Reviews Archives - Cemetery Dance Online

Review: How to Escape a Tiger Cult by Briana Morgan

Cemetery Dance OnlineOctober 1, 2026ReviewsBriana Morgan, Chandra ClaypoolLeave a comment

How to Escape a Tiger Cult by Briana Morgan
Independently Published (October 6, 2026)
Reviewed by Chandra Claypool

Remember all the rage of Tiger King during the pandemic? I certainly watched it and was fascinated by the entirety of this weird industry. Then I learned about Bhagavan “Doc” Antle, a figure from Tiger King who ended up with his own documentary because of his isolated, manipulative, cult-like tendencies at his wildlife park. Obviously, when given the opportunity to read How to Escape a Tiger Cult, it was an automatic YES. Plus, it is Briana Morgan, and I’ve loved her other work so win-win!
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Review: Worry Box by Chris Panatier

Cemetery Dance OnlineSeptember 29, 2026ReviewsAbby Wolf, Chris PanatierLeave a comment

Worry Box by Chris Panatier
Angry Robot (September 2026)
Reviewed by Abby Wolf

There is something notably cruel about a haunted house story when the house is not the only thing the characters have to fear. Chris Panatier’s (Daytide, The Redemption of Morgan Bright) Worry Box shows us that the scariest monsters don’t always break down the door. Sometimes they live inside your head. Sometimes they are the things you are afraid you might do. And, maybe, the place you call home is listening.Continue Reading

Review: Nightjars by Michael Wehunt

Cemetery Dance OnlineSeptember 24, 2026September 23, 2026ReviewsBriana Morgan, Michael WehuntLeave a comment

Nightjars by Michael Wehunt
St. Martin’s Press (September 29, 2026)
Reviewed by Briana Morgan

“Does the nightjar remember the night?”

Michael Wehunt has become an auto-buy author for me. Fans of his previous release, The October Film Haunt, will be thrilled to hear that Nightjars also features found-footage elements, this time in the form of terrifying photographs.Continue Reading

Review: Our Cut of Salt by Deena Helm

Cemetery Dance OnlineSeptember 23, 2026ReviewsAdam Allen, Deena HelmLeave a comment

Our Cut of Salt by Deena Helm
Tor Nightfire (September 22nd, 2026)
Reviewed by Adam Allen

Our Cut of Salt marks the debut of a fierce new voice in literary horror. This is not only one of the best horror novels of the year, but one of the best books you’ll ever read. It is haunting, tragic, very entertaining, and it will make you do the most important things a book can do: think and feel. Horror is the genre that looks at the world and asks why, digs deeper, and doesn’t turn away from the darkness. Deena Helm’s debut is a brilliant example of how much can be accomplished by a horror novel.Continue Reading

Infernal Tramps by Alex Grass

Cemetery Dance OnlineSeptember 17, 2026September 16, 2026ReviewsAlex Grass, Danica DavidsonLeave a comment

Infernal Tramps by Alex Grass
Dickinson Publishing Group (July 2026)
Reviewed by Danica Davidson

Infernal Tramps is a fascinating, morbid, and hallucinatory collection of seventeen short stories. Reading them is a bit like reading something that combines nightmares, surrealist paintings, and an extra shot of weirdness, all into a cocktail of well-written, genre-defying tales of horror. Continue Reading

Review: Ghost in the Grove by Frank Reddy

Cemetery Dance OnlineSeptember 16, 2026ReviewsAdam Allen, Frank ReddyLeave a comment

Ghost in the Grove by Frank Reddy
Shadeland House Modern Press (July 14th, 2026)
Reviewed by Adam Allen

If you enjoy your horrors filled with sweltering heat, religious frenzy, and generational trauma, Frank Reddy has created a Southern Gothic that fits perfectly on the shelf alongside Flannery O’Connor and Del Sandeen. This is a book that seeps into your consciousness, presenting a mystery that brings in all of the things that fascinate us about the genre. Swamps, Antebellum estates, and horror that echoes through decades all converge into one deeply disturbing and mesmerizing novel that is a true must-read.

Review: Poems to Be Afraid of by Pixie Bruner

Cemetery Dance OnlineSeptember 12, 2026ReviewsJoshua Gage, Pixie BrunerLeave a comment

Poems to Be Afraid Of by Pixie Bruner
Authortunities Press (September 3, 2026)
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Poems to Be Afraid Of is a detailed exploration of fear and phobia. Each poem is dedicated to one type of fear, detailing those fears intimately and artfully, forcing the reader to be as afraid as the speakers of these poems are. Some of these are simple detailing of lists, such as in the Chroma series.

Chroma 9 (8.1) begins with the lines:

The endless dark mouth of the sky

the interstices on the pool deck

where no light can pry beams down into.

Bituminous asphalt, sulfured night terrors,

Rottweilers and labs, sleek shadow cats

that absorb sunlight like event horizons. Continue Reading

Review: Blood Rising (The Blood Saga #2) by Markus Redmond

Cemetery Dance OnlineSeptember 8, 2026September 8, 2026ReviewsHaley Newlin, Markus RedmondLeave a comment

Blood Rising (The Blood Saga #2) by Markus Redmond
Dafina (August 2026)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

“If Blood Slaves is about the cost of freedom, Blood Rising is about the cost of power.”

Markus Redmond introduces both installments of the Blood Saga with a letter to the readers. In the Blood Slaves opening, Redmond describes wanting to write a “badass vampire book,” which was what he was in the middle of writing in May 2020, right before George Floyd was murdered. And while Floyd’s murder was tragic, Redmond reminds us that it was not a new or unique occurrence. This kind of violence, with little to no consequence, has been happening since slavery in colonial America.

Feeling infuriated and powerless, Redmond returned to his vampire book, wishing he could be one, imagining how that kind of power could right so much wrong, unleash revenge, settle scores, and change culture, society, and history. That’s when the author’s vampire book became something more. That’s when it became Blood Slaves, and much to this reader’s delight, the Blood Saga.Continue Reading

Review: A River Wide by Amanda J. McGee

Cemetery Dance OnlineSeptember 4, 2026September 3, 2026ReviewsAmanda J. McGee, Rowan B. MinorLeave a comment

A River Wide by Amanda J. McGee
Interstellar Flight Press (September 7, 2026)
Reviewed by Rowan B. Minor

Horror and fantasy writer Amanda J. McGee is a poet and novelist who resides in Southwest Virginia. Her work has been featured in Artemis Journal, Roanoke Rambler, Luna Station Quarterly, and other venues. McGee is the author of books Mother of Creation and Daughter of Madness from The Creation Saga, as well as the novella Viridian, which is featured in A Sinister Quartet alongside authors C. S. E. Cooney, Mike Allen, and Jessica P. Wick. McGee’s debut standalone horror novella is A River Wide from Interstellar Flight Press.

A River Wide is a 98-page Appalachian murder ballad that depicts violence against women through the lens of the witch trope. Main character Rhia Blackburn is a water witch from the hollers of Appalachia whose magic has been passed down through a long line of women. After her adopted sister Amey supposedly murders a no-good man, she is kidnapped, and Rhia must unveil the magic and secrets she’s suppressed most of her life. Can Rhia negotiate with the river and use her spellwork to find Amey in time?Continue Reading

Review: Blacktail by Scott Hawkins

Cemetery Dance OnlineSeptember 3, 2026ReviewsChandra Claypool, Scott HawkinsLeave a comment

Blacktail by Scott Hawkins
Crown (September 1, 2026)
Reviewed by Chandra Claypool

Welcome to Blacktail, a dark fantasy, magical realism story.

Blacktail is a wolf out for revenge. His mate, a house dog, is killed by the “two legs.” He has not only lost her but their puppies, too, and he takes vengeance on the humans. There will be more bloodshed, and the two legs must fall.

Blacktail is faithful to the Forest God, but in times like this, faith is not enough. Drawn to his fury, a feline witch makes him an offer. What if Blacktail could end the human race altogether? First, he must find and wake the Forest God, and with the woods dwindling, he has no other choice. Continue Reading

Review: The Dorians by Nick Cutter

Cemetery Dance OnlineAugust 29, 2026ReviewsBriana Morgan, Nick CutterLeave a comment

The Dorians by Nick Cutter
Gallery Books (May 2026)
Reviewed by Briana Morgan

What would you give up to be young again, and what would you do with this new lease on life? These complex bioethical dilemmas form the backbone of Nick Cutter’s The Dorians, a medical/body horror novel released in May of this year. Taking its name from The Picture of Dorian Gray, Cutter’s latest release explores themes of aging, immortality, and humanity’s quest for meaning.

In The Dorians, five terminally ill, elderly people planning to go through assisted suicide are stopped at the last minute and offered the chance to serve as test subjects for an experimental anti-aging procedure. Spearheaded by nineteen-year-old wunderkind Dr. Astrid, the procedure involves implanting a hydra in each participant’s body, which will reverse the progress of their illness and, by extension, their physical age.Continue Reading

Review: Pain is a Chain. Move, and I’ll Hear You

Cemetery Dance OnlineAugust 27, 2026ReviewsErik Hofstatter, Joshua GageLeave a comment

Pain Is a Chain. Move, and I’ll Hear You by Erik Hofstatter
Aqueduct Press (July 2026)
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Erik Hofstatter is a prose poet of brutality and elegance. He explores the darkest depths of what we’re capable of without flinching. Born in the wild lands of the Czech Republic, he roamed Europe before subsequently settling on English shores, studying creative writing at the London School of Journalism. His work appeared in various magazines and podcasts around the world, such as HWA Poetry Showcase XII, The Literary Hatchet, Wicked Library, Manor House Show, and The Black Room Manuscripts Volume IV. Other works include The Hurricane Caged Inside of Her, Stone Martyrs, and Bankrupting Sky Banks. His newest collection is Pain Is a Chain. Move, and I’ll Hear You.Continue Reading

Review: Back for Blood: Never Whistle at Night Part II

Cemetery Dance OnlineAugust 20, 2026August 27, 2026ReviewsRowan B. Minor, Shane Hawk, Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.2 Comments

Back for Blood: Never Whistle at Night Part II
Edited by Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.
Vintage Books (August 18, 2026)
Reviewed by Rowan B. Minor

Back for Blood: Never Whistle at Night Part II, edited by Shane Hawk (Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma) and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. (enrolled Mackinac Bands of Chippewa and Ottawa Indians) is the follow-up collection to Never Whistle at Night, published by Vintage Books in 2023. Written by Indigenous authors, both new and established, these unique tales in Back for Blood encompass both supernatural and real-life horror. This collection features 21 never-before-seen dark and creepy stories accompanied by unsettling illustrations by Cheyenne and Arapaho painter Brent Learned. Although this book is a follow-up, the stories are stand-alone and can be read without knowing its predecessor, especially since Back for Blood features different authors from the first anthology. Continue Reading

Review: The Sleeping Sisters by Jennifer Givhan

Cemetery Dance OnlineAugust 18, 2026ReviewsAdam Allen, Jennifer GivhanLeave a comment

The Sleeping Sisters by Jennifer Givhan
Little, Brown and Company (August 18th, 2026)
Reviewed by Adam Allen

The story “The Green Ribbon” is one of those formative, vaguely traumatizing stories that seems to have always been part of my consciousness and was one of the first moments where I realized I kind of liked being shocked and scared. Jennifer Givhan has given all of us who grew up with that story an enormous gift with The Sleeping Sisters. This extremely complex and creepy novel that takes that story and ties it to a real-life string of murders and Chicana-Indigenous folklore to create one of the best books of the year.Continue Reading

Review: These Walls Remember by Del Sandeen

Cemetery Dance OnlineAugust 12, 2026ReviewsDel Sandeen, Haley NewlinLeave a comment

These Walls Remember by Del Sandeen
Berkley (August 18, 2026)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

Del Sandeen became a horror author to watch after her previous release, This Cursed House, which was a personal favorite of mine among 2024 horror book releases. With her new release, These Walls Remember, Sandeen has further established herself as a master of gothic horror. The way she utilizes historical details and settings to reflect grief and trauma is effective and evocative. Perhaps this is why I find her work so profound and unforgettable. Continue Reading

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