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Strange Ways
Meet Delphine, Simone and Zarina. Together they are Sisters of the Endless Night. For Centuries the coven has traveled the width and breadth of the country, unable to call any one place home for very long. The black magic that has sustained their youth and beauty over the centuries requires frequent ritual human sacrifices. Thus they must move often to avoid detection by those who would oppose them. Now the coven has come to idyllic Wagner Avenue, the very heart of American suburbia. It is here where the alluring witches will face their gravest challenges yet. Dark forces are in motion, the cauldron is boiling, the pentagram is bleeding, and trouble is brewing. The witching hour is here.
248 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
20 people are currently reading
152 people want to read
About the author
Bryan Smith
103 books759 followersBryan Smith is the Splatterpunk Award-winning author of more than forty horror and crime books, including 68 Kill, the cult classic Depraved and its sequels, as well as The Killing Kind, Slowly We Rot, The Freakshow, and many more. Bestselling horror author Brian Keene called Slowly We Rot, "The best zombie novel I've ever read."
68 Kill was adapted into a motion picture directed by Trent Haaga and starring Matthew Gray Gubler of the long-running CBS series Criminal Minds. 68 Kill won the Midnighters Award at the SXSW film festival in 2017 and was released to wide acclaim, including positive reviews in The New York Times and Bloody Disgusting.
Bryan also co-scripted an original Harley Quinn story for the House of Horrors anthology from DC Comics. He has worked with renowned horror publishers in both the mass market and small press spheres, including Leisure Books, Samhain Publishing, Grindhouse Press, Death’s Head Press, and more. His works are available wherever books are sold, with select titles also available in German and Italian.
68 Kill was adapted into a motion picture directed by Trent Haaga and starring Matthew Gray Gubler of the long-running CBS series Criminal Minds. 68 Kill won the Midnighters Award at the SXSW film festival in 2017 and was released to wide acclaim, including positive reviews in The New York Times and Bloody Disgusting.
Bryan also co-scripted an original Harley Quinn story for the House of Horrors anthology from DC Comics. He has worked with renowned horror publishers in both the mass market and small press spheres, including Leisure Books, Samhain Publishing, Grindhouse Press, Death’s Head Press, and more. His works are available wherever books are sold, with select titles also available in German and Italian.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
December 6, 2015
Bryan Smith fills a bit of a void for me, well written horror with a sprinkling of sex that doesn't require massive amounts of concentration, good fun basically.
Strange Ways is typically formulaic for Bryan Smith, the plot felt like I'd read it before after the first ten pages and stories about witches are pretty high on my must avoid at all costs list. These three witches are stunningly attractive, they've been alive for a long time using magic to remain youthful and they are powerful, big fucking yawn.
As soon as they arrived on the scene and there's three of them, I was immediately thinking of Go Kill Crazy and there's even a cross as Echo the tattooed stripper makes an appearance.
The White family are pretty rich, the kids spoilt to death, Alan at work with a prostitute while wife Marjorie is spying on the new arrivals for her brunch network. Three luxury cars arrive, one after the other and out step three woman, stunning, stunning and more stunning, the only difference being the colour of their long, lush, and glossy locks.
Marjorie is captivated and soon beholden to the witches, daughter Paige has seduced her teacher and is in the process of bribing him to kill her parents. Paige is the one shining light in this story, how can someone so young be so deliciously evil, well she manages it and with brass knobs on.
Meanwhile here we are at the witches abode casting a spell.
'The physical release she felt as the gathered energy exploded from her body was a sensation akin to a thousand orgasms experienced simultaneously.'
For fucks sake a thousand orgasms at the same time, will that be as much pleasure as pulling into a parking spot and realising the one immediately in front is free enabling a drive straight out experience, yeah must be.
I was more than a little disappointed with Strange Ways, the Bryan Smith magic was lacking, the whole affair was a bit predictable and there was the hint of a familiar pattern there.
Also posted at http://paulnelson.booklikes.com/post/...
Strange Ways is typically formulaic for Bryan Smith, the plot felt like I'd read it before after the first ten pages and stories about witches are pretty high on my must avoid at all costs list. These three witches are stunningly attractive, they've been alive for a long time using magic to remain youthful and they are powerful, big fucking yawn.
As soon as they arrived on the scene and there's three of them, I was immediately thinking of Go Kill Crazy and there's even a cross as Echo the tattooed stripper makes an appearance.
The White family are pretty rich, the kids spoilt to death, Alan at work with a prostitute while wife Marjorie is spying on the new arrivals for her brunch network. Three luxury cars arrive, one after the other and out step three woman, stunning, stunning and more stunning, the only difference being the colour of their long, lush, and glossy locks.
Marjorie is captivated and soon beholden to the witches, daughter Paige has seduced her teacher and is in the process of bribing him to kill her parents. Paige is the one shining light in this story, how can someone so young be so deliciously evil, well she manages it and with brass knobs on.
Meanwhile here we are at the witches abode casting a spell.
'The physical release she felt as the gathered energy exploded from her body was a sensation akin to a thousand orgasms experienced simultaneously.'
For fucks sake a thousand orgasms at the same time, will that be as much pleasure as pulling into a parking spot and realising the one immediately in front is free enabling a drive straight out experience, yeah must be.
I was more than a little disappointed with Strange Ways, the Bryan Smith magic was lacking, the whole affair was a bit predictable and there was the hint of a familiar pattern there.
Also posted at http://paulnelson.booklikes.com/post/...
October 23, 2025
This was my first Bryan Smith, and I’m officially obsessed! I tore through it in less than a day. I love when authors introduce characters separately and then slowly reveal how their stories intertwine... and when those connections shock me? Even better! 🤩
Delphine, Simone, and Zarina are the Sisters of the Endless Night. They’ve been around for centuries, drifting from place to place, feeding on black magic and blood to stay alive. These witches don’t just visit towns… they corrupt them. And the strange, gruesome things that start happening are no coincidence. For most of the book they linger in the background, pulling the strings, and when their power breaks loose, it’s bloody, shocking, and satisfying... and they barely have to lift a finger.
There’s no gentle buildup here... which I love so much! I just turn the page and boom! 💥 Something wild happens! 😆 It’s fast, brutal, and unpredictable.
This one does not hold back... You’ve got raging witches, deranged teens, cheating husbands, restless housewives, sleazy teachers, powerful creatures, dangerous pimps, and unhinged strippers... and yes, they're all connected somehow. MADNESS! 😂
Delphine, Simone, and Zarina are the Sisters of the Endless Night. They’ve been around for centuries, drifting from place to place, feeding on black magic and blood to stay alive. These witches don’t just visit towns… they corrupt them. And the strange, gruesome things that start happening are no coincidence. For most of the book they linger in the background, pulling the strings, and when their power breaks loose, it’s bloody, shocking, and satisfying... and they barely have to lift a finger.
There’s no gentle buildup here... which I love so much! I just turn the page and boom! 💥 Something wild happens! 😆 It’s fast, brutal, and unpredictable.
This one does not hold back... You’ve got raging witches, deranged teens, cheating husbands, restless housewives, sleazy teachers, powerful creatures, dangerous pimps, and unhinged strippers... and yes, they're all connected somehow. MADNESS! 😂
September 23, 2014
Very dark tale of A Coven of Witchs coming to small town U.S.A. Bryan Smith weaves a story of Witchcraft like none you've ever read before.
February 23, 2020
A deliriously entertaining horror romp from Bryan Smith. This has to be among my favorite books by this author. Smith has his own style, but is definitely influenced by Richard Laymon. Like Laymon, he has written some incredible books and some that are....well, not to my liking. But, when he's on, he's one of the best. Highest recommendation for hardcore horror fans. Bryan Smith is easily one of the best horror writers working today.
March 28, 2020
Never read a bad Bryan Smith book. I don't think he gets enough credit for the genre in which he writes. This one was great. Ending leaves a possibility which is awesome. Great gore factor, never over doing it like so many try to do with details and kill/torture scenes, he nails it perfectly. He makes you feel bad for a few characters. Reading his books can make you live it in your mind. I'm surprised he hasn't had any of them brought to the screen.
January 7, 2018
Gory and fun. Awesome.
June 1, 2015
I was hoping there would be more on the witchcraft angle. Smiths creation of the "Sisters" is rich and begs for more backstory. The violence is plentiful and the book is drenched in gore. The characters are three dimensional, but the end comes too quickly. Meaning that other scenes of death were drawn out and detailed and when the finale comes it is a blur of action.
July 18, 2015
A cleverly written highly entertaining read.Bryan Smith is an author I will be reading a lot more of. Strange Ways ticks along nicely without bogging down the readers in too much background detail. If you are a fan of Edward Lee you will love Bryan Smith and Strange Ways. An all round good read and nice light entertainment.
September 27, 2014
Good horror creates fear and dread, and this story of witches does just that. This is one of Mr. Smith's better novels. The characters are depicted well, the story is tight and interesting, and there is fear and dread.
December 26, 2014
I normally love Bryan Smith .. The people he gets you to not hate or even like he kills slowly the bad guys die quickly and the end annoyed me...So the 3 star is more at my annoyance not the quality of the writting
May 27, 2015
Things never go as expected in this grisly tale.
The end surprised me, and it certainly wasn't the way I hoped things would turn out.
Good story that got me in and kept me there, till the bitter end.
The good guys don't always win.
The end surprised me, and it certainly wasn't the way I hoped things would turn out.
Good story that got me in and kept me there, till the bitter end.
The good guys don't always win.
June 10, 2015
what a wild ride! this book was amazubg. I love Bryan Smith's stuff. If you have never read him, do yourself a favor and devour now.
June 11, 2015
Not for young readers
This book contains a lot of sexual situations, some of which are quite disturbing. That aside, it is a good read!
This book contains a lot of sexual situations, some of which are quite disturbing. That aside, it is a good read!
November 3, 2016
Fast read. Didn't have much of a plot, the witches sat around and did not really do much.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews