My First Fright featuring Paul Tremblay

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As you get older, you find that many of the things that scared you when you were little are actually so tame, so silly, that it was crazy that they ever frightened you to begin with. For example, I used to dread the 1988 version of The Blob (the part where the titular monster devours this kid Eddie in the sewer was particularly traumatizing). Now I can watch it and laugh at the dated effects and ridiculousness of it all, at least with the light on….

Paul Tremblay, whose 2015 novel A Head Full of Ghosts “scared the hell” out of Stephen King, had a similarly mortifying experience as a boy. While Tremblay sees that film as “pure cheese” today, it did help instill a love for horror in this award-winning author, and for that reason it’s worth looking into. Continue Reading

Review: ‘Too Soon Dead’ by Michael Kurland

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Too Soon Dead by Michael Kurland
Titan Books (November 2015)
320 pages; $12.95 paperback; ebook $7.99
Reviewed by Peter Tomas

Michael Kurland’s little misadventure, Too Soon Dead, is a wild goose chase of moderately restricted proportions. Columnist Alexander Brass and his small team, when approached by a rather large man with some very interesting pictures (whom also happens into quite a bind later) run from here to there, asking questions, being profound, finding corpses and making witty remarks. They discover all kinds of interesting things about individuals involved in government during their exploratory run, and in the end, uncover a conspiracy that could have very well led to a disaster.Continue Reading

The Beginning of the End

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“It’s a fun job, but it’s still a job. Save your money, man. A hit single don’t last very long. There’s gonna be another cat coming out, looking like me, sounding like me, next year. I know this.” – Cypress Hill, ‘Rock Superstar’

“Right when you get good, they replace you. Best thing that ever happened to me.” – Marc MaronContinue Reading

Review: ‘Of Saints and Shadows’ by Christopher Golden

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Of Saints and Shadows by Christopher Golden
JournalStone (September 2016)
340 pages; $29.95 hardcover; $19.95 paperback; $7.95 e-book
Reviewed by Dave Simms

JournalStone has been a treasure trove of new authors and new stories which rarely disappoints. For years now, each release has drawn strong attention from readers of horror, dark fantasy, and other speculative fiction. This time, they made a smart decision to reprint Christopher Golden’s “Shadow Saga” series.Continue Reading

“The Departing of Debbie” and “Terry and the Werewolf”

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Hello again, folks. This is the fourth installment of monthly double reviews studying the structure of great horror fiction published in our beloved Cemetery Dance.

Last time I reviewed John B. Rosenman’s “Rock of Ages” from Cemetery Dance #1 (1988) and K. S. Clay’s “Bad Luck” from Cemetery Dance #74/75 (2016). Fellow author James Pyne commented that short fiction is becoming the preferred mode of digesting fiction these days. Do you agree? Continue Reading

Review: ‘Pinball Drugs Aliens Satan’ by Fiada Fey

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Pinball Drugs Aliens Satan by Fiada Fey
Furtive Labors (October 2015)
36 pages, $4.00 paperback
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Fiada Fey (1980-2008) was a St. Paul-based novelist, short story writer and cut-up artist. His prose, while lacking in craft, shows a lot of passion for the bizarre horror genre. Pinball Drugs Aliens Satan is his posthumous collection.

Readers will immediately feel Fey’s desire as a writer. His collection of stories speaks to an author passionate about the tales he has to tell, and readers will be able to empathize with that urge. Fey clearly had a vision for his art, and used cut-up techniques to attempt to bring that vision to life. Pinball Drugs Aliens Satan speaks of notebooks filled with stories and story ideas, and as a posthumous collection, leaves the reader wishing that Fey had had the time and skill to carry them out. Continue Reading

Had to Let It “Linger” – Why I Wrote ‘Odd Man Out’ by James Newman

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 Cemetery Dance Online Exclusive
Had to Let it “Linger” – Why I wrote Odd Man Out
by James Newman

WELCOME TO THE BLACK MOUNTAIN CAMP FOR BOYS!

Summer, 1989.  It is a time for splashing in the lake and exploring the wilderness, for nine teenagers to bond together and create friendships that could last the rest of their lives.

But among this group there is a young man with a secret—a secret that, in this time and place, is unthinkable to his peers.

When the others discover the truth, it will change each of them forever.  They will all have blood on their hands.

Odd Man Out is a heart-wrenching tale of bullies and bigotry, a story that explores what happens when good people don’t stand up for what’s right.  It is a tale of how far we have come . . . and how far we still have left to go.

Continue Reading

Gorilla In My Room: Stories by Jack Ketchum

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Hi Folks!

We’re pleased to announce Jack Ketchum is back with a brand new short story collection, full of the horror and terror we’ve come to love and expect from the author Stephen King has called, “one of the best in the business.” This special edition will be going to the printer next month, and we don’t expect to have any copies available when publication day arrives, so place your order now or you might miss out!

Gorilla In My Room

Read more or place your order while our supplies last!

Thank you, as always, for your continued support and enthusiasm!

Go Indie or Go Home

Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories Brian Keene's End of the RoadTags , , 1 Comment on Go Indie or Go Home

The third leg of the Farewell (But Not Really) Tour started off locally, at The Comic Store—an independently-owned comic book store in Lancaster, Pennsylvania (where I was joined by Mary SanGiovanni). From there, it moved on to a pop-up signing in New Jersey, independently-owned bookstores in Rhode Island (where scholar Jack Haringa led a Q&A), and Vermont (where I was joined by Asher Ellis), before eventually circling back home again for a signing at a corporate-owned Books-a-Million chain store in Harrisburg.Continue Reading

RAMBO III Signed Limited Edition Novel!

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We’re pleased to report we will be receiving copies of the Rambo III signed Limited Edition hardcover by David Morrell from Gauntlet Press, but our copies will not last long!

2017 marks the forty-fifth anniversary of David Morrell’s groundbreaking First Blood, the novel that introduced Rambo and pioneered a new way of writing action that changed the world of thrillers. The huge success of that film led to three film sequels, and as an experiment, Morrell wrote novelizations for two of them: Rambo (First Blood Part II) and Rambo III.

Producers usually require novelizations to adhere so strictly to the script that there’s little opportunity to be creative. But as Rambo’s creator, Morrell had unusual freedom to add new material. In this special collectors edition for Rambo III, that freedom is manifest.

Providing abundant supplementary material, Morrell discusses the film’s complex journey. An early script had the potential to justify the project’s nickname, “Rambo of Arabia.” But as the budget exploded, the script was simplified through numerous drafts until the final version was only half of the original story. Major elements of the early script survive, however, in this remarkable novelization, to which Morrell added his own plot points!

Rambo 3

Read more or place your order while our supplies last!

Thank you, as always, for your continued support and enthusiasm!