Buster Voodoo

"The difference between BUSTER VOODOO and too many other tales of terror is its big heart, its generosity of spirit. In Dixon Green, Mason James Cole has created a highly nuanced, deeply felt character who will stick in your memory as much as his vivid descriptions of Hurricane Katrina and its grim aftermath will, as much as what lurks in Empty House and Marie Laveau's Zombie Nightmare will. It's a page turner, to be sure. But it's one with a mission beyond that, a glimpse into the soul."
-Jack Ketchum, author of OFF SEASON and THE GIRL NEXT DOOR

Dixon Green is no stranger to fear. As the child of a Voodoo priestess in a poor black neighborhood in 1940s New Orleans, he witnesses brutality, desperation, and death. When children start to disappear in the Tremé, word spreads that a terrifying legend is to blame. Buster Voodoo is back... and Dixon's sister is missing.

Sixty years later, Dixon is a custodian at a second-rate theme park, watching the clock wind down with a bottle in his hand. Life is devoid of the magic and mystery of Dixon's childhood until it comes to his attention that children are disappearing into the shadows of the run-down dark ride known as “Marie Laveau’s Zombie Nightmare.” As he begins to question his sanity, a deadly force looms on the horizon that is far more powerful than any boogeyman: Hurricane Katrina.

In two gripping interlaced narratives that build to a devastating climax, Dixon uncovers the terrible realities behind his sister’s disappearance—and his mother’s dark secrets—as he struggles to endure the savage days following in the storm’s wake.

Mason James Cole, author of the cult hit Pray to Stay Dead, returns with a chilling novel that contrasts the horrors of the imagination with the horrors of the real world. Suspenseful and heartrending, Buster Voodoo is a fever-dream that reads like Stephen King by way of Flannery O’Connor—a glimpse into a sad world on the brink of disaster and the story of one man’s struggle to unravel the haunting mystery of his childhood.

PRAISE FOR BUSTER VOODOO

"If you're a fan of Stephen King, Peter Straub, Clive Barker, or any author of equivalent standing, then keep your eyes on Mason James Cole. BUSTER VOODOO is as near a perfect read in the horror genre as you are likely to get..."
-Martin Culkin, Goodreads reviewer
“In the New Orleans of Buster Voodoo, magic and death court each other like lovers, but this is no romantic tale of French Quarter courtyards and gas-lit alleys; its brutality and its beauty live in the meaner streets. This is a story of deep blood ties, murder, and a storm that drowned a city. Avoiding the cliches and cutting to the absolute, often ugly truth of the place, Mason James Cole is writing about New Orleans and its environs as well as any living author. ”
-Poppy Z. Brite author of LOST SOULS and LIQUOR

“BUSTER VOODOO is a corker. Creepy, edgy and deeply disturbing. A bit of old school horror for savvy 21st century readers. And it’s a hell of a lot of fun.”
-Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author of CODE ZERO and V-WARS

“In BUSTER VOODOO, Mason James Cole deftly manages the tricky feat of crafting prose that is at once richly evocative and down-to-earth. The novel is peopled with characters that feel intensely real and its New Orleans setting is described with the easy, vivid authority available only to the long-time resident or native. This tale is dark and brooding from the outset, haunted by tragedies of the past, and filled with the foreboding of impending disaster. It is one of the best horror novels I’ve read in the last five years, ranking right up there with Joe Hill’s N0S4A2. Buy it and read it. You won’t be disappointed.”
-Bryan Smith, author of HOUSE OF BLOOD and THE KILLING KIND