April, 2012 Reviews

11/22/63 by Stephen King (2011 Simon & Schuster / 849 pp / hc) 

I admit it, I grinned at the first mention of a certain iconic white-and-red car … and I squealed like a little girl when I realized we were paying another visit to Derry. I pounced on and eagerly devoured every familiar face, place, name, in-joke and reference. 

THAT, for me, was the best part of this book. The rest was good, too, but, c’mon, Derry! 1958 Derry! 

Because, yeah, 11/22/63 is Stephen King’s take on time travel, it’s his look at one of the watershed moments of American history, the assassination of Kennedy – the “where were you when you heard” of a generation, a key “if you could go back” question. 

It’s a huge, daunting, and ambitious project to tackle, and one that plenty of other writers have attempted with varying degrees of success. For that matter, King’s tinkered with the general idea before, in THE DEAD ZONE. So much to consider … the myriad ripples and repercussions … how even a small single change might resonate in unexpected ways … what someone’s personal duty and responsibility even ARE when it comes to foreknowledge, interference, destiny, and such concepts. 

Me, I’d be very bad as a time traveler or spacefarer, the Prime Directive and all that. I’d be a bad wildlife documentarian, let alone anything else, because if I saw some poor lost baby animal seperated from the group or left behind, I wouldn’t be able to callously stand there filming while it made those plaintive little cries. 

Do you save people? Do you avert a terrible event? How do you know that you’re doing the right thing? Does it matter? Let’s not even get into the muddle of one’s personal history and paradoxes and what if you invalidate your whole existence. 

Like I said, huge, daunting, ambitious project to tackle. King mentions in the afterword that he’d originally wanted to start this book back in 1972 but didn’t for several reasons. I’m glad he waited. I think the book NOW is much stronger, much deeper, much more philosophical and compelling, than it would have been THEN. 

Oh, right, I suppose I should do a bit of a summary, huh? Okay … Jake Epping is a divorced schoolteacher in a little Maine town, and the guy who runs the local greasy spoon diner lets him in on one shocker of a secret: a doorway to the past. To a precise moment in 1958. No matter how many times you go, that’s where and when you end up … and no matter how long you stay, only a couple minutes have gone by on this end. 

The diner owner intended to stay in the past until it caught up with that watershed moment in 1963, and then stop the assassination and save Kennedy’s life. He had gathered all the info he could, poked into the conspiracy theories, and knew that he had to be sure before he acted against Oswald. But, when his failing health meant he might not last that long, especially what with medical care what it was in that era, he realized he needed someone else to take over this crucial task. 

He chooses Jake, and sends Jake on some test runs to alter events that can be verified immediately. Jake agrees. It’ll mean living in the 1950s and 1960s, making all sorts of adjustments from major to miinor. It’ll also mean, as Jake finds out, additional complications. Like, for instance, falling in love with a woman who, in his own time, would be in her eighties … and having to weigh the dilemma of his own happiness with the possible fate of the world. 

Big league stuff, all right! Thoroughly researched, expertly written, well-thought-out … it maybe falls flat a bit toward the end, the way King epics sometimes do … but, again, c’mon, Derry, 1958? That alone for me was worth more than the price of admission!

-Christine Morgan

PITCH by William Ollie (2012 Dark Regions Press / 252 pp / tp)

In 1903, the Devil himself supernaturally saved William Pitch from an angry mob, bent on hanging him for an act of adultry.  The catch?  Every 13 years, Pitch must sacrifice a group of young boys to his Dark Master at an isolated mansion in a small West Virginian mining town.

Flash forward to 1968: Sheriff Nathan Hayes is still dealing with the death of his twin brother, as well as his dwindling police force.  A group of junior high students are dealing with a nasty old teacher, and the town is once again dealing with a new outbreak of murders, kidnappings, and other strange happenings.

And we, the readers, are asked to deal with a by-the-numbers, cliched horror novel that offers nothing new to the "ancient-evil-returns / deal-with-the-devil" thing.  Ollie (who is no slouch when it comes to occultic horror) pens his latest offering with gusto, passion, and at a quick pace, but seasoned genre fans have read this a thousand times already.

Recommended ONLY for those who can't get enough of Old Scratch...

Smell Rating: 1

RUSTING CHICKENS by Gene O’Neill (2012 Dark Regions Press / 97 pp / limited edition tp)

Well, this is one peculiar little book … I’m still not altogether sure what I think of it. Half the story, I really liked, found fascinating, and wanted to read much more of. The other half just didn’t quite catch my interest, though not through any flaw in the writing, just because it wasn’t something that catches my interest. 

It’s a YMMV situation for sure. Then again, that could be said for all books. So, with Rusting Chickens, let’s start with what I liked – I liked the chickens! And the other metal sculptures, which have this eerie way of not being in the same place or the same position they used to be. Though you never quite see them move, never quite catch them in the act. 

At least, that’s what returned Marine Rob McKenna thinks, and after everything he went through in Pakistan – coming home badly injured both physically and psychologically – he can’t be sure how far to trust his own perceptions. Or his wife, who claims not to notice anything odd at all, and whose memories of events don’t line up with his. 

Does she know about the chickens? Is she doing it on purpose? Is someone else messing with them? Who? Why? Is it madness? Paranoia? The descriptions of Rob’s inner struggle and suffering are anguishingly vivid to read. 

The descriptions of the chickens are damn creepy too. Reminded me of the hedge animals in King’s The Shining, which my aunt told me would mean the topiary at Disneyland’s Small World ride would forever after scare the hell out of me. On that score, my aunt wasn’t altogether wrong. And let’s face it, there are some unnerving pieces of sculpture and statuary out there. I’ve seen plenty. I don’t think I’d feel very comfortable having them in my yard. These chickens, rusting though they are, totally fit right in. 

The other half of the story, the part that didn’t grab me so much, involved flashbacks to Rob’s time in the military, which led to him becoming the damaged wreck of a man who now has to deal with these damn chickens. It’s the gritty horrors of war, and I’m just not such the fan of war stories. 

I came up with various theories and suspected reveals during the course of the read, and missed the mark on them all. The ending twist was a fresh, even beautiful surprise that in no way lessened the tragedies.

-Christine Morgan

OVERKILL by Robert Buettner (2010 Baen Books / 402 pp / mmp)

Fresh off his five-novel "Orphanage" series, Buettner returned in 2010 with a new series that takes place some time afterwards (there's mention here of a visit to a museum that commemortates the Psuedopod wars of those novels). I waited a while for this 2010 release to come to mass market paperback, and the wait was well worth it (in fact, I should've just sprung for the trade edition).

As a child, Jazen Parker was born on a planet where births have been outlawed.  Raised by a go-between woman, she raises him and eventually enlists him as a soldier.  Now at 23 years of age, he's a hero veteran of a brutal tank war, and is now in hiding over his illegal birth.  Enter Cutler, a sleazy capitalist who hires Parker and a sexy but lethal earthling named Kit to help him track down and capture a grezzen, one of the deadliest animals in the universe.  They live on a desloate planet where humans have built two small cities, and the chances of them capturing a grezzen (and not being eaten by some of the other wildlife) is slim to none.

After they manage to capture a female grezzen, Cutler double crosses Parker, Kit, and Zhondro, a one-time enemy of Parker who now works with them.  Cutler manages to get the grezzen back to base, figuring his human helpers will be killed.  But the son of the captured grezzen (who can communicate with the humans) discovers what's going on, and latently helps them get back to base so he can find his mother and take revenge on Cutler.

While I was expecting a military sci-fi story here, OVERKILL turned out to be a KING KONG-like monster story set in deep space, and ending back on earth.  There's some scenes of Parker's time in the tank war, but most of the novel deals with the grezzen's psychic interacting with the humans and Cutler attempting to exploit this power.  I can't remember the last time an author made readers care so much for a hideous beast (a grezzen is a huge creature weighing 11 tons, has 3 eyes, 6 legs, and is covered in muscle and hair) and I'm hoping we see more of him in UNDERCURRENTS, the second novel in the series that will be out in mass market this July (although I'm tempted to grab a trade edition right now).

I'm looking forward to the next titles in this series as Buettner has again created a group of characters that are every bit as engrossing as those in his Jason Wander ORPHANGE saga...the creatures here even more so.  The 99 short chapters and tight prose make the pages fly by.  Great stuff and must reading for monster fans.

Smell Rating: 5

BLACK TIDE by John G. Rees (2011 Black Water Books / 352 pp / tp)

The third book in a trilogy, BLACK TIDE is a prequel to ANOXIC ZONE and HALOCLINE, which tells the story of Jake, a diver called a Reuseable who discovered, with the help of his friend and fellow Reuseable Johnny, that they were vampires.

In BLACK TIDE we meet Jake before he was made into a Reuseable by Megacorp, a giant company which practically rules the world.  It is a future world where most of the planet’s natural resources have been used up and the knowledge to recreate some of humanity’s engineering feats is all but gone.  Jake’s world is dependent on the Internet and most of society just wants their instant gratification and their needs met.  Megacorp wants to make Jake a Reuseable because he is one of the best divers around….and he takes pride in doing his job the proper way.  Jake is also a decent and honorable man, so Johnny tries to prepare Jake, with the help of some friends, for his inevitable future.  Once Jake is taken by Megacorp, he spends decades struggling to keep the madness of his reality from swallowing up the person he is.

BLACK TIDE brings the story begun in ANOXIC ZONE full circle, both of Jake and the slowly disintegrating world he lives in.  The book is well-written and Rees has preserved the continuity of the first two books.  There is also excellent character development, as we get a great sense of the kind of person Jake is, as well as the others like him who struggle with maintaining their identities in a world where it seems increasingly clear that individuality doesn’t matter.  BLACK TIDE is also a cautionary tale about what can happen if we don’t appreciate and care for the natural world around us.  Modern technology is great, but it shouldn’t come at the expense of our environment…or our individuality.  I highly recommend all three of John G. Rees’ books as they bring a refreshing twist on the standard vampire tale.

-Colleen Wanglund

THE FLU by Jacqueline Druga (2011 Permuted Press / eBook and tp)

About 1/4 chick flick, 1/8 action movie, 1/8 medical thriller, and 1/3 pandemic apocalypse survival. Which, sorry to say, doesn’t quite add up to one complete book. 

It tries, with a massive cast of characters in scenes set all around the world, tries to build everything up and then bring everything together … the author manages a fairly credible job of keeping track of what’s going on … the dialogue isn’t bad but much of the prose is in passive voice or “telling” or both … might have just been too big and ambitious a project at this stage, ultimately a biting off of more than could be chewed. 

As a reader, I found it numbing and overwhelming, too prone to clutter and bloat. The romance/drama plotline was where most of that clutter and bloat occurred, with a male lead heavy-handedly presented as OMG Such A Badass and a female lead presented as ineffectual to the point of being almost offensive. 

The actual flu sections of THE FLU were well done, with some intense description and a nice job capturing the horror and helplessness of an outbreak scenario. By about the halfway point, I found myself reading for those, while skimming much of the rest.

-Christine Morgan 

WESTLAKE SOUL by Rio Youers (2012 ChiZine Publications / 187 pp / tp and eBook)

Westlake (named by his hippie parents) is a handsome, 23 year-old surfing champion with a room full of trophies.  He lives in Ontario with his parents, younger sister, and faithful dog, Hub.

While on vacation with his girlfriend Nadia, Westlake hits the surf early one morning and catches a wave that both paralyzes and puts him into a coma.  He's now in a vegetative state (physically and to the world) but inside he's very much alive.  He even gains the ability to astral-project, and uses this new-found "super power" to deal with his crippling situation and at times, to influence the decisions of those around him.  He's also able to mentally communicates with his dog, helping them to grow extremely close.

Youers' study of this young man's isolation is gripping, heart-breaking, and one of the most emotionally devastating novels I've read since Gary A. Braunbeck's THE INDIFFERENCE OF HEAVEN (a.k.a. IN SILENT GRAVES).  I challenge anyone to keep a dry eye when Westlake's family--on the eve of his impending death--watch home videos and reminice over how rich of a life Westlake led.

But WESTLAKE SOUL is more than a dark tear-jerker: we truly feel the terror and paranoia that come with living a life we have absolutely NO control over.  This is a real-life horror story that brings up issues most would rather not consider, but by the end you'll be glad you did.  A few scenes with Westlake's visiting friend and new therapist are unforgettable.

Do NOT miss this.

(NOTE: This review was originally published here: THE CROW'S CAW)

VAMPLAYERS by Rusty Fischer (2011 Medallion Press / 384 pp / tp)

Take THAT, TWILIGHT, right in the face. VAMPLAYERS is a refreshing new jab at the YA moody broody covergirl vampire scene. It owes much and hearkens back to the heyday of BUFFY, and VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE, and it’s a lighthearted spoof while also being a compelling story in its own right. 

Because, okay, there’s vampires, and while they might not sparkle (thankfully!), there are some whose purpose it is to organize and train to dispatch their more renegade kindred. The “good” vampires, if such can be said, belong to the Afterlife Academy of Dark Arts. There, the Saviors are the SWAT team, deadly vampiric commandos armed to the teeth, who go into the hot spots and put down the infestations … and the Sisters are the infiltrators, the advance scouts and spies who seek out their targets. 

Lily is a Sister. She’s Third Sister, in fact, lowest rank, and her main ambition is to pass her exam to become a Savior. In the meanwhile, however, she’s stuck doing the Sister act yet again. Another mission, another high school, another dreamboat too-perfect sexy vampboy who’s putting the moves on some hapless teenage girl … the job of the Sisters is to move in, protect her, and prevent anybody being “turned.”

This time, Lily and her Sisters Cara and Alice are bound for the Nightshade Conservatory, a posh private school, recently flagged with some of the usual warning signs of a new vamp in the vicinity. It looks like the same old routine, nothing they haven’t done hundreds of times before. 

This time, though, things go wrong for Lily from the very start. She blunders into an awkward friendship with a couple of the school nerds, she attracts the attention of the prime suspect much sooner than advised, and soon her own Sisters are snubbing her in favor of Nightshade’s Miss Popular. 

Before she knows what’s going on, Lily’s trying to handle the case on her own, instead of as part of the team. Her Sisters are supposed to have her back, not be playing cruel pranks on her. She’s supposed to be befriending the sexy vampboy’s victim, not being swayed by his charms. She’s not supposed to get close to ordinary humans, let alone develop a crush on one, let alone entangle herself in a suddenly-too-complicated love life. 

VAMPLAYERS is a delightful read, quick and fun, with believable teenage characters (even the vampires) and a couple of clever twists on the familiar lore. I’ll be handing it over to my own teenager, who is bound to get a huge kick out of it.

-Christine Morgan

77 SHADOW STREET by Dean Koontz (2011 Bantam / 464 pp / hc)

In previous reviews, I know I’ve advanced the theory that Dean Koontz peaked around the time of LIGHTNING and STRANGERS, coasted for a while, and has been on a gradually hilly decline since then. 

The new one, 77 SHADOW STREET, reinforces that theory. It’s tedious. It suffers from Unique Character Name Syndrome, and Look At My Mad Writing Skillzors Syndrome. The showoff topic this time is Indian language/culture; it’s as if Koontz discovers a new interest and proceeds to beat the reader over the head with it, like he did with surfer lingo in the Chris Snow books. 

Oh, and the vocabulary … never mind ten dollar words, we’re going for the Benjamins here. I am something of a word-phile, words are like Play-Doh to me, a full sensory experience and a toy … one of my favorite JEOPARDY categories is “Word Origins” … and when even I’m tripping over words like “deliquesced,” that I can parse from context and dissection …

I mean, dude, seriously, c’mon. There’s dumbing it down, there’s learning something every day, and there’s purposefully alienating your readers with pretentious word choices that smack them right out of the story. 

What there is of a story. See, there’s this building, at the address that serves as the title. Former Golden Age mansion, now subdivided into luxury apartments, occupied by way too many Uniquely Named and Oh-SO-Quirky characters. We know they are, because the author makes damn sure to tell us so, and remind us at every opportunity, in case we forget. Many of whom are such rehashes of other Koontzian regulars as to be painful. 

The building has a bizarre history of death and disappearances, on a regular cycle. And, guess what? The cycle’s due again. Eras and other worlds seem to fold in on each other. Strange creatures prowl the halls and mysterious people deliver cryptic warnings. Is it supernatural? Extradimensional? Alien? Demonic? 

You’d have to read it to find out, and, frankly, I don’t recommend it but I won’t spoil the thing either. If one can spoil something that is about as much a Koontz trademark as everything else in this book. 

Except for the dog. While dogs are mentioned occasionally, there’s no actual dog character, and, believe it or not, the phrase “golden retriever” does not appear until page 449.

-Christine Morgan

THE WANDERERS by Carlos Sisi (2011 Permuted Press / 27o pp / tp and eBook)

This might be one of those books you’d pick up and think, “ho-hum another zombie apocalypse,” but you would be missing a treat if you let that stop you from reading it. 

Yes, it’s the outbreak, the rising, the collapse of civilization and the struggles of a few small groups of survivors in an aftermath of the living dead … but it’s done with flair, with solid writing and satisfying characters, some intriguing twists, and some refreshing departures from a few of the standbys of the genre. 

For one thing, it’s not set in the United States. Or even in England. That right there gives THE WANDERERS a much different feel, helped along by the fact that it was originally written and published in Spanish. The translation may stumble in a spot or two, but not in a way that detracts from the reading. 

For another, and as a woman I appreciated this, there wasn’t the usual sexism, objectification, enforced whoring or omnipresent rape threats so prevalent in so many of these scenarios. As if we don’t have troubles enough what with the world ending, ladies, am I right? Bad enough we have to watch out for zombies! So, encountering female characters largely treated as equals, as fellow survivors who happen to be female … it’s kind of sad to still feel like I should point out what a nice change that was. 

Most of all, though, the descriptions in here will just about knock your socks off. The gore, the action, the fight scenes, the settings, and a thousand tiny but effective details give the story a depth and realism that reach out from the page and pull you right in. 

There’s also a heart and humanity, a poignancy, to a lot of the dialogue and most of the back stories, which really make the characters come to life, so to speak. 

They all start off facing their own private challenges – desperate teens trapped on the upper floors of an apartment, an ex-addict who learned survival the hard way before the dead started walking, the solitary and almost classical heroic journey of a natural leader, a priest who discovers his true purpose here in the End Times, a small but organized and determined group of militaristic types – and are brought together by circumstances and for reasons that don’t seem nearly as contrived or coincidental as sometimes happens. 

VERY good stuff. I recommend it as a cornerstone to anyone’s zombie library.

-Christine Morgan

LUCIFER’S LOTTERY by Edward Lee (2011 Cemetery Dance Publications / 280 pp / hc)

While preparing to enter the Seminary, theology student Hudson receives a visit from a strange woman with a message that he’s won Satan’s lottery.  Only eleven people have won this lottery since Satan’s downfall; one winner every six hundred and sixty six years.  Hudson is an almost pure soul that Lucifer wants.  Hudson decides to go to the address given in the message and there he begins his grand tour of Hell with H.P. Lovecraft as his tour guide.  Hudson sees unimaginable horrors along the way and wonders why Lucifer would think Hudson would give up eternity in Heaven upon his death.  However, Lucifer has an ace up his sleeve.

Meanwhile, Lucifer has his minions building a reservoir that is heavily guarded from prying eyes.  He wishes to build a permanent merge point between Hell and Earth.  In another part of Hell Joseph Curwen has built the largest demonculous, which will be powered by his own heart for the glory of Hell.  While all of this is going on, a terrorist group of anti-Satanists, led by the fallen angel Ezoriel plots the destruction of both the demonculous and the reservoir.  They will ultimately get an unexpected helping hand.

I could not put this book down.  The characters, both human and demon are well-written and very interesting.  I liked Hudson but could see that even though he had an almost perfect soul Hell was having an unexpected effect on him.  And I absolutely loved Howard the guide (Lovecraft).  He was so refined and yet so perfectly suited to Hell.  The story is a solid one with an awesome twist ending that I didn’t see coming.  Edward Lee paints such a vivid picture of the city and surrounding areas that is Hell, including some very graphic detail as to each district’s particular form of punishment.  I love the extreme horror of LUCIFER’S LOTTERY and its very frightening depiction of Hell.  Pick this one up, if you can.

-Colleen Wanglund

THE CAGE by Brian Keene (2012 Deadite Press / 112 pp / tp)

THE CAGE brings together a few of Keene’s earlier, hard to find, and/or hitherto out of print works in this collection consisting of one novella, two short stories, and a piece originally written to be printed on a t-shirt. 

The titular novella, “The Cage,” takes place in an electronics store, where the employees are just closing up when the final customer of the night walks in. Only, he’s not a customer, and at first what they think will be an ordinary robbery turns into anything but. Having had a friend who worked at Best Buy, I found the setting entirely believable, and think I’ve met most of those characters, too. 

The intruder is creepy, the scenario keeps getting creepier, and it builds toward a finish that … well, if you’re one of those readers who howls in agony at a Keene’s penchant for bastardly cliffhangery teasy leave-‘em-hanging endings … I’m afraid I have some bad news …

“Marriage Causes Cancer in Rats” is a nice little karma’s-a-bitch piece, in which one bad turn deserves another, and another, when in the wake of a terrible family tragedy, widower Harold Newton finds himself diagnosed with a terminal condition. 

“Lest Ye Become” is an oldie but a definite goodie … when a gunman goes on a school shoooting spree, spouting talk of monsters and inhumanity, is it madness, delusion or paranoia … or possession and infection and no one else will believe the truth until it’s too late? 

“Waiting for Darkness” is the t-shirt tale, and it packs a wicked wallop into very few words, as a kid buried neck-deep on the beach as a prank by his sister waits for her to come back.

All in all, while there is a fair amount of that agonized what-comes-NEXT?!?! Howling, THE CAGE is a good read and a lot of fun. One more bonus feature to this collection is the smattering of references and connections throughout. I always enjoy those touches in an author’s works. 

-Christine Morgan

NEXT MONTH:

Hal Bodner's werewolf/vampire comedy THE TROUBLE WITH HAIRY, Gregory Lamberson's THE FRENZY WAR, and FINALLY the new novel from Bentley Little, THE HAUNTED.  PLUS so many more you're head will surely spin...

MARCH 2012 Reviews

MARCH, 2012 REVIEWS

(NOTE: The "smell ratings" at the end of some reviews rate the actual SMELL of the book and have nothing to do with the story.  Smell Ratings: 5 = excellent, 1 = odorless, 2-4 = you figure it out.  Book Key: hc = hardcover / tp = trade paperback / mmp - mass market paperback / rarer forms described.  Unless otherwise noted, all reviews are by Nick Cato)

DESTROYER OF WORLDS by Daniel G. Koehane (2012 Other Roads Press / 181 pp / tp and eBook)

Corey Union moves his wife and young daughter away from the city to an isolated home.  Paranoid the world is about to end, he forbids newspapers or TV news from coming into the house.  He continues to travel to the city to work, and spends his off-time exploring his new vast, wooded property.  He also locates the key to a family heirloom; an ugly old clock, which eventually plays into his end-times apprehension.

Corey and his wife Samantha's closest neighbor is an attractive woman named Vanessa, whose actions being to trouble Corey.  She seems nice enough, but it becomes apparent she's attracted to both of them and things start to get uncomfortable.

And just why is Corey haunted by a local serial killer who is now locked behind bars for life?

DESTROYER OF WORLDS is a brilliant novel where nothing is as it seems.  The first half reads like a clever take on the end-times thriller genre with a serial killer sub-plot to give it a unique flavor.  But by the second half, Koehane assaults the reader with so many twists, turns, and surprises you won't know which way is up or down.  Add a satisfying conclusion and you have the first must-read novel of 2012.  Don't miss it.

AUDITION by Ryu Murakami (translated by Ralph McCarthy) (W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. 2010 {first American printing}; 190 pgs./ tb)

Aoyama lost his wife to cancer and has raised his son alone for the last seven years.  Now the fifteen-year-old Shige tells his father he thinks it’s time to find a new wife.  Aoyama discusses this with his friend Yoshikawa.  Both men have a background in production so Yoshikawa comes up with the brilliant idea of holding an audition to find Aoyama a wife.

Yoshikawa takes care of all of the details and before long they receive three thousand resumes.  This is subsequently whittled down to 100 and then Aoyama picks a final thirty.  While going through the resumes he comes across one for Asami, a beautiful young woman who sounds perfect to him.  They conduct the audition, but Aoyama is clearly only interested in Asami.  She is smart, educated and trained as a ballerina until an injury forced her to quit.

A relationship develops between Aoyama and Asami.  Aoyama is verging on obsessed….he is like a teenage boy.  Asami makes it clear eventually that she shares the same feelings for Aoyama.  There is some odd behavior that Aoyama overlooks but Yoshikawa thinks there is something wrong with Asami.  They can’t find anyone who actually knows the young woman and can verify her story.  Yosikawa pleads with Aoyama to be careful.

The couple goes away for a weekend, but Aoyama wakes up in the hotel room alone after a long night of sex that he cannot completely remember.  Weeks go by but he still cannot find Asami.  Unfortunately for Aoyama, Asami will come to him when he least expects it…and with a vengeance.

As a sort of disclaimer, AUDITION was made into a movie in 1999 by one of my favorite directors, Takashi Miike, and is one of my favorite movies of all time.  Now that that’s out of the way I can tell you that the book is well-written and a quick read.  The characters of Aoyama and Asami are well-developed throughout the story and though Aoyama and Yoshikawa initially come across as sexist, Murakami makes it clear that Aoyama is thoroughly in love with Asami.  She turns out to be something completely different than he expects.  The story is subtle and builds to a rather gruesome climax that had me cringing.  More than horror, AUDITION is a tragic study in human psychology and what motivates and shapes us.

-Colleen Wanglund

‘NIDS by Ray Garton (2011 e-reads.com / 168 pp / eBook)

Ray Garton is an evil, evil arachnoterrorist! First he wouldn’t stop flooding my facebook with horrific images of spiders until I bought this book, and then I bought this book and read it and what happens? He floods my MIND with horrific images of spiders!!!

If the title, ‘Nids, is the totes kosh new way of referring to arachnids, then I guess that makes me a ‘Phobe, and as a ‘Phobe, the main thing I have to say about this book is AAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIEEEEEE *bugdance*

Okay, I have other things to say, too. As a writer, I cannot help but admire, with however much squeamish revulsion, the artistry of Mr. Garton’s descriptions … most notably in the doghouse scene, where the word ‘blossomed’ has never before been used to such nightmarishly beautiful effect. 

But, yeah. Spiders. This story is a classic in the sense of the black and white 50’s drive in monster movie thrillers. No fuss, no muss, no misdirection. We begin with half a dozen teenagers making out at the local lover’s lane, ka-blam there’s a huge explosion at the top-secret classified biogenetics company at the edge of town, and next thing you know, people are getting messily devoured by a spider roughly the size of a sofa. 

It’s a very hungry spider (which, just typing that, made me think of what a weird children’s book THAT would have been, instead of a caterpillar). Naturally, nobody wants to believe the first witnesses – teenagers with suspiciously minty-fresh breath – but deniability isn’t a luxury the people of Hope Valley can afford. 

The additional characters include the sheriff who has to contend with what’s on the loose in his town, the spider-geek kid brother of one of the teens, and a whole cast of townsfolk we barely get to know before they’re ‘nid bait. 

The carnage is over-the-top fun. It’s a spideriffic schlock horror creature feature in book form. While I have some ethical qualms about supporting and encouraging arachnoterrorism, I have to say, the read was worth it!

So, please, buy this book … save me from having to endure another advertising barrage of spider pics … but not necessarily so many that Ray feels like he has to do a sequel complete with advertisting barrage of spider pics …

Crud. Either way, there’s gonna be spiders, isn’t there? Eek!

-Christine Morgan

SWITCHBLADE GODDESS by Lucy A. Snyder (2011 Del Rey / 323 pp / mmp)

The third in Snyder's Jessie Shimmer series finds our favorite mossberg-toting occult heroine sort-of recouping in a small Texas town after the events of SHOTGUN SORCERESS.  Like the pervious novels, the action kicks right in: Jessie is on a mission to get her familiar, Pal, healed.  He's still in the form of a giant arachnid yet has been sickened from bites by a pack of wererats.  Standing in her way is the brutal demigoddess Miko, who has found a way to enter Jessie's 'hellement,' a personal realm that has now become a torture chamber for Jessie and her boyfriend Cooper.

Jessie is still trying to control her ectoplasm-firing hand as well as her mystic-stone eye.  This time she's aided by her father (who commincates with her through compact mirrors), an energy potion concoted by her brother, and a humorous but sincere old witch who helps to heal Pal (I like what becomes of him).

Miko, the Switchblade Goddess of the title, is as sexy as she is hell-bent for blood and destruction.  Her backstory is one of the finer sections of the novel, and the torments she imputes to Jessie are beyond grim.

I'm loving this fast-moving series that combines modern urban fantasy with generous amounts of horror, action, monsters, and the supernatural.  Another cross-genre winner from Snyder.

Smell Rating: 5

CARNACKI: HEAVEN AND HELL by William Meikle (2011 Ghost House {Dark Regions Press} / 250 pp / tp)

Carnacki is an Edwardian occult detective with and excellent reputation.  CARNACKI: HEAVEN AND HELL is an anthology of the detective exploits, as told to Carnacki’s trusted friends, of whom Dodgson is the storyteller here.

My favorite story is the three part novella “The Dark Island” about Sir John who is destined to die on his 50th birthday, as his father and grandfather before him.  It seems a small island in a loch on Sir John’s land is the home to supposed spirits of dead ancestors.  Carnacki discovers something far worse and more dangerous than some ghosts.  Carnacki is able to call on his past experiences to hopefully help save Sir John from his appointed fate.

Other great stories include “The Lusitania”, about the haunting of the famed cruise ship that proves to be an omen of its tragic future; “The Tomb of Pygea” about an ancient tomb unearthed on a building site that is deadly to the workers who found it; and “The Beast of Glamis” that tells of a Scottish castle haunted by a tragic young woman’s ghost.

All of the stories are scary paranormal tales that seem to center on a place Carnacki refers to as the Outer Regions where all manner of entity can dwell.  I had so much fun reading CARNACKI, as I am a huge Sherlock Holmes fan, and that is how Meikle’s book reads.  The stories themselves are well-written with excellent character and historical detail.  The “glue” that holds it all together is a group of men sitting in a smoky room with some Scotch and you will feel as though you are that very room listening to Carnacki tell his tales.  I believe Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would be pleased with CARNACKI: HEAVEN AND HELL.  I, for one would love to read more stories of the occult detective’s exploits.

-Colleen Wanglund

ZOMBIES AND SHIT by Carlton Mellick III (2010 Deadite Press / 233 pp / tp)

Twenty people wake up in unfamiliar surroundings.  It turns out they’ve been abducted/chosen (depending how you look at it) to appear on a reality TV show called Zombie Survival, a brutal contest that’s the top rated show in a futuristic world overrun by the living dead.  An Asian woman explains their predicament: they have three days to cross the Red Zone, a decayed city where zombies and robotic dogs stand in the way of a helicopter…a helicopter that will take only one person to safety.  And while alliances are formed, each contestant knows this is to-the-death scenario.

The contestants have all come from a surviving city’s poorest Quadrant: in Mellick’s grim post-apocalyptic world, classes live in separated areas, but only those in the exclusive Platinum Quadrant have the benefit of television, where Zombie Survival is the top rated program.

While ZOMBIES AND SHIT is packed to the brim with off-the-wall violence, interesting weapons, action, and zombie attacks, it’s the contestants (many of them street punks) and their quirks/abilities that make this novel so much fun to read.

One thing I enjoy about Mellick’s story telling is I seriously doubt he could ever write a 100% “normal” horror novel…and that’s a compliment.  He infuses just the right amount of his trademark weirdness to give ZOMBIES AND SHIT a different flavor than your typical end-of-the-world undead epic, my favorite being a black character named Laurence who turns out to be a cyborg version of a popular 1980s TV star.

A blend of the seldom-seen 1986 film DEAD END DRIVE-IN and BATTLE ROYALE, Mellick’s “thank you letter to the zombie genre” is a real wild ride that you don’t have to be a zombie fan to enjoy.

(Note: while ZOMBIES AND SHIT is a true, fresh spin on the subgenre, one grossly underrated novel took an amazing look at reality shows and zombies a few years earlier: check out Jason R. Hornsby’s EVERY SIGH, THE END (2006) if you enjoy Mellick’s novel).

THE HAUNTER OF THE THRESHOLD by Edward Lee (2010 Deadite Press / 292 pp / tp)

Okay, who set Edward Lee the dare of “oh yeah, well I bet you can’t fit ALL those fetishes, kinks, perversions and degredations into ONE book”? Whoever it was, I bet you’re sorry now … and dragged the rest of us right along with you! 

The back cover promises that this is Lee’s ‘most pornographic novel to date’ and I for one am pretty much inclined to agree. The stuff that main character Hazel Greene gets off on might be enough to make almost anybody blanch. It’s eye-popping, jaw-dropping, leg-crossing, gag-inducing and downright vile … and that’s not even counting the scenes with Lovecraftian monstrosities. 

Hazel’s also in love with her pregnant best friend, had a secret fling with said best friend’s fiance, just had a huge fight with her boyfriend when he screwed up his lines during her carefully scripted debasement fantasy, and is avoiding the dad who wishes she’d repent and return to the Church. 

THEN she goes to spend a relaxing weekend at a cabin in a creepy little town where her first run-ins with the locals exceed even her imagination. Nightmares that would have sent most people gibbering to the psych ward leave her more turned on than ever. The vacation becomes immersion in a simmering cauldron of icky lust. 

And the more Hazel tries to investigate her friend’s finace’s obsession with a colleague’s discoveries involving terrible destructive otherworldly forces, the deeper she gets drawn into the whole seething squirmy tentacly horror. Can she save her friend and her friend’s unborn baby? Can she save the world? Can she save herself? Does she really want to?

It is, basically, everything you might expect and dread rom Edward Lee at his full-throttle best.  THE HAUNTER OF THE THRESHOLD will haunt you, as well as scar, traumatize and abuse. 

Therefore, I highly recommend it to all bent weirdos like me … the rest of you, I can’t warn away strongly enough … so if you still go and read it, I’d say “sorry” but it might sound a bit like “neener neener muahaha” or “hey, I DID warn you!”

-Christine Morgan

SHADOWS OF THE PAST by Richard Schiver (Abis Books 2012/240 pgs./Tp)

Sam Hardin is a detective with the D.C. police department.  He is also a man with some deep psychological scars.  Sam’s pregnant wife Anne was killed and the baby, Frankie was born with brain damage from the bullet.  Four years on and what’s left of his family is falling apart.  Teenage daughter Cheryl fears her father’s temper, alcoholism, and the possibility of his suicide.  Michelle, Anne’s best friend is the only person keeping it together.

Sam is temporarily brought out of the sorrow of his past by an unusual murder at a warehouse.  The bodies are mutilated in such a way that no human could be responsible.  Sam and his partner Dave are led to a professor of ancient history and a knife that may lie at the center of it all.  The bodies continue to pile up and Sam is thrust into a fight for the very survival of the human race, a fight that his son Frankie seems to have some important part in.

I enjoyed reading SHADOWS OF THE PAST.  The story is an engaging one that for the most part is well-written and suitably frightening.  Character development is good and we are given enough of Sam’s past to pity him, while at the same time wanting to tell him to get it together already!  That being said, I did have some issues with the book.  I wanted more details about the knife and the site it was found at.  There was a conversation that the knife and the civilization that made it were thousands of years older than humans.  Who were they and why did they think they could take back the Earth?  I also didn’t completely understand the significance of the knife.  Was it the knife that brought the entity back or the finding of the site in Antarctica?  I also thought the revelation of abuse in Michelle’s past seemed unimportant, and more of an afterthought to give her character more depth.  There was also an issue with Cheryl and her possible involvement in a crime, but there was no real resolution to that.

The ending is a little predictable, but still very good and even after all of my bitching, it leaves things open a bit.  Maybe there’s a sequel with more background of the evil entity?  I would like reading more about this advanced civilization that disappeared and could supplant humans as the top dog on the food chain.  Just a little more meat is all I ask. Overall SHADOWS OF THE PAST is a very good read and I do recommend it…I just wish it didn’t have all of the loose ends.

-Colleen Wanglund

BADASS ZOMBIE ROAD TRIP by Tonia Brown (2012 Books of the Dead Press / eBook)

Dale and Jonah are on their way to a gig in Nevada when Jonah decides he wants to check out California first.  Dale is vehemently against this, saying he can’t cross into California. But once he falls asleep, Jonah drive to California anyway.  This turns out to be the biggest mistake of Jonah’s life.

The minute they cross the state line, Dale wakes up and freaks out, begging Jonah to go back.  While they are arguing about it, Jonah realizes there’s a cop pulling them over.  Dale tells him to keep going, but Jonah knows he has to pull over.

The cop is actually Satan, who has come to collect Dale’s soul.  Jonah doesn’t believe at first, then gradually has to admit that this is really happening.  He also tries bargaining with Satan to save Dale, but Satan won’t have it.  After much arguing, Satan kills Dale.  Jonah is shocked and angry, leading to his own deal with Satan - he can have Dale’s soul back if he finds it in time.  If not, Satan gets Jonah’s soul as well.

Then the devil reanimates Dale’s corpse, and sends the two on their way to find Dale’s soul before the seven-day time allotment is up.  What follows is complete chaos and insanity as the two blunder their way across the country.  Since Dale is now undead, he rots and stinks throughout the trip, much to Jonah’s dismay.

In addition, they pick up a hitchhiker, Candy, who turns out to be a stripper.  She has her own problems, which end up being mixed up with Jonah’s.

BADASS ZOMBIE ROAD TRIP is a fun, exhilarating read.  It’s laugh-out-loud funny at times, yet it still has a bit of a heart.  How Jonah and Candy keep Dale from falling apart and stinking up the car is hilarious.  The characters are likeable and the dialog believable.  

Check out Badass Zombie Road Trip; you’ll be glad you did.

-Sheri White

THE CREATURE FROM BEYOND by Paul Braus (2011 River East Press / 228 pp / tp)

In this follow-up to THE CREATURE’S CURSE, Paul Braus continues the story of the creature created by the witchcraft of the mentally unstable Abigail.  Samantha is a cousin of Abigail and is looking for the Sibber Medallion, which can only be used by the women of the Sibber family.  The medallion is with Professor Peter Earnhardt, left with him by Oak Alderson of the Sheriff’s Department.  Alderson was investigating the murders of two people at the old house where Abigail and Eldon Bailey were brutally murdered years before.  Their teenage son Cordus disappeared and is believed to be responsible for his parents’ deaths.

This time the town’s mayor has allowed a television crew to film at the old house.  It is a show about paranormal activity and the story of past murders has drawn the show’s creator to what he hopes is a haunted house.  Unfortunately what they find is so much worse.  Now Alderson has even more murders to solve, but he has an understanding of whom or what is responsible.  With the help of the only survivor of the creature and Samantha, the case will eventually be closed and Alderson will have his answers.

As with the first novel, THE CREATURE FROM BEYOND is well-written and character development is excellent.  Braus doesn’t assume that the reader has read THE CREATURE’S CURSE and gives enough detail to keep the reader engaged.  I really like the supernatural element to Braus’ stories and the frightening nature of the creature.  I also found myself sympathizing with the creature, as his predicament is a cruel punishment that he didn’t deserve.  I highly recommend THE CREATURE FROM BEYOND but definitely read THE CREATURE’S CURSE for the full wild ride.

-Colleen Wanglund

GIGANTIC DEATH WORM by Vince Kramer (2011 Eraserhead Press / 70 pp / tp)

In yet another offering in Eraserhead Press' New Bizarro Author Series, don't expect a singular title monster: not only are there multiple death worms (of various sizes) on the loose in Arizona, there are also hungry bears who spit wolves, rampant brain parasites, and flying Mexican ninjas who aid our protagonist in battling the creatures and saving his big-boobed buddy Suzanne (who has become a worm-headed mutant).  There's also more sex and beer-guzzling than in every 80s teenage comedy combined.

This is Kramer's take on the 2012 Mayan prophecy thing, written like a deranged pre-school teacher allowed her strangest student to experiment with a new form of liqud crack after handing out paper with neon crayons.  If this brief novelette doesn't cause you to laugh 'till your ribs hurt, you're taking life too seriously.

Bizarro doesn't get much funnier (or entertaining) than this.

THE NIGHT ETERNAL by Guilllermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan (2011 William Morrow / 382 pp / available in all formats)

In the blockbuster finale to the vampire virus apocalypse begun in THE STRAIN and continued in THE FALL, it is definitely not looking good for humanity. 

They’ve been toppled from their comfy spot at the top of the food chain, overwhelmed by a superior and infectious predator. Their environment has undergone a drastic change – two years of nuclear winter, lack of sunlight, the entire ecology and climate thrown for a loop. 

What survivors there are exist mainly now as good little worker drones who may not exactly welcome their vampiric overlords but submit meekly to the new regime in exchange for the basics like food, stability, and occasional creature comforts. They’ll report suspicious activity and turn in their neighbors in hopes of garnering favor or reward. The infirm and useless are brutally culled. The leader-types are put down hard and fast as an example to others. Many of the healthy are kept in blood camps, the equivalent of factory farms, where they “donate” regularly. The choice blood-types are pampered and bred. Conservation, control, management and renewable resources, yo. 

We might LIKE to think of ourselves as determined survivors and fighter-backers, but honestly, it’s all too easy to believe this is what would actually happen. Especially in America, where, let’s face it, we’re spoiled as hell. Deprivation, fear, struggle? Oh, we’d cave, we’d cave so fast …

Since the “okay” rageface guy image of capitulation and surrender does not make for good heroic storytelling, however, fortunately for us there’s still some pockets of resistance out there. Including the core characters from the previous books, or at least the ones who are among the living and uncorrupted. 

They have one strange but powerful ally in the form of Mr. Quinlan, an anomaly among the vampires. They have one major Achilles’ Heel in the form of Zack Goodweather, son of former CDC threat team leader Dr. Ephram Goodweather, who’s being held hostage by the Master. They have a silver-edged book of ancient lore that could hold the key to the vampires’ undoing, and a backpack nuke just in case. And they keep being told they must have friends in high places to have made it this far, though it’s hard to believe as the personal losses continue to mount. 

Awesome book, very satisfying finale to a very enjoyable trilogy. If a smidge too deus-ex-machina here and there, it’s largely forgiveable, and much less out of nowhere than events in other similar end-times epics I could name. 

So, read it, it’s a good one! Vampires deserve to be scary again!

-Christine Morgan

HOW TO RECOGNIZE A DEMON HAS BECOME YOUR FRIEND by Linda Addison (2011 Necon eBooks / 112 pp / eBook and tp)

Addison's collection of poetry and short stories leans on the dark fantasy/horror side and is sprinkled generously with some nifty (and at times funny) sci-fi.

Among my favorite stories were 'The Power,' about two young girls learning how to use witchcraft via their grandmother in the wake of an attack from granny's old nemesis; 'Excerpts from the Unabridged Traveler's Guide as UFOs in Galaxy A.G.2' is a short but hysterical piece that gives light to some popular UFO myths; 'Just Passing Through' is a cleverly-written short that features a human communicating with a supernatural life form; 'Artificial Unintelligence,' another funny sci-fi romp told in humorous e-mails, and finally 'Boo,' a genuinely terrifying look at paranoia on Halloween night.

My favorite poems include 'Land Sharks,' an inventive and fun urban fantasy of sorts (and originally appeared in an issue of the famous Asimov's SF Magazine), 'Comic Cannibals,' 'Demon Dance,' and the title piece also display the author's skill at dark verse.

 There are many more tales and poems here, and not a slow one in the bunch.  This is a fine introduction to Addison's world and a trip well worth taking.

Smell Rating: 0

CLICKERS by J. F. Gonzalez and Mark WIlliams (2005 Hard Shell Word Factory / 268 PP / TP)

Lucky find at the used bookstore, the 2005 trade paperback edition, couldn’t pass it up after the buzz – well, after the clickzzz! – I’d become aware of over the years. 

And, hey, freaky undersea monsters? I’m in! I love the ocean, but, only when seen from the top. Not a snorkeler. Not a diver. The sea still contains more bizarre undiscovered critters than we can shake a stick at, and, frankly, the idea of running into them gives me the willies. The idea of them strutting ashore to say howdy is bad … that they’d strut ashore in a voracious unstoppable swarm? Eek. 

Needless to say, eek is what this book is all about. Strutting, clicking, pinchery, armor-plated eek with long jabby scorpion tails. If that’s not bad enough, toss in flesh-dissolving acid venom and we hit the escape velocity of EEK. 

So here’s your basic picturesque New England town … quaint, quiet, peaceful. Until the crab-lobster-scorpion-things start scuttling out of the waves. BIG ones, too. The mutant older brother revenge version of all the crustaceans we’ve dunked into boiling water. 

The first person to encounter one is author Rick Sycheck, the newcomer to town, before he even gets to town. Being a long-haired writer type, he’s already got a strike against him as far as the sheriff is concerned. Debuting with a car crash, and then claiming it was because he ran over something that looked like a giant crab?

Rick’s claim ends up vindicated – of course, in the way these things go! – when more of the crab-things appear. Before most of sleepy Phillipsport knows what hit it, the death toll is skyrocketing, the survivors are fighting for their lives, and … it’s about to get even worse. 

The Clickers are just the first wave, so to speak. Something else dwells in the deeps, another species eager to follow their natural prey ashore and chow down on anything or anybody else that happens to get in their way. 

It’s clicky-clacky good fun, if your idea of good fun consists of stings, severed limbs, melting body parts, engaging characters who are not safe from meeting hideous gory ends, desperate action, and monsters. 

If your idea of good fun doesn’t consist of those things, well, really, what are you doing reading this in the first place?

As for me, now I need to track down the sequels!

-Christine Morgan

NOTE TO BOOK SUBMITTERS:

DON'T PANIC!  We will get to your book...by the middle of February, we've been over-stuffed with review material.  PLEASE be patient...we're only human.

(That said...next month expect a review of LORE, an anthology edited by Rod Heather and Sean O'Leary, as well as William Ollie's latest novel, PITCH...)

MAGAZINE update

It's been a LONG TIME since we've had a horror fiction magazine update, and as some of you may know, reading through a copy of BLACK STATIC or CEMETERY DANCE can take almost as much time as getting through a small novel.  Now let's get down to business...

I'm among the legion of fans who often complains about the long delays in-between issues of CEMETERY DANCE, but once again Richard Chizmar and co. have delivered not only an outstanding magazine, but their largest issue yet with no. 65.

Graham Masterton fans should have this on their must-read list as it includes a lengthy interview (conducted by J.A. Konrath) as well as two fantastic Masterton short stories, as well as two more non-fiction pieces.

This issue's other memorable fiction offerings include a heartbreaking urban terror tale from Maurice Broaddus, Lisa Tuttle takes a most unusual look at a relationship in 'Manskin, Womanskin,' and David Bells' 'The Book of the Dead,'  features another relationship-themed story about a Japanese woman dealing with the death of her American husband (this may be of interest to fans of The Beatles---and no, the protagonist is not Yoko Ono!).  Of the ten stories included here there wasn't a sour one in the batch.

The usual features include plenty of Stephen King info. in Bev Vincent's famous 'News from the Dead Zone' column, another great installment of Thomas Monteleone's 'The Mothers and Fathers Italian Associtiation,' plus plenty of interviews (including Ray Bradbury, Ellen Datlow, and Whitley Streiber) and another crop of book reviews that (somehow) seem more current than in past issues.

Order a copy at: CEMETERY DANCE Issue 65

The 25th issue of BLACK STATIC (Nov. 2011) kicks off with two nifty film columns, then Mike O'Driscoll takes a look at Justin Cronin's THE PASSAGE.

The fiction comes fast, dark, and heavy with Alison Littlewood's 'About the Dark,' a claustrophobic look at what befalls a few friends who investigate the legends of a a local cave.  Latent Apprehension rules tenants during an apartment blackout in Christopher Fowler's 'The Curtain Parts,' and Ray Cluley's eerie 'The Travellers Stay' follows a family's experience at a run down motel.  Barbara Barnett also delivers a (lengthy) winner, while Nathaniel Tapley's short 'Best Summer, Ever' is basically a humorous look at a business letter--perhaps a bit out of place in BLACK STATIC, but entertaining nonetheless.

Peter Tennant reviews several horror novels with a historical niche, than delivers an informative interview with author D.F. Lewis, then Tony Lee's boat-load of DVD reviews caps off another high-quality issue.

Order a copy here: BLACK STATIC Issue 25

In the 26th issue of BLACK STATIC (Dec 2011/Jan2012),  the three opening comment columns are highlighted by Christopher Fowler's brief coverage of the 12th London Frightfest, as well as the latest British Fantasy Society Convention.

Among this issue's five fiction pieces, Gary McMahon's 'Remains,' stuck with me the longest, and will cause you to make sure your bones are in proper working order; Andrew Hook's 'Dizzy Land' tells the odd tale of Hunter, who is attempting to develop a park comprised of vintage carnival rides; and Ray Cluley (featured for the second issue in a row) strikes with 'I Have Heard the Mermaids Singing,' a rich, unique, haunting piece dealing with fisherman and writers.

Mark Rigney and Carole Johnstone deliver solid stories, although Johnstone's ending is quite depressing so be forewarned.

Peter Tennant focuses his book reviews on anthologies and collections before hitting stand-alone novels (there's quite a few covered here).  And while I always look forward to Tony Lee's DVD reviews, this issue he was negative over every film covered (I'm assuming he just didn't get the twisted, comic-book like nature of HELLDRIVER?), but at least he praises the 10th season DVD collection of SMALLVILLE.  (Wait--isn't BLACK STATIC supposed to be a horror magazine?  I understand there's somewhat of an occultic theme in some episodes, but seriously---let's try to keep things away from super heroes (unless, of course, we're talking THE TOXIC AVENGER!).)

Fun stuff.

Order a copy here: BLACK STATIC Issue 26