Review: Fear In Words Volume Two: The Poems by Jason Darrick

Since I'm feeling pretty much back to normal it's time to hit another review that's been on the back burner for awhile.  Yes, I'm finally getting to Fear In Words Volume Two: The Poems by my friend from the north Jason Darrick.  I'm sure that this review couldn't come at a better time, since last night his countryman, Paul Michael Levesque, was dissed by pretty much the entire WWE staff and roster, while John Cena and C.M. Punk were in the back shaking hands, or whatever so they would not been seen in public giving Triple H the big diss and look like a couple of haters.  But anyway, I'm not going to turn this into a Master Vyle Championship Wrestling Blog post, just a little something I had to get out of the way.  (And believe me it could use something because I said a month ago I would post there once a week, and well it's kind of been a month since I posted there.)

Anyway...

Poetry is one of those things that is a hard sell.  In fact it is a point Jason and I agreed on yesterday afternoon as we tweeted back and forth.  He had made it through the Ten Poems part of A Letter To Doctor Freudstein - Demoni - And Ten Poems and said he liked some and didn't like others.  I told him I pretty much expected that, my feeling on anthologies and collections extending to my own once they're in someone else's hands.  He said that he didn't expect everyone to embrace every one of his either.  Not only is poetry a hard sell, but it's often a hard write.  At least it usually is for me.  For others the words just flow on out in no time, and boom they've got a collection.

Overall I have to say that I like Fear In Words Volume Two: The Poems better than I do most poetry collections.  If nothing else every single one is well written, and you can tell that Jason put a lot of though into each one.  The collection covers quite a range of things: horror, insanity, murder, even a little political commentary.  (I think.)  It's short and sweet, will probably take most people an hour or two to read depending on your speed and comprehension ability.

Out of the ten poems in the collection I would have to say that 'Guillotine' and 'Catch Me If You Can' are a couple of my favorites.  'Jump' is another good one, and the final poem in the collection, 'The Game', (Nothing to do with the afore mentioned Mr. Levesque) helps it end with a bang.  Overall I can't help but give Fear In Words Volume Two: The Poems anything less than a solid Five Stars.

Here's where to get Fear In Words Volume Two: The Poems.  It should be coming to more outlets soon, and I will keep you posted as soon as I know additional sites.  Plus Jason is putting this out there for free, so there's no reason to put it on your wish list, just go an get it!

Barnes & Noble:   http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fear-in-words-volume-two-jason-darrick/1105650028
Smashwords:    http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/86003

Also be sure to lurk Jason Darrick up on FaceBook and follow him on Twitter @Fear_In_Words.  And by the way he also writes about his own thoughts on writing and reviews on his awesome blog, Fear In Words http://jasondarrickfiw.blogspot.com . 

Master Vyle

Review: Fear In Words Volume One - The Stories by Jason Darrick

Jason Darrick Ready To Put Himself On The Map With The Release Of His First Collection Fear In Words Volume One - The Stories

Ah, or should I say, "Oh".  Oh, Canada, that neighbor to the north that has given us such fine things as....  Mmmmm...Canadian Bacon...  Ahhhhhh.....Maple Syrup?  Ummmmm....Bret Hart?  Naw, definitely not Bret Hart.  Maybe some better people like his brother, the late Owen Hart, Christian Cage, Lance Storm, Chris "Jericho" Irvine, and a national treasure, Adam "Edge" Copeland.  Yeah, I guess this is sounding like a post from my long silent House Of Master Vyle Championship Wrestling blog, however it does illustrate that the most I know about Canada I learned from watching professional wrestling.

In my life I've only had a chance to get to know only two people from Canada.  Dave, I guy I used to work with about a decade ago that liked to drive his RV to work for the hell of it and to take up two parking spaces, and Jason Darrick, a budding independent author I began chatting with on twitter (ironically what we talk about a lot is professional wrestling).  Although I really like Dave this post is about Jason Darrick.

Recently Jason gathered the stories that he's written over the space of about a year, what he considers his first year of serious writing, and put them together in his first anthology, Fear In Words Volume One - The Stories.  Now having chatted to him for a while and finding we have a lot in common as far a subject matter goes, and having read many of his blog posts and bits of a little guilty pleasure he calls, Sadistic Sunday, I couldn't wait to get his collection and see what else Jason's mind had produced.

Yes, I know it was only 24 hours ago that I said that One Buck Horror Volume One was the first anthology I had ever read where ever single story was up to par and worthy of similar ratings, but after that post I finished Jason's anthology, and now can tell you there are two.  Like the One Buck Horror collection the stories are fairly short and easy to read, however the level of horror is way up and beyond.  Fear In Words is more adult oriented and definitely in not kid friendly or for the faint of heart.  Which of course means I loved it.

Here's a look at the stories:

Drip
A very short story, almost poem length.  He hears some dripping and what can it be?  Five stars for being able to have so much impact with so few words.

The Figure
A man finds himself stalked by what appears to be a living shadow.  It menaces him, forcing him to fight back with some terrible consequences.  What is the shadow of?  A disturbing question not easily answered.  A four star story that lets you know it came from someone just starting to embrace their craft.

The Forest
Trapped in the middle of nowhere and hunted by a group of hostiles, a man learns the terrible fate of his wife and many other members of his party.  A brief study of one man's emotional torment. It's kind of like Lost, with cannibalism!  Five stars!

Hanna
A husband has made his wife a part of his BDSM fantasies for years.  Now she wants her turn to be in control, and not just of his body.  A cautionary tale of what happens when people delve into a lifestyle they really know nothing about and end up pissing off the one they love.  Four and a half stars.

Mr. Vore
An overweight man visits the office Mr. Vore in the hopes of joining a study for his newest weight loss vitamin.  What he discovers, however, is that Mr. Vore has a different kind of definition for trimming the fat.  Vore was such an excellent and menacing character I found myself assigning him Christopher Lee's voice as I read his dialogue, even though he was supposed to have a slightly German accent.  A solid five star story that has me waiting for more of what Jason Darrick has to offer.

Fear In Words Volume One - The Stories by Jason Darrick is now available for Kindle and PC from Amazon, and for the right price too, just $0.99!

Amazon US:  http://www.amazon.com/Stories-Fear-Words-ebook/dp/B0057OC8KY
Amazon UK:  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stories-Fear-Words-ebook/dp/B0057OC8KY
Amazon Germany:  http://www.amazon.de/Stories-Fear-Words-ebook/dp/B0057OC8KY

Be sure to check out Jason Darrick, and see what's coming from one of the new independent voices of Horror, by visiting his blog http://jasondarrickfiw.blogspot.com/ or follow him on twitter @Fear_In_Words .  And of course be sure to pick up your copy of  Fear In Words Volume One - The Stories today!



Master Vyle