Hell, until... you have been bathed with the eternal brimstone and fire by L. J. Blount. He swathes you with the sinful warmth of hellfire through these 12 hellish amusements from the baneful one; one that spins myths and terrorizes the soul, Myth! Fear not, I will only lead you where you can find your own answers of eternity and wonders: through the unspeakable sinful, fleshly desires of Julie, through the cursed days of Enziel, and the demons that try to become angels, perhaps angels of death. Light a candle, say a prayer, and join me in this Dark Vigil. Myth asks, "If Angels who have fallen from the grace of God become devils, do devils who have fallen from the spite of Satan become angels?" In his first tale of the collection: Enziel: Of Fallen Devils Enziel's upbringing leaves a lot to be desired. Hell, he might as well of been raised by vultures and ravenous wolves or even raised by Satan himself. What must Enziel do to see his dearly loved Mother again? Had God forsaken him to the Devil and his minions? Enziel faces the Dark One. Touched: Julie (Jules) Niles, a sexy sixteen year old girl who happens to be a whore who must have another night with the creature. How she craved a man, a real man. However, she was with the �incubus' again tonight. She was to provide four souls for the demon. The creature offered her a better Hell than her Hell on Earth. Seppuku: Taylor was a Christian woman, living a life of honesty and devotion. She is raped, and becomes pregnant--how she opts to deal with this pregnancy is quite brutal but not in comparison of what she feels for her Father, her Lord. Concede: The First Circle of Hell: Two demons: Mia, a succubus and Lorna, a minor-league demon meet up with a man, until he pleads for mercy! Penance: A User's Guide: Authoress of "Penance: A User's Guide" The Harvester of Souls pseudonym for Andi Maxwell; a writer with the old demon, �writer�s block�. She hadn't written anything in almost three years and now her psuedo was haunting her, taking her to the bowels of Hell by the hand of a demon. Are you feeling the fiery blazes upon your skin? Never fear, sinner! The torture has only just begun. Now on to Replicate! Replicate: Sydney had compassion and empathy for the sinners, she feared their pain but Branson was apathetic. She feared this was her atonement for her own sins, watching others suffer, feeling them writhed in pain as they were punished. Liquid Echo: Wishing only to die, a figure of a woman comes to him. She never speaks; she only floats above him and then pours a liquid from a bowl upon his flesh. The unyielding pain is beyond what Jesus Christ had to endure. She dumps the liquid upon him. He has tried every death conceivable and she arrives to save him and bring on a new pain. All his curiosities are answered though the liquid echoes of his eternal hell. The Cleansing of Vildar: Vildar had been invited by the Oracle Kring (the curator of souls) to come to the Alcherealm to be cleansed. Due to his loyalty to the Oracle Kring, he was allowed to choose his destiny from an orb. He is given a second chance to be with is precious Alyssa. But will he want the circumstances that comes with it? Unspeakable: Arianna has gift, her own life can't offer. She has a little sacrifice to make rather she understands it or not. This sacrificial rite will leave you in harrowing sadness and feeling the offering with each hammering of the gavel. The scene upon the bloodied cross is so vivid, so surreal, it is ...unspeakable. Flames of Tartarus: Dakota finds himself in a surreal world, nightmarish. He loves horror and feeds off terror but this clawing, gnawing panic-stricken darkness breeds a fear inside Dakota that even he hadn't felt before. However, he is on his road to Tartarus to be cleansed and pay penance. Journey with him through his darkness and fears through this surreal nightmare. Is it a dream? The ending will consume you. Expiation: Writer's are often interviewed, even if they don't make much money -if any money- from their works. Zines are still interested in what makes a writer write. Teri agrees to an interview in the park ..... Could she be answering those typical form questions from the computer? The deathly conclusion is a shocker! Baneful Dead: Bane Baxley has got to be one hell of a character to write about. His hilarious, "don't mess with me" attitude, is probably one of the best of his kind. Almost making Dirty Harry look like a wuss. Bane, the Oakley wearing, gun toting, rebel has a satiable appetite for tasty little whores and seems to be a naughty Peeping Tom. His morals are rather shady, and lives by the night. Myth spins this horror into a beastly demonic bloodbath. This story is filled with wild scenes, a colossal amount of action, and characters that make you tremble, snicker, and emotions will run high toward the end! A rather lengthy piece of work by Myth Spinner. However, Baneful Dead is definitely worth every word he used. Each word was strategically placed and supplied some serious punches. Probably one of the best stories in this dark collection.
From Terror Tales Double Dragon Books Atrocitas Aqua by editor David Bowlin First of all, the title. Atrocitas aqua. What kind of language is this? Latin, perhaps? Then it should be Atrocitas aquae... Never mind. The theme of the anthology is : horror related to water. Fine. The volume contains 16 stories, in which water is involved in something horrific or uncanny, sometimes in a strict way, sometimes in a very loose sense. So, obviously, we have quite a few stories of drowning or fear of drowning, but also of creatures surfacing out of the deep, explorations at the bottom of the ocean and so on. Although a horror fan since a long time, I confess that most of the authors are practically unknown to me, which minimizes the risk of being biased. Let me explain, then, that the quality of the contributions is extremely uneven. Some stories are very good, others frankly poor. I won't mention the bad stories: why should I embarrass a new writer struggling to find his voice and his place in the horror field? "Bone Lake" by Justin Stanchfield is a chilling tale (pun intended!) where the ghost of a woman drowned in the icy waters of the lake returns from the past to protect a girl in danger. "Shadow of the swamp" by Paul Melniczek is probably the best story of the anthology, a tense narrative involving a gator hunter forced to face an unexpected horror haunting the swampy waters. "Living doll: jewel of lost souls" by Peggy Jo Shumate has been previously included in the anthology "Shadow writers" (edited by Paul Kane) but is aptly reprinted here, the key character of the story being a porcelain doll sank with the Titanic - no less!- and endowed with magic powers. "Atianqua" by Myth Spinner is an offbeat tale of a daring expedition at the bottom of the Pacific in search of the Garden of Eden and , in a way, of God himself... Shawn P Madison's contribution, "On the waterfront" is a rather conventional, but quite entertaining story where unspeakable horrors emerge from the waters of the Hudson river. Editor David Bowlin himself tries his hand at aquatic horror with �Old debts� where the bodies of a bunch of drowned kids wash up, one after another, on the beach to force the culprit to pay his toll. As an editor, Bowlin�s attempt to assemble an anthology of original fiction on such a �wet� subject is commendable, but his efforts could have been more successful if he had chosen his authors more carefully.
Dark Vigil: A Collection of Religious Horror Myth Spinner Double Dragon Books ISBN 1-55404-028-0 Release date: February 2003 If you love horror, you'll love Dark Vigil. And if you like books that make you think, his collection of short stories will certainly make you do that! It is quite unique in that it never strays from the promised title: Religious Horror. I think it must take a special imagination and great courage to write this type of content, especially considering that the stories in Dark Vigil tend to suggest we reap not only what we sow, but what we think, or write! Take the guy who daydreams of cutting off his wife's head because she annoys him. How do you think he spends the rest of eternity? And the horror writer: what is she creating for her own future? Dark Vigil is a provocative collection of stories not for the squeamish, or those who believe they can do what they like without repercussions. It's a book that inspires you to wonder: do we, by our actions on Earth, in fact create our own destiny in the afterlife? And if we have evil and nasty thoughts all the time, could that destiny be hell? I'll tell you now; you wouldn't want to go to the hells portrayed in this book, because the author never shirks in describing its raw vileness: these stories are written with extremely clear imagery. A brave man to bare his imagination in such a way, who isn't afraid to explore the possibilities of demonic depths that might wait for those who misbehave. After all, there's no proof he's wrong, and that's the most chilling thought. You might also wonder what might happen to you, once you leave the safety of human existence. For safe it is, compared to the hellish journeys you will be taken on in this book. Don't make the same mistake as the author's characters! Be kind, and be loving, and hope you go to the other place! Celia A. Leaman, reviewing for www.ebook-reviews.net Author homepage http://www.devonshirebabe.com Winner of An Award of Excellence from Wordweaving.com Books available from Twilight Times Books http://www.twilighttimesbooks.com ******************** Dark Vigil (Nick Bailey) Customer Rating: (5 stars) Posted on 8/16/2003 Haunting and very in your face horror. Religious and abit biting, but I really enjoyed it, the views are wonderful, nothing bad or overly anti-God, rather pro-God ... filled with interesting visions.
The Hackers Source: http://www.hackerssource.cjb.net/ Copyright Issue: Issue 13 81520-01171 Cemetery Poets - Trade and E-book Edited by Peggy Jo Shumate Double Dragon Publishing 1-55404-018-3 Review by Michael Purfield "Cemetery Poets" is the end-all collection of horror poetry. Yes, it is just over 200 pages, but it is packed with poems and vignettes that detail torture, pain, internal and external struggle, deformity, evil, God, Satan, family, and then some. Michael Arnzen offers some of his best work dealing with the grotesque; David Bowlin explores alienation; obsessive love leaks from Myth Spinner's words; Steven Shrewsbury offers contemporary and barbarian operatic violence; turbulent beauty erupts from Susanne S. Brydenbraugh; Christina Sng covers the pages with flowery disgust; and Paul Kane offers his ever clever horror scenarios. I found all the poets in this collection very talented in their visuals and how they pulled many emotions from my being. I was mostly impressed how some of the poets told such simple stories in so few words, even adding twists in the end. But in some way, I also felt that the party was too crowded. There were too many cooks here with many different flavors, and I was a bit over-whelmed. I commend Shumate's effort here, and I still don't think it was a bad idea. "Cemetery Poets" might be better consumed in doses and not in one sitting as I did. Then again, poetry is like alcohol, if you take in too much you might get disorientated and sick. (NOTE: I in no way became sick while reading this collection, although the poets did try with some of their graphic poems.)
Horrorwood Babble http://horrorwoodbabbleon.com/horror/index.php?module=prodreviews&func=showcontent&id=624 DARK VIGIL � L.J. Blount � (2003 Double Dragon) Westy rates it: 3.5/4.0 DARK VIGIL L.J. Blount (Double Dragon) DARK VIGIL is a nightmarish collection of religious horror stories. Although some of the stories are a little less memorable than others, DARK VIGIL does contain some great bookends (the first and last stories) and a few good reads in between. L.J. Blount�s style is unlike any author I�ve ever read �combining the seriousness of religious faith and the shock value of horror and blood. This kind of originality is sure to tempt the taste buds of numerous horror and dark fantasy fans. �Enziel: Of Fallen Devils� � What happens when a demon is kicked out of hell? Why would a demon get kicked out of hell? These questions and more are answered with the opening story. This story is a perfect way to lay the foundation for the rest of the collection. �Penance: A User�s Guide� � This tale grabbed me rather quickly. A horror writer is given a tour of hell, only to find out that she has actually helped create and define Lucifer�s torture and penance methods with her writing. Somewhat of a surprise ending caused my jaw to drop� I didn�t see it coming. �Flames Of Tartarus� � An intriguing story about Dakota�s journey to hell� or dream� which is it? Needless to say, this ending caught me a little off-guard, as well. Blount does a fine job of making you think you know the ending, and then surprising you with a little more in the end. �The Cleansing Of Vildar � Although this story jumped a little farther into the fantasy genre than I generally care to enter, it still kept me on my toes. Vildar is an assassin who must choose his destiny in death � rebirth, a heaven, or knowing the torment of those he has murdered. �Baneful Dead� � Another �journey through hell� type of story that includes the impressively descriptive murder of tough-guy, Bane Baxley. The graphic descriptions continue throughout the story, helping to keep the overall tone on a dark and sinister level. Although his journey through hell seemed lengthy and drawn out at times, it was worth the read to reach the grand finale. Once again, Blount does an outstanding job of keeping the reader interested without giving the entire story away. �Baneful Dead� is a perfect closer to an interesting collection of stories. All in all, DARK VIGIL has some unique characteristics. Most horror fans will find it to be a pleasing read. While it�s true that some of the stories are a little more �out there� than others, each will leave you with a piece of something to build on from story to story. Added: Saturday, July 03, 2004
