Horror Antholoies – Damaged Skull Writer

THESE THINGS THAT WALK BEHIND ME
David Surface
10/1/2024
Lethe Press
Reviewed by Brian “Skull” Lewis

Hello horror fans, it’s your old pal Skull with a brand-new release from Lethe Press! These Things That Walk Behind Me by David Surface is packed with 14 speculative tales that will latch onto your brain and stick around long after you’ve finished reading. Or, if you’re at all like me, you’ll find yourself rereading this awesome collection again and again. The stories are really that good! Ready to take a walk on the wild side? Then let’s get to it.

Inside These Things That Walk Behind Me by David Surface you’ll find stories about things that shouldn’t exist, but they do. A fallen angel hidden in an airplane hangar that takes care of those who cannot help themselves, Angelmutter. A town whose boys disappear into a large network of caves that exist underneath them and a mother who knows more about it than she should, The Lost River Boys. How about construction company that builds unique structures that transport creatures from another realm into your hometown? Little Gods To Live In Them, is that story. We all watch those shows on TV about people suddenly disappearing only to show up thousands of miles away decades later. Give Me Back My Name shows us what it’s like to be that person and it isn’t at all pretty. Losing your mind is often viewed as losing touch with reality, but what if it actually shows us how life really is and why people act the way they do? These Things That Walk Behind Me gives us insight into that.

One of my favorite tales in this great mix is The Devil Will Be At The Door. You know that ghost story many of us hear at YMCA Camp, in Boy Scouts, or in the case of this story on the church school bus during a long ride home? It’s about a horribly haunted house in the middle of nowhere and ends with a jump scare scream. The details are usually filled in to fit the location, but it’s pretty much the same tale. Eventually we grow up and decide such terrifying things don’t exist. But what if they do, and you just haven’t found it yet? Or, worse, it’s out there looking for you? Oh, and if you’ve heard that story in your lifetime…There’s no getting away.

Another story I really dug was, When The Circus. Danny escapes from a small southern town and a meaningless life by going to New York City, a giant metropolis that never sleeps and you can get whatever you want 24 hours a day. But such a vast place is dark, dangerous, and ready to eat newbies alive. Danny needs a place, somewhere to take shelter, and he finds it in a ghost bar hidden under some scaffolding. There he meets Lenny, an old school tough New Yorker who holds court nightly teaching valuable lessons and telling stories. But a person can only hide so long in the middle of a hurricane. Events unfold in front of Danny that threaten to steal his sanity. His happiness has already fled. One night when Lenny starts telling everyone about a bizarre event that happened right on that particular night many years ago, Danny refuses to buy it. Back in the old days, the circus would come to Madison Square Garden and people lined 34^th street at midnight to see the elephants walk from the train to the garden. But one year, things went horribly wrong, and the results were bad enough to drive a person mad. The Big Apple doesn’t let go of the scary things, it holds them tightly trapped in its dark bosom of night, then shows them to fragile minds like a demented flasher in a black raincoat. GOTCHA! Lenny says that the only way to avoid being sucked into the flames of Hell is to shelter in place. Danny says he’s full of shit and makes a break for it. Will he see what he’s looking for, or is it all just a hoax to scare newbies?

How The World Works, is another great story. Many people think the world is an efficient machine that can easily be explained by science or their particular brand of religion. Yet, every year, strange things happen that defy logical explanation. This story is a tale about secrets and friendship. The narrator’s friend, Mike, hasn’t had a very good life and isn’t exactly Mr. Manners. Still the narrator cares about him and is pleased to hear that he’s returned to town after a long absence. When he goes to visit Mike in his new place, it’s entirely rad, especially to a couple of teenage boys. Mike’s story is that he’s housesitting for a guy and has free run of the house. But what’s with all the freaked-out cats? More importantly, what’s that damn thing in the basement? Will Mike’s explanation clear things up or just make it worse? One thing is for certain, the piper must be paid. That’s just How The World Works.

If you’ve read this far, then you probably already know what your old pal Skull thinks of this book, but let me just put it into words: Wow, what an awesome collection of short horror stories! Damaged Skull Writer and Reviewer gives These Things That Walk Behind Me a BIG 5 STARS! David Surface writes stories that stick with you and grow as time passes. It’s not excessively gory or easy to stick in one box, but his words lodge into your brain and blossom into images and feelings that hang on long after you put the book down. Or you’ll keep picking it up to savor again and again. These Things That Walk Behind Me will make it to the Wall of Fame eventually, but for now it follows me from room to room, and I can’t help reading just one more story. Bottom line: get this collection and enjoy the work of awesome storyteller, David Surface!

Thanks for visiting the Skullcave, if you enjoyed this review please consider subscribing and following us on social media to help more independent authors get more exposure and spread the word that Indy Horror Rocks! For more information about this book and other great titles from Lethe Press go to: www.lethepressbooks.com
For more information about David Surface and to sign up for his newsletter, Strange Little Stories, go to: www.davidsurface.net

About your reviewer:

When darkness falls Brian James Lewis becomes his alter ego, Skull, and burns the midnight oil reading and reviewing recent arrivals to his lair, the Skullcave! You can catch up with him on social media at: https://facebook.com/DamagedSkullWriterandReviewer where he’d really appreciate some follows to get more exposure for Indy horror writers and presses!

You can also find him on: X/Twitter@skullsnflames76

And we’re also on Goodreads and leave reviews on Amazon under the mortal’s name Brian James Lewis

GRAVEYARD SMASH-Women of Horror Anthology Vol. 2
Edited by Jill Girardi
Kandisha Press
November 4, 2020
reviewed by Brian James Lewis

Happy 2021 everyone! I thought I would start the new year off right by reading some great horror fiction written by women. Kandisha Press never fails to provide a great selection in every one of their anthologies and Graveyard Smash is truly a 5 STAR reading experience by women of horror. We’re talking about Sonora Taylor, Lydia Prime, V. Castro, and Ally Peirse-who wrote the story from which this anthology gets its title. Sound cool? Then let’s dive in and check it out!

Sonora Taylor is one of my favorite authors, so I was looking forward to reading her contribution to Graveyard Smash. Amazingly enough, when I set the book on my lap, it fell open to the first page of The Clockmaker! How’s that for spooky? Nathaniel is the town clockmaker of Sanguay Bluff and he takes great pride in his work, which is beautiful as well as functional. So when an unusual gent comes into his shop seeking a pocket watch made of bone that needs to be ready in a short period of time, Nathaniel turns him down. Well until he sees the large amount of money the guy is offering. That and pride won’t let him pass on such a challenge. But pride is one of the seven deadly sins and the wages of sin are never easy money. The watches are horribly difficult to make and Nathaniel’s need for bone forces him to seek it in a rather unsavory place. But when the townspeople discover that a grave robber is in their midst, life becomes even more challenging for The Clockmaker.

In South Dakota, Lydia Prime delivers a tale of bone chilling horror. The setting seems so picturesque at first, that it’s hard to believe anything bad could happen there. A lovely village next to a stunningly beautiful lake appears idyllic, but the residents practice a weird burial custom that kind of takes the shine off the place a bit. Most of the residents in the village enjoy their simple way of life, but not Dakota. She’s a lonely child who longs for friendship instead of the taunting she gets from the other kids. One day, while exploring the frozen surface of the lake, Dakota makes a friend who is a mirror image of herself. How fun! The only problem is that her friend is trapped under the hard glassy surface of the lake. Together they hatch a plan to pull “OtherKota” through. But as the saying goes, no good deed goes unpunished. Will Dakota’s actions give her the friendship she so deeply desires, or will things go south in a big hurry?

Once you start reading Holes by R.A. Busby, you’ll realize its connection to our current world pandemic. COVID-19 is terrifying all by itself if you’re one of the people taking it seriously. But when that terror is combined with mental illness, things can quickly spin out of control. Most interior designers are pretty OCD people to begin with and you don’t have to be trapped in the Overlook Hotel to feel isolated now that self-quarantine is often required. There are also wildly conflicting accounts of how one could get sick with this virus that has been compared to the plague. Plus, there are just as many ideas about avoiding it So when Katherine loses her job, and pretty much sole purpose in life, at Clean Corners-an interior design company-She loses it. But before she does that, she supervises a bathroom remodel that shows her that a person’s home is often not as safe or substantial as we think. There are holes, too many holes. Holes that need to be filled and that means every single one.

Last, but certainly not least is Atmosphere contributed by Ally Peirse. Initially, a story about night shift cleaners in a brewery sounds like a lot of fun. Got any free samples? Har-har! But it turns out to be a frightening place to be the night Vicky pops in to do a newspaper story about it. Initially it doesn’t seem too bad, but as accidents befall her and a cleaner named Rob, they find themselves trapped. That’s when Rob tells Vicky the story of a mean supervisor and how the brewery had its best year with a beer called Graveyard Smash. There is more going on than you might think in small towns all over the world, so open your eyes and ears. Whatever you do, don’t forget to carry a hammer.

This is just a wee smidgin of what’s enclosed in this amazing women of horror anthology from Kandisha Press. Graveyard Smash is over 300 pages worth of 5 Star reading that you will get hours and hours of enjoyment from! All female writers and every story is fantastic! Highly recommended by Damaged Skull Reviewer and available NOW from your favorite booksellers! Don’t forget to also check out Volume 1 in this anthology series Under Her Black Wings! Great Stuff! Both have earned spots on The Damaged Skull Wall of Fame. Want more information? Then head on over to www.kandishapress.com Thanks for visiting the Skullcave. See you soon!