(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this review, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)

I've already reviewed something by horror writer Lori R. Lopez before, the wispy story collection Chocolate-Covered Eyes, and mentioned at that point that I was looking forward to seeing something a little longer and heftier from her; and now here it is, an "Author's Draft" version (think "Director's Cut") of a full-length horror tale, a sweeping story that takes place over multiple periods of human history among a whole host of different Latin communities around the world. But I have to confess, I'm not much of a horror fan, which means that even a bit of the usual tropes of this genre is usually too much for me, of which there are lots here in this example -- the overly flowery prose style, the melodramatic plot, the 'BWOO-HAA-HAA' tone of the entire thing. But I never think it fair for a genre book to get penalized just for displaying the traits of its genre, simply because the reviewer isn't much of a fan of that genre; and so that's why I'm giving it at least a middle-of-the-road score here, and am humbly suggesting that you get the opinion of a more dedicated horror reviewer if you're truly interested in learning more about this book.

Out of 10: 7.5 ( )