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Review: Hellweg’s Keep by Justin Holley

Cemetery Dance OnlineJune 5, 2024June 4, 2024ReviewsDave Simms, Flame Tree Press, Hellweg's Keep, Justin Holley, ReviewsLeave a comment

cover of Hellweg's Keep Hellweg’s Keep by Justin Holley
Flame Tree Press (November 2023)
256 pages; $16.77 paperback; $4.99 e-book
Reviewed by Dave Simms

Horror in space has always held a special place in many readers’ hearts. However, for the most part it’s been more prevalent on the screen than on the page. Thankfully, the subgenre has been making a comeback in the past few years, striking a fine balance between science fiction and dread.

Justin Holley has added an interesting entry into this canon with Hellweg’s Keep. a novel that brings to mind several elements of well-known and well-loved stories, including The Thing, the worlds of Philip K. Dick and H.P. Lovecraft — all while keeping it grounded, no pun intended.Continue Reading

Dead Trees: The Nightrunners

Cemetery Dance OnlineJune 3, 2024May 19, 2024Dead TreesColumns, Dead Trees, Joe R. Lansdale, Mark Sieber, The NightrunnersLeave a comment

banner reading Dead Trees by Mark Sieber

cover of Twilight Zone Magazine from October 1988 The October 1988 issue of Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone Magazine had a big feature about Splatterpunk authors. Editor Tappan King was reportedly trying to create a movement.

There were photos of authors from a convention who were purported to be Splatterpunks: John Skipp, Craig Spector and David J. Schow, of course. R.C. Matheson and Ray Garton. I can buy all of that, but Joe R. Lansdale was proclaimed to be one of the Splat Pack. Even more ridiculously, so was Robert McCammon.Continue Reading

Review: Ink Vine by Elizabeth Broadbent

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 31, 2024May 19, 2024ReviewsDave Simms, Elizabeth Broadbent, Ink Vine, ReviewsLeave a comment

cover of Ink Vine Ink Vine by Elizabeth Broadbent
(April 2024)
118 pages
Reviewed by Dave Simms

The horror novella can be a powerful entity. When handled properly, it’s a gut punch, a blade twist to the heart, and a mind screw all at the same time. Elizabeth Broadbent has penned one of those stories here in Ink Vine, a tale that is deeper and more dangerous than the swamp she created within. At 118 pages it hits hard, managing to build an effective setting in a South Carolina that reeks of the dank water, humidity, and scent of the trees which smother visitors who dare to enter. The story manages to be a strong character study with a taut element of horror, yet is so much more.

Labeled by many as a sapphic horror tale, which is true, it’s also an entertaining, quick read that begs to be savored slowly.

Review: My Darling Dreadful Thing by Johanna Van Veen

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 29, 2024May 19, 2024ReviewsHaley Newlin, Johanna Van Veen, My Darling Dreadful Thing, ReviewsLeave a comment

cover of My Darling Dreadful Thing My Darling Dreadful Thing by Johanna Van Veen
Poisoned Pen Press (May 2024)
384 pages
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

My Darling Dreadful Thing by Johanna Van Veen exceptionally invokes gothic tropes such as unearthing buried secrets at a dire cost, and relics of her predecessors to craft a chilling, sapphic love story that is possessive, haunting, and beautiful.Continue Reading

Dark Pathways: Of Headless Men and Estranged Brothers

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 27, 2024May 16, 2024Dark PathwaysColumns, Dark Pathways, In the Valley of the Headless Men, Ken Brosky, L.P. HernandezLeave a comment

Dark Pathways

cover of In the Valley of the Headless Men If you haven’t already, make sure you put In The Valley of Headless Men by L.P. Hernandez on your “to-read” list. It’s a tight, well-paced novella that hits right in the gut. Here’s the blurb:

Nahanni National Park is one of the last truly wild places on earth. Accessible only by plane, and only when the weather cooperates, it’s the perfect place for estranged brothers Joseph and Oscar to have an adventure following the death of their mother. Gillian, Joseph’s first love, invites herself along in the spirit of friendship. The park is much more than beautiful. It’s mysterious, with legends of giants and hidden, prehistoric animals. And among its few visitors, an outsized number of violent deaths inspire its second, more seductive name.

Review: The Werewolf at Dusk and Other Stories by David Small

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 23, 2024May 22, 2024Reviews, The Comic VaultColumns, Danica Davidson, David Small, Reviews, The Comic Vault, Werewolf at DuskLeave a comment

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cover of The Werewolf at Dusk and Other Stories The Werewolf at Dusk and Other Stories by David Small
Liveright (March 2024)
192 pages
Reviewed by Danica Davidson

The Werewolf at Dusk and Other Stories is a haunting triptych of tales about “the dread of things internal.” Done in an illustrated format, it’s kind of like a picture book for adults, and it shows the depth and artistic aesthetics possible in graphic storytelling. This is a book to stay with readers long after they’ve finished the last page, and I’ve never seen anything else quite like it.Continue Reading

David Small and The Werewolf at Dusk

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 22, 2024May 13, 2024The Comic VaultColumns, Danica Davidson, David Small, Interviews, The Comic Vault, Werewolf at DuskLeave a comment

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Author and illustrator David Small’s latest book, The Werewolf at Dusk and Other Stories, contains three yarns — “The Werewolf at Dusk,” “A Walk in the Old City,” and “The Tiger in Vogue” — all connected by the theme “the dread of things internal.” Two are based on short prose stories by other authors, and one is largely based on a dream Small had. Small spoke to Cemetery Dance about how the stories came together, his approach in writing and illustrating The Werewolf at Dusk, and what he would like readers to take away from the book.Continue Reading

Review: Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 21, 2024May 16, 2024ReviewsHaley Newlin, Horror Movie, Paul Tremblay, Reviews1 Comment

Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay
William Morrow (June 11, 2024)
288 pages
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

In his classic, fatalistic tone, Bram Stoker Award-winner Paul Tremblay cleverly assembles a haunting level of empathy between readers, the narrator, and characters in Horror Movie. At times the story felt all-too real, which will appease fans of Tremblay’s previous work like A Head Full of Ghosts (2015) and The Pallbearers Club (2022). Down the road, maybe even a few weeks from now, the characters’ names from Horror Movie may evade you but you’ll never escape the reality-bending and unsettling “horror void.” Continue Reading

Bev Vincent explores You Like it Darker by Stephen King

Bev VincentMay 20, 2024May 19, 2024Reviews, Stephen King News from the Dead ZoneBag of Bones, Bev Vincent, Cujo, Dreamcatcher, Duma Key, Fair Extension, Flight or Fright, Laurie, News from the Dead Zone, Rattlesnake, Reviews, Revival, Stephen King, Stephen King News, The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, The Turbulence Expert, You Like It Darker1 Comment

“Lack of belief is the curse of intelligence”

It’s a short story collection. No, it’s a novella collection. No, it’s two…two…two things in one! OK, you have to be really old to get that reference to an old Certs commercial. They don’t even make Certs anymore, I’m displeased to discover.

Anyhow, You Like It Darker is a hybrid of two types of books we’ve come to expect from Stephen King. It’s a collection of the seven short stories published since The Bazaar of Bad Dreams but it also contains five brand-new long works ranging from a novelette (“The Dreamers”) to novellas (“The Answer Man,” “Two Talented Bastids” and “Rattlesnakes”) to a story long enough to be considered a novel by the SFWA and other awards criteria (“Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream”).

What Screams May Come: When the Lights Go Out by Kevin Lucia

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 17, 2024May 28, 2024What Screams May ComeColumns, Interviews, Kevin Lucia, Rick Hipson, When the Lights Go OutLeave a comment

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When the Lights Go Out by Kevin Lucia
Cemetery Dance, May 30, 2024

The Synopsis

cover of When the Lights Go Out When the lights go out…that’s when things change. When masks are put aside, and eerie truths are laid bare. It’s when towns grow extra streets and cul-de-sacs which don’t exist in daytime. When whispered wishes and fantasies become reality. When our deepest fears and most powerful longings become flesh. When ambitions become obsessions which overpower us, and leads us to our ends.

But it’s also when our imaginations run free, unfettered by the trappings of mundane living. Just as the dark unleashes despair, it also fuels fantastical leaps impossible to take during the day. It’s the canvas upon which we paint worlds and universes which take the darkness and create something out of nothing.

In his new collection, one of the leading voices in small press horror offers up an eclectic collection of strange tales — the kind which can only happen when the lights go out, and we close our eyes.Continue Reading

Night Time Logic with Gwendolyn Kiste

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 15, 2024May 4, 2024Night Time LogicColumns, Daniel Braum, Gwendolyn Kiste, Night Time Logic, The Haunting of VelkwoodLeave a comment

Night Time Logic with Daniel Braum

“Ghost Stories. Interstitial Spaces. Crossing Over.”

Opposite of the “Day Time” part of a story, which is the part that deals with rules, linear logic, and things we consciously process, Night Time Logic is the part of a story that is felt but not consciously processed.

photo of author Gwendolyn Kiste — Gwendolyn Kiste

Through in-depth conversation with authors this column explores the night time part of stories, the strange and uncanny in horror and dark fiction, and more.

While author Howard Waldrop coined the term, the phenomena is certainly on display in the work of British author Robert Aickman. Any of his books of stories are a fine starting place for those looking for recommendations to read what he called “strange tales.” My short story collection with Cemetery Dance is titled The Night Marchers and Other Strange Tales in homage to Aickman and his kind of stories. It can be found here.

In March 2024 I spoke with Gwendolyn Kiste about her new book, ghost stories, haunted houses, and much more. Our conversation is available on YouTube.

Kiste’s newest novel The Haunting of Velkwood is out now from Saga Press. We begin our conversation by talking about ghost stories…Continue Reading

Review: Where the Worm Never Dies by Quinn Hernandez

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 13, 2024May 4, 2024ReviewsJoshua Gage, Quinn Hernandez, Reviews, Where the Worm Never DiesLeave a comment

cover of Where the Worm Never Dies Where the Worm Never Dies by Quinn Hernandez
Swann + Bedlam (June 1, 2024)
114 pages; $18.00 paperback
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Quinn Hernandez loves the full spectrum of speculative fiction, and he is currently working on expanding his fiction universe. His poetry collection Life and Other Unfortunate Horrors is available from Madness Heart Press, and his short story collection Viva La Muerte! is available from Nightmare Press. His second poetry collection Where the Worm Never Dies is forthcoming from Swann and Bedlam Press.Continue Reading

What Screams May Come: Innocence Ends by Nikolas P. Robinson

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 10, 2024May 28, 2024What Screams May ComeColumns, Innocence Ends, Interviews, Nikolas P. Robinson, Rick HipsonLeave a comment

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Innocence Ends by Nikolas P. Robinson
Uncomfortably Dark (June 21 on Godless/June 30 on Amazon)

The Synopsis

Six friends meet together in an isolated mountain town in Northern Idaho to commemorate the fifth anniversary of a close friend’s suicide. A week of hiking, spending time in nature, and a bittersweet reunion soon takes a sinister turn as the friends find themselves fighting for their lives and struggling to survive. A seemingly tranquil community bombarded by late spring storms becomes a trap filled with monsters and threats everywhere they turn. Terrifying secrets are revealed and the survivors are left to wonder what will be left of the world outside if they can find a way to come through the gauntlet alive.Continue Reading

Review: Where the Dead Wait by Allie Wilkes

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 6, 2024May 4, 2024ReviewsAllie Wilkes, Dave Simms, Reviews, Where the Dead WaitLeave a comment

cover of Where the Dead Wait Where the Dead Wait by Allie Wilkes
Atria (December 2023)
400 pages; $20.49 hardcover; $11.99 e-book
Reviewed by Dave Simms

What do you get when gothic horror goes to the arctic? Pure poetry with a fiendish dark heart.

For those who read the pitch-dark All The White Spaces from Allie Wilkes two years ago, this is a worthy follow-up. It’s not a true sequel, meaning readers can start with this novel and enjoy it, as Wilkes covers the backstory in a manner that isn’t overkill with infodumps. Instead, readers are treated to another great study in character building and setting.Continue Reading

What Screams May Come: Europea Halls by Alan Shivers

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 3, 2024May 28, 2024What Screams May ComeAlan Shivers, Columns, Interviews, Rick Hipson, What Screams May ComeLeave a comment

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Europea Halls: A YA Slasher Trilogy by Alan Shivers
Crystal Lake Entertainment (May 2024)

The Synopsis

When the survivors of the summer massacre in Budapest are forced to go to Brussels, they will learn the hard way that the final chapter of a Slasher Trilogy always goes back to the beginning.Continue Reading

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