December 11, 2025 - fundinmentalfundinmental

MY REVIEW

Scaring And Daring is an anthology of short stories that takes something familiar and twists and turns it into something new, by a collection of award winning authors. The target audience may be for children eight to twelve, but can also entertain that child in you.

Do you like fairy tales and folklore? Do you like when someone takes your favorite story and turns it into something fresh? Some familiar tales are Peter Pan, Sherlock Holmes, Jules Verne and others that are sure to entertain. I love short stories. If I only have a few minutes, I can read a story and set the book aside to be resumed later.

Eric Guignard is great at creating collections that can entertain for hours

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos — 4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

Abandon all hope, ye who enter here!

Get ready for a terrifying spin on some of literature’s most beloved tales—no story is safe! From Captain Hook’s run-in with dark magic to Sherlock Holmes narrowly escaping graveyard spirits to a happily never after for Cinderella, this horror anthology is anything but a bedtime story. In this terrifying new collection for young readers, the best-loved stories from the literary canon are revisited and reimagined with a deadly twist by some of the top authors working in middle grade today.

Featuring tales from New York Times bestselling authors Jonathan Maberry and Kelley Armstrong, Carlos Hernandez, Lisa Morton, Maurice Broaddus, and many others, this collection will haunt you long after you turn the last page. Read on—if you dare!

Created by award-winning editor Eric J. Guignard.

• In “The Hound of the Basking Villas,” a wily girl teams with young Sherlock Holmes to search for a missing boy in a fae-haunted cemetery.

• In “The Boy of La Mancha Rides a Ghost Horse,” a young Don Quixote, along with his stalwart companions, seeks honor and recognition by capturing (before time of his mother’s curfew) a ghost horse that terrorizes all of La Mancha.

• In “Hook and the Hand of Fate,” Captain Hook trades a promise for the return of his hand, but learns that barters cannot be broken in Neverland.

• In “Prince Badi az-Zaman and the Ogress Fattan,” a young prince sets out to find an ogress responsible for mayhem among his people, only to learn not all is as seems.

. . . and more!

Genre: Anthology, Childrens, Fiction, Horror, Short Stories
304 pages, Hardcover
Published August 12, 2025 by HarperCollins

ABOUT ERIC J GUIGNARD

ERIC J. GUIGNARD is a writer and editor of dark and speculative fiction, operating from the shadowy outskirts of Los Angeles, where he also runs the small press, Dark Moon Books. He’s twice won the Bram Stoker Award (the highest literary award of horror fiction), been a finalist for the International Thriller Writers Award, and a multi-nominee of the Pushcart Prize.

He has over one hundred stories and non-fiction author credits appearing in publications around the world. As editor, Eric’s published multiple fiction anthologies, including his most recent, Pop the Clutch: Thrilling Tales of Rockabilly, Monsters, and Hot Rod Horror , and A World of Horror , a showcase of international horror short fiction.

He currently publishes the acclaimed series of author primers created to champion modern masters of the dark and macabre, Exploring Dark Short Fiction ( Vol. I: Steve Rasnic Tem ; Vol. II: Kaaron Warren ; Vol. III: Nisi Shawl ; Vol. IV: Jeffrey Ford ; Vol. V: Han Song ; Vol. VI: Ramsey Campbell).

He is also publisher and acquisitions editor for the renowned +Horror Library+ anthology series. Additionally he curates the series, The Horror Writers Association Presents: Haunted Library of Horror Classics through SourceBooks with co-editor Leslie S. Klinger.

His latest books are Last Case at a Baggage Auction ; Doorways to the Deadeye ; and short story collection That Which Grows Wild (Cemetery Dance).

Outside the glamorous and jet-setting world of indie fiction, Eric’s a technical writer and college professor, and he stumbles home each day to a wife, children, dogs, and a terrarium filled with mischievous beetles. Visit Eric at: www.ericjguignard.com, his blog: ericjguignard.blogspot.com, or Twitter: @ericjguignard.

MY ERIC J GUIGNARD REVIEWS

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This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Jes Bogg will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

He only wanted to help. Now he’s being hunted.

When community carer, Baz Bexon, discovers a murder victim at a new client’s home, his life unravels. With unrestricted access to the property, he and his colleagues fall under suspicion.

Determined to clear his name, and wishing to safeguard the disabled occupant he’s employed to assist, Baz turns amateur sleuth on the seedier backstreets of Hull.

But his questioning arouses the interest of a killer. One fixated on revenge…

A Murder On Call is the gripping first novel in the Baz Bexon series. If you enjoy unlikely heroes, break-neck action, and gritty blends of mystery and thriller, dive into Jes Bogg’s debut.

Read an Excerpt

The house remained silent, apart from the background buzz of the central heating.

“I reckon she’s still in bed,” Baz said.

“Yup. Let’s go.” Shell took the lead. When she glanced through the open doorway beside the kitchen, she halted, staring into the darkened room.

“Hey, warn me when you’re gonna do that, would you?” Baz chided, stepping aside so as not to plough into her.

“Oh, crap!” Shell motioned through the door.

Baz followed her gaze. Someone lay on the threshold between the dining room and lounge.

“She’s fallen.” He swallowed.

They hastened to put on their disposable gloves, Shell pausing to turn on the dining room light.

A woman wearing a pink fluffy nightgown and matching slippers was curled on her side, her auburn hair pulled back in a tight bun and a pair of round-lensed spectacles askew on her large, aquiline nose.

Baz crouched beside her and took her hand with care. It chilled his palm.

“Jasmine, can you hear me?” His voice sounded foreign to his ears.

No response.

Pressing his fingertips into the woman’s neck, he felt for a pulse. Nothing.

He held his wrist to her mouth, hoping to feel the faintest tickle of a breath.

Again, nothing.

Pulling aside her robe, he checked for chest movements and froze.

A large kitchen knife protruded from her stomach, sticky blood coating the inside of her gown. He snatched his hand away and leaned back. “She’s dead.”

About the Author:

Jes was born, raised and continues to reside in England’s northern city, Kingston Upon Hull. She lives with her mother, eight-year-old daughter and their Abyssinian cat, Petrie.

Growing up, she was inspired by Point Horror stories, Sweet Valley High and anything by K A Applegate, and as an adult she was gripped by the writers Agatha Christie, Elizabeth Peters, Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child, Lee Child and Scott Mariani.

As an advocate of breastfeeding, Jes volunteers for a local trust, assisting mothers to feed their children, in addition to promoting the benefits of human milk to their relatives. She has also taken on a new role at a nearby gymnastics club, a sport she loves to watch if unable to participate in.

A fair warning—don’t get her talking about ancient Egypt or cats, you’ll never get away.

Throughout her adult life, Jes has always been the one persuaded to produce thank you cards, letters of complaint, résumés, advertisements, and much more for family and friends. The constant excuse being, “You know how to write.”

And so, A Murder on Call was born.

Substack: https://substack.com/@jesbogg
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61559894321509
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/author_jes_bogg/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Call-Baz-Bexon-Book-ebook/dp/B0FX5ZV2RT/ref=sr_1_1
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Murder-Call-Baz-Bexon/dp/1919314113/ref=sr_1_2
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/a-murder-on-call
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-murder-on-call-jes-bogg/1148566957?ean=9781919314105
Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/a-murder-on-call/id6754258225

Follow the tour and comment. The more you comment, the better your chances of winning. Follow the tour HERE.