The Doll: Darkness Bites book 2

by Justin MacCormack, Oliver Davenport (Editor)

From the winner of the Blackfeather Award for Best New Horror 2014! "A powerful myriad of horror styles... deeply chilling!" "Terrifying and personal!" Justin MacCormack's "Tales of Terror" - Book Two "You want to hear about the play? 'The King in Yellow', it was called. Sure, I knew that it was bad news, I'd heard the rumours that it was cursed.The old man had approached me and offered me more money than I'd ever seen in my life to run the play for him. How could I refuse? I'd directed many plays before this one, so it should have been simple. Straightforward. A piece of cake. That was when the disasters started. That was when the chaos awoke. How was I to know the night would in blood, and fire, and madness, and that damnable yellow sign which haunts me to this day?" In his breakthrough short story "Return to 'Return to Oz'", Justin MacCormack created a shocking and disturbing tale of raw psychological horror, which has been hailed as 'shocking and personal'! This, the second anthology of his short stories, collects further tales of Genre-Bending Dark Fantasy and Horror, including the popular "Cthulhu Doesn't Dance" and many more! Included here is the shocking paranormal crime thriller "Where the Dead Lay" - Detective Mendez, struggling with the ghost of her own fight with cancer, is determined to track down a brutal serial killer of children before he can butcher another innocent kid. But when she finds her steps are being followed from beyond the grave, only the darkness of her own inner terror awaits... Also included is the disturbing nightmare tale "The Road to Kyoto" which was too terrifying for conventional magazine publication - a young monk in feudal era Japan undertakes a pilgrimage, but his aunt always warned him of monsters along the trail. When he stops for the night at an inn, he encounters a surreal descent into love, paranoia, and gut-wrenching fear that will leave him wishing that he had listened to his aunt's words of warning... And more tales of dark fantasy and horror! Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/pages/Justins-Tales-of-H...

284 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 26, 2014

About the author

Born in Glasgow, Justin MacCormack lives on the South coast of England in the city of Portsmouth. His hobbies include alternative cinema, comic books, tabletop roleplaying games and photography.

I have crafted three anthologies of short dark fantasy and horror stories. They are "Return to 'Return to Oz'", "Cthulhu Doesn't Dance", and "Blood Orgies of the Whores of Dracula." If you like my short stories, you can also pick up the collected works, "Don't Buy This Book."

If you are interested in young adult LGBT fiction, my book "Diary of a gay teenage zombie" is fresh and new off the presses. Lastly, why not stick around for my upcoming dark fantasy series, "Twilight of the faerie", coming soon!

Reviews

[Wesley Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Justin, whose previous horror collection 'Return To Oz' was a best seller, is back with more bizarre, creepy, horrifying and outstanding, original tales of horror. This collection certainly packs a punch. However twisted and morbid these stories may be, you'll struggle to put it down.

You cannot get more diverse than this collection! Each sub-genre in horror is explored. As well as delving into other genres as well, mixing and collaborating like a true professional, enticing and wowing readers into a fictional bliss.

Yellow sign – This messes with your head and is scary by the element of realism. A working man commuting on a bus is stalked by a hideously deformed man asking about a yellow sign. This catapults into strangeness as the man has to find out just what the deformed person meant. This one leaves you with a very peculiar feeling that you won't be able to shake off for a few days.

Then out of nowhere comes a spaceship. Quite literally, a horror set in a spaceship. This was short and sickly sweet. The ending makes this story, with the enormous case of irony.

But it is a crime tale that to me was excellent. This reminded me of an episode of a supernatural crime show of some kind. A string of mysterious deaths causes an investigator to become obsessed with the case to save future innocents. The climax was mind-blowing! It was totally mystifying. The majority of twists I can usually see coming, even with the most talented and crafty writers, due to the volume of books I read. But this one I did not see coming at all! I love crime/horror blends, but this just added another dimension to the story, giving it admirable depth.

There are plenty of genuinely entertaining stories, and while some do cater for horror/thriller readers, others are just plain amazing tales that can be enjoyed by any passionate reader fond of exceptional fiction.

I love how Justin continues to break new ground and pushes the boundaries in multiple ways. Most authors have a stamp, a specific style, but Justin doesn't like to limit himself. He continually widens his writing horizons, experimenting and playing with ideas and executions. And I have to say, it always works out well. He doesn't play it safe, and that is why he is such a terrific author. Justin doesn't write to fit a niche or popular trending theme or issue, he writes what he is passionate about and what he thinks will make a good story. And this is a sign of a truly great writer. A great deal of respect has to be given to authors such as Justin, ones that don't conform, that write pages that are dripping with passion.

Potentially my favourite, is 'The Bleakwood Curse'. A forbidden wing of a extravagant house in Oxford. Will curiosity kill the latest tenant? Or will chit chat from the locals turn casual interest into total obsession? This one was highly entertaining and greatly intriguing. It was quite remarkable how the author captured an old English vibe. But it is the desire created that I was impressed with. I immediately had to know what was in the forbidden part of the manor, and more about the supposed curse upon the Bleakwoods. The truth is eerie and frightening, yet emotionally haunting. But the spooky moments are by far some of the best in horror fiction. My shoulders and back were rife with goosebumps.

Justin also brings in a modern element with a short horror story based on a Facebook conversation. The structure of this was even in an online chat format, which was different, but undeniably enjoyable. This one was very creepy, kept you wondering and left you wondering.

All in all an excellent collection. Diverse, well written, explosive and unforgettable. There was also clear inspiration from Lovecraft, which you'll be able to tell in certain stories. I highly recommend you grab a copy.

[Johann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Collection

This is another great collection of stories that are out there. I had my favorites and i know you will find some too.
Worth picking up!!

[Amelia James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting

Most of the tales seemed too short.
Liked the vampire one.
Some didn't comprehend.
All in all readable.
Liked it.

[Gevera Piedmont · Rating 2 out of 5]

Full of mistakes. Spell check does not catch all errors.