Ray Garton- The Folks

Ray Garton is a master of adding fresh blood to a cliched horror theme. Want vampires? How about "Live Girls". Werewolves? "Ravenous". End of the world, zombie things? Frankenstorm. Strange family of freaks living in a mansion looking for a chosen leader? "The Folks". Garton's novella, "The Folks", is one of those books that always got away from me. It was originally published by Cemetery Dance back in 2001 as a limited edition hardcover and I've never had any luck finding an affordable copy. I've found the sequel at decent prices, but who wants to read the sequel first? Sometimes fans just have to wait to read something by one of their favorite authors, and in this case, it was well worth the wait. 

Andy is a young outcast who lives with his grandmother. He prefers the isolation and doesn't want to deal with the religious zealots in town who constantly remind him of his scarred face every time they look at him in horror. After a steamy and... strange encounter at a local graveyard on Halloween with Amanda- the beautiful daughter of the head of the Bollinger family, he is "seduced" into giving her a ride home to meet the folks.

The Folks are an eclectic group of freaks who do much more than just keep it in the family and Andy will find that some secrets should never be known. Garton pulls back the curtains on sideshow creations that would make Tod Browning blush and unleashes a full house of freaks with plenty of tricks up their sleeves. Imagine if V.C. Andrews went to a carnival and smoked meth with Rob Zombie and it's possible to guess where this story is going. 

This graphic and perverse Gothic-thriller will give fans of Splatter-punk and Bizarro fiction plenty of bloodthirsty weirdness they crave. Garton has created colorful characters with unique desires and his words lead the reader through the dark hallways of this fun-house frenzy. Ray Garton amps up the sex and the gore while maintaining a slick pace that never feels boring and fans of Garton's previous work will not be disappointed.

Pick up a copy of "The Folks", here.

Check out Ray Gartons impressive selection of work, here.

Stirring The Sheets by Chad Lutzke- Bloodshot Books

Grief can make a man do things that he normally wouldn't consider. They say it's vital to move on and complete the stages of grief after the loss of a loved one but we never really move on, do we?  We just get used to a life without that person in it anymore as we learn to cherish the memories that time hasn't stolen from us.

In, "Stirring The Sheets", Chad Lutzke introduces us to Emmit, a widowed mortuary cosmetologist who misses his wife dearly. He is thankful for his job, it not only keeps his mind off the loss of his wife but offers a sense of purpose that retirement would not.  He has allowed his grief to turn into a shrine to worship his memories at he can't let go. He's become comfortable living with those memories.

I like Emmit. He's a guy who takes pride in his work, is polite to the widow who makes him brownies, and wants to kick the ass of his dipshit neighbor even though he knows he isn't as young as he once was. He loved his wife, misses her and thinks about her daily- he hasn't changed the sheets on his bed since she left him and he can't stop thinking about the young lady who looks exactly like his wife did when she was in her thirties. The only problem is that she is dead.

Chad Lutzke has once again crafted a compelling, relatable, heart-breaking tale of lost love and the strange things we do to cope with that loss. Lutzke effortlessly engages the reader into feeling the repercussions of grief and the meltdown of common sense that follows is a heartbreaking journey through the dark hallways of a grief-stricken mind.

Lutzke has proven he is a master at macabre, realistic horror. "Of Foster Homes and Flies" and "Wallflower" are tragic masterpieces of dark fiction and I think "Stirring the Sheets" may just be his best yet. Lutzke owns his style- much like Jack Ketchum, Joe Lansdale, and James Newman imprint their brand of horror onto their readers and there is nothing better than watching a good author evolve into a great one.

Go ahead, allow Lutzke the opportunity to tuck you in for the night... No guarantees how good you'll sleep through the night.

-Cory Cline

Pick up a copy of "Stirring The Sheets", here.

Check out Chad Lutzke's other work, here.