Book Talk: Horror anthology features Ohio locales, Ohio authors

What frights lurk behind Ohio’s lovely rolling hills and placid lakes? Eighteen accomplished writers find the dark side in “That Which Cannot Be Undone: An Ohio Horror Anthology,” edited by author and screenwriter Jess Landry.

The chills start off with Dayton’s Megan E. Hart (“Coming Up for Air”), in whose “In the Clearing” a young “homeless junkie-sex-addict-alcoholic-stoner” agrees to be a surrogate mother for a couple living in secluded Hocking Hills. She doesn’t read the contract carefully.

Perhaps the most bloodcurdling tale is by Randall Drum, whose “I Dream of Teeth” follows a killer from the age of 9 to the fulfillment of his gruesome destiny. In 10 pages, this look inside an unsound mind is perfectly plotted.

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Marvin Brown of Akron, author of the impressive 2002 novella “Covet” and the 2012 suspense novel “Jigsaw Man,” contributes “Someone for Everybody,” about a an unlucky-in-love man who finally meets the right woman.

Massillon native Gwendolyn Kiste, author of the remarkable Cleveland-set debut “Rust Maidens,” is one of six contributors who have received the Bram Stoker Award from the Horror Writers Association. Her “Seven Myths They Tell You About the Town Beneath the Lake” is an unsettling, dreamlike story about a young woman obsessed with a man-made lake and what lies under it.

Lucy A. Snyder (“Sister, Maiden, Monster”) finishes the anthology with a tense story about a planned workplace shooting that goes both wrong and right.

Jess Landry’s short story “Mutter” won the 2018 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Short Fiction.

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The settings range from an abandoned Kelleys Island winery to the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield.

“That Which Cannot Be Undone” (244 pages, softcover) costs $16.99 from Cracked Skull Press.

‘Murder of a Mail-Order Bride’

Online matchmaking, a scenic railroad and the canal history of Northeast Ohio are central to the plot of “Murder of a Mail-Order Bride,” second in the “Love is Murder Mystery” series by Brecksville author Mimi Granger.

The books are set in Tinker’s Creek, which Granger acknowledged that “pretty much everyone will recognize as Peninsula” when the first book, 2021’s “Death of a Red-Hot Rancher,” was published. The associations are abundant in “Bride,” including the (possibly) mythical Peninsula python and the area of Boston Township known as Helltown.

Lizzie Hale (maybe another local reference) owns the Love Under the Covers romance book shop, which may be why the local hardware store owner, Al, comes to her for advice on how to impress his bride-to-be, arriving the next day from Russia. Lizzie and her aunt rally Al’s friends to welcome Svetlana with banners and balloons.

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Svetlana, beautiful but a little older than Al had expected, announced that the wedding would take place in two days, so again Lizzie is on the hook to plan everything, including acting as maid of honor. Her plan didn’t include trying to retrieve Svetlana’s bridal gown-clad body from the canal before the cake is even cut.

Lizzie’s crush, park ranger Max, who has jurisdiction because the entire area is in Cuyahoga Valley National Park, goes back and forth about letting her help investigate the murder. It seems that another local couple was matched by a service similar to the one that Al used to find Svetlana, and they are miserable together. Is there a connection?

“Murder of a Mail-Order Bride” (262 pages, softcover) costs $8.99 from Berkley Prime Crime. Mimi Granger is one of many pseudonyms; others are Kylie Logan (the Jazz Ramsey series about a Cleveland woman who trains dogs for human remains detection) and Lucy Ness (the Haunted Mansion series, set in a city that clearly resembles Akron).

Mimi Granger, along with about a hundred other authors, will sign books under all her names Saturday at the Buckeye Book Fair in Wooster; see the listings.

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Events

Fireside Book Shop (29 N. Franklin St., Chagrin Falls): Andrew Pegman signs “Outdoor Tales of Northeast Ohio,” 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday.

Wayne County Public Library (220 W. Liberty St., Wooster): The library’s Anniversary Author series continues with a True Crime Panel at 6 p.m. Monday, featuring Wendy Koile (“Lake Erie Murder and Mayhem”), Jane Ann Turzillo (“Wicked Women of Ohio”) and James Renner (“True Crime Addict”). At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Terry Pluto talks about his many sports books, including “Vintage Browns: A Warm Look Back at the Cleveland Browns of the 1970s, ‘80s, ‘90s and More”; at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, a Tailgate Trio of Sports features Marc Bona (“Hidden History of Cleveland Sports”), Scott Longert (“Victory on Two Fronts: The Cleveland Indians and Baseball Through the World War II Era”) and Mark Zimmerman (“Eli: The Phenom’s Story). At 2 p.m. Friday, Linda Castillo talks about her Kate Burkholder mystery series, including “The Hidden One.” Register at wcpl.org.

Hudson Library & Historical Society: Jon Meacham, whose “American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House” won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography, talks about “And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle” in a Zoom event at 7 p.m. Tuesday. At 7 p.m. Wednesday, Matt Johnson and Tess Misiaszek discuss “Branding That Means Business: How to Build Enduring Bonds between Brands, Consumers and Markets.” At 6 p.m. Thursday, Bradley Hope talks about “The Rebel and the Kingdom: The True Story of the Secret Mission to Overthrow the North Korean Regime.” Register at hudsonlibrary.org.

Wadsworth Public Library (132 Broad St.): Jane Ann Turzillo signs “Ohio Heists: Historic Bank Holdups, Train Robberies, Jewel Stings & More,” 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday.

Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library: The Online Author Talk Series continues with Lisa Napoli, discussing “Susan, Linda, Nina & Cokie: The Extraordinary Story of the Founding Mothers of NPR,” 4 p.m. Wednesday. Register at smfpl.org.

Willoughby-Eastlake Public Library (Willowick branch, 263 E. 305th St.): Wendy Kolle talks about “Lake Erie Murder and Mayhem,” 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday. Register at we247.org.

Mac’s Backs (1820 Coventry Road, Cleveland Heights): Erin Keane, author of “Runaway,” talks to Raechel Anne Jolie, author of “Rust Belt Femme,” 7 to 8 p.m. Wednesday.

Case Western Reserve University (Wolstein Building, 2103 Cornell Road): Daisy Hernández (“The Kissing Bug: A True Story of a Family, an Insect, and a Nation’s Neglect of a Deadly Disease”) presents the 2022 Rose Wohlgemuth Weisman Women’s Voices Lecture “The Power of Intimate Voices: A Talk on Memoir, Journalism, and Queer Latinidad,” 5 p.m. Thursday. Registration free but required; go to https://artsci.case.edu.

Tuscarawas County Public Library (121 Fair Ave. NW, New Philadelphia): Jane Ann Turzillo signs “Wicked Cleveland,” 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Register at tusclibrary.org.

Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library (Coventry branch, 1925 Coventry Road, Cleveland Heights): Laura Atmadarshan Santoro, author of a three-volume translation of the “Bhagavad Gita,” joins the Coventry Village Reading Series at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Appletree Books (12419 Cedar Road, Cleveland Heights): As part of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoRiMo), the Writer in the Window event returns every Friday and Saturday in November, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 to 4 p.m. The featured writer for the first weekend is Audrey Lockhart.

Buckeye Book Fair (Greystone Event Center, 50 Riffle Road, Wooster): The annual event brings more than 100 authors, illustrators and photographers who will sign their books and participate in panels on topics including sports and mystery writing. Authors include Marc Bona, Lindsay Bonilla, C. Dale Brittain, Kinley Bryan, Linda Castillo, Shelley Costa, Joyce Dyer, Angie Hockman, Miranda Liasson, Julie Anne Lindsey, Kathryn Long, Eric Nuzum, Abby Vandiver, Andrew Welsh-Huggins, Cinda Williams Chima and Neil Zurcher, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. See the complete list at buckeyebookfair.org. Admission $2.

Medina County District Library (Buckeye branch, 6625 Wolff Road, Medina): Children’s author and illustrator Will Hillenbrand gives a multimedia presentation based on his work, 10:30 a.m. Saturday.

Elyria Public Library (West River branch, 1194 W. River Road N.): The 12th annual Cascade of Authors presents eight local authors to discuss and sign their work, 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday.

Warren-Trumbull County Public Library (444 Mahoning Ave. NW): Julie Thompson, author of “The Hunt for the Last Public Enemy in Northeastern Ohio: Alvin “Creepy” Karpis and His Road to Alcatraz,” presents “The Last Great Train Robbery, in Garrettsville, Ohio,” 2 to 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Also available as a Zoom event; register at wtcpl.org.

Loganberry Books (13015 Larchmere Blvd., Shaker Heights): Aaron Jeter signs his children’s book “Weekends and Summers with Dad,” 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

Email information about books of local interest, and event notices at least two weeks in advance to BeaconBookTalk@gmail.com and bjnews@thebeaconjournal.com. Barbara McIntyre tweets at @BarbaraMcI.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Book Talk: Horror anthology features Ohio locales, Ohio authors