Blue November Storms

4.5 stars!

5 friends meet up to visit the cabin in the woods they built together when they were teenagers. This brings me to the fantastic introduction to this book, written by Ray Garton. Like he says, any horror fan knows you just don't go to cabins in the woods. Quote:

"If you're a horror fan, you know what's out there. There are families of inbred cannibals, practitioners of unspeakable religious rites, extraterrestrials possibly disoriented by a rough touchdown, drug-crazed psycho-killers and Bigfoot to name only a few things."

Despite all the facts that Mr. Garton laid out in his intro., the guys meet up and are very excited to be together again and they're psyched that there is also a meteor shower predicted for this very night. show more Unfortunately, this wasn't the usual sky art. These meteors are illuminated by a strange blue light and they continue coming down to strike the earth. What happens after that came as a surprise to me and I thought it was awesome.

I need to briefly mention the very cool illustrations throughout this novella. Sketched by Glenn Chadbourne, they added a lot to the story. His work is phenomenal.

This was a quick novella (only about 100 pages), that I read within an hour. I thought it was imaginative, creative and fast paced. I didn't think a story with this particular premise could work for me, but I was wrong, this one did. Recommended to fans of tales of this type, and fans of horror in general. show less

Cemetery Dance has been putting out quality horror for years and this book is no exception. There is just so much to love here.

This is my second book by Freeman. I have read "The Painted Darkness" which I consider to be a very good example of "literary" horror yet with the added emotional impact so often missing in literary horror novels. Freeman not only writes beautiful prose, about subjects as deep as the dark source of artistic inspiration, but his stories pack an emotional punch as well.

Blue November Storms is a more straight-forward, plot driven tale than The Painted Darkness but I enjoyed it for what it was. And what it was is a well written story with well drawn characters and more than one plot twist that I did not see coming. show more

That in itself would make this a solid 4 star effort; but this volume contains much more than that. The illustrations of Glenn Chadbourne grace this novella at the end of every chapter and add another level of enjoyment. I read this on a high resolution tab and the illustrations were beautiful. I can only imagine how good they look in one of Cemetery Dance's high quality print editions. Seriously, the artwork is so good it is like another story unto itself. Chadbourne's illustrations are so dense and interesting that I found myself spending a good deal of time at the end of every chapter exploring the illustrations, searching for the hidden pictures within the pictures. Anyone familiar with Cemetery Dance editions is familiar with Chadbourne's great work and it is on full display here. And it gets better because we not only have the artwork but an interview with Chadbourne that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Finally, anyone who has been reading horror at all is familiar with Ray Garton, who in his introduction provides both an interesting topical discussion of the elements of horror as well as hilarious memories of his negative experiences while camping as a child.

This book was fun to read, and the stellar artwork and other extras just made it that much better. show less

The “Lightning Five,” so called because of their prowess on the football field, has reunited twenty years after a tragedy sent one of them away — so far away that the other four all thought he was dead. Adam simply calls Steve one day out of the blue and says that he’d like to go hunting with the old crew, practically giving Steve a heart attack. The gang agrees to get together, especially because there’s supposed to be an amazing meteor shower that night. They’ll climb onto the roof of the cabin they built together and watch the show.

And so they do. Adam has promised to tell why he left, but as the night settles in he still isn’t talking. Still, the friendship between him and the four others resumes as if twenty years had show more not intervened. They play cards, drink beer, and talk about everything but why Adam left. Finally, around 2:00 a.m., they climb out onto the roof and wait for the meteor shower. It’s supposed to be pretty amazing, a display that won’t recur for a million years. And it really is phenomenal, once it starts: bright flashes in the sky that are clearly visible from horizon to horizon even with a full moon hanging in the sky. They pour down like sleet, numerous enough that the men have to reassure one another that they’re not in any danger. But when one blue orb with red edges appears in the sky, so big that it challenges the moon for size, things start looking dicey. The men scramble down from the roof as a sonic boom shakes the sky. There’s a sudden heat and then an explosion directly overhead, and bits of hot rock rain down on the hilltop. The entire forest goes silent.

In the immediate aftermath of the meteor landing, the men react as smoothly as they ever did when playing football, working together to stop a nascent forest fire. After that’s done, they decide to find the meteor itself, which isn’t hard to do: the rock burns with the odd blue color it had in the sky, and it’s emitting a lot of heat. And it’s pulsating. It seems to hypnotize the five men for a time, causing their pupils to contract to pinpoints and filling them with a greed to possess it. Things might have gone seriously wrong between them at that point if it weren’t that they notice something very strange: virtually every creature in the forest has arrived at the meteor site, their eyes burning with the same blue color, fur on end, ears twitching. Those animals include bears. It’s time to get back to the cabin before they become something’s breakfast, they decide, and besides, that meteor sure makes them feel funny.

As they sprint back to the cabin, Harry falls behind a bit, and that’s when things start going seriously wrong. He’s been cut from the herd, in a sense, and dozens of deer are charging straight for him, their eyes blazing blue, their teeth bared, foam dripping from their mouths.

And deer are the least of their problems.

The horrors unfold in grisly detail from there, as the wildlife turns on the humans with a fury they’ve never seen before. It’s Hitchcock’s “The Birds” writ large, with star appearances by ducks, raccoons, and, of course, bears. I don’t think I’ll ever look at a squirrel the same way again.

Brian James Freeman’s afterword indicates that Blue November Storms has been around in one form or another since 2001, when he was in college. It’s undergone revision ever since then, and was first published in 2005 in a collectible limited edition. Freeman revised it again to give it new life as an affordable e-book. And it’s a decent enough horror story.

But the book doesn’t hang together. After the build-up in the first few chapters, one would expect that Adam’s twenty year absence was somehow tied to the travails of the group, or that there would be some explanation for why the meteor caused the animals to collectively go berserk. Instead the two distinct narratives are smashed into one novella: a coming of age story and its aftermath on the one hand, and a strange thing from space story on the other. More loose ends are tied up in the former story than the latter, but the whole simply doesn’t coalesce into a single, coherent narrative.

If you want to be terrorized, this book is for you. If you’re looking for seamless storytelling, you might want to reconsider.

Originally published at http://www.fantasyliterature.com/reviews/blue-november-storms/ show less

It's amazing sometimes how much difference a well-written book can make to one's desire to read. Of the last ten books or so that I read one of them was great, two were good, one I'm still not sure how to rank it and the others were mediocre at best. They haven't really sparked a huge interest in me to pick up the next book. By comparison, within the first few pages I was pulled into BLUE NOVEMBER STORMS and enjoying it.

Five friends who were best of friends during high school have a secret that they have been keeping for years. A secret so powerful that one of the friends had to leave town to accept it and move on with his life. Now it is years later and the friend is returning to town to get closure in his life. What should be an show more emotional reunion instead becomes a fight for survival.

As I mentioned at the start, I immediately enjoyed reading this book. Not that I was pulled immediately into the story but I instantly had that comfortable feeling that emanates from a good book. That feeling of enjoyment and knowledge that this was going to be a good book. The secret that was being kept was not as big of a surprise as I expected but it didn't matter. By the time I found out, we were deep into the story and it didn't matter. About the only thing I wish was different was the names of the five main characters: Steve, Adam, Harry, Joe, and Matt. Reading this while the George Floyd protests are still fresh, the names comes across very much as white-bread . Granted with my name being Mike, I'm not one to talk but still. Give me something to help differentiate the characters a little bit. Other than that, I was very happy to read this story. show less

Review coming soon... Loved this book & able to read in one sitting. Illustrations were amazing and added so MUCH to the overall experience. Can't wait to share more...

Update: If you are looking for a book that will cause you to think twice about spending time up at a cabin in the woods, then this surely is it. BLUE NOVEMBER STORMS is an excellent tale of what goes wrong on an innocent get-together amongst friends.
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Synopsis:
It's been twenty years since the friends known as the Lightning Five visited the Summer Place together. Twenty years spent living in the shadow of something they did in high school, an event that defined them forever in the minds of show more everyone in their small town. Now they're returning for what should be a relaxing weekend of hunting and fishing, a chance to reminisce about old times and forget their troubles... but mother nature has other plans in mind.

There's a storm brewing. A meteor shower is in the forecast, but it's going to be unlike any event in recorded history. This meteor shower is bringing change to the world, it's awakening the creatures of the forest from their quiet slumber... and before long, the Lightning Five are going to find themselves trapped on the roof of their cabin, with their numbers dwindling and supplies running low...

Trapped with no means of escape, the men will have to make some hard choices... like who gets to live and who has to die.

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Spending a weekend with old friends in a cabin sounds like a blast. It should be a blast- drinking, telling of stories, just remembering old times. Even more special than having friends like that 20 years later, is the meteor shower that is going to be a spectacular event.

The author is able to bring these characters to life quickly, and easily allows the reader to become emotionally connected to each one. As the night wears on, the meteor shower starts, things begin to tragically turn into a wildlife nightmare.

The experiences these character had to endure were brought to life with amazing detail. You could see the events unfolding before your eyes (there were also exquisite illustrations by Glen Chadbourne that made the whole experience better). You fear the decisions that end up being made and you mourn the outcome of the descruction that the meteor shower brought.

BLUE NOVEMBER STORMS was a unique read full of detail, fright, and exceptional illustrations. I enjoyed every page of this book. I am excited to continue to seek out more from this author and hope to find more artwork from the illustator. show less

Blue November Storms is one of Brian James Freeman's earliest works of longer fiction and there's a lot to like here.

The story starts innocently enough with a group of five high school buddy's reunited for the first time in twenty years. The "Lightning Five" is what they were know on the football field and the name stayed with them beyond the gridiron.

Four of the five still make their home in Beacon Point. There's Sheriff Stephen F. Powell, Harry Howison who owns his own plumbing business, and Matt Harris and Joe Esposito hold down the fort at The Pizza Palace.

The fifth member of their group, and the one that's been gone since their High School days, is Adam Ellis. Adam calls Sheriff Powell and requests he get the gang together that show more night at the cabin in the woods. There's also supposed to be a significant meteor shower that night, so it was relatively easy to get everyone out there on short notice.

As a reader, I was ready for the big bombshell regarding why Adam had disappeared all those years ago, but that's where the story takes a turn, a big turn, and none of their lives will ever be the same, that is if they make it through the night.

I love reading a Brian James Freeman book. I just know it's going to take me places. It's no longer me an a book, instead, I'm right there, in the pages, watching the story unfold around me.

In addition to a great read, Blue November Storms, comes with a number of illustrations from the very talented Glenn Chadbourne.

Recommended for adult readers, Blue November Storms, is available now in a variety of formats. show less