For those who have followed and supported my blog for some time, you know I’m a passionate and eclectic reader. Some might even call me an avid one. Well, you also should know that I’ve been an active reviewer for many years, and that the main reasons why I created Flaggfan was that my opinions […]
bookshelves: gothic, historical-fiction, horror, mystery, we-need-diverse-books, bizzaro, buddy-read, favorites, psychological Rating: 4/5 stars I remember Silvia Moreno-Garcia popping up almost sporadically on my Facebook and Goodreads feeds as far back as a few years ago. But it wasn’t until 2019’s Gods of Jade and Shadow (best described as a dark, historical fantasy,) that I instinctively knew she was a big deal; that I needed to sample […]
bookshelves: kindle, indie-publishing, challenging-literature, grimdark, buddy-read, epic, political-intrigue, spfbo, intellectual, favorites Rating: 4/5 stars DISCLOSURE: I received an e-book copy from the author, in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are my own. Complacency is the greatest foe of peace. Once the things our forebears have struggled and died for become as much a fixture in life as sleeping and waking, we take them for […]
bookshelves: short-stories, horror, nostalgic, kindle, buddy-read, fantasy, mythology-folflore, grimdark, sci-fi, anthologyRecommended for: lovers of the Halloween spirit Rating: 3.5/5 stars First and foremost, thank you, Mallory Hawes, who singlehandedly helped persuade my decision to read Jeff C. Carter’s “fun-sized” collection. The download was free of change, after all, and who am I to balk at free books? Its price wasn’t the only factor, though. I’d also […]
DISCLOSURE: This is going to be an unpopular opinion. I knew that going forward. However, that’s not why I’m writing and publishing this. It’s not like I have a huge or even a decent following. Far from it. I’m writing this in the dire hopes of possibly being the voice of reason, of waking America up, […]
bookshelves: religious, life-altering-books, kindle, christian, favorites, history, to-read, strangely-poetic, prophetic, audiobookRecommended for: anybody who hears the calling. Rating: 5/5 stars First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don’t see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God’s Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss. –Genesis 1:1/2, The Message Growing up, I knew both instinctively and […]
It was very good, very intense and suspenseful. Carol and Daryl (Melissa McBride and Norman Reedus, respectively,) were thrown into the midst of the chaos, with great performances per usual, with very little dramatic and/or mental instability seen earlier in what turned out to be, in my opinion, a stellar season. There were also a […]
bookshelves: short-stories, defies-categorization, post-modernism, experimental, challenging-literature Rating: 4/5 Read online for free: https://www.esquire.com/entertainment… Dang. Quite possibly some of Wallace’s finest, most powerful and yet simplistic writing. Judging from the minimalist, experimental, in-the-readers-face style, it was most likely written around the time of Infinite Jest. I could be mistaken, though. For such a short short story, Incarnations of Burned Children sure packed one whollup of a punch.
bookshelves: urban-fantasy, horror, comedic, arc, united-states-of-monsters, mythology-folflore, mystery, slashers, lovecraftian, grimdark, favoritesRecommended for: all slasher aficionados DISCLOSURE: I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are my own. Starting with the opening paragraph, and building steadily throughout, the following set the tone and mood quite nicely: “Psycho Killer” by the Talking Heads played on the jukebox of the diner. The Last […]
bookshelves: horror, classics, psychological 5/5 stars Taken directly from the pages of King’s exquisite 1978 debut short story collection, Night Shift, “The Boogeyman” tells the story of one of the most loathsome characters (I don’t say that lightly,) I’ve ever come across, as he and his wife, Rita, are afflicted with any parent’s worst nightmare. Seriously, there were absolutely no […]
