Reviews for the Week of September 28, 2015

NOTE: Please see bottom of main page for submission info. Thank you.

SUPERGHOST by Scott Cole (2015 Eraserhead Press / 112 pp / trade paperback & eBook)

The mysterious Dr. Rains offers Darren and Michelle (and a host of others) an experimental cure for their irritating phantom limb syndromes. By placing their arm or leg stubs into his machine, they are temporarily cured of their pain. But of course Dr. Rains has plans none of his patients could've ever guessed.

It seems Dr. Rains has invented a way to "steal" phantom limbs, and has invented an adhesive that can connect them together, a paranormal glue if you will. And to get back at the scientists who mocked him, he has created a fifty-foot tall "Superghost" comprised of the torso and head of a body builder with multiple legs and arms.

At a science convention, the Superghost goes on a rampage that begins to flatten the city (it's able to both walk through walls and become a solid killing machine at will). Thankfully, Darren and Michelle have come into contact with the equally as mysterious Dr. Franck, who has come up with a way to battle the Superghost. And it will require Darren and Michelle becoming part of an even stranger monstrosity.

SUPERGHOST is Cole's debut, a riff on mad scientists and ghost stories that's quite entertaining. I'll definitely be checking out whatever goodies this New Bizarro Author has up his translucent sleeve.

-Nick Cato

GOBLINS by David Bernstein (2015 Samhain Publishing / 210 pp / trade paperback & eBook)

Roanoke Island in Virginia is usually a quiet town, a nice place to live and raise children. Until one afternoon when Jacob Brown disappears in the woods while chasing a baseball after a championship game. Shortly after, his parents are brutally murdered in their home. And soon, more children disappear, their families slaughtered.

Police Chief Marcus Hale begins to suspect that what is terrorizing Roanoke Island is not human. He resists the idea, but town drunk Jed Brewster knows about such things, and together they try to stop the creatures stalking the children.

GOBLINS was kind of a strange reading experience for me. I enjoyed the story very much; David Bernstein is a great writer who just keeps getting better with each book. But he described the children’s terror and pain so well that it broke my heart thinking of the horror they endured – even though they are fictional characters. 

But if you prefer your horror more visceral than emotional, there is something for you as well. Splatterpunk describes this story very well. The goblins spend a lot of time masticating eyeballs, disemboweling victims, and generally feasting on humans, and the author lovingly describes these actions. I cringed a lot.

If you’re looking for a good, creepy story for the Halloween season, GOBLINS is a perfect choice.

-Sheri White

ANDERSONVILLE by Ed Erdelac (2015 Hydra / 340 pp / eBook)

I love historical fiction when the language and feel of the era is spot-on, and from the very first page, this one nails it. The era in question is Civil War, the particular setting a train on the way to a hellish prisoner-of-war camp in Georgia.

It isn’t the sort of train anybody would want to be on, let alone deliberately sneak onto … and even less so for a black man dressed in Union blue. Yet that’s exactly what Bradley Lourdes does, to the point of taking on the identity of a less (or maybe more) fortunate deceased soldier.

Living or dead, black or white, none of them are going to find their situation improved by arriving at their destination. Inside the stockade is a mass of mud, filth, lice, brutality and despair. Shabby tents and ramshackle shelters crowd together in every available inch of space, and those who can’t manage such lodging find themselves scrounging out a place to sleep on the bare ground. Rations are few and far between. Clean water is a treasure beyond price.

Life is cheap, and the threat of violence is everywhere. Maybe from the sentries up on the walls of the stockade, rewarded for shooting anyone crossing the line. Maybe from the sadistic guards and their packs of vicious dogs. Maybe from the commander, always ready to order a lashing. Maybe from fellow prisoners; the tough prey on the weak, various factions maneuver for status, and there’s always the odd lone lunatic or two.

Yet, as horrible as the place appears … the truth is worse. Much, much worse. I’d been so caught up in the story already, the characters and their struggles, the atrocities, the grim and appalling and all-too-believable conditions, that it almost came as a surprise to discover there was an even more sinister, inhuman secret lurking behind the already inhumane facade.

So, you get the grittiness and horror of a Civil War prison camp, loaded with racism ranging from casual to monstrous, and you also get a hefty dose of the paranormal. Biblical, native, vodoun, occultism, a little of this, a little of that, mixing together to mean serious bad news.

It’s a great read, bringing together history and mystery, descriptions almost too vivid, plenty of compelling characters, and an expertly handled sense of time and place.

-Christine Morgan

THERE'S A BLUEBIRD IN MY HEART by Gary McMahon (to be released 10/14/2015 by White Noise Press / 26 pp / limited edition chapbook)

After losing his family to some kind of monster plague, Bill finds comfort in the bottle, even if it only leads to fistfights and more despair. And after a one night stand with his elderly landlady, he finds his way to another bar where he discovers he's able to see auras of sorts--strange blue glows coming from the other patron's chests--that leads him to an encounter with a strange beast that then leads to what is perhaps the ultimate kind of self-discovery.

While McMahon's tale only takes up 18 pages, its scope is epic; the hint that something worldwide is happening hides in the background of Bill's closed world, which is as depressing as it is exciting. BLUEBIRD is an incredibly satisfying read, although I could easily see it being expanded into a much longer piece.

If you've never seen a White Noise Press chapbook, this one's as beautiful as ever, complete with Keith Minnion's interior illustrations and packaging collectors will want on their shelf.

Another all-around excellent release from WNP. (This is limited to only 150 copies so grab one now at White Noise Press)

-Nick Cato

THE REBORN by Bryan Smith (2015 CreateSpace / 250 pp / trade paperback & eBook)

Wow. I mean, just … wow. Serves me right for assuming this was going to be yet another zombie story. This is anything BUT yet another zombie story. This is a one-way ticket to a spiraling weirdness, becoming more impossible to put down with each passing page. I recommend setting aside enough time to read at a single sitting, because it has one of the highest what-happens-NEXT?! factors I’ve seen in a good while.

So, there’s this guy named Josh, who’s always sort of known that sooner or later, he’d kill someone. Probably several someones. He’s been fighting the urge since he was a kid and recognizes himself as definite serial killer material. Finally, he can’t resist any longer, and sets his sights on a woman he’s known since they were kids.

Mia. Beautiful Mia, not quite the girl next door but the girl whose mom still lives across the street from his grandfather (who’s his own barrel of fun; a mean, spiteful, bitter, abusive old bastard Josh can’t seem to escape).

It works. He gets her. He does the vile things he’s always wanted to do. He kills her. Even brings home a special souvenir, at least, as long as it lasts and he keeps it on ice. Josh is feeling pretty smug, pretty pleased with himself.

Except then, Mia comes back. Incredibly, impossibly, there she is. Back from the dead, with no memory of her own murder, and with a new, inexplicable fondness for Josh.

Fondness? Obsession, more like. It may seem like any guy’s dream, having a gorgeous woman utterly devoted to him, but it’s actually more than a little creepy. He can’t get rid of her. He doesn’t know what to do. It certainly promises to cramp his style for any future killings, too. Or does it? Mia really only wants to be there for him, take care of him. No matter what. If that means helping, well ...

Josh isn’t exactly your Dexter-style antihero, adhering to his own twisted kind of code. Josh is, honestly, kind of a jerk. Not to mention, a dangerous and depraved sociopath. And yet, in a peculiar sort of way, I found myself feeling sorry for him as he gets deeper and deeper into a mess of his own making, if beyond his understanding.

THE REBORN is part gory thriller with a supernatural twist, part hilarious screwball rom-com, and all awesome.

-Christine Morgan

A GOD OF HUNGRY WALLS by Garrett Cook (2015 Deadite Press / 164 pp / trade paperback)

Trust modern-day Renaissance genius Garrett Cook to not only reinvent the haunted house book, but discover it anew in whole hitherto unexpected dimensions.

I can’t help but be reminded of the immortal opening words by Shirley Jackson – Hill House, not sane, etc. I always thought those lines had such intriguing potential, and wanted more. How could a house be not sane? Aside, of course, from architectural wackadoo business like Winchester? But, in all my years of reading, I’d never found a satisfying answer.

Until now. This house is not sane, not by any human definition. And it isn’t anything so simple as “from the house’s POV.” Like in his stunning story in GIALLO FANTASTIQUE, this really is an imagining, an immersion of perspective, far beyond anthropomorphizing.

The house is fascinating in its alienness, its observation and manipulation of those within its area of influence. Some of them live there. Some of them, well, ‘live’ may not be the right term. There are those who currently rent rooms – Micah and Cythera with their turbulent relationship, troubled keep-to-herself Leah, feisty Kaz, and Brian-the-new-guy – and there are others. Those whose memories linger on in strangely vital ways. Antonia. Clarence and Maddy, and the shameful things they do to her.

The house knows their secrets. The house can put images into their minds, thoughts into their heads, urges into their bodies. Through therapy sessions with Doctorpuppet, and torture sessions in the basement, with subtle whispers and suggestions or outright physical manifestations, the house affects them, plays with them, uses them at its whim.

The house might as well be a god, but even gods sometimes have their devils. What IS the Closetsong? How is it exerting its own power, interfering, taking what should only belong to the house?

I can’t really give a synopsis because I think this is the kind of book that will resonate differently with each reader; it’s marvelously self-contained and inward-looking, it explains nothing but doesn’t leave a sense of unfulfilled un-explanation. As things begin to fall apart, the distress and confusion, the disintegration, are almost painfully empathic.

Masterful stuff. By no means a casual read; so much is going on, and on so many levels, it will require full concentration … and even then, probably several re-reads will be required, with new impact and new sinking-ins each time.

-Christine Morgan

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NEXT ISSUE:

Reviews for the Week of September 14, 2015

NOTE: Please see bottom of main page for submission info. Thank you.

INFLICTIONS by John McIlveen (2015 Macabre Ink / 286 pp / hardcover, trade paperback, & eBook)

To echo Chris Golden's introduction, several stories in McIlveen's collection knocked me for a loop, mainly because I just didn't expect such dark, desolate stuff from a guy I considered to be one of the most laid back people I've ever met. So if you ever run into John at a convention, don't let his happy, upbeat personality fool you. When not making you laugh your ass off, INFLICTIONS offers some seriously disturbed horror that had me racing through its 23 offerings like a junkie who couldn't get enough.

The goosebumps come right away with opening tale 'Paint it Black,' where a widowed man attempts to understand the unusual final painting of his late artist wife, then the family horror continues in the title tale, 'Inflictions,' where a man discovers his own depraved past.

One of my favorites here is the lengthy 'Jerks,' about a woman named Kelly who is tired of being judged (and picked on) for her looks, and has enough when she finds her man cheating on her. She soon befriends a most strange alien, and things get even weirder--and funnier--as her life does a complete turn around. A truly hilarious romp.

And just when you think more humor is coming, we're hit with 'Make a Choice,' about a vacationing family who get tied up and are forced to play a nasty game at the hands of a lunatic: brutal and terrifying. I had read 'A Mother's Love' in the 21st CENTURY DEAD anthology, and enjoyed revisiting this heartbreaking tale of a mother trying to keep her zombie child well fed during the zombie apocalypse.

'Smokey' is another heart breaker dealing with a cat's supernatural way of helping an abused child. 'Roundabout' begins with a man murdering his family, then quickly turns into one of the more different occult horror tales I've read in a while. 'Succumb' finds a preacher battling an extremely horny entity, while a vampire hunter gets sweet revenge on the one responsible for killing her family in 'Portraits.'

'Nina' tells the tale of the ghost of an abused child, then more ghostly goodness runs rampant in 'The Confession of a Confirmed Has Been,' as a ghost befriends the daughter of a new family living in his old house; I found this one particularly eerie.

The laughs come back full force in the redneck rib-tickler 'Signs,' then the short 'Simon Says' delivers the beginning of the end at the hands of a snarky scientist. More apocalyptic mayhem continues in 'Desolation,' a nuclear war tale that more than lives up to its title.

A man deals with his wife's funeral in the uplifting 'Hope,' and while it may seem a bit out of place here, McIlveen keeps it strange enough to hold your interest.

I can't say enough good things about 'Saddled Vengeance,' a hysterical weird western where crab-infested outlaw Lucas McAdams meets his fate at the hands of an Indian tribe and a very pissed off horse. Did I mention this one is hysterical?

'Finding Forever' is another occult-themed entry with a wickedly dark conclusion, then the flash-length 'Hell to Pay' serves as a quick little follow up.

'What if...' like the aforementioned 'Hope,' is a positive and beautiful tale that brings a little light to the collection, then 'Devotion' delivers the Twilight Zone-like willies.

One of the standouts here is 'The Bore,' about an average guy getting revenge on his cheating wife at a high school reunion. It's as darkly comic as you can get. The dark humor continues in 'A Perfect Man,' where a loser wins the lottery and attempts to find a good plastic surgeon to improve his looks. But he falls victim to a voodoo queen and the results are quite funny.

'In Defense of...' is a short but sweet werewolf (or is it?) tale, then the collection concludes with 'Playing the Huddys,' about a computer company's softball team finding themselves forced to play against a family of inbred rednecks. It's matter-of-fact ending adds to the sheer absurdity.

23 stories, 6 presented here for the first time (although I had only read one of them beforehand).

INFLICTIONS delivers the horror and the humor, sometimes together, sometimes apart. McIlveen's prose is slick and will keep readers glued to the pages, even during the more light hearted fare (but know there isn't much of it here!). This is a fine introduction to a writer who is well worth checking out, and one I'm looking forward to following.

-Nick Cato

THE HUNGRY DARKNESS by Gabino Iglesias (2015 Severed Press / 140 pp / trade paperback & eBook)

Caving is scary. Diving is scary. Put them together, and what do you get? Exponentially scary claustrophobic hostile-environment ways to die. And that’s BEFORE somebody gets greedy.

The greed is understandable enough. Nick Ayres wants to make a name for himself, get into the record books for cave-diving explorations, and being able to film it all with NatGeo footing the bills only makes it better. If he has to do a little damage to widen a passage no one’s ever seen before, well, can’t make an omelet etc. etc.

The trouble, of course, with sneaking in explosives to blast open part of an underwater cave is not just because it’s all illegal and stuff. It’s because who knows what might be living in there? Safe from other predators, but also sealed away … until you gotta come along and let it out.

Needless to say, let the crushing and chomping begin! So much for that NatGeo special, too. So much for some local fishermen … and kids … so much for the highly vital tourism industry, if the little problem isn’t dealt with on the quick and quiet.

That’s where Gabe Robles comes in. A loner with a boat, who takes tourists on fishing and diving expeditions, he’s always on the edge of going broke. So, when he’s offered a lot of money to find and kill the critter, he can’t exactly refuse.

Action-packed and intense, it does suffer from some editing issues (I feel like I’m griping about that a lot lately; are people getting sloppier or am I turning into a judgmental old fussbudget? Or both?). The dialogue tends toward that thing where characters address each other by name a lot to make sure the reader doesn’t forget who’s speaking.

The ending’s also very abrupt, a “wait what it’s over?” doorslam kind of thing; I wanted a little more wrap-up and wind-down. All in all though, another decent addition to the list of books to read while you’re NOT on vacation.

-Christine Morgan

DEATH SONGS FROM THE NAKED MAN by  by James Newman and Donn Gash (2015 Cemetery Dance Publications / 91 pp / eBook)

A naked man with a gun picks off customers in a convenience store, singing songs and yelling absurdities to the terrified clientele.  A lonely man in a truck stop hooks up with a beautiful woman that will end up a night he will always remember and always regret. A couple receiving marriage counseling from their church minister work out their differences in a horrific and violent way. And an aspiring writer gets the desperately-hoped-for break of his career that turns out to be a nightmare not only for him, but his wife and brother as well.

James Newman and Donn Gash have put together a collection of twisted, but hilarious stories of people caught up in completely insane situations. There is a lot of brutality and graphic violence, but while you’re cringing, you will also be laughing.

I hope Newman and Gash work together again soon, because they make a fantastic writing team.


-Sheri White

I LIKE TURTLES by G. Arthur Brown (2014 Strange Edge Publications / 133 pp / eBook)

You know those weird little toys from cereal boxes, vending machines, and the I-didn’t-cry drawer at the dentist’s office? I’m talking the stuff of which Archie McPhees, that venerable Seattle quirk-emporium, is made … novelties on the far end of the WTF scale … you know?

This collection of flash fiction from G. Arthur Brown is like that. One little piece of weirdness after another, each stranger than the last, and just when you think you’ve seen it all, along comes the wackiest one yet. The simultaneous mental sense of “but but but WHY,” and immediate perfect rightness, was the feeling I kept getting struck with all throughout the book.

I’m not even sure how to begin to describe any particular story. They’re each in their own ways fascinating nuggets of absurdity and brilliance. The sort of thing you might think at first glance a kid on cough syrup might have done, bizarre imagery, random thoughts, streams of consciousness, word-salad … except it goes deeper than that. There’s more to it than that, a structure and system. Sometimes it’s right up front, sometimes it hits you midway or at the end, but it’s there.

They range from grim to hilarious, from possibly offensive to poignant. “Poor November” is a poignant one, haunting and beautiful in its despair. But then there’s “Sweat Bees,” which leans more toward an Edward Lee kind of thing … and the sheer goofiness of “James Franco vs. Shia LaBeouf” … yet as wildly different as they all are, those are the three I liked the best. Go figure.

Really, all I can say is, I’m not surprised in the least to see I LIKE TURTLES on the ballot for this year’s Wonderland awards. No matter who takes home the prize, everyone wins.


-Christine Morgan

DECEMBER PARK by Ronald Malfi (2014 Medallion Media Group / 756 pp / hardcover, trade paperback, & eBook)

It’s the early 90s, and the small town of Harting Farms – usually a very safe place where the worst crimes are those of the mischievous kind – is in terror of a child killer called “The Piper.” A teenage boy named Angelo, along with his best friends, decide to try and solve the mystery, not realizing just how deeply in danger they’re going to find themselves.

This is a coming-of-age story, and will be compared to King’s short story “The Body.” While there are a few similarities, DECEMBER PARK blows it out of the water with the character development and emotional depth of the story. This is Angelo’s story, and he keeps the reader right by his side every moment. 

There is nothing supernatural here, but it is very creepy and suspenseful.  I had my suspicions about who “The Piper” would turn out to be, but I was way off. It worked, though. And I’m glad the story followed Angelo and his friends in the aftermath, leading to a satisfying conclusion.

The book is long, over 700 pages, but it doesn’t feel bloated, nor did I have to push myself to get through any of it. The time flew by when I was reading it, and I picked it up whenever I had a spare minute. Another cool thing for me is that I live in Maryland, where the story takes place, and could picture a lot of the scenes by the water. DECEMBER PARK is a fantastic book. I can’t wait to read more by Ronald Malfi.


-Sheri White

LET'S TAKE ANOTHER LOOK AT...

WICKED TALES: THE JOURNAL OF THE NEW ENGLAND HORROR WRITERS, VOLUME 3 edited by Scott T. Goudsward, Daniel G. Keohane, and David Price (2015 NEHW Press / 248 pp. / trade paperback & eBook)

With a fun cover like something off a classic issue of EC Comics, featuring a bunch of icky-squishy eldritch horrors pickaxing their way into a cartoon Lovecraft’s grave … yeah, okay, we’re off to a good start … and the introduction by Chet Williamson, “The Old Scribe and the Mysterious Codex,” does a nice job setting up a display case for the assortment of artistic oddities to follow.

'Somebody’s Darling,' by Kristin Dearborn, is first up and also one of my favorites, a historical behind-the-battlefield war story where death isn’t the worst fate in store for the wounded, and a young nurse is faced with a troubling dilemma.

Among my other top picks would have to be Sam Gafford’s 'My Brother’s Keeper' – no spoilers, but, it’s a clever and refreshing take on a familiar tale, from the point of view of a usually neglected character.

'The Hiss of Escaping Air' by Christopher Golden, is a satisfyingly twisted revenge yarn in which a movie mogul’s trophy wife goes after the most prized item in his collection, only to realize too late that she may have gone too far.

And speaking of satisfyingly twisted revenge yarns, Holly Newstein’s 'Live With It' is another winner, in which a chance meeting between former childhood friends leads to a grim reunion with an abusive parent.

Many people don’t read or appreciate poetry enough … I’m trying to get better about it myself, and therefore it’s always nice when I happen across a treat like Tricia J. Woolridge’s 'The Crocodile Below.' A poem about mean little kids and crocodiles in the sewer? Yes please!

Of course, I’m also a sucker for some good Viking stuff, so 'Odd Grimsson, Called Half-Troll' by John Goodrich was quick to catch my interest. But then, a good gripping saga of visions, curses, and man-vs.-monster will do that!

There are several more stories filling out the table of contents, and I enjoyed most of them. Definitely worth a look!

-Christine Morgan

MAGAZINES:

BLACK STATIC (Issue No. 47, Jul/Aug 2015)

After the usual interesting commentary (this time Stephen Volk on the Hitchcock/Frenzy/Jack the Ripper connection and Lynda E. Rucker muses on fear itself), the latest issue of everyone's favorite horror magazine kicks off its fiction with James Van Pelt's 'On the Road with the American Dead,' where we find a copy machine deliveryman encountering ghosts as he drives across the United States. It's more whimsical than eerie, but gives a fresh take on how the departed may carry on.

In 'All the Day You Will Have Good Luck,' Kate Jonez introduces us to a high school stud from Oklahoma who runs afoul of an unusual carnival worker ... and latently, her family. It reminded me, somewhat, of Tim Lebbon's excellent 2005 novel DESOLATION, yet Jonez gives the killer twist her own flavor.

John Connolly strikes with 'Razorshins,' where prohibition-era moonshine runners face a legendary creature when a snowstorm changes their plans. The cast  and suspense level are fantastic. In the hands of a lesser writer this could've been a ho-hum monster mash, but Connolly makes it the highlight of the issue.

'The Devil's Hands' by Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam features a girl from a hippie family (who may or may not be bisexual) finding herself after a drug-fueled demonic encounter. Despite the brief occult element, this one feels more like a Lifetime Channel movie of the week than a horror story. Well written, but out of place.

Ray Cluley gets things back on track with 'When the Devil Drives.' After a disturbed goth girl acts on her murderous impulses, Old Scratch himself helps her live out her hellbent fantasies in this lurid, fast paced thriller. You can almost hear SPECIMEN playing in the background as you read this one...

Capping off the issue's fiction offerings is Eric J. Guignard's 'A Case Study in Natural Selection and How it Applies to Love,' an apocalyptic tale of global warming causing people to spontaneously combust. A no-nonsense young man living with survivors in California comes of age through it all in this "mini-epic" that could surely be lengthened into a novella, or even a novel. Good stuff with some great artwork by Jim Burns.

Peter Tennant interviews featured author Ray Cluley and reviews another heaping pile of books (seriously...he must read 23/7 when he's not writing!). Among the several anthologies reviewed, I'm looking forward to checking out 'The Spectral Book of Horror Stories' edited by Mark Morris, which sounds like the promising start of a new series.

Finally, the always informative Tony Lee brings us plenty of DVD and bluray reviews, although I think he went too easy on THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE 3. Otherwise, I have yet another batch of films added to my growing must-see list, and for film buffs Lee's section is essential reading.


Subscribe or check out a sample issue here: TTA Press / Black Static

-Nick Cato

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COMING IN TWO WEEKS:

Reviews for the Week of August 31, 2015

NOTE: Please see bottom of main page for submission info. Thank you.

ALECTRYOMANCER AND OTHER WEIRD TALES by Christopher Slatsky (2015 Dunhams Manor Press / 184 pp / trade paperback & eBook)

Slatsky's first collection features 13 stories, 6 presented here for the first time. I had previously read his great tales 'A Plague of Naked Movie Stars' and 'No One is Sleeping in This World' (both are included here) so was curious to see more from this rising talent in the field of weird horror.

The opener, 'Loveliness Like a Shadow,' about an artist living in an apartment that may be haunted and that produces obscure water stains on the walls, gets the goosebumps going. Then in 'An Infestation of Stars,' a girl learns her parents have run afoul of an unusual religious group.

One of the finer moments here is 'Corporautolysis,' where a man's job literally takes over his being. It's claustrophobic, offbeat, and wonderfully written. A strange figure causes apprehension for an actress in 'Making Snakes,' a short but sweet creeper. 'The Ocean is Eating Our Graves' is a fine blend of native American folklore and cosmic terror, while 'This Fragmented Body' will easily get under the skin of those not fond of dolls ... not to mention body modification.

'Tellurian Facade' is quite possibly the weirdest yarn about a funeral you're likely to read anytime soon, and just when you thought you've read every kind of story there is about horror film fans, wait until you check out 'Film Maudit.'

'Scarcely Have They Been Planted' does to hillbillies and compost what JAWS did to swimmers (I kid you not), then a woman walks through a desert in 'Intaglios,' fearing two biker hippies are following her and wondering, after a while, if she's even on earth. This one's a real trippy offering with a great sense of tension.

Capping things off is the title story, 'Alectryomancer,' dealing with a laborer named Rey who is about to put his prized rooster "Little Cerefino" up against an undefeated foe in an underground cockfight. But Rey is plagued by visions of a burning horse and has come in possession of an odd journal that has him contemplating time travel and machinery he has never heard of. I'm not sure when this tale takes place but the term "Lovecraftian Steampunk" came to my mind as I finished it. For fans of bizarre fiction it just doesn't get much better than this.

Slatsky manages to bring the weird yet rarely loses the reader. His stories are often unique and scary, and best of all, never boring. His concepts kept me glued to the pages and I found myself wishing some of the shorter pieces were longer.

A fine introduction to a writer I'm looking forward to seeing much more from.

-Nick Cato

THE GATE AT LAKE DRIVE by Shaun Meeks (2015 IFWG Publishing / 222 pages / trade paperback & eBook)

Okay, now, just to be clear … where it says “Monster Dick” on the cover, it means in the sense of a private investigator. But, hey, as an advertising shtick, it’s certainly a memorable attention-getter! So’s the art, which features a freaky nightmare sure to haunt your next nice lakeshore getaway.

This isn’t your usual urban fantasy with fae and sexy supernaturals as it is an MiB kind of situation, where creatures from other places keep showing up where they’re not welcome, and it’s the job of people like Dillon to deal with them.

Not that Dillon’s exactly normal himself. He’s covered head to toe with mystic wards, geared up with arcane gadgets, and has various connections in the occult biz. He should be prepared for anything. Even a dame with a case. The case turns out to be simple enough; the dame – a burlesque artist named Rouge – is another matter.

And the NEXT case, the one involving a possible-hoax/publicity-stunt local legend lake monster, also turns out to be a little more than Dillon’s prepared for. Something’s got it in for him, particularly, and isn’t shy about racking up a messy body count to get there.

This book’s biggest issues are in editing/proofing, punctuation errors, and a tendency toward repetition or overuse of phrasing. Nothing too hugely major, but enough to keep knocking me out of an otherwise engaging yarn with exciting action, fun twists, and a nice goosh factor.

I mean really, people, when you start hauling dead or dying squidgy unnatural fishthings out of your lake … don’t eat them … why would you do that, don’t do that!

The author’s already done a few short stories in this world, so there are some little easter eggs and references here and there. One of those stories is included as a bonus at the end. And, as THE GATE AT LAKE DRIVE is the first of a projected novel series, be ready for more!

-Christine Morgan

WICKED TALES (VOLUME 3) edited by Scott Goudsward, Daniel G. Keohane, and David Price (2015 by NEHW Press / 248 pp / trade paperback & eBook)

This third offering from the New England Horror Writers features 20 stories from 21 writers, with topics ranging all over the genre. The great Chet Williamson provides a fun introduction before the festivities get underway.

Kristin Dearborn kicks things off with 'Somebody's Darling,' a zombie tale set during (I believe) the Civil War. It's a real heartbreaker and a fine piece to open the anthology. Rob Smales' 'Keepsakes' finds a couple of friends at an unusual garage sale in a dark-humor-enriched offering that reminded me of a story from an old issue of EERIE or CREEPY. 'The Hiss of Escaping Hair' is another solid tale from the always reliable Christopher Golden, this time dealing with an actress and an odd balloon that will allegedly help her career to continue.

In Howard Odentz' 'Handsome,' a man deals with his abusive mother and the damage she has caused to his body over the years, then E.A. Black's 'Fog Over Mons' finds German and French troops battling cosmic monsters during World War I in a quick-paced thriller. Paul McMahon brings another heartbreaker when a man dying of cancer tries to help his son who has recently been abandoned by his family in 'Bitemarks.'

One of my favorites here is Trisha J. Woolridge's 'The Crocodile Below,' about a bullied girl who gets revenge on her tormentors with the aid of a demanding sewer croc. It's written in poem form and is just so damn good.

In 'The Blood and The Body,' Bracken MacLeod introduces us to goth girl Em whose boyfriend takes her to a party that turns into a wicked little Satanic bash (complete with a few genuine surprises), then vampires learn they can never fully trust humans in K.H. Vaughan's 'The Opacity of Saints.' Holly Newstein's 'Live With It' is a revenge tale that will surely give abusive parents (or anyone for that matter) the creeps; this one's short, sweet, and terrifying.

We're then treated to a classic story by the late Rick Hautala titled 'Love on the Rocks' (the only story not original to this anthology), a prison break / monster tale showing why Rick was one of the greats.

WICKED TALES then gets a bit darker with 'As Sweet as Baby's Breath' by Peter N. Dudar and L.L. Soares, about a fiend dressed like a priest who keeps his son alive by breathing the breath he steals from infants into his lungs. This one would've made a good episode on the MASTERS OF HORROR cable series. 'My Brother's Keeper' by Sam Gafford is another tale featuring cosmic creatures, this time highlighted by a grandfather's humorous hillbilly dialogue.

In T.T. Zuma's 'The Pawnshop,' a man is forced by thugs to steal something from a store. If he doesn't his wife and daughter will be killed. But tables are turned when the pawnshop's owner and his giant assistant straighten things out in their own way. Matthew M. Bartlett's 'Master of Worms' reads like a classic Hammer Film, with a violent grave exhumation and dark family secrets written in a wonderfully weird prose.

David North Martino's 'Sat Down Beside Her' finds a female alien abductee learning she has become a breeder for future humans. This scifi/horror hybrid really gets the creeps going. John Goodrich's 'Odd Grimson, Called Half-Troll' seems a bit out of place here as it's a more fantasy-oriented tale, but it still manages to bring the monstrous goodness. Timothy P. Flynn's 'A Rhythmic Creation of the Damned' is a very short vampire tale that reads like an intro to a longer piece.

Michael Arruda's 'Created Woman' is a real gem, about a woman named Jewel who learns she just might be the reincarnation (or continuation) of actress Susan Denberg, who starred in the 1967 film FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN. Horror film fans will eat this one up.

Ending the anthology is John McIlveen's 'Eve,' which gives yet another reason why you should never text while driving, and after reading this you just might pull over the next time you get the urge...

Like most anthologies, WICKED TALES has a couple of forgettable stories, but I found the majority to be quite good. This third installment from the New England Horror Writers showcases the group's blazing talent, and some authors present here will surely gain new fans. The wrap-around cover art by Ogmios is fantastic, too.

-Nick Cato

CTHULHU ATTACKS! by Sean Hoade (2015 Severed Press / 220 pp / trade paperback & eBook)

Dear Hollywood: THIS is the Lovecraftian movie you need to make, the surefire big-budget blockbuster special effects extravaganza. This book, right here. It’s perfect. Gets around the various issues of directly adapting one of ol’ H.P.’s works, while acknowledging them in glorious triumphant homage. Plus, geek-cred galore.

And seriously, the scene describing Cthulhu’s emergence … best I’ve ever read. So beautifully done. Short, sweet, simple, evocative, and haunting.

A lot of giant monster or cosmic horror fiction struggles to express the sheer sheer size and scale and scope. Sean Hoade nails it, not only nails it but takes it several steps beyond. Reading this book is to shiver from an overwhelming sense of immensity, of alienness, of strange inhumanity so far outside our comprehension as to bend the mind. I think Lovecraft himself would be impressed with just how well that’s all conveyed.

Okay, sure, so Lovecraft would probably be a little less impressed with how fun and funny it also is. There’s humor mixed with the horror, a humor almost of surrendering to madness so you just gotta give in and laugh. There are winks, nods, nudges, and in-jokes. A few familiar names pop up; those in the know will cackle and chortle like fiends (I did, anyway).

Yet, let us not forget, there’s that horror in the mix, too. The perfect kind for something like this. The helpless, humanity-is-utterly-insignificant, Total Perspective Vortex kind of sanity-shredding horror. On a global level. We’re talking body counts in the millions, before the Big C even surfaces.

Which is followed, of course, by the desperate scrambling of world leaders, scientists, and military to try and defend against something they can’t explain. Or don’t want to accept. You know how in some movies (looking at you, Independence Day), nations chuck their differences to band together against a far greater common threat? Yeah, right. Not happening.

A few minor typos and bloopers are the only flaws in this book, and in a weird sort of way I’m almost glad they’re there. Otherwise, it’d be too perfect. Now I just have to wait, with wild impatience, for the sequel!

-Christine Morgan

PREVIEW:

BLOOD AND RAIN by Glenn Rolfe (to be released Oct. 6, 2015 by Samhain Publishing / 228 pp / eBook)

There’s something to be said for horror novels that don’t play coy about the big reveal. It’s like, “THIS IS A WEREWOLF STORY!” and boom, go, we’re off to the races right from the start. BLOOD AND RAIN is just such a book, and it does not disappoint.

In many ways, it hearkens to early King and Brandner, and does so in a loving and fun-poking kind of referential self-awareness. Nods and winks and outright shout-outs are liberally sprinkled. The 1990s setting is handled in just such a way to make readers of my certain age flinch … we really don’t want to believe the 90s were THAT long ago … oh, sweet denial, let us cling to it!

Gilson Creek is a small town in Maine, not exactly insular but one of those places where most people know each other. Most people also know about the incident some years back, when all those people got killed. Most of them even believe, or are willing to tell themselves they believe, the official cover story about a bear or a mountain lion or whatever it was.

Of course, there’s always got to be the few old-timers and kooks who insist otherwise, or the tabloid with its features about the Full Moon Monster. For them, it’s no surprise when similar killings begin. For the now-sheriff, who thought the problem had been solved – dead and buried solved – it IS a surprise, and a particularly unwelcome one.

How do you go about keeping your town safe, convincing your teenage daughter and her friends not to enjoy their summer evenings at the lake, and explaining to your current crop of deputies just why they need to load up on this ‘special’ ammo? What do you do when your predecessor, the only person who might have helpful advice, has turned into a crazy, surly old recluse? Or when the closest thing you have to a local celebrity decides to go vigilante?

Meanwhile, the body count’s climbing and the body parts are piling up. Despite some instances of character overload, where the cast gets too big and/or with similar names that make things difficult to keep track of, the story is solid, the writing is clever and well done, and it’s generally all a howling-fun good read.

-Christine Morgan

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COMING SOON:

Reviews for the Week of August 17, 2015

NOTE: Please see bottom of main page for submission info.

MR. SUICIDE by Nicole Cushing (2015 Worde Horde / 216 pp / trade paperback & eBook)

Cushing's debut novel deals with a misfit 13 year old boy. Two of his older siblings have left home but one slightly off-balanced older brother remains. His mother wears the pants and his father follows her lead. At school he is made fun of and ostracized. He knows he's different, especially when he starts to become attracted to pictures of amputees...

And then he begins to hear a voice in his head claiming to be someone named Mr. Suicide. He gives countless reasons why our young teenager should kill himself, and our protagonist contemplates first blinding himself with an ice pick and then begins to read labels on households poisons. It seems the possibilities of ending it all are endless.

But when he turns 18, he leaves home and meets a cosmic force (or being) known as "The Great Dark Mouth" who claims he/she/it is able to annihilate him, although it will take three intense steps to do so. With the thought he can become unborn and erased from humanity, our now 18 year old teenager dives head-first into a taboo-crushing, psychological nightmare that will test the limits of your psyche.

MR. SUICIDE is an absolutely brutal, horrifying read, and Cushing's tale does so without relying on the splatter that's so prevalent among extreme horror novels. More notable than that, especially in light of this being her debut novel, is Cushing's use of a second person viewpoint. Here it enhances the overall sense of dread and, even when things start to head into truly strange territory, we're continually forced to experience some of the darkest situations a human being can fall into.

I've been enjoying Cushing's shorter work for a while now, and MR. SUICIDE has placed her on my must read author's list. This is horror fiction that's fresh, disturbing, and crafted to freak you out.

And it does.

-Nick Cato

SKINZZ by Wrath James White (2015 Deadite Press / 196 pp / trade paperback & eBook)

In the rough-and-tumble streets of 1980s Philly, the stage is set for all kinds of clashes, but the one that’s brewing between the punks and the skinheads is heading for an epic battle just short of total war. Powderkegs are everywhere – poverty, racism, families falling apart, drugs, crime – and they’re poised to blow.

Stuck in the middle of this scene, feeling trapped by circumstances as much as loyalty, is Mack. He’s got a chance to escape to college, but it would mean leaving his mom, his best friend, and the girl he hasn’t had the chance to tell her he loves. He’s also big, strong, tough, and one of the best fighters the punks have on their side.

The skinheads have all sorts of reasons to hate him. Not just Little Davey; Little Davey starts off crazy and gets worse until even his own guys are starting to worry. Beating up punks is one thing … lighting old ladies on fire, or capturing people to torture and kill … yeah, they’re right to worry.

Skinzz starts off with a brawl and escalates fast, the cycle of violence and revenge speed-spiraling ever higher. The characters are deep and very real; the sense of backstory to most of them is tantalizing and compelling.

My only criticism is one of my usual peeves, which is to wish the book had gotten a bit more final polish to catch the bloopers. I enjoyed the story, and I enjoyed the cultural reference glimpses back to the 80s.

Overall, this book is vicious, gritty, all-too-real, and delivered with the merciless nervestrike visceral and emotional accuracy Wrath James White is so damn good at. His work can be confrontational in a really-make-you-think way, never psychologically easy to read or comforting, but all the more valuable because of it.


-Christine Morgan

OUT OF THE WOODS by William D. Carl (2015 Post Mortem Press / 284 pp / trade paperback & eBook)

An isolated mental institution in rural Pennsylvania is about to close its doors. Bob and Deena are (engaged) doctors, looking forward to new job assignments and being able to go public with their relationship. But on the eve of the hospital's closing, a new patient named Gary McCoy is brought in and Bob is fascinated with his wild tales of unseen monsters and an invasion from another dimension.

Thinking he could become famous off a book on McCoy's case, Bob goes out to the woods to find a cave McCoy claims has drawings describing the end of the world. And after they locate it, Bob and Deena also find the village McCoy came from, which is inhabited by all kinds of deformed people, including McCoy's maniacal father.

If H.P. Lovecraft co-wrote the screenplay for a 70s horror film, OUT OF THE WOODS might be the result. But Carl gives this one a healthy dose of very well placed humor, and not once does it take away from the horrific happenings.

Here's a monster tale with threats from every angle (picture THE HILLS HAVE EYES meets FROM BEYOND on the set of DON'T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT) and a finale so heartbreaking it just might make you scream.

Carl continues to carve out his place in the horror genre with little-to-no mercy, and we're all luckier for it.


-Nick Cato

THE DEEP by Michaelbrent Collings (2015 Amazon Digital / 333 pp / trade paperback & eBook)

So, a playboy, a solipist, and a wallflower get on a boat … well, them and a few other people, including the captain, his two-man dive crew, and a father-daughter duo. Even under the best of circumstances, their little fishing/diving excursion would be bound to have more than its share of conflicts.

These are, as they soon find out, not the best of circumstances. Not when one of the lines pulls up a wetsuited corpse instead of a suitable trophy. A corpse with inexplicable injuries, and what appears to be a piece of gold clenched in one dead fist. Not when a bizarre wave-swell out of nowhere nearly tosses the boat, and the ocean floor seems to be several hundred feet higher than it should.

Plenty to be curious about, plenty of grim and tantalizing mysteries to explore, even for the members of the party who weren’t already on their own personal quests. While they wait for the Navy, they might as well explore. Maybe there are answers … treasure … more!

Tim, the divemaster, isn’t wild about the idea of a bunch of stubborn, headstrong, relatively inexperienced divers attempting such dangerous depths. But, when he can’t talk them out of it, the least he can do is try and make sure they survive.

It won’t be easy. Some of the parts I found the scariest came even before the real diving began, just from the info leading up to the diving. All the normal things that could go wrong, what would happen to someone if they did … more than I ever really wanted to know about the physical and psychological effects, eek …

And, of course, this isn’t the kind of story where only normal things go wrong. There’s something down there. Something even worse than the plethora of dangerous critters we already do know are lurking in the darkest waters.

The characters are what most makes this book shine. Each on his or her own is real, interesting, genuine, and likable/hateable. Thrown together, the tension cranks tight, with some surprising results. I did find myself hoping for a less-abrupt resolution, but mostly because I wanted more and wasn’t ready to be done reading yet.


-Christine Morgan

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NOTE: as the summer months come to a close, we hope to finish off our last wave of review material and plan to open for submissions sometime later this fall. Thank you.

Reviews for the Week of August 3, 2015

NOTE: Please see bottom of main page for submission info. Thank you.

WHERE SPIDERS FEAR TO SPIN by Peter N. Dudar (2015 Books & Boos Press / 148 pp / trade paperback & eBook)

Sadie Mills is a once-famous and glamorous soap opera star who is now cared for by her resentful daughter Theresa. Theresa has never forgiven her narcissistic mother for her father’s death, a man driven to suicide by his wife’s affairs.

Now Sadie’s life is nearing its end, and Theresa is looking forward to finally being free of her mother’s demands and constant criticism. But she’s not the only one looking forward to Sadie’s death. Andrew, her husband, is waiting for her on the other side, plotting her eternal torment.

There are a few illustrations throughout the story, a couple of them creepy and jarring. The story itself is engrossing, and Sadie as a narcissistic mother was portrayed all-too-well. And while you root for her to finally get her comeuppance, you also feel a little sorry that she is paying the price while so terrified.

I’ve read a few of the author’s works, and have enjoyed each one.  I enjoy stories that can creep me out instead of grossing me out, and WHERE SPIDERS FEAR TO SPIN is a perfect example.

There is a bonus short story at the end of the book called “Peripheral Vision” that weaves a tale of parental grief with a ghost story. It’s not only sad, it’s scary as well.

If you like your horror a little less over-the-top, this book will be perfect for you.

-Sheri White

LOVE IN THE TIME OF DINOSAURS by Kirsten Allene (2011 Eraserhead Press / 96 pp / trade paperback & eBook)

I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting from a book like this, but whatever it was, I don’t think that was it. If a hallmark of the bizarro genre is leaving the reader with a vague but pervasive sense of baffled unreality, then we’re on target here.

Maybe I was expecting more of an actual romance (or dino porn, hey, c’mon, why not?). The back cover copy promises “love of his life” after all, and instead it seemed mostly to do with the monks, their politics, and their ongoing war with the dinosaurs.

For something with a first-person POV protagonist, there’s a strong sense of detachment. The character is nameless and just kind of … absent-feeling, lacking real emotion or connection or personality. Or maybe that’s the monastic aspect?

Anyway, okay, yeah, so, there’s these monks. Who are at war with the dinosaurs, which they refer to as Jeremies (if there was a reason, I missed it). For weapons, the monks have swords and whatnot, plus some sort of plastic-encasing goop guns (I thought of the game Dino Hunt, in which time travelers capture specimens for their zoos in the future), and people can survive all kinds of injuries. Dismembered? No prob. Torn in half? We’ll stick a spare leg on there and you can hop.

I guess, overall, I found it okay. Certainly bizarre, though maybe just kind of gratuitously so, weird for the sake of being weird, without much in the way of deeper substance going on. Definitely going to file this one under YMMV and leave it at that.


-Christine Morgan

A HEAD FULL OF GHOSTS by Paul Tremblay (2015 William Morrow / 304 pp / hardcover, eBook, audiobook)

When 14 year-old Marjorie begins acting strange, it sets off a series of events the Barrett family could've never imagined. John, Marjorie's out of work father, suspects his daughter's outbursts are more than just typical teenage issues, especially when her doctors are unable to help the growing problem. And after a local Catholic priests examines her and believes she may be demonically possessed, he agrees to help them out.

But this priest, Father Wanderly, has more on his mind: he contacts a reality TV production company about the Barretts, and with a little persuading, the company convinces the Barretts to allow their family to be filmed for a new program titled' The Possession,' which turns out to be a huge hit.

In the wake of the show's sucess, Marjorie's younger sister, Merry, is made fun of at school and grows increasingly paranoid of Marjorie's actions. She loves her older sister, but doesn't know whether to believe if she's truly possessed or just faking it.

The power of A HEAD FULL OF GHOSTS is its narrative: most is seen through the eyes of young Merry, and a few sections are told through a horror fan blogger named Karen, who the author slowly reveals as she unfolds issues surrounding the TV show. It's an effective style that had me glued to the pages until the final chapter, which will surely become one of the most debated conclusions in the genre for some time to come.

Tremblay gives a fresh spin on the possession story, and adds plenty of surprises along the way. GHOSTS also features the best use of a reality TV show since Jason Hornsby's grossly underrated 2006 novel, EVERY SIGH, THE END.

Don't miss this.


-Nick Cato

DESPER HOLLOW by Elizabeth Massie (2013 Apex Publications / 226 pp / trade paperback, eBook, audiobook)

I am a big fan of both Sharyn McCrumb’s Ballad series of Appalachian mystery/thrillers, and of Edward Lee’s depraved goretastic backwoods horror. Desper Hollow is like an example of what you’d get if those books had a baby together.

It’s also a zombie story, but don’t let that fool you … this is no ordinary zombie story in the whole outbreak apocalypse sense. Like the rest of the book, it’s kept close in, confined, rustic, and remote. The rest of the outside world has no idea what’s going on up there in the hills.

Of course, that will change if Jenkie Mustard has her way. She’s inherited a little something extra-special from ol’ Granny Mustard, something other than the thriving moonshine empire her brutish cousins have taken over. Better yet, ever since Jenkie’s sister Suze went nuts and burned down the town, she doesn’t have to share the credit with anybody.

She reckons, though, it’ll make her famous. The power to bring dead things back to life? She’ll be a celebrity for sure! Her letter is enticing enough to get some TV people to come visit, maybe to turn her into her the star of her own reality show.

If Jenkie hasn’t quite perfected the process, so what? She’s got a few examples of what she calls ‘hollows’ stashed in her old trailer. She can even control them. Kind of. Soon, the TV people and Jenkie alike are in for some surprises. One of the ‘hollows’ is different, not just mindless and hungry like the others.

DESPER HOLLOW did leave me with one agonizing unanswered question, but otherwise I found it a great read, highly entertaining and well-written, enjoyable from start to finish.

-Christine Morgan

SKINNER by David Bernstein (2015 DarkFuse / 226 pp / trade paperback & eBook)

Rob and his friends are heading to Rob’s boss’s cabin in the mountains for a weekend getaway. As they get further up the mountain, they begin to have trouble navigating through an unexpected blizzard. They are almost to the cabin when Rob sees an old man standing in the middle of the road. He swerves to avoid hitting the man, and the Jeep ends up sliding over the edge of the mountain. From that moment on, the friends are in a battle for their lives from the elements and from the wolves that stalk them.

The group, one of them severely injured, find the cabin and hunker down, hoping for the storm to pass so they can be rescued. But the cabin isn’t the refuge they had hoped for, and they find themselves in danger not only from the wolves gathered around outside, but from each other as well.

This is a fantastic story. While it hinted at some common tropes – friends in a secluded cabin, sinister animals, a creepy old man, a broken-down car that leaves its passengers stranded — the story is original, with twists and turns that keep the reader guessing. I will also admit to saying “Noooo!” out loud a few times at the fate of some of my favorite characters.

David Bernstein is a machine when it comes to putting out books. And yet, each new book is even better than the last. His books are a blast to read, and the stories are so well written you can picture everything in your head as if you were watching a movie.

When you start reading SKINNER, make sure you have a lot of time, because you’re not going to want to put it down.

-Sheri White

RIDING THE CENTIPEDE by John Claude Smith (2015 Omnium Gatherum / 241 pp / trade paperback, eBook)

The streak continues. Everything I’ve read so far by this author, the first thing I can even say is just “wow.” Followed by a babble of semi-coherent wonderings about how it is he’s not already hugely famous and rolling in loot. Because, well, WOW.

All I can think of is either: a.) he hasn’t been discovered enough yet; or b.) the writing’s so rich, decadent, heavy and luxurious that it scares off anybody just looking for an easy-breezy-peasy read.

Now, given how dang arrogant and pretentious and literary-snobby choice b.) would make ME sound, I’d really rather just go with a.) … so, get on it, people!

And you might as well jump right into the deep end with Riding the Centipede, a complex and labyrinthine magical mystery tour. Part psychedelic drug-quest as one young man works his way through a series of stages in search of the ultimate experience … part detective story as his sister and the private investigator she’s hired try to find him … part weird thriller as a nowhere-near-normal villain also joins the chase (awesome villain, called Chernobyl, with an origin story right out of a superhero universe!).

Plus, there’s bugs. If, like me, you’re kinda phobic about the creepy-crawlies, be warned. Be warned also for excruciatingly precise descriptions of various moments of sublime grossness. I almost couldn’t get through the scene with the Ratman, and the Reptile Queen wasn’t much more pleasant!

Great book. Not an easy read; you’ll have to pay attention. But it’ll be worth it. Smith’s artistry, style, and command of language is really, truly, staggeringly impressive. I am consistently blown away. Just SO good. This is a guy who knows his stuff, who has razor-sharp honed skills.

-Christine Morgan

JURSASSIC DEAD by Rick Chesler and David Sakmyster (2014 Severed Press / 215 pp / trade paperback, eBook, audiobook)

Sometimes, when you can’t decide between fighting zombies or dinosaurs, the answer is, like the little girl in the Tostitos commercial, why not both? Zombie dinosaurs! And why stop there? Infectious transformative ones whose bite turns people into ravening hybrid monsters!

With guns! And helicopters! And rocket launchers! From a secret polar research expedition to a classic supervillain volcanic island base! With evil geniuses and sexy covert operatives and gore and guts and explosions and nonstop action carnage!

It’s like a video game, starting off with a few basic mobs and weapons, but ramping up with vehicles and gear, bigger maps, crazier obstacles and boss battles. Not necessarily a bad thing. Fun in a caricature-character, over-the-top absurd, don’t hesitate long enough to think about it kind of way.

But I wanted more dinosaurs. I always want more dinosaurs. And I found the whole notion of a frozen, revived, undead T. Rex a little more plausible than most of the humans’ story arcs, reactions, or behavior.

-Christine Morgan

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