Fear Stalks the Bayou

Zodiac Gothic #Aries

by Juanita Coulson

Eileen Winton travels to sultry New Orleans to comfort her recently widowed friend, Roxane Petry, now mistress of the lavish Hesperus-Seven Oaks. Overwhelmed with grief at the mysterious apparent suicide of her husband, Roxane begs Eileen to stay.Reluctantly agreeing, Eileen meets Roxane’s family. Claire is the dowager grandmother bred in the old Southern style always accompanied by Lucrece, Claire’s faithful companion steeped in Creole tradition. Also heavily involved in the affairs of Hesperus-Seven Oaks are Roxane’s two Dave, the wild and caustic sportsman, and Bart, the financier that holds his emotions close.As Eileen settles into life at Hesperus-Seven Oaks, she discovers that many forces are at work.They are trying to control Roxane.Eileen must intervene to try and help her friend through her grief and stave off those who would take advantage of her at this time.Nagging at the back of Eileen’s mind, however, is the hysterical protest Roxane made at the funeral that her husband Jim did not kill himself. Surrounded by the mysterious voodoo traditions of New Orleans, she begins to suspect that there may have been more to Jim’s death than meets the eye.All the while Eileen’s Yankee ways are clashing with the old bred Southern ways that surround Hesperus-Seven Oaks. As she tries to navigate old feuds and protect her friend, will she be able to uncover buried truths?Set in the mystical New Orleans, Fear Stalks the Bayou is a thrilling mystery steeped in the tradition of the horror novel. Perfect for fans of Stephen King and Simon Clark.“… A richly detailed construction…” C J Cherryh“Coulson works on an enormous canvas — sometimes almost overwhelming. The characters are always memorable.” Marion Zimmer BradleyJuanita Coulson is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. She is also widely known in filk music circles since the 1950s for her singing and songwriting; she has won several Pegasus Awards for her filking. For thirty-three years, she co-edited the science fiction fanzine Yandro with her husband "Buck" (Robert Coulson). Yandro was nominated for a Hugo Award every year from 1958-1967; it won the award in 1965, thus marking Coulson as one of the very first women to be so honored.

Genres: Gothic, Horror

212 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 12, 1976

About the author

Juanita Ruth Coulson (née Wellons) is an American science fiction and fantasy writer most well known for her Children of the Stars books, published from 1981 to 1989. (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juanita...)

Reviews

[Sarah Mac · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some scenes were good, others were meh.

There’s a good atmosphere & dynamic built throughout, but also lengthy sections that are too reliant on the soapy aspects of Bart & Dave’s feuding, which fell flat, because Soap is NOT Gothic (though the two can blend in harmony). I never really warmed to Dave, either—the dumb childhood stuff I can forgive (almost as easily as Eileen does :P), though the justifications for his adult actions were weak, imo. But horoscope specialist Sydney Omarr (who writes the prologues & epilogues for each book in the Ballantine Zodiacs) would probably say that’s just my earthy Taurean outlook 🐂 clashing with Dave’s Sagittarius-fueled fire 🔥 …so, touché. ;)

Overall, I enjoyed it…but the flow could’ve been better, hence rounding down.

[Trisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

*I received the kindle version of this book for free via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review* Not sure if all versions on kindle are this bad, but it really needs some revision. There were so many spaces missing between words and the occasional 1 instead of an, I. Nothing huge, but annoying nonetheless.
Overall, this wasn't a literary masterpiece, but it wasn't bad. There was enough to the story for it to be a quick read that you don't have to force yourself to finish. I took way too long to read it because I had been pretty busy. ;)
This story begins with Eileen finally making the trip to visit her friend, Roxanne, in New Orleans, but not for a great reason. Roxanne's husband, James, has just committed suicide and Eileen has decided to stay with Roxanne for a while to help her. She doesn't believe her husband has killed himself and Eileen takes it upon herself to help Roxanne get out of her pit of sorrow.
Along the way, Eileen has to deal with Roxanne's snooty grandmother, her grandmother's best friend who may or may not be involved with voodoo, and Roxanne's brothers in law; the uptight, Bart, and overly hostile and sarcastic, Dave. Eileen wants to help Roxanne keep her two family estates up and running efficiently and questioning if James' death really was a suicide.
I requested this book because it was listed as "horror". It is in no way horror. There were moments where Eileen had tense feelings, but it was definitely a case of the author telling rather than showing. You do get the answers to the questions by the end, but it's all in the last ten or so pages; other than that, there really isn't much more than every day life going on with this book. So as I said at the beginning of this review, this book wasn't bad and I would definitely consider reading more by this author.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fear Stalks the Bayou by Juanita Coulson is not a fast-paced read but it was atmospheric which made it easy to read. As I mentioned, the setting was great and the old mansion added to the creepiness of the narrative. I also liked the description of the dark, gloomy weather which was perfect for the mystery. This all added to the eerie atmosphere of book hence making it an interesting read.

I was also able to figure out the villain quite early in the book which took away some suspense although it was interesting to figure out the why. I feel like the whole astrological angle was unnecessary. It confused me because I didn’t understand what it was all about. I mean, I read the book and was pretty satisfied with the conclusion only to turn to the next page and see an epilogue about stars and astrology. Perhaps my disinterest in the topic is what bugged me about the whole angle but otherwise; this was a pretty solid mystery novel. Again, I think the fact that I didn’t know that this was a gothic mystery beforehand also affected my perception of this astrology angle. I just didn’t get how astrology fit into the story.

I recommend this book to fans of mystery novels. The book is also described as a gothic, romantic mystery so if you like this genre then this one will suit you. If you are also into astrology then you may enjoy this book.

You can read the rest of my review here:https://ahavenforbooklovers.wordpress...

[Dee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eileen WintonFriend was in New Orleans for the funeral of her best friend Roxanne Petry husband Jim. Roxane's family is steeped in the Creole tradition and Eileen feels out of her realm. Roxanne becomes hysterical when she over hears someone say her beloved husband killed himself. She has asked Eileen to stay with her and give her moral support. Eileen agrees because she can see her friend is falling apart. During her stay Roxanne's Grandmother, Claire try to get Eileen to leave because they fear her company isn't good for Roxanne. Quite the opposite is true! Eileen helps Roxanne become the mistress of her home. On a night when Roxanne and Eileen are talking Roxanne reviles to Eileen she believes Jim was murdered.
Bart and Dave are Jim's brothers who are always at odds. Bart has warmed to Eileen but Dave is warning her to leave. Why? Strange things start to happen to Eileen. She feels she is being followed and strange accidents start to happen as she tries to see if Jim was murdered and by who. What will she uncover and at what cost?

Thank you NetGalley and Endeavour Press for allowing me to read "Fear Stalks The Bayou". I thought the book was a bit wordy at times and the characters were not believable. I didn't really enjoy this like I thought I would from the description.

[D. Messing · Rating 4 out of 5]

***** I received this ARC for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review *****

This book is beautifully written, but logged down with way too many unnecessary details. It was extremely difficult to get into, nothing actually happened in the story until over 60% through. I debated many times on whether or not to finish the story, but I'm glad I pushed through and finished the story! Once the story finally got going it raced through with a satisfying pace, solid plot, and great writing. The only downside is out of every sentence at least 3-4 words had no spacing, which made it somewhat difficult to decipher. Though I did enjoy the base story and will definitely seek out the works by this author!

[Venture Press · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is published by Venture Press.