Black Petals Issue #56

BP Looks at Books: Part One

For Issue #56, July 2011

By A.M. Stickel

An Asian-American writing about an ‘oriental’ paranormal investigator? Works for me. Author Derek Muk’s western settings are all places I’ve been, and he is true to them in THE OCCULT FILES OF ALBERT TAYLOR. Way to go, Derek!

U.C. Berkeley Anthropology Professor, Albert Taylor, who reminds me of a modern, more scholarly version of ‘Charlie Chan,’ leaves no case unresolved in his supernatural searches outside the classroom. He publishes The Occult Files Magazine based on his findings. Nine of Derek Muk’s eleven chapters presenting these (fictional) cases have appeared as short stories in a variety of magazines, thus the repetition of the hero’s physical description, which readers may otherwise find annoying.

Phenomena involved include: asylum ghosts in Sacramento, a vampire in Hawaii, Jack the Ripper’s clone in the Wax Museum, Bigfoot in Redwood National Park, an alien visitor in New Mexico, a séance in a haunted San Francisco mansion, a hellish “Culvert Killer” near the BART tracks in El Cerrito, a religious cult in Honolulu, Torquemada the Inquisitor in ghoulish form in a Reno museum, an alien-worshipping cult in Concord, California (where I grew up!), and a U.C. Berkeley student’s mysterious dorm death—followed by her ghostly reappearance. Characters are well-rounded, the dialog works, and the plots unfold in believable (and familiar) settings. There are a few scary thrills along the way, especially those set in the gloomy Reno museum, but nothing to give a reader really bad nightmares.

Look for a cover with a ghostly, greenish male face against a dark background. Copy quality is good on the 204 pages, with few nits, earning 2 BP Black Roses. Purchase ISBN 978-1449541958 at Amazon or THEOCCULTFILESOFALBERTTAYLOR.WORDPRESS.COM/

Then, for fans of truly memorable nightmares, try out the after-lifestyle thrust upon Professor Pete Mellor of ZOMBIE, OHIO, courtesy of author Scott Kenemore. The entire story is a puzzle put together piece by grisly piece until the deadly solution becomes clear to the poor professor’s deteriorating brain.

Although unhappy with his pre-accident existence, Mellor finds himself and the people he still cares about in an unbelievable predicament. The descriptions of the once decent-looking (and acting) man’s state as he ‘zombifies’ are some of the best I’ve read. His attempts to disguise himself so he could pass for normal to avoid that inevitable zombie downer—a shot or ax to the head—were both moving and humorous. When he finally finds his fellow zombies better company than the living, though, I wasn’t quite convinced why, other than to assume he had passed from denial to acceptance of his fate.

Either the main subject’s (gray and gooey) matter or the descriptions of a zombie plague kept me turning those pages. I appreciated the first-person narration, which allowed personal insights. The Asian-American heroine/love interest was no shy violet, and, in fact, pretty darn tough, yet feminine in the best sense. The author treats children with respect and credibility, even though some of them are zombies too. The outcast professor’s interactions with the survivors holding out at small and picturesque Kenton College allow both strife and antagonism to surface, along with surprising zombie-human alliances.

BP rates ZOMBIE, OHIO (ISBN 978-1-61608-206-2) by Scott Kenemore a 3 Black Rose-2 Rosebud read. The cover, designed by Adam Bozarth, is a green-and-white sign with the title and A Tale of the Undead on it set against a red sky. Go to www.skyhorsepublishing.com for the publisher’s information; Kenemore’s 240 pages cost (US) $16.95. Enjoyment of his undead adventure should feed your craving for more life in your reading.

BP Looks at Books: Part Two

Touching on the topic of the supernatural, here are two good reads: Lance Smith’s THE GHOST WAY and Wm. Paul Young’s THE SHACK. The former book was sent to me by Smith’s wife, Kung, who translated and adapted her parents’ narrative about their haunted farm in Thailand—“the true story of the Ramanakajja family and the land beyond the jungle.” The latter work was recommended reading for a May class on spirituality; otherwise, I’d never have read it, since I’m usually disappointed in anything presented as a “#1 New York Times bestseller,” even if the cover says “over 8 million copies in print.”

Besides haunted happenings, these two theologically-opposed works have in common terrible family tragedies, which end up producing some kind of good in the long run. But one book goes down the dark road of superstition, while the other promises (and delivers) uplifting insights. One book dwells on demonic manifestations, while the other deals with and disposes of inner demons. Let’s face it, if you read horror, you’re more likely to believe in the invisible realm, or at least ponder the possibility of this realm. If you write horror, you have to write it like you’ve experienced it, and both of these books’ authors do exactly that. Whether you agree with the principles underlying either one will color your perception of what each author is trying to get across—perhaps making you laugh at what seems to be outright absurdity—but, perhaps, making you curious about what lies beneath the surface of our often shallow, day-to-day existence.

It’s not every day that an author tackles a mystery of a murder intertwined with that of belief in a triune deity, let alone succeeds at it. But, in my opinion, speaking for his central character, “Mack,” Wm. Paul Young has done a bang-up job in THE SHACK. Yes, innocent blood is spilled, and pain takes over, the parallel to the crucifixion being obvious. But, instead of bogging down in a self-pitying mire, Mack’s story doesn’t thicken, it deepens. All kinds of questions arise—free will versus coercion and predetermination, hope versus despair over apparently purposeless suffering, and forgiveness versus hatred. A miraculous healing occurs at THE SHACK as a result of an incredible encounter, and crucial choices are made which continue the healing process, despite a second tragedy. The author has drawn from his own experience with suffering, and produced a masterpiece. But don’t take my word for it. Go look for a copy of the book—with cover picturing a boarded-up shack in the snow—and decide for yourself. I found mine in paperback for $8.99 in a COSTCO bin. ISBN is 9780964729230; publisher is Windblown Media (office@windblown media.com), and the cleverly titled chapters make up for the boring main title. This book deserves 4 BP Black Roses (or maybe white ones this time).

THE GHOST WAY leads past an abandoned farm in Southern Thailand. The farm is under a curse strong enough to have driven off or killed the owners succeeding the evicted drunk who called down the spirits of his vengeful ancestors there. A shape-shifting (and occasionally seductive) “black lord” named Sude seems to be the demon in charge of the ghosts haunting the stead. AK-47s and exorcisms alike are unable to dispel the place, which is why Kung’s Buddhist family was forced to flee when she was a child and suffer incredible hardship rather than return.

Pictures of the area, including shrines and people, enliven the back cover. The front cover depicts a Thai native encountering a female ghost. Before I read this book, I’d always heard what a paradise Thailand is—with its Nora Dance, Shadow Play Puppets, and reverence for elders and ancestors—a nice travel destination. But Kung’s story makes me glad I never traveled there, and that she wisely moved to Hawaii, where her husband, Lance Smith, helped her reveal THE GHOST WAY, ISBN 9781453768204, which merits 3 BP Black Roses. This tale will make you want to leave the lights on. It is available on Amazon, where the e-book is $5.99.