June, 2013 Reviews

JUNE, 2013 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)

BURIED A MAN I HATED THERE by Adam Pepper (2013 Innovation Haven / 163 pp / eBook)

Since losing his wife and daughter 10 years ago, Jack Maddox suffers from memory loss. His wife's twin sister, Heidi, meets with him once a year every Valentine's Day in an isolated field in Vermont. She tries to get him to move on with his life, but he refuses.

Back in Manhattan, Jack is a window washer, working at great heights with no fear. His favorite building is where Heidi works, and he spends much time cleaning her office window. He likes to work alone, but on occassion has to share his platform with a co-worker.

Heidi begins to date the head of a huge corporation, but she can't seem to give herself over to him. She becomes increasingly concerned with Jack and starts to display behavior as strange as his.

Then there's Jack's psychiatrist, Dr. Hawthorne, a real sleazeball who seems to be in the business just for the money. We learn he has also lost a young daughter, and seems to take things out on Jack (mentally, at least) during their sessions.  But his way of coping with things leads to the abuse of another patient and his eventual ruin.

BURIED A MAN I HATED THERE, while a thriller, is also a truly odd mystery. When I passed the 100th page I still had no idea where the author was going, and I didn't until the final few chapters. Pepper keeps you guessing from early on, and most of the time you'll be on the edge of your seat . If you're afraid of heights (like I am) you're in for a real freak-out, and the conclusion, while wrapped up nicely, still leaves room for contemplation.

Although a bit different from his previous offerings, BURIED should satisfy anyone looking for a tight, solid read.

FOUR ELEMENTS by Charlee Jacob, Marge Simon, Rain Graves and Linda Addison (2012 Bad Moon Books / 189 pp / tp)

FOUR ELEMENTS is a collection of poetry and short fiction by four women of horror who are all Bram Stoker Award winning poets. Each writer takes on one of the four elements of nature—earth, air, fire and water—and brings their own vision to each.

“Earth” by Marge Simon contains poems and stories that all deal with various consequences of people’s actions including war, desolation, destruction and death, including “A Time For Planting” about the consequences of love and lust and “Quake” about how short our time can be.

“Water” by Rain Graves which includes many pieces dealing with destruction through mythology, including a series of six poems, which I loved, titled “Hades and Its Five” that encompasses all of the myths of Hades, the river Styx and the ferryman.

“Fire” by Charlee Jacob that includes works dealing with death and destruction.  My favorite here is “Accidental Tourists” about a couple of voyeurs who find love at the scene of a horrific car accident and their many names for the color red—the color of life and death.  There is also a series of ten poems called “Reaching Back to Eden” that involve the consequences of the actions of Adam, Eve, Lilith and Satan.

“Air” by Linda Addison contains poems about the power of the wind to shape life and our environment as well as describing the soul as air versus the body.  “Lost in Translation” is one of my favorites here, about air as a hidden, living being.  “Upon First Seeing Ongtupqa” is a beautiful description about air moving through canyons, wearing away the earth and exposing millennia of past life.

All of the prose and poetry is dark, beautiful and vivid in its imagery. There is emotion behind the words that will draw a visceral response from the reader. All of the poetry by these four amazing women is so powerful you will find yourself reading FOUR ELEMENTS again and again.  I have already read through it twice.  If you are a fan of dark poetry then FOUR ELEMENTS is for you.

-Colleen Wanglund

SACRIFICIAL WITCH by S.D. Hintz (2013 Aristotle Books / 172 pp / eBook)

I went into this one not quite knowing what to expect and emerged from it not quite knowing what to think, but in the good way. The lingering, haunting, dreamlike way. The way that makes sense, since the main character never quite knows either, but is in no real position to find out. 

Murray, who never knew his father and just lost his mother to betrayal and murder, is sent to a tiny town to live with his grandmother. He he quickly realizes that nothing is normal. 

For one thing, he’s the only kid in a neighborhood of old folks. Old folks who aren’t the most welcoming; they range from weird to outright hostile. Even when he meets a friendly-seeming one, Murray’s recent past experiences have left him with some understandable trust issues. 

His own grandmother isn’t exempt from the weirdness, what with the way she doesn’t like to talk about why Murray’s mom left home, or his grandfather, or the curtained-off section of the attic where she forbids him to go. 

Mysterious feuds, strange gifts and booby-traps, a dog determined to take a chunk out of Murray’s hide, cryptic remarks from the local undertaker, nightmares, glimpses of a little boy signaling for help from the basement of the house next door … it just keeps getting more bizarre. 

And Murray, with the terrible helplessness of a child, is unable to demand answers or escape. Who’s going to listen to him? He’s only a kid. Who’s going to believe stories about witches and spells and sacrifice?

It’s a neat story, an interesting read, one that will lurk in the corners of the mind. Give it a look!

-Christine Morgan

PRIMEVAL: WEREWOLF APOCALYPSE BOOK II by William D. Carl (2012 Permuted Press / 274 pp / tp & eBook)

You know the term "popcorn movie?" Well, this second installment of Carl's BESTIAL saga is a definite "popcorn book," meaning the action is nearly non-stop and the monster-goodness never lets up.

After helping to take care of the Lycan Virus outbreak in Cincinatti in the first novel, General Taylor Burns and ace-sniper Nicole Truitt are taking some time off in New York. But almost as soon as they arrive at their Brooklyn hotel, all hell breaks loose in Manhattan: it seems over-sized rats are now carrying the Lycan Virus, turning both humans and animals into werewolves and mutated creatures. Nicole's girlfriend Sandy is in the city when the military quarantines the island by destoying all bridges and tunnels in an attempt to contain the outbreak. But Nicole and Burns manage to get a helicopter ride into the chaos to try and rescue Sandy and a small group of survivors.

Carl's plot may be simple, but like a good monster movie he delivers the goods at a relentless pace: swarms of mutated rats, lions, dogs, and a huge alligator wreak havoc both on the streets of the city and below ground, where most of the action takes place, and there's still plenty of room for the werewolves. Some of the violence is quite extreme, and I can't remember the last time I saw such gruesome scenes of child carnage before--but then again, this IS an apocalyptic tale so no one is safe!

This is the perfect novel to read on a Saturday afternoon if you're hungering for a thrill-a-minute monster-mash. Dare I say ... this is a real howl!

Smell Rating: 1

UNWHOLLY by Neal Shusterman (2012 Simon & Schuster / hc, tp. And eBook)

When I read UNWIND, a YA book loaned to me by my teenager, I discovered it to be THE creepiest and most chilling book I’d experienced in ages. As scary and disturbing as anything in the adult horror genre. And, of every dystopian near-future I’ve encountered in fiction, the most all-too-terribly-plausible. 

Welcome to a world where the pro-life/pro-choice debate tore America apart with war, and ultimately resulted in a law that made it legal for parents or guardians to decide to retroactively abort their children at any point between the ages of thirteen and eighteen. Those kids would be “unwound,” harvested for their organs and replacement parts. 

UNWHOLLY, the sequel, delves deeper into the history of that shattered nation, again while hitting all too close to the bone. Lack of educational and employment opportunities leading to a generation of disaffected young people with no prospects in a struggling economy … the underlying fear of “feral” teens … sound familiar? 

It’s also a society of convenience, ease, and entitlement that takes a blow when an amendment to the law reduces the unwinding age to seventeen. Suddenly, there’s less material available, making it harder to get those medical fixes or cosmetic upgrades. People don’t like that. Parts pirates have taken to obtaining the goods by whatever means available, including kids not even scheduled for unwinding. 

There’s resistance, inspired by the events of the first book. There’s a growing underground trying to save and free the kids. Those who designate a child from birth as a “tithe,” as a form of religion, are led to question their beliefs. 

Even among the refugee camp where AWOL unwinds hide out, dissention brews when a caste system forms between factions … those who were raised by their biological parents or as wards of the state, and those who were “storked” and abandoned as babies on strangers’ doorsteps. 

The book also takes the science of unwinding in a new and even more unsettling direction with the debut of Cam, the first-ever entirely composite human lifeform. He’s been created from the best of the best, the most beautiful of the beautiful, with the knowledge, language, and talents of all the donors who went into his making. A new height of humanity? Or a modern Frankenstein monster, an abomination that ought not to be?

An UNWIND movie is reportedly in the works. The third book in this not-to-be-missed series comes out later this year. Neither of which is soon enough!

-Christine Morgan

AT THE END OF CHURCH STREET by Gregory L. Hall (2010 Belfire Press / 296 pp / tp & eBook)

Rebecca is a runaway teen surviving in the back alleys of Orlando, Florida. One night she meets Renfield who takes her back to meet his gang of goth-"vampires" living in an abandoned theater. They clothe and feed her, and before long she becomes one of them. They spend their nights terrorizing tourists and living basically however they want, basically every young person's dream.

But Rebecca's new found family soon find their numbers dwindling: members of their clan are being found beheaded around the city, and they're now in a struggle to survive against an assailiant who believes Renfield and co. are actually the monsters they think they are.

For those of you (like myself) who are turned off even by the mention of the word "vampire," fear not: Hall's take on them is completely different. CHURCH STREET plays out like a gritty drama, complete with a realistic cast of troubled people trying to figure out their lives and relationships; it was refreshing to see goth culture portrayed in a non-sterotypical manner. Hall manages to deliver the suspense and thrills you'd expect from a horror novel, but this one goes a bit deeper than standard genre fare. There's some laughs, but nothing that takes you out of the story.

This is a seriously good read and one impressive debut novel.

Smell Rating: 3

YELLOW MOON by David Searls (to be released 6/13 by Samhain Publishing / 207 pp / tp & eBook)

A group of boys playing baseball in a park discover a drain and vanish when they explore it. The police in Cleary, Ohio also have their hands full when an influx of homeless-looking people start arriving around town.

The boys return from the drain that led to another dimension and have brought along all kinds of shape-shifting creatures as well as an odd yellow moonlight that bathes Cleary in dread.

Searls' short novel (originally published in 1994) may have been a slightly different riff on King's IT back then, but today it reads like a dime-a-dozen generic horror novel (and one that leaves several unanswered questions). I guess this is fun for newcomers, but veteran horror fans have read this many, many times before.

Smell Rating: 2

HOW TO DIE WELL by Bill Breedlove (2013 Bad Moon Books / 334pp / tp)

HOW TO DIE WELL is an entertaining short story collection by Bill Breedlove. 

My favorite stories include “The Lost Collection” about a strange little boy and his unique collection of murderous dolls; “Free to Good Home” about Mrs. Monroe, who has a special way of teaching a lesson to men who pretend to adopt animals then take them to labs for research—this one just about had me in tears; “It Ain’t Much to Brag About, But It’s All Mine” about a very lonely girl and the creepy pet she decides to bring home; and “Hospeace” about an elderly couple and their dog living out their last days in a fairly isolated home during a zombie apocalypse.

Other great stories include “The Shampoo of Prodigious Potency” about a young man getting what he wishes for from a magician whom he heckled off the stage—you really should be careful what you wish for; “When There’s Nothing Left of Me (A True Love Story)” is a funny and yet horrifying story about a man who continues to seriously injure and even maim himself to keep his love with him; “Drowning In the Sea of Love” is a hilariously wicked story about a young woman’s debut as a porn actress and how things on the set go horribly wrong; and “Highsmith Beach” about what can happen when a person’s personal prejudices come back to haunt them.

There were one or two stories that didn’t resonate with me, but overall I found Breedlove’s writing to be horrifying and amusing at the same time.  There were times when I laughed out loud and others where I squirmed in my seat.  I was thoroughly pleased with HOW TO DIE WELL and I look forward to reading more from Bill Breedlove.

-Colleen Wanglund

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill (2013 William Morrow / 709 pp / hc, eBook, and audio)

Most of my friends spent the past couple weeks on tenterhooks for the new Trek movie, and/or Iron Man 3. For some, and they know who they are, and if you’re reading this you’re probably one of them, THE main can’t-wait event was the release of the new Joe Hill book. 

And justifiably so. This guy rocks. He’s got the talent and the skills, and most of all he’s got the spirit to just have fun with it, to enjoy the craft and the kick and the ride. It shows on every page. 

NOS4A2 is especially good at the having fun with it aspect. It’s peppered with in-jokes, fan service, nods, tributes, and various little treats that might jiggle the fourth wall but elicit grins while so doing. 

Summary-wise, it’s the story of Victoria “Vic” McQueen, aka The Brat (at least, to her father). As a kid, she discovers a knack for ‘finding’ things … when she goes for a ride on her bike in search of some missing thing, a bridge that shouldn’t be there will appear to take her right to it. Of course, nobody would believe the truth, so she also has to get creative about explaining her finds. 

One day, curious about this strange talent, she rides her bike across the bridge to meet a woman who tells her about others with similar gifts, or curses. Those gifts, or curses, tend to take their toll in physical, mental or emotional ways, something Vic’s already finding out for herself. 

Also out there is Mr. Manx, who drives a vintage Rolls with the license plate NOS4A2. With the help of a series of trusty henchmen, he’s been whisking children away to a magical place called Christmasland, where they will be happy forever. Needless to say, this has its darker side. 

Vic goes looking for him, finds him, and manges to survive and escape the encounter. Mr. Manx is caught and sent to prison. The scary story should be over, but, of course, it isn’t. 

Years later, Vic has managed to convince herself that the events of childhood were also the imaginings of childhood, and that her personal problems are solely the result of her just being crazy and screwed-up. She’s gone on with her life as best she can, a life that now includes a kid of her own. 

Meanwhile, Mr. Manx, NOS4A2’s driver, has gone from prison to the hospital, and then the morgue. And then he goes missing from the morgue. He’s got unfinished business and a grudge, and Vic is about to realize that she really was right all along. Only, now, it’s her child in danger, and the bike she used to get to her special bridge-to-anywhere is long, long gone. 

Top-notch writing, great characters, everything you’d reasonably expect from this author and more. Now we just have to bide our time, tap our feet, and wait for his next one!

-Christine Morgan

FEAST OF OBLIVION by Josh Myers (2012 Copeland Valley Press / 199 pp / tp)

Peter Weller (yes, THAT Peter Weller) is on his way to a book signing in a bunker in a desert-stretch of New Jersey. His book is about halibut (yes, the fish) conspiracies and only 10 hand-written copies exist.

After Peter answers Q&A from a select audience of halibut conspiracy fans, he signs the 10 copies for the chosen few, among them a strange English woman who requests to meet with him in private.

FEAST OF OBLIVION then becomes a dark-humored take on (not only) the end of the world, but the end of ... everything. Cock-full of an oddball cast (including Jean-Michel Pititesbaise), some really wild dreams, and enough craziness to satsify any fan of bizarro fiction.

Let's just hope Myers' "real" characters don't decide to sue him before someone makes a cult film version and he misses the premiere.

Smell Rating: 2

MACHINA MORTIS edited by Sam Gafford (2013 KnightWatch Press / 266 pp / tp & eBook)

It’s shamelessness time again, because this is another anthology in which I’m thrilled and honored to have a story. This book’s seen a hard road, too, having undergone some delays and upheavals and changes of publisher … and I’m glad the editor and so many of my fellow writers stuck it out to see it become a reality. 

After all, steampunk horror is just too damn cool a theme not to love! Steampunk! Horror! Clockwork and gears, gaslight and steam, machines of death! A dozen stories of clank and scream, blood and oil!

In “Last Flight of the Bismark,” Scott Baker serves up an airship full of zombies. Salena Moffat’s “Bedlam” brings moody and atmospheric madness. “Patterns,” by Drew Dunlap, pits an aged professor against horrors from beyond. Tonia Brown’s “The Thumping in the Basement” brings a new assistant to the employ of an esteemed doctor, but, what happened to the previous ones? “The Last of the Bad Few,” by Nathan Robinson, welcomes you to a steampunk utopian/dystopian nightmare where technology runs amok. 

Sam Gafford’s “Static” makes the threat of global war look comparatively mild when there’s also otherworldly menaces to contend with. In “Whitechapel Transfer,” by Theresa Derwin, the Jack the Ripper story gets an original and unexpected twist. “The Three Blind Men” by A.J. Sikes takes a slightly more fantastical tone in the form of some bumbling messengers of the gods. 

Travis I. Sivart’s “Nothing But a Dog: A Trio of Travellers Tales” combines steampunk and classic fairy tales in a weird Brothers-Grimm sort of way. “Clockwork Carousel” by Marie Andrews is a quaint and charming ride on a merry-go-round of creepy chills. In “The Black Banshee,” by Buck Weiss, we get lively pulp and paranormal adventure. Last but hopefully not least is my own “The Garretton Ghoul,” in which someone or something preys on the city’s downtrodden artists. 

If steampunk’s your thing, this one is bound to please and entertain. So, put on your goggles or adjust your monocle, and get it today!

-Christine Morgan

BOOK OF THE MONTH:

THE OBLIVION ROOM by Christopher Conlon (to be released June, 2013 by EVIL JESTER PRESS / 287 pp / tp)

Conlon's short story collection features six "Stories of Violation," and anyone familiar with his work knows what to be in for; those who aren't need to take note.

The opening tale 'The Oblivion Room' features a woman who finds herself captive in a pitch-black, brick cylinder. She attempts to survive by creating a mental memoir and eventually discovers a way to escape...sort-of. Claustrophobes be warned. In 'On Tuesday All The Rain Fell From The Sky,' a man murders his family then goes to work as if nothing happened. We're then taken on an emotionally-charged journey as he attempts to come to terms what he has--or hasn't--done. The ending will have you baffled until it sinks in.

'Skating the Shattered Glass Sea' deals with a man who visits his sister in a Behvaorial Health Center and the unusual bond they both share; 'The Long Light Of Sunday Afternoon' centers around an old man and how he handles personal ghosts (it also acts well as a latent end of the world story), and in 'Grace' a woman returns to the home where her step father abused and kept her locked in a closet as a child. She comes to terms with it all when she rediscovers a drawing she had done on the closet wall.

The main event here is 'Welcome Jean Krupa, World's Greatest Girl Drummer!' It tells the tale of Jeannie Crupiti, who is a self-taught demon on the drum kit. Set in the 1940s during WW2, she joins a band fronted by former jazz great Stanley Skye after sitting in with them one night, and the group begins a long but steady rise to the top. Told from the point of view of young guitarist Lester (undraftable due to being 4-F), we quickly fall in love with all the characters here, cheering them on and, like the band, become protective of young Jeannie, especially when her strange cousin arrives back from the war to roadie for the band. But secrets abound, and Conlon brings this impossible-to-put-down tale to a tragic but satiysfying conclusion. As a former drummer, I can say this is one of, if not THE best story I've ever read about drummers and band life on the road.

THE OBLIVION ROOM is a real treat. Conlon's tales go from flat-out terrifying to subtle, quiet horrors, but each one dark and thought provoking in their own ways. The writing is razor sharp and a real pleasure to read. Highly recommended and easily one of the best releases of 2013.

HITCHERS by Will McIntosh (2012 Night Shade Books / 301 pp / hc, tp, eBook & audio)

A wonderful exercise in contradictions, this story presents a take on life-after-death that manages to be terrifying and sweet, sad and funny, infuriating and uplifting, and many other conflicting or even opposite emotions blended into a satisfying 283 pages of cognitive dissonance. 

On the big-picture scale, it’s a world-shaking disaster: a terrorist anthrax attack literally decimates the population of Atlanta (side note: misuse of ‘literally’ and ‘decimate’ each on their own are pet peeves of mine, misused together they make me crazy, and what a tremendous relief to see it DONE RIGHT FOR ONCE!!! okay soapbox over)

Hundreds of thousands are killed. Bad enough. Worse, and very weird, is what happens next, as many of the survivors begin to experience strange instances of suddenly blurting out words in coarse, gravelly voices. The condition quickly progresses to a point that people are losing control of their own bodies, being taken over from within. 

PTSD, the experts say. Or some sort of personality disorder triggered by the events. Or people are going crazy. All reasonable enough explanations, and certainly anybody who’s suffering or witnessing the phenomenon is going to feel that way. But they soon come to realize they’re not crazy. They really are possessed, sharing their bodies with the spirits of the dead. 

These ‘hitchers,’ as they come to be called – though ‘stowaways’ or even ‘hijackers’ in some cases might be closer to the truth – have unfinished business, strong ties, or other reasons for wanting to cling to even this surrogate semblance of life. 

Large-scale though the premise is, the real story is small-scale and personal. Finn Darby, who’s been through some personal tragedies including the loss of his beloved wife, is finally getting his life back on track. He’s revived his grandfather’s classic comic strip – very much against his grandfather’s dying wishes – to great success. Then he finds himself the unexpected and unwilling host to his grandfather’s angry spirit. 

Finn is desperate to find a way to solve the problem before his grandfather fully takes over. Even as he’s working toward that, he realizes that his wife must be out there somewhere too, and they could be, in a way, together again. 

With the unlikely help of some fellow sufferers, including an aging rock star and a waitress with an interest in the occult, Finn has to wrestle metaphysical matters as well as his own feelings, all while struggling against his grandfather’s opposition.

Great book. Definitely worth a look, sure to provide a lot of unsettling food for thought on bodily autonomy, rights, and the afterlife.

-Christine Morgan

NEXT MONTH:

Gerard Houarner's Max the Assassin returns in WAITING FOR MR. COOL...

and the usual BOATLOAD of reviews...

MAY, 2013 Reviews

MAY, 2013 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)

TONES OF HOME by Thomas A. Erb (2013 Crowded Quarantine Publications / 174 pp / tp)

Maurice and Ashley are a mixed-race couple who recently got engaged.  They are on their way to meet Ashley's family and make the big announcement.  Maurice is apprehensive, to say the least.  Ashley's family are rednecks living an a small Upstate New York town with a reputation for being racist.

The couple arrive at the Torchlight Inn in the middle of a snowstorm, but that hasn't stopped Ashley's family—of the town's entire population—from packing the joint.  The crowd is raucous and rowdy; there has been plenty of drinking going on and someone is itching for a fight.  Tension is high and Maurice is ready to bolt when Ashley's dad arrives and welcomes Maurice into the family.  Relief settles over Maurice and the party atmosphere has everyone feeling pretty good.

That is, until a foursome wearing Beatles masks and loaded with weapons descends upon the unsuspecting patrons of the Torchlight Inn.  And the bloodbath begins.

When I started reading TONES OF HOME, I thought I knew what direction the story was probably going to take, but boy was I wrong.  Erb throws an astonishing curve ball, creating one of the most bizarre revenge stories I've ever read.  Character development is great, as well as to the point and I found myself rooting for the rednecks and Maurice.  There's a feeling of claustrophobia throughout the story that I found quite uncomfortable.  It's not just that the entire story takes place in a crowded bar...the raging snowstorm makes the confinement far worse.  Where do you go when you are effectively snowed in?  The motive of the Fearsome Four had me both shocked and laughing at the same time, and the leader of this group called to mind Alex of A CLOCKWORK ORANGE.  If murder and mayhem with a twist is your thing, then I highly recommend TONES OF HOME.  I can honestly say it's one of the best books I've read this year, so far.

-Colleen Wanglund

HELLHOLE: AWAKENING by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson (2013 Tor Books / 527 pp / hc)

Exiled General Tiber Adolphus is now unofficially in charge of protecting the 54 planets of the Deep Zone, a stretch of universe where rebels and undesirables are sent by the corrupt government of the 20 Crown Jewel worlds. Sent away by the brutal Diadem Michella in the first book, Adolphus has allied with a strange alien race who are currently coming "back to life" through volunteer human hosts on the planet Hallholme (a.k.a. Hellhole).

Michella's spies have caught wind of Adolphus' growing power. She sends a hundred warships to stop him, only to once again have underestimated the General. When her massive fleet goes missing, Michella brings a famed war hero out of retirement to get her out of this mess.

Meanwhile, Adolphus' alien allies, the Xayans, are becoming more powerful with each passing day and with each new human convert. Their psychic powers manage to cause major damage to Michella's homeworld of Sonjeera, turning the corrupt queen into an even more bloodthirsty tyrant.

This second book in Herbert and Anderson's epic scifi saga is full of ingenious battle tactics, endless political and social intrigue, and focuses on space survival in the face of war with little-to-no supplies.

Everything ends on a wicked cliffhanger, and the threat of a new enemy should provide much material for book three. Like most series of this size, there are many characters, but the authors keep things tight and we're never lost despite so much going on.

HELLHOLE: AWAKENING is a long but satisfying installment in this powerful series. Get yer scifi geek on!

Smell Rating: 4

SHATNERQUEST by Jeff Burk (2013 Eraserhead Press / 188 pp / tp & eBook)

Of all the ways the world could end … all the cheesy disaster movies I’ve watched, all the end-of-days books I’ve ever read … Judgment Day, Ragnarok … asteroid impact, solar flares … plague … 

The fandom apocalypse. Wow. I mean, holy crap, wow. This went above and beyond the weirdest of the weird in an awesomely terrible, terribly awesome way. 

So there’s these geeks at a con, awash in the humid miasma of third-day gamer-funk. The particular geeks-of-interest are Trek geeks, three in Starfleet uniforms (four, if you count the cat that rides around in Benny’s satchel), and their rival, the big slobby jerk of a Klingon. 

Moments before the gripping finish of the Magic: The Gathering tournament, explosions rock the convention. Flaming boulders rain from the sky. A swirling dimensional vortex appears. Giant monsters go on rampages of destruction. Basically, everything hits the fan and all hell breaks loose. 

Each of our geeks have their own backstories woven into the narrative, even Squishy the cat (that one made me cry!). Benny’s slow decline from successful game designer, Gary’s struggles with addiction and recovery and relapse, Janice’s efforts to balance fan-life and normal-life … even Korloth, the wanna-be Klingon. 

With nothing to go home to and nothing to stick around for, our three good geeks and their cat strike out on their own into the chaotic landscape. Foraging for vital supplies – chips, candy, soda, junk food – at gas stations and convenience stores along the way, they head west with the intention of finding and saving someone. Not just any someone. The one, the only, the great William Shatner. 

Because, see, he’s been speaking to Gary, serving as a sort of spirit guide. Now he needs help, and Gary’s determined to deliver. Even if it means battling through zombie Borg, Kirk cultists, tribble invasions, an army of Klingon bikers, and more. Much, much, even-weirder, more. 

Of course, it doesn’t help that by the time they get to California, they find a William Shatner who’s been doused in radioactive waste and grown to gigantic size, stomping through the ruins of Los Angeles. It’s not looking good for geekdom. 

All in all, a wild and hilarious read, a sharp and contemporary parody perfect for making all us geeks howl in hurts-so-true mirth and despair.

-Christine Morgan

PREVIEW:

INTO THE SHADOWS by Greg F. Gifune (to be released May 7, 2013 by Samhain Publishing / 255 pp / tp)

INTO THE SHADOWS contains two novellas by Greg F. Gifune; A VIEW FROM THE LAKE and CATCHING HELL.

A VIEW FROM THE LAKE--James and Katherine live a happy and quiet life in Blissful Point, Massachusetts where they own a quaint lakeside resort, until one summer morning a young boy’s body is found floating in the lake. James is devastated, and within a few months of that tragic accident, he slowly loses his sanity and then disappears. 

A year later, Katherine has decided to sell the resort and start over somewhere new.  Strange dreams and the realization that she didn’t really know her husband have begun to weigh on her.  Katherine’s friend Carlo wants to help her find the answers she is looking for, so he goes to find James’ foster mother.  Carlo discovers a past that James kept hidden from his wife that came back to haunt him—and drive him mad—when the boy drowned at the resort.  Carlo tries to get back to Katherine during a blizzard, while she makes her way down the same path as James did over a year before.

Greg F. Gifune has written a beautifully dark story about the fine line between sanity and insanity.  With just a handful of well-developed characters, and frightening ghosts of the past, this nicely paced novel delves into the fragility of the mind and the isolation that comes with the loss of one’s grip on reality.  Gifune highlights this isolation by setting A VIEW FROM THE LAKE at an empty resort during the height of a blizzard.  Katherine and Carlo experience their own isolation, both figuratively and literally—Katherine at the empty resort and Carlo attempting to navigate the empty, snow-covered roads.  Carlo is also attempting to keep himself sober long enough to save Katherine from James and his past. 

CATCHING HELL—In 1983 Billy, Stephan and Alex are aspiring actors.  It is the end of the summer theater season in Cape Cod and the three friends have decided to spend their last weekend together in Maine at a summer resort owned by Alex’s family.  They bring Tory, one of the theater’s stagehands along with them.  On the drive up to the resort the friends discuss their various future plans—Billy and Stephan going to New York and Alex attending a prestigious college acting program.  

At one point along the winding road through a heavily wooded area the group runs into a fierce rainstorm and must pull over and wait it out.  A bird hits the car’s windshield hard enough to kill it, but the body has disappeared.  Billy is unsettled by the experience, talking about his grandmother’s belief in that very same scenario being a harbinger of death.  

Slightly freaked out, the four take a turnoff into Boxer Hills, a rural town in the middle of the woods.  

The town itself seems stuck in 1947 and after a weird run-in with some locals, the four decide it’s time to leave.  The problem is that the road they travelled into the town on is no longer there.  The four learn they must fight to survive the night and get out of town or else become the victims of depravity, violence and evil.

CATCHING HELL is another story where there are just a handful of well-developed characters being thrown into a situation of desolation and isolation.  Boxer Hills is a town that clearly will not be found on any maps in the middle of nowhere.  It is a frightening story that reads like a horror film and plays out like a game of Mousetrap. The four young protagonists are very sympathetic and relatable, and their terror is palpable.

The novellas were originally published separately by Bad Moon Books and Cemetery Dance, respectively, and if you have not had the pleasure of reading either story before, do yourself a favor and pick up this re-release from Samhain Publishing.  It is a must read for fans of the dark and macabre.

-Colleen Wanglund

ASH STREET by Lee Thomas (2012 Sinister Grinn Press / 282 pp / tp & eBook)

A few years ago, Selma Baxter and Derek Thomason used the basement of a house on Ash Street in Barnard, Texas as a chamber of torture and death for their innocent victims. They killed just for the hell of it, and in doing so managed to unleash an entity comprised of both of their extreme wickedness.

Today, detective Stuart Lancaster (whose wife was one of Baxter and Thomason's victims) is still on the case. And things get strange when family members of the victims start being visited by the ghosts of the deceased ... and some of them are murdered--but not by the ghosts.

Melanie, the star of a paranormal cable show called The Haunt Club catches wind of the sightings in Barnard, and decides to give up a lucrative assignment in England to investigate on her own. She's on a mission to get to the bottom of things before her money-hungry bosses exploit the story, and other members of her team eventually meet up with her.

While it took a while for ASH STREET to kick into gear, once Stuart, Melanie, and Mike (a young man whose little sister Dory was also a victim) meet and begin to investigate, Thomas brings on the goods and begins to tie things together. There's a genuine shock in the final chapters, and the mysterious entity known as "Andy" is like a more complex version of the demon from Thomas' debut novel, STAINED.

Thomas takes a different look at ghosts and adds serial killers to twist the two genres into something fresh. Fun stuff.

(This review originally appeared at THE CROW'S CAW)

COLD VENGEANCE / TWO GRAVES by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (2011/2012 Grand Central Publishing / 368 pp / 480 pp / all formats)

Time for another Special Agent Pendergast double-feature! With these, the second and third books in what are referred to as ‘the Helen trilogy,’ some loose ends get tied up and others come all unraveled. 

The thrillers by Preston and Child have taken many odd turns over the years. Murders, monsters, mysteries, action, adventure, intrigue and horror … a cast of compelling characters and cleverly interwoven relationships … and the most enigmatic of all remains their pale, brilliant, troubled FBI agent with the honeyed New Orleans drawl.

Hey, Harry Dresden and Cumberbatch’s Sherlock have fangirls, don’t give me that look! *swoon*

In FEVER DREAM, which precedes these two, Pendergast discovered twelve years after the fact that his wife Helen’s death wasn’t the accident it had seemed. His efforts to get to the truth only brought more and more questions, not only about that fatal incident but the woman herself, and their entire relationship. It also drew the wrong kind of attention. 

In COLD VENGEANCE, Helen’s brother Judson is determined to get rid of Pendergast once and for all, before the agent’s snooping can do more damage. A seemingly-innocent us-guys hunting trip to the rugged moors of Scotland ends badly, with Pendergast shot and presumed dead. 

As time goes by and even his most faithful friends hear nothing, they’re forced to begin to accept the inevitable. But this is not, of course, the first time Pendergast has been presumed dead. He’s a hard man to kill. Especially when he has something to strive for … in this case, his brother-in-law’s final taunting words that Helen isn’t dead after all. 

Fortunately, through a series of lapses and distractions, I didn’t get around to reading COLD VENGEANCE until after I already had TWO GRAVES. Otherwise, I would have been screaming, foaming at the mouth over bastardly cliffhangers. Instead, I was able to go right from one to the other. 

Two books of Pendergast trying to find out what’s really going on with Helen, is she alive or dead, who IS she, what’s her secret, what’s she been keeping from him, and why? His nature of intense concentration and focus narrow to their finest point yet, into obsession. 

And if it gets a little off-the-deep-end crazy extreme with Nazis and psychic powers and stuff? If the thing about Constance getting committed to an asylum for tossing her baby overboard is left tantalizingly semi-resolved?

Oh, who cares … it’s Pendergast!

-Christine Morgan

PETER COOPER AND THE PIRATE KING by James DeAcutis (2012 CreateSpace / 350 pp / tp & eBook)

Thirteen-year-old Peter Cooper has been raised by his aunt and uncle since the death of his parents when he was very young.  He has grown up in an orphanage run by that aunt and uncle that is actually a stable and loving home for all of the children who live and have ever lived there.  

One night on the way home from a day in the downtown district of Harmon, Peter meets a strange man in the park who gives him a moonbeam catcher.  Peter thinks nothing of it, but later that night the family’s home is set on fire and blaming himself, Peter runs away.  He stows away on the Pollywogg but is soon discovered by some of the crewmembers who’ve known Peter for years as he has spent much time at Harmon’s docks, helping out and earning money where he could.  The captain of the Pollywogg alerts the authorities back in Harmon, but before Peter can be returned to his family he is kidnapped and brought to the Pestilence whose captain is Bill Kyuper, the Pirate King.  He is the very same man from the park that night.  In order to continue his immortal existence, the Pirate King needs Peter’s body/life essence.  Peter is a resourceful boy and will do what he can to survive and get back to his family in Harmon.

PETER COOPER AND THE PIRATE KING is a well-written Young Adult novel that will appeal to all ages.  It is a fun and frightening story involving immortality with a catch, the dead and almost dead, and friends who will do whatever they can to save a young boy in danger.  Character development is excellent—I liked Peter a lot.  The prose is tight and flows nicely, although I did have an issue with the orphanage’s history going on a bit too long.  Overall PETER COOPER is an enjoyable read and I recommend it to fans of horror and fantasy—and pirates.

-Colleen Wanglund

AFTER DEATH edited by Eric J. Guignard (2013 Dark Moon Books / 332 pp / tp & eBook)

It’s time for another shameless review of an anthology in which I’m honored and fortunate to have one of my own stories appear … sharing a table of contents with many great authors, including one of my personal must-read faves, Bentley Little. 

All that and each story has an illustration by the awesome Audra Phillips. The one to accompany mine is an utterly kick-butt Valkyrie, wearing actual armor that actually, y’know, covers vital areas – I mentioned this on a panel at RadCon and discovered that you can disrupt an entire room with the phrase “battle panties,” btw. 

So, biased though I am, this is a fantastic book! With a theme inviting speculation on what happens after we die, thirty-four authors stepped up with thirty-four wonderful and diverse visions. When nobody can know for sure, anything becomes possible. 

Heavens, hells, hauntings and more are to be found herein. Some are spooky, some are sad, some are spiritual, some are scientific. A few are full of fun and wonder. A variety of mythologies, traditions and beliefs are represented. 

Narrowing it down to a shorter list of my personal favorites of the lot – not counting my own, though I do believe “A Feast of Meat and Mead” is one of the best I’ve written so far! – is a challenge. 

But, of all the ones that resonated with me, for emotional impact, writing skill, cleverness, coolness, just-plain-wow-factor, or any combination thereof, here are the biggies:

“Be Quiet at the Back” by William Meikle

Joe McKinney’s “Acclimation Package”

Kelda Crich’s “Circling the Stones at Fulcrum’s Low”

“Boy, 7” by Alvaro Rodriguez

“Someone to Remember” by Andrew S. Williams

Simon Clark’s “Hammerhead”

David Steffen’s “I Will Remain”

“Afterword” by Ray Culey

“Final Testament of a Weapons Engineer” by Emily C. Skaftun

I’m going to make myself stop there, before I wind up listing them all. Suffice to say, these are a knockout bunch of stories. 

In addition, editor Eric Guignard graces each with a brief introduction that sets the tone and/or shares some insight on what went into the making of this book. The final product is a gorgeous book from cover to cover, a top-notch job throughout.

-Christine Morgan

PREY by Tim Marquitz (2012 Genius Book Publishing 171 pp / tp & eBook)

A young homeless boy is found in the middle of a gruesome murder scene by Detective Shane Calvin and his partner and taken into custody as the perpetrator.  Five mutilated bodies—and a few extra parts—are among the carnage in the abandoned house.  In the course of his investigation, Detective Calvin discovers more houses, owned by the same person, all with hidden torture chambers.  Somehow, this connects back to the town's mayor and one of his childhood friends.  Now, the mayor's son is missing and Calvin will do whatever it takes to save the boy.  Unfortunately, it's only the tip of a horrifying iceberg.

PREY is a very dark and disturbing novella that is well-written and fast-paced.  Shane Calvin is a determined man, good at what he does, and concerned for the safety of the mayor's son.  The homeless boy, Aiden, at first seems like a monster, but as the story unfolds, he becomes very sympathetic.  The real monster is hiding in plain sight.  PREY is very entertaining and held my interest with some interesting and cringe-inducing twists.  It is not for the faint of heart.

Included with PREY is the bonus novella ANATHEMA, about a man Jerrod, who loses everything to another man and is determined to exact revenge.  Unfortunately for Jerrod, things go horribly wrong and he is left to deal with the sickening consequences of his actions.  Another macabre tale that will leave you squirming.

-Colleen Wanglund

THE KILLINGS by J.F. Gonzalez and Wrath James White (2013 Sinister Grin Press / 174 pp / tp & eBook)

I went into this one already wincing, flinching, and cringing in anticipation of having the shredded bits of my soul drawn out through my eyeballs. I based this on, reasonably enough I think, prior experience; BOTH of these authors have reliably demonstrated off-the-charts squick level capabilities. Together? Eek. 

Fortunately for my shreddable soul and eyeballs, THE KILLINGS proved to be … I hesitate to use the word ‘milder’ when it features graphic gore, twisted urges and horrific mutilations … but, in a sense, okay, ‘milder’ will have to do. In a sense. One sense. 

In the other sense, the harsh beam of a stark and vicious spotlight cast upon many of the uglier aspects of humanity (hate, racism, privilege, misogyny) did kind of send my soul shrinking way to the back of wherever it dwells. 

After all, this book was inspired by actual historical events, and actual historical events tend to showcase how much we can suck as a species. Even without the nudge of curses, monsters or outside evils, we’re plenty capable of atrocities. 

Journalist Carmen Mendoza is following up on some intriguing interviews with a convicted child-killer. She soon finds herself investigating not just one set of heinous crimes but a chain of them, similar-yet-different murder sprees stretching back a hundred years. In the course of her poking around, she not only gets her hands on an old journal, she has the misfortune to catch the eye of the latest in this series of killers. 

The century-apart plotlines interweave so cleverly that the story and suspense are maintained at relentless high-tension throughout. It demands to be a one-sitting read even as it really makes you want to step away for a moment to steady your nerves, so you can’t step away. 

All in all, THE KILLINGS is an exceedingly well-written, riveting, and a deeply, DEEPLY disturbing and uncomfortable read.

-Christine Morgan

See ya'll in one month!

APRIL, 2013 Reviews

APRIL, 2013 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)

THE AFTER-LIFE STORY OF PORK KNUCKLES MALONE (2013 Bizarro Pulp Press / 93 pp / eBook & tp)

Daryl is a young man with a very special pet pig. He lives on a Wisconsin farm with his father Albert, and all's well until Albert decides his son is too close with a mere swine: he murders the poor pig with a chainsaw, breaking his son's heart in the process.

But now the pig (nick-named Pork Knuckles) is back, albeit in the form of a glazed ham. Daryl decides he can't take his dad's abuse anymore, so he places Pork Knuckles in his back pack and hits the road on his bicycle. It doesn't take long for things to go completely off-the-wall from there in MP Johnson's hysterical, demented road-trip tale that takes a look at the strength of friendship through a bizarro lense.

Daryl and his pet pig (ham) are soon confronted by a strange trucker, steroid-enhanced drag queens, are taken in by his aunt and uncle who are very twisted old school punks, and one chapter (told from the point of view of a fly named Zzz) had me laughing out loud. There are surprises on nearly every page, and the pace is completely frantic.

But what makes PORK KNUCKLES MALONE so different (besides it's obvious weirdness) is what becomes of the main characters: Daryl goes through a most unusual metamorphosis while his father and Pork Knuckles become something way out there... culminating in a several-chapter conclusion that combines a wacky look at creationism and a punk rock show to end all punk rock shows.

Having read most of Johnson's catalog, I can say this is easily his best work to date.

PREVIEW:

BLACK MAGIC by Russell James (to be released May 7, 2013 by Samhain Publishing / 280 pp / tp & eBook)

The small Florida town of Citrus Glade is in desperate need of some new businesses before it dies a slow death.  Lyle Miller comes to town and opens a magic shop, but he has no intention of adding to the revival of Citrus Glade.  Miller cons four teenage boys into practicing magic tricks, but gets them addicted to the black magic for his own ends.  Now Hurricane Rita has formed directly over South Florida, threatening to wipe the whole area off the map.  Andy, a war veteran, Autumn, a biologist working in the Everglades and a few nursing home residents, including Andy’s mom Dolly are the only ones who can stop Miller’s plans.

While BLACK MAGIC is overall a good story, I was a bit disappointed with this one.  Character development was good, with a few exceptions.  Miller’s background was too vague, as was the goal of his Grand Adventure.  I never really understood what his purpose was.  I liked Andy, who is a flawed man, suffering from guilt and probably PTSD from his tour in Afghanistan and I liked his mom, as well.  I really liked Walking Bear and felt he was fleshed out pretty well, but I thought development of Autumn fell a bit short.  I knew more about Vicente who turned out to be a minor character.  The build-up of the plot was efficient but it had some holes that I wasn’t happy with and the end was a bit innocuous, although Miller’s fate was a bright spot.  It’s an average story that has so much potential but fell somewhat short.

~Colleen Wanglund

ZIPPERED FLESH (Books 1 and 2) edited by Weldon Burge (2012, 2013 Smart Rhino Publications / 284 pp, 324 pp / tp & eBook)

Stating up front that there’s partial bias here, since a friend and I each have stories in the second volume of these squicktastic stories of body modification. I read both anthologies back to back of the span of a couple of days, then needed twice that long to recover from the wincing and flinching. 

Basically, I’m a total wuss. A baby when it comes to needles and sharp things; though I’ve watched people get tattoos and nose-piercings, I have to look away when it’s me getting the fingerstick or blood draw. I knew these books would test me, and they definitely did. 

Two books. Forty-two stories. Authors ranging from seasoned veterans to promising newcomers. Stories from the distant past to the fantastic future, from the visceral and grotesque to the transcendant and exalted. 

And, most of all, so very many endlessly creative ways to alter the flesh! For so many reasons … voluntarily or otherwise … for personal expression or improvement, for art, for religion, for fun, for profit, for science, for savagery … transplants, implants, spare parts, experiments … fetishes and freaks … to elevate us past humanity or revert us to beasts … just about anything you could imagine, and some things you’d wish you couldn’t. 

With so many tales to choose from, I had a hard time narrowing it down to a few faves to mention specifically. They’re ALL creepy; I mean that in a good way. But, after having a stern talk with myself, I 

Charles Colyott’s “Comfort,” in which obesity run amok and one man’s mommy issues make for a feeling that’s anything BUT comfortable. Eew. Just, eew.

“Taut” by Shaun Meeks STILL has me squirming. The hooks, the thought of the hooks, I can’t even … 

“Skin Deep” by Carson Buckingham and “Locks of Loathe” by Jezzy Wolfe are two terrific spins on the perils of vanity, and Graham Masterson’s “Sex Object” has lost none of its impact in the years since its debut in the Hot Blood books. 

Jonathan Templar’s “Babydaddy” absolutely needs to be made into a double feature to be shown with John Skipp’s “Stay At Home Dad” … maybe mandatory viewing for teenage boys, during that time when the girls have to go watch their special wonders-of-womanhood film strips. 

“Marvin’s Angry Angel,” also by Jonathan Templar, knocks it out of the park in terms of where we’re headed when fad and fashion move beyond trendy purse dogs and third world orphans. 

Doug Blakeslee plays with recurring characters by bringing his Uncommon Assassin back for another go-round in “Perfection,” confronted with some possible killing-machine competition.

Editor Weldon Burge also contributes the tragic but amusing “Hearing Mildred,” in which an old man’s hearing aids subject him to wifely nagging from beyond the grave. 

And, really, if I don’t stop myself now I’ll just keep listing until I’ve listed the complete tables of contents … so, take a look at these twisted tales and decide for yourself. May also make a great gift for that rebellious teenager you want to discourage from getting some work done!

-Christine Morgan

FOR THE LOVE OF HORROR by Michael Arruda (2013 NECon Ebooks / 295 pp / eBook)

While I've been a fan of Michael Arruda's movie reviews for many years, this was my first exposure to his fiction. Here are 15 tales (half of them new) that are tied together by the intertwining story of Keith and Erin, lovers who recall how they met and their love for horror stories.

Opening story, 'Little Boys With Frogs' tells of the time Keith an Erin survived an encounter with a giant; 'That Thing Which Can Never Be Satisifed' deals with two roomates, one of their girlfriends, and a really weird sexual experience. 'Black Heart of the Wolf' is a quick but satisfying werewolf yarn, while 'The Horror Curse' takes a look at how all types of horror media feed horror fans as well as certain...creatures (the author brings this theme back in two other tales).

'Good to the Last Drop' is a humorous look at coffee addiction, while 'Kisses' features our couple Keith and Erin dealing with the sinister advances of Keith's friend, Glenn. In 'The Painting,' a grandson and his grandfather deal with some strange occurences around an art collection, then ghosts run wild in 'Friends Forever.' 'On the Rocks' deals with a man wishing his wife death, only to have it come true in a most slithery way.

Next up is 'Reconciliation,' easily the best story of the lot, about a 62 year-old priest who hears a confession from a ... vampire. The entire story takes place within a confessional booth, and the ending is not only timely but gives the piece a real kicker.

"Curse of the Kragonaks' digs deeper into the theme opened up in 'The Horror Curse,' then 'The Monster Who Loved Women' warns men that the woman they may have a thing for might not be who they think she is. Got that?

'The House of Mr. Morbidikus' is one bed and breakfast you'd do well to stay away from, while 'He Came Upon a Midnight Clear' features a ghost who intervenes with a dysfuctional family on Christmas Eve.

The collection concludes with 'For the Love of Horror,' where our loving horror couple, Keith and Erin, face off against Glenn and his mysterious powder one last time.

FOR THE LOVE OF HORROR is a mixed bag: a couple of stories go nowhere, and most of them have the feel of an old EC horror comic ... which is good if you're a horror comic fan (which I am). Some readers may find the constant use of exclamation marks to be a bit too comic-like, while others should get a kick out of Arruda's old-school, Hammer-film-feel of story telling. I like how classic monsters (especially vampires and werewolves) are used, and the added wrap-around story ties the book together quite nicely.

Arruda's collection is a fun--if uneven--read.

SKIN MEDICINE by Tim Curran (2009 Severed Press / 276 pp /  tp)

Tyler Cabe, former Civil War soldier and current bounty hunter has come to the Utah Territory in 1882 to hunt a brutal killer dubbed the Sin City Strangler.  Who he finds is old war enemy Jackson Dirker, the Territory’s sheriff, Mormons who are the subject of persecution and victims of local vigilantes, mysterious creatures called Hide Hunters that hunt humans, and an outlaw who is supposed to be dead.  The Wild West apparently never had it this wild.

My brief synopsis doesn’t do this novel justice.  It is a complex story that involves not just supernatural horror, but the very real psychological damage of PTSD.  Tyler Cabe is a fully fleshed-out character with serious baggage since the end of the Civil War.  He has hung on to a grudge that he ultimately discovers wasn’t worth carrying around all these years later.  Jackson Dirker also witnessed and participated in some real-life horrors during the war, but has dealt with it differently—in a more constructive way.  Weaved seamlessly into the lives of these two veterans is a serial killer reminiscent of Jack the Ripper and Cabe won’t stop until he catches his killer.  

Whisper Lake, the central town in SKIN MEDICINE is a sprawling mining town on the verge of chaos—between the Sin City Strangler and some of the residents mistrust and misunderstanding of the Mormons who live nearby.  Jackson Dirker has so far been able to keep things in check, but the vigilantes led by Caleb Callister are planning something big.  There is also the not-so-little matter of the werewolf-like creatures that have come to the Territory.  Curran manages to keep the story flowing at a nice pace without getting bogged down in too many details.  There is much going on but at no time did I lose interest or get confused about what was happening.  This is another great book from Tim Curran that any horror fan should read.

~Colleen Wanglund

MUERTE CON CARNE by Shane McKenzie (2013 Deadite Press / 194 pp / tp)

Just when I’d recovered from ALL YOU CAN EAT enough to brave the Chinese lunch buffet again, Shane McKenzie returns, this time to make sure I don’t stop by any taco trucks for the forseeable future. 

Lucha Libre to the ultimate extreme, plus illegal immigration issues, equals violence even before you get to the whole messy business of the butchering and the cannibalism and the other nasty surprises in store.  

Marta is a fiesty, stubborn young woman determined to uncover and expose what really goes on at the border, decides to put herself on the line in the most real way possible. Her plan is to pretend to be sneaking across, get caught, and record the results via concealed miniature camera. 

Felix, her boyfriend, thinks it’s a bad idea but resolves to help out anyway, if only in hopes of patching up their relationship. Or sort-of relationship … or sort-of boyfriend … between the two of them, they’re a bundle of mood swings, temper, hot sex, commitment issues, and general dysfunction. 

The prospect of them on a long drive together, into a stressful and dangerous situation, is a disaster waiting to happen even without any help from murderous, sadistic kidnappers. There’s definitely no shortage of atrocities in store!

From a purely artistic standpoint, some of the descriptive phrasing in here is of such gloriously depraved beauty that I found myself having to stop several times to marvel aloud. In, of course, the sort of way that devotees of this kind of thing can’t really share with those around them without risking getting those uneasy looks. 

This book might also cost me a friend whose signature MMO character was a mighty luchador. I can’t NOT get him a copy, it’s like a sign. Will just have to see if he’ll still speak to me later …

-Christine Morgan

PREVIEW:

RED MOON by Benjamin Percy (to be released May 7, 2013 by Grand Central Publishing / 530 pp / hc and eBook)

Patrick is the only survivor of a werewolf attack aboard an airplane. He's known in the media as the Miracle Boy and the students at his new high school don't know if he survived by luck or because he may be a wolf himself. In Percy's epic RED MOON, werewolves have been living among us all along, and the book reads like an alternative history tale with the wolves sitting in for (add the religion/minority/gender of your choice).

We also see things through the eyes of Claire, who is on the run when the government invades her house and kills her Lycan parents. She finds her aunt Miriam, and has a safe house until a wolf-led terrorist plot changes the entire course of the United States.

After high school, Patrick joins the army and heads to an American-occupied wolf country, searching for his father. But after he finds him, he comes back to America to help deal with the after-effects of a devastating attack on a nuclear plant that has left America's west coast in chaos. The Lycan race is now using this for an uprising, and a gang of skinheads known as The Americans are waging their own war against the shape-shifting creatures.

RED MOON is a fine take on the werewolf mythos (even our new president is one of them) that suffers only from over-writing. A better edit could easily have taken 150 pages off this one, but regardless, Percy has created a real page turner that I'm hoping isn't a stand alone novel (there are several unanswered questions at the end). I'm not a big werewolf fan, but this one kept me reeled in despite it's minor flaws.

Smell Rating: 3

THE COLOR OF BONE by Carol Weekes (2012 Genius Publishing / 287 pp / tp)

THE COLOR OF BONE is a nice-sized collection of twenty-six disturbing short stories by Carol Weekes. 

Some of my favorites include “Clowning Around,” a disquieting story about a young woman on a date with a carney who isn’t as he appears; “Black Limousine,” about Death’s visit to a small town; the super creepy “Smoke and leaves” about what happens to a man and his family while visiting an October carnival; “Two Hours, Two People, and a Box,” an entertaining story about two opposites stuck in an elevator; “An Eve of Fine Crystals” about a distraught man who wants to be with his dead wife; and “Cured,” about a woman given a cure for her cancer—and retribution for past abuse.

Other fantastic stories include “A Song of War” about how children learning to play music can defeat War; “The House that James Built,” a sad story about a disabled boy that just wanted a friend; “Maybelline,” about three boys who meet a lonely girl in an old, abandoned boxcar; and “Wary Be the Traveler,” a nod to Lovecraft about a couple who claim they can see other realms.  This one in particular spooked me because it involved ventriloquist dummies and I fear those more than clowns.

Carol Weekes has an amazing collection of stories in THE COLOR OF BONE.  All are thoroughly creepy in their own way.  From “Standing Water,” about strange eel-like creatures, to “Weather System,” about a literally deadly storm, every story held my attention.  I can honestly say there isn’t a bad story to be had here.  There are a few that aren’t as good as most, but they were still entertaining.  A dark and gruesome addition to any horror fan’s library.

~Colleen Wanglund

ODD PLACES by Guy Anthony DeMarco (2013 Yurei Press / 194 pp / tp)

Very short stories and flash fiction fascinate me in the same way that many athletic pursuits do … I admire the skill, envy and appreciate the grace and economy of movement, and know that if I tried anything like that I’d probably hurt myself. 

ODD PLACES is a collection that’s like watching a sports highlights clip reel. You don’t have to sit through the whole game, complete with commentary, instant replays and slo-mo, to get the exciting action. 

There’s more than thirty stories in this book – and it’s a slim book, too! Some of them take up no more than a single page, but pack a serious punch in that single page. Books like these are great ones to carry around for those occasions when you have some spare minutes waiting and need a quick read to help pass the time. 

It opens with the nicely creepy “A Case of Curiosities” and goes many (aptly enough) odd places from there, from the haunting to the hilarious and beyond. Little bit of everything, at least something for everyone. 

Some of my favorites include “Dead Meat” (zombie cows!), “Home” (one of the abovementioned pack-a-punches), “Death Grip” (liked this one best of all!) and “To-Do List” (ouch, knife-twister).

-Christine Morgan

FALSE MAGIC KINGDOM / BAD ALCHEMY / THE GOG AND MAGOG BUSINESS / YOUR CITIES, YOUR TOMBS by Jordan Krall (2012/13 Copeland Valley / 87 pp / 86 pp / 47 pp / 227 pp / limited edition chapbooks & trade paperback)

This epic 4-book saga had me skeptical at first: the first three installments come in three separate chapbooks, and while they held my interest, I wasn't sure where they were headed or what the point was. It's wonderfully weird and featured some amazing ideas and visuals, but I didn't know if the author would tie everything up in a way that would make these early sections valid.

Then I read the final installment, the novel-length YOUR CITIES, YOUR TOMBS, and was completely blown away.

This tale is told from mutliple viewpoints but isn't distracting. Each one reveals a little bit more about what's going on during a city-wide terrorist attack. Through three slightly off-balanced doctors, a married couple with a failing sex life and mental illness, to a woman searching for the truth about her father's suicide, Krall takes us on a surreal nightmare fueled by an ever-present and growing paranoid phobia that leads to a horrifying finale that may be a bit too real for some readers. The author's influences are evident, but the series as a whole takes on its own feel.

This intense study of fear and conspiracies uses shadow and suggestion and allows the reader to savor and discern every bit of information and ultimately feel deeply for its cast (especially one reluctant terrorist) as the tale comes into light; a shaded light, but a light nonetheless.

As far as bizarre fiction goes, Krall's "False Magic Kingdom" series is a true masterpiece and easily his finest work to date.

Smell Rating: First three books: 2  /  YOUR CITIES, YOUR TOMBS: 3

BIGFOOT CRANK STOMP by Erik Williams (2013 Deadite Press / 156 pp / tp)

This book is what might happen if you took all the scenes they couldn’t show on television from a bunch of Discovery, History, Learning, and other no-longer-aptly-named channels’ subgenre of “extreme redneckin’” programming and made a SyFy movie. 

Whether that’s a good thing or not depends on your personal perspective. And, as for my personal perspective, I found it unabashed trashy fun that knows full well how tacky and over the top it is. 

First, you’ve got your back-country meth trade, complete with guns, addicts, dealers, corrupt law enforcement, the works. Then you’ve got your random hapless others … the troubled veteran gone hermit, the amateur porn makers, the campers. And then you’ve got Bigfoot. 

But wait! Bigfoot’s hooked on meth! And when he doesn’t get it, he goes on a total crazypants craving-fueled murderous rampage!

Really, with that, I don’t know what more needs be said or can be said. If this is your thing, you’ll enjoy the heck out of it. If not, you should know better by now than to be picking up anything from Deadite … unless you like making people ask, “what the (bleep) are you reading?!?”

-Christine Morgan

MILTON'S CHILDREN by Jason V. Brock (2013 Bad Moon Books / 85 pp / tp)

In Brock's quick novella, a group of scientists returning from the Antartica decide to make a stop at some uncharted islands. One of them features strange creatures and plant life no man has seen before. The explorers break up into two groups, and one goes missing. The other group waits for their colleagues on the beach, and also for a helicopter pick up the next morning. But when the helicopter crew come, they finds the beachfront campiste a bloody mess, and discover tapes and notes recorded by the lost scientists of what they have discovered. And eventually they themselves learn these strange creatures have an uncanny ability to communicate...

While MILTON'S CHILDREN is a decent monster romp, the first chapter commits a cardinal sin (that'd be preaching to the point of irritation, this time about vegetarianism, which I'm still not sure had anything to do with the plot). If you can get by this flaw, Brock brings the creature feature goodness in a nice, well written, compact size.

Smell Rating: 1

PREVIEW:

FUSE by Julianna Baggott (to be released in the US April, 2013 by Headline Press / Grand Central Publishing / 480 pp / hc and eBook)

It’s been said that the YA dystopian genre is getting played out, and maybe in most cases that’s true … but the bizarre-mutations aftermath setting of this series, which began with PURE, is more than captivating enough to sustain interest. 

Basically, there was this nuclear-type apocalypse, called the Detonations. The survivors not killed outright were ‘fused’ with whatever or whoever they happened to be in contact with at the time, leading to a devastated landscape filled with people who’ve been melded together in hideous living patchwork with inanimate objects, animals, or other people. 

The select few who were sheltered in the Dome escaped all that, and had been living their own happy climate-controlled human terrarium life since the blasts. But, in the first book, Partridge, the son of the Dome’s leader, winds up outside. He joins forces with some of the ‘wretches’ and they set out to discover the truths behind the lies … including that of the death of Partridge’s mother and brother, and the existence of his half-sister. 

Now his father and the Dome-folk want him back, and take a carrot-and-stick approach – the stick involves swarms of boobytrapped robots that latch on like ticks, and the carrot involves the promise of a new serum that will ‘cleanse’ the wretches of their deformities. All they have to do to is hand over Partridge. 

FUSE does suffer a bit from the usual second-in-a-trilogy-it is, as the plot spins out, the rebellion gets organized, the conspiracies thicken, the political structure within the Dome begins to crumble, and of course the relationship troubles and love triangles between various characters hit crisis points. And, as is almost a required part of the formula by now, it ends on a frustrating “augh no not yet!” cliffhanger note.

The best bits of these books, in my opinion (and there are no bad bits, either), continue to be the inventive and creative ways the setting is presented, the fusings and the societies that evolve around them … as fascinating as they are creepy … disfigurement and mutation … body horror at its most chronic.

-Christine Morgan

Until Next Month . . .