Bunny's Reviews: Come One, Come All Review Spotlight

What is it about circuses that gives most of us chills? Read on about brand-new horror novel, Come One, Come All by E. Gilliland!

Come One, Come All is a thrilling horror novel by E. Gilliland that will sweep you away into its pages before you even know it.

Come One, Come All starts off in a way that has you immediately curious. Why was Louisa locked up? What is her plan now that she's out? Where is she going and what is she going to do? Louisa as the main character absolutely piques your interest and keeps you page-turning to find out what is going to happen next with her.

Come One, Come All really has some interesting paranormal elements to it. Louisa has some unique ability that makes people fear her when they realize what she is capable of doing. But when she joins this circus, it appears that she's not the only one with these abilities. When she meets ringmaster Amos Cain, you just know that things are about to get interesting. There is just something about him.

Be careful though, because as you go deeper you're going to learn that there is something truly dark about this man...and he's truly dangerous. He's hoping to get Louisa in his clutches and should he manage to do so...he won't be letting go.

I really enjoyed reading this book from beginning to end. The minute I picked up this book it was so hard to put it down. Everytime I had to go do something I regretted having to put this book down. It whispered to me concerning the characters. It teased me from afar by making me constantly think about the characters and wondering what was going to happen next.

Come One, Come All is packed with twists, turns, surprises and so much more. I ate this book up. The ending though...the ending has me just about pleading for more. The ending is darkly delicious and I'm hoping that the author will be writing more of this characters and what happens next, because I just know that there has to be more. LOL! Wishful thinking? Maybe, but a girl can hope. Right?

This book is a must read for those who love gothic horror novels with a touch of the paranormal/supernatural thrown in. Be sure you have a clear schedule when you pick this book up because once you start reading, you're not going to want to put it down. This is one book you're going to want to indulge in for Halloween. I'm rating this book 5 out of 5 stars.

Thank you to the author, E. Gilliland, and R&R Book Tours for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Come One, Come All

Publication Date: October 18th, 2022

Genre: Gothic Horror

Publisher: Bayou Wolf Press

The Pied Piper Circus lures in the lost, the lonely, people who wish to be stronger or faster or prettier…but once you join, you can never leave.

Louisa knows the dangers of the traveling carnival, but she cannot afford to stay away. Not if she wants to get rid of the white owl that’s been haunting her, invading her dreams. Not if she wants to know about the dark, sinister mark in her eyes that convinces people to follow her every whim, no matter how terrible. Not when she fears what she might do with that power.

Ringmaster Amos Cain has the answers Louisa seeks, but like everything else in the Pied Piper Circus, they won’t come without a price. And there’s something hungry living in the heart of the carnival that will never be satiated, no matter how many lost souls She consumes.

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Excerpt

Louisa had thought the Pied Piper Carnival looked surreal in the scant photographic evidence she’d managed to piece together in her search, but if anything, it was even more bizarrely gaudy in person, tinged with the smell of desperation. Look at me! the freaks and contortionists all but shouted from their faded, patched tents; and from the pretty girls with their barely there costumes fraying at the seams, Love us!; and underneath it all, a whisper so faint it could barely be noticed under the glitz of the peeling-painted signs and the shriek of the dissonant, jarring music: Come.

And people did. In droves, they answered the call of the traveling show, stumbling up to it as if they scarcely understood why they were there, but drawn all the same. Embarrassed, at first, but lured in by those too-bright lights.

At least all of her fears about sticking out like a sore thumb had been in vain. No one here seemed inclined to gawp at any of their fellow voyeurs—not even those, like she, with hair shorn so close to the scalp that bits of skin poked through. It had been an impulsive decision made once the adrenaline from nearly jumping off the roof had worn off and she’d decided, for better or worse, to come on this bizarre journey she could not quite explain, even to herself—that was, if there’d been anyone left to explain it to.

The owl made me do it, she thought wryly to herself, running a self-conscious hand over her freshly buzzed hair. The tinsel dress had been replaced with a flannel shirt two sizes too big, jean shorts, and a sensible, sturdy pair of boots so heavy that if the moon drifted off and took all the gravity with it, there she’d be, still rooted to the earth. The only concession to any kind of glamor was the heavily-coaled eyelids that were not so much an invitation as a warning. Come too close, and I’ll bite.

Despite the rather strange figure she cut, people were too caught up in the shoddy showmanship around them to notice or care. Something about the flashing lights and blaring music distracted them from the blatant disrepair: the signs hanging off their hinges, the pockmarks plastered over with pancake makeup. Simple minds, and all. Still, scoff all she liked, Louisa had to stop herself more than once from leaning in toward a shiny bauble or taking an outstretched palm.

“Pretty lady looking for a good time with a handsome fellow?” one of the popcorn vendors leered at her as she passed, scratching at the dark tendrils of hair protruding through his unbuttoned shirt.

Louisa knew she shouldn’t, but she couldn’t help herself, truly. “Yeah.” She took in a step closer, all big-eyed innocence. “You know any?”

At once the grin dissolved to a gleaming snarl. “Think you’re funny, huh? I’d watch my back if I were you.”

But Louisa only smirked to herself as she drifted back into the faceless crowd. Just try it, she dared him silently. We’ll see who walks away from it smiling.

“Happy hunting.”

She swiveled to see a woman sitting in a tassled, red velvet-upholstered booth, the hand-painted sign overhead reading ‘Madame Kassandra, Soothsayer.’ Underneath it sat a woman so ancient her skin had begun to shrink in on itself. Her eyes were a milky, unblinking white, her hair a platinum bob cut just below her chin. She stared straight ahead, not seeming to see anything, though Louisa could not shake the feeling that the old crone was looking straight through her.

Curiosity finally winning out, Louisa ventured another step closer. “You talking to me?”

Madame Kassandra beckoned her even closer with the crook of a gnarled, veined finger. Once Louisa was directly in front of her, she cupped a hand over her mouth, giving a hot, exaggerated whisper. “I know what you’re looking for.”

Oh, this ought to be good. “Do you, now?”

“Three.”

Despite herself, Louisa felt a chill course down her spine. But that was the way these shoddy carnival tellers worked, wasn’t it? Trail little breadcrumbs of generalities mixed with a healthy helping of bullshit, make people believe you could peer into their souls.

“Three what?” she bluffed as if the number meant nothing to her, though she caught herself holding her breath as she waited for the answer.

“One for each of the ones you took.” Madame Kassandra’s small, withered hand was surprisingly strong as it encircled her wrist. “But you should have kept running, Lovely Louie. This place is gonna gobble you up.”

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About the Author

Elizabeth Gilliland mostly believes in ghosts and other supernatural spooks, but she has a standing agreement with them to keep a respectful distance. When she isn’t writing, she is most likely sneaking classic Gothic novels into her class curriculum, or arguing why we need to value adaptations as art. She is also the author of the Austen University Mysteries, and she lives in Alabama with her husband and son.

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