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Words that speak to no one have no meaning.

Unable to stir a single sentiment,

They drift into the world, but their import dies upon the page,

Not seen, not comprehended,

No heart or mind to appreciate them,

Living their short lives in vain,

Seeking to spur … and spurring nothing,

As the transient significance of the thoughts they carry loses its aim,

And blurs into a disarray of future interpretation,

Missing the mark entirely.

(Nota Bene: I have stopped using the star rating system, as I find it highly misleading. References to "stars" refer to platforms that still require them.)

Did you ever see that old movie Eddie and the Cruisers? THE BAND has the same sort of vibe. This book is primarily about, you guessed it, a band, on the road looking for gigs, and the author does a beautiful job of describing the travails, victories, and interpersonal relationships and conflicts experienced by the members. If it were only...

Purists and grammar fascists will likely have an aneurysm with this book, but the prose style, in combination with the dialogue, create a distinct, unified impression of rural Pennsylvania. If it had been a slow-build, it would likely have been anti-climactic, but, instead, it steamrolls the reader from beginning to end. If it were a movie, it'd lie comfortably between The Mist, Dawn if the Dead, and Day of the Animals. The only trouble I had with it was keeping all of the characters...

BIZARRE FATES is a small collection of odd short stories and will be available as an Ebook in the coming weeks.

TWO YEARS IN HELL Ebook will be available free from Friday 5/2 through Sunday 5/4

A new collection of exceedingly dark poems, a chronicle of betrayal and eternal despair will be available soon.

TWO YEARS IN HELL

It will be available free for a few days. Keep an eye out.

My name is Sarah Bischoff and the confession of my sins is long.

As I will never make it of my own volition, it comes by proxy through this song.

There is much I never told you, o those whom I’ve misled,

So much I did that I’ve omitted, never to be spoken, by me unsaid.

First I must confess I never told him to leave me be or go away,

Although I’ve told you all I did, and reported it that way.

No, instead I let him think that we were friends and talked to him at length,

While defaming him to...

I am at a loss as to how to characterize this book. It's not horror. It's not fairy tale. It is solidly lit fic, but, somehow, it is all of them. The only way I can conceive to adequately capture its essence is as a mystery characterized by an excursion into existential angst, threaded through with epistemological metaphor, and gilded with dreamlike epiphany. Yet, at the same time, it is not a difficult read. Throughout one is driven by the need to discover...

Trio of Terror: Three Horror Stories is exactly that.

Just when you thought that one chosen by the Silent Almighty was intense, and odd, enough, here comes another, who is a "true believer." Packed with philosophical inner dialogue and sardonic insights, this continuation picks up right where the last left off without a hitch, adding the dilemma of cultists to the endless ambivalence of Lord Mute. Though clearly fiction, and borderline farcical, there is much threaded throughout the story that simply rings...

I had initially thought that this story might be some manner of reiteration of The Man in the Iron Mask, but I found myself immediately engrossed and read the entire story in two hours. This is precisely the kind of lit fic that makes reading enjoyable. The prose are intense yet whimsical, and they flow unimpeded. Prince Mute is the perfect antihero, lost in his confident doubt, while the other characters are utterly human in their pretense-inspired...

(Originally posted on 4/3/2025)

DARK BLOOM is a horror story that I would compare, movie-wise, to Stake Land. But it’s also a deep delve into the human condition and the psychological despair and distrust caused by severe abuse and the worry, self-doubt, and redemption that can arise from it, as we’re taken on a journey into the mind of Kate, a woman who relives her pain in a way that is accessible to most any reader. You feel for her. One wants her to find...

(Originally posted on 4/4/2025)

This is a romp, although one of the character’s names, for personal reasons, took a little of the air out of it for me, at first. But, as I kept reading and long before reading the afterward, I did feel as if I were immersed in an 80s horror movie. I kept remarking to myself that it felt like a mix of Phantasm and Hellraiser, with an overall aura of The Prince of Darkness, and the dialogue lends just the right amount of “...

(Originally posted on 1/1/2025)

This little chiller will suit your tastes if you're a fan of the Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, or Tales from the Darkside. While the plot is a tad telegraphed, it works well with Crunden's voice and actually acts to heighten the ultimate irony. Her descriptions are vivid and catch the reader up in the mood with ease. The only wrinkle in this story, for me, seems to be that, once his fate dawns upon him, the main character...

(originally posted 12/2/2024

So many tropes in so few pages. Bailuchien cultivates a combined aura of The Monkey's Paw, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Baba Yaga, beautifully interwoven in a tale of two sisters forced to make a deal with what may be an untrustworthy savior to avoid horrible fates. As the story progresses, one is ill at ease, awaiting the twist, and a twist does come, but it's not what one might expect. Crunden manages to preserve the...

(Originally posted on 12/6/2024)

November Keepsakes: Poetry & Short Stories is a beautifully-crafted journey into raw emotion.

The poetry is intense and evocative. The words chosen in such a way that, at first, may seem impenetrable to some, but they entrench themselves and the meaning soon dawns. The images they bring are vivid and soul-probing.

All works are currently available on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/author/williamwhitedale in various formats.