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Blood and Beauty and Other Weird Tales by Jeff Chapman

mhmrose's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

 An amazing collection of short stories, Jeff Chapman's Blood and Beauty and Other Weird Tales twists stories into beautifully dark tales that any horror or fantasy fan will enjoy.

Love is twisted in "Blood and Beauty" and "The Facts in the Case of M. Hussman". "Good King David" twists the Biblical tales with fantasy into a cautionary tale of actions and their consequences that feels neither pedantic or shallow. "Morphine and Chocolate" translates the medieval into the weird amazingly and immerses you in each landscape explored. "Sutter's Well" fills you with dread at what could be lurking at the bottom of that well.

My favourite short story had to be "Shafts of Hell" because, although it made me so glad my family left the mining business behind, it connected me to things my family would have feared and made me feel closer to my family history (even if it is a dark connection).

Overall, Blood and Beauty and Other Weird Tales was a brilliant collection by Jeff Chapman that perfectly blended the weird with horror and made me want to read more of his work. 
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