Two from Crossroad Press

THE ORIGINAL VAN GOGH’S EAR ANTHOLOGY 8, Tina Hall, Crossroadpress.com, $4.99 download, 684 pages, reviewed by Barry Hunter.

This is a collection of the best to appear on TheOriginalVanGogh’sEar.com over the past year or so. It is collected in an annual volume for those who want to have the material close at hand and not have to keep the pages bookmarked on your computer.

The volume is filled with poetry, stories, art and interviews. Herein you will find some names that you are familiar with and others that, hopefully, will make an impression on you and make you want to remember them.

The art is reproduced and represents an eclectic group of interesting works. The stories are different from what you normal expect. The interviews are not what you usually expect and feature writers, singers, artists and other interpreters of the arts. There are some familiar names here and a couple who are no longer with us.

Van Gogh’s Ear is a place for the experimental, avant garde, interesting and unusual. There is literally something here for everyone and plenty of material to give you new ideas, make you think, and create discussions.

Thanks to Tina Hall and Crossroad Press for an interesting volume that goes above and beyond the ordinary fare we usually come across. Also available from Tina and Crossroad Press is THE DAMNED BOOK OF INTERVIEWS ($3.99). Check out their web site for other interesting titles. Both are also available at The Kindle Store on Amazon.com.


ETCHED DEEP & OTHER DARK IMPRESSIONS, David Niall Wilson, Macabre Ink, Crossroadpress.com, $2.99 download, reviewed by Barry Hunter.

David Niall Wilson has always impressed me with his way of letting the horror in his stories waiting in the background until it jumps out and grabs you by the throat. His non-horror stories also will catch you with the unexpected.

This volume contains short stories and poetry that range over his career. Topics include a Ouija board with a homemade planchette, a girl who dreams of flying, a tale of survival that could have been a great episode of The Walking Dead, the end of the world, clowns, and one that could be read in The National Enquirer or Star.

The poetry ranges from “Loch Ness”, “The Fishmonger”, “Longhaired Puppies” and “The Acropolis”.

My favorite is “Redemption” in which Reverend Bookheim of The Church of New Light finds out that true repentance comes at a price that he was not ready to pay.

Pick up this one for some truly original stories and a couple of them that will make your stomach churn even as you savor the finished product.