I woke up to a nice surprise this morning and haven’t been able to stop smiling. Deborah J. Miles gave Perfect Little Murder a 5-star review, and she posted my author interview on her blog. She’s a talented writer. Please check out her book review blog and support her book called Orchard View.
Please click on the link to check it out!: #BookReview Perfect Little Murder @Yawatta_Hosby #GuestPost #AuthorInterview
Keep smiling,
Yawatta Hosby
The Weekend Writing Warriors is an awesome site that allows writers to share their 8 to 10 sentence excerpts, published or unpublished, to the blogosphere. If you’d like to join or would like to read wonderful talent, please visit the WeWriWa website on Sunday, 4/26 http://wewriwa.blogspot.com.
I’m sharing my work-in-progress of a serial killer torturing a college campus with urban legends.
Here’s my excerpt:
No one was safe…
Sweeney Todd hovered over Elena’s body. She looked so peaceful. He took a deep breath, upset with himself for getting distracted, then he made his way back over to the duffel bag. He slowly unzipped it. The smell of death and decay assaulted his nostrils. He held his nose, suppressing the urge to gag.
He picked up Savannah’s bloated dead body from the bag; her body had been stuffed in there like a broken rag doll. He walked over to Savannah’s bed and lay her on top of it, then he pulled the covers over her like a sleeping bag. He made sure the covers only revealed her face.
Keep smiling,
Yawatta Hosby
Copyright 2020. SterpsBlog
Browsing Twitter, I met Sterp. She was looking for authors to interview. I jumped on the chance. It’s always fun to meet other horror authors, especially women. Please, please, please check out her wonderful blog–SterpsBlog. I subscribed to her newsletter and am looking forward to reading the free welcome gift: Horror Ebook–3 Spine Chilling Stories 🙂
To see my interview, please click on the link: Author Interview: Yawatta Hosby
Keep smiling,
Yawatta Hosby
I’m so excited! This month I published One By One and Six Plus One into a horror two book boxset on Amazon and other book sites. If you’re looking for ebooks to read while being stuck at home, consider my boxset. And if you’ve already purchased these ebooks and enjoyed them, then please consider gifting to someone 🙂
One By One (book one): Alone in the woods, thirty miles from civilization with no cell phone reception, the weekend turns into a deadly game when a killer hunts Rae and her friends. They struggle to stay alive and discover the truth. Is someone stalking them, or is there a killer among the group?
Six Plus One (book two): Alta and her group of friends leave Voy on a road trip to Green Bank, West Virginia. They’re filming footage for their alien-centric web series. What should be a get-in and get-out situation for the weekend turns into a deadly nightmare…
Buy this horror boxset now and enjoy the ride of two survival horror tales full of betrayal and mistrust.
BUY NOW: AMAZON, B&N, APPLE, KOBO, OTHER BOOK SITES
Keep smiling,
Yawatta Hosby
The Weekend Writing Warriors is an awesome site that allows writers to share their 8 to 10 sentence excerpts, published or unpublished, to the blogosphere. If you’d like to join or would like to read wonderful talent, please visit the WeWriWa website on Sunday, 4/19 http://wewriwa.blogspot.com.
This week I’ll be sharing my urban legends WIP. A serial killer murders college students, one by one, based off famous urban legends.
Here’s my excerpt (for those who haven’t been reading every week–last week’s snippet had Sweeney Todd drag Savannah’s weeks-old dead body into the room and place her on the bed. This is the disgusting smell he keeps referring to in this snippet):
He wondered how she could still be asleep. The smell was atrocious. He pulled out his cell phone from the duffel bag and hit record. He set the cell on the dresser, so it could view the entire room. Then he pulled out the chloroform bottle and cloth. He held his breath, wetted the cloth, and put the cloth over Elena’s nose and mouth. She never had a chance to fight back.
He went to work fast. Sweeney Todd couldn’t afford Elena’s suitemates waking up from the disgusting smell and ruining everything. The only reason he wanted to kill anybody was for his future horror novel to become a bestseller, but if he had to kill to cover his tracks, then he wouldn’t hesitate.
Keep smiling,
Yawatta Hosby
***I received a free copy and am voluntarily giving an honest review***
Nova Sellers needs to get away for a while. Her escape of choice? Mackinac Island, a historic tourist town that in the winter months serves as the home for less than five hundred people. It’s remote, it’s quiet, it’s lonely, and nobody knows your business. It’s just what Nova thinks she needs to get back on her feet.
But Nova’s escape is shattered when a rockslide during a hike nearly kills her and unearths a small cave that had been sealed off for millennia. Ancient paintings on the walls depict an unsettling scene: people stalked and isolated by a strange gray figure.
As the days go by, unusual things begin to occur around Nova’s old house, when everything is dark and quiet. The locals don’t exactly set her at ease, either. Paranoia sets in, and things Nova would have left in the past begin to catch up with her. Nova slowly realizes that something more may have been uncovered in that cave than just paintings.
I loved this coming-of-age drama. The opening “The island loomed on the horizon like the back of a great green turtle, floating in the dark teal waters of Lake Huron” had me hooked. The author was great with imagery in the setting details. I could picture everywhere Nova went.
I was surprised to see covid-19 mentioned because Nova was leaving her house to explore Mackinac Island all the time, even hanging out in coffee shops. Were there any restrictions on the small island? Was this all before states have been on lockdown?
I loved that the chapter headings were the dates of April. It helped me, as a reader, keep track of Nova’s journey. The suspense was interesting after she experienced bad dreams and the –(wait I won’t spoil that for you guys!). Her world turned darker after visiting the cave. I was definitely interested in the scenes where the creepy guy was harassing Nova. I wish more time had been spent on him, especially after he said he’d been watching her sleep one night. Was he for real? Or just being a lying punk?
I appreciated the ending. Nova was depressed throughout the story and had to face her past. I hadn’t been expecting that reveal of her past, so I was pleasantly surprised.
I RECOMMEND this book to read.
Keep smiling,
Yawatta Hosby
The Weekend Writing Warriors is an awesome site that allows writers to share their 8 to 10 sentence excerpts, published or unpublished, to the blogosphere. If you’d like to join or would like to read wonderful talent, please visit the WeWriWa website on Sunday, 4/12 http://wewriwa.blogspot.com.
This week I’ll be sharing my urban legends WIP. A serial killer murders college students, one by one, based off famous urban legends.
Here’s my excerpt (I used creative punctuation to make the best use of my sentences):
…[Sweeney Todd] hoped no one would be lingering in the hallway because the stench would probably cause suspicion; if he was lucky, the person would faint from the disgusting smell.
He wanted to tiptoe down the hall, but the duffel bag was too heavy, causing his feet to drag on the tile floor. He was pretty sure his boots would scruff it all up; hopefully, the janitor would do his job of waxing the floor to hide any evidence in the morning.
What seemed like hours, Sweeney Todd finally made it to his destination. His heart started beating fast; if anyone came out of their room and recognized him, he’d be screwed. He hurriedly put his ear to the door and listened for any noises; he heard nothing.
He rushed to pull the spare key out of his pocket, unlocked the door, and went inside, leaving only a crack through the door, not wanting to risk the lights from the hallway waking up his next victim.
Once the door closed, he remained standing by it and dropped the duffel bag onto the carpet. He waited for his eyes to adjust to the dark, listening to the soft snores of his next victim.
Keep smiling,
Yawatta Hosby
***I got a free copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily giving an honest review***
The creeping horror of Paul Tremblay meets Tommy Orange’s There There in a dark novel of revenge, cultural identity, and the cost of breaking from tradition in this latest novel from the Jordan Peele of horror literature, Stephen Graham Jones.
Seamlessly blending classic horror and a dramatic narrative with sharp social commentary, The Only Good Indians follows four American Indian men after a disturbing event from their youth puts them in a desperate struggle for their lives. Tracked by an entity bent on revenge, these childhood friends are helpless as the culture and traditions they left behind catch up to them in a violent, vengeful way.
I liked this horror book. The opening line was interesting: “The headline for Richard Boss Ribs would be indian man killed in dispute outside bar.” I felt bad for what happened to that character. The story mostly focused on Lewis. When he was younger, him and his friends (Gabe, Rickey, Cass) had tortured and killed an elk. Now, the ghost of the elk was getting her revenge.
I wanted to love this book because I’m part American Indian but it was just alright for me. The unedited ARC from NetGalley had weird wording in some sections so I found myself having to keep re-reading paragraphs to get what was going on. I think if I had read the final product, I may have enjoyed the book more. I’ve read a short story of the author’s, so I know he’s a great storyteller. I’d be interested in trying his other books.
Lewis was an interesting character. As a reader, I didn’t know if he was crazy or if he was really being haunted by a ghost elk. I thought the author did a good job of building suspense. Lewis was probably my favorite character.
When the story started to focus more on his friends, the book started to go at a slower pace for me, as a reader. I was missing Lewis. The story wasn’t scary for me like I had hoped it would be. At the 80% mark would have been the perfect ending, with everything coming full circle. Instead the story kept going, focusing on a side character now being harassed by the ghost elk. To be honest, I didn’t care what would be her end game because I didn’t get a chance to know her.
If you like slow burn, quiet horror, then you’ll like this story.
I RECOMMEND this book to read.
Keep smiling,
Yawatta Hosby
***I received a free copy from Ginger Nuts of Horror in exchange for an honest review***
A neighborhood won’t let its residents forget the past. One taste draws two lovers into a nightmarish addiction. A harsh winter forces strange creatures down from the mountains.
At sea level, where it’s safe, things like this can’t happen. But when you’re sky high in Denver, Colorado, anything goes…including your sanity.
Beware of Terror at 5280’, a horror fiction anthology featuring dark tales set in and around Denver and the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, penned exclusively by local authors.
Edited by: Josh Schlossberg, Gary Robbe, Melinda Bezdek, Bobby Crew, Desi D, Lisa Mavroudis, Thomas C. Mavroudis, and Jeamus Wilkes
I really enjoyed this anthology. I loved how the intro teased that these stories were all based on true events but disguised as fiction. I’m all for a conspiracy theory, so my interest was definitely piqued.
Saying that—I’m a huge horror fan. I live and breathe horror books and horror movies. My Netflix feed is nothing but indie horror films and blockbusters. My favorite types of horror are slashers, hauntings, and survival. The majority of these short stories didn’t really jump as horror to me. They were more like psychological suspense. Most of the stories had a quiet approach of being creepy and setting a dreadful tone.
I’ll go over each story one by one:
The Depths by Matthew Lyons
I liked this story. A kid named Travis had stolen something from a very dark place where “there are too many ghosts buried there.” That line really popped out to me. When the old man banged on the door to get the item back, the tension between the old man and Travis’s dad was interesting. That scene was full of suspense. My favorite lines: 1) “…pretends he can’t feel the curious, dead eyes that follow him all the way home.” 2) “The house is filled with blood, and the silence is back, worse than before.”
Laffing Sal by Lindsay King-Miller
I loved the opening line: “A spider crawled across Sal’s tongue as the three girls came down the stairs.” I loved the twist of how Sal was part of an amusement park prop. The author did a great job of going between Sal and the three girls’ different point-of-views to show the terrifying situation happening. My favorite line: “Sal knew about fear. Fear had brought her to life.”
This Was Always Going to Happen by Stephen Graham Jones
This story used second person point-of-view by using “you” in the narration. The main character had a flat tire, and this weird cyclist kept bothering him with things that wouldn’t help with a flat tire. The author did a great job of making the cyclist creepy. The horror stories that I appreciate the most are the ones that could happen in real life. The ones that show humans can be monsters. I was digging the story then it just ended abruptly.
Electric Stalker by Rebecca S.W. Bates
Lindsay got hit by lightning while waiting on a bus. At the hospital, a woman named Amanda came to visit, claiming they were sisters. Lindsay had no recollection. I didn’t find this story creepy or scary at all. In fact, it seemed more like a contemporary drama with the family dynamics.
Gaze With Undimmed Eyes and the World Drops Dead by Carina Bissett
The author was good with setting and description. As a reader, I could feel the nastiness of the hotel bar. It was gross when a taxidermy squirrel on the rack lost its eye in the lady’s drink haha. I liked the twist of who Bruce turned out to be, but this was another story where I didn’t get a scary or creepy vibe at all.
Grave Mistake by Joshua Viola and Carter Wilson
This was one of my favorite stories in the anthology. Stephanie was pregnant, causing her to think suicidal thoughts because she didn’t want the baby. She was with Oliver and Elijah in a cemetery. They were looking for a vampire who they think killed their friend. The author did a great job of weaving body language into the back and forth dialogue. There was great tension. My favorite lines: 1) “What Stephanie struggles with most was the secret—a secret that began as shame and blossomed into horror.” 2) “Why would ghosts be in a cemetery, anyway?” 3) “The lives they led then, and the futures they hoped for, were gone.”
There Is Something Up There by Joy Yehle
This story was one of my favorites. It managed to make me feel bad for the characters with their tragic backstories. I loved how the emotional aspects didn’t stop the scenes from being full of suspense. Chills definitely went down my spine. Lily was on a search team, looking for a crew member that disappeared in the mines. Her neighbor warned Lily not to go, but she didn’t listen. I would love to say what they found in the mine because the reveal excited me so much! But I won’t spoil the ending.
***To read the full review, please go to: https://gingernutsofhorror.com/fiction-reviews/terror-at-5280by-denver-horror-collective-book-review
Keep smiling,
Yawatta Hosby
***I received a free ARC from NetGalley and am giving an honest review voluntarily***
In rain-drenched Vancouver, detectives Dion and Leith work to separate truth from lies in two seemingly unrelated cases.
February is the month of romance, but in North Vancouver it’s also become the month of murder. While the North Shore RCMP slog through the rain in the search for whoever left a young woman to die in the Riverside Secondary School parking lot — their first clue a Valentine’s Day card — a toddler mysteriously vanishes from a Riverside Drive home in the midst of a dinner party.
With Constable JD Temple’s full attention on the parking lot murder, Constables Dave Leith and Cal Dion work the kidnap … until a tenuous connection is made between the two cases, along with the thinnest ray of hope that the child could be alive and well in the hands of a childless couple. But when more tragedy rains down on the North Shore, lies must be unveiled before the ugly truth can emerge.
I loved this murder mystery. The opening line: “Tasha looked at the toes of her new work boots and worried.” had me all in. Tasha was afraid that she was being followed, and it didn’t help that her car had a flat tire. Tasha had every right to be worried…her murder set up the mystery throughout the book.
Leith and Dion worked on one case while JD and another detective worked on Tasha’s murder. Later on, a baby was abducted from a wealthy family’s home. It did get confusing at times because one section would have the detectives first name being used, then down the line only their last names would be used. I had to make a cheat sheet of who was who throughout the book.
I loved the the author’s writing style. The sentences had a nice rhythm and flowed nicely. The story was easy to read. My favorite lines: 1) “She was cold. Stiffening. Well beyond help.” 2) “Over their time working together, Dion shifted gears often, in Leith’s eyes. Like an antsy motorist in the freeway. Moody, sharp, sometimes cheerful, but always cautious.” 3) “Leith preferred to assume nothing. Always be ready for a twist.”
The author did a great twist with the detectives. I loved how in the second chapter one of the male detectives became a red herring. This tease definitely motivated me to finish the book quickly.
Since I was reading an ARC, the paragraphs didn’t have indentations, but I didn’t hold that against the author, assuming those glitches will be fixed in the final product.
I guessed the wrong killer, but I guessed the right kidnapper. There was twist, after twist, down to the last second, which I appreciated. I’d definitely consider reading another book from this author.
I RECOMMEND this book to read.
Keep smiling,
Yawatta Hosby
yawattahosby 