Book Spotlight: Humbug

Today's book spotlight is for Humbug by Luciano Marano. Enjoy.

Humbug by Luciano Marano

From award-winning author Luciano Marano comes Humbug—a gruesome, noir-infused reimagining of A Christmas Carol that blends supernatural horror, crime thriller, and psychological suspense into one unforgettable holiday nightmare.

A terrifying new take on the most famous ghost story of all time.

 

In modern-day Seattle, Detective Stuart (Scrooge) Caine is a jaded homicide cop on the edge of burnout. Every Christmas brings another murder, but this year’s case is different. A brilliant psychopath—dubbed “Humbug” by the press—has made a tradition of killing an entire family every December 25th. With the investigation going cold and his career slipping away, Scrooge receives a visitation on Christmas Eve that shatters his skepticism: the ghost of his former partner, Marley, and three monstrous spirits—manifestations of history’s most notorious unsolved killers: Jack the Ripper, Zodiac, and The Cleveland Torso Murderer.

 

As the line between nightmare and reality blurs, Scrooge is forced to confront his past, his sins, and the darkness waiting for him on Christmas morning.

 

Sometimes, the ghosts of Christmas past don’t come to save you…they come to collect.

Humbug is a chilling holiday horror novella—a macabre fusion of ghost story, police procedural, and psychological redemption tale—perfect for fans of A Christmas Ghost Story, Candy Cain Kills, and Hark! The Herald Angels Scream.

 

Book Link: https://getbook.at/Humbug

“Luciano Marano extracts the DNA of Dickens’s classic tale and rewires it for his own gonzo spin on the noir detective story."—Matthew Mercier, author of Poe & I

About the Author

Luciano Marano is an award-winning writer, journalist, and photographer. He is the author of the werewolf novella trilogy The Ambush Moon Cycle (Raven Tale Publishing) and numerous works of short fiction appearing in anthologies such as Year’s Best Hardcore Horror and The Best New Weird Horror, among others, as well as Nightscript, PseudoPod, Chthonic Matter Quarterly, and Chilling Tales for Dark Nights. His written and photographic reporting has earned a number of industry accolades, and he was twice named a Feature Writer of the Year by the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association. A U.S. Navy veteran originally from rural western Pennsylvania, he now resides near with his wife. 

A Review of Mechanized Masterpieces: A Steampunk Anthology

My Book Review of  Mechanized Masterpieces: A Steampunk Anthology

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First off I’d like to disclose I have a story in this anthology, and therefore I have a vested interested in this book. So take this review as enthusiastic endorsement for my fellow authors if you will (and perhaps a tiny bit of a shameless promotion).

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I enjoyed reading the stories in Mechanized Masterpieces: A Steampunk Anthology. I found the book to be an entertaining, diverse gaze through the looking-glass of the steampunk world, filtered through classic literature.

The idea of Mechanized Masterpieces is a re-imaging of classic books by such authors as Charles Dickens, Mary Shelly or Charlotte Bronte, which shifts their worlds and characters into the 19th century strangeness that is steampunk. The stories in the book are clanging, banging, puffing prequels, sequels and reboots, rich in quality and captivation.

There are eight fascinating stories in the anthology, based on the books Jane Eyre, Sense and Sensibilities, David Copperfield, The Little Match Girl, The Phantom of the Opera, A Christmas Carol and Frankenstein. They are enchanting, sometimes steam-twisted tales to delight. I especially liked the story of Micawber and Copperfield, with its shades of Horatio Hornblower (albeit with dirigibles instead of sailing ships) and Tropic of Cancer, which had a dark, looming undertone of foreboding.

Even with my slightly biased opinion, I can recommend Mechanized Masterpieces: A Steampunk Anthology as a great read.

The Book is officially launched on Facebook tomorrow!  Come and join in the fun!

Mechanized Masterpieces: A Steampunk Anthology is available on Amazon (in paperback and for Kindle) and Barnes and Noble (for Nook).

Mechanized Masterpieces: The Story Behind My Story

First up, the official book launch of  Mechanized Masterpieces: A Steampunk Anthology happens on April 30th! As one of the authors featured in the book I am inviting all to the Book Launch Party on Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/events/339286706194431/

Next, I have a little ramble about how the story came to be, and some trivia at the end (which may come in handy around party time- hint, hint).  So read on, and enjoy.
 

Mechanized Masterpieces: The Story Behind My Story

Once upon a time (because don’t all happy ending fairy tales start that way, even steampunk ones?) I submitted a story to Xchyler Publishing for a steampunk themed anthology. The idea was to take a classic book and expand on a character, steampunk style.
I thought to myself, “that’s sounds fun, I can do that...” all those things writers tell themselves to get off Facebook and back to creating. So I flew off in search of a classic story and landed on Dickens, (but don’t worry he wasn’t hurt), and A Christmas Carol specifically.
At first I thought perhaps Bob Cratchit would do, or Tiny Tim, but as I reacquainted myself with the story I realised there was a character badly neglected in the original, Scrooge’s nephew Fred. Questions began to race through my head. Who was Fred? What did he do for a living? What if he was a spy? That’s when something clicked- write a spy story, a steampunk spy story.
So off I went, scribbling furiously giving Fred a backstory, and taking his friend Topper and his nameless wife (although in my tale she isn’t yet his wife and she has a name) along for the ride. And about halfway through, I hit a bit of writer’s block, so I like to officially extend my thanks to the Google+ community at Dark-Fantasy Writers for helping me over the hump. Their supportive brainstorming was the inspiration for the rats.
So writer’s block banished, I furiously finished my prose in time to make the deadline, and sent off my story, Our Man Fred, where it ended, nestled in the pages of Mechanized Masterpieces.

Now for some trivia bits:

• The spy agency in Our Man Fred is called the Clockwork Department, which shares its initials with Charles Dickens as a nod to A Christmas Carol
• The title Our Man Fred is an homage to the old spy movie Our Man Flint
•  The automaton man mentioned briefly by Topper was dropped in as a nod to various Victorian era dime novels.
• The mention of the Penny Dreadfuls by Mary is also a nod to Victorian era fiction.