Lincoln Crisler

This is Wrath’s long-awaited sophomore Leisure novel, following 2008′s Succulent Prey. As in his first novel, Wrath takes on a challenging and innovative concept: Dale McCarthy, a killer with the ability to resurrect his victims over and over again, moves into a new neighborhood and shortly thereafter one particular neighbor couple, Sarah and Josh Lincoln, is plagued with memories of being killed, an unexplicably bloody mattress, and the like.

The Resurrectionist isn’t the merciless, nonstop barrage of uncomfortably brutal violence that Prey was; Wrath still brings his ‘siction’ A-game, but every so often there’s a pause in the gory festivities, a poignant, non-violent scene that makes the inevitable return to butchery even worse in contrast.  His writing has definitely improved, as well; I remember a rather jarring perspective shift or two while reading Prey, and noticed nothing of the sort in The Resurrectionist.

Of particular note is the excellent twist ending, part of which I saw coming roughly two-thirds of the way into the book. I’m pretty sure Wrath did that on purpose, though, and the rest of the twist (the final flick of the wrist, perhaps) doesn’t come until the very last page. I have to say I didn’t see it coming, and it’s a sad, though realistic and satisfying, ending. The only thing I didn’t like is Wrath’s lack of explanation for Sarah’s memories of being murdered; Dale’s victims are usually resurrected with no memory of what happened. I don’t see her memories as being unrealistic or outside the realm of possibility, though, and it does nothing to take way from the story.

All in all, Wrath promised me a good book that was different from Prey but still enjoyable, and I have to say he delivered. 9.5/10; if you love no-holds barred horror and aren’t afraid to cringe a little, this is the book for you.

I’d only heard of Amy Grech in passing before she dropped me an email asking me if I’d like to interview her for the site. I’m always down for getting to know new people, so of course I asked her to send along a PDF of her latest book, a collection of short stories, and it was in my inbox the next day. When I downloaded it to my e-reader I expected a compilation of stories ranging from really-good to reasonable. You know how it is with collections and anthologies; some of the stories are better than others, and if you’re lucky, a couple might break some new ground. Blanket of White, released this month by Damnation Books, fit this mold, but with one major difference: a couple of these really cranked back and kicked me in the sack. Read the opening story, from which the book gets its title, and “Perishables” and see if you don’t agree.  

Lincoln Crisler: The opening story of “Blanket of White” came right out of the gate and punched me in the gut. Normally, this common question sounds a bit foolish to me (partly because I’ve read and watched a lot of horror that didn’t look like it took a lot of thought) but where do you get your ideas? 

Amy Grech:  I live in Brooklyn and travel to Manhattan on a regular basis.  I get lots of ideas just wandering around.  For example, Alphabet City has a rich history: Avenue A stands for Alert; Avenue B stands for Beware; C stands for Caution; D stands for Death.  I wrote an entire story titled “Apple of My Eye” based on that information.

The title story actually evolved ten years ago, when I saw a real life story on the news about a little girl who had a terminal illness and the compassionate way her father chose to end her suffering.  The little girl in my story, Suzy is very remarkable despite her illness.  “Blanket of White” really affects readers who are also parents more than most.  Although, I don’t have children of my own, this story proved extremely difficult to write. 

LC:  What’s the most personal story for you in “Blanket of White”?

AG: Definitely “Perishables.” It’s the shortest story in the collection, but it’s sure to leave readers hungry for more!  I wrote it years ago when my boyfriend at the time broke up with me.  It was my way of grieving.  I decided to have some fun and tell the story from a male POV.  

LC:  I heard that “Blanket of White” is actually a previously released collection with a couple of new stories thrown in. What precipitated this?

AG: Two Backed Books published my first collection, Apple of My Eye, a few years ago.  Sadly they did virtually no promotion, as a result, the book became obscure from the get go.  Two Backed Books folded earlier this year, another victim of the down economy…When that happened, the rights to Apple of My Eye reverted back to me, so I wrote two new stories, “Blanket of White” and “Russian Roulette” and found a new publisher, Damnation Books, who has done an excellent promoting the book!

 LC: What was going on in your life while you were writing some of these stories?

AG: “Blanket of White” was born from my desire to write a story devoid of sexual content.  Up until then, all of my stories focused on sex as erotic horror and several critics questioned if I could delve deeper into the human psyche. I’m pleased to say I can tackle any subject matter!  “Ashes to Ashes,” “Come and Gone,” “Perishables,” “Russian Roulette,” and “Cold Comfort” were all written in response to several break-ups with former boyfriends—I end to fall hard for a guy; consequently, I end up devastated when the relationship ends.  Writing is a very cathartic coping mechanism.  I wrote “Prevention” because I have a twin brother and wanted to play with the evil twin idea. I felt a little paranoid when I wrote “Rampart.” “Raven’s Revenge” was my homage to Edgar Allan Poe. I wrote “Damp Wind and Leaves” against the backdrop of Halloween.  I wrote “Crosshairs” as a tribute to my Catholic upbringing.  I wrote “Initiation Day” in college—I wanted to put a spin on the peer pressure high school students deal with.   I wanted to play with the expression, You’re the apple of my eye.”  “Apple of My Eye” is the result.  I wrote “EV 2000” to deal with my fear of needles.

 LC: Who are some of your influences as a writer?

AG:  When I turned 12, an Aunt introduced me to Stephen King’s novels.  I started with Cujo and never looked back.  Stephen King inspired me to become a writer. 

Other influences include: Franz Kafka, H. P. Lovecraft, Joyce Carol Oates, Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Shelley, and Alice Sebold.

 LC: What can we expect from you in the near future?

AG:  Expect to see several of my stories in various anthologies and magazines.  I can’t say more until contacts have been signed.

I’ve written the first four chapters of a novel with my co-author; I won’t reveal the gory details until we place the book with a publisher.  I’ve been expanding my story, “Apple of My Eye” into a novella or possibly even a novel.  I’ve passed the 6,000 word mark.

 LC: Which are better: pirates, robots or ninjas?

AG: Robots!  They can be programmed to do my bidding!

Blanket of White is available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com, Books on Board, Damnation Books, Diesel eBooks, Lybrary.com, OmniLit, and Powell’s Books, and a variety of other outlets! Amy Grech‘s official website is www.crimsonscreams.com.

I finished reading this book last week and I still haven’t stopped thinking about it. I’d been hearing about Wrath and his work on and off over the last year or so, read his blog a few times and have been meaning to read his work. You know how that one goes. Luckily, the fine folks at Leisure made this one a Featured Book for December, saving me from at least a few hours of peaceful sleep.

Succulent Prey is Wrath’s first release through Leisure books, though it made it’s debut through Bloodletting Press. Joe Miles was victimized by a serial sex killer as a child and was the sole survivor of the madman’s crimes. He himself develops deviant tendencies and, as a college student, develops a theory that the predatory nature of serial killers is transmitted like a virus. During his search for the source of his ‘infection’ he becomes a blood-crazed, insane cannibal. And that description doesn’t even begin to give an idea of what this the book’s about.

Succulent Prey made me fucking SQUIRM. There are only two other books that have made me do this, but that’s fodder for my next blog post. I read horror for FUN. Most of it doesn’t scare me one bit; it’s just entertaining to read about monsters and killers and such. Makes me feel better about my peaceful, easy life of year-long deployments, time-consuming children, demanding wife and such. This book was entertaining, but at a price. Succulent Prey grabbed me by the balls and squeezed. I wanted to skip through parts. I didn’t, but I wanted to. Instead, I just read through them as fast as I could while still getting the effect. And then for some wierd reason, I read over those parts again. I can think about them now and still feel queasy.

Other parts broke my heart. I’m not being hyperbolic about this. The things Wrath’s cannibal killer does to a lonely librarian who takes a chance on a younger guy that creeps her out a bit are just awful and couldn’t have happened to a more undeserving victim. The relationship between Joe Miles and Alicia is just plain fucking twisted, and how it ends… well, that’s the part that kinda hurt a bit to read.

Find a picture of Wrath on his website, MySpace or whatnot. The guy’s a pro fighter and HUGE. I have this theory that the best horror books are written about things that might actually scare the writer (this is also why I haven’t written a novel yet; I’m still trying to find that subject). If this is true, and Succulent Prey is about what makes Wrath squirm, I wouldn’t want to piss this guy off.

Because I have this compulsion towards being fair and balanced in my reviews, I’ll point out the only thing that occasionally pulled me out of the twisted environment of Wrath’s story: his tendency to switch POV in an instant, during the same scene. As an editor, I can’t stand it when writers do that and hopefully Wrath’s next release will be as hard-hitting without that one (perceived by myself, at any rate) flaw. But it’s definitely not a reason to pass up the book.

If you’re jaded by most horror and actually want to feel horrified again from reading a book, pick this one up. Immediately. Without delay. And if you can finish it on Monday without still thinking about it on Friday… check your fucking pulse.