Monsters! Werewolves, Vampires, Living Dead...Oh My!...

Vincent smiled, "Some say it was extraterrestrials. A sonic boom, perhaps?" 
Myers reflected. "It mimicked the explosion of June, 1908, when something exploded high above the atmosphere over Siberia with the same strength as one thousandd atomic bombs. It destroyed the tundra. Most scientists agree it was a fragment of a comet." 
Vincent shook his head. "However, no virus was recorded after that explosion, contrary to the one three years ago. Last year, the combined world governments asked all major corporations to work on solutions to containing the...the problem."
"You are, of course, referring to the victims who caught the virus. Everybody knows that the virus first appeared two years ago. It infected pockets of the population, spreading worldwide within four weeks, creating a pandemic that was brought under control through containment. They have isolated the victims control through containment. They have isolated the victims in sectioned-off campuses in the wilderness, until you decided to enclose them in your theme park. Why use plague victims?" 
Vincent grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellowed teeth. "I prefer to call them zombies."
 "We don't like to refer to them that way. The politically correct term is vitality challenged."
"You can call them anything you like," Vincent said with a leer. "I like to call those flesh-eating catatonic creatures zombies."

There was a fight over his finger. He didn't even try to retrieve it.
He watched in disgust as two men tore at each other for the price morsel. They shouldn't be fighting over flesh, some small part of his brain reasoned. They were fed regularly. Usually it was recycled food from institutions, refuse they used to feed the hogs. Someone had to feed the plague victims before they fed on each other...
~~~

"That sounds a bit extreme." Joe shook his head. Vincent leaned forward, his face intense. This was a subject he was passionate about--he spoke urgently as if proving his point, and his voice rose. "This disease is responsible, not I. Once their minds are infected, they can no longer control the primal urge to eat. Their single-minded determination and lack of coherency make it impossible for them to be at large with the general population. They are a danger to themselves as well as everyone else. What would you have the government do? Kill them?" 
"Of course not," Myers said, placating him. "Keeping them isolated has kept the spread of the disease under control. Don't you think it's a risky exposure?"
"Nonsense. No one enters my zombie suburb without protective gear. My labs are working on a cure, dear man." Vincent inclined his saturnine head graciously. "I intend to see the eradication of the virus within five years."
"That is, if it doesn't spread. You'll lose a great portion of your theme park, Dr. Conrad."
"I think we have enough to keep people entertained. With my discovery of werewolves in the Everglades--"

~~~

Monsterland

By Michael Phillip Cash
Now published under Michael Okon!

Aimed toward our youth who love monsters, as we did when young, or if you still crave for horror stories as an adult, do check this book out by prolific writer Michael Cash... If  you scrupulously read the book, you may pick up the very few clues to alert you...that's my only hint...because the story moves quickly and smoothly into a new theme park like no other! Where all of the monsters, except for the few that are used as enticement into various sections of the park, are all real!

The lead male stood, his head tilted. He heard it again. It was music, the strange organization of sounds, predictable as well as dangerous. Where those rhythms originated meant only one thing--they were not alone. They all rose, tense and alert, searching the waterway. Billy pointed, his dirty hands silently parting an outcropping of trees to expose a flat-bottom boat with strangers floating slowly toward them. It was filled with people, excitedly searching the banks of the swamp, their expensive khaki bush clothes ringed with sweat...
What were the interlopers doing here? Billy thought furiously. This was their territory...
~~~

The main reason the concept of  Monsterland came up is that a disaster occurred within the last few years and all over the world there were now those, still living, but horribly infected and deformed by what occurred. The government of course had worked to handle the disaster and had shut all those infected in camps and had even did the "politically correct" thing to call them "vitally challenged..." OMG, only in America... Because no matter how you put it, they are the living dead--zombies as we first knew them... 

Only in America
can a poor,
homeless boy find
employment
and work his way
up the ladder of
succeed."*
~~~

A very rich man, Dr. Vincent Conrad, had come to the fore, offering to build not only one but more theme parks across the world to, first, give a community in which the zombies can live, but also to allow research to go on so that, hopefully, the virus may be stopped. Although representatives of some of the other involved countries come to the U.S. opening, all of the action takes place in the Unites States(openings were occurring all over the world at the same time...)

The story focuses on a family and several close friends who all have a cult-like interest in horror characters--the ones who are to be included in Monsterland...

A never-ending discussion from Wyatt, Melvin and Howard who had become friends because they are not accepted at school, is based upon study of these various monsters, continues on which of the three would be the winner, if they fought each other. It was kind of fun to see how much each boy had studied his preferred group and will describe the various attributes that made his choice the obvious superior being...

Raoul nodded in assent. Things had been terrible since they arrived. The doctor oozed charm when he painted a picture of recreating all their former glory. Instead, Conrad gave them shabby reproductions of eighteenth-century clothing, and he stuck them in a sterile version of his concept of East Germany. They were assigned roles in a cheesy rock musical, the music so embarrassingly bad it was more painful to perform it than hear it...
~~~

The family, a new husband and father plus wife and two children from her first husband, who had since died, are experiencing much of the turmoil that could evolve. In this situation, neither of the boys are willing to begin to call Carter White, their father...One minor issue hit me later in the book, noted purely from this reader's viewpoint, was that some of the scenes were not realistic, given the ages of the two boys... Still, if it takes monsters to bring them together as a family, hey, I'm all for it! LOL

This is a fun book...and sad...because once again, there is a criminal motive underneath it all...But when it got to the scary part, I'm not even sure that the original monster, Vincent Conrad, knew how bad it would be...

Scary good as the Chiller channel proclaims! Monster lover alert! Given the number and variety of horror books and movies out there, I thought Cash's book was original, complete with a family drama to detract from the gore, and yet weirdly different as at long last, we see just who would win in a monster fight...

GABixlerReviews

*Can you guess who this is?

Michael Phillip Cash is an award-winning novelist and screenwriter. His novels are best-sellers on Amazon under their genres - Young Adult, Thriller, Suspense, Ghost, Action Adventure, Fantasy, Paranormal Romance and Horror. 

Michael writes full-time and lives on the North Shore of Long Island with his wonderful wife and screaming children. You can follow him @michaelpcash.

Connect with Michael on:

Facebook: facebook.com/michaelphillipcash

Twitter: twitter.com/michaelpcash

Web: www.michaelphillipcash.com

Email: michaelphillipcash@gmail.com

The Last Infection by Michael Garza May Become Addictive...Have you been Infected?

I think Zombies have been around forever and there are always fans, aren't there...but...once you've seen one zombie, or a group, is there more to be said about them? I didn't think so, until Michael Garza sent me his latest...

The Last Infection began as I expected...but before long I was become more and more interested. Why do we love to experience fear vicariously? And yet, Garza presents us with more than fear...

The main thing that Garza adds are the characters who are running for their lives. Even while they are running, their personal life issues do not disappear and that's what pulls readers in... The hope that there will be some to escape the terrible apocalyptic...

Last Infection

By Michael W. Garza

It had started out just like AIDS and other world-wide infections... sometimes passed on through used needles...not something that resulted in death for those who were infected... No, this became

worse... They didn't die, but they acquired the same taste as those
who died--the need for blood to keep them alive!

The infected were treated,  and others were placed in isolation, but no matter what, those who were helping them, even wearing masks didn't stop the spread..

But there was something different about those who had become infected, they were still in fairly decent shape and could move faster... If you watched their eyes, you saw some sign of life... and they could think... slowly, they began to evolve, adapt and communicate with each other... Worse, they had started to round up Zombies! What d they plan to do with them? 

It happened much faster than any other plague; people died as soon as it reached an area and cities were empty, vehicles abandoned. If anybody was still alive, you would see them at the top of hi-rise buildings, having used equipment to block off the lower floors...

The infected had an awful look about
them and they made unnatural
lurching motions with their
arms that scared the heck out of him.
 He hoped they would give up...
~~~

Most everybody was gone now...If you were still alive and uninfected, you were being hunted... Jake and Alicen had always fought alot, over nothing and anything... Jake was the only one to help Alicen stay alive... They were now on their own, their parents had lost their lives as they tried to escape... Jake was now all that kept them from dying as well...

The news had called the growing mobs, the infected. Alicen and Jake heard terrible things from school and their friends. Some called the infected, vampires, because they wanted blood. Others called them biters because they chewed through your skin. Jake didn't know what to think. He only wished that he hadn't heard all the stories that were stuck in his head. "Don't let them get me," Alicen whispered. 
"I want mama," Alicen said. "Hold on ," Jake said. "I told you we have to hide first." He spoke so low, he had to move his lips against her ears before she could hear him. "Please stay quiet." There was nothing in Jake's twelve years that prepared him for what was happening. He'd spent the last few weeks terrified, held up in his family home as his parent's tried to figure out what to do. The man on the news promised that they'd find a cure and this would all be over soon. That was three weeks ago. A few days later, the news and every other channel went black. 

~~~

He swore under his breath. He'd let down his guard and fell asleep in what was a sporting goods store before the infection. The mistake left him trapped with only one way out into the rest of the mall. The quad outside the entryway was crawling with a group of infected. He'd counted two dozen, but more were coming. Their quick twitching movements identified their infliction at once.
                                                 ~~~

Chris becomes the lead character in the story. But no way did he want the role. He had made it through a major detox on his own and now he wanted to live and that required him being on his own...He had been living on his own, and able to stay alive, but he was being pulled in to help with the children--by a woman who just would not accept "no..." 

A gunshot was easy to recognize and these days, someone had to be in real trouble to waste the round. Chris froze and waited for the echo to clear. He closed his eyes and turned in the direction of a new sound. His eyes sprang open and he ran towards the side of the building. The sound of voices, now screaming, guiding him and as he neared the front of the building, he made them out. “Get behind me,” a distinctively feminine voice cried. There was another gunshot as Chris reached the corner of the building. “Here they come, get ready.” Chris peeked out onto a parking lot in front of the store and found the woman behind the voice almost immediately . She raised a handgun and fired...
                                                                         ~~~

He had seen the two kids before but they had turned away from him. Now some woman was trying to protect them! The feeling of guilt swirled inside of Chris, eating away at him until he called out, “Come on,” Chris yelled. “Follow me.” From then on, whether he wanted it or not, Chris was the leader...working to get them all to safety. Where would that be? Well, Jake knew of an island... Catalina...

They had barely started on their way when they came up against a barricade...and were facing a different type of danger. A group of survivalist had so far been lucky. They had been living far in the woods and had not been infected. But now they were trying to keep it that way and they captured anybody who was not now ill. They quickly separated Chris and Jake and took the two females...they would become wives for two of the most loyal members!

But did they really think they would be free of those out there hunting...for blood?! Soon, the infected were coming and, much slower, zombies were following!

 At times through their journey, Chris' small group was able to join with others and, on the way, Jenn wanted to try to find her mother and father... Living and escape items, food, bandages, water...and gas for the latest confiscated  vehicle each brought a fight...with somebody... and, always, the zombies were coming up from behind...

And when they had made it to the building where Jenn's parents were supposed to be and climbed to the top floors, as hostages of those inside, they were already surrounded and the infected soon were working to get into the building... while Jenn, who had found only her father alive, Chris, Jake, and Alicen, joined with a few others, were moving on via a different route...

But would anybody really escape?

You know who you are, don't you... Zombie enthusiasts are bound to get extra thrills as new combatants join the war against the few humans still not infected... Will any escape? Or is it really the final ending of the world? 

Michael Garza has gone well beyond the pure chase scenes in most zombie fiascos...If you enjoy bloody gore and freaky dead humans...do check out The Last Infection. While it's not my kind of thing, I believe Garza has done much to add depth, diverse, and character issues into the zombie savagery... What more could you want? LOL



GABixlerReviews

Michael W. Garza often finds himself wondering where his inspiration will come from next and in what form his imagination will bring it to life. The outcomes regularly surprise him and it's always his ambition to amaze those curious enough to follow him and take in those results. He encourages readers to peek at his latest work as well as the material he's published in the past. He sincerely hopes that everyone will find something that astonishes, surprises, or simply scares the heck out of you.

Related articles

• Book Review: The Hand That Feeds by Michael Garza
• Michael Garza's The Hand That Feeds Holds Readers in Suspense as Zombies Roam!

Michael Garza's The Hand That Feeds Holds Readers in Suspense as Zombies Roam!

"Evansville Kansas

Alex's lungs burnt in desperation as he vomited a powerful rush of the rotten, black mulch. Unable to control his body, his bowels released and he felt a warm rush as he struggled for consciousness. In a fit of madness, he pushed with his arms, finding only enough strength to life his head. Pain wracked his eight-year-old body.

http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog

"He heaved with another powerful purge, the force of the motion giving him enough movement to flip himself over on his back. He coughed and gagged on the spewing sludge. The stench clunb to him, filling the pores of his skin. He lost the strength to move and laid in the darkness trying to catch his breath, as a slow burn rose from his feet, up his legs, and into his thights. Terrified and alone, he cried in between violent purges calling out for his mother. Alex fought against the pain. His feet were numb and the burning sensation sent writhing throbs into his spine. It reached his waist and he felt like his skin was on fire. He dug his fingers into the ground and turned over. He dragged through thick muck, struggling with every inch. Shrouded in darkness and guided by his memory, he pulled over piles of bones buried in the ground. By luck, he reached the chamber's edge below the tunnel entrance. It took every ounce of strength he could muster to get to his feet...

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/UndeadChild

His fingernails bent and split as he fought against his body to get up into the tunnel. The climb ahead felt impossible. In near blinding madness, he wept, his face buried in the dirt. The head was in his chest and his lungs cooked with every breath. He was sure he would never see his parents again and the pain of it crushed his will.

There was no sense of time down in the hole. Alex lost his grasp of reality as the maddening heat worked its way into his neck and face. He pulled his way in the first chamber without the use of his legs. The final burrow remained and the smell of fresh air hit him with a powerful reaction.

"Alex pulled by instinct as the heat consumed his face and stole his sight. Visions filled his mind of death and decay. He pulled free as the burning took control and he screamed wildly in the night. He rolled on his back and howled like an animal baying at the moon. The guttural growls coming from him carried in the air and desperate ears heard his cries...

~~~

Alex had died there in the black mulch. It would have been better that he had stayed there in his unknown grave. We do not know, as readers, how Alex became one of the walking undead... Maybe everybody that dies in strange places, alone and frightened decide not to stay die. I don't know...

Do you? Then maybe you can explain what happened to Angela and John Mason, the parents of Alex, who had disappeared and had been missing so long that Angela "was consumed by her own madness..." Perhaps that is why she was able to hear his cries, his guttural growls--for by that time he couldn't speak...

Their doctor was his first kill... They had called him, rather than an ambulance, since he was closer. He had taken blood for testing and some of the dark substance that had changed his skin to a darker color. He had asked, but neither Angela nor John knew where it had come from...

www.theguardian.com

By that time, Angela had begun to talk to Alex, rubbing his hair across his forehead and whispering that nothing was going to happen to him... And, it was Angela that had turned to John explaining that they needed to provide...food...for Alex... Did I mention that Angela had been in an institution in the past???

She had successfully brought a stranger home from a bar, but John didn't successfully do his part. He had gotten away, but not before their "dog" had bit him... So you know what was next!

I had given up zombie movies many years ago, but what I found in reading rather than watching movies, this book created much more suspense and the ability to follow an underlying story. There are some good chase scenes with John being in town and seeing how quickly the "infection" spread. Of course, officials called it a form of Ebola...but, then, they were already gone and there were few individuals left who had not become undead... Still John was able to escape, needing to get back to his wife and son...

By the time that was happening, Angela was quite bizarre--so much so that I began to see humor in it! I'm not disparaging the story--or maybe I am a little, because, maybe, I'm not a parent??? Soooo, what would you do about an undead son???

I enjoyed the hypothesis placed before readers in his scifi novel that truly does catch immediate attention (as above, don't you think?) I feel confident in saying that horror lovers will enjoy this zombie thriller...And if you want a "taste" of what to feed a zombie son, you can't go wrong with this one! Have fun!


GABixlerReviews

About the Author.  Zombies, spaceships, and dragons have all found a place in my writing. I often find myself wondering where my inspiration will come from next and in what form my imagination will bring it to life. The outcomes regularly surprise me and it’s always my ambition to amaze those curious enough to follow me and take in those results. Please take a look around my site and I encourage you to peek at my latest work as well as the material I’ve published in the past. I sincerely hope that everyone will find something that astonishes, surprises, or simply scares the heck out of you.

                                                                                                                                                                                           Michael W. Garza - Find out more!

                         Read Interview...

You've Got To Read Poison Makers by Jimmy Olsen when he takes us to The Dominican Republic and Haiti in the 70s!

"Your parents Mr. Espinosa-Jones," Mr. Yancy wheezed. "I'm about to send their only son in harm's way. This matter must be handled discreetly. I remind you again that Caamano is in the hills, our Presidente surrounded by political enemies, the nation remains suspicious of the U.S., and the energy crisis  threatens our new economy." He caught his breath. "These are more than headlines. If it's even whispered that the United States Ambassador was murdered here in his own residence, we may endure 1965 all over again. You see why I'm concerned?"
~
..."Tell me about Haiti... 
"Oh yes, Three reasons you must go to Haiti Mr. Espinosa- Jones," he told me. The first two are explained in this letter." He handed me a thick packet bound with clear packaging tape. "Explanations - one about voodoo
generally, another about zombies. 
Voodoo is always with us, but zombies? "And the third reason is the girl?" 
"Yes, You must meet her secretly. Too many eyes in this country. After you arrive, she'll make contact..."
~~~

Poison Makers

By Jimmy Olsen

I was going to stage a marathon of Olsen's books, but the first one I read this weekend, Poison Makers, I fell asleep reading last night and finished it first thing this morning! Couldn't wait to have you meet E.J. That's Sr. Espinoza-Jones that is, but by the time you've lived with him through the numerous near-death experiences, you'll think of him as a personal friend and easily call him E.J. In fact you might even call him an extraordinary hero... Wellll, part of the reason why I'm using those two words is because I can't tell you about all the things that got me so excited, else I'll be giving away too much...so maybe I'll throw in a few pics as hints! LOL

E.J, a mulatto whose mother came from Minnesota, is a scuba diving expert, but he also gets pulled into some investigations, although he's not a P.I., nor does he normally carry a gun. In fact, as I think about it, he must be a little bit crazy for doing some of the things he does! LOL... One minute I would be laughing and soon I'd be so scared for him that I literally had trouble breathing--especially when he was having the same trouble...

http://crabbymamma.blogspot.com
"There are stories about crabs, how
they've eaten the eyes from the
corpses of sailors. This crab seemed
large and curious, nibbling gently
at the wrinkled skin across my
stomach, preparing, I thought, to take
a serious bite. It didn't know how angry
I was, how cold and hungry after two
days in a hole. Or how patient I'd
become as it moved sideways along my
belly, keeping its claws pointed up
in defiance..."
~~~

That happens when you are under water, hopefully swimming to save your life, being attacked by crabs, who, upon being knocked out, quickly became dinner, and breakfast, and lunch, and... That wasn't so bad to imagine eating raw crab but when he worried about getting dehydrated and decided to...

Ok, let's go back to the beginning...E. J. was hired by an individual who becomes an intermediary for others, Mr. Yancy, to find out what happened to the Ambassador of the U.S. to  the Dominican Republic. When he's got up that morning, he had watched as the Marines were placing him on the plane to be flown back home.

Mr. Yancy was quick to point out the many political issues that required much discretion, then gave him a packet of materials about voodoo and zombies and told him about travel arrangements for him to travel to Haiti and meet with the Ambassador's daughter.

"He stopped cutting then and came around to face me. The
childlike chubbiness of his face lent his words all the more
gravity. "When I was in Nueva York to visit my brother we
went to a famous church, I forget the name, at the front was
a cross suspended by large chains. The cross was polished
wood. The Savior was not on it." he said. "Jesu-cristo is on
the cross here in Santo Domingo in my church, the church of
my father. Here we have also the blood. We paint it red.  This
is because we have seen the blood and know it is on our hands.
Do not go to Haiti, mi amigo. As the blood of Cristo is real,
evil is real. Lo autentico."
..."Cosme's fear of evil had made me nervous..."
~~~

Finding out who killed the Ambassador, if he indeed was murdered, made sense to E.J., but what was all this about voodoo and zombies? And why should he have to meet his daughter.So, of course, he went to his barber, to ask him what he knew about voodoo! Actually, the barber is an important character, so we do need to know what he said...
"Evil. Perverso."

Olivia Quist was not what E. J. had been expecting. She looked sophisticated, older, but verified that she was just 19. Even then, he couldn't help but feel the mutual attraction that seemed to be happening. But they had a job to do. Even though when they walked through the crowds and held hands, and there was a communion of sorts, E.J. knew he was playing with fire, especially since he was already involved and with a woman who was not to be forgotten so easily...

But Haiti gave him the creeps, especially after
they'd attended their first voodoo ceremony. But
that was just the beginning... Fortunately, E.J.
was a good friend of a local police officer and
they worked together on much of what was to be
done, so that the first death attempt by poison
had both of them taken to the hospital! That was calmly done by a couple who had worked in the Quist home--Dulce and Alejandro! A couple who clearly were out to kill E.J., and were nearly successful! The fascinating thing was that the entire island had been placed on alert, but this couple successfully followed them back to the States and then were back and still following. He later found out that they obviously had been given diplomatic passes, but that didn't explain why the police had not identified them as being wanted for attempted murder!

I wish I could tell you about the scene when E.J. walks into a restaurant nude and has lunch...

Or his maid having "curlers" in her hair during a party that were actually...

But, really, there is so much I want to tell you about this book that there is only one thing I can say--You've got to read it!

This author has a wonderful sense of humor tand slips these little scenes in between thrilling, breath-taking action scenes and what it does for readers is break the tension so much that you've just got to laugh out loud! LOL! Go ahead, I did often in this book, except when...the zombies were around...

And when they pounded the nails in E.J.'s coffin and I read what he was thinking, hearing the sounds and seeing the voodoo crowd standing above him through the cracks between boards...Well, that sure isn't a time to do anything but...

wait for the calvary!

Of course the Calvary was just two...and I so wish I could tell you about that delightful U.S. officer who was planning the next attack on Castro, while his horny wife from Borneo was planning for E.J. and her...

Bottom line, aside from the humorous interludes, this is a fascinating novel that has so many colorfully drawn characters who will grab readers and keep their attention riveted...I'm looking forward to the next in this series! Hear that, Jimmy Olsen! Get writing! And I'm hoping that E.J. and his unforgettable lover become closer next time! Plan for a delightfully entertaining read with Poison Makers!

Do you know how Zombies are made? I do?  NOW!

GABixlerReviews

Jimmy Olsen didn't start writing fiction until he was well past 40. In the tradition of American writers like Jack London and Louis L'Amour, Olsen spent much of his life seeking adventure. He began scuba diving in 1961 at age 13 and continues today. 

A machine-gunner in Vietnam, after two tours he settled down awhile, married, started a family and graduated college with a BS in English. Still at college, he published his first national story in a diving magazine. A year later he moved his family to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic where he taught at a private American school and started the Republic's first professional diving school, Scuba Dominican, C por A. Hearing rumors of shipwrecks and gold, Olsen and a small group of adventurers discovered the site of the French Man-O-War Imperial and several other vessels. 

After five years in the Caribbean, Olsen completed his MA at the University of Alabama and returned to writing, taking a job with a daily newspaper in Athens, Alabama for a year before becoming an editor back home in Minnesota. This lasted four years before the thirst for adventure overtook him again and he was back in the diving business, traveling to dive destinations from the Caribbean to the South Pacific. The snorkeling scene in Thing In Ditches comes directly from the author's own rich experiences. 

Jimmy Olsen has written two additional novels, Scuba, due to be released next year and YR-71, a Vietnam seafaring adventure set near Da Nang. In addition, he's completed 20 short stories, some set in his native Minnesota and others from around the globe. Several of these have recently been sold and will soon be in print. Olsen continues to travel extensively, returning to the Dominican Republic to dive his old haunts only hours before Hurricane Georges. Equally at home at the keyboard of a computer or his ancient Royal, Olsen spends his writing days in a north woods setting without even the basic comforts such as running water or electricity and at his modern office in the city. He has three children, now grown, and lives with his wife in Minnesota.

Julia Madeleine Shares Short Story - Unexpected Guest...

Zombie haiti ill artlibre jnl (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

An Unexpected Guest
by Julia Madeleine

“I think he’s dead,” Amy said, panting as she stared at the man who lay face down in the ravine.

His construction hat was askew from his greasy head, one leg bent in an unnatural position. He was a small, wiry man, and boy could he run. Amy cast her gaze around on the grass until she spied a long stick.

“Poke him with this, Jessie,” she said, and handed it to me. “See if he moves.”

“No, you do it, I’m not touching him.” I pushed the stick back toward her.

“Why should I do it? You do it.”

We stood arguing the way we usually did and I wondered why I continued to be friends with Amy when we fought just as much as we laughed. I supposed it was because she was my only friend and rather than spending the summer by myself, I continued to hang out with her. Besides, she could sneak cigarettes from her mother’s purse.

“What do you think happened to the old geezer?”

“I don’t know,” Amy said. “Maybe a heart attack.”

I stood with folded arms, my heart still racing from our pursuit through the field. I worried suddenly that someone might have witnessed what just transpired, and I scanned the park. There were only a couple of people over in the tennis courts today because it was too hot.

I watched Amy bend at the waist, her ebony braids spilling around her brown shoulders as she leaned over, reaching out with a skinny arm. She touched the stick to the centre of the old geezer’s back. He didn’t budge.

“He’s deader than a door nail. Going to be hitching a ride in the meat wagon.” Amy said. We giggled. But after a moment my stomach began to tremble.

A roasting August sun blanketed my head. My vision blurred. I felt as if I couldn’t get any air.

“What’s the matter with you?” Amy asked.

Her chocolate eyes swam before me and then I was lying on the ground with the scent of the summer scorched earth filling my nostrils. I turned on my back, squinted at a sky as murky as dishwater, and focused on taking in air. Amy’s ringing laugh penetrated my ears. She leaned over me and I could smell her coconut and spice scent from the stuff her mother used to braid her hair.

“Hey, we should bury him and turn him into a zombie,” Amy said.

I sat up after a moment, the dizziness passed.

“A zombie? What the heck are you talking about?” I asked, and squinted up at her.

“Yeah, just like in Haiti. We can keep him under our power so he will have to do what we say.”

“How do you make a zombie?”

“Well, first we have to give him a zombie powder. Then we have to burry him and come back at midnight and he’ll be turned into a zombie. Or I can just say a spell since I don’t have any of that stuff.”

“How do you know so much about zombies anyway?”

“My Grandfather was a Voodoo Priest. My mother told me he kept zombies as slaves back in Haiti.”

I stood up and dusted the seat of my shorts, then looked down at the little construction-worker man still lying broken and dirty in the same position.

“I think we should get out of here.” I was worried we’d be in more trouble over this dead guy than our vandalism at the new houses.

“Wait till I do the spell.”

I watched Amy lifted her arms and make circular motions in the air with her hands. She danced around on her spindly legs, her sandals slapping the ground as her summer dress spun about her knees. She clapped her hands and turned to me with a huge white grin. We both burst into giggles and ran away.

Later that day, safe back in the cocoon of my house, the events of the afternoon seemed like nothing more than a dream. I decided to forget about the old geezer and the spell Amy put on him. I placated myself that it was all pretend, that Amy couldn’t really cast spells and turn people into zombies. It was all just pretend.

After I fell asleep that night, I woke up unexpectedly and sat up in bed, fully awake. The house was quiet and my room was dark except for a stripe of moonlight that cast over my comforter through the window. 

I got out of bed and wandered across the wood floor. A massive full moon gazed in at me as I pushed the curtains aside. I looked down and drew in a breath at the sight before me. I felt my insides being sucked into a vortex in the centre of my body like a black hole. In the middle of the yard stood a figure awash in silvery moonlight. He was staring up at me, his face pale, his wiry body stiff as a corpse, his construction hat clutched in one hand.

I gasped and dove back under the covers. Then the back door of our house slammed. My ears strained, tuned to hear the most infinitesimal of sounds. Pin-pricks of pain shot though my arms and travelled up the back of my neck. It was him! The old geezer was coming for me! 

I heard his heavy footsteps coming up the stairs like an unexpected guest. Why was our dog not barking? I wanted to scream, call out to my parents, but I couldn’t muster whatever it was I needed--courage perhaps-- to open my mouth and make the sound come out. I was struck frozen with the sound of those footsteps coming down the hall.

Finally a harpy scream tore from my throat and split the air like a lightning crack.

“Jessie, Jessie!” The familiar outline of my dad’s face, eyes sparkling in the moonlight, materialized before me.

I lay back down on my pillow in the sweat soaked sheet. Of course. It was all pretend. All of it, just pretend.

~~~

 

Review: Rachel Vincent Brings Back Mythology Characters For YA Thriller!

Image via WikipediaMy Soul to Take

By Rachel Vincent



When you read a young adult book where young girls are interested in the attentions of the most popular boys, talking about the last high school game, or taking part in your favorite school group like dance, you begin to remember or appreciate those times spent in school. Rarely, however, do events happen like they do in the weirdly wonderful My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent!

Take for instance when Kaylee and Emma were standing, cold and worried, that Emma's older sister had forgotten she was supposed to sneak them into the club where she worked--and for which they were too young to be admitted...

It never entered their minds that one of the beautiful young girls there that night would fall...dead...

Especially when Emma was off dancing and Kaylee was in a daze since Nash Hudson had just called to her and started talking, and she was trying to maintain some semblance of "cool" because she hadn't even realized that he knew her name!

But then it happened...Kaylee saw the girl, and realized she was shrouded in gray. The question was now only, "When would she die?"

But Kaylee couldn't say anything because she was trying to keep herself from screaming. She wanted to say something to the girl, try to get to her and possibly save her...but she couldn't move, could only try to keep her mouth closed and prevent everybody from once again thinking she was crazy...

Nash started talking to her and Emma rushed to her, mentioning to those watching, that she was having a panic attack and the two of them got her outside...but, inside, in the meantime, Heidi Anderson, aged 19, was found on the restroom floor at the club...

Emma had started calling what happened to Kaylee panic attacks so they could help others understand. Kaylee never wanted to go back to the psychiatric hospital where her aunt and uncle had placed her one time when she had allowed her screams to escape. Since then, she had done as much as possible to prevent this happening, even though neither she nor her psychiatrist could explain it.

But Nash could. In fact, Kaylee had been afraid that Nash wouldn't ever want to talk to her again, but he kept coming back and soon they were seen as a couple. And he was the one that finally told her...

Two more deaths of young girls had occurred, the last one a member of the dance club in which her cousin danced. Kaylee had been around two of those girls and knew they were going to die. Now she, with Nash's help were searching for some way that her knowing could help prevent future deaths!

Rachel Vincent has given a whole new face to our mythology characters of the past and has created an exciting tale of wonder for young adults (and mystery/suspense fans of all ages) This book is first in a series, so if you like a little spookiness along with a great whodunit, of the supernatural kind...read My Soul To Take and prepare to enjoy!

Book Received Via
The Book Trib

G. A. Bixler