Review – Damaged Skull Writer

BEYOND THE BOUNDS OF INFINITY
Edited by Vaughn A. Jackson & Stephanie Pearre
July 10, 2024
Raw Dog Screaming Press
Reviewed by Brian “Skull” Lewis

Greetings Horror Fiends! It’s your old pal Skull with a great new collection from Raw Dog Screaming Press. Lovecraftian horror is a cool mashup of fantasy, dream worlds, and elder gods that have existed since the beginning of time itself. H.P. Lovecraft and his contemporaries came up with some really unique story concepts, but their beauty was marred by the narrow white lens it was pushed through. People of color, working class folks, and women were not respected and treated as equals. Those that were physically or mentally disabled were usually portrayed as ignorant freaks. This was because the majority of publishers and writers were white males. Fortunately, Beyond the Bounds of Infinity is here to showcase a diverse cast of authors and put a new spin on weird fiction and cosmic horror. It’s a great step towards eliminating boundaries and giving readers a kaleidoscopic view of the weirdness that draws us into these types of stories. Speaking of great views, how about that awesome book cover by Lynne Hansen? I’m really becoming a fan! Let’s take a peek within at the horrors that await us…

In Effigies of Monstrous Things, Pedro Iniguez uses the too familiar backdrop of crummy apartments and low income living that Latin Americans are forced to endure in their quest to make it. At first it just seems like Mario is dealing with another cheese bag white slumlord in a janky neighborhood, but a trip into the vast basement of the ancient, mold-ridden apartment complex reveals something much bigger and more terrifying that wants more.

Fractures of Her Reflection by Amanda Headlee tackles the general public’s lack of interest in taking mental health issues seriously. Everyone tells Dava that her tapping rituals are useless and a waste of time, making her feel small and stupid. They’re more concerned about how they feel uncomfortable and weirded out by her behavior. But as this short story reaches its conclusion, something appears on the horizon and the last thing it wants is to be stuck under the rug.

S.A. Cosby takes us out into the woods for 24 Points. It’s hunting season for a trio of men who arrive in the forest with the plan of harvesting the largest deer they can find to get their family through the cold winter ahead. But there’s a line between taking what you need and being greedy. Mother nature is the governess of those laws and when Uncle Ricky oversteps her boundaries, she requires a payment. If it is not forthcoming, the entire fabric of the cosmos opens wide to correct the wrongs. Great balance of the familiar and the terrifying with social commentary.

In Live Free or Die, Danny Brzozowski opens up the cute curtains of a small Connecticut (state motto: Live Free or Die) town to show the rot hidden inside. Many people consider the northeastern states to be safe territory for more liberal thinkers. Unfortunately, I can say from my own personal experiences in a small upstate New York town, that is not always the case. Don’t be doing different loud and proud there unless you want to meet a lot of scary people who masquerade as good ones. When a trans teacher gets fired from a school for teaching both sides of reality in a particularly privileged community, something horrible awakens beneath the hilly ground. Is it a savior or is it a killer? Seeking to make their escape, the teacher comes across a scene that reveals just how deep that evil runs in Briarbrook and prays that they won’t have to follow the latter part of the state motto.

Other great stories in this anthology include Cracks by Mary SanGiovanni, Like Ants We March by Jorja Osha, Six Underground by Vicky Velvet, and You Have Joined the Livestream by Jessica McHugh. Every story inside Beyond the Bounds of Infinity is excellent. You won’t find any filler or pieces you can coast through, here! Like a flourless chocolate torte, this collection is super rich, delightfully dark, and very satisfying. Raw Dog Screaming Press crushes that narrow white lens and hands readers a kaleidoscope to view cosmic horror and weird fiction with. Because when limits are removed, possibilities open wide, and that’s what it’s all about. Damaged Skull Writer and Reviewer rates Beyond the Bounds of Infinity FIVE STARS! If you think that Lovecraft’s work is old and stuffy, this book is for you. Raw Dog Screaming Press brings weird fiction and cosmic horror into the present day and makes it relevant to readers right now.

For more information about Raw Dog Screaming Press, please visit them at: www.RawDogScreaming.com

For more information about Pedro Iniguez, check out www.pedroiniguezauthor.com

To find out more about Amanda Headlee, go to: www.amandaheadlee.com

To follow Damaged Skull Writer and Reviewer, please visit: www.damagedskullwriterandreviewer.com Thanks!

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

Until next time, be well, stay safe, and keep reading independent horror!

limbo-cover-shot

LIMBO
by Jan Lara
September 1, 1988
Warner Books-Popular Library Edition
Reviewed by Brian James Lewis

Hey Gang! This is my first review in my new Thursday Throwback Thrift Store Thrillers series. In here, I am going to feature older books that I have picked up used and want to show off. Often the authors may be one-hit wonders, and sometimes not. If they are still available, I’ll do my best to find a source. All ready? HERE WE GO!
This week’s pick is LIMBO a snazzy paperback written by Jan Lara, which I’m going to guess is a pseudonym for Mike Hinkemeyer since he holds the copyright. The cover is an arresting picture of a demonic looking girl inside a silver box that is trapped in black thorny vines. Yikes! Love it! This was reason number one for picking up this book. The other was the headline: A Force of Limbo Will Turn Their Lives into HELL!
Well that sounds like a good thing to read about! LIMBO is actually quite well written. The pace is fast with lots of sub-stories that initially don’t seem connected, but then, BAM! They do. Oceanville seems like a classic small town where everybody knows everybody and it’s pretty damn hard to keep a secret. Even if you think you have one, like the alcoholic priest, Father Jacklin, you don’t. Most of the residents just go about their rather dull day-to-day lives until Maribeth Hall returns to town with her little girl and shakes things up. All of the sudden the residents find out that maybe they don’t know everything about Oceanville after all.
Maribeth must return to town because her husband got killed by a car. That’s bad enough, but even worse was that he didn’t have any insurance. This puts Maribeth in the spot of having to return to her deceased parents’ home and get a job. All of which starts on a sour note because she has to evict the current tenants who are the parents of Oceanville’s class-A jerk-ola, Blake Brandon. Brandon is always wanting to get even with someone, or figuring out ways to rip people off. That’s what trips his trigger. His hook to hang Maribeth on is her romantic and sexual fling with the town’s number one player, Teddy Rogers. Brandon gets something for his trouble, but it’s not Maribeth’s nonexistent insurance money.
As her presence in town gets everyone jangled up and freaked out, Maribeth gets some strange action at her folks’ house. While her daughter Debbie is putting away toys in her new bedroom, something tears her Snoopy doll to bits and starts calling Maribeth “Mommeeee…” Weird but not too scary. Until the ethereal girl keeps coming back and visiting others like Blake Brandon when Debbie wishes they were dead. Meanwhile poor Father Jacklin can’t stop drinking to try and cover up how bad he feels. It seems that twelve years ago, he pardoned the sin of a certain young girl (Maribeth) who’d had an abortion because she’d had some great sex with someone she couldn’t marry (Teddy Rogers) and it has been eating away at him since.
Turns out that the nurse who did the illegal abortion was an unhappily unmarried woman with no children and in a sort of perverse way, used the aborted fetus to have a spiritual child. But when the biological mother comes to town, everything goes haywire. The soul of the child that never was, wants desperately to be a loved child. So she begins with everything and everybody who gets in her way, including an idiotic righteous trio of sisters, and even the creepy high school administrator dudes. Explosions, blowing up shotguns, and reducing people into atoms of bloody mess is how this demon stuck in Limbo rolls. All this excitement finally brings the buff but kind of brainless Teddy Rogers to his senses. He realizes what he missed out on, including his own kid and does what he can to fix the situation. The result is a vast change in the town and the loss of his life. By making that sacrifice Teddy helps many people and hopefully sets Oceanville on a happier course.
Romance, family, trapped sprits, and redemption. LIMBO has them all. If you can round up a copy of this 80’s horror paperback, GRAB IT!