Finding Comfort in Times of Pain and Lack of Sleep: Perturbations is a touching collection of poems about turning to nature to heal from grief and relieve insomnia

 

 

Perturbations

Sam Calhoun

Alien Buddha Press, 2025

ISBN-13: 979-8302237866

Ebook, 39 ppg.

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While adjusting to our grief, we look for things that provide comfort and guidance. We turn to things that help us to heal from our pain and find our way in the dark. As the poems show in the new collection Perturbations by Sam Calhoun, nature is what he has turned to in his time of grief.

 

Through his connection with nature, he finds solace, understanding and peace. It is in nature where he is better able to express his pain and his need for connection with others.

 

As he writes on page 23:

 

“Speak to me

like the trees

do not believe

in love anymore”

 

It is where he calls for open, honest dialogue with those closest to him.

 

When we are struggling with grief, we tend to relate to things outside of ourselves in a different way. Our pain brings us to another perspective and we see things differently. That is what happens here with these poems. (Example: "Smoke climbs/like rose branches,/thermals through bones/bare of the world").

 

This short collection of poetry provided a huge impact for this reader. Filled with poems containing imagery and metaphor, these almost lyrical verses swept me away to a calmer state of nature that offered hope and comfort. It’s certainly a sweet collection of poems I enjoyed reading, and one in which I shall turn to again in trying times. 

 

Five stars.

 

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book as part of my digital subscription with the publisher.

 

Unnatural Bodies in the Water: Girl in the Creek offers a harrowing tale of loss and cosmic horror

 

Girl in the Creek

Wendy N. Wagner

Tor Nightfire, 2025

ISBN-10: 1250908647

ISBN-13: ‎978-1250908643

Ebook, 146 ppg.

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NOTE: This review is based on an ARC I received from the author. The book will release on July 15. The “buy link” provided is for pre-orders of the book.

 

 

Erin Harper is not just a travel writer. She is also someone with a loved one who is missing. And when she goes to the town where her brother went missing years ago, under the guise of a writing assignment, she ends up becoming involved in a horrible scheme of people going missing in that very town that has gone on for years. Girl in the Creek by Wendy N. Wagner is a powerful, gut-wrenching story of one sister’s quest to find out what really happened to her missing brother and the horrible web of deceit and mystery surrounding his and others disappearances.

 

Writers never know what kinds of things they step into when they take on an assignment. That’s what happens for Erin. She’s there to learn anything she can after her brother had gone missing in the area, but when she and her friends end up coming across a poacher camp and finding a body in the creek, things take a horrifying turn. Plus, Erin’s mission to learn more about the town where apparently a lot of people have gone missing gets her in the middle of a town rivalry.

 

Even as Erin tries to play it neutral with the local deputy, the deputy does not trust her. She is suspicious of Erin’s motives and remains tight-lipped about anything outside of Erin’s interests. As she tells Erin at one point, “I’m not telling you anything, Nancy Drew.” It’s apparent the deputy does not trust writers – even travel writers, at that – and her referring to “Nancy Drew” instead of “Lois Lane” gets me thinking that the deputy feels that Erin is sticking her nose where she shouldn’t.

 

Well, in a way, she does, but only because her life and her friends’ lives were threatened. I mean, she’s not going to just sit there and let the police handle it. And somehow, trying to figure out what is going on gets her involved in the mystery surrounding the missing person cases that are rampant in that town.

 

As an Oregonian, I loved reading this book, and not just because it’s set in Oregon. I loved it for the outdoors theme, the description of Oregon forests and wetlands (as well as the constant rain!), and even the exploration of places less traveled through. I thought it was cool this story is set in Oregon; there were so many Oregon vibes I could relate to!

 

I also noticed how this story explores the theme of missing loved ones. The themes of people tearing up in sharing their stories over missing loved ones, the sadness of seeing those “Missing” posters, and the different ways in which people relate to this subject were strong in the story. I do not know anyone with a missing loved one, but after reading this novel, it felt like I did, through the characters in it dealing with this.

 

The part about the “strangeness” in the story and how it affected the body of the girl floating in the creek was confusing. However, I stuck with reading through the whole story, and as certain mysteries were revealed, so, too, was an understanding of what the “strangeness” was. I was shocked by what I learned, but in a way, it made sense. And it gave this story a whole new meaning.

 

I loved how the author wrapped everything up at the end. There was a sense of sadness, regret and longing in those last chapters, but the ending was a satisfying read. After I turned that last page, I walked away from that book with a better understanding of how mysterious nature can be, how unforgiving the forests and trails of Oregon are, and the sorrowful reality people with missing loved ones live with every day.

 

Girl in the Creek is an eye-opening story of horrible truths, unrecognizable nature, and the need for answers to help bring closure when a loved one goes missing.

 

 

Five stars

 

 

 

Disclaimer: I received an advanced review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

 

When Earth Fights Back: Nature Triumphs is an excellent collection of eco-horror stories of nature seeking revenge against humans

 

 

Nature Triumphs: A Charity Anthology of Dark Speculative Fiction

Edited by Alison Armstrong and Pixie Bruner

Dark Moon Rising Publications, 2024

Ebook, 327 ppg.

ISBN: 978-1-945987-90-8

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“Nature finds a way.” This phrase, uttered by a character thinking that more plants possibly bloomed in an area that was not tended to, is one we often say when nature surprises us with its strength and perseverance.

 

But nature has something else up its sleeve, too: Revenge against those who have harmed it, infected it, abused it and polluted it for so long.

 

In fact, these forms of nature acting on their quest for revenge take on anyone and everyone who gets too close to it, all casualties in the war between man and nature. Or, rather, nature and humans.

 

In the anthology Nature Triumphs: A Charity Anthology of Dark Speculative Fiction edited by Alison Armstrong and Pixie Bruner, writers share their stories of eco-horror where polluted, mutated and poisoned forms of nature get the revenge it is so hungry for. From fish in p[olluted ponds to bees that were sprayed with poisons, both nature and creature (such as vines and plants) attack people for the abuse and pollution it has endured for so long. And in fighting this mutated form of nature, the characters think they can win, but little do they realize just how immune to the harmful ways of man nature has become that it is able to rise above any further doses of it.

 

I really enjoyed reading these stories. I read all of them. Some of them are from writers whose work I am familiar with and others are from writers I was happy to meet through their works. All forms of horror are in this book and all kinds of nature horror stories await readers of this anthology.

 

I could not name a single story as a favorite, though here are some I really enjoyed reading:

 

"Swarm of the Immune" by J.C. Macek III

"Deadly Toke" by Kasey Hill

"Kroak" by Megan Guilliams

"Last Call at the Garden of Eden" by Lamont A. Turner

"The Bees" by Mawr Gorshin

"Whale Song" by Elana Gomel

"Throw It Back" by Rebecca Cuthbert

"Boots" by Julie Dron

"A New Mom for the Bee Boy" by Rob Tannahill

"Spines" by J. Rocky Colavito

"Compost" by Kris Nelson

"Yard Work" by Michael Erroll Swaim

 

I also enjoyed reading the poems. These in particular were my favorites:

 

"The Candy-Coloured Apocalypse' by Pixie Bruner

"An Ocean's Lament" by John C. Mannone

"Nothing We Can Do" by Alison Armstrong

"How to Make Witchcraft Honey" and "Ode to the Bees" by Kasey Hill

 

They are all good stories and poems which I know I will enjoy rereading in the future.

 

If you enjoy reading eco horror, want to read stories about nature fighting back against the humans harming it, or want to support a charity (sales of the book are donated to The Nature Conservancy), then grab a copy of Nature Triumphs and you won’t be disappointed.

 

 

 

Five stars

 

 

Disclaimer: I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.