Customer Reviews

The Gallows Tree: A Mothman's Tale

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am entirely fascinated by the lore of the Mothman and the events in Point Pleasant, West Virginia in 1966 and 1967. Knowing this, a family member gave this book to me as a Christmas gift.

I wanted to like it. I really did. Unfortunately, the editing is incredibly poor and the language is childish at times. There are so many obvious errors, it makes the reading frustrating and stilted. I recognize some of the language is based on regional dialect, but having lived in West Virginia for four years myself and having numerous relatives still living there, I can tell you the language often comes off as racist and ignorant. The offensive language and stereotyping comes not just from "the bad" characters like Madja, Queen of The Ghouls. The book is laced with ugliness masquerading as regional charm and wit.

This book comes courtesy of "PublishAmerica." It's unlikely it would have been released by another publisher. The roots of a great story are in the pages, but there clearly was not enough time spent in writing and no time spent editing and improving the work.

No matter how many of the authors friends post their only review as a five-star rave, the fact remains the book is poorly written and riddled with mistakes and errors. The mistakes and errors are in basic grammar, word usage and spelling and have nothing to do with whether or not the text follows any previous work regarding the Mothman phenomenon. The author apparently doesn't know the difference between "illusion" and "allusion." Or, when to use "there" instead of "their." They are mistakes that cannot even be attributed to the colorful language of the characters. Spelling errors seem to be on every other page. These are mistakes that would be annoying enough in a public blog, let alone a "published" novel.

No one who purchases this book should be under any impression other than that it is a work of fiction. However, it doesn't matter if you are a male reader or a female reader. Like the author, her defenders apply sexist remarks instead of owning up to the shortcomings of the work. Certain basic language skills should always apply to published works. This book falls far short.

I wanted to recommend this book, but I can't. It gets two stars because it's about The Moth.

Do not waste your time or money on this book, it is terribly written, there are many spelling errors, and mistakes.

I am really suprised that this author (?), found anyone who would publish this. What a joke. I only gave this one

star, because, I could not give it none.

"The Gallows Tree: A Mothman's Tale" is anything but an amateurish novel in need of an

editor. This is a truly original novel brought out by PublishAmerica last year. Granted, it

does not follow the usual lines of the West Virginia Mothman story, and the book has more

in common with Anne Rice and Mary Shelley than John Keel. But like the "Da Vinci Code"

Susan Sheppard's novel does not claim to be anything more than pure fiction. As far as "The

Gallows Tree" being racist -- That is off the mark, the slave dialect is written from

pre-Civil War times and any racist comments made are ones by the Majda, Queen of Ghouls.

Her character is meant to be evil and no one you would bring home to mother! Just because

a character makes terrible remarks doesn't mean the author believes that way. Is Anne Rice

a vampire? Is Stephen King an ax murderer? Did Edgar Allan Poe kill his wife?

Susan Sheppard's book is like entering a rich dream, filled with nuances of emotion, sex,

violence, laughter and poetry. "The Gallows Tree: A Mothman's Tale" is in fact a very

romantic book that might appeal more to women than men. Perhaps that is the problem the

previous reviewer had with it. "The Gallows Tree: A Mothman's Tale" not really a guy book

and perhaps the Mothman is typically more guy subject matter.

This is gloriously ghoulish dark fiction that finally does justice (in an entertaining and erotic way) to the West Virginia Mothman legend "sighted almost one hundred times" after November 14, 1966 not far from the hills of the author's birth, than any Hollywood movie ever could.

Such a strange occurrence, Sheppard says "helped shape my imagination and set the tone for my future writings," and as the back cover reads.

The queen of parapsychological and other supernatural works, Sheppard is already recognized for her Phoenix Cards; A Witch's Runes; The Astrololgical Guide to Seduction & Romance and Cry of the Banshee.

In her novel, Sheppard has created a magnificent version of what one young woman initially saw: "the Mothman... encased in his skin wings, clutching his knees." The antagonist to the story, Lucy Benz murdered three husbands and seeks to survive beyond the grave by assuming the bodies of beautiful, healthy women.

Her son, Charis, the Mothman, hopes to redeem his birth to such a monster by rescuing Swann, a reporter, before she's sacrificed at the Gallows Tree. The haunting tale resurrects both Faulkner and Poe, merging their substance and style, in fact, in a genre far superior to the film that starred Richard Gere.

The author, daughter of an oil-well worker, grew up poor in Appalachia and is deft at intertwining the dialect of "white trash" with literate dreamers and drunkards.

"The Mid-Ohio Valley" one character explains, "is said to have more species of moths than any other spot in the Western Hemisphere. This includes the jungles of Mexico and the rainforest in South America. If this is so, perhaps some psychic force wreaks havoc on the current dimension we live in. You might say, in space and time, there is a tear. All kinds of oddball things squeak through that cosmic tear. Such anomalies become known as inter-dimensional beings, like our Mothman."

If Appalachia had an Anne Rice, it would have to be author Susan Sheppard, a woman with remarkable gifts. This writer deserves to have a wider audience for her magnificent creations. Recommended!