Paul Kane Double Bill
Ghosts
Author: Paul Kane
Publisher: Spectral Press
Release Date: 31st October 2013
Reviewer: Andy Angel
This collection from Spectral Press brings together 17 short stories on the subject of ghosts and hauntings from one of my favourite modern horror writers, Paul Kane.
Also included here is the film script for Wind Chime as well as the story itself (which I’ll come to later.)
With the title and subject matter you may be expecting Terror and Frights all the way but the second piece ‘Kindred Spirits’ is actually quite a feel good tale which left me with a smile. The majority of the tales here though will leave you placed well and truly on the edge of the seat.
In amongst these 17 stories there are 2 Christmas tales (including a re-working of Dicken’s A Christmas Carol), some proper haunting stories (Grandpa’s Chair, The Procession) and the truly scary (The Suicide Room), but the stand out offering for me was Wind Chimes.
Sometimes, long after you finish a story, you find yourself recalling the events and Wind Chimes is a case in point. This is a truly disturbing tale that never lets go, but the highlight for me.
This is a corker of a collection, just what the long, cold Winter nights need – just don’t be hoping for a good nights sleep after 😉
The Rainbow Man
Author: Paul Kane
Publisher: Rocket Ride Books
Release Date: 15 Nov 2013
Reviewer: Theresa Derwin
This YA novel by Paul Kane features an introduction by Morganville Vampires author Rachel Caine and according to the blurb, “you will never look at a rainbow in the same way again.” After hearing what reviewer Andy had to say about Ghosts, Kane’s Spectral Press collection released for WFC 13 (see above) I was more than a little excited to read this book, especially as Caine likens it to Hitchcock in tone, more of a creeping build up than a Michael Bay bang.
Daniel Routh would never forget the day they found the body. This book is refreshing in that its teenage characters aren’t all angsty with more excess baggage that Paris Hilton going through airport control. Daniel’s little brother Mikey is always tagging along with Daniel and his best friends, which isn’t surprising given that they live on an island with little to do. So the teenagers with Mikey in toe set off on an adventure following the storm of the previous night. On the beach the next day as the kids explore, the enthusiastic collie Vincent appears to be chasing the left over rainbow that leads to the body of a man, barely alive. But there is something about the man, whose only name he can remember is John, that makes Daniel distinctly uncomfortable. Strange things are happening in the village, which Daniel believes could be linked to the mysterious newcomer John Dee, the Rainbow Man.
As usual with Kane’s writing there is a great deal of atmosphere from the outset. The ghost of the boys losing their father hovers around the text. There is an almost Stephen King vibe to the novel, with the small town environment, intimate locals and a sense of the supernatural. Kane keeps the tension building as Daniel, then his friends investigate exactly who, or what The Rainbow Man is. This is a compelling story of Daniel’s growth into adulthood and the nature of humanity and the grip do something inherently evil on a small community. And when the mythology is finally revealed, well, what a cracker. Brilliant YA Fantasy in action.
