REVIEW: Erik Hofstatter - Rare Breeds

Genre: Horror

Publisher: Dark Silo Press

Publication Date: 13^th October 2016

Pages: 100

REVIEWED BY NEV

A copy of Rare Breeds was sent to Confessions of a Reviewer by the author, Erik Hofstatter, in exchange for an honest review. This is said review. This book is published by Dark Silo Press.

Erik Hofstatter. If you have been reading Confessions from the beginning, you will know this is my favourite name in the world of indie horror. We have had an up and down relationship in terms of how I like his books but that is what makes me like him even more. He keeps on coming back. I have been waiting on him writing something in the same vain as the first thing of his I read, The Pariahs. Not particularly the same type of story, just the same type of style.

His last short, Katerina and his collection Amaranthine and Other Stories left me wanting more from him. Was I going to get it with Rare Breeds?

This is what I thought.

Zora and Aurel are married and live with Zora’s daughter, Livie. It’s a relationship that has had its ups and downs. Aurel sleepwalks and he can never remember what he has done when he wakes up the next day.

This worries Zora a great deal. She is always worried in case he does something to harm Livie.

She should be more worried about what he is doing with his secret sister, Cornelia.

REVIEW: Erik Hofstatter - Amaranthine and Other Stories

Genre: Horror / Collection

Publisher: Creativia Publishing

Publication Date: 18^th May 2016

Pages: 63

MY REVIEW:

A copy of Amaranthine and Other Stories was sent to Confessions of a Reviewer by the author, Erik Hofstatter, in exchange for an honest review. This is said review. This book is published by Creativia Publishing.

Erik Hofstatter. The most wonderful name in writing. I love when someone asks what I’m reading and I get the chance to say Hofstatter over and over. No idea why. It’s the little things I suppose. I have read a couple of other things by Mr Hofstatter in the past. The Pariahs and Katerina. You can read my reviews of both at the bottom of this review. Whilst The Pariahs blew me away, Katerina was more of a pop than a bang with me but there is just something about his writing that keeps me coming back for more. He has a talent for writing that I think will take him to all of the places he wants to go.

So when he asked if I would like a look at Amaranthine, how could I refuse?

This is what I thought.

REVIEW: Erik Hofstatter - Katerina

Genre: Horror

Publisher: Creativia

Publication Date: 30^th Sept 2015

Pages: 37

MY REVIEW:

A copy of Katerina was sent to Confessions of a Reviewer by the author Erik Hofstatter in exchange for an honest review. This is said review. This book is published by Creativia.

Erik Hofstatter. Probably one of my all-time favourite author names. No idea why. It just makes me smile every time I hear it. I have only read one other thing from Mr Hofstatter in the past and that was another short story called The Pariahs. You can read my review of it here. I loved it so grabbed the chance at reviewing this one.

Kamil is a medieval weapons trader living in the Red Light District in Prague. He hates prostitutes and all they stand for but is attached to his flat so won’t move. He doesn’t normally interact with the street girls. That is until he strikes up an unlikely friendship with Katerina.

After a couple of very strange episodes, Kamil realises there is something very strange and mysterious about Katerina. He decides to put aside his hatred of her profession and try and find out exactly what it is about Katerina that won’t let him say no.

GUEST POST: Confessions of my Past, Present and Future #3 - Erik Hofstatter

Confessions of my Past, Present and Future

by

Erik Hofstatter

The Past

If you're an insatiable reader like me, you'll know exactly how difficult it is to select a book that touched you in some way, because there's simply too many to choose from! I read legions of wonderful (and terrible) books over the years, but there is one that will always remain in my mind—Cold Skin by Spanish anthropologist/novelist Albert Sanchez Pinol. The opening paragraph alone enchanted me:

“We are never very far from those we hate. For this very reason, we shall never be truly close to those we love. An appalling fact, I knew it well enough when I embarked. But some truths deserve our attention; others are best left alone.”

The novel itself, chronicles the story of a former fighter for the independence of Ireland who, unmotivated by the events of the Western World, decides to escape from the society in which he lives. He accepts a job offer as a weather official on a remote island in the south Atlantic close to the Antarctic Circle.

On this island there is only one inhabitant, the signals official Batis Caffo, who does not help the Irishman, and hides all the information which he has on the island. So the hero has to spend a night alone, where he suffers the attack of strange monsters that are similar to frogs. They’re called Sitauca.

REVIEW: Erik Hofstatter - The Pariahs

Genre: Horror

Publisher: Creativia

Publication Date: 18^th Oct 2014

Pages: 80

MY REVIEW:

A copy of The Pariahs was sent to Confessions of a Reviewer by the author Erik Hofstatter in exchange for an honest review. This is said review.

Erik Hofstatter – what a fantastic name. Say it again Erik Hofstatter? Ever heard of him? I hadn't although I bet many had. This my friends is the best part of being a book reviewer and having your own blog open for review submissions. Every now and again someone actually comes along and takes a gamble that you will pick their book up and read it for them. I learnt a while ago that when a well-known name comes along and asks you for a review, you jump at the chance. I have also learnt that when someone you have never heard of comes along like Mr Hofstatter, you again jump at the chance to review it. You never know when you might pick up a little gem. Like this one.

Demyan and Akilina are brother and sister. They have been born in a radiation ravaged Russia after a nuclear disaster has left many, including themselves, severely disfigured and disabled from birth. In the middle of the night they are attacked, gagged and kidnapped and wake up in a cold dark cell. Demyan sets about trying to figure out where exactly they are and how they are going to escape. His only hope is a girl called Taisiya who he can talk to through a sewer pipe in the ground. He needs to escape this hell, before they all die.