Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Literature Review #17: Candy and other Nightmares

Who is Candy?  Unfortunately for her, as for many of us, all glory is fleeting.  Once a beautiful blonde seductress, now reduced to a bluish-gray corpse with protruding bones and receding skin. Murder will do that to a gal.  Throw in vengeance and revenge, and perhaps our sexy nymphomaniac can turn the tables on the living and solve a decades old murder.  "Candy" is the anchor story of a horrific collection of short stories by Rod Senter.  A ghost (...a violent one, I may add) story that will make you squirm, is a fitting end to this septet of stories.

Depending on what makes you tick, there is a story in Mr. Senter's book that will speak to you....probably in the middle of the night.  I live in a county in Virginia which endured the most casualties of any county during the Civil War.  Four major battles were fought here.  When this book opened with a paranormal investigator visiting a bloody Civil War battle field, I was hooked.  But wait!  Like all of Mr. Senter's stories, he delves past what is easy.  Sure, ghosts will appear, which is frightening enough...then...a twist...and something more horrific than dead spirits.  This is also true in the story "To Die For."  I won't say much of this story, but it asks a fascinating question.  Would a G.I. at Normandy, if alive today, be pleased at what has transpired since the end of World War 2? The answer is sobering and perhaps will cause some thoughtful introspection about who we are and where we are going.
These stories are quirky and Mr. Senter will reverse the spin on many horror maxims we hold today.  For example...are deranged stalkers always evil?  To what extent can we have relationships with the dead?  Gory, terrifying, and deep, Mr. Senter's works will stick with you either in the form of nightmares or nagging questions, too uncomfortable to ponder...until now.
Need a book for the beach this summer, and romance novels just don't cut it? Or perhaps you have a long airplane flight coming up.  "Candy and other Nightmares" is a must read for all of us that want our horror with an edge to it.  "Edge" may be an understatement, but it is safe to say that the works in Mr. Senter's book are hardly predictable and don't fit into a mold.  To order this book, click on the following link Candy

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