John McNee

Set in a remote part of Scotland, the Ballador Country House Hotel guarantees its guests nightmares. What a delicious premise!

With an elderly magnate as the protagonist, I couldn't help but wonder how the author was going to make him come alive, but come alive he did-without being at all likable. An interesting choice for protagonist, but John McNee pulls it off.

Without going further into the plot, I can say that there are some wildly creative ideas here and the author delivers on them. Descriptions that defy reality often bother me, but here there is a good reason for them which gives the author a lot of wiggle room. Mr. McNee does not waste it. I have to give proper respect to the imaginative mind that comes up with such ideas. (Or as the kids say I give him mad respect. At least, I think that's what they say.??) Anyway, the ideas were KILLER.

I also feel I have to give an appreciative nod to the writing skills on display here. I felt this story was well written. The author found ways to describe numerous horrific incidents without being repetitive or losing my interest-something that doesn't happen very often.

I highly recommend this book to all fans of horror, but especially fans of early Clive Barker and the Splatterpunk genre! You can pre-order this book here: http://www.amazon.com/Prince-Nightmares-John-McNee-ebook/dp/B016Z8BSXS/ref=sr_1_... of nightmares

Thanks goes out to fellow Goodreader Bandit, whose review caused me to head over to Net Galley and request this book. Thanks Bandit!

*And thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for providing this book for free, in exchange for an honest review. This is it.*… (plus d'informations)

Bad Apples 3 is the third installment of this series, headed up by the Light brothers, Adam and Evans. Each year they seem to up their game with this Halloween entry and this year was no different.

The standouts to me in this volume were:

Belle Souffrance by the Light Brothers. A nasty little Halloween tale. Beautiful Suffering is what it means and suffering, beautiful or not, is what's going to happen.

Chocolate Covered Eyeballs by John McNee. What else is there to say? This was my second favorite story in this collection.

Body of Christ by Mark Matthews. This story was so freaking awesome, I don't even know what to say. It was disturbing and imaginative, while also poignant and sad. Bravo!!

Pulp by Jason Parent. Pulp was just plain HORROR fun! Over the top in every way and then BAM! Punch in the face for the ending. Those types of short fiction are often my favorites and this one is right up there.

Bad Apples 3 ROCKED! What else is there to say? It's almost October! What are you waiting for?

Highly recommended to fans of short, imaginative, horror fiction!

*I received a free e-ARC from Mark Matthews in exchange for my honest review. This is it. Also, I know most of these authors online, and consider them my friends. My review was not affected by our friendships. *… (plus d'informations)

The premise of Prince of Nightmares really intrigued me and as an added bonus I discovered that not only is John McNee a Scottish horror author but the story is also set in Scotland. Result! Wild horses couldn't have held me back. I love all kinds of horror but being from Scotland myself it's a real treat to come across a Scottish horror author, especially one who sets their story in Scotland. Of course that doesn't mean that I am going to love it or that I'm going to give it 5 stars based on those facts alone.

Prince of Nightmares is expertly written, a pleasure to read and much more than I was expecting. At times I wasn't sure if what I was reading was real or if it was a dream but that just added to the imagery and surreal feel of the story.

I honestly don't think I could pick just one thing that stood out for me. I enjoyed everything about this one: the writing style, the imagery, the pacing, the atmosphere, and more. Fans of horror will devour the imaginative, twisted and horrific scenes within the pages of this book. I know I certainly did. It's bloody, it's gory, it's vicious and certainly not for the faint of heart and I was totally immersed and enjoyed every minute.

I would love to read a prequel set around the history behind the hotel.

Highly recommended.… (plus d'informations)

The Halloween season would not be complete without the Bad Apples short story collection. I usually save it to read on Halloween night but this year there are a few new contributors so my curiosity got the better of me.

I can honestly say that I enjoyed every story in the collection. Each story was unique and every horror fan can be guaranteed to find something they will enjoy. I restrained from reading them all in one sitting and instead made a point to read one a night, saving them for bedtime so I could read them in the dark and enjoy each individually.

I do have a couple of favourites from the collection but John McNee's Chocolate Covered Eyeball really stood out the most for me. Mostly because the story was very good but also because it brought back fond memories of an old Scottish song that everyone here in Scotland has had sung to them many times as a child. My parents sang it to me and I to my own children. It's been stuck in my head since I first read his story 2 weeks ago and has even wormed it's way into my daughters head. I'm not going to name the song or give away the reference, I'm going to leave that for other readers to discover for themselves. I do find myself cursing John McNee every time it pops into my head now. Once it's in there there's no escape, so readers beware!

Definitely one I would recommend. I've read individual books published by all the authors in this collection so having them all together in this collection makes it a must read for me.… (plus d'informations)