Roberta Writes – Halloween Book Festival: The Hay Bale and Dog Meat by Priscilla Bettis

The Hay Bale

What Amazon says

Professor Claire Davenport yearns to be a mother. After suffering four miscarriages, the university microbiologist tries and fails to qualify as an adoptive mother. Then Claire’s husband leaves.

Alone and emotionally wounded, Claire takes a summer sabbatical from her microbiology classes and escapes to rural Virginia to heal. There, she meets local farmers with strange agricultural practices.

Claire moves into the historic manor house she rented for the summer, and an abandoned child greets her. Is the child real, an answer to her prayers? Or is he a figment of her tormented emotions? Perhaps the tight-knit locals are playing a trick on the science lady from the city.

Whatever the boy’s origin, Claire is determined to find the truth, but the truth may be bloody.

My review

The Hay Bale is one of the best horror short stories I’ve read in along time. It is clever and creepily disturbing with a climax that will have you wondering about it for a long time after you’ve finished reading the last page. For me, it was a bit reminiscent of Children of the Corn by Stephen King with it’s remote rural setting and deviant cult-like community beliefs and behaviours. The author created and maintained the same breath-holding tension.

Claire is a successful career microbiologist who has had four miscarriages and had to face the realisation that she cannot control her own biology. An unsuccessful attempt at adoption due to her unstable mental condition has led to the complete breakdown of her relationship. In an effort to pull herself together and get back on her feet, Claire has rented an old farmhouse in a remote location. She plans to rest and come to terms with her losses and future path.

Soon after her arrival, Claire starts to hear strange scratching sounds. She also meets the peculiar minister of the local church who warns her to keep away from a seemingly diseased hay bale. Are the two tied together, and if so, how?

The story is well written and fast paced with good tension throughout. If you like good horror and are not feint hearted, you will enjoy this dark short tale.

Amazon US purchase link: https://www.amazon.com/Hay-Bale-Priscilla-Bettis-ebook/dp/B09P4PJQLT

Dog Meat

What Amazon says

Kalb Ward slaughters dogs for the Colony, a closed, dystopian society where resources are tight, free speech is nonexistent, and those in power have eyes and ears everywhere. Ward desperately wants to quit his grisly job, but he knows he’ll be arrested, or worse, if he tries.

In the Colony, a citizen’s future is determined by a placement exam. Score high, and you’re set for life. Score low, and you end up living a nightmare–like Ward.

My review

This book is not for the faint of heart. It delves deeply into the cruelty of the dog meat industry and some of the descriptions are very disturbing. If you have a strong stomach, this books is worth the read.

Kalb Ward lives in a post-revolutionary dystopian society where all citizens are assessed through an examination at the age of 11 and assigned their future path in society. Ward was ill when he took the test and didn’t perform well, as a result his assigned path was that of a manual labourer. Despite the best efforts of his parents, they are not able to change this outcome and Ward has gone on to become a dog slaughterer for a restaurant. His job is very distasteful and distressing to him and the only way he can get through the killing of the dogs, which must involve extreme torture in order to season the meat, is by dissociating from his body. His ability to dissociate give the reader the first indication of Ward’s strength of mind and determination. Ward is desperate to find a way out of his awful life, even if it means going to jail which is called re-education by the ruling party.

Ward was an interesting character who reminded me a bit of Winston in 1984. In fact, the dystopian world inhabited by Ward also has a slightly ‘1984’ feel in that it has a version of a Big Brother ensuring that all citizens toe the party line and no infractions or transgressions of the societal laws are tolerated.

As the story unfurls, the reader learns that Ward’s father was an intelligent and successful man who was murdered by revolutionaries and his mother is also a woman of superior intellect. The frustration felt by Ward in his job that is not only dead-end, but also very cruel, is understandable given his obvious inherited intellect, and kind heart. His rising up against the restrictions imposed on him is not at all surprising, but there are a few interesting aspects to Ward’s character that are exposed through revelations of his past and present behaviours over the course of this intense novella.

I am always fascinated by the attitude, determination, and fortitude that people can exhibit in the most adverse of circumstances. The author has tapped into the intriguing aspect of human behaviour with the creation of Ward.

Amazon US purchase link: https://www.amazon.com/Dog-Meat-Priscilla-Bettis-ebook/dp/B0B8QG79DK