The Scary Reviews

Genre: Horror
Length: 179 Pages
Publisher: Sinister Grin Press
Release date: May 15, 2018
Synopsis: With an introduction by Bram Stoker Award winning author Stephanie Wytovich.

Infants are vanishing all over Waitangi, a small island nestled in the Pacific Ocean. The local tribe believes a colossal albatross is responsible. Worse still, they are convinced that the seabird had been trained to carry out these sinister kidnappings.

On the other side of the globe, in England, a troubled Maori girl falls in love with Aryan — a charismatic fire-breather. As their doomed relationship unfolds, a tragedy strikes, leaving her forever changed. Grieving, she travels to the island in desperate search of her estranged father and seeking answers to her shrouded origins. Will her actions influence the mysterious events occurring on the isle?

Review copy provided in exchange for an honest review

Toroa was like many of the books from Erik Hofstatter in one very specific aspect. It’s the very vivid visual imagery that was infused in this book and weaved throughout each story. It’s a unique quality that added an extra layer to the story. I was shocked by the range of emotions I felt. I seriously forgot how he goes for the throat. I hated Mahi, and there was nothing but loathing for her mother. I can’t remember a character who was more broken and poorly equipped to make a sound decision.

Her journey with Aryan was self sabotaged by her irrational and odd decision-making. Mahi was a complex and nasty character. She was on the verge of motherhood and despised children. Erik Hofstatter did a masterful job of creating a character so void of empathy and teetering on the edge of being a psychopath. Both Mahi and her mother were hypocrites and the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. This was a heck of an emotional rollercoaster and a solid debut novel.

Link to purchase Toroa

Praise for Toroa –

“Erik Hofstatter is his own brand of mad genius. He’s as fearless as he is emotive, and as twisted as he is fun. In this, his debut novel, Erik displays all the hallmarks of the unique talent proven in his previous works. This book will make you burn, make you scream, make you wish you’d never started it… even as you gather yourself to turn the next page.” – Karen Runge, author of Seeing Double

Praise for Erik Hofstatter –

“… the emotional tug that The Crabian Heart exerts on the reader is palpable. The Crabian Heart is also a coming-of-age tale, one that resonates with the pangs of unrequited love. And as such, it concludes, like all great coming-of-age stories, with a very difficult and painful realisation for the love-struck main character. By the end of its 100 pages you will find yourself both haunted and moved by Hofstatter’s evocative writing.” – Starburst Magazine

“With The Pariahs, Erik Hofstatter has created a stark and chilling vision of a radiation-damaged world and the unfortunate heirs to it. His straightforward, unflinching prose does not shy away from brutality, examining dichotomies of strength and weakness, beauty and ugliness, and the things that truly matter when everything is taken away.” – Bram Stoker Finalist author Mary SanGiovanni

“These horror stories read like sharp, hard blows to the gut. Grab it and give it a read.” –  Bram Stoker Finalist John F.D. Taff on Moribund Tales

Erik Hofstatter, biography

Erik Hofstatter is a dark fiction writer and a member of the Horror Writers Association. Born in the wild lands of the Czech Republic, he roamed Europe before subsequently settling on English shores, studying creative writing at the London School of Journalism. He now dwells in Kent, where he can be encountered consuming copious amounts of mead and tyrannizing local peasantry.

His work appeared in various magazines and podcasts around the world such as Morpheus Tales, Crystal Lake Publishing, The Literary Hatchet, Sanitarium Magazine, Wicked Library, Tales to Terrify and Manor House Show. ‘Rare Breeds’ is out now via Dark Silo Press.

You can find out more about Erik on his Website, on Facebook, and on Twitter.

Would you like to feature?

If you would like to review Toroa or feature Erik with an interview or guest article for a media publication, blog, or author blurb, please e-mail Erin Al-Mehairi, publicist, at hookofabook@hotmail.com.