Review: Planet of the Zombie Zonnets: Seasons 1 & 2 by Juan Manuel Perez

cover of Planet of the Zombie ZonnetsPlanet of the Zombie Zonnets: Seasons 1 & 2 by Juan Manuel Perez
Hungry Buzzard Press (August 31, 2021)
76 pages; $10.84 digital
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Juan Manuel Pérez, a Mexican-American poet of indigenous descent. He is the 2021 Horror Authors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award Winner. He is also the recipient of the Horror Writers Association Diversity Grant (2021) and the Poet Laureate for Corpus Christi, Texas (2019-2020). His newest collection is Planet of the Zombie Zonnets: Seasons 1 & 2.Continue Reading

Review: Teeth Where They Shouldn’t Be by Chad Stroup

cover of Teeth Where They Shouldn't BeTeeth Where They Shouldn’t Be by Chad Stroup
Oddness Press (June 2023)
276 pages; $39.99 hardcover; $29.99 paperback; $2.99 e-book  
Reviewed by Daniel Braum

Teeth Where They Shouldn’t Be is Chad Stroup’s collection of short stories, released in multiple formats in June 2023 by Oddness Press, the publisher who also produces Forbidden Futures Magazine. The book is illustrated by Mike Dubisch. Stroup is also the author of the novels Secrets of the Weird and Sexy Leper from Bizarro Pulp Press. He is the singer for the band Icepield and a drag queen by the name of Jenn X. Oddness states on the back cover that the collection “pushes boundaries, challenges perceptions, and leaves an indelible mark by delving into a transformed world and the unfathomable depths of the human psyche.” 

The short story “The Perfect Playground” from the 2017 anthology California Screamin’ was the first I read of Stroup’s work. I am always interested in setting-forward stories and was glad to revisit the story here. In the opening paragraphs to “The Perfect Playground” Stroup deftly delivers an immersive slice of life of Chula Vista, California, through the eyes of Heather, a “lone driver at her most vulnerable” singing along to the Smashing Pumpkins while driving home after a keg party. The visage of California dreaming does not last long as we flash forward to a glimpse of Heather’s exsanguinated body and a strange creature “tall as a street lamp. Androgynous features. Thin as a mantis. Arms and legs like broken yardsticks. Sheer skin like laurel vellum.” The mysterious unknown creatures kills mirthfully “gyrating like a sea monkey in heat.”

In opposition to this strange creature from Stroup’s wild imagination are a bunch of young California punks who spy the creature while lobbing water balloons full of milk onto cars passing beneath an underpass. The young gang’s “ordinary world” is thrust into the madness of facing down this thing — a thing that is part car-wash-inflatable-bendie-advertisement and yet also part nightmare ripped from the world of HR Giger. With this creature, which to my delight is never named or explained, Stroup embodies the horror of the state of California and life there. This high wire act, easier said than done, is an example of one of the many unique aspects Stroup delivers in his tales. The way Stroup structured the story and the ending place he leaves us with was a bold choice and will be sure to delight lovers of horror. Stroup makes it look easy.

Another standout tale is a story original to the collection, “Voices Carry.” The title shares a title with the 1980s song by the band ‘Til Tuesday, a song and music video with Aimee Mann’s rebellious vocals and spiked hair well known to those of us steeped in the MTV era. I bet this is not lost and likely intentionally done by Stroup, who is also a talented musician with a deep knowledge of music of many styles and eras, not merely the California underground.

Stroup’s “Voices Carry” opens with:

Maddy had no mouth, though she had teeth.

Sweet, sweet teeth with even sweeter secrets. She could never let Richard know the truth that hid behind her reticence. Not that he’d bother to notice. No, it was safer to euthanize her freedom. Keep the lie on life support. Indefinitely.

The passage’s reference to teeth resonates with the title of the collection as well as the ‘Til Tuesday song. In the book’s forward the punk rock spirit of Stroup’s writing is highlighted along with the body horror present in much of Stroup’s work. In the forward, Stroup is compared to horror legend Clive Barker, who influences Stroup with the notion “the worst monsters are not those with a monstrous aspect, like the denizens of Midian, but those with normal appearances and monstrous natures…”

“Voices Carry” is a great example of this influence. Stroup delivers not only a story of masques and masquerades but a world with the horrors of being invisible and the horrors of the violation of trust by a loved one on unflinching, full display.

Those who like their horror infused with a mix of the strange, bizarre, the uncanny and the punk ethic will be certainly find much potent fuel for their fires and will be stoked by Stroup’s 15 stories in Teeth Where They Shouldn’t Be.

Review: The Art of Dracula of Transylvania by Ricardo Delgado

cover of The Art of Dracula of TransylvaniaThe Art of Dracula of Transylvania by Ricardo Delgado
Clover Press (February 2023)
200 pages; $53.53 hardcover
Reviewed by Danica Davidson

The Art of Dracula of Transylvania is a complementary art book going with the illustrated novel Dracula of Transylvania. Not all of Ricardo Delgado’s artwork made it into the novel, but thankfully this book is here so people can still see his many macabre, imaginative and morbid creations.Continue Reading

Review: Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas

cover of Vampires of El NorteVampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas
Berkley (August 2023)
371 pages; $19.58 hardcover; $14.99 e-book; $20.25 audiobook 
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

Some things are too precious to lose. 

Nena and Nestor were inseparable as children. They even shared their first kiss. To Nena, Nestor’s voice is like coming home, but her father wishes to marry her to a wealthy rancher’s son to acquire more land for the family.

She didn’t always dread the idea of marriage, not when she envisioned it with Nestor.Continue Reading

Review: Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Del Rey (July 18, 2023)
336 pages; $19.99 hardcover; $25.94 paperback; $22.05 audiobook; $13.99 e-book

Reviewed by Haley Newlin

Silvia Moreno-Garcia makes her much-anticipated return to horror (after Mexican Gothic) with her latest release, Silver Nitrate. It wasn’t just the Twilight Zone and Psycho-reminiscent imagery on the cover that pushed me to read Silver Nitrate; it was also because of its emphasis on oldies horror in the same vein as Hammer films and the rare chance to learn about Nazism in Mexico.

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Review: Never Wake edited by Kenneth W. Cain and Tim Meyer

cover of Never WakeNever Wake edited by Kenneth W. Cain and Tim Meyer
Crystal Lake Publishing (September 2023)
314 pages; $16.99 paperback; $5.99 e-book
Reviewed by R.B. Payne

All the stories in this anthology are let-me-horrify-you good. Some are visceral, some are psychological, some are spiritual, and some are simply LET ME GIVE YOU A TOUR OF MY NIGHTMARE.

I enjoyed every single story in the anthology, which is rare for a tome of this size. Kenneth W. Cain and Tim Meyer are to be complimented for curating a thematic set of stories that can universally throw fear of sleep into every reader. Continue Reading

Review: Songs in the Key of Death by JG Faherty

covers of Songs in the Key of DeathSongs in the Key of Death by JG Faherty
Lvp Publications (October 3, 2023)
148 pages; $16.99 hardcover; $9.99 paperback
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

A life-long resident of New York’s haunted Hudson Valley, JG Faherty is the author of 19 books and more than 85 short stories, and he’s been a finalist for both the Bram Stoker Award (2x) and ITW Thriller Award. Songs in the Key of Death arrives ready to entertain horror poetry readers.Continue Reading

Review: Horror Unmasked: A History of Terror from Nosferatu to Nope edited by Brad Weismann

cover of Horror UnmaskedHorror Unmasked: A History of Terror from Nosferatu to Nope edited by Brad Weismann
becker&mayer! books (September 2023)
232 pages; $24.99 hardcover
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Brad Weismann is an award-winning writer and editor who returned to the place he grew up, in the shadow of the Colorado Rockies, after 15 years of performing standup, improvisational, and sketch comedy on stage, radio, and television. He has worked as a journalist, feature writer, and contributor to publications and websites worldwide such as Senses of Cinema, Film International, Backstage, Muso, Parterre, Movie Habit, 5280, EnCompass, Colorado Daily, and Boulder Magazine.  As a film writer, Brad Weismann has interviewed figures ranging from Roger Ebert to Monty Python’s Terry Jones to Blaxploitation superstar Pam Grier, and legendary director Alex Cox. Lost in the Dark: A World History of Horror was his first book, and Horror Unmasked: A History of Terror from Nosferatu to Nope is his second.Continue Reading

Review: Hannah and Other Stories by Rami Ungar

cover of Hannah and Other StoriesHannah and Other Stories by Rami Ungar
BSC Publishing (September 23, 2023)
120 pages; $3.99 e-book
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Rami Ungar is a horror and dark fiction novelist who resides in Columbus, Ohio. He has self-published two books (The Quiet Game: Five Tales to Chill Your Bones and Snake), and has traditionally published two novels (Rose and The Pure World Comes). In addition, he has had several short stories and novelettes published, including “Blood & Paper Skin” in The Dark Sire and “Cressida” in the anthology Into the Deep. Rami is an Affiliate member of the Horror Writers Association (HWA) and the Coordinator for the Ohio HWA. His newest collection is Hannah and Other Stories.Continue Reading

Review: Midas by Tyler Jones

cover of Midas by Tyler JonesMidas by Tyler Jones
Earthling Publications (October 2023)
$60 hardcover
Reviewed by Dave Simms

It’s about that time of year again for the Earthling Halloween book series to wow horror readers. This year’s offering from Earthling Publications and Paul Miller keeps the streak alive with the eighteenth straight winner, this time from Tyler Jones, author of Burn the Plans, another fine read. This entry scrapes the bottom of the human soul and how far one is willing to go for the ones they love, even if it means losing the riches that build the foundation of who that individual is and how deep their conviction runs. Some might find a comparison to Pet Sematery or “The Monkey’s Paw” — yet this cautionary tale breaks off from the comparisons due to Tyler’s strong talent and grasp of natural storytelling.Continue Reading

Review: Schrader’s Chord by Scott Leeds

cover of Schrader's ChordSchrader’s Chord by Scott Leeds
Tor Nightfire (September 5, 2023)
448 pages; $28.99 hardcover; $14.99 e-book
Reviewed by Dave Simms

Horror novels revolving around music almost never fails to excite. Two primal entities tap into humanity’s inner core, often bypassing most emotional defenses, leaving the reader or listener bare to the effects of the intended message. When combining both, the effect can be powerful.

The publisher touts this novels as a combination between Heart-Shaped Box and The Haunting of Hill House. It definitely hold elements of each, but Schrader’s Chord is its own beast and should be enjoyed as its own creation. To this reviewer’s ears, this novel is the literary equivalent of a great rock album.Continue Reading

Bev Vincent explores Holly by Stephen King

Stephen King News From the Dead Zone

“No one will believe it really happened”

Stephen King doesn’t hide the identity of the murderers at the center of Holly Gibney’s latest case in the novel that bears her name. In 2012, Emily and Rodney Harris, professors emeritus at Bell College, tricked a colleague named Jorge Castro into helping them resolve a roadside issue. They drugged him and took him to a dungeon in the basement of their presentable home in a respectable part of town.

Why did the elderly Harrises kidnap him, why do they force him to eat something unpalatable, and what are their plans? Since Castro knows the identity of his abductors, it doesn’t seem likely he’ll be released. The popular consensus is that he packed up and left town abruptly, although his lover doesn’t agree.

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Review: anOther Mythology by Maxwell I. Gold

cover of anOther MythologyanOther Mythology by Maxwell I. Gold
Interstellar Flights Press (September 4, 2023)
72 pages; $14.99 paperback; $9.99 e-book
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Maxwell I. Gold, in his end author’s note, argues that his purpose in writing this book was that “it didn’t matter how we as queer people were seen, but it mattered how we saw ourselves…” and “These are myths that are meant for us.” It is understood that the target audience for this book is specifically the queer community, written almost as a triumphant reclaiming of thousands of years of heteronormative patriarchy. This energy permeates the poetry in this collection, and anyone reading it will thoroughly enjoy it.Continue Reading

Review: Can You Sign My Tentacle? by Brandon O’Brien

cover of Can You Sign My Tentacle? by Brandon O'BrienCan You Sign My Tentacle? by Brandon O’Brien
Interstellar Flight Press (August 2021)
89 pages; $11.99 paperback; $5.99 e-book
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Can You Sign My Tentacle? is a wild amalgam of Afro-futurism, Cthullu mythos, and social commentary with a finger on the pulse of hip-hop culture.Continue Reading

Review: Major Arcana edited by Steve J. Shaw

cover of Major Arcana 7Major Arcana edited by Steve J Shaw
Black Shuck Books (September 2022)
234 pages; $14.99 paperback
Reviewed by Daniel Braum

Major Arcana is the title of the seventh annual installment of the Great British Horror series published by UK Publisher Black Shuck Books. Each book in the series features ten British authors and one “international” (non-UK) author.

The 2022 edition features 11 stories, each having a title sharing the name with one of the Major Arcana cards of the Tarot deck.Continue Reading