Randy Chandler

What a ride! Daemon of the Dark Wood by Randy Chandler shot me into the air, whipped me around and around, and just when I thought I would never catch my breath, tossed me to the cool ground.

A chilling tale describing the centennial visit of an evil creature known by the women of an antebellum town in North Georgia, DODW explores a hellish folk tale passed down from generation to generation. Now the obscene daemon that caused the harrowing death of the town’s Civil War veterans is back, show more to perform its licentious rituals on a new population. Nobody is immune to its horrendous, haunting howl.

Apparent meticulous research from a mythological aspect, a psychiatry aspect, as well as a Southern folklore view, add credibility to DOWD’s storyline and its characters, and make the events almost believable, and certainly eerily plausible. From a sexual horror point of view, this book has it all! The ancient daemon employs all the senses to command men, women, wild beasts and birds of prey to quench its gory and insatiable thirst.

But this novel is not merely horror porn. Among and between the graphic (and sizzling) sex, are almost poetic, even erudite descriptions that perfectly set the mood. “Static electricity crackles and sparks darkly in the rain” gave me chill bumps. “…each leaf is a sharply distinct spade-shaped spearhead, stirring imperceptibly in the night air” emphasized the sinister, dark feeling of the hedges. Mr. Chandler’s writing style is provocative, imaginative, and yet idyllic. Overall quite a gratifying, if thrilling, read.

Seldom have I read a more horrific, bloodcurdling, yet beautiful book. I could barely eat or sleep for a couple of days. I devoured this book. Savored it. The dichotomy of evil and poetic prose was spellbinding. I read passages aloud to myself to feel them in my mouth. I am eagerly anticipating more stories from this enchanting author. show less

4.5 stars!

Normally, I'm more of an atmospheric horror gal than a gore lover, however, I do believe there's room for both in the horror genre of today. I picked up this volume when it first came out, but it was the offer of the free audio, (in exchange for my honest review), that made it possible for me to read it now rather than some time in 2017. This was my first book narrated by Joe Hempel and I think he did a fine job, especially considering the often shocking subject matter.

There were show more a few "new to me" authors here and my favorite among them was The Behrg and his story, Reborn. THIS, this is the reason people don't leave babies on the steps of churches anymore. Reborn is my favorite type of short horror story-no messing around, BAM!! It hits you right in the face! The Behrg has been on my radar for awhile and now I have to finally acknowledge him. (You were right, Kimberly!)

The Most Important Miracle by Scott Emerson. Now, seriously, who the hell is this guy? From what kind of sick brain did this story emerge? More importantly, are there more stories in there?

There were a couple of tales from authors I am already familiar with that I really liked-Adam Howe's Cleanup On Aisle 3 was one of them. It's a BADASS turning of the tables type story that had me cringing and laughing at the same time.

Jeff Strand's contribution Awakening had me laughing so hard I almost fell out of my chair. Rarely are suicide pacts THIS funny!

Lastly, Jason Parent's Eleanor knocked my socks off. Boot-i-ful?? Yep, you bet! Sick, twisted and beautiful.

Overall, this was an above average collection that lost nothing in the translation to audio. Most of these tales are brutal, gory and shocking though, so prepare yourself before you go wading in. It gets deep and rather slimy the further you go.

Highly recommended to fans of hardcore horror!

*Thanks to Joe Hempel and Audiobook BOOM! for the free copy in exchange for my honest review.* show less

My original Year's Best Hardcore Horror Vol 1 audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.

I thought this collection of 19 horror stories would be suitable listening for Halloween week and it did indeed end up to be very captivating and entertaining. I don't actually listen to/read much horror and don't very often pick short stories, so this was quite a change for me. Perhaps because of that, I was only familiar with one of the authors, The Behrg. But since finishing show more this I had to check out the work of some of the others because I was impressed by their stories.

The marketing blurb for this is actually true for once. These are truly hardcore, extreme stories that disregard taboos and boundaries. I'm not very squeamish and tend to enjoy dark and graphic stories but some of these actually had me screaming "yuck" and "gross" repeatedly. However, they weren't actually as scary and creepy as I was expecting them to be but with a much stronger focus on sex than I had anticipated. So be warned, while I would wholeheartedly recommend this collection, it definitely isn't for everyone.

Nonetheless, some of the stories are actually quite subtle and leave you time for a breather. There is a good range of different themes covered. From serial killers to supernatural occurrences, from strong females and weak priests to zombies, there is a lot of variety. Out of the 19 stories, I can honestly say there were only maybe two that I didn't particularly care for. One of the GG Allin stories? Maybe it's because I'm a mother, but I was glad to get to the end of that one!

The really strong point for me was that all the stories made you feel something, and I don't just mean the obvious terror or disgust. Monica J. O'Rourke's "Exposed" about a woman hunting down child abductors packed a powerful emotional punch. Considering these were short stories, the characters were surprisingly well developed. It wasn't short of humor either. Jeff Strand's "Awakening" had me laughing out loud, and “The Most Important Miracle” by Scott Emerson was pretty funny, too.

The entire anthology is narrated by Joe Hempel and he does a great job. His normal narrating voice was smooth and pleasant to listen to with great pacing, and when he voiced the different characters he used the right amount of acting, different accents, and tones to make this into a vivid, consistent and engaging performance. The production was faultless.

Audiobook was provided for review by the narrator. show less

Imagine you're sitting around watching TV one night and then you hear an inhuman screech. A screech which fills you with dread and empties your bladder at the same time. Welcome to Widow's Ridge!

An interesting mix of mythology, small town secrets and unquenchable lust. Combine the ancient myths of Pan and Dionysus and then plop them down in town and see what happens.

The characters in this story are realistic and likable. You can't help but to feel for them when the action starts going down. show more (Forgive the pun!)

This story was a bit slow getting started but then just pulls you in as the chaos begins to spread throughout the town. I thought it was exciting and after the beginning, the pace picks up and screams all the way to the end. This was a fun read and I recommend it. Thanks to Mr. Chandler for offering this story for free. You have won yourself a fan! show less