The Eyes of Water by Alison Littlewood

We have been singing the praises of the upstart small press entity known as Spectral Press from their very first release here at the Times.  The law of diminishing returns might suggest that Spectral would inevitably slip in the quality of their releases.  This suggestion, as we like to say here at HellBound Times, would be wrong.  While I'm not really into the whole signed / limited thing, I completely understand it.  I am, however, totally into the high quality writing / outstanding storytelling / magical wordsmithing thing.  Totally. 

The sixth edition of Spectral's limited chapbook series (already sold out!) is The Eyes of Water by Alison Littlewood.  The story recounts the misadventure of Alex, who while traveling in Mexico meets with old friend Rick, an adventurer exploring underwater caves known as cenotes in the dangerously beautiful Yucatan rim.  A painful call from Rick's sister Kath sends Alex on an unforgettably terrifying journey into deep, dark and forbidden places.

As usual, this Spectral release is very well laid out, easy to read and exceptionally well edited.  For once, however, the Neil Williams cover just doesn't quite go far enough to work for me, although it is certainly appropriate for the story.

The subject matter here is particularly engaging for me, living for the past quarter century near the ocean and being utterly fascinated--and terrified--by cave diving.  Littlewood's prose is accessable but well-honed, her storytelling technique logical and imbued with a wonderful atmosphere of building suspense.  She develops her characters deftly then places them (and the reader) in a unimaginably beautiful setting; slowly, slowly closing in the walls claustrophobically and just when we think it is safe to get out of the water...

Publisher Simon Marshall-Jones certainly knows how to pick completely diverse, thought-provoking stories.  The good news is that Spectral plans on increasing their limited run of chapbooks to 125 in the new year, so more people will have the opportunity to get their hands on these gems before they sell out!

-- Review by Walt Hicks

Promo video by Rude Dude Films

The Avengers (2012 film)

*spoilers*

Thor's brother Loki wants to enslave the human race and Thor doesn't like it but it's still his brother, so Earth's superheroes do things their way while he does it his way, though for the most part, they work together. Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson, The Sunset Limited) of S.H.I.E.L.D. reactivates the Avengers Initiative and it's a rollercoaster ride of Marvel greatness.

Robert Downey, Jr. (Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows) as Tony Stark / Iron Man is my personal favorite, with his cocky, but likeable persona. Mark Ruffalo (View From the Top) as Dr. Bruce Banner / Hulk was an excellent choice for the role. And trivia-worthy is it's credited Lou Ferrigno (TV's Hulk) voices the Hulk. Chris Evans (Push, Fantastic Four) as Steve Rogers / Captain America gets it right again with some out-dated manners, patriotic strength and, of course, that indestructible shield. Chris Hemsworth (Star Trek) as Thor is right on the mark. And the hammer is impressive. Scarlett Johansson (We Bought a Zoo) as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow is kick-ass and clever. And last but not least, Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker) as Clint Barton / Hawkeye does a great job and his hi-tech arrows get a lot of screen time.

4 out of 5 stars.

Review by HORNS

Author of the novel Chophouse

Wrong Turn (2003 Film)

Watched Wrong Turn (2003). Directed by Rob Schmidt (The Alphabet Killer) and shot in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, this horror film stars Eliza Dushku.
*spoilers*
Wrong Turn is a franchise. With that said, I've only seen the first one. The story is quite simple and its theme is decidedly shopworn, but because it's so fast-paced and has great special effects and prosthetic makeup it's very enjoyable, unoriginality even so. The dense forest landscape is stunning, which reminded me a lot of the 1981 slasher film Just Before Dawn.

A group of friends on a hiking trip run into trouble in the mountains of West Virginia. A medical student who's also lost finds them by slamming into their vehicle which is sitting in the middle of the road, and from there the trouble gets deadly serious. Lions and tigers and bears and inbreds, oh my! Okay, so we don't get to see any lions, tigers, or bears. I'll settle for Eliza.

Great gore (an axe dissevering a girl's face) and a high-speed story cause me to give it 4 stars out of 5.

Review by HORNS

Author of the novel Chophouse

Hellfighter by David T. Wilbanks

Cover art by Nick Gucker

Full disclosure:  of all the many varied, exciting genres and sub-genres available, possibly my least-read, maybe even least-favorite, is the sword and sorcery sub-genre of the fantasy and historical fantasy genre.  Of course, I read Fritz Leiber, Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard and the wonderful high fantasy of J. R. R. Tolkien in my younger days, but my literary tastes invariably skewed toward the likes of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Bram Stoker, Dame Agatha Christie, Erle Stanley Gardner, Dashiell Hammett, John D. MacDonald, William F. Nolan, Richard Matheson, Ray Bradbury, Graham Masterton, among myriad others from the mystery/thriller/horror/spec fic pantheon. 

All that said, my first selection for the last HellBound Books Publishing release in late 2006 was actually a sword & sorcery flavored collection entitled BladeSpell, featuring five novellas by master-of-all-genres Randy Chandler, prolific S&S fave Steven Shrewsbury, mega-talented writing team Christopher Fulbright and Angeline Hawkes, Morgan Sylvia (who also was also to provide some very dark and beautiful poetry) and the mastermind who came up with the idea: writer, editor and publisher David T. Wilbanks.  It was slated to be an epic, well over 500 action-packed pages, cover and interior art by the brilliant Billy Tackett, intricate interior and formatting design. Regrettably, funding ran out for the project and HellBound's final release ended up being the appropriately titled DeathGrip: Exit Laughing.  To the best of my knowledge, all five BladeSpell novellas either found new homes, or soon will have.

Acid Grave Press' latest release, Hellfighter by David T. Wilbanks is one of those novellas.   Hellfighter is the bawdy, high octane tale of one Caddoc the Adventurer, a big, burly, earthy force of a man propelled by lust and his own dubious code of honor on the quest of a lifetime through a bizarre landscape of alternate dimensions, diabolic creatures, demons, undead folk, vampirish heathens and she-monsters, encountering questionable allies and seemingly insurmountable roadblocks in his search for a so-called 'soul gem' and thus the heart of the comely Geniece. 

The ARC version I read was well laid out, easy on the eyes and very well edited, with the exception of a few possibly problematic commas.  The Nick Gucker cover is excellent; it's bright and it pops, and is perfectly suited for this novella. 

Genre and sub-genre aside, this imaginative novella is an absolute romp.  From the moment early on when our bawdy hero drops trou (or breeches, in this case) in order to woo his lady fair and then violently dispatches a group of soldiers who take offense at his display of 'affection,' I knew this was going to be one helluva wild ride.  Wilbanks' prose here is approachable and to the point; although when need be, he juices his narrative, ramping up for the gross-out, the fantastic battle scene, or even a truly bizarre sex scene that has be be read to be believed.  Through it all, Wilbanks retains a wonderfully tongue-in-cheek approach balanced with an often touching humanistic side, with some really hilarious one-liners and totally mind-bending (and graphic) scenarios.  Even the unexpected ending is simultaneously humorous and touching.

 As I was writing the first draft of this review as well as doing research for it, I had noted that my only quibble with the novella was that I would've liked to have seen just a little more fleshing out of the characters and some of the outlandish locales (even though that would've slowed the dizzyingly fast pace of the read considerably).  That minor quibble was answered:  Wilbanks is working on a sequel to Hellfighter, entitled The Acid King.  Really looking forward to the continuing adventures of the two-fisted, big-hearted barbarian Caddoc. 

--Review by Walt Hicks