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Monster Double Feature (a duo of abominations): River of Nine Tails / Reanimation Channel (Chapbooks) Kindle Edition

by Mark Cassell (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 out of 5 stars 22 ratings

Monster Double Feature - a duo of abominations


From the author of the Shadow Fabric mythos comes this 80-page chapbook featuring two stories. A British traveller desperate to escape his past finds himself at the heart of a Vietnamese legend, and learns why the Mekong Delta is known as "River of Nine Tails." And a regular parcel collection from a neighbour becomes a descent into terror through the online game, "Reanimation Channel."

RIVER OF NINE TAILS (originally published in In Darkness, Delight: Creatures of the Night anthology by Corpus Press, 2019)

I got a BAD case of the heebie jeebies from this one." - Char's Corner "

Vietnamese river setting, world travellers, a little DiCaprio The Beach feel for me, river monsters, ritual sacrifice, and evolutionary themes." - Well Read Beard

"This was an adventure tale filled with some gory fun and there were even some tentacles! You can’t ever go wrong with added tentacles if you ask me." - Bark Reviews

REANIMATION CHANNEL (originally published in The Black Room Manuscripts Vol.4 anthology by The Sinister Horror Company, 2018)

"A tale pulsing with raw tension and twisted-as-holy-hell horror. There’s no hanging around in this adrenaline-pumping descent into messed-up sci-fi horror. Akin to Richard Stanley’s cult film ‘Hardware’ (1990), the story pumps the fast and furious action into its narrative like there’s no tomorrow, exploring the disturbing possibilities of the dark web, with the corruption of biotechnology and the horrific consequences it could cause. But it’s the pounding, unrelenting drive of the story that ultimately makes it such an intense and captivating read. There’s no putting the book down once you’ve started reading the tale. It cranks up the blood-greased gears at an alarming rate, hurtling us through a chaotic storm of chaos and monstrous carnage. Cassell doesn’t hold back one bit in upping the ante at every opportunity. Creating a story that reaches catastrophic proportions far quicker than you would have thought possible. This my friends is how you deliver grisly sci-fi horror." - DLS Reviews
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  1. Part of series
    Chapbooks
  2. Print length
    80 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Accessibility
    Learn more
  5. Publication date
    August 16, 2020
  6. File size
    4.1 MB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08BS19RR9
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Herbs House
  • Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 16, 2020
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 4.1 MB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 80 pages
  • Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Part of series ‏ : ‎ Chapbooks
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 out of 5 stars 22 ratings

About the author

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Mark Cassell

Mark Cassell

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Mark Cassell lives on the south-east coast of the United Kingdom with his wife and many animals. His jobs have included baker, lab technician, driving instructor, actor, and was once a spotlight operator for an Elvis Presley impersonator.

As the author of the best-selling Shadow Fabric mythos, he’s written under several pen names with over 150 stories published in magazines and anthologies. Though his passion remains embedded in dark fantasy and horror, he’s written steampunk, fantasy and sci-fi, and regularly crosses the blurry lines between genres.

Most recently he’s seen publication in the children’s market. In particular, a Would You Rather game book series that has proven popular, and a successful range of pirate activity books. Mark often says how the “Pirate Thing” is a latent interest that will always astonish him.

A proud addition to his bibliography is through Caffeine Nights Publishing with the horror novel, Parasite Crop. Since signing that contract, he remains humbled in the knowledge he now shares the same publisher as one of his literary heroes from the late-1980s, a bygone time when he sneakily read novels at the back of school classrooms.

Incidentally, Mark never got caught.

~

More about the author can be found at www.MarkCassell.co.uk

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
22 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • M. M.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Two tales of monsters and mayhem by a talented writer of horror fiction!
    Reviewed in the United States on October 1, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    Monster Double Feature was my first Mark Cassell reading experience, and I'm glad I decided to get a copy. Sure, I'm a fan of monster stories in general, but Cassell executes such stories very well. His writing is clear, yet creative, and the stories themselves are at once both disturbing and absorbing. Without giving anything away, the first story, River of Nine Tails, is one of ritual, bloodshed, an awful cycle, and ultimately transformation. The second, Reanimation Channel, is a cyber horror piece whose unusual monster is just as brutal as it is original. Mark Cassell's Monster Double Feature makes me want to check out more from this author.
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  • Diarmuid OSullivan
    4.0 out of 5 stars Good
    Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2022
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    Just makes it to 4 - good prose and good tension, but generic stories, no story structure and annoyingly passive characters. Still worth reading because it is decent.
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  • Emily
    5.0 out of 5 stars Creatures
    Reviewed in the United States on August 18, 2020
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    New creatures to be afraid of. Bloody good read monster mayhem at it's best. Can anyone survive you have to read it to see.
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  • Kindle Customer JanR
    4.0 out of 5 stars 4.5 stars for Monster Double Feature definitely slimy!
    Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    I personally love old scary films, even in black and white. Guess that dates me! Cheap and body are the best ones. These two stories would work perfectly in that venue. Unfortunately, my imagination adds too much red for background color and makes the details too lifelike. These two stories are imaginative and totally creepy. Enjoy!!
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  • CatsAndBooks
    5.0 out of 5 stars Vivid and Scary
    Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2020
    I enjoy reading short horror stories. I like Mark Cassell's stories because they're always vivid and exciting. This book contains only two stories, 'River of Nine Tails' and 'Reanimation Channel'.

    Of these, 'River of Nine Tails' is my favourite, because love love reading about different places. This story is set in Vietnam. It's great to explore Vietnam, going on a scary river trip and meet a monster from the safety of my armchair.

    While reading 'River of Nine Tails', when I reached about the middle of the story I thought, 'I know how this will end.' I was right - the story did indeed end the way I expected. But the twists and turns to get there were unpredictable, and kept me in suspense until the end.
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  • Brennan LaFaro
    4.0 out of 5 stars Two stories sure to deliver a monster fix
    Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2020
    On August 16th, Mark Cassell is set to release a chapbook, a collection-ette, if you will, featuring two previously published stories. One of Mark’s other books, The Shadow Fabric, is sitting on my shelf waiting for my attention, but in the meantime, I’m diving into a new-to-me author in my favorite way - stories.
    Monster Double Feature kicks off with Mark’s contribution to last year’s Corpus Press’ In Darkness, Delight: Creatures Of the Night anthology. The story is called River of Nine Tails and details a tourist’s trip on the titular river in Vietnam. Cassell tells us in the afterword a little about the genesis of the story, and his trip to Vietnam that spurred it on. It certainly lends an air of realism to the horrors that our main character is about to endure, not to mention encouraging me to google “Mekong freshwater stingray”. Seriously, do it. The author’s note also includes some details about the story that I’ll leave the reader to discover on their own.
    Given the title of the collection this shouldn’t come as a surprise, but River is a monster story. The monster presented spends a lot of time offscreen, potentially lurking around each corner, waiting to… well, that would spoil the surprise, wouldn’t it? At first glance, the character and the reader, as well, think giant crocodile story, but every further glimpse reveals new details until we’re not quite sure whether what we’re seeing is ancient, alien, or some mixture of both. The terror comes from not knowing any more than the main character does at any given time, and is backed up by Cassell’s liberal use of gore.
    Reanimation Channel is a pretty unique story, throwing in a dash of video games, a bit of Frankenstein's monster, and even some vague reminders of The Thing. Scott, the character we follow wasn’t quite as interesting as those in the first story, which makes events late in the story hit not quite as hard. Cassell piles on the body horror, at least that’s my take, in this one. While I found myself thinking I was in for a very direct ethics lesson, the plot takes a turn early on and sends the reader reeling toward an ending that’s more off-the-wall than the wildest guess I could’ve made 30 pages prior.
    If you’re reading an author for the first time, you go in looking for a good story, sure, but also to find out if this is someone you’ll be further interested in exploring once this one ends. Monster Double Feature did just that for me - two solid stories that go deep enough to make me want to see what Cassell can do in longform. I already mentioned The Shadow Fabric on my shelf. Maybe, it’s time to pencil that in.

    I received a copy from the author for review consideration.
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  • Ihtis
    5.0 out of 5 stars Two monsters, the same punishment
    Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2021
    This is a great short read. Both stories summon the monster and human curiosity. It doesn't matter is it in Vietnam or in the dark web, consequences are scary. You can finish book in one sitting and stay awake after this.
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Ginger Nuts
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Body Horror double bill
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 14, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    Body horror is a sub-genre of horror that is often overlooked, and when it isn't far too much of what is published in it, is substandard, poorly written stories where any attempt at a coherent story is cast aside to allow the author to shock the reader with their descriptions of the gross, nasty and devolution of the body.

    I'll be honest it is a genre that I am not a massive fan of, and a lot of it stems from my dislike of the body, I long for the day were we are all just floating orbs of pure energy. But we can dream, can't we?

    Enter Mark Cassell, he's an author who has been skirting the periphery of Ginger Nuts of Horror for many years, but for one reason or another, we have never properly covered his work. No idea why it's one of those strange things that never seemed to happen.

    After reading this twin story novella, I have to ask myself, why the hell did it take so long to connect and read his work.

    Monster Double Feature, as is the title suggests is a duo of alluring tales featuring grotesque body horror and gruesome monsters. "River of Nine Tails" kicks off this novella, with the adventure-seeking tourist Elliot, deciding that going down the Mekong Delta in a tiny boat is a good idea. What a silly man, for when an encounter with something that is so alien to him, he soon wishes that Elliot can phone home, and a massive finger would be the least of his worries.

    Cassell has created a tense, and claustrophobic story, that reeks of the hot, sweaty hell of the jungle nightmare that Elliot has to endure. The narrative of the story hits the ground running leaving no space for unnecessary exposition or character development, which is perfect for this type of story, where the horrors that we witness are made all the more terrifying for us not knowing anything about the protagonist.

    The mashup of Alien, The Legacy of Heriot and even Deliverance, provides the genre junkies with lots of queues and easter eggs. Still, Cassell binds it together with enough originality and stylistic charisma, to ensure that it doesn't slip into just another creature feature body horror mashup. And he confirms my suspicions that travel is only for the somewhat silly of us.

    The second story Reanimation Channel is a very different beast and my favourite of the two here. When a parcel collection between neighbours goes south of the border, a strange and brutal creature is unleashed, and all hell breaks loose, a nightmare that threatens to destroy all of humanity.

    Reanimation Channel is a gloriously over the top creature feature, mixing body horror, eco-horror (fight me it's there I see it), with dark, dark humour this is an expansive short story that will raise as many smiles as gasps of horror. I loved how this went from being a tight domestic horror to something much more. Cassell's ability to keep the escalation of events logical and believable, well as plausible as they can be in a story of this nature, shows an author with an assured and gifted sense of storytelling.

    While the story itself is entirely self-contained, I'd love to read more about the dark web villains and their reanimation company.

    Those of you looking for a quick sampler to Cassell's writing should be queuing up to this book, the two stories presented here are a fantastic representation of his writing, pacy delivery, tight lean writing and expansive ideas all make for a highly enjoyable read.

    My only gripe is I wish the two stories had been printed with the second one reversed and upside down. I can't be the only person to remember the classic spilt novels of yesteryear
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  • M Aldeburgh
    5.0 out of 5 stars Horror at its best
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 3, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    It's while since I've read a Mark Cassell story and have to admit that I really enjoyed coming back to his style of writing. It flows easily and I'm gripped and interested immediately.

    I loved River of Nine Tails. Such a refreshing and new theme. I kept thinking I knew where it was going, but I was wrong, so very wrong. This is true horror, not for the faint hearted, both visually and mentally. There's gore, and there's psychological horror. You can't get away from it. It's why his stories linger.

    Reanimation channel was also also a great tale, and maybe a warning. There is a new stream of ideas coming up in Gamer fiction in movies, about being able to control others through remote control with new technology, and this story takes a darker take on it, one that even encompasses old horror stories like Frankenstein. I really enjoyed it. Totally unpredictable which makes it so original.

    I am becoming a die hard fan of Mark Cassell's writing and stories. For those that enjoy dark horror that doesn't shy away from blood and gore, yet isn't focused on it, I definitely recommend giving this a read. It's a great introduction to Mark's writing.
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