Title: Mooner
Author: Selah Janel
Publisher: No Boundaries Press (January
23, 2012)
Format: PDF Short Story
Source: Author
Genre: Historical Horror
Description: Like many young men at the end of the
1800s Bill has signed on to work in a logging camp to earn a fast paycheck to
start his life. Unfortunately his role model is Big John, the camp’s golden boy
known for blowing his pay as fast as he makes it. On a cold Saturday night they
enter Red’s Saloon to forget the work that takes the sweat and the lives of so
many. Red may have plans for their whiskey money, but something else lurks in
the shadows, something that badly wants a drink that has nothing to do with
alcohol. Can Bill make it back out the shabby door or does someone have their
own plans for his future?
Review: Selah Janel’s Mooner drops the reader into a historical saloon where the whiskey
isn’t the only drink in town.
Bill has his
life planned out: earn a fast paycheck in logging, get out of town, and settle
down with a new wife. Big John, however, has other plans for his friend. When
the two enter Red’s Saloon, everything changes. A mysterious recluse has a
proposition for the two men. Bill must figure out how to satiate the recluse’s
strong thirst, or he might lose everything he’s worked for.
Mooner builds the tension to a surprise ending. Janel does a
brilliant job making readers feel like they’re in this late 19th
century saloon in a cold logging town. The dialogue felt realistic. A few of
the characters were a bit clichéd, such as Big John, but I enjoyed how the
story progressed. The creepiness seeps into the pages. The mention of the
Mooners is brilliantly placed, and the creation of this vampire-like creature
is fascinating. For me, some of the details slowed the pace at the beginning,
but it picked right up to the very end.
Mooner by Selah Janel creates a tense horror leaning toward the
psychological and building up to a gory ending. It’s a quick and fun read.
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| Three Bookworms = I liked it! |
