Review: Feral and Hysterical by Sadie Hartmann

Feral and Hysterical by Sadie Hartmann Page Street Publishing (August 2025) Reviewed by Rowan B. Minor Sadie Hartmann, also known as Mother Horror, is a writer and editor from the Pacific Northwest. She is the co-owner of the horror fiction subscription company Night Worms and has been the editor-in-chief of her own horror fiction imprint, … Continue Reading! “Review: Feral and Hysterical by Sadie Hartmann”

Review: Human Monsters: A Horror Anthology edited by Sadie Hartmann & Ashley Saywers

Human Monsters: A Horror Anthology edited by Sadie Hartmann & Ashley Saywers Dark Matter INK (October 2022)  376 pages; $19.99 paperback; $6.99 ebook Reviewed by Haley Newlin There’s something incredibly profound about horror anthologies. Organizers and editors decide on one bloodied but beating heart that thrums aching, booming life into stories. But it is the minds of … Continue Reading! “Review: Human Monsters: A Horror Anthology edited by Sadie Hartmann & Ashley Saywers”

Review: Blood On Her Tongue by Johanna Van Veen

Blood On Her Tongue by Johanna Van Veen  Poison Pen Press (March 2025) Reviewed by Haley Newlin Blood On Her Tongue is a vividly violent and sapphic, good-for-her horror story with a strong appetite and ferocious bite. Johanna Van Veen has repeated her success; Blood On Her Tongue is every bit as unputdownable and shocking as her 2024 novel, My Darling … Continue Reading! “Review: Blood On Her Tongue by Johanna Van Veen”

The Cemetery Dance Interview: The Haunting of Gwendolyn Kiste

Gwendolyn Kiste is a three-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Haunting of Velkwood, The Rust Maidens, Reluctant Mortals, and most recently, a short story called “Your Mother’s Love Is An Apocalypse” in the Mother Knows Best: Tales of Homemade Horror anthology, foreword by Sadie Hartmann, edited by Lindy Ryan. Kiste has also won the Lambda Literary Award and received … Continue Reading! “The Cemetery Dance Interview: The Haunting of Gwendolyn Kiste”

Mother Horror’s Top Twenty Horror Books Written by Women

February is Women in Horror Month. Officially. But unofficially, genre buffs read horror fiction all year. It’s not even something to consider or be super intentional about, but of course the focused, extra attention women get during WiHM is important. Eventually, the Women in Horror Month movement will take off in a more expansive direction … Continue Reading! “Mother Horror’s Top Twenty Horror Books Written by Women”

Review: The Loop by Jeremy Robert Johnson

The Loop by Jeremy Robert Johnson Saga Press (September 29, 2020) 320 pages; $26.99 paperback; $9.99 e-book Reviewed by Sadie Hartmann You know, if I didn’t have to sleep, eat, or tend to the family during this stay-at-home order, I would have sat and read this one straight through. This book is everything. Cue some strange … Continue Reading! “Review: The Loop by Jeremy Robert Johnson”

Review: The Ghost Tree by Christina Henry

The Ghost Tree by Christina Henry Berkley (September 8, 2020) 432 pages; $13.99 paperback; $11.99 e-book Reviewed by Sadie Hartmann Christina Henry entices readers to travel back in time to a small town called Smith’s Hollow. It’s the 1980s. We follow best friends Lauren and Miranda, their longtime friendship seemingly in transition. Miranda is looking to … Continue Reading! “Review: The Ghost Tree by Christina Henry”

Review: Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare

Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare HarperTeen (August 25, 2020) 352 pages; $17.99 hardcover; $9.99 e-book Reviewed by Sadie Hartmann The setting for Clown in a Cornfield is the fictional town of Kettle Springs, a rural town that sounds like good ol’ Nowheresville, USA. The townspeople seem caught in a time-warp where young people are … Continue Reading! “Review: Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare”

Review: Children of the Fang and Other Genealogies by John Langan

Children of the Fang and Other Genealogies by John Langan Word Horde (August 18, 2020) 388 pages; $19.99 paperback; $9.99 e-book Reviewed by Sadie Hartmann First things first, the introduction to this book, written by Stephen Graham Jones, is so choice. Bonus points right away for mentioning one of my favorite childhood stories ever: The Monster at … Continue Reading! “Review: Children of the Fang and Other Genealogies by John Langan”

Review: The Neon Owl (Book I): When the Shit Hits the Van by Chad Lutzke

The Neon Owl (Book I): When the Shit Hits the Van by Chad Lutzke Independently Published (January 2020) 168 pages; $8.99 paperback; $2.99 e-book Reviewed by Sadie Hartmann Showing up for a Chad Lutzke story is a resignation of emotional preservation. You come to engage with the words on the page with your heart fully exposed … Continue Reading! “Review: The Neon Owl (Book I): When the Shit Hits the Van by Chad Lutzke”

Review: White Pines by Gemma Amor

White Pines by Gemma Amor Independently Published (March 2020) 442 pages; $16 paperback; $3 e-book Reviewed by Sadie Hartmann I like that the synopsis of White Pines is short and ambiguous. I’d like to leave it that way. I’m going to do my best to share my reading experience without disclosing important plot details in order … Continue Reading! “Review: White Pines by Gemma Amor”

Review: These Evil Things We Do by Mick Garris

These Evil Things We Do by Mick Garris Fangoria/Cinestate (May 2020) $9.99 e-book Reviewed by Sadie Hartmann I’m going to go with total honesty and transparency by revealing that I didn’t know who Mick Garris even was when I accepted the review copy from the team at Cinestate/FANGORIA. I just read whatever they give me because … Continue Reading! “Review: These Evil Things We Do by Mick Garris”

Review: The Ancestor by Danielle Trussoni

The Ancestor by Danielle Trussoni William Morrow (April 2020) 368 pages; $19.61 hardcover; $14.99 e-book Reviewed by Sadie Hartmann I have never wanted to live in the pages of a horror novel as much as I did while reading The Ancestor. Alberta Montebianco lives a stressful, emotionally complicated lifestyle in New York. With almost magical timing, … Continue Reading! “Review: The Ancestor by Danielle Trussoni”

Interview: Kealan Patrick Burke Confronts Fear….by Creating Fear

Horror writer Kealan Patrick Burke wants you to face your fears. His poetic and visceral prose have helped earn him a devoted readership since The Turtle Boy won the Bram Stoker Award in 2004. Frequently mentioned in the same breath as Josh Malerman, Stephen Graham Jones, and Paul Tremblay, Burke has managed to carve out … Continue Reading! “Interview: Kealan Patrick Burke Confronts Fear….by Creating Fear”

Review: Violet by Scott Thomas

Violet by Scott Thomas InkShares (September 24, 2019) 446 pages; $17.99 paperback; $7.99 e-book Reviewed by Sadie Hartmann Did Scott Thomas peek inside our horror-loving brains while we weren’t looking and use what he found there to write the most appealing book just for us? He might have. In fact, the more I sit here with … Continue Reading! “Review: Violet by Scott Thomas”