The Rack: Stories Inspired by Vintage Horror Paperbacks edited by Tom Deady
Thomas E. Deady (September 2024)
Reviewed by Dave Simms
Who in their right minds (okay, readers of a certain age) hasn’t been excited to walk into a drug store or supermarket to find THE rack. That spinning metal beast of wonder that held so many amazing covers; some cheesy, some over the top, and others that make your head spin. It always signaled that fun times were on the way as we turned and swiveled and reached behind the book in front to find an even better book behind it. Many found it more exciting than heading to the Waldenbooks or Borders Books (different eras, but same good times). The thrill of discovering a frightening story with cool cover prompted so many of us to ride our bikes, walk, or drive on over on the day when we knew the manager would break open the new stock. Finding treasures behind that first book was even better, possibly hid by another horror fan to buy at a later time.
Review: Leviathan Volume 1 by Shiro Kuroi
Leviathan Volume 1 by Shiro Kuroi
Abrams Comic Arts (October 29, 2024)
Reviewed by Joshua Gage
Shiro Kuroi is a rising star manga author who lives in Toyko, Japan. Leviathan is his first international serialized work, which has been published simultaneously in France and Japan. Highly praised for his character writing and illustration, Leviathan went on to become one of the top 10 bestselling new manga titles in France, and he has already received international attention online from manga fans hoping for an English release of his work. Fortunately, the wait is over, as Leviathan, Volume 1 has finally arrived. Continue Reading
Review: Inside Every Dream, A Raging Sea by Liz Worth
Inside Every Dream, A Raging Sea by Liz Worth
Book*Hug Press (October 22, 2024)
Reviewed by Joshua Gage
Liz Worth is a poet, novelist, and nonfiction writer. She is a two-time nominee for the ReLit Award for Poetry for her books The Truth Is Told Better This Way and No Work Finished Here: Rewriting Andy Warhol. Her first book, Treat Me Like Dirt, was the first of its kind to provide an in-depth history of Southern Ontario’s first wave punk movement. Her other works also include Amphetamine Heart, PostApoc, and The Mouth is a Coven. Her writing has appeared in Chatelaine, FLARE, Prism, the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, and Broken Pencil, among others. Liz is a professional tarot reader and lives in Hamilton, Ontario. Her newest collection is Inside Every Dream, A Raging Sea.Continue Reading
Review: Invasive by Cullen Bunn, Jesús Hervás, and Federico Sabbatini
Invasive by Cullen Bunn (Author), Jesús Hervás (Illustrator), Federico Sabbatini (Illustrator)
Oni Preess (October 22, 2024)
Reviewed by Joshua Gage
Cullen Bunn is the writer of comic books such The Sixth Gun, Shadow Roads, The Damned, and Helheim for Oni Press. He has also written titles including Harrow County (Dark Horse), Uncanny X-Men, and Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe (Marvel). Cullen claims to have worked as an alien autopsy specialist, rodeo clown, pro wrestling manager, and sasquatch wrangler. He has fought for his life against mountain lions and performed on stage as the world’s youngest hypnotist. Buy him a drink sometime and he’ll tell you all about it. His newest graphic novel is Invasive, illustrated by Jesús Hervás and Federico Sabbatini.Continue Reading
CJ Leede, Pray for Us
Cemetery Dance is proud to present this special review/interview combo from Bram Stoker Award & 6x International Latino Book Award winning author Cynthia Pelayo.
“Well, we don’t know everything. I mean, we know basically nothing,” a character says in American Rapture, and in a way this is the major question explored by CJ Leede’s main character in her highly anticipated sophomore novel — “What do we know?”Continue Reading
Review: Meet Me in the Flames by Greg Jones
Meet Me in the Flames by Greg Jones
Wild Ink Publishing LLC (October 2024)
Reviewed by Joshua Gage
Born in 1970, Greg Jones grew up, in his opinion, in the pinnacle of all things. The best films, music, comic books and those fantastic ’80s horror novels. No matter where his mind wandered, it eventually found it’s way back to something with a monster in it. He spent his adolescence hunched over a drawing table, occasionally writing and living his life in pursuit of personal creative goals. In his current role at the local library, he is surrounded by books all day and inspired daily to keep creating his horror inspired poetry. Meet Me in the Flames is his first published work.Continue Reading
Review: Into the Green Wild Yonder by Peter Crowther and Tim Lebbon
Into the Green Wild Yonder by Peter Crowther and Tim Lebbon
PS Publishing (August 2024)
Reviewed by Blu Gilliand
Acclaimed authors Peter Crowther and Tim Lebbon have joined forces to produce this nightmarishly surreal novella about a young couple, a rundown old garden, and an ancient evil.
Gordon and Sally Kenney are house hunting when they visit a rundown old home with a wildly overgrown garden. They find themselves both repulsed by, and strangely drawn to, the old-fashioned decor, the creepy old lady who shows them around, and the untamed thicket that bears a sign saying, “Beware of the Garden.” Continue Reading
Review: The Exorcist’s House: Genesis by Nick Roberts
The Exorcist’s House: Genesis by Nick Roberts
Crystal Lake Publishing (September 2024)
Reviewed by Rowan B. Minor
Writer and educator Nick Roberts is a West Virginia native who currently resides in South Carolina. He holds a doctorate from Marshall University and is an active member of the Horror Writers Association and the Horror Authors Guild. Roberts has had work featured in several publications, such as The Fiction Pool, The Blue Mountain Review, Falling Star Magazine, Stonecrop Magazine, and Haunted MTL. His books include one self-published novel: Anathema (2020), and four titles from Crystal Lake Publishing: Mean Spirited (2024), It Haunts the Mind & Other Stories (2023), and The Exorcist’s House (2022), for which the sequel, The Exorcist’s House: Genesis (2024), has just been published. Continue Reading
Bev Vincent explores ‘Salem’s Lot (2024)
The Show Begins at Sundown
Back in 2011, Screem magazine commissioned me to write an article about ‘Salem’s Lot and its adaptations. (1) That led me to revisit the 1979 miniseries, starring David Soul, that had so terrorized me at the time. I had just started reading King a couple of months earlier, and two scenes in particular—ones that will be familiar to anyone who’s seen it—haunted me for a long time thereafter. Even though the original miniseries doesn’t stand the test of time—even in 1979, Soul didn’t have the gravitas required of the role and I find the adaptation almost painful to watch now—those scenes do hold up. I would say that the miniseries is better as a memory than as an actuality. I found a lot of flaws in it when I wrote about it for Screem and I doubt I could make myself watch it again today. (2)
Review: Self-Made Monsters by Rebecca Cuthbert
Self-Made Monsters by Rebecca Cuthbert
Alien Buddha Press (October 5, 2024)
Reviewed by Joshua Gage
Rebecca Cuthbert writes dark fiction and poetry. Readers of Cemetery Dance will be familiar with her work Creep This Way: How to Become a Horror Writer with 24 Tips to Get You Ghouling and her debut collection, In Memory of Exoskeletons. In the meantime, readers can enjoy Cuthbert’s work in her newest hybrid collection Self-Made Monsters. Continue Reading
Review: Pay the Piper by George A. Romero and Daniel Kraus
Pay the Piper by George A. Romero and Daniel Kraus
Union Square & Co. (September 2024)
Reviewed by Blu Gilliand
What a gift it turned out to be when George A. Romero’s estate allowed Daniel Kraus (recently of Whalefall fame) to complete Romero’s novel The Living Dead, released back in 2020. Kraus worked his way through tons of notes and ideas and chapters to put together what would have been Romero’s final, masterful word on the zombie genre. In my review, I called it “… a crowning achievement, serving as the fond farewell that George Romero deserves.”
Not so fast, my friend.Continue Reading
Review: Always Haunted: Hallowe’en Poems by LindaAnn LoSchiavo
Always Haunted: Hallowe’en Poems by LindaAnn LoSchiavo
Wild Ink Publishing LLC (October 1, 2024)
Reviewed by Joshua Gage
LindaAnn LoSchiavo is a dramatist, writer, and poet. A native New Yorker, LoSchiavo has received nominations for the Pushcart Prize, Rhysling Award, Best of the Net, the IPPY Award, CLMP’s Firecracker Award, Balcones Poetry Prize, and Dwarf Stars. She is a member of Science Fiction Poetry Assoc., The British Fantasy Society, and The Dramatists Guild. Her newest collection is Always Haunted: Hallowe’en Poems.Continue Reading
Review: Lexie by F. Paul Wilson
Lexie by F. Paul Wilson
Crossroad Press (September 2024)
Reviewed by Dave Simms
Recommending an F. Paul Wilson novel is akin to saying oxygen might be good for you. Over the course of his career, there hasn’t been a bad book in his vast catalog. Lexie is no different — it’s the stunning second book of his duology that began last spring with The Upwelling and a fitting conclusion to a tale that holds all the tenets of a classic Wilson story. The characters are intriguing and fully fleshed out, the plot twists and turns yet plays fair with the reader, and the mythos he’s created is on full display.
Review: The Damage Done by Tony Tremblay
The Damage Done by Tony Tremblay
Haverhill House Publishing (July 2024)
Reviewed by Dave Simms
Old-school horror. It’s a term that’s tossed around lightly these days but many are unfamiliar with that entails (save for those who lived through the first golden age of paperbacks). What it truly means to many is a solid scary story with real people — just full bore ahead without stopping for subtleties, which is refreshing if the reader craves pure entertainment. There’s enough deep tomes in the dark realm to rip hearts and morals apart. Sometimes, a good story is just a good story.
Tony Tremblay knows how to spin a good — and great — story. The Damage Done is 100% great storytelling that makes the reader strap in, thrill ride style, and produces a smile that doesn’t let up until long after the final page.
Review: Highway Thirteen by Fiona McFarlane
Highway Thirteen by Fiona McFarlane
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (August 2024)
Reviewed by Blu Gilliand
Is it really a serial killer book if the serial killer is absent from the book?
That’s the question I had in mind when I picked up Highway Thirteen to review. I’d been led to believe — by the jacket copy, by the press materials, and by a few advance reviews — that the focus was not on the killer, but instead on the victims, family members, acquaintances, and curious parties caught in his orbit. That was all true. It was my assumption that the killer was absent that was incorrect.Continue Reading