Giveaway/Review of Faithful Shadow by Kevin J. Howard

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I absolutely adore monsters; whether it’s Jaws, Godzilla or the creature from underground in Yellowstone National Park.

Faithful Shadow

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Alex and Emily went to Yellowstone camping, even though there was a major fire going on. Little did they know, it would end so badly for them.

Since his son’s death, Joe was angry at the park and was nipping at the bottle to get https://i0.wp.com/www.yellowstonenationalparklodges.com/gallery/97_20060104112903.jpg?resize=432%2C288through the day. He and Andy responded to a call about vandalism at the cabins at Old Faithful Inn. Blood filled the cabin, but the scene didn’t make any sense. They chalked it up to a bear attacking a bird. (Yeah, right) They left, but both of them were thinking of the missing hikers.

It was tradition for the Foster family to work at the park and Kelly was angry that the fire was happening while she was there. She was from Mobile, Alabama. A true Southern Belle, blonde-haired and blue-eyed with sparkling white teeth. A real Hottie.

A group of the young employees were going to the hot pots to party. They had some marijuana, booze and sleeping bags. Kelly had to stay behind. It was her night to close the ice cream shop.

When Richard came to meet her, she told him about being watched by someone. Of course, he went to check it out and was pulled into the woods. I sat here shouting, don’t go in the woods. It’s one of those things, you know he’s going to do it and the monster is going to get him. lol

But he was just pranking her, a practical joke.

In the morning, at the hot pots, Doug and Rowena were gone. Everyone knew they didn’t like each other and they sure wouldn’t go off together.

Dale was working on the fire at the west line, but he toldA firefighter surveys the damage. Cameron they were to go to Old Faithful Inn. When he turned around to find out what was taking Cameron so long, he was just gone, vanished. The crew searched for more than an hour and found no clue.

Dale couldn’t just let it go, so he went back to see if he could find Cameron. He had fallen into a sinkhole. When Dale called to him, he responded. Bob went down to get him. As they pulled Cameron out, Bob looked around. He looked down and saw thousands and thousands of bones, human and animal, large and small. He practically crawled out of the hole on his own. Bob had never been so terrified in his life, wondering what was down there with him. What created all those bones?

Dale watched Bob and Cameron walk away. There was something really odd about Cameron. His coat looked funny, like it wasn’t fitting properly. He had slapped at himself and yelled about the dark. Bob thought Cameron felt very heavy and he had a rotting stench radiating from him. The smell was so rank, he thought he would vomit.

Natasha was cleaning rooms, most of them were empty because of the fire. She came to Cameron’s room. He didn’t look right and when she looked closer, she knew why. She could feel something watching her, but it couldn’t be Cameron. As she looked around, she saw two green eyes peering at her from the closet.

eyes green Pictures, Images and Photos

More people are missing. Joe is forced to deal with it. Will his drinking be the death of him and by failing to do his job, others? He knew, whatever it was, wasn’t human. It was all connected. It rode up from the hole – piggybacked on Cameron. Joe is given a purpose. It is his job to protect everyone in the park. He is determined to do it. It is his park and he will deal with the creature. Stew, Richard, Kelly and Sonia were just as determined to help.

How do you kill a shadow? How many would be left standing?

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos    4 STARS – Would Highly Recommend To Others

An awesome cover. I love the colors and the flames, with the eeriness of the water and the mountains in the background. Get a shiver just looking at it, wondering what is to come.

I love that it started being creepy from the get-go. Kept my undivided attention throughout the book. The plot and writing were very entertaining and engrossing. A debut novel that will leave you wanting more.

The characters were well-developed and their personalities made you either like them or not. I felt sorry for Joe and really hoped he would turn himself around and be the hero. Of course, you will have to read it for yourself to find out. lol

Remember the fears of childhood? I remember the monster under my bed. I couldn’t let anything hang over the edge of the bed, because it might get me. I had to stay completely covered. I just knew it was under there, waiting for me to put my feet down.

Amazing how the monster comes back, when you are sitting in the dark, getting creeped out by the critters running rampant in the book you’re reading. Every creak and noise of the house has you looking over your shoulder, wondering…………

I received this book in return for an honest and unbiased review.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kevin J.  HowardKevin J. Howard was born in Mission Viejo, California, moved to Seattle at the age of twenty-one, and now lives in Puyallup. He hand wrote his first novel in the fifth grade and has been writing ever since. His first published novel, Faithful Shadow, is a return to the classic horror novel. Since writing Faithful Shadow he has completed four additional horror novels that will soon be published. In 2012, he won an award in the Las Vegas International Film Festival for his screenplay, Identical Opposites. Kevin looks to release his next horror novel in December of 2012.

Recent Honors:

I was just awarded the title of Scariest Author for 2012 after a month long round of voting via the Outskirts Press Face Book page.  I would like to thank everyone that voted for such a warm response.

http://selfpublishingnews.com/2012/11/07/the-2012-outskirts-press-scariest-author-has-been-chosen/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=facebook

 To stalk Kevin, follow the links below:

Website

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GIVEAWAY

taiwan flag smiley animated gif Pictures, Images and Photos  Kevin is offering 3 ebooks  for the Giveaway. International. Easy entry as always, just leave your email address and answer the question:

What is your favorite monster? 

Closed. Winners are Pragya – Melanie – Lacey. All winners have been notified.

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Would you voluntarily commit yourself to an asylum for a story?

SEVEN-X by Mike Wech

Whatever happened to seven death row prisoners?

I believe that Annette Dobson, The SIDS Killer, is not dead, even though the state says they executed her, filed a death certificate and closed the case. Her husband does not believe it either. She had been convicted of killing six of her children before they could reach a year old. She was pregnant at the time of her incarceration and plead for an abortion, so she wouldn’t take the baby to hell with her. She is only one of the seven I think they have brought to Uphir.

I will go to almost any lengths to get the story, that is why I am coming to  the Uphir Behavioral Health Center in Uphir, Texas,  and agreeing to being “treated” by Dr. Alan Hayworth, a clinical psychologist and the Reverend William H. Billings, a local minister.

When I was interviewed by Dr. Hayworth, he asked me what I really wanted. He also wanted to know how I found him.

A week later, I received a MMPI, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, to fill out and send back. In return I got an invitation to voluntarily commit myself and headed to Uphir.

While I sit in the diner in Dell City, Texas, where the song Farmer in the Dell came from, I wonder about what I am doing here. The only safety measure I have taken, is having my assistant and girlfriend, Melody Swann, receive and transcribe any diary notes and tapes that I will send to her on and off during my stay.

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The waitress at the diner seemed surprised to see me. I had been here a month ago to work out the details of my commitment to Uphir. She said she had never seen anyone that went up there, come back. She told me that everyone who lived out by the center had moved away or outright disappeared. They were afraid of the demons running wild.

We kept talking, and I told her I was there because of Renaldo, a reporter. He had contacted me about strange things going on at Uphir, and had never contacted me again. She knew his name was  Ose. She said she heard him say it and that he was coming for Eddie, for me. I couldn’t figure out what she was talking about or why she would say that.

When I arrived, I stood and stared at the building. It felt alive, as if it was speaking to me. I entered and was greeted by a nurse. The Doctor  came out and escorted me to his office, telling me the protocol. I could only record when I was given permission.  I felt I was being watched and thought it was probably the Reverend, because he came in shortly after. He creeped me out.

He seems to be focused on demonic forces that can influence us all, but I didn’t really believe any of what he was saying. I thought there must be some kind of blocker, because even though I had recorded our meeting, the playback was intermittent. There were parts missing and I could hear odd voices and static. The recording seems to be trying to tell me something, like someone is trying to communicate with me outside normal channels. It speaks in a language I cannot understand.

They put me in the house from “Psycho”. Even though it is separate from the “hospital”, I have no food and only one window to look out. It looks right back at the institution. There is no cable, internet or phone service. There is a VCR. The tapes all have a theme, The Exorcist, Rosemary’s Baby, Jacob’s Ladder, Altered States, The Brood, In The Mouth of Madness. My thought is, they are trying to mess with my mind.my pics Pictures, Images and Photos

It’s 2:00am and I can’t sleep, so I look out the window. The moonlight has an eerie glow, like in the horror movies. I’m waiting for someone with a hockey mask or chainsaw to come busting in. I always feel as if I am being watched. The Reverend had left a Bible with passages marked. as if I’m supposed to read them and make me ponder the evil in me.

I’m thinking they brought Annette Dobson here for the sole purpose of studying the baby after it was born. Maybe they felt they could learn something from a baby that was born from a cold-blooded killer. Will it be an Angel or a Demon? If what I think is true, she should be due in a week or so.

I arrive for breakfast and run into Donald. He starts telling me about all my secrets. How could he possibly know? His voice sounds different, and as he keeps on, I can feel myself getting more and more angry. I am so mad, I can feel my body vibrate with tension. I have such a feeling of rage, hate, shame, guilt, pain and violation  that I am furious beyond my control.

Melody becomes freaked out transcribing the tapes. She hears screaming and cries for help. As she types, she feels like someone is typing for her. Words come out that she didn’t put down. They are in a language she doesn’t know. It is talking to her, telling her things. Warning her? She feels any urgency to get the results to Eddie fast.

I met with the Reverend. He asked if I believed the bible was true. I asked him, what does it matter? He proceeds to tell me, I have entered a world where good and evil are at war. He wants to make sure I am safe from possession before he will let me meet with Annette Dobson.

Renaldo Gonzalez had brought a tape to me made by Timothy Nathan Tyler, another executed inmate, saying he was going to be resurrected. Then Renaldo just disappeared off the face of the earth. Tyler is sitting in front of my right now and looks as if he is dead. Annette is there too.

Melody becomes more afraid with the next transcription.She can hear Eddie speaking another language, ranting and raving like a madman. It seems like her laptop has a mind of its own. It won’t shut  off. It’s as if someone is with her. She is terrified to move, so she keeps writing. A voice filled with evil is making her write and she cannot quit until she has written down what it wants. Melody doesn’t want to do this any more.

I get my computer back and want to write about the visit with the others. It scares me shitless.They looked as if possessed and I am living inside the movies of Carrie or The Omen. I had completely lost it when Tyler had told me things that no one here could have known. He even used the same tone of voice and projected the same feelings onto me that my ex-wife had.

I seemed to be going down into a pit of desolation, so I started to sing happy songs. Songs Seven-X39like The Flintstones and Sesame Street. I think of my little girl and feel like I’m evil, cursed, should just up and die. I continue singing trying to fight off the sense of impending madness.

Because I had reacted so badly, they had put me in an isolation cell. I typed until my battery died, then lay listening to the screams and the metal clanging footsteps. Pitch blackness amplified everything I heard and felt.

As I sat in the Doctor’s office, ready to record, they said they had warned me of the supernatural. According to him and the Reverend, Tyler, Annette and the rest of the patients, were all possessed and they were trying to help them. They went on to say that one of the demons had come for me. He proceeded to tell me that I was really here to record my story. He quoted scriptures for me to read and sent me on my way.

Matthew Chapter 12 Verse 43-46

Luke Chapter 11 Verse 24-26

I read the scriptures and thought it odd that two different people, Matthew and Luke, said the same thing. It was written that seven times the evil had  returned. What if the demons are real? I decided that the title of my story would be  SEVEN-X.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos   3 STARS – Would Recommend To Others

I was gifted this book in return for an honest and unbiased review.

I gave it only three stars, because it didn’t quite get me to the point of being terrified. The suspense kept me reading, but I was left wanting something more. It was written as a diary, and that may be why I couldn’t seem to lose myself in the plot.

Awesome cover. Eyes always make me want to look deeper into them and see what’s there. The title made me curious and I did find out that it was an appropriate title.

The writing was very good and I can see how the story can be continued. The main character of Eddie Hanson is well developed and credible, with a need to solve the puzzle of the missing convicts. It would be his scoop. Put him on top. Can you imagine how a person, so sure of their convictions, would feel if he found them to be otherwise? His plan to solve the puzzle, simply creates another.

What if you couldn’t tell what was real?  It wouldn’t be that difficult to become paranoid and believe they are messing with your head when you are isolated from the outside world. We all know how cults can brainwash people. Are there really demons? Are they out to have us do their bidding? Or is it just the evil inside us?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mike Wech is a writer, director and editor living in Los Angeles CA.

Originally from Buffalo, Mike began his career in New York as an actor with appearances on Liquid Television, America’s Most Wanted, One Life To Live and All My Children as well as numerous stage plays.

Moving behind the camera Mike began work as a writer crafting television commercials and shows like VH1’s Fairway to Heaven. Mike worked as a writer, producer, director, editor, camera operator and in various other capacities learning his craft as he moved into feature films.

His first feature, the post apocalyptic “The Moment After2, The Awakening, directed by Wes Llewellyn sold over a million dollars on DVD. More features and television shows followed including the critically acclaimed docu-drama “South Dakota” with Star Wars Producer Howard Kazanjian and Director Bruce Isacson, and the gritty crime drama, “The Exodus of Charlie Wright” starring Andy Garcia, Aidan Quinn, Gina Gershon and Luke Goss, directed by R. Ellis Frazier.

With an eye on producing his own material, Mike continued writing for his clients, while penning the Award Nominated screenplay, “Your Life The Movie.”

SEVEN-X is Mike’s debut novel and the first in the forthcoming SEVEN-X series of books. He is excited about the feature film adaptation of SEVEN-X to be shot in West Virginia at the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. Seven-X is the first film to be given permission to film on the grounds and it boasts being the second largest stone mason building in the world next to The Kremlin.

Horror fans get ready for a creepy, unsettling ride into your worst nightmare!

Twitter:   mikewech

Goodreads:  http://www.goodreads.com/MikeWech

To order the book, simply click on the cover below.