The Black Church
When Daniel Ivanov's father dies in a freak accident, he inherits all his worldly possessions, including a hand-woven Anatolian prayer rug whose bright colors and elaborate designs have been flawlessly preserved over the past 600 years.
But the young lawyer soon learns the ageless tapestry is much more than it seems when he begins to see the terror-stricken faces of his loved ones within its intricate patterns. And he is suddenly plagued by vivid dreams and dark visions of a mysterious Black Church standing amid mist-shrouded mountains.
As his life unravels around him, Daniel descends into a pit of madness and terror, driven by an ancient curse that threatens to destroy everything and everyone he loves, unless he can uncover its terrible secret.
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Toby Tate
Toby Tate has been a writer since about the age of 12, when he first began writing short stories and publishing his own movie monster magazine. He is a freelance journalist and writer with dozens of pieces published on sites like eHow.com as well as in The Pedestal Magazine, Famous Monsters of Filmland, Scary Monsters Magazine and more.
An Air Force brat who never lived in one place more than two years, Toby joined the U.S. Navy soon after high school and ended up on the east coast. Toby has since worked as a cab driver, a pizza delivery man, a phone solicitor, a shipyard technician, a government contractor, a retail music salesman, a bookseller, a cell phone salesman, a recording studio engineer, a graphic designer and a newspaper reporter.
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Reviews and Comments
You know, sometimes horror really tries to do too much. There was a time when horror stories were simple . . . when they were fun and frightening . . . when they focused on actually being horrifying, rather than on trying to build some sort of thematic, allegorical commentary on the human condition. That's not to say a good horror story can't have a deeper meaning, just that I prefer it when that message doesn't get in the way of the chills. Toby Tate smartly plays with that understanding in the early chapters of The Black Church, laying the foundations for what initially seems destined to be a tale of faith and redemption. I say initially, because there comes a point where you realize he's messing with you, that all the talk of God and faith is just a smokescreen. Clear away the smoke, stare into the flames, and you find an old-fashioned horror story that delivers thrills and chills in equal measure. Take one cursed prayer rug, a family with a dark history, a series of unfortunate 'accidents', and a sort of serialized nightmare connecting them, and you've got a great little story. Tate just keeps piling on the horror, building a very effective psychological thriller that is driven by some very dark, very supernatural forces. It's a fantastic read, right up to the twist sort of ending that you can't help but see coming, even if you can't believe he actually took it there. If I were to have one minor complaint it would be that the story races along too quickly, without giving us time to really get to know any of the characters. It feels like a short story where the body count forced it to outgrow the page count. In the end, though, I'd much rather have that adrenaline rush than a novel full of fluff and padding, so let's call that a comment rather than a complaint. The contemporary story is very well told, with some real dread, and some real horror. The dream flashbacks are a nice touch, and really help to not only add some mystery, but provide a solid background for the supernatural element. All in all, a truly horrifying read. http://beauty-in-ruins.blogspot.ca/2013/12/beware-black-churches-and-cursed-prayer.html