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"No turning back once I turn on the lights..." And so Sara’s journey begins. She has come here for two reasons: to find her sister or at least learn what happened to her, and to explore her own power. But she soon learns that to fail is to die and that no one is telling her the whole truth. A GAME
OF COLORS is an excellent tale painted with vivid writing and compelling characters.
Urbancik blends magic, witchcraft, psychic vampirism and secret societies into a fresh and
potent story that grabs you and never lets go. Keep your eyes on John Urbancik, folks;
he’s a terrific writer with a bright future and this is your chance to get in on the
ground floor.
—Gary Jonas author of CURSE OF THE MAGAZINE KILLERS
"John Urbancik’s ‘A Game of Colors’ is more than an occult masterpiece; it’s a whole new way of looking at reality. It engages the mind and the senses, casting a spell over the reader as powerful as any cast by its characters." —Garrett Peck, co-editor of PERSONAL DEMONS and TOOTH AND CLAW
As a reviewer, I had come to think of chapbooks and the stories that they tell as somewhat sub-par. Not awful, but the quality of the writing is generally not up to the level of what one would consider "mainstream" publishing. That's what I would have said...but Yard Dog Press has proven that that is not always the case.
A review posted on The Horror Channel By Morgan Ploutz / Wednesday, February 22, 2006 John Urbancik's A Game of Colors is about a young woman named Sara. Sara’s engagement has just ended (don’t worry, it doesn’t seem as if she really loved him -- or vice versa), and more importantly, her sister has disappeared. Sara finds out where her sister was last seen and decides to go undercover, as it were, to look for her. This is where our story starts. Sara has discovered that her sister, Katie, was involved with a coven and is entering their initiation in order to search for her sister. The coven, led by a ballsy bitch named Gypsy, is located beneath a night club. But they’re not a "normal" coven in the sense that they don’t practice a form of paganism that most would recognize. They manipulate and use colors. That’s right, colors! Now, when you say it like that, it sounds kind of hokey...and that’s what I thought before I read it. But give it a chance. Sara’s initiation resembles some CIA secret ops training more than any mystical induction, and the tension of the constant barrage of physical and emotional attacks conveys itself exceptionally well to the reader. Sara’s search for Katie doesn’t seem quite so pressing however, and it appears as if she almost used it as an excuse to search within the coven. She’s learning to control and manipulate the colors with an inherent talent, becoming deeply involved with another young man in the coven and coming to respect Gypsy. But Sara’s quest is not the only thing going on; there’s a power struggle taking place within the coven. The characters are all very well done, though my personal favorite is Gypsy. She’s strong, sensual, and powerful. The writing itself is very tight, and the tension is wonderfully thick. There is an air of darkness, despite there being little death or dismemberment, making for a charming and entertaining tale of a different kind of magic. Though there are some questions left unanswered at the conclusion, that is to be expected since A Game of Colors is the first in a series of stories. I’m looking forward to the next installment…so long as Gypsy returns.
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