Tracy L. Carbone

What is it about New England that makes it such a fertile ground for growing great horror writers? Being a Texan, I am mystified, but being a horror lover, I do appreciate whatever it is.

Well chosen stories by top flight authors and even takes extra points for artistry by including poems.

My favorite stories were the ones that had a bitter sweetness to them, making them more dark fiction than actually horror.

The Christopher Chair by Paul McMahon--a relic that cures also exacts a price.

Build-A-Zombie by Scott T. Goudsward--gleefully macabre story based, you guessed it, on the concept of building one's own zombie instead of a cute stuffed animal.

Make a Choice by John M. McIlveen--disturbing, realistic, and well done. I don't want to give it away but it would be any parent's worse nightmare.

Stony's Boneyard by Glenn Chadbourne and Holly Newstein--touching supernatural story. Well written, evocative of loss and what we leave behind for the people that loved us.

Cheryl Takes a Trip by Stephen Dorato--literary ghost story about regret that functions on several levels.

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I am not going to bother giving a synopsis since the title says it all.
I have been a horror fan since I was six years old and watched Salem’s Lot through my fingers. I don’t scare that easily anymore and I am often left disappointed in books or movies. That’s not the case with these stories though. This collection is a perfect example of less being more. Some of these stories gave me goose pimples by being subtle. It didn’t take 400 pages or overt terror, but instead they were horror stories that were human and thought provoking too. I laughed and even cried reading some (okay I was a blubbering idiot reading Stony’s Boneyard by Glenn Chadbourne & Holly Newstein). I won’t give a list of my favorites from the collection since I just finished reading it. Tomorrow my favorites may be different after I have had some time to digest them. I absolutely recommend this to fellow horror fans and even to those who don’t normally read the genre because it’s a great introduction to horror.… (more)

This is the first, in what I hope, is a long series of books following the investigative forth grader, Abby McNabb. Abby follows in her famous father’s footsteps to uncover all things paranormal. Little did she realize that the clues would bring her 360 degrees back home and a strange discovery! Abby, with the help of her friends Claudia and Chase, now must understand the meaning of what they had learned. The question is, “How can a group of fourth graders keep their cool while they find out that the people that they thought they knew, and the world in general, are not what they appear to be?” I look forward to the further adventure of Abby, her group of friends and her globetrotting father.… (more)