Look Out For… What Gets Left Behind by Mark West
“The core of this story is as much emotional as horrific, but don’t be fooled: when the horror does come it is brutally effective.”
In 1981, Gaffney was terrorised by the Rainy Day Abductor. Local girls went missing. And two boys made a terrifying discovery. Now one of them has come home, to try and lay the past to rest.
Why We’re Excited About This Book: Mark West’s novella was originally published as a limited edition of just 100 copies, and got a lot of acclaim from the lucky few who managed to grab a copy. Now it has been republished as an eBook version with new bonus content, so the rest of us can find out what the fuss was about…
What Gets Left Behind is the story of a middle-aged man called Mike, returning to his home town of Gaffney, scene of traumatic experiences in his youth when a child killer stalked the town. The story moves between these two timeframes as it progresses; What Gets Left Behind is West’s take on the staple horror theme that you can’t escape your past. But there’s a feeling of nostalgia as well as fear, and one of the book’s many strengths is its evocation of an ’80s childhood in a small Midlands town.
In common with West’s novella The Mill, the core of this story is as much emotional as horrific, as Mike must confront his own inner demons and guilt. But don’t be fooled: when the horror does come it is brutally effective.
A story both frightening and reflective, What Gets Left Behind is worthy of any horror fan’s time.
What Gets Left Behind is out now from PenMan Press.
Look Out For … Finding Poe by Leigh M. Lane
“Finding Poe keeps the reader constantly off-balance and unsure just what is real and what is fantasy.”
Finding Poe is a riddle to be solved, and this edition caters to those who feel up to the task. If you’re a Poe fan, you’ll already know he was the father of the deductive detective story. Many scholars will argue that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes series was inspired by Poe’s Detective Dupin stories.
This book asks the reader to assume the hat of the deductive detective. Throughout the text, there are numerous clues to direct the reader toward an alternate speculation about Poe’s untimely death. Before you set out to solve the riddle, however, you must first find the question….
When reality and fiction collide, there’s no telling what horrors might ensue.
Why We’re Excited About This Book: Finding Poe by Leigh M. Lane offers the reader a surreal and unusual reading experience. Attempting to understand her husband’s suicide, British noblewoman Karina finds clues that lead her to an American, one Edgar Allan Poe… She travels to a lighthouse in Baltimore in pursuit of him, and is plunged into terrors that may or may not be real.
The novel is built on allusions to the work of Poe, although the reader doesn’t need to know all the references to enjoy the book. (In a nice touch, all the works referenced are included in the eBook version.) In particular, Poe’s poem ‘A Dream Within A Dream’ is key to the story. Like a Gothic version of Inception, Finding Poe keeps the reader constantly off-balance and unsure of just what is real and what is fantasy… and if that distinction matters.
Told in haunting and atmospheric prose, Finding Poe is an unusual combination of modern Gothic thriller and literary mystery story.
Finding Poe is out now from Cerebal Books.
JAMES EVERINGTON
