Reviews Archives - Cemetery Dance Online

Review: The Mills of the Gods by Tim Powers

Cemetery Dance OnlineFebruary 25, 2026February 22, 2026ReviewsReviews, The Mills of the Gods, Tim Powers, W.D. GaglianiLeave a comment

The Mills of the Gods by Tim Powers
BAEN Books (December 2025)
Review by W.D. Gagliani

A new novel by two-time World Fantasy Award-winning author Tim Powers (author of The Anubis Gates, The Stress of Her Regard, Declare, On Stranger Tides, and the Last Call/Fisher King trilogy, and many others) is always cause to celebrate. Continue Reading

Review: A Song for the End of the World by Mia Dalia

Cemetery Dance OnlineFebruary 23, 2026February 22, 2026ReviewsDave Simms, Earthling Publications, Mia Dalia, Reviews, Song for the End of the WorldLeave a comment

Review: A Song for the End of the World by Mia Dalia
Earthling Publications (January 2026)
Reviewed by Dave Simms

Once again, Earthling has published another enticing entry into its ever-expanding stable of great stories.

Mia Dalia has written an amazing novella about the mysteries of the Bermuda Triangle and the legendary creatures who may live in its waters. If one is not familiar with Dalia, rectify this soon. Her novel, Haven, is stunning, as as her upcoming Beautiful, Once, and what is alluring about her writing is she never plays in the same sandbox twice. The breadth of her work is varied, imbuing various voices and plots that explode in fun directions, which is one of the reasons why this novella works so well.

The story? A crew for a television show needs a homerun to stay on the air, especially in a world where reality shows need to be bombastic and full of drama.

The show is Reggie’s baby — Here Be Dragons, a reality piece where he and buddy Colin explore the topics of the unknown. Competing with others which have more clout and drama, the duo are in search of a ratings monster

The new episode is all about the elusive sirens, beings of the sea who lure sailors to their death by way of intoxicating songs.

The rest of the group include the cameraman, makeup artist, sound man, and assistant, who take off into the wild frontier of the triangle, a place that might be an amazing bastion of mystery — or simply one of fairy tales and bad luck.

Yet once the crew is out on the water, something begins to happen. The edges of reality bend and warp, the personalities on the boat stretch and strain, and the sheer isolation of the location toy with the crew’s minds.

Are there truly sirens in the Bermuda Triangle, or are they just another tall tale from drunken sailors?

This could be a trite creature feature from a lesser author, but Dalia’s strong narrative sense and mastery of style keep the pages turning, allowing the reader to sink into the depths of the ocean with the crew. She holds attention without stepping into clichè or quick scares. Everything is a slow, deliberate roll through the cresting, crashing waves that serves as a hypnotizing excursion through the unknown. She captures the mood of the water and its environs with a smooth voice while drawing the disparate character personalities with a deft hand.

Like all of Earthling’s offerings, A Song for the End of the World comes highly recommended. A mind-bending read, it serves as a fine introduction to Dalia’s work. In a sane world, this would be a much bigger name in the field. This story just might be the one that brings the writers’ magic to the masses.

Review: Dark Sisters by Kristi DeMeester

Cemetery Dance OnlineFebruary 16, 2026February 10, 2026ReviewsDark Sisters, Haley Newlin, Kristi DeMeester, ReviewsLeave a comment

Dark Sisters by Kristi DeMeester
St. Martin’s Press (December 2025)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

“And from their blood we will prosper.”

If there was ever a time for a rally cry of a read, one that holds a mirror up to the misogyny in our world, it’s now. Kristi DeMeester delivers just that with snarling fury and unflinching realism in her latest novel, Dark Sisters. It’s folk, historical, and feminist horror interwoven like a three-strand braid and is told through three women’s perspectives across centuries. Dark Sisters is a brilliant criticism of patriarchal structures used to control women’s bodies and beliefs and the damage inflicted upon generations to come. Continue Reading

Review: The Tryst by L. Marie Wood

Cemetery Dance OnlineFebruary 13, 2026February 6, 2026ReviewsElizabeth Broadbent, L. Marie Wood, Reviews, The TrystLeave a comment

cover of The Tryst The Tryst by L. Marie Wood
Mocha Memoir Press (February 14, 2026)
Reviewed by Elizabeth Broadbent

L. Marie Wood’s new novel, The Tryst is the first book in her five-installment Red Thread Saga, and it’s not horror, but slipstream. For those unfamiliar (and I counted myself among them), slipstream is a catch-all term for works that blend elements of different genres to create something new. When I asked Wood about it, she told me that The Tryst blends elements of “romance, horror, sci-fi, action, mystery, thriller, and suspense.” The blend creates a novel that defies expectations — it’s romance, but with a sci-fi bent; it’s horror, but with thriller and mystery thrown in. But slipstream also uses elements of those genres to defy and remix their typical conventions. Continue Reading

Review: The Bride of Ravencrest by Tamara Thorne and Alistair Cross

Cemetery Dance OnlineFebruary 11, 2026February 1, 2026ReviewsAlistair Cross, Reviews, Tamara Thorne, The Bride of Ravencrest, W.D. GaglianiLeave a comment

cover of The Bride of Ravencrest The Bride of Ravencrest by Tamara Thorne and Alistair Cross
Glass Apple Press (October 2025)
Review by W.D. Gagliani

If you’re in the mood for a thick and chewy Gothic pastiche replete with larger than life characters and a mile-wide humor streak, this new offering by Thorne & Cross may do the trick. Continue Reading

Review: The Stunted Man by Ari Loeb

Cemetery Dance OnlineFebruary 9, 2026January 24, 2026ReviewsAri Loeb, Danica Davidson, Reviews, The Stunted ManLeave a comment

cover of The Stunted Man The Stunted Man by Ari Loeb
Abandoned House (August 2024)
Reviewed by Danica Davidson

The Stunted Man is well-written, informative, funny, emotional, dark and engrossing. It follows Hollywood stuntman Lex Mercier, who is working on the film Everyone’s Frankenstein — and finding plenty of horror in real life, nothing supernatural needed.Continue Reading

Review: Doodooality: Shots Fired from Uranus by Sumiko Saulson, Emily Loretta Flummox, Mysterious Backup

Cemetery Dance OnlineFebruary 6, 2026February 1, 2026ReviewsDoodooality: Shots Fired from Uranus, Emily Loretta Flummox, Joshua Gage, Mysterious Backup, Reviews, Sumiko SaulsonLeave a comment

Doodooality: Shots Fired from Uranus by Sumiko Saulson, Emily Loretta Flummox, Mysterious Backup
Dooky Zines (October 2025)
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Sumiko Saulson, Emily Loretta Flummox, Mysterious Backup are members of the metal karaoke band, NypSlyp. When invited to submit to the sequel of Haipoo: 7 Poospectives in Pooetry, a collection of scatalogical verse, the group decided to create their own concept album of “haipoo, limershits, and other forms of poetry focusing on the fecalarity — the sentience of poop.” This chapbook is meant to mirror or mimick a punk rock or metal concept album, full of political import and social criticism, but quickly devolves into shock for shock’s sake.Continue Reading

Review: Mama Came Callin’ by Ezra Claytan Daniels and Camilla Sucre

Cemetery Dance OnlineFebruary 4, 2026February 1, 2026Reviews, The Comic VaultCamilla Sucre, Columns, Ezra Claytan Daniels, Joshua Gage, Mama Came Callin', Reviews, The Comic VaultLeave a comment

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Mama Came Callin’ by Ezra Claytan Daniels
William Morrow Paperbacks (February 2026)
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Ezra Claytan Daniels is a mixed-race (black/white) multidisciplinary artist and creator of the award-winning graphic novels Upgrade Soul and BTTM FDRS (with illustrator Ben Passmore). Ezra’s work has been featured on the Criterion Channel, at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art, and is in the permanent collection of the Whitney Museum. Ezra currently resides in Los Angeles, where he writes for film and television, including Doom Patrol, for HBO Max. His newest graphic novel is Mama Came Callin’.Continue Reading

Review: Dollface by Lindy Ryand

Cemetery Dance OnlineFebruary 2, 2026January 14, 2026ReviewsDollface, Elizabeth Broadbent, Lindy Ryan, Minotaur Books, ReviewsLeave a comment

cover of Dollface Dollface by Lindy Ryan
Minotaur Books (February 24, 2026)
Reviewed by Elizabeth Broadbent

In a publishing landscape that loves to hand us blonde, virginal final girls, Lindy Ryan’s Dollface gives us something different: a forty-something mother.

That shouldn’t be rare. It is. Continue Reading

Review: The Night Ship by Alex Woodroe

Cemetery Dance OnlineJanuary 28, 2026January 24, 2026ReviewsAlex Woodroe, Elizabeth Broadbent, Flame Tree Press, Reviews, The Night ShipLeave a comment

cover of The Night Ship The Night Ship by Alex Woodroe
Flame Tree Press (January 2026)
Reviewed by Elizabeth Broadbent

For Americans, it’s difficult to conceptualize what living under a truly authoritarian government means: the snitching, the pressure to conform, the everyday minutiae of life controlled by the state. Alex Woodroe captures these quandaries in The Night Ship. While it’s a wild ride of a cosmic horror novel, the setting and characterization of life under Ceau?escu are the real stars in this one. Continue Reading

Review: The Demon of Beausoleil by Mari Costa

Cemetery Dance OnlineJanuary 26, 2026January 10, 2026Reviews, The Comic VaultColumns, Joshua Gage, Mari Costa, Oni Press, Reviews, The Comic Vault, The Demon of BeausoleilLeave a comment

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The Demon of Beausoleil by Mari Costa
Oni Press (January 27, 2026)
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Mariana Costa was born in Brazil (allegedly) fully formed from a hole in the ground. She is a deeply unserious creature who eats stories and then spits out new ones to repopulate the ecosystem. Whether these new stories are better or worse is for you to decide by eating them yourself. She is best known for Peritale, Paranorthern, Belle of the Ball, and Life of Melody. Her newest graphic novel is The Demon of Beausoleil, which an exciting queer romance set against a background of historical horror.Continue Reading

Review: White Noise Press — The Chapbooks edited by Keith Minnion

Cemetery Dance OnlineJanuary 23, 2026January 18, 2026ReviewsAllison Littlewood, chapbooks, Dave Simms, Elizabeth Massie, Gary Braunbeck, James A. Moore, Kealan Patrick Burke, Mary SanGiovanni, Matt Warner, Reviews, White Noise PressLeave a comment

cover of White Noise Press - The Chapbooks White Noise Press — The Chapbooks edited by Keith Minnion
White Noise Press (November 2025)
Reviewed by Dave Simms

Many horror fans love chapbooks, but they’re tough to get a hold of. Most have limited runs, are costly, or are so beautifully done that readers are reticent to open and damage them (as with Minnion’s run of these 21 novellas).

Keith Minnion, owner of White Noise Press and celebrated artist and author, has compiled all of the chapbooks into one massive collection.Continue Reading

Review: Eminence Front by Rebecca Rowland

Cemetery Dance OnlineJanuary 21, 2026January 14, 2026ReviewsEminence Front, Rebecca Rowland, Reviews, W.D. GaglianiLeave a comment

cover of Eminence Front Eminence Front by Rebecca Rowland
Clash Books (January 20, 2026)
Review by W.D. Gagliani

If you’ve ever been freaked out by blizzard conditions and outrageously large snowfall totals, this short novel is likely to bring its share of shivers to bear on your chionophobia.

Titled after a relentlessly driving Pete Townshend song from The Who’s It’s Hard album, Rebecca Rowland (Optic Nerve, The Horrors Hiding in Plain Sight, and numerous splatterpunk short stories) makes the most of this exercise in mostly “quiet horror” by casting a vaguely Lovecraftian shadow over its story, in which the cosmic dread is almost tangible.Continue Reading

Review: Plague House by Michael W. Conrad and Dave Chisholm

Cemetery Dance OnlineJanuary 19, 2026January 10, 2026Reviews, The Comic VaultColumns, Dave Chisholm, Joshua Gage, Michael W. Conrad, Oni Press, Plague House, Reviews, The Comic VaultLeave a comment

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Plague House by Michael W. Conrad and Dave Chisholm
Oni Press (January 20, 2026)
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Michael W. Conrad is a writer currently living in Portland, Oregon. Michael has worked on a number of books at DC Comics, including Wonder Woman, Batgirls, Nightwing, and more. Elsewhere, Michael has written stories for iconic characters including Godzilla, Dracula, and Boris Karloff. Michael’s creator-owned work such as Tremor Dose, Double Walker, and Neptune have revealed a level of oddity that has captivated audiences looking for experiences unlike anything else on the shelves today.

Dave Chisholm is a graphic novelist and musician currently living in Rochester, New York, where he received his doctorate in jazz trumpet from the Eastman School of Music in 2013. His expertise in music, as well as his formal inventiveness within the comics medium, has resulted in a string of critically acclaimed music-centric comics and graphic novels, including Spectrum (Mad Cave Studios), Miles Davis & the Search for the Sound, Enter the Blue, Chasin’ the Bird: Charlie Parker in California, and the groundbreaking graphic novel + original soundtrack Instrumental (Z2 Comics). Chisholm also has a passion for education and teaches comics and music at the Hochstein School and the Rochester Institute of Technology. In his free time, Dave enjoys spending time with his family and his cats. Their newest collaboration is Plague House.Continue Reading

Review: ITCH! by Gemma Amor

Cemetery Dance OnlineJanuary 15, 2026January 14, 2026ReviewsElizabeth Broadbent, Gemma Amor, ITCH!, ReviewsLeave a comment

cover of ITCH! ITCH! by Gemma Amor
Hodder & Stoughton (January 2026)
Reviewed by Elizabeth Broadbent

With a title like ITCH!, you know Gemma Amor’s bringing the bug horror. I was prepared to spend this read feeling like something was biting me — and I did. I wasn’t prepared for the real soul-crushing heart of this LGBTQIA2+ novel. ITCH! led me to expect bugs and body horror. I never expected to cry. Continue Reading

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