Bedbugs

Rating:
Summary: A First-Rate Talent
Review: Bedbugs is an excellent collection in every respect but then why wouldn't it be? Rick Hautala is a first-rate talent who deserves much more note and notice than he's received lately. In addition to being a great storyteller, Rick has a good deal to say about our time. His stories are often wry comments on life in the new century. Spooky and cautionary tales. Bedbugs has something for every taste, from a few that EC Comics would have published with delight, to some horrifying psychological suspense stories that Ruth rendell readers will appreciate. A fine introduction to Rick's work--and a guaranteed pleasure to read for readers of all kinds.

Rating:
Summary: Bedbugs
Review: I believe the "Horror Genre" is a difficult one to define and not many writers can enter that ordained world.
However, Rick Hautala is one of those gifted few whose name will be placed upon thos hallowed walls.

In his short story anthology book, "Bedbugs," I've been given an opportunity to read this writer's work from
the last twenty years.

"Schoolhouse", " . . from a Stone" and "Rubies and Pearls" are three very good examples of Rick Hautala's
genre talents. Each story different: one deals with the supernatural, the other has comic relief and the third,
"Rubies and Pearls" deal with, what I call, the "human horror,"

What makes a writer good is his or her ability to write in any genre. They are not limited to one style or
another. Rick Hautala is that writer. He frightens us, disturbs us, makes us jump back and peer through the
world he's created in his stories.

Elizabeth Bowen, Irish novelist & short story author, once said, "Can there be something tonic about pure
active fear in these times of passive, confused oppression? It is nice to choose to be frightened, when one need
not be."

Thank you, Mr. Hautala, for the tonic.

Anastasia S. Weigle
Director
Warren Memorial Library
Westbrook, ME 04092

Rating:
Summary: A wildly imaginative collection
Review: One of the things I like best about Mr. Hautala's stories is the range and diversity. From circus dancers to IRS agents, they all have a place in the crazy universe of BEDBUGS. My favorite story is "The Schoolhouse", which is a delightfully creepy trip back into the nightmare of grade school.

I read this book in two nights and loved every minute of it. Mr. Hautala's prose style is easy to read and he knows how to write a rocking good story. BEDBUGS is destined to become a classic!