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THE HORROR FICTION REVIEW:
NOW IN OUR 13TH YEAR!
The end of the world cannot GET more metal. Well, unless a ginormous asteroid of molten iron smacked the planet and totally encased it in hot gooey splatter.
And speaking of hot gooey splatter … this book doesn’t just wallow in gore. It’s an utter, shameless, unabashed celebration of gore. With sex, and of course music, and no Laymon-inspired work would ever be complete without the word ‘rump’!
The death-metal band Undead Fleshcrave only want what any other aspiring artists do … success, fame, fortune, groupies, and to usher in the zombie apocalypse. Their new hit, ‘Zombie Trigger,’ aims to do just that, turning the already chaotic and violent concert mosh pit audience into an even more chaotic and violent cannibalistic corpse-army.
But, not everyone at the concert is affected, because – as is the case in any discipline, from the hallowed halls of academia to sub-genre bickerings to ‘shipper wars on Tumblr – only the REAL TRUE death-metal dedicated die-hards count. Those other posers, dabblers, and fair-weather fans … they’re just meat.
Seth and his friends are more into black metal, and quickly find themselves on the run in an ongoing fight for their lives. A fight which becomes a crusade, when they join forces with the black-metal band Subversion, who intend to stop Undead Fleshcrave once and for all.
Also like metal, it’s on the heavy-and-dense side reading-wise; there’s a huge cast of characters cycling through and I more than once felt like I could’ve used a checklist or scorecard to keep track of who’s who … the writing and style at times got a bit deafening, a bit headachy and overdone, a steady pounding-thunder bass-pace to leave the ears ringing … but the author was clearly having a great time, and that always makes things fun.
-Christine Morgan
When they were only seven years old, twins Hannah and Anna witnessed the unimaginable right in their own home in an isolated area of Nebraska. Two years later, a trash collector finds a girl in a dumpster somewhere in Massachusetts, and amazingly she is still alive. A case worker named Debbie eventually gets the girl to talk, and we find out it's Hannah. But how did she get so far away from home, and where has she been for the past two years?
In McIlveen's dark fantasy, we're introduced to a woman and child who despite their age difference, have quite a bit in common, from dark pasts to supernatural abilities. A mystery unfolds as Debbie tries to help Hannah locate her sister, who may or may not be dead, and Debbie's skeptical superior is in for a shock when she learns both Hannah and Debbie have the ability to transport to other locations by will. No, this is no goofy X-Men stunt, but a fresh take on astral projection that is put to frightening use in the novel's excellent epilogue.
McIlveen's debut novel is a fast paced, absorbing read, original in its handling of its antagonist, and slick in its ability to make the fantastic seem believable. With as many heart-breaking moments as there is suspense, I won't be forgetting this great cast anytime soon.
-Nick Cato
I am not a fan of bugs. I really really don’t do well with the creepy-crawlies. Way too many legs. Way too alien and weird. But I also sometimes can’t resist … at least, in book form. Something called TEXAS CHAINSAW MANTIS? There’s a fun and clever title I couldn’t possibly pass up!
Though, I’ll tell you, the introductory author’s note alone almost did me in. On the one hand, it’s a kind of charming, kind of sad little autobiographical piece about a lonely kid who needs a friend … something of the sweetness and poignancy of Charlotte’s Web … except, even the end scene of Charlotte’s Web gave me the shuddering horrors, and that was mild by comparison.
Somehow, I pressed on past the intro, and suddenly found myself in a first chapter where it’s giant murderous mantises versus a sociopathic occultist serial killer, and I was having a great time! I could’ve happily read a whole book just on that, except, this story had other plans.
See, that was only the beginning of the mantis apocalypse. Skip ahead a couple dozen years, and the mantises have won. They’ve wiped out and replaced humanity, stepping with only some adjustments into the surviving infrastructure and social order.
Mantises with jobs, going to school, driving cars, buying houses, getting married, raising families, running for office. Dealing with pressing problematic issues such as violence, cannibalism, and sex.
Mostly, it’s the violence, cannibalism, and sex. A romping, stomping, head-chomping, gluttonous, glorious, pheromone-driven rampage of mantis-on-mantis violence, cannibalism, and sex.
I ended up reading the whole rest of the book in a single sitting, enjoying it probably way more than I should have, giddily impressed, gleefully disgusted, delighted, and amused in turns. VERY glad I didn’t let my phobia chase me away!
-Christine Morgan
I've been hearing about Dim Shores' high quality chapbooks for a while now, but this is the first one in my collection. SPLIT TONGUES is a real treat to look at (collectors will love it), but readers will be happy to know this isn't just a 'purdy package: both tales here are top notch.
First up is the title tale, a strange religious horror yarn about a divorced couple who have joint custody of their daughter. The dad is a member of an unusually devout church, and the mother can't understand why Brianne has forgiven him for his adultery. And while her father and his congregation speak in tongues, Brianne is starting to experience something with her own tongue, along with a young man at the church.
Then in 'The Dream Eater,' a young girl and her mother are living in some kind of post-apocalyptic situation, teasingly revealed in almost every sentence. The story is only seven pages, so to say anymore would be a disservice to the author.
This is only a brief sample of DeMeester's writing, and if it's any indication of what's to come I'm completely on board. Great stuff for fans of horror that's on the weird side.
-Nick Cato
You know those stories when they try to come up with the most outlandish, most outrageous, most improbably ridiculous situations, and then reality seems to decide to take it as a challenge? When South Park, The Simpsons, or Back to the Future are trying to do a satirical, parodic spoof? Except then, suddenly, it’s all too plausible?
Admittedly, in ROCK AND ROLL HEAD CASE, the majority of what goes on – getting a weaponized disembodied Alice Cooper head stuck to the end of your arm, for instance … or meeting the little old woman who lives in a shoe but her kids are creepy carnivorous baby dolls … flying chairs, teabagging giants, talking bananas – are, hopefully, a ways further beyond the realms of coming true.
Still, the popular new political candidate Franken-ssembled out of various celebrity and insect/animal body parts, including Trump’s hair and JFK’s brain? That’s enough to give any sensible person the willies. Worse, compared to what we ARE looking at, Trump’s hair with JFK’s brain might be an improvement.Thankfully the monstrosity rejected Palin's brain...
Anyway! So here’s a guy named Chaino Durante, who only meant to start off his day quitting and robbing the Nuclear Burger where he works. An odd find in the toxic fryer vat leads to him getting the aforementioned Alice Cooper head stuck on his arm, and his simple robbery attempt turns out to be only the start of a crazy crime spree / journey / adventure.
When I was a kid and came down with a fever, I’d have these recurring weird dreams, body horror and transformations and inanimate objects turned horribly animate. Reading this book was kind of like that. It all makes a certain sense at the time, and only afterward, usually when trying to explain it to someone else, you’re all, “okay, I know how it sounds, just bear with me, huh?”
By the time you get to the pirate ship and Wil Wheaton’s big toe …
See what I mean? Try to explain it, try to sound normal, and you come off like a spokesperson for wraparound jackets with buckles up the back. It’s a fitting addition to the New Bizarro Author bibliography, a good example of a genre that really has to be experienced to be believed, and a non-pharmaceutical way to make your brain feel like a pretzel.
-Christine Morgan
Mark Allan Gunnells’ latest Horror collection is something you’re probably going to want to check out sooner than later. The author manages to put together another beautifully horrific plethora of short stories that have the power to linger for a while well after you’re done reading them. The book is jam packed with stories that contain such original diversity and creativity that the author manages to standout in the genre to the point where you never really know where the story is going, so you absolutely have to keep reading for yourself to find out. Be prepared to cringe, laugh, fear, love and be downright entertained by the pages and stories buried deep within the dark recesses of this book.
The author kicks things off with 'Ours is a God of Anger,' a tale about a photographer traveling around the countryside checking out humorous church signs. You know, the mottos and slogans meant to catch your attention as you pass by, so you irresistibly want to attend their service over others on Sunday morning. Well, the main character goes deep into a small town during his travels when he finds a peculiar sign that reads, OURS IS A GOD OF ANGER. Interested by the off the wall roadside attraction, he decides to pull over and check it out a little closer for himself, until he’s lured into the basement by a shirtless teenager, and fed to a black mass with yellow eyes. Some of my other personal favorites were, 'The Gang', a little gem of a story that takes place on Halloween, where what better time to rob a bank than when the neighborhoods are chaotically flooded with children in costumes carrying around bags full of candy? It’s pretty much a field day for a group of dwarfed misfits who have a little trick or treating planned for themselves, and they won’t stop until they receive their final payment.
'The End of Her Rope' is a shocking tale about a child’s alleged hatred for his own mother that doesn’t end well in more ways than one. In 'Debt', a medical debt collector has a couple tricks hidden up her sleeve, or top desk drawer depending on how you look at it. You might want to keep your payments up to date after reading this one. 'Rebecca Weston Speaks the Truth', if you have a problem saying things you shouldn’t to others, yo’ she’ll solve it. Or, cut her tongue off with a butcher knife.
This is a must read Horror collection for any fan of the genre.
-Jon R. Meyers
“Stories at the dawn of posthumanity” reads the tagline for this snazzy anthology, which presents twenty-nine tales of Lovecraftian horrors set in the near-, far-, or all-too-near-future. Now, normally, history’s more my thing than sci-fi, but, the Mythos makes everything so amazingly flexible, I’m always glad to give some new takes on it a try.
Besides, I recognized more than a few of the names on the TOC, any one of which on his or her own is like a quality guarantee. Cody Goodfellow? Damien Angelica Walters? Pete Rawlik? Nate Southard? Score! They also, each, of course, knock it out of the park in their unique styles.
Then, of course, I go and read some stories by people I don’t know, and am equally blown away. The book opens with Daria Patrie’s 'Tangles,' and it is just a wonderful descent into creepy madness. Other stand-outs by new-to-me names I’ll be keeping an eye open for include Richard Lee Byers’ 'Advanced Placement,' 'Tekeli-Li, They Cry' by A.C. Wise, 'Beige Wall' by Joshua L. Hood, and Matt Maxwell’s Melville-esque seafaring 'Chunked.'
As I was working on this review, I went back through the book and, yes, it’s another where I could have kept adding my top picks until I’d pretty much added them all. Kudos to the authors for delivering the solid goods, and kudos to the editors for assembling such an amazing lineup.
-Christine Morgan
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