Book Spotlight - Firestorm: Descent (Firestorm Part 1) by Alan Porter

Firestorm: Descent (Firestorm Part 1)

Description
A world ravaged by war; humanity on the brink.
A stranger comes from another time.
Is he the saviour mankind has been waiting for... or something far darker?

When an accident with an experimental Time Machine plunges David Tweed into another dimension, at first he thinks he got lucky. He's alive, and the world in which he finds himself seems remarkably familiar.
Soon, however, he begins to realise how strange this world really is, how tangible is the evil that crawls across the shattered landscape.
But strangest of all, everyone he meets seems to have been expecting him. How do they know who he is, and just what have they been waiting for him to do?

Alan Porter weaves a deceptively simple story of one man's courage in the face of overwhelming odds. Yet Firestorm is also a fiendishly complex puzzle, where time twists in on itself and nothing is ever quite what it seems.

Genre: Sci-fi/horror

Buy Links: Author's Website | Amazon


About the Author

Alan Porter is a UK author who is rapidly gaining a loyal following of readers who appreciate his unique brand of horror. His books may have their roots firmly in the horror genre, but always deliver far more than just thrills and spills (of guts or anything else!).

Thought-provoking, complex and often ambiguous, these are books that will stay with you long after the final page.

Book Extravagaza Tour & Giveaway

Book Extravagaza Tour

with

Kindred Night School Vampire Hunter Book 2

The Life and Times of Noone In Particular

The Skeleton Key

By – in order of books above

Michelle Cornwell-Jordan

Jamie B. Musings

C.P. Bialois

Tour Wide Giveaway - $25 Amazon Gift Card & 1 Cecile Monique Music CD

My Swordhand is Singing – Marcus Sedgwick

Description

In a bitter winter, Tomas and his son, Peter, settle in a small village as woodcutters. Tomas digs a channel of fast-flowing waters around their hut so that they have their own little island kingdom. Peter doesn't understand why his father has done this, or why his father carries a long, battered box, whose mysterious contents he is forbidden to know.
But Tomas is a man with a past--a past that is tracking him with deadly intent. As surely as the snow falls softly in the forest of a hundred thousand silver birch trees, father and son must face a soulless enemy and a terrifying destiny.
 

My Opinion

OK, so because it is Halloween I have decided to re-read one of my favourite horror books. I still remember the scared feelings I had as I lay in bed after finishing this book for the first time. Reading it at 2am with just a fire light was definitely not the best idea... I lay awake for hours after the last few pages but even though I was scaring myself with my over active imagination I just couldn't stop reading. I loved the title and this is originally what drew me to the book as I really enjoy gothic/horror books.

This was the first book of Sedgwick's I ever read and since reading this book I have read many other books he has released. His writing is truly amazing! Sedgwick takes old legends, myths and period of times and twists them into a dark interesting, horror story.

The plot of this novel was great! It was dark, different and shocking with all it's twists and turns.

The character's were interesting and engaging and I found myself being drawn deeper and deeper into the world Sedgwick created. The bit that effected me most was towards the ending but by that point I was finding it impossible to stop. As well as this, the short chapters kept me turning pages just to find out what happened next. The books was incredibly atmospheric and I loved the darker version of a vampire/zombie story.

Even though this is like the fifteenth time I have read this book it still scares me every time. I don't know if that is just because I'm spooked easily but it is probably down to my over active imagination that gets lost in the believable worlds created by Sedgwick. I have definitely learnt my lesson though after the first time and now only read his work during daylight.

I can not recommend this book highly enough. Sedgwick's novels are some of the best I have read and his writing is great! If you want something that you can lose yourself in to get scared on Halloween this book would be great!  

Other great reads by Marcus Sedgwick that I have loved!

          

Special Halloween Guest Post - by Author Stephanie Carroll

              Today I have author Stephanie Carroll posting on my blog. 

She has kindly written a post about putting the 'scary' into your scary stories. I found this a really enjoyable read (as I write dark paranormal romance myself) and it fits nicely seeing as Halloween is coming around the corner.

So everyone give a warm welcome to Stephanie! 

    

photo credit:
 Stephanie Massaro via photopin cc

How to Get the Scary in Your Scary Story 

By Stephanie Carroll 

The Origins of Horror 
Most people probably have the impression that horror is a genre that reflects the extreme side of scary stories, meaning there are other genres, but as I researched this, it turns out that’s not quite the case.

According to the Horror Writer’s Association,any story meant to frighten the reader is considered horror fiction. However, in the 1980s and 1990s the horror genre became stereotyped following formulas debuted by Stephen King. In order to avoid the hype, modern day writers who technically write horror fiction label their works under another genre. For example, by the horror definition, The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold is horror fiction.

The roots of horror fiction come from ancient and folklore tales mostly dealing with religious fears, including death, the afterlife, evil, demons, and the devil. The genre of horror fiction specialized in the 18th century with Gothic Horror and continued in the 19th century with such classics as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818), Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897), Robert Louis Stevenson’s Th Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886), and Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890). Even more interesting, original horror targeted the female audience and usually included a female protagonist. Learn more at the Wikipedia Horror Entry.

photo credit: Bill McIntyre 

via photopin cc

The classic ghost stories and other tales of death were refined within the genre of Weird Fiction, which developed in the 19th and 20th centuries and includes authors H.P. Lovecraft, Lord Dunsany, M. R. James, and Clark Ashton Smith. I did a recent post on Weird Fiction on my blog The Unhinged Historian if you’d like to learn more about this genre.

Horror and Weird Fiction are both sub-genres of Speculative Fiction, which includes any fantastical genre like fantasy and sci-fi. 

Scary Techniques
So if all scary stories are either speculative, horror, or weird, what are some of the different techniques for different types of scares?

photo credit

ojimbo via photopin cc

Once again referencing the Horror Writer’s Association, horror involves fear and as society embraces fear those anxieties lessen forcing writers to always be pushing the bounds of fear. Nevertheless, there are still some techniques that we can call upon.


Classic Gothic Horror – look into the classics, such as Bram Stroker’s Dracula and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and reuse the classic techniques. Check out this post by WritingHood for ideas.

Monsters! – Classic and new monster stories are always fun. Usually, when we think of a monster story, we think of the swamp thing or the old werewolf flicks, but modern day monsters are created all the time. Check out these awesome videos for ideas about making up all new creatures and ghoulsThe Stan Winston School of Character Arts.

Suspense – a lot of people confuse suspense and thriller. The difference is that suspense causes a sense of anxiety due to impending danger whereas a thriller causes a sense of a rush due to action. Scary Suspense stories are the ones that have you gripping your seat then flinching when something jumps out causing you to spill your soda on your date. Check out this guest blog post on the Venture Galleries Blog.

Hauntings – If you like the Weird Fiction style, then maybe you’re interested in writing a modern day ghost story. I personally love ghost stories and Weird Fiction because hauntings are great for historical fiction writers. The reason being the best ghosts are from a creepy and disturbed past. Still, haunting stories have been done, done, done, so you need to make sure you are original. This Atomic Soapbox post has some pretty good points on how the ghost story works, and the best way to come up with something original is to understand what others have done and how the genre works.

photo credit:JustCallMe_♥Bethy♥_

via photopin cc

Gore – it’s what modern day horror is all about, and a lot of people absolutely love it. Horror movies are huge right now, but what a lot of people are beginning to realize is that gore is always more graphic in books. Why? Because you can push farther in the written word. Take Misery by Stephen King – in the move Annie Wilkes crushes Paul Sheldon’s feet with a sledge hammer while he is still conscious, but in the book, she sawed those little footies off! Check out this eHow Article on How To Write Gory Fiction for help.

Tapping into our Darkest Fears – this is the biggie in my book for scary stuff. I still cannot stand to think of certain stories that involved burying people alive, cutting them open while they are awake, and sewing orifices to other orifices. I tried to find a good resource for this technique and couldn’t find one. It’s made me conclude that the best technique is to go for something that is so horrifying, so gruesome, that no one has dared to go there before. Start with your own worst fears and chose the one that you absolutely positively do not want to go with. It takes a certain kind of audience to appreciate this though, and I wouldn’t recommend it unless you are writing for those individuals.

I hope you found these techniques useful, and I wish you horrific luck in scaring the skinny jeans off some unsuspecting readers. Happy Halloween!

Cover by Jenny Q

Historical Editorial

About the Author

Stephanie Carroll writes dark historical fiction with a touch of magical realism. Her debut novel, A White Room, is coming out in the Summer of 2013. She also writes a blog, The Unhinged Historian, for readers and writers of magical, Gothic-Victorian, and Weird historical fiction. Her website is www.stephaniecarroll.net.

Thank you Stephanie and good luck with all your writing and future work!

Happy Halloween everyone!