6-8-25 — Christina Critiques
- Christina Pfeiffer
- Jun 8
- 3 min read
Happy Sunday! I have some amazing reads to tell you about this week. One author, not sure if you have heard of him, Clive Barker? Seems like a decent enough writer, ha.
So let me stop chit chatting and you can get into the goodness below.
ASSORTED CRISIS EVENTS - Issue 1
By: Deniz Camp
Release: 3/12/25
Page count: 48
KU: No Hoopla: Yes
Synopsis: Do you get annoyed by notifications on your phone? Or annoyed when you’re late to work? Then you may relate to this comic issue.
First line: “It’s World War three or four out there today.”
Favorite line: “You can get stuck in the worst moment of your life, forever… get killed in your own apartment by your evil, other-dimensional doppelgänger…”
Thoughts: This is such an interesting concept! Between the specters, dinosaurs, other-dimensional situations, we have a great issue. The characters, illustrations, and crazy situations abound.
Rating: 5/5
Other recommendations: Will be continuing series.
ASSORTED CRISIS EVENTS - Issue 2
By: Deniz Camp
Release: 4/23/25
Page count: 40
KU: No Hoopla: Yes
Synopsis: Jesus must work where his father had a tragic accident, and the job is a bloody memory trigger.
First line: “Don’t look, mi amor.”
Favorite line: “We call this the kill floor. I call it the Promised Land.”
Thoughts: The illustrations are unnerving and uncomfortable. While I enjoyed the characters and plot twist, the story just didn’t flow as well for me as the first one. I appreciated being brought along for the descent into madness, I think it could have been expanded to make a bit more sense.
Rating: 3/5
Other recommendations: Will be continuing the series.
BOOKS OF BLOOD VOL. 1
By: Clive Barker
Release: 3/11/13
Page count: 306
KU: No Hoopla: No
Synopsis: Six stories featuring ghosts, serial killers, demons, possession, theatre, and nightmare fuel giants.
First line: “The dead have highways.”
Favorite line: “Of all the powers that made the system manifest, love, and its companion, passion, and their companion, loss, were the most potent.”
Thoughts: Holy shit. The six volumes were recommended to me a year or so ago and of course I lollygagged like usual. Idiot move. Barker is tremendous! The way he can creep you out without a drop of blood or a single death is astounding. And the way he can go from wit (“The Yattering and Jack”) to absolute nightmare-causing for generations to come (“In the Hills, the Cities”), you never know what you are going to get with him. And I’m in love.
Rating: uh duh 5/5
Other recommendations: Will continue the series.
HOMECOMING
By: Micah Castle
Release: 6/6/25
Page count: 56
KU: No Hoopla: No
Synopsis: Jake goes back to his hometown after escaping years before. Stuck when a storm hits, he will find the past isn’t through with him yet.
First line: “Jake kicked at the damp grass, holding his cell phone to his ear with one hand, the other pinching a cigarette.”
Favorite line: “I didn’t know it was going to be a big fucking deal, thought you were with us.”
Thoughts: There is nothing Castle can write that I won’t read and love. A few complaints about this novella from others was the lack of background or not enough world building. I’m in the hard disagree camp. The reader is given just as much, if not more, as Jake. Castle wants us as Jake and friends, am I here for that. Eerie, claustrophobic, and purely cult-infused, HOMECOMING is another win from Castle.
Rating: 4.5/5
Other recommendations: RECONSTRUCTING A RELATIONSHIP, THE WORLD WE ONCE KNEW
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