Book Tour: Ekleipsis: The Abyss by Tamel Wino (Review)

Ekleipsis: The Abyss
By: Tamel Wino

Expected Publication Date: October 29th, 2021
Genre: Horror/Anthology

SYNOPSIS

Ékleipsis: The Abyss is the second short story collection by the award-winning author.

Tales of depravation and insanity are woven together with unrelenting style and depth, scrutinizing human nature’s degeneration when compromised by tragic, vicious circumstances.

These complex, wretched individuals and the irremediable conditions they are desperate to claw out of—or into—invoke the unfathomable question: What devastation are we truly capable of when left with no way out but down . . . into the obscurity of the abyss?

” It is at times appalling, strange and outright frightening, but Wino’s way with character development is outstanding. The display of artistic creativity and character creation really sets “Èkleipsis: The Abyss” apart in the field of short story collections.”
― Reader Views

“The stories are well-packaged and generally have the feel of watching a syndicated crime drama. Fans of this form of entertainment will likely enjoy these well-crafted stories about everyday people whose lives are shattered by lunatics.”
― The US Review of Books

“Wino’s writing is vivid, unsettling and filled with brilliant hints that contribute to the exhilaration of its pacing. Ékleipsis: The Abyss is a clever and creative horror offering worth checking out.”
―Independent Book Review

” Tamel really captured that essence of society and the dark side of people. Readers will appreciate the dark undertones of this horror anthology. Ekleipsis: the Abyss will surprise you more that you can imagine.”
―Literary Titan

Add to Goodreads

Available on Amazon

REVIEW

Ekleipsis: The Abyss navigates through six different stories of insanity and vulnerability as it goes through the horrors of human nature. The six stories all differ in the content and the skeletons that are hiding in each of their closets making them all relatively intriguing reads. As with most anthologies, there are always stories that stand out more than others. Looking quickly over them, they each do have their own sense of unsettling and sinister moments.

You can group the stories into two different styles. The first three stories having more resolved endings, while the second half consisting of the last three stories all have more a open-ended approach. Right off the bat, it starts off with “Marlene” which feels like a much more familiar tale of paranoia and delusion. Its one of the more normal unfolding of its premise but does show its craft and the writing that makes its a rather fun read and sets up a great tone for the rest of the stories to come. “No Place Like Home” takes a turn to dive into a warped family unit full of replacement, manipulation and suspense. Its one that does grab rather well but the ending does feel a little abrupt. However, the premise is rather solid. “En Prise” is where the strength of dialogue and tension truly builds the best as it lingers around two characters that are developed really well through their conversation. The conversation is an odd and dangerous one and yet, so intriguing as its almost like two people seeing whose bluff works the best and who is actually telling the truth and whether this tactic will work in the end. Its both a clever approach and very well-written.

The second half of the anthology kicks off with “All Day and A Night” which is a rather intense story as prison guards talk about their extreme schooling program to tame the new inmates to two people on a hunting trip when things during the trip take a turn for the worse when things get out of their control. In terms of story development, this one does take a more predictable path however, the whole descriptive element of very vivid right down to the ending. “Blue Devils” is a different type of story and probably in the whole group feels like it falls a little short. Its premise is rather similar, the description is done well and yet the characters also feel a little empty. It is still a dangerous situation and there is some intensity to it but it all feels fairly familiar that it loses its exciting element a little. The whole anthology ends with “The Descent” which dives the deep into human nature/psyche as the main character experiences this hero complex or adrenaline rush that changes his perspective of life and finally spirals into something much more insane. In some ways, this one does pack a lot of surprise especially in how it ends.

Ekleipsis: The Abyss is really quite an outstanding horror anthology. Human nature is a great premise for horror as a lot of other horror writers have proven before as its hard to grasp the extremities that the darkness and instability and insanity can take a person. There’s a good variety demonstrated in each of these stories which also dive into different settings and premises. It keeps the read very refreshing as it moves from one story to the next. Each has decently executed twists and while one or two felt like it had some little issues, the overall feeling was still a rather entertaining and intriguing read.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tamel Wino is a Canadian fiction writer from the resplendent British Columbia whose works focus largely on degeneration of sanity and morality. He studied Health Sciences and Psychology, which only furthered his interest in human nature.

With inspirations including Alice Munro, Joe Hill, Stephen King, Margaret Atwood and Edgar Allan Poe; Tamel’s expositions are strongly grounded in traditions of dark fiction. Yet, with his bold narrative voice and incisive plot construction, Wino is paving a new movement within the space.

When he’s not reading or scribbling away on his laptop, Tamel loves listening to jazz, rewatching good ol’ classic shows and traveling.

Ekleipsis | Facebook | Instagram

GIVEAWAY

Giveaway: Signed copies of Ékleipsis and Ékleipsis: The Abyss
a Rafflecopter giveaway

BOOK TOUR SCHEDULE

October 25th

Reads & Reels (Spotlight)
Liliyana Shadowlyn (Spotlight)
The Faerie Review (Review)
Latisha’s Low-Key Life (Spotlight)

October 26th

Rambling Mads (Review)
Phoebe’s Randoms (Spotlight)
Stine Writing (Spotlight)

October 27th

@tiny.bibliophile (Review)
@bookaholic__reviews (Review)
B is for Book Review (Spotlight)
Sophril Reads (Spotlight)
Misty’s Book Space (Spotlight)

October 28th

Tranquil Dreams (Review)
PoptheButterfly (Spotlight)
Sadie’s Spotlight (Spotlight)
I Smell Sheep (Spotlight)
Gryffindor Bookish Nerd (Review)

October 29th

@rosyreadz (Review)
Nesie’s Place (Spotlight)
@authormalmccartney (Review)
Haddie’s Haven (Spotlight)

Book Tour Organized by:

R&R Book Tours

It Sleeps at Dawn by Anthony Renfro

***Thank you to Anthony for sending me his short story! It is much appreciated!***

Anthony Renfro is one of our own talents here in the blogosphere. You can check out his blog over at Poetry, Books, Movies and Music . He writes up haiku posts every day and he has released a very good selection of short stories with unique twists, predominantly in the horror genre.

With Halloween right around the corner, his new short story, It Sleeps at Dawn, is here right on time.

It Sleeps at Dawn (Short Story)
by Anthony Renfro

This short story is about a Vampire who stalks the Appalachian Mountains. A traditional Vampire who uses fangs instead of guns. He hunts. He kills. He sleeps at Dawn. – Goodreads 

Excerpt

She gripped her nerves tight, pushed back the fear, and stepped up to the door that she hoped led out of the long hallway and into freedom. The door was made of solid oak, black from top to bottom and side to side, with a gold door knob in the shape of a demon with two emerald green eyes. Bright red pentagrams were embedded into its wood. These pentagrams were so red they seemed to be filled with blood, ready to bleed at any moment, almost pulsing from their plumpness. She reached down for the handle, deep breaths filled with dread ran through her lungs, as her heart drummed a loud terror beat inside her chest. She turned the handle and opened the door, which was so heavy that it took two hands and a healthy dose of sweat to move.

Her heart sank once the door was wide open because there he stood, the man who had brought her here the night before. Her cloudy memory had finally opened up, spilling forth the information. It was the bar where they had met, the bar where he had laid on his charms, the bar where he had asked her to go home with him, the bar was the last memory she had before waking up in this mysterious place. And she was sure of another thing, he wasn’t the same man who had picked her up. That dashing handsome young man with the long black hair and dusty blue eyes, who stood at least six foot five, and was easily a foot taller than her was now nowhere to be seen. Instead of the young man dressed in modern clothes, here stood an ancient older man in dated black three piece suit with a cape tied around his neck. The cape fell to somewhere near the middle of his back. It was black to match the suit, but the interior of it was as red as the pentagrams on the door. His cologne wafted through the air as he stood there, an ancient smell of High Karate.

He smiled at her, an evil dark eat you alive from head to toe smile, which revealed large white fangs that hadn’t been there when he picked her up.

Review

Something about going back to the basic vampire formula is very dazzling. Everyone right now wants to add a new tweak to the vampire stories to make it unique but no one realizes that vampires in their traditional forms have a certain appeal. They create a danger through their clever, one-minded goals. They are sly and yet still have a disadvantage of living only in the evening. Plus, it adds a bit of mystery and magic to what they are. This is where Anthony’s story comes in as a rather fun one to read. On one hand, we get a view of the vampire and how he hunts for his victims. On the other hand, there is a portion of how his victims get lured into the trap. Through this short story, we already get a complete image of what a vampire’s abilities and his ruthlessness. While I can’t say that this is terrifying to read, it did feel slightly tense in the second half as the vampire’s plans seem to unfold and we, as the audience, looks in and can see the victims walking into a plan and are way above what they expected to find in the first place. Plus, Anthony uses very vivid imagery and language for a top notch writing that made it even more engaging to read. Definitely one of his finer short stories!

Where to get it

US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LXYPP02
UK:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01LXYPP02
AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B01LXYPP02
CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01LXYPP02