The Witches of Wildwood by Mark W. Curran – Book Review
The Witches of Wildwood by Mark W. Curran – Book Review
The Witches of Wildwood
Cape May Horror Stories and Other Scary Tales from the Jersey Shore
Author – Mark W. Curran
Publisher – NMD Books
Pages – 318
Released – 4th March 2017
ISBN-13 – 978-1936828494
Format – paperback, hardcover
Reviewer – Nia
Rating – 3 Stars
I received a free copy of this book
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Werewolves… vampires… swamp beasts… zombies… even a Jersey Devil… all of these chilling creatures and more await you in this haunting collection of 11 contemporary horror fiction stories by Mark Wesley Curran. Uniquely set ‘down the shore’ in South Jersey’s Cape May County, these scary tales are sure to terrify and entertain both adult readers as well as young adults.
The spooky offerings include:
– An abrasive radio talk show host is stalked by an angry werewolf in ‘Werewolves of Dennis’
– A Fun Pier boardwalk worker falls under the spell of a strange attic dwelling girl in ‘The Girl In The Attic’
– An ancient sailing ship filled with bloodthirsty zombies crashes into the Jersey Shore in ‘Night of the Wildwood Dead’
The cornerstone of the collection is ‘The Witches of Wildwood,’ the harrowing and suspenseful tale of a witch-hunting preacher hell-bent on killing four teenage sisters determined to destroy the world from their Wildwood boarding house.
This collection contains:
The Girl In The Attic – Dante’s Inferno At Castle Dracula – Neptune’s Revenge – Night of the Wildwood Dead – Captain Harvey’s Wildwood Seafood Palace – Showdown In Anglesea – The Fortune Teller Machine – Jersey Devil – Werewolves of Dennis – Swamp Beast of Grassy Sound – The Witches of Wildwood [novella].
This book is a collection of short stories, culminating in the Witches of Wildwood novella at the end.
They are all set on the boardwalk town of Wildwood in Cape May, with some shared characters making cameos in different stories which was fun. There are all kind of supernatural monsters active in the area, spanning a wide time frame so the author can play with character voices and surroundings.
Most of the short stories are told in the first person, the main character is telling you about their experiences in the town and the supernatural things they’ve encountered. Those are the stories I enjoyed the most, particularly The Fortune Teller Machine, the active voice drags you into events so you can experience everything as they did. Funnily enough it was the novella that I struggled with, as the author mentioned a couple of times that none of the four teenage girls were wearing bras… it wasn’t relevant to the plot beyond their spirits being as unfettered as their bosoms, so it struck me as a bit icky.
I enjoyed some of the stories more than others in this collection, as is normally the case, but it was mainly that the stories were a little tame for my tastes. Some are quite creepy but none of them are particularly gory or violent, which is what I prefer in my horror stories.
The stories were surprisingly long and literary for short stories in the horror genre, which tend to be snappy and action packed (I’ve read a few in my time!) so if you’re a fan of atmospheric horror which covers a range of different beasties, I think you’ll enjoy these.
Reviewed by Nia
Purchase online from:
Amazon.co.uk – Amazon.com
About the Author
Mark Wesley Curran is a writer of contemporary fiction, specializing in the horror and suspense genre.
Born and raised in Suburban Philadelphia, he spent many summers living and working in Wildwood, New Jersey during its heyday. He now resides in Los Angeles where he enjoys creative pursuits as a writer, filmmaker and musician.
I was not surprised by the ending but I was interested in how it came about; that kept me reading.