Old Slosh & The Wind Chill Factor: Ryan Bevan
Reviewed By Steve Stred
One thing you can always count on with Dean and the Demain releases is a wide and varied reading experience.
With this release, my first go-around with Ryan Bevan, we get two great folk-lore stories from very different parts of the world.
What I liked: The duology opens with ‘Old Slosh.’ The story follows a couple as they decide to head from London up to visit the woman’s mom in her very small village. I’m going to stay absolutely spoiler-free, so things happen, stuff occurs and we find out just what the truth behind ‘Old Slosh’ is.
Bevan kept this one uneasy for the reader throughout and the ‘pull’ of wanting to know why this small town had those bad vibes will keep the reader engaged.
The second story is ‘The Wind Chill Factor.’ This one occurs on a frozen lake in Quebec, as a man prepares to murder his friend while ice fishing. Before that can happen his friend shares a story passed down over the years of something that comes and causes carnage within the wind. From here a series of events happen and we get to learn a lot of the horrible truths within this scenario.
I really liked the folk-lore here. Bevan tells this story with ease and it was this writing style that really had this story galloping along.
What I didn’t like: For ‘Old Slosh‘ the reader will most likely connect the dots early on, but in order to continue you’ll need to suspend that and just let things play out.
As for ‘The Wind Chill Factor‘ it might have been something I missed, but I still wasn’t sure why the man shared the folk-lore story other than to give the reader some background before the wind arrived. Maybe it was a forced necessity but for me, it diminished the arrival of the wind and the thing within more than it should’ve.
Why you should buy this: These are two really fun stories and if you’re looking to explore two very different lore-based stories from two parts of the world, this one will tick that box. Bevan had a really easy way of telling the tales which was a nice discovery and let the pages fly by.
Old Slosh & The Wind Chill Factor
“Many spirits course through our stolid world, as sure as water flows under the heavy ice. And some of them got real sharp teeth.”
In the first tale (Old Slosh) of this twosome of terror, a stranger ventures out of London to the north and comes face to face with a terrifying creature in an isolated village hidden in the wild moors.
Next (The Wind Chill Factor), a dastardly spirit carried on the wind torments a lone fisherman on the cold lake after he commits a horrific crime of revenge.
Much in the vein of the classic horror tales found in ‘Tales From The Crypt’ and ‘Creepshow’, this latest Short Sharp Shocks! release introduces the reader to a new generation of monsters.
What secrets lie hidden behind the cold face of winter? And is love enough to keep the monsters at bay?
(with a cover by Adrian Baldwin)
You can preorder Old Slosh & The Wind Chill Factor from Amazon UK & Amazon US
Steve Stred
Steve Stred is the author of a number of novels, novellas and collections. He has appeared in anthologies with some of Horror’s heaviest hitters.
He lives in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada with his wife, son and their dog OJ.
You can follow Steve on Twitter @stevestred
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You can visit Steve’s Official website here
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