Disturbing? Haunting? Helloween is reviewed by Horrornews.net

Book Review: Helloween – Author Samantha Combs

Posted on 01/03/2013 by John Clements  Leave a Comment or Post Review

If you were to ask me what horror is I’d probably say something about nude teens being chased by a boogeyman armed with some form of weapon who is out to give his fans (since who really cheers for the teens anyway) a show with a high death count, exaggerated gore, goose bump raising suspense, and tons of jump scares. It’s all in great fun. The killers are over the top, the teens are idiots, the situations commonplace, and you actually look forward to spilling your popcorn.

What you wouldn’t hear me talk about is that form of horror that takes it just a step too far. Where you are almost disgusted, disturbed, hurt, or even haunted by what you just saw. Could you really be the type of person to enjoy that? Hint: The answer is yes. Unlike the first two of Samantha Combs’ horror anthologies which would be very much in the first kind of horror I mentioned, her latest, Helloween, is itching more towards the second. Six tales, each longer than her usual horror short story fare that makes for great nightmare inducing bedside reading, are included.

“Eat at Joe’s” was by far the most unsettling. It tells the story of Reynaldo, a wannabe chef, who finds that a little blood never hurt anyone, except himself, of course. The knife descriptions do a number on me personally as I’m the wimpy squeamish type that small knife cuts are more disturbing to than full outright gashes and I had a hard time reading this one, although that didn’t stop me from doing so repeatedly. The other stories are definitely more mild, but still in the same vein of uncomfortableness.

“Demon in the GPS” shows you how one fateful night Nadine finally finds a way to get her husband’s outward aggressiveness under control. In “Skin Deep”, probably my favorite tale in Helloween, Darla finds out all too well that beautiful skin comes at a frightful cost. “Imaginary Friend” shows you yet another reason why the voices in your head are best ignored.

In “New Neighbors”, you find that some people will do just about anything, including things you wouldn’t do yourself, to welcome a new family to the block. And lastly “The Serial Killer’s Wife” tells the tale of Elaine, a loving wife to homicidal killer Roland. Elaine finally decides she’s sick and tired off her husband’s nightly habits and decides she’s going to do something about it. Unfortunately for Roland, she was paying a bit more attention to his doings than he realized.

Helloween, although too easily finished in one sitting, made for great reading nonetheless. It definitely shows that Samantha has upped the scale as far as the chills go and that’s never a bad thing. It is definitely another great collection to go alongside Way Past Midnight, and Teeth And Talons: A Horror Anthology and all three are worth your time.

I can only hope she continues this upward momentum in any forthcoming anthologies which can never come too soon.

Book Review: Helloween – Author Samantha Combs

And I can only hope reviewers and readers continue to enjoy my stories.  Thanks John Clements!

Prestigious Review for my Horror Collection

I was very honored to have a request to the well-known, prestigious and global website HorrorNews.net for a review of my horror collection, Teeth and Talons, receive a response right away.  I was even more thrilled when I received the review.  I had sort of held my breath, after all, I am an author of YA and MG paranormal and supernatural fantasy, an easy transition to horror, I thought, but still, my first real horror writing effort.  It turned out to be life-and direction-affirming.  By that I mean it made me feel as though I was going in the right direction.....that I could "do horror".

I'm please to post the review in its entirety here, even as I compile my next horror offering.  Thanks for reading and commenting, if so moved.  And I am honored, John Clements, for your words and your desire to read more.  You inspired me!

Book Review: Teeth And Talons Anthology – Author Samantha Combs

Posted on 04/12/2012 by John Clements  3 comments

TEETH AND TALONS ANTHOLOGY
Author Samantha Combs

There have been less than a handful of stories that, upon finishing reading them, I look up from the page and think to myself “The author had better continue this!” The Ink Man is such a story.

The Ink Man is the first of four short stories in Samantha Combs’ new book entitled “Teeth And Talons Anthology” and it is by far the best of the four (and, thankfully, the longest). The other stories include the all too short tale of The Robbery Countdown, the obligatory vampire tale Rock And Roll All Night, and the paranormal effort of The Chair.

All of the stories are intriguing, to say the least, and most have the horror staple of a twist ending which was fun and added a good dimension to each tale. This anthology is Samantha’s first published foray into horror, but her Young Adult background works well for her making these stories very easy reads. At only 37 pages in length (for the PDF) you can easily finish an individual story in one sitting, if not the entire book.

In The Ink Man, a down on his luck tattoo artist gets a second chance with a new inking set and some new clientele. Ignoring the also obligatory old man’s warning about not buying the inking set, he will soon find out exactly what fate has in store for him.

The Robbery Countdown is barely two pages in length and so leaves a lot to the imagination as far as storyline. However what you are told is enough to make your mind wander and fill in all of the missing gaps well enough to form a complete story. All I know is that I hope I never accidentally wander into that cursed liquor store.

Rock And Roll All Night was a surprising entry. I admit that I did not have the correct ending figured out ahead of time like I thought I would. In this vampire tale, a local bar called The Hive (that should have tipped me off) is in search of a rock band. The vampire band Fang Byte takes the gig for the evening. Drinking and dancing ensues until the fateful closing time hour when you discover the evening is not going to end quite as you thought it was.

In The Chair, George, having recently gotten into an argument with his roommate Tim, is walking down the street to vent his anger when he discovers a chair on the curb apparently thrown out by its former owner. “I can solve all your problems.” he heard in his head. George proceeds to take the chair home. His life will never be the same.

Most horror fiction fans should be fairly pleased by the time they finish the book. The stories are short and simple. There’s no overly descriptive and unsettling death sequences, no odd word use, no particular storyline that’s been re-made over and over. I enjoyed my few hours of reading and am looking forward to Ink Man Cometh or whatever story I hope Samantha follows The Ink Man with.