Reviews Archives - Cemetery Dance Online

Review: White Flight by Peter O’Keefe

Cemetery Dance OnlineOctober 20, 2025October 4, 2025ReviewsElizabeth Broadbent, Peter O'Keefe, Reviews, White FlightLeave a comment

White Flight by Peter O’Keefe
Uncomfotably Dark Horror (October 2025)
Reviewed by Elizabeth Broadbent

Everyone loves a good haunted house story. Make it short and quick, throw in some serious tension, stir in a few vivid characters, add a dose of disorientation — you’ve probably got a hit. Peter O’Keefe does this one better in White Flight, out October 21 from Uncomfortably Dark. His fast-paced, nail-biting little gothic novella delivers something unexpected: a seriously squirm-worthy look at American racism. Continue Reading

Review: The Possession of Alba Díaz by Isabel Cañas

Cemetery Dance OnlineOctober 17, 2025October 7, 2025ReviewsHaley Newlin, Isabel Canas, Reviews, The Possession of Alba DiazLeave a comment

cover of The Possession of Alba Diaz The Possession of Alba Díaz by Isabel Cañas
Berkley (August 2025)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

Isabel Cañas is a gothic horror revivalist who would appease and astonish the founding mothers of the genre and excite the readers they continue to lure in today. What makes Cañas stand out is her use of classic Gothic tropes — such as isolation, family turmoil, claustrophobic settings, and hauntings —but she re-centers them in Mexico. She symbolizes historical trauma, evangelization, colonization, generational violence, and misogyny throughout her work in a way that’s accessible and impactful.

In her latest genre-defying release, The Possession of Alba Díaz, Cañas conjures an unforgettable, wicked tale so compelling and cinematically evocative that readers will talk about it for years to come. It’s haunting and gory. Fierce and uncanny.Continue Reading

Review: Feral and Hysterical by Sadie Hartmann

Cemetery Dance OnlineOctober 13, 2025October 7, 2025ReviewsFeral and Hysterical, Mother Horror, Reviews, Rowan B. Minor, Sadie HartmannLeave a comment

cover of Feral and Hysterical 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, Dark Hart Books. Hartmann is a 2023 Bram Stoker Awards Winner for her book 101 Horror Books to Read Before You’re Murdered from Page Street Publishing. Her most recent book is Feral and Hysterical: Mother Horror’s Ultimate Reading Guide to Dark and Disturbing Fiction by Women, also from Page Street Publishing.Continue Reading

Review: The Witch of Willow Sound by Vanessa F. Penney

Cemetery Dance OnlineOctober 10, 2025October 7, 2025ReviewsReviews, Rowan B. Minor, The Witch of Willow Sound, Vanessa F. PenneyLeave a comment

Cover of The Witch of Willow Sound The Witch of Willow Sound by Vanessa F. Penney
ECW Press (September 2025)
Reviewed by Rowan B. Minor

Vanessa F. Penney is a new author who was born in northern Newfoundland and raised in rural Nova Scotia. Currently living in Dartmouth, NS, she is most inspired by “the coal-black ocean depths and bone-buried shorelines of the East Coast.” The Witch of Willow Sound is her debut novel. Continue Reading

Review: The Widows of Winding Gale by Kealan Patrick Burke

Cemetery Dance OnlineOctober 7, 2025October 6, 2025ReviewsDave Simms, Earthling Halloween Series, Earthling Publications, Kealan Patrick Burke, Reviews, The Widows of Winding GaleLeave a comment

Cover of The Widows of Winding Gale The Widows of Winding Gale by Kealan Patrick Burke
Earthling Publications (October 2025)
Reviewed by Dave Simms

For those readers who have read Kealan Patrick Burke, a familiarity with gorgeous writing is a given. The stories themselves are varied, the voices far-ranging, but no matter how far the author stretches his wings, somehow, it all comes back to his style and craft. Like Peter Straub and Gwendolyn Kiste, one knows they are in the midst of a singular voice that entrances. For musicians, the tone of a famous saxophone player or blues guitarist can be unmistakable once the song begins.

Review: When Shadows Burn by Todd Brown

Cemetery Dance OnlineOctober 1, 2025October 4, 2025ReviewsReviews, Rowan B. Minor, Todd Brown, When Shadows BurnLeave a comment

When Shadows Burn by Todd Brown
Köehler Books (October 14, 2025)
Reviewed by Rowan B. Minor

Todd Brown is a neurodivergent computational sociologist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, WIRED, National Geographic, Forbes, USA Today, and other publications. He currently lives in Virginia, and has spoken in seven countries and at dozens of venues, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, Harvard, and more. His debut novel, When Shadows Burn, is a southern gothic haunted house story.Continue Reading

Review: The Whistler by Nick Medina

Cemetery Dance OnlineSeptember 25, 2025September 24, 2025ReviewsHaley Newlin, Nick Medina, Reviews, The WhistlerLeave a comment

The Whistler by Nick Medina
Berkley (September 2025)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

For fear of summoning evil spirits, Native superstition says you should never, ever whistle at night.

Henry Hotard was about to hit the big time. He’d gained a huge online following with his ghost-hunting videos. But things changed one day, a day he wishes he could forget, and now he’s navigating a new reality — life in a wheelchair and back on the reservation where he grew up, and relying on his grandparents’ care.

Growing up on the reservation, one hears all sorts of stories, cautionary tales with wicked creatures and anecdotes. Myths. But some superstitions shouldn’t be ignored. Continue Reading

Review: Hank Flynn: The Return by Candace Nola

Cemetery Dance OnlineSeptember 22, 2025September 21, 2025ReviewsCandace Nola, Elizabeth Broadbent, Hank Flynn The Return, ReviewsLeave a comment

Hank Flynn: The Return by Candace Nola
Uncomfortably Dark (July 2025)
Reviewed by Elizabeth Broadbent

I’m generally not a fan of Western horror, though it’s an interesting subgenre. I’m revising that idea after Candace Nola’s Hank Flynn: The Return. Haven’t read the original Hank Flynn? Don’t stress. I hadn’t either. In Hank Flynn: The Return, Nola pulls off an incredibly difficult trick: a sequel with familiar characters and storylines that can still be read solo (though it will spoil the first Hank Flynn, so reader beware). Continue Reading

Review: If You Knew Me by S.P. Miskowski

Cemetery Dance OnlineSeptember 17, 2025September 14, 2025ReviewsDave Simms, If You Knew Me, Reviews, S.P. MiskowskiLeave a comment

cover of If You Knew Me If You Knew Me by S.P. Miskowski
Thomas & Mercer (September 23, 2025)
Reviewed by Dave Simms

Move over Annie Wilkes — there’s a new ultra fan in horror-thriller literature: Ann Mason (yes, the first name checks but the author goes way beyond the iconic character here). If you’ve never read S.P. Miskowski, this is a fine place to start. If you’re a fan of the Skillute cycle of stories, this is a step up in storytelling, which is quite a high bar to jump. She wields the exquisite skills to marry the best of horror with the razor wire tension of thrillers.

Review: Spectators by Brian K. Vaughan and Niko Henrichon

Cemetery Dance OnlineSeptember 15, 2025September 14, 2025Reviews, The Comic VaultBrian K. Vaughan, Columns, Niko Henrichon, Reviews, Spectators, The Comic VaultLeave a comment

banner that reads The Comic Vault

Spectators by Brian K. Vaughan and Niko Henrichon
Image Comics (September 23, 2025)
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Brian K. Vaughan is an American comic book and television writer, best known for the comic book series Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina, Runaways, Pride of Baghdad, Saga, and Paper Girls. His newest book, Spectators, is a violent, sexual exploration at a voyeurism set against an apocalyptic nightmare.Continue Reading

Double Feature: Bev Vincent explores The Long Walk and The Institute

Bev VincentSeptember 12, 2025September 11, 2025Reviews, Stephen King News from the Dead ZoneBev Vincent, From, Mr. Mercedes, News from the Dead Zone, Reviews, Stephen King, Stephen King News, The Institute, The Long Walk1 Comment

The Kids Aren’t All Right

Two adaptations of King novels — one from six years ago, the other first published forty-six years ago — landed recently. They have one thing in common: kids in jeopardy being subjected to cruel treatment (The Institute) and execution (The Long Walk). Here are my thoughts.

Review: The Beast in the Pines by S.W. Lynch

Cemetery Dance OnlineSeptember 8, 2025September 7, 2025ReviewsReviews, Rowan B. Minor, S.W. Lynch, The Beast in the PinesLeave a comment

The Beast in the Pines by S.W. Lynch
Serotonin Press, October 2024
Reviewed by Rowan B. Minor

S.W. Lynch is a writer and editor who lives in Philidelphia, Pennsylvania. He has worked for nonprofit organizations such as Moonstone Arts Center and the Nick Virgilio Haiku Association. Lynch has been the editor of various journals, magazines, and anthologies, such as Rocky Wilson’s The Last Bus to Camden and Chidi Ezeobi’s Remind the World: Poems from Prison. He is the author of five books of poetry: the city of your mind (Whirlwind Press, 2013), Broad Street Line (Moonstone Press, 2016), 100 Haiku (Moonstone Press, 2017), On Violence (Radical Paper Press, 2019), and Halo Nest: Poems on Grief (Alien Buddha Press, 2024). Lynch’s debut novel is The Beast in the Pines. Continue Reading

Review: Told by Firelight in Timbered Halls by Adam Bolivar

Cemetery Dance OnlineSeptember 5, 2025September 8, 2025ReviewsAdam Bolivar, Joshua Gage, poetry, Reviews, Tales by FirelightLeave a comment

Told by Firelight in Timbered Halls by Adam Bolivar
Jackanapes Press (September 2025)
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Adam Bolivar is the author of The Lay of Old Hex (Hippocampus Press, 2017), The Ettinfell of Beacon Hill (Jackanapes Press, 2021), Ballads for the Witching Hour (Hippocampus Press 2022), and A Wheel of Ravens (Jackanapes Press, 2023). A marionette-maker as well, he has written a multitude of original puppet-plays which have been performed in a wide variety of peculiar venues. A native of gambrel-roofed Boston, Massachusetts, he currently resides in the gloomy dreamlands of Portland, Oregon with his golden-haired wife and son. His newest collection is Told by Firelight in Timbered Halls. Continue Reading

Review: Moonflow by Bitter Karella

Cemetery Dance OnlineSeptember 2, 2025August 31, 2025ReviewsBitter Karella, Elizabeth Broadbent, Moonflow, ReviewsLeave a comment

cover of Moonflow Moonflow by Bitter Karella
Run For It (September 2, 2025)
Reviewed by Elizabeth Broadbent

Among other things, Bitter Karella’s Moonflow promises “fungus gods, trans feels, haunted forests, weird rituals, lesbian hippies, fat sex, humongous gahungawungas, and raccoons.” It certainly delivers. Moonflow is a magnificently queer magical mystery trip into the darkly bizarre heart of Pamogo Forest. A psychedelic-fueled, rainbow trip of a novel, this book is everything you’d hope for from Bitter Karella: wickedly funny, bracingly bizarre, frequently off-color, and yet, somehow, heartfelt. Continue Reading

Review: Breathe In, Bleed Out by Brian McAuley

Cemetery Dance OnlineAugust 27, 2025August 21, 2025ReviewsBreathe In Bleed Out, Brian McAuley, Haley Newlin, ReviewsLeave a comment

cover of Breathe In, Bleed Out Breathe In, Bleed Out by Brian McAuley
Poison Pen Press (September 2, 2025)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

Brian McAuley’s slasher novel Breathe In, Bleed Out is an absolute scream and an instant classic.

In this fast-paced and shocking horror novel, Hannah, a woman haunted by the ghosts of grief, and her friends are invited to a secluded healing retreat in the desert. With constant nightmares and a drug dependency, Hannah thinks this trip could be just what she needs: a chance to heal.Continue Reading

The Kids Aren’t All Right

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