Welcome to Day 7 of the Twelve Days of Creepfest! (See end of this post for information regarding my giveaway of five free downloads of Monsters Unmasked, one download of Make or Break, and the Question of the Day. Find a listing of all the Creepfest authors - whom you should visit, trust me! - HERE.)
I "discovered" today's guest, Marissa Farrar, when I polled Creepfest participants in search of authors who had a zombie story. As with yesterday's guest, Axel Howerton, I wanted to feature some writers of zombie fiction since Monsters Unmasked is also in that genre. And as with Axel, reading Marissa's story, The Body Farm, served as a gateway that will lead me to read much more of the author's work.
Book Description:
Doctor Eleanor Armitage is under no illusions that people find her job to be macabre. That she spends her days surrounded by the dead would be understood had she been a funeral director or even a forensic pathologist. But Eleanor studies the
life-cycles of insect on decomposing bodies at the Forensic Anthropology Center--an acre of ground where bodies are left in various conditions to decompose for science.Working late one night with her colleague Robert Dane, they discover a couple of the bodies in the grounds have been disturbed. When they head out to try to figure out who has been tampering with the bodies, one of the dead begins to move.
Trapped in a high-security research center, enclosed by ten feet, razor-wire topped walls, they find themselves surrounded by the living dead.
Suddenly Eleanor has to learn if her science is enough to save their lives...
My Impressions:
Could there possibly be a worse place in which to find yourself when the dead decide to rise than a body farm? These reanimated corpses aren't your stereotypical slow, shambling, semi-sentient creatures found in the majority of zombie fiction, either. They're fast, the more-newly-dead retain a dangerous amount of cognitive ability and memory (how to open a door, for example), and the group as a whole seems to have some sort of hive mentality, enabling a flow of information and cooperation.
Uh-oh!
The Body Farm also provides a solid scientific basis for the cause of reanimation, something that is rarely done in the genre. ("We don't know how it happened, and don't have time to worry about it, what with fighting for our lives and all," being the norm.) This "novelette" is just over 10,000 words, giving more depth and dimension than a shorter work, and could easily read as the first few chapters of a full novel set in this world, though I don't know that Marissa plans any such project. (Marissa... hint, hint!)
In a comment on my post about romantic elements in the horror genre, she claims to write "romantic horror," a practice I endorse wholeheartedly. I loved The Body Farm, and will now begin reading my way through the rest of Marissa's books and stories.
Head over to her website, check out the novels (where you can find the links to buy these tantalizing tales), and even read a free short story! You'll be glad you did!
About the Author:
Marissa Farrar is a multi-published horror and paranormal author. She was born in Devon, England, loves to travel and has lived in both Australia and Spain. She now resides in Devon with her husband, two children, a crazy Spanish rescue dog and four hens. She has a degree in Zoology, but her true love has always been writing.
Her dark take on a vampire romance, Alone, was first published in 2009 and has now been re-launched by Red Hot Publishing. The second book in the series, Buried, is now available to buy. The third in the series, Captured, will be published early 2012.
Her short stories have been accepted for a number of anthologies including, Their Dark Masters, Red Skies Press, Masters of Horror: Damned If You Don’t, Triskaideka Books; and 2013: The Aftermath, Pill Hill Press. Her own collection of paranormal short stories, Where the Dead Live, is also available.
If you want to know more about Marissa, then please visit her website at www.marissa-farrar.blogspot.com. You can also find her at her facebook page, www.facebook.com/marissa.farrar.author or follow her on twitter @marissafarrar.
She loves to hear from readers and can be emailed at marissafarrar@hotmail.co.uk.
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On the evening of December 23, I'll be awarding five free downloads of Monsters Unmasked! You can receive one entry each time you post a comment on one of my Creepfest blogs. You will receive TWO additional entries if you correctly answer my Question of the Day, the answers to which are easily found on my author page. Please be sure to email those answers to me at ripleygold@gmail.com with Question of the Day in the subject line. Do not leave the answers in the comments section.
Additionally, one day (soon!) the QOTD will be about my romantic suspense novel, Make or Break. One lucky question-answerer will receive a free download of that book!
QUESTION OF THE DAY: What large metal creature resides in my Writing Lair?
MY LINKS:
Official Lori Whitwam Author Page
Follow Me On Twitter
Thanks so much for the review, Lori! Glad you enjoyed my story!
ReplyDeleteMarissa's one of my favorite people that I've met this year. :-) So glad the two of you got to meet! Happy Creepfest!
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