There is just something amazing about discovering a new author. I am very lucky in that my association with Wicked House Publishing has allowed me to meet a LOT of great new writers, so I feel my reading life is very rich. However, when you discover a writer who is relatively new to the scene and they just completely and utterly blow you away. When you have to, even as a writer, sit back and just admire the prose and the ways with words, well, that is something.
If you are looking for an author like that - let me introduce you to the UK's MJ Mars. She burst onto the scene with one of the best haunted house novels, The Suffering, just last year and has now released a collection of short stories called We've Already Gone Too Far.
Eight Nasty Tales
There are eight stories in this collection. All of them are excellent. They are:
Jeff Through the Trees - a father and son camping trip leads to an urban legend and utterly terror
In Bocca Al Lupo - a world where demonic monsters have destroyed most of the population during a new ice age, the last vestiges of humanity stage a last stand.
The 'Fasten Seatbelt' Light Is On - a plane bound for disaster encounters something somehow even more terrifying than crashing.
Fallen Eagles and Aces - a creature feature set in the old west.
Monastery Blood Moon - an art installation in an old monastery opens a portal into terror - and a punk band may be our only salvation.
Big Gulps and Bigfoot - when the humans are infinitely more horrifying that the cryptids, you know terror is the result.
Stooge - a curse has been hurled at a family of stage magicians.
We've Already Gone Too Far - an experiment by the military to obtain ultimate knowledge leads to a massacre that spans generations.
A Bold Voice in Horror
If you don't know the name MJ Mars, let me tell you that you soon will. I cannot even begin to describe how beautifully she tells her stories. Somehow, with each story, she sets up each premise, and then pulls you in. When the terror starts, it is visceral and chilling.
Mars is not afraid to get gory. Viscera and bodily fluids flying all over these tales, but she is not for the total gross out. She manages to weave these tales that tell about these characters we somehow instantly care for, with their background so we know who they are and why they are here. Mars needs to teach classes on how to write short stories. She is a master.
I loved Jeff Through the Trees, because it started the collection off with such a bang. However, the title story may have left me the most chilled and is the one I will probably be thinking about for a long, long, long time.
You Need to Read MJ Mars
If you want to dip your toe into a new author, I cannot recommend MJ Mars enough. Start with the short stories. I think that's a good way to do it, but also be sure to check out her amazing haunted house horror - The Suffering.
I am lucky because I have also had the great pleasure to meet MJ Mars in person. She is a delightful person, a great friend, but lurking behind that smile is something dark and the world of horror fiction is all the richer for it.
Be sure to also check out my Amazon store for all my books, novels, short stories, collections, audiobooks and the rest. I do appreciate it.
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