Beai, Steve

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Classic Horror Returns
Good Writing, Silly Story
CLIMB ABOARD THIS RUNAWAY TRAIN...

Widow's Walk
Steve Beai , and Beai
Manufacturer: Indigo Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Police Procedurals | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Psychological & Suspense | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Suspense | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1583650229

Book Description

They're all around you everyday. Unseen. Watching. And waiting. Sheriff Robert Baxter knows he is losing the battle against his personal demons of alcohol and an impending divorce. As he investigates the grisly death of a child found in the woods surrounding a quiet suburban neighborhood, he must come face-to-face with a very real demon from his past. Along with some new ones...

Customer Reviews:

Classic Horror Returns.......2000-05-20

Rather than follow the current crop of books where college students find a "magical book" or are possessed by witches as an excuse for sexual experimentation, not to mention movies with the narcissistic tedium of "Blair Witch", Widow's Walk takes the reader back to timeless, if out of vogue fears. Introducing menace at every turn, the author weaves this tale, along with a few startling and satisfying subplots, effortlessly to an explosive climax. Filled with colorful characters as well as a tangible evil in the form of sinister creatures roaming a quiet suburban neighborhood, the book heads with non-stop action to one of the most cinematic conclusions possibly ever to have been put on paper. Highly recommended.

Good Writing, Silly Story.......2000-05-17

Here we have a rather strange combination of ingredients: fully-developed characters we care about, excellent, evocative descriptive passages, and a really whacked-out premise. It's one of those books that is good, but in a strange way. Scary? Maybe not...but it does keep you reading.

CLIMB ABOARD THIS RUNAWAY TRAIN..........2000-05-03

This book is, in my opinion, the Ultimate Horror Novel - it is horror, it is thriller, it is mystery, and it is a runaway train ride that will propel you to the most satisfying conclusion I have ever seen a writer craft. To quote from WIDOW'S WALK: "When a living thing is killed by another living thing, it's always murder." How can a line like that at the beginning of a story, presenting such a unique perspective, fail to captivate us right until the very last word?

Steve Beai knows how to grab your attention and not let you go until that final page. Set aside several hours of uninterrupted reading, because if you're forced to put this book down before finishing it, you'll be thinking of nothing else but when you'll be able to pick it up again and jump right back onto that hurtling train.

Beai horrifies with an elegant flair: "He turned at the sound of the voice in time to see Alvy swing one of his father's knives, a machete, toward him. Then, he had a momentary glimpse of the ceiling, then a sampler on the wall that said Mom's Kitchen, then he closed his eyes as his head cracked against the floor, opening them again to see his feet standing in the kitchen doorway, and the last thing he saw was his body, still standing there stupidly without a head, *his* head, and before he could think to wonder why his body didn't have a head, he stopped thinking at all." The entire novel is THAT flawlessly written. I can add nothing more to persuade you to buy this book than to have given you these words of Steve Beai himself.

Book Description

New Traditions in Terror brings together 16 great storytellers, giving you the opportunity to revisit the horror of ghosts, ghouls, werewolves, demons, and psychos.

Customer Reviews:

The genre's alive and well.......2002-06-08

New Traditions In Terror is a new and ambitious horror fiction anthology. Why ambitious? Because the whole of the book is comprised of stories dealing with subject matter already much overdone: we're talking vampires, werewolves, vengeful spirits, ghouls, demons, and evil people here. A risky proposition indeed, as nowadays I dread reading vampire or werewolf stories for knowing that while the characters may change, the basic storyline is one that I've read hundreds of times before. That in itself would be acceptable, if not compounded by the fact that I usually also will have gotten absolutely nothing out of the story by its conclusion: no emotion, no involvement with any of the characters, not even the consolation of knowing that while nothing new may have been brought to the table, at least I'd had the pleasure of reading a gripping, page-turning story.

And so, New Traditions In Terror delivers sixteen stories and one poem, by authors the readers of Horror-Wood may not be familiar with. Seventeen fresh voices accepting the daunting challenge of writing tales containing characters that are increasingly looked down upon in the field as being passé.

For the most part, the authors vindicate themselves extremely well. While admittedly, few stories really do break any new ground (a story concerning a cyber werewolf is a notable exception), as a whole the stories are well-written, and do manage to sweep the reader up and carry them along for a short, but enjoyable ride. Many evoke a well-defined and appropriate atmosphere, almost tangible, as well as creating developed characters that I came to care about, hoping they would come to a good - or deservingly bad - end. On at least one occasion I compared a story (favorably) to some classics I fondly remember from my decades of reading.

A few stories in this collection deserve mention. "Afraid Of The Water", by Robynn Clairday, does such a good job of evoking concrete images in her tale, that it brought back some very unpleasant memories of my own fear of water as a young child. "Monster", by Peter N. Dudar, is a great example of a tale that can build suspense and keep a reader on edge through merely hinting at the horror, rather than through any blatant or graphic depiction of it. A wonderful example of "less is more." The ending has a wonderful, Lovecraftian/Cthulhu feel to it. Lastly, there is "Kiowa Wells", by R. A. Cox. The highlight of the book, Cox's tale takes an old idea (vengeful Indian spirit), and weaves it into an enthralling classic. Heavily atmospheric, well-developed and written, perfect pacing, ever-increasing chills. I predict a deserved, enduring popularity for this one.

The only aspect of the book that I feel doesn't work is one story, only because it reads more like a "The Shadow"-type detective tale, with a monster casually thrown in at the end because one was needed, than as a horror story. It's a good tale, mind you, but definitely feels out of place with respect to the rest of the collection.

That said, New Traditions In Terror is a fine read, and a welcome addition to a horror fiction library. A collection of well-crafted and entertaining tales, from 17 talented writers from whom I hope we'll be fortunate enough to hear from again. It's encouraging to know that the future of horror fiction is in such capable hands.

Scary, gross, loved it........2002-01-31

Usually when I pick up a themed anthology, I'm disappointed that all the stories seem the same. This book contains a good variety, loosly based around the theme of "traditional" monsters. The differant stories, and the unique writing styles, kept me entertained throughout the book. As I said above, some of the stories scared me, some just grossed me out, but all in all, I thought this was a great collection. My hat's off to the people who put this one together.

Weird Tales for the New Millennium.......2002-01-28

Bill Purcell has collected many satisfying stories (about creatures thought to be passe or no longer frightening) in this book. Vampires, werewolves and ghosts are nothing new. But the stories in NTIT are not your granddad's WEIRD TALES stories. The authors of these stories get inside the monster and look out at the world. They do mre than go boo. Why do vampires drink blood? Would a werewolf even want to stop killing people?

Personal favorites: "Cargo" by Sean Logan, "Kiowa Wells" by R. A. Cox, "The Last Wolf" by Lester Thees and "Dogs" by Michael Beai.

If you are a fan of the old monsters, buy this book. If you are a fan of current horror, buy this book. If you are a fan of both, I envy you. (Oh, and buy this book.)

Censoring the Censors
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Censoring the Censors
Steve Beai
Manufacturer: Chicago Spectrum Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Reference | Subjects | Books
Censorship | Freedom & Security | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1886094810

Book Description

The award-winning and controversial columns on censorship in the entertainment industry. Irreverent and thought-provoking, written with an edge that could only come from Steve Beai, these columns will challenge you to examine the role of censorship in the world around us.

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