Make your bookworm squirm with chilling Halloween reads

Stuffed werewolves and plastic skeletons are mildly frightful, but real terror comes when the imagination is stimulated, especially by a haunting story. Sometimes a creepy book can conjure up the most fear on Halloween.

While it isn’t hard to find classics like Pet Sematary, there is a new breed of novel awaiting readers that enjoy a good scare. From zombies on the beach to a skin-melting lagoon, here are some recent novels that have terrified readers and critics – in a good way. All of them can be found on Amazon.com.

“Halloween Jack and the Devil’s Gate” by M. Todd Gallowglas (Bard’s Cloak of Tales) – It was Jack o’ the Lantern’s job to chase demons away from earth, but his powers failed and the minions of hell threaten to overrun the world. They spend Victorian-esque robots called steam soldiers storming across the globe. Jack’s three decedents must out-wit the ultimate evil. 

“Halloween Jack is a perfect blend of Harry Potter and Harry Dresdon, only with no magic and just the right dash of attitude.” – Fantasy Flight Games.

“Mute” by Brian Bandell (Silver Leaf Books) – Things have gone terribly wrong in the once scenic Indian River Lagoon in Central Florida. The water is turning acidic and smells like rotten eggs. Seemingly harmless animals like manatees and dolphins are dragging people into the toxic depths. Headless bodies are popping out of the water, and the only witness is an eight-year old orphaned girl who saw her parents killed. Mariella has gone mute and it’s detective Monique “Moni” Williams’ job to protect the girl while at the same time figure out what’s behind the scourge from the lagoon. 

“Bandell, who grew up in Indialantic, shows Brevard’s beauty in scenes set in the Indian River Lagoon that are as breathtaking as they are scary.” – South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

“Dying Days” by Armand Rosamilia (Rymfire Books) – Many people like the beach because they see people showing off sexy skin. But for zombies, those skimpy bathing suits make it like a buffet. The undead hit the beach in with an appetite as they take the oldest city in the United States, St. Augustine, Fla., and try making it the most undead city. 

“The Tour Bus of Doom – Spam the Cat and the ZombieApocalyps-o” by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough with K.B. Dundee (Gypsy Shadow Publishing) – The author of over 23 solo novels and 16 collaborations, Scarborough returns with a tour bus that rolls into a coastal town blaring loud drums and a zombie horde. Fortunately, the town has a brave defender: Spam the Cat. In this comedic horror, our hero has help from Rocky the vampcat. After the zombies sack the cats’ beloved fish n’ chips restaurant, the battle lines are drawn. 

“The voodoo zombie dust stuff was alarming, some of it was really breath-holding scary, especially the basic idea that zombie labor is even cheaper than slave labor.” – Kerry Greenwood, author of the best-selling Australian series Phryne Fisher. 

"Diaphanous" by Roy C. Booth and R. Thomas Riley (MinnKota Publications) – Arachnophobia is one of the core fears. Spiders creep most people out even though most aren’t harmful. Yet, these eight-legged baddies give the people of earth a very rational reason to fear them. Ted and Loretta are looking for their lost family member Mitch. The police think he abandoned his family. Not exactly. He’s been claimed by a family of little creatures bent on colonization. 

"A tale full of creeping dread and suspense, Diaphanous is a cool retro throwback to 50's and 60's creature horror.” – John Grover, author of “A Beckoning of Shadows.”

“Devil Eyes” by Prudence Foster (Wing ePress) – A remote key off Florida’s Gulf Coast sounds like an ideal vacation spot, but not when you check into a cursed hotel. The renovation of the recently reopened Tarpon Inn didn’t remove its ancient curse, a fact that its unfortunate guests are soon to discover. Florida crackers and the Seminole tribe struggle to survive the murderous visions foreseen by the child who is burdened by this dark magic. And if that isn’t bad enough, here comes a hurricane. 

“Invitation to a Murder” by Esther Luttrell (L & L Dreamspell) – Dena Brooke hoped to enjoy some relaxation at her beach cottage in Fort Myers, Fla. but the murder of her friend’s young son drew her back to Kansas. It is anything but a quaint prairie scene in Topeka as drive-by shootings, stalking and dark family secrets turn this into a pulse-pounding thriller. 

 “The Witness WoreFur” by Nancy Clark Townsend (Blue Dragon Press) – It starts with a wounded dog in Wendy Malcolm’s yard. When the window seeks help for the animal as it suffers from stab wounds, she’s dragged into the mystery of two missing coeds and psychopathic killers. If they would do that to a cute dog, what would they do to a person?

If you have any other scary suggestions, please let me know...

Why I needed Tori Amos’ music to write my novel

For anyone who took the time to read the acknowledgements page of my novel Mute before the story starts, you might wonder why I thanked musician Tori Amos. No, Tori wasn’t my editor. She was more like my muse.

I do most of my writing with a nice jolt of caffeine and music playing. The music sets the mood and helps the words pour out of me. Sometimes I link certain artists with characters in my stories. For Mute, most of the book was written listening to Tori’s golden pipes and her fingers dancing across the ivory. Check out the YouTube links to the songs so you can listen along.

Take the Prologue and Chapter 1. They were written to Tori’s “Little Amsterdam.”  Not only does it have a seedy Southern mood as she moans, “Little Amsterdam in a southern town,” the lyrics have a nice connection to the story. “Girl you’ve got to know these days, which side you’re on.” Moni must decide. Is she on the girl’s side or will she serve her badge first?

Then in Chapter 4, when officer Moni brings Mariella to her house for the first time, I listened to “Girl.” It’s about a woman finding independence and getting beyond the monotony of her life. “Everybody else’s girl. Maybe one day she’ll be her own.” This is Moni’s chance to step up and show she can do something big.

Many of the chapters where Mariella was in school having troubling fitting in and getting tormented by the boys were inspired by “PreciousThings.” The song starts with boys teasing her as ugly, but then Tori roars into, “I wanna smash the faces of those beautiful boys.” Fans will recognize that the song has sexual undertones that my story doesn’t, but I pick out the parts that fit.

The scenes with Moni in police task force meetings getting grilled by Sneed over her failings and trying to prove she belongs at the table with them were inspired by “Code Red.” The song opens with the jaw dropper, “Some say that I will and some say I won't. Victory is an elusive whore.”  Any song about a six pack of Coke and a bottle of Jack is cool with me. As Tori says, “Slip and slide my way through this charade.” Kind of what like Moni’s doing, not walking on solid ground. 

When Moni is threatened by her abusive father or her intimidating boyfriend, I played “Silent All These Years” to capture the mood. It’s about enduring a bad relationship, being powerless to do much about it, but still being defiant. “I got the anti-Christ in the kitchen yellin’ at me again. Yeah I can hear that.” No matter what, she doesn’t give up loving herself. “But what if I’m a mermaid in these jeans of his with her name still on it.”

What about Chapter 24, the one that was turned into an audio slide show? That was written to “Girl Disappearing.” This is the first time someone seriously confronts Moni with the accusation that Mariella isn’t a normal girl. Holding the girl in her arms, Moni denies it, but she’s afraid her accuser is right. Tori sums up the feeling: “With girl disappearing. What on earth's occurring? 'Cause she's right in front of me.” Then she drops a little hint of what’s to come: “So I'm running to a constellation, where they can still see you.”

In the chapter where the authorities come to take Mariella from Moni’s home, I went with an emotional, delicate song. Why not an angry song? Of course, Moni is angry about the situation. But in order to channel that anger, I have to understand what she’s afraid of. Tori’s “Mother” is about a girl forced to leave her family, “Mother the car is here. Somebody leave the light on. Green limousine for the redhead dancing, dancing girl. And when I dance for him somebody leave the light on, just in case I like the dancing, I can remember where I come from.” By feeling the desperation of a parent trying to prevent a child from being taken away, that triggered the desperate rage needed for this chapter.

There’s a chapter with Mariella running through the woods followed by her teacher. It was inspired by “Black Dove (January Girl).” The mood and the lyrics just fit. “She had a January world. So many storms not right somehow. How a lion becomes a mouse. By the woods.” And then another hint as Tori rips into the chorus: “You don’t need a spaceship. They don’t know you’ve already lived on the other side of the galaxy.”

I don’t want to describe much of what happens in the latter part of the book, because that would spoil all the fun, but I will say this. There are many creepy parts and otherworldly scenes. Many of these passages were written to songs from Tori’s Abnormally Attracted to Sin. One standout is “Give” – “So you heard I crossed over the line. Do I have regrets? Well, not yet.” My soundtrack for these chapters also included “Strong Black Vine” and “Flavor”. The latter song really hits it by opening with this: “Battle of the minds. Cries Below. Cries Above. You must pick a side. Will you choose fear? Will you choose love?”

Now Mute wasn’t written completely with one artist. I also listened to Coldplay’s “Spies” and The Raveonettes' "Aly, Walk With Me” for many of the creepy chapters. I needed something to make my spine tingle as I imagined fearsome things.

I used a similar technique for my upcoming novel Famous After Death, except no single artist dominated. The theme was gritty rock. The band for the first chapter: Velvet Revolver. Their music makes me want to do something way crazy.

Mute jumps off the page as artistic audio

Book trailers, ah yes, they have been done before. It would have been fun to see some actors try to play out a scene in Mute, but that’s not what I’m really offering to readers. You can’t download a Mute movie, so I’m not going to tease people with one. I wanted to make a video that showcased what is available: A dramatic novel. So I enlisted the help of some friends.

And now, here is the “artistic audio” presentation of Chapter 24 from Mute.

(If that didn't play for you, just see it on YouTube.)

This started when Celia Coulombe, who formerly worked at the Business Journal with me, told me how much she loved audio books and wanted to be a reader. So I sent her one of my favorite chapters and asked her to give it a shot. Celia did a tremendous job.

I realized that it would be hard for me to post the audio online by itself, but I could make it into a video. First, I enlisted the help of El Cesana, who took the cover photo for Mute. She told me I could select some photos from her gallery. What a treasure trove indeed.

I’ll have more to say about El Ces later, as this Australian photographer has an amazing story.

The presentation needed a depth of emotion that could only be captured by amazing artwork, and Hilda Vazquez certainly provided that. The Fort Lauderdale artist (and Business Journal graphic artist) let me use some images from her Facebook fan page.

I also used FreeDigitalPhotos.net to grab some stock photos, such as the fire, the gun and the binoculars. 

There you have it. Four creative souls collaborated to give everyone a sample of what Mute’s all about. If you want to read the rest of the story, you know where to go.

My favorite books from emerging authors

I’ve been using Authonomy, a website by HarperCollins that writer’s utilize  to trade feedback, since 2009 and I’ve commented on over 500 books. Not all of them are brilliant and, often, I do my best to help aspiring writers improve their novels. Occasionally though, I find some real gems. 

Authonomy has given me a free look at some of the best emerging authors, and now I want to share their brilliance. 

So consider this my thanks to the 460-plus people who have commented my novel Mute. Many of you provided tips and corrections that made it possible for me to find a publisher. I’m thrilled that Silver Leaf Books is releasing my novel on Kindle. 

I hope to see many of these novels “go pro” as well. Here are some of my favorite novels on Authonomy (in alphabetical order – because I couldn’t rank them at gunpoint):

The Awakening: Dawn of Destruction – By Cara Goldthrope

Freshly winning a spot for review by HarperCollins, this fantasy novel has great drama and a strong heroine. The author really captured the emotions of her characters.

http://www.authonomy.com/books/42681/the-awakening-dawn-of-destruction/

Bait  - By Ian Walkley

An exciting crime thriller set down under. As you might guess from the title, undercover detective Kasey Bates must place herself in great danger to catch the bad guys.

http://www.authonomy.com/books/37681/bait/

Behind the Hood – By Marita A. Hansen

New Zealand has a gang problem? I thought it had a sheep problem? This novel does a tremendous job showing the violence, drugs, ethnic tension and bullying in South Auckland. It made it to the HarperCollins desk.

http://www.authonomy.com/books/26613/behind-the-hood/

Between – By Cyndi Tefft

Yes, I do enjoy a good fantasy romance from time to time, especially with a unique storyline. Poor Lindsey Water met an untimely death, but she’s also about to meet the man of her dreams as she’s escorted to heaven by an 18^th century Scottish highlander.  Strange as it seems, this premise works splendidly. 

http://www.authonomy.com/books/17874/between/

Blue Diamonds ­– By Tonia Marlowe

She told him no, but this former military man won’t take no for an answer. There’s a lot of excitement as the woman tries to fend off the badass psycho guy. It made the HarperCollins desk and, while they passed on it, I feel it deserves to be published.

http://www.authonomy.com/books/27447/blue-diamonds/

Conflicts of Interest – By Bob Steele

This novel has been up for a while and it made the HarperCollins desk, and the story has stuck with me. David’s business partner is murdered after a trip to Russia and his life quickly unravels. It has some slick business corruption angles, which I certainly can appreciate being a business reporter. This guy writes like a professional.

http://www.authonomy.com/books/13680/conflicts-of-interest/

The Ghost Writer – By B.J. Winters

This novel, which made the HarperCollins desk, is about a writer who finds a mysterious manuscript at his bedside and realizes that it could help him prevent a murder. The writing here is fantastic.

http://www.authonomy.com/books/10721/the-ghost-writer/

The Good and Bad – By Marshall Dotson

Demons, rock stars, vampires, sword play. In other words, great campy fun!

http://www.authonomy.com/books/43098/the-good-and-bad/

The Immortality Game – By Ted Cross

This is a strong science fiction thriller that reminded me of the Battlestar Galactica spinoff Caprica because it involves downloading a person onto a computer chip. It has fast-paced action and puts the characters in terrible danger. My heart was racing.

http://www.authonomy.com/books/33347/the-immortality-game/

The Magic Door Knob  - T.D. Holland

This is one of my favorite children’s/young adult novels on here. It’s about a magic doorknob (duh) that takes Ricky to other worlds. It has such a great pace that it’s hard to put it down at the end of a chapter.

http://www.authonomy.com/books/40220/the-magic-door-knob/  

Misery’s Fire – By Kim Jewell

A well-written story about a high school student waking up in hell, literally. It has cracking dialog and it’s good fun.

http://www.authonomy.com/books/20484/misery-s-fire/

The Raven and the Wolf – By Athena Lyso

Another great fantasy, this time with a loyal officer being unjustly banished from the kingdom after a tense meeting with the king. Engle befriends an orphan in the wilderness and sets out for redemption. The great plot carries this one along.

http://www.authonomy.com/books/19947/the-raven-and-the-wolf/

The Roswell Protocols – By Allan Burd

If Roswell is in the title, you can guess what this is about. It’s one of the better alien invasion stories I’ve read on here. It looks at a spaceship crash from many points of view, from the general public to the military.

http://www.authonomy.com/books/31510/the-roswell-protocols/

The Rufino Bloodfang Saga: Leap of Faith – By Jason Baird

This might be the most overlooked novel on my list (I’m one of two comments at the moment), but don’t miss out on it! It’s one of the most original vampire novels I’ve ever read. Rufino is a midget vampire with a Mohawk. He’s not all that successful as a lady’s man, or a fighter really, and it’s funny to watch a vampire who’s not as tough as he thinks. Then he falls in love with a tall, beautiful druid. Of course she hates the little bugger, but she needs him for a quest. Can the little vampire win the lovely druid’s heart? Oh, and the mini vampire bites a monkey – ha ha ha!

http://www.authonomy.com/books/44417/the-rufino-bloodfang-saga-leap-of-faith/

Sage Courage – By Heather McLoud

Leila flees a tragic past for Wyoming and winds up landing a job watching somebody’s kids in a house way in the middle of nowhere. But these aren’t normal kids…The mystery really gripped me and the tension level was super high.

http://www.authonomy.com/books/40845/sage-courage/

Secrets We Keep  - By Gail Cleare

Simply put: This one deserves to be published. It’s a family drama thriller about two sisters who discover that their mother, now ill, has been leading a secret life.

http://www.authonomy.com/books/37947/secrets-we-keep/

To Set a Mouse Running – By Robert Lawrence

This type of plot is fairly familiar - a man’s family is killed in an IRA bombing and he is going to great lengths to bring the killers to justice. It’s the way this story is written that makes it so powerful. In order for this to work, the author had to make the deaths have real emotional impact. He certainly accomplished that.

http://www.authonomy.com/books/43385/to-set-a-mouse-running/

So that’s my list. I’ll consider writing another post if I come across some more truly special books.

Until then, just keep in mind that the release of my novel Mute is right around the corner.

New publisher seeks stories of Florida, Caribbean adventures

Charles Kropke has launched Tropic Moon Press in Miami and is looking for both non-fiction and fiction stories set in Florida and the Caribbean. 

My recent story in the South Florida Business Journal describes how Kropke is an adventurous businessman. He owns eco tourism company Dragonfly Expeditions and he’s reviving Windjammer Barefoot Cruises. As you might guess, he’s looking for stories that capture the essence of Florida in its natural state. He told me that he enjoys reading Randy Wayne White, who I enjoy as well, A.C. Brooks and Jimmy Buffet – yes, he’s an author too.

In non-fiction, Kropke is following up South Beach – Stories of Renaissance with other books that combine photography with real stories. The initial focus is on the Everglades and the Keys, especially places really off the main paths. He's open to stories set in the Caribbean as well.

Kropke is not an ebook enthusiast. He likes to hold his paper, especially with high quality photos. Yes, it can be tough to sell print copies, and many smaller publishers are going digital (including mine). Yet, Kropke has plenty of connections, including with the owner of Books & Books in Coral Gables. He can also market the books to the adven-tourists on his expeditions so they can learn about the places they are going.

If you have an idea for Kropke, check out this web site and see the contact page.

I read this great scifi novel by a couple of screenwriters

I’m glad I picked up Heaven’sShadow at a local book fair because it was a great scifi read. The 2011 novel is co-written by David S. Goyer and Michael Cassutt. While Goyer has made his mark in comics and movies such as Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, Cassutt has worked on TV shows like The Twilight Zone and Eerie Indiana.

In Heaven’s Shadow, a near-Earth object (NEO) named Keanu for a certain actor is going to zip by Earth and rival teams of astronauts are set to rendezvous with it. Soon both the American team and the Russian-Indian-Brazilian Coalition (that would make a fun multi cultural party) find way more than they bargained for. The NEO hits the brakes and goes into orbit around earth. What looked like a frozen asteroid was really an alien craft with a small world inside.

The premise is similar to Arthur C. Clarke’s Rama series, where humans hitch a ride on a space ship cloaked as an asteroid that turns out to be a great social experiment to see if they can get along with alien races. In Heaven’s Shadow, there is also a great sense of adventure and some big surprises, “space zombies” among them. The characters have touching back stories as that come into play well. This includes the relationship between the lead astronauts and his daughter awaiting his return.

I know Goyer and Cassutt have successful careers in TV and film, but I hope they find time to collaborate on another fine novel.