Suspense Magazine June 2013
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Suspense, Mystery, Horror and Thriller Fiction DECEMBER 2013 Best of Merry2013 Reading with Liad Shoham Wendy CorSi Staub SuSpenSe Magazine excluSive SCott turoW “Meta ending” to “CritiCal Mass” by & Meet Debut Author sara Paretsky Patti Sheehy C r e di t s From the Editor John Raab President & Chairman Shannon Raab Creative Director Most people think that December is nothing more than the month that Christmas Romaine Reeves is in and it’s cold. CFO Well, you would be correct on both Starr Gardinier Reina counts, but for Suspense Magazine, things are Executive Editor only heating up. This is when we announce Jim Thomsen the Best Of List for the year, and will give one Copy Editor book “The Crimson Scribe” award as the best book of 2013. Tess Gerritsen held the title for Contributors Donald Allen Kirch 2012 with her book “Last to Die,” a Rizzoli & Mark P. Sadler Isles story, but this year another author will Susan Santangelo take the crown. DJ Weaver CK Webb But we have several categories where we mention all the winners within. I know Kiki Howell I say this every year, but it really does get harder and harder to pick the winners, with Kaye George Weldon Burge so many authors now taking their writing to a whole new level. From thrillers, to Ashley Wintters medical, legal, romantic suspense, horror, etc., etc., the authors on this list are all to be Scott Pearson D.P. Lyle M.D. congratulated for their hard work and dedication in bringing their readers simply the Claudia Mosley best stories of the year. Christopher Nadeau Kathleen Heady I would like to say that this issue is dedicated to our lost family member Terri Ann Stephen Brayton Armstrong, as this was her favorite time of the year, so to Terri: We miss and love you Brian Blocker Andrew MacRae and just know that you will always Val Conrad be a part of Suspense Magazine, Laura Alden Melissa Dalton because I know she is somewhere Elliott Capon watching us and smiling. J.M. LeDuc Holly Price You will see some changes Kari Wainwright coming in 2014, with maybe the David Ingram biggest one being the radio show. Jodi Hanson Amy Lignor We will have a dedicated website Susan May with the radio show, including J.S. McCormick Kestrel T. Andersen Crime and Science Radio and Cassandra McNeil Suspense Radio one-on-one. Once Jenny Hilborne Tanya Contois the website is complete we will let Sharon Salonen you know, so as they say: stay tuned Anthony J. Franze Jeanine Elizalde for further information. Kristin Centorcelli And now without any Jerry Zavada Ray Palen further waiting, the winner of this S.L. Menear year’s “Crimson Scribe” award Sherri Nemick is…………………………(didn’t Customer Service and think it would be that easy did Subscriptions: For 24/7 service, please use our website, you?) www.suspensemagazine.com or write to: SUSPENSE MAGAZINE at 26500 Agoura Road, #102-474 John Raab Calabasas, CA 91302 CEO/Publisher Suspense Magazine does not share our magazine subscriber list to third-party Suspense Magazine ■ companies. Model Credit: Depositphotos/Elisanth “Reviews within this magazine are the opinions of the individual reviewers and are provided solely to provide readers assistance Rates: $24.00 (Electronic Subscrip- in determining another's thoughts on the book under discussion and shall not be interpreted as professional advice or the opin- tion) per year. All foreign subscrip- ion of any other than the individual reviewer. The following reviewers who may appear in this magazine are also individual cli- tions must be payable in U.S. funds. ents of Suspense Publishing, an imprint of Suspense Magazine: Mark P. Sadler, Starr Gardinier Reina, Ashley Dawn (Wintters), DJ Weaver, CK Webb, Elliott Capon, J.M. LeDuc, S.L. Menear, and Amy Lignor.” SuspenseMagazine.com 1 CONTENT Su Sp E n se M ag a z i n E December 2013 / Vol. 053 Stranger Than Fiction: Stull By Donald Allen Kirch . .3 Obsessive Compulsive By Elizabeth Scozzari . .6 Lisa Gardner on Conquering the Dreaded Synopsis: Part Ten . 9 Why the Amish in Suspense? By Karen Harper . 11 Meta Ending: “Critical Mass” By Sara Paretsky . 14 A Book Lover, a Reader, and a Writer: Meet Patti Sheehy . 22 Inside the Pages: Suspense Magazine Book Reviews . 24 Suspense Magazine Movie Reviews . 33 Featured Artist: Juliana Soave . 65 Rules of Fiction with Sandra Brown By Anthony J . Franze . 71 3 Werewolves Walk Into a Bar By Christopher Buehlman . 78 From Their Pen . to the Silver Screen By CK Webb . 84 By Donald Allen Kirch STULL “go to hEll!” It’s a phrase that we use quite a lot in the world. Meant to tell a certain someone how “special” they are to us at the moment, and that they have deserved to be delivered to a rather unpleasant place. Hot, desolated, and forbidden. In my case, the phrase has a different meaning. For, you see, I have been to hell—TWICE! Within the sphere of the world, there exist “portals” into what the religiously minded people call hell, that biblical zip code where Satan reigns and the tortured spend eternity suffering over the spilt milk of their mortal lives. Just outside Kansas City, Missouri, there is a small town worth visiting—or avoiding, considering your viewpoint. It is simply known as Stull, Kansas. Like all cradles of civilization, this community has a cemetery. It is within this cemetery, according to folklore, that one of the portals to hell exists. The cemetery may or not be haunted, and its atmosphere for being a truly creepy place could be debated. Even the less sensitive can feel a certain vibe in the air when they visit. Once you’re brave enough to pass the NO TRESPASSING signs— which clearly state that violators will be prosecuted—both fear and imagination soon take over. For decades, locals have told stories of ghosts and supernatural events connected with the old graveyard. According to some tales, Stull is one of two places on Earth the devil actually appears in person! On Halloween night, Satan tempts man by appearing within the ruins of an old church and awaits those souls brave enough to venture up the site’s lonely hill. The other place Satan will go on that night is a desolate plain in India. Satan’s main reason for appearing at these sites during Halloween is to arrange a gathering of all souls that had died a violent death, have not yet been granted to either heaven or hell, and arranges a dance of the dead. As mentioned, there is an old ruin upon the top hill of the cemetery that had once been a church. And, like all small town churches closed or destroyed, there is a dark legend behind the powdery remains on the mortar. In the 1850s, a stable boy allegedly stabbed Stull’s mayor to death in what was then the grounds’ barn. The barn had later been converted into a church, and then was destroyed by a mysterious fire. There are those who stated that they had seen the murdered mayor set the blaze! Before the church was torn down in 2002, it was a craze to go to the ruins to perform black masses, have teenage sex, and to see if the cross inside the building turned upside down at midnight. One of the most bizarre legends associated with the cemetery is connected with Pope John Paul II. It was rumored that SuspenseMagazine.com 3 the pontiff instructed the pilots of his private jet to always fly around the state of Kansas so that the Vicar of Christ would not have to fly over “unholy ground.” Other strange episodes involve visitors to the graveyard experiencing memory loss, being attacked by an unseen force, unexplainable winds holding people in place, and the phenomena of “missing time.” Many claimed to have seen the floor of the torn-down church appear bone dry at the time of a thunderstorm. Stull’s church, before it had been destroyed by the town council, had no roof. There is another reason Satan likes to appear at Stull Cemetery, according to some: a witch. There appears to be a grave belonging to a woman who had been proclaimed a servant of the black arts, who willingly gave her favors to the Prince of Darkness. So moved was he by her loss, that upon the anniversary of her departure, the devil appears. Some hear him laughing; some hear deep-felt weeping. Sightings have differed. Some have spotted Old Nick on the last day of winter, and also upon the first night of spring. All this could be just legend, added to make Stull that much more exciting to the ones who dare to visit, but there is a tombstone, near the ruins of the old church, with the word WITCH carved into it haphazardly. Other rumors claim that an old tree near the church had once been used as a gallows. Several witches were said to have been hung from her. Superstition goes a step further, stating that the only reason Satan favors the cemetery is because the grave of the “Witch” also holds the bones of his child. Again, this could just be added folklore to help keep the curious interested, but several photos of a “wolf-boy” have been produced, showing a small specter peering out from behind the cursed tree. In 2004, I went with a few paranormal investigators to visit this site. My skepticism was right up there with everyone else, fearing all that would happen would be a night of missing sleep.