Review: Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff

Cemetery Dance OnlineSeptember 14, 2021September 12, 2021ReviewsEmpire of the Vampire, Janelle Janson, Jay Kristoff, ReviewsLeave a comment

cover of Empire of the Vampire Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff
St. Martin’s Press (September 14, 2021)
752 pages; hardcover $25.49; paperback $14.99; e-book $14.99
Reviewed by Janelle Janson

“Even the greatest of fools can’t deny the existence of evil. We dwell in its shadow every day. The best of us rise above it, the worst of us swallow it whole, but we all of us wade hip-deep through it, every moment of our lives.”

When I think of Jay Kristoff, I immediately think young adult fantasy series. As much as I love watching fantasy, I am much pickier with books. And to be honest, my preferred fantasy to read is horror, so when Kristoff first announced his upcoming vampire series, I nearly lost my mind. Even though I am picky with fantasy, I generally enjoy Kristoff’s books. But it wasn’t until he mentioned vampires that my eyes popped out of my skull. If you’re anything like me, you have a somewhat unhealthy obsession with these creatures. Of course, there are incredible books like Salem’s Lot, Dracula, and Interview with a Vampire, which I make it a point never to compare. But bottom-line, I will read almost any book with vampires.Continue Reading

Review: Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery by Brom

Cemetery Dance OnlineSeptember 13, 2021September 12, 2021ReviewsBrom, Janelle Janson, Reviews, Slewfoot, Tor NightfireLeave a comment

cover of Slewfoot by Brom Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery by Brom
Tor Nightfire (September 14, 2021)
320 pages; hardcover $25.49; paperback $14.99; e-book $14.99
Reviewed by Janelle Janson

If you’re anything like me, then you have only dipped into Brom’s world with Krampus, an iconic story written by the artistically talented Brom that we revisit every Christmas. I’ll admit Krampus wasn’t exactly my favorite book, but Brom’s style and aesthetic polish made it an enjoyable reading experience. In Slewfoot, it’s not just Brom’s brilliant artistry, but also the plot, his immersive writing style, and his magical mind that drew me in.

How do I put this gently? Slewfoot is bleak. It’s bleakness inside of pain, submerged in darkness, inside of a grey-colored moon. How’s that for bleak? I enjoy bleak when it’s executed well, and Slewfoot is executed perfectly.Continue Reading

Review: Straight by Chuck Tingle

Cemetery Dance OnlineSeptember 10, 2021September 6, 2021ReviewsAnton Cancre, Chuck Tingle, Reviews, StraightLeave a comment

cover of Straight by Chuck Tingle Straight by Chuck Tingle
Self-Published (May 2021}
129 pages; $13.99 Paperback; $6.99 ebook
Reviewed by Anton Cancre

Most likely, you know Chuck Tingle. Also incredibly likely, you have never read more of his work than the covers. Which is a shame, because Dr. Chuck Tingle is honestly a hell of a writer. But, if you are too scared of a little butt pounding, then maybe his first foray into full-out horror will get you to give the dude a chance. You’ll be pleasantly surprised.Continue Reading

Review: Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? by Eric Powell and Harold Schechter

Cemetery Dance OnlineSeptember 8, 2021September 6, 2021ReviewsAlbatross Funnybooks, Chad Lutzke, Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done?, Eric Powell, Harold Schechter, ReviewsLeave a comment

Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? by Eric Powell and Harold Schechter
Albatross Funnybooks (August 2021)
224 pages; $26.99 hardcover; $25.64 e-book
Reviewed by Chad Lutzke

Why are so many of us fascinated by true crime, particularly when it comes to serial killers? While in the comfort of our homes, settled in a favorite chair and feeling content with a belly full of food, we make the oddest choices in the media we consume — subject matter that takes us out of our emotional comfort zone, like learning about people doing unimaginable things to other people.

We’re a strange breed. Continue Reading

Review: Queen of Teeth by Hailey Piper

Cemetery Dance OnlineSeptember 7, 2021September 7, 2021ReviewsHailey Piper, Mother Horror, Queen of Teeth, Reviews, Sadie Hartmann, Strangehouse BooksLeave a comment

Queen of Teeth by Hailey Piper
Strangehouse Books (August 2021)
198 pages; $14.95 paperback; $9.99 e-book
Reviewed by Sadie “Mother Horror” Hartmann

You might be surprised to learn that Queen of Teeth is the debut novel from Hailey Piper. Her name is everywhere! How can this be her debut? Well, up until this book’s release, Piper has had a string of successful book releases in the novella page count range: The Possession of Natalie Glasgow, Benny Rose the Cannibal King, The Worm and His Kings, a short story collection, and a Short, Sharp, Shocks from Demain Publishing called An Invitation to Darkness. There is also a variety of short fiction published in dozens of anthologies and magazines. Through this whirlwind of storytelling, Piper has gathered unto herself a massive fanbase. Personally, I show up for anything with her name on it. I’m a sell-out for Piper’s unique brand.

Queen of Teeth is special. Her first novel and what a way to crush a debut!Continue Reading

We Thought We’d Always Have the Drive-In

Cemetery Dance OnlineSeptember 3, 2021August 29, 2021Horror Drive-InColumns, Horror Drive-In, Mark SieberLeave a comment

banner reading Horror Drive-In by Mark Sieber

If you had asked me if I knew that life was constant change, and that none of the things I loved would last forever, I’d have surely shrugged and said, Sure, everyone knows that. But when you get right down here, where it counts, I believed it all was permanent.Continue Reading

Review: Field Guide to Invasive Species of Minnesota: Poems by Amelia Gorman

Cemetery Dance OnlineSeptember 1, 2021August 29, 2021ReviewsAmelia Gorman, Field Guide to Invasive Species of Minnesota, Interstellar Flight Press, Joshua Gage, ReviewsLeave a comment

Field Guide to Invasive Species of Minnesota: Poems by Amelia Gorman
Interstellar Flight Press (September 6, 2021)
62 pages; $11.99 paperback; $5.99 e-book
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

At first glance, Field Guide to Invasive Species of Minnesota is not a book of horror poetry, or speculative poetry at all. It reads, on the surface, like a book of nature poems, possibly odes to or personifications of the titular invasive species. However, reading the author’s notes, it becomes clear the book and its poems are set in the near-future. If the world is not post-apocalyptic, or even apocalyptic, it’s certainly leaning that way, and nature is beginning to rear her powerful head and reclaim what’s rightfully hers, and Gorman is there to record all the awful details.Continue Reading

Review: Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney

Cemetery Dance OnlineAugust 30, 2021August 29, 2021ReviewsAlice Feeney, Blu Gilliand, Flatiron Books, Reviews, Rock Paper ScissorsLeave a comment

cover of Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney
Flatiron Books (September 7, 2021)
304 pages; $23.49 hardcover; $14.99 e-book
Reviewed by Blu Gilliand

Something’s very wrong with Mr. and Mrs. Wright.

Yeah, Alice Feeney went there. The troubled couple at the center of her new novel, Rock Paper Scissors, are the Wrights, Adam and Amelia. They’ve grabbed their dog Bob and headed to a remote chapel-turned-bread-and-breakfast in the Scottish Highlands, where they hope to spend a snowy weekend piecing their faltering marriage back together., If you’re guessing that the only thing that holds more secrets than the Wrights is a remote chapel in the Scottish Highlands, you’re absolutely Wright. Uh, “right.”Continue Reading

Night Time Logic with Jeffrey Ford

Cemetery Dance OnlineAugust 27, 2021August 15, 2021Night Time LogicColumns, Daniel Braum, Jeffery Ford, Night Time LogicLeave a comment

Night Time Logic with Daniel Braum

Welcome to Night Time Logic, my new column for Cemetery Dance Online. Thanks to Norman Prentiss, Richard Chizmar, Blu Gilliand, Kevin Lucia, and the entire Cemetery Dance team. Cemetery Dance played a pivotal role in my education and exploration of horror so it is a thrill to be able to participate and share in the fun, the wonder, and the horror of it all in this forum.

While anything and everything goes, the main focus here will be interviews and conversations with the creative minds that bring us the dark fiction we love. I expect reviews and essays to come along with those conversations. I also expect a good deal of the authors and books we’ll explore will be those that we call the strange, the weird, the uncanny, and the interstitial.Continue Reading

Review: Writers Workshop of Horror 2 edited by Michael Knost

Cemetery Dance OnlineAugust 25, 2021August 15, 2021ReviewsDave Simms, Hydra Publications, Michael Knost, Reviews, Writers Worshop of Horror 2Leave a comment

cover of Writers of Horror Workshop 2 edited by Michael Knost Writers Workshop of Horror 2 edited by Michael Knost
Hydra Publications (September 1, 2021)
e-book $9.99
Reviewed by Dave Simms

This master class of both giants of the genre and fresh voices cuts deep into every angle writers need to explore, both the necessary and the uncomfortable. Any guide that opens with Ramsey Campbell signals to the reader that a journey into the shadows will not leave one unscathed. Yet it’s the surprises within that make this purchase money well spent and a career improved.Continue Reading

Review: Red X by David Demchuk

Cemetery Dance OnlineAugust 23, 2021August 23, 2021ReviewsDavid Demchuk, Mother Horror, Red X, Reviews, Sadie HartmannLeave a comment

cover of Red X by David Demchuck RED X by David Demchuk
Strange Light (August 31st, 2021)
272 pages; $17.95 hardcover; $12.99 e-book
Reviewed by Sadie “Mother Horror” Hartmann

I’m officially a fan of authors breaking the fourth wall within their novels in order to communicate directly to their readers in their own voice. I’m here for it. Red X is the second book I’ve read this year to use this literary device.

This book wouldn’t have been the same experience without Demchuk’s personal and vulnerable account of his own struggles as they relate to the story.Continue Reading

Interview: Rayne King, New Kid on the (Horror) Block

Cemetery Dance OnlineAugust 20, 2021August 15, 2021InterviewsInterviews, Janine Pipe, Rayne King, The CreekLeave a comment

banner graphic that says Cemetery Dance Interviews

You’re a lifelong horror fan and avid reader. You’ve dipped your toes into social media, followed some of your favorite authors. Now you have written your own novella and self-published it. Cue tumbleweed? Just how do you get yourself out there and seen? I sat down and chatted with Rayne King who has recently been through this very process. Continue Reading

Review: Bobcats by Matthew Weber

Cemetery Dance OnlineAugust 19, 2021August 17, 2021ReviewsBlu Gilliand, Bobcats, Matthew Weber, Pint Bottle Press, ReviewsLeave a comment

cover of Bobcats by Matthew Weber Bobcats by Matthew Weber
Pint Bottle Press (June 2021)
182 pages; $11.99 paperback; $2.99 e-book
Reviewed by Blu Gilliand

Horror authors all have their favorite subgenres, and I’d say most of them make at least one attempt during their careers to tackle them — to put their own spin on the types of stories that drew them to horror in the first place. The hard part is not allowing the “spin” to distract from the fundamental things that make those subgenres tick. Freshen them up, throw in a new angle, that’s great; but if they fail at the basics, the story itself is doomed to fail.Continue Reading

Review: My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones

Cemetery Dance OnlineAugust 18, 2021August 15, 2021ReviewsMother Horror, My Heart is a Chainsaw, Reviews, Sadie Hartmann, Stephen Graham JonesLeave a comment

My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones
Saga Press (August 31st, 2021)
416 pages; $26.99 hardcover; $12.99 e-book
Reviewed by Sadie “Mother Horror” Hartmann

“Do you like scary movies?”- Scream (1996)

Sometimes movies take their inspiration from books and sometimes books are inspired by movies. In the case of My Heart is a Chainsaw, author Stephen Graham Jones lets his “horror movie fan” flag fly inside the soul of his teenage protagonist, Jade Daniels.Continue Reading

A Preview of Chapelwaite on Epix by Bev Vincent

Bev VincentAugust 16, 2021August 14, 2021Stephen King News from the Dead Zone'Salem's Lot, Bev Vincent, Chapelwaite, Columns, Glenn Chadbourne, Jerusalem's Lot, News from the Dead Zone, Night Shift, Secretary of Dreams, Stephen King, The StandLeave a comment

Preview: Chapelwaite on Epix

“Blood Calls Blood”

I must confess that when I first heard that Epix was turning Stephen King’s early short story “Jerusalem’s Lot” into a ten-episode TV series, I wasn’t terribly excited. I don’t subscribe to that service, so I planned to give the show a miss. I thought it would turn out to be like the TV series The Mist, which bears little resemblance to the source material beyond the general concept. I’m here to tell you I was wrong, and this show is worth checking out. There is horror a-plenty here if you have plenty of patience for the show’s somewhat measured pace.

Preview: Chapelwaite on Epix

“Blood Calls Blood”

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