Escalators to Hell: Shopping Mall Horrors

This anthology's theme is horror stories that have some connection to shopping malls, those dying bastions of consumerism. Not that consumerism is dead, mind you. It's that we're transitioning from roaming their vast corridors of myriad wares to surfing the digital versions on our phones and laptops. To wit, the editors thought that the demise of shopping malls would make for an excellent theme for a horror anthology. And I thought so too.

The stories cover a wide gamut of horror sub-genres, so it isn't all about gore. There's a "Content Warnings" section—something I've never seen in a horror anthology—which I thought was odd. I mean, it's horror. If your mental health is such that certain things will trigger a traumatic emotional reaction, maybe you shouldn't be reading horror. I know that there are certain aspects that I won't read because of my issues. So I guess a content warning is considerate of the authors, can one find it before purchasing it?

Author representation is quite diverse. While North American authors are present, there are stories from African and Asian authors. Also, there are many non-binary authors in this collection.

Ok, onto the stories. Of the 22 stories in this collection, I liked 15 of them. Of those that I didn't enjoy, a good deal of them were too focused on gender identity, with the mall serving as mere setting. A couple of the others were too esoteric or allegorical to connect with.

On with the good stuff! The opening story, "Hard to Be a Mall God," was excellent. It deals with a demonically possessed escalator. "The Intercessor" shows how retail associates deal with trollish customers. "Why I Won't Eat at the Food Court" is part of the Generation Dead series. It drags in some cosmic horror for teen mutant superheroes to deal with but doesn't forget to add a dash of humor. "A Plague Upon Both Our Houses" is Romeo and Juliet with Zombies in a mall. "A Quick Trip to Ryan's" delves into masochism on a whole another level. "Kim, Ray, Trey, and Morgan" delves into drugs as a mind expanding experience with a dash of cosmic horror.

Some stories confront serious matters. "You Must Drop Buy" tackles the subject of rampant materialism and false promises made by deceptive marketing. In "Poseurs," a teen girl deals with her father's suicide by re-enacting a drama with mannequins.

In case anyone feels I'm being unfair to non-binary character stories, there were good stories that had non-binary characters and authors. These stories didn't lose sight of the objective. For example, "The Basement of Crowley's Artefacts and Interests of the Occult" has some non-binary teens dealing with demonic invocation in the supply room of an odd store in the mall. "Cherry Cola Lips" features a woman reflecting on her first crush back in high school, a girl who wouldn't come out and later disappeared. Rumors are that she was murdered, but the truth is stranger.

My favorite story was the closer, "The Temple of All." Makoma is forced by ritual to take her dead husband's remains into the ancient ossuary. It's a post-apocalyptic story with a touch of Handmaid's Tale where the ultimate act of rebellion is to live.

Yes, I'm glad I read this anthology. While I wish some of the stories were better, the good stories made it worth the price and my time.

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Full Disclosure: I backed this book on Kickstarter and received a digital copy as a reward.

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The Mighty Quinn by Paula R. Stiles

Quinn Bolcan is a small-time ex-criminal who has the ability to drain energy from things, be they physical or magical. This talent proves to be beneficial (defusing bombs) and deadly (body heat loss can lead to frostbite). When the story opens, Quinn is unaware of his ability but, over the course of the novel, learns how to control it. Needing to get out of town (Vancouver) after a pot farm raid, he takes on the role of courier. His lawyer has a package that needs to be delivered to Montreal and it "isn't the kind you want to send by Fedex."

While the story could've been about Quinn's cross-country trip (Canada is big and interesting enough), Stiles only details two stops: a bar in the Rockies where Quinn has a run-in with a supernatural biker gang and the delivery of the package in Montreal. They do factor into the novel later on though. The real action happens across the border in Vermont where Quinn accidentally defuses a nuke. The rest of the novel covers Quinn's reluctant assistance to DHS agent Nan Carreira's investigation of the terrorists who set up the bomb in the first place.

Ok, so it's not the best cover. I've seen far worse since I came on board here at the New Podler. I believe that it's meant to convey the swarm of foes that Quinn faces, though a better cover might've been one of him draining the magic out of a zombie or holding a bomb in his hands as he's about to drain it. But I digress.

The story is told in multiple POV's, which enable Stiles to develop her characters. Stiles starts with Quinn's story, told in first person, and then switches to third person to relate Agent Carreira's encounters, along with those of the villains. Considering that a large chunk of the action takes place away from Quinn, this is essential as we'd miss the scheming of the villains, who would otherwise be two-dimensional. Quinn is the strongest, and most likable. We're privy to his thoughts and his wry sense of humor. It's through him that Stiles conveys her mastery of imagery (smells too!).

Stiles could be accused of going overboard with the supernatural stuff. There are lycanthropes, vampires, ghouls, sorcerers, zombies, demons, fairies, and more. There are some naturally occurring events too which, for me, were a bit over the top. These are explained as being a side effect of Quinn's energy draining powers, but I felt this avenue was left unresolved, particularly how he deals with these events.

As for the technicals, the manuscript is fairly well-edited, but it definitely could've used an extra pair of eyes as a few passages fell through the cracks. For example, refer back to the first paragraph of this review. I quoted a passage from the story where Quinn is talking to his lawyer about the package. It says "Fedex" but the proper name for the company is "FedEx".

The Mighty Quinn is an entertaining read. Its titular character carries the story through a gauntlet of supernatural entities and is almost as surprised as we are that he came out the other side. While Stiles is adept at her use of imagery and developing her protagonist, some unresolved elements lead me to think she may have bit off more than she could chew by cramming too much into one novel.

The Mighty Quinn is available in print and on the Kindle. For more information, check out the author's website.

Waking the Dreamer by Andy Kaiser

Tyler and Zack are thirteen- and fifteen-year-old brothers. Tyler sees himself as an out-of-shape video gamer, while looking up to Zack as a natural athlete and ladies' man. There are moments of tension between them, but their brotherly solidarity, and Tyler's own inner strengths, are affirmed when they go to a rustic lakeside resort with their parents for vacation and Tyler is attracted to a mysterious girl named Eena. The brothers are quickly swept up in a plot involving programmed human subjects, transferable supernatural powers, and a mysterious metal box. Their aloof survivalist father and hysterical ADD-afflicted mother are well fleshed-out, though they mostly stay out of the way of the two boys. Kaiser is good at character development and dialog; we see Tyler tap both his native and his newly conferred powers without jealousy on the part of Zack, who is less concerned with being #1 than Tyler realizes.

Much of the action takes place in darkness, adding to the spookiness of the narrative (though I kept having trouble figuring out the levels of darkness when sometimes two characters made “eye contact” but other times couldn't see in front of their faces). This is book one in a series, so there are plenty of loose ends dangling at the end of the story, but enough of them are tied up so as not to leave the reader feeling manipulated.

This book is for Young Adults. Perhaps they will not mind the editing problems that cropped up from time to time: “seaweed” and “waves” being used to describe things in a lake, the use of “lead” instead of “led.” Fairly minor stuff, all in all.

The book is currently available on the Kindle. See the author's website for further details.