REVIEWED: SHOCK TOTEM ISSUE 4.5
SHOCK TOTEM: HOLIDAY TALES OF THE MACABRE AND TWISTED 2011 / November 2011 / eBook
I’m not sure there’s a better way to get into the holiday spirit than by cozying up to a nice warm fire with a mug of hot cocoa and a delightfully blood-filled issue from the good folks over at Shock Totem. Laced with personal anecdotes, memories of winters past and short stories from the ST staff (plus a completely insane poem by the great Jack Ketchum), this offering serves up the goods festively centered around the current season.
HOLIDAY TALES OF THE MACABRE AND TWISTED 2011 has some tasty stuff indeed. I found each story entertaining and unique in its own way, but my personal favorites come from Ken Allen Wood (Stream of Silver, Ribbon of Red) and John Boden (Tinsel).
Stream of Silver, Ribbon of Red is a nice (well, not really) little story of a home invasion gone awry. Taking advantage of how easy it is to trick a child by donning a Santa suit, Lucky decides to forcefully “supplement” his income by busting into and robbing the house of little Jimmy and his dad. But, as he quickly finds out, you never know. You just never know what people are capable of. Fun read and killer ending.
Tinsel is a very personal story that, to be truthful, made me a little sad. But let’s be honest for a minute – life is full of sadness and sometimes reading and thinking about it can make you appreciate the things you have and the people around you just a little bit more. This story centers on a gentleman named Avery and the recent loss of his wife. The extra burden something like this can bring during the holidays is immense because a lot of our fond memories of the season include those closest to us. John’s story deals with Avery’s life on his own and the impact his wife made on him. Truly touching stuff, I had to read it twice.
I have to say that I was pretty stoked to see Shock Totem put out a holiday themed issue. I’m a fan of everything involved here: this publisher, this season and stories shrouded in darkness. Some of the personal memories got me thinking about my younger Christmases in Maine, getting up at about 3 A.M. to see what Santa-delivered awesomeness awaited me; I’ll never forget that. I would absolutely recommend this collection to anyone seeking a little bit of spice to put in their eggnog this holiday season.
- Jordan Norton
December 13th, 2011 at 4:09 pm
[...] "undefined"){ addthis_share = [];}The Shock Totem holiday e-book has been reviewed by Hellnotes and The Crow’s Caw They dig it! In general, this issue seems to have gone over well with readers. If you purchased a [...]