Review: My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix
Quirk Books (July 2017)
336 pages; $10.19 paperback; $9.99 e-book
Reviewed by Chad Lutzke

Let’s skip the synopsis. The title and the cover say it all. And it was the cover that sold me.

Is the ’80s retro VHS/tattered book cover thing a dead horse? Not for me. I love nostalgia. I’m all about it. The ’70s, the ’80s. Anything that takes me back to carefree days, void of responsibility. Give me extra helpings please.Continue Reading

Review: The Seven Deadliest edited by Patrick Beltran and D. Alexander Ward

The Seven Deadliest edited by Patrick Beltran and D. Alexander Ward
Cutting Block Books (May 2019)
232 pages; $13.38 paperback; $3.99 e-book
Reviewed by Kevin Lucia

Normally, an anthology based on the seven deadly sins would get a bit of a side-eye from me. I hate to say this, but my thoughts would immediately leap to contrived and cliched attempts to take “sins” and turn them into horror stories built out of shock value, nothing more. Continue Reading

Review: Stoker’s Wilde by Steven Hopstaken and Melissa Prusi

Editor’s Note: Our friend and colleague Frank Michaels Errington passed away on May 31. Since then, it’s been our honor to continue to run, with the gracious permission of Frank’s family, the reviews Frank had filed with us before his death. Today, it’s with great sadness and great pride that we run our final Frank Michaels Errington review. We miss you, buddy.

Stoker’s Wilde by Steven Hopstaken and Melissa Prusi
Flame Tree Press (May 30, 2019)
288 pages; $16.48 hardcover; $10.37 paperback; $6.99 e-book
Reviewed by Frank Michaels Errington

Stoker’s Wilde is the first novel by the writing team of Steven Hopstaken & Melissa Prusi. At first look, readers may be tempted to skip this book—after all, the authors are relatively unknown. It’s written entirely in journal entries, letters, and various articles, a format I generally find off-putting. And then there’s the subject matter: Bram Stoker and Oscar Wilde fighting werewolves and vampires.Continue Reading

Review: Ghoul by Brian Keene

Ghoul by Brian Keene
Eraserhead Press (2012)

228 pages; $11.59 paperback; $7.95 e-book
Reviewed by Sadie Hartmann

“Boys have scars”, he thought. “Some of them fade—and others don’t. Some scars stay with us for life.”—Brian Keene, Ghoul

Even though this book was originally published some years ago, stories this good are timeless and a well-written book can find its audience yesterday, today and tomorrow.  Ghoul will now join the ranks of my favorite coming-of-age horror tales. And I know what some of you are thinking right now, “We know all about Brian Keene and Ghoul, Sadie. You’re a little late to the party!”Continue Reading

Review: Recursion by Blake Crouch

Recursion by Blake Crouch
Crown (June 2019)
336 pages; $16.30 hardcover; $17.98 paperback; $13.99 e-book
Reviewed by Dave Simms

What happens when reality…isn’t? When memories can’t be trusted, but they can possibly be manipulated to hold onto the times we hold most dear. If you could talk to that parent who’s slipping away into dementia, re-experience the birth of your first child, hear his/her first words, or keep that love burning by forever traveling back to that exhilarating time in your relationship—would you do it? Most of us would, even if we won’t admit it.Continue Reading

Review: Wanderers by Chuck Wendig

Editor’s Note: Our friend and colleague Frank Michaels Errington passed away on May 31. Frank was a voracious reader and prolific reviewer, and had filed several reviews with us before we lost him. His family has granted us permission to run those reviews, including the one below.

Wanderers by Chuck Wendig
Del Rey (July 2, 2019)
800 pages; $18.89 hardcover; $13.99 e-book
Reviewed by Frank Michaels Errington

Every now and again a book comes along which raises the bar in its genre to new heights. In 1978, Stephen King did just that with the apocalypse. For more than forty years The Stand has been the standard-bearer when it comes to decimating humanity. If I remember correctly, Captain Trips killed off 99% of the global population. Along comes Chuck Wendig, who walks up to Steve and says, “Hold my beer.”Continue Reading

Review: Second Lives by P.D. Cacek

Editor’s Note: Our friend and colleague Frank Michaels Errington passed away on May 31. Frank was a voracious reader and prolific reviewer, and had filed several reviews with us before we lost him. His family has granted us permission to run those reviews, including the one below.

Second Lives by P.D. Cacek
Flame Tree Press (April 2019)
304 pages; $16.48 hardcover; $10.37 paperback; $6.99 e-book
Reviewed by Frank Michaels Errington

P.D. Cacek’s brilliant novel, Second Lives, tells the stories of Henry, Sara, Jaime, and Helen, who all pass away in the present day. It also tells us about Timmy, Elisabeth, Aryeh, and Crissy, who have all died at various times over the last century.Continue Reading

Review: A Hawk in the Woods by Carrie Laben

A Hawk in the Woods by Carrie Laben
Word Horde (March 2019)

270 pages; $15.42 paperback; $6.99 e-book
Reviewed by Sadie Hartmann

This debut novel from Carrie Laben sure sticks to your ribs long after you’ve read it. The prose itself is rich but it’s all the subtext and symbolism that fills up your mind with food for thought. Continue Reading

Review: The Line Between by Tosca Lee

The Line Between by Tosca Lee
Howard Books (January 2019)
384 pages; $17.10 hardcover; $17.00 paperback; $13.99 e-book
Reviewed by Kevin Lucia

I’ve been reading Tosca Lee’s work since her amazing and soul-shuddering debut novel, Demon: A Memoir, and have been a fan ever since. Her lyrical prose and sense of style is always a delight, and over the years she’s become a master at pacing the thriller novel. Her stories move at a furious clip, yet she still manages to weave clever plot twists and craft believable, intimate character portrayals.Continue Reading

Review: The Fearing, Book One: Fire & Rain by John F. D. Taff

The Fearing, Book One: Fire & Rain by John F.D. Taff
Grey Matter Press (July 9, 2019)

$3.99 e-book
Reviewed by Sadie “Mother Horror” Hartmann

I think it’s a fact that human beings are obsessed with stories about our own cataclysmic demise. There’s something about this potential threat to the end of the world as we know it that inspires writers to pen epic sagas exploring humanity under extreme duress. Off the top of my head, I have enjoyed apocalyptic books like The Stand by Stephen King, Swan Song by Robert McCammon, and The Passage by Justin Cronin.Continue Reading

Review: The Widening Gyre by Michael R. Johnston

Editor’s Note: Our friend and colleague Frank Michaels Errington passed away on May 31. Frank was a voracious reader and prolific reviewer, and had filed several reviews with us before we lost him. His family has granted us permission to run those reviews, including the one below.

The Widening Gyre: The Remberance War Book 1 by Michael R. Johnston
Flame Tree Press (March 2019)
256 pages; $16.48 hardcover; $10.37 paperback; $6.29 e-book
Reviewed by Frank Michaels Errington

Warning: The Widening Gyre: The Remembrance War Book 1 is the beginning of a series. The good news is this is a complete story. Should you decide not to read future tales in said series, you can rest assured you’ve read a great yarn. But, I can’t imagine you not wanting to read the rest of the stories Michael R. Johnston has planned. The Widening Gyre is the best Space Opera I’ve read in years.Continue Reading

Review: Neon Dies at Dawn by Andersen Prunty

Neon Dies at Dawn by Andersen Prunty
Grindhouse Press (March 2019)
130 pages; $12.95 paperback; $2.99 e-book
Reviewed by Anton Cancre

I will admit that I was drawn to this book by the cover. That vaporwave, retro ’80s look is all the rage nowadays, and this one surely pops with just the right balance of bright light and dust. I was not prepared for the story inside, though, which is kind of my own fault for thinking I was prepared for anything Prunty writes.Continue Reading

Review: We Live Inside Your Eyes by Kealan Patrick Burke

We Live Inside Your Eyes by Kealan Patrick Burke
Elderlemon Press (April 2019)
227 pages; $9.99 paperback; $4.99 e-book
Reviewed by Blu Gilliand

I’ve long considered Kealan Patrick Burke to be something of a throwback. I imagine him as one of those long-ago pulp writers who used to churn out stories by the fistful, back when there were magazine racks brimming over with periodicals hungry for tales. Like them, Burke never seems to run out of ideas, always finding fresh approaches to the tropes of his chosen genre. To see what I mean, look no further than his new collection We Live Inside Your Eyes, a batch of scary stories that run the gamut from quietly unsettling to downright terrifying.Continue Reading

Review: Dragonfly and Other Songs of Mourning by Michelle Scalise

The cover of Dragonfly and Other Songs of Mourning by Michelle SclariseDragonfly and Other Songs of Mourning by Michelle Scalise
Lycan Valley Press (May 2019)

56 pages; $15 hardcover; $8.50 paperback
Reviewed by Anton Cancre

Death may be our most common denominator, but loss is the thing that really connects all of us. While we all die eventually, we don’t usually have much to say about the experience afterwords. But, when someone we care about passes into the dense fog of whatever it is that follows, all of us are left dealing with the absence. That coping is what Dragonfly is about.Continue Reading

In Remembrance of Frank Michaels Errington

Frank Michaels Errington

Cemetery Dance, and the horror fiction community as a whole, lost a special member of our ranks last week when Frank Michaels Errington passed away.

I never got the chance to meet Frank in person, but we’ve been swapping emails and Tweets for almost four years. One of the first reviews I ran after we started Cemetery Dance Online was Frank’s take on Little Girls by Ronald Malfi. “Includes one of the most disgusting scenes I’ve ever read,” he wrote in that review, and I could just see him grinning about that. His love and enthusiasm for horror was infectious and shined through every review he wrote. Even when he didn’t love (or like) the book he was reviewing, he tried to find something positive to say.Continue Reading