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Why You Should Be Reading Debra Castaneda
Debra Castaneda is an award-winning horror and dark fiction writer from California. She has previously worked in TV and radio as a journalist. This experience is put to good use in her current career as one of my personal go-to authors. Her voice and writing style are addictive. Her descriptions are lush and easy to imagine for visual readers like me. Plus, if you order a signed copy of one of her books, she wraps it so beautifully you can hardly bring yourself to open it.
The book I just finished, Circus at Devil’s Landing, is part of Debra’s Dark Earth Rising series of stand-alone books. Other books in the series, The Root Witch, The Devil’s Shallows and The Copper Man, are also spectacular reads. I recommend them all!
The Synopsis
Decades before a deadly attack wipes out a neighborhood along Roy’s Slough, a circus ship crashes ashore at Devil’s Landing.
Among the wreck’s a young woman seeking to free her captured lover, a vile ringmaster, and creatures that howl in the night.
The lifeboats carry more than the circus troupe to the fog-shrouded harbor on the central coast of cages, secrets, and a lifetime of resentment.
Hoping to fund the rest of their journey, the circus performers put on a show in the isolated village, but when a new animal act debuts, things go horrifyingly wrong.
The events that follow reveal the depth of the ringmaster’s ambition, the true nature of the beasts, a test of Ana Maria’s love, and the real story behind the deadly Slough Devils of Devil’s Landing.
Ninja Clown’s Thoughts on Circus at Devil’s Landing
I had the absolute pleasure of getting an advanced copy of Debra Castaneda’s new release Circus at Devil’s Landing. This book is the origin story of the cryptid creatures in Debra’s other work, The Devil’s Shallows. I have yet to read The Devil’s Shallows, but I do not feel that it is necessary to enjoy this Circus romp. And enjoy it I did!
Circus at Devil’s Landing is set in 1906. Our main character, Ana Maria, leaves her home in Mexico on a quest to rescue her kidnapped lover. He was sold to a villainous circus ringmaster and taken to a ship to be an unknown participant in a mysterious circus act. In order to save him, Ana Maria joins the circus and its band of misfits and sets sail with them to San Francisco.
Ana Maria has led a troubled life and has some secrets that she would like to stay hidden. But, in order to perform with the circus, at least one of her secrets will have to be revealed. And it’s a doozy! I can’t give it away because it was an awesome reveal, but trust me, it’s not what I expected.
Overall, this novella has proven to me that Debra Castaneda is extremely talented at writing creepy, atmospheric folk horror. The settings are perfect, she writes thoroughly complex characters and gives backstories for them all without using info dumps. I adore her writing and look forward to following her career for a very long time.
Highly recommended for lovers of folk horror, dark fantasy, and wonderful characters.
