Review: Major Arcana edited by Steve J. Shaw

cover of Major Arcana 7Major Arcana edited by Steve J Shaw
Black Shuck Books (September 2022)
234 pages; $14.99 paperback
Reviewed by Daniel Braum

Major Arcana is the title of the seventh annual installment of the Great British Horror series published by UK Publisher Black Shuck Books. Each book in the series features ten British authors and one “international” (non-UK) author.

The 2022 edition features 11 stories, each having a title sharing the name with one of the Major Arcana cards of the Tarot deck.Continue Reading

Review: The Dead Shall Rise by Jay Wilburn, Armand Rosamilia and Erin Louis

cover of The Dead Shall RiseThe Dead Shall Rise by Jay Wilburn, Armand Rosamilia and Erin Louis
Crystal Lake Publishing (August 25, 2023)
202 pages; $4.99 e-book
Reviewed by Henry Allison

Zombie fiction is just like its namesake — it never really dies. Just when you think you’ve seen the last zombie story or movie, when you think the trope isn’t popular anymore, it shambles back to life, ready for another go around. The zombies are shambling in Crystal Lake’s latest Dark Tide collection, and it’s definitely one you’re going to want to check out.Continue Reading

Review: The Unhallowed Horseman by Jude S. Walko

cover of Unhallowed HorsemanThe Unhallowed Horseman by Jude S. Walko 
Blue Falcon Productions LLC (Oct. 2021) 
319 pages; $25.67 hardcover; $14.99 paperback; $3.99 e-book
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

“Villainy wears many masks, none so dangerous as the mask of virtue” – Washington Irving

Jude S. Walko’s The Unhallowed Horseman scrupulously reimagines the infamous tale of a silent secluded valley, a place laced with superstition and scandal, called Sleepy Hollow. Continue Reading

Review: Ghost Book by Remy Lai

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cover of Ghost BookGhost Book by Remy Lai
Henry Holt & Company (August 15, 2023)
320 pages; $22.99 hardcover; $14.99 paperback
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Remy Lai studied fine arts, with a major in painting and drawing. She was born in Indonesia, grew up in Singapore, and currently lives in Brisbane, Australia, where she writes and draws stories for kids with her two dogs by her side. She is the author of the critically-acclaimed Pie in the Sky, Fly on the Wall, and Pawcasso. Her newest graphic novel is Ghost Book, a haunting tale based on Chinese mythology and a child fated to see ghosts.Continue Reading

Review: Mister Magic by Kiersten White

cover of Mister MagicMister Magic by Kiersten White
Del Rey (August 8, 2023)
304 pages; $25.20 hardcover; $13.99 e-book
Reviewed by Dave Simms

Reminiscing about the children’s shows many grew up with is a blurry experience. From The Magic Garden to Barney and Friends, there’s often a bit of weirdness, even some scariness, when the program is looked at without the innocence of youth to soften the edges. Revisiting those times can rip the scabs off some tough times, some repressed memories.

Kiersten White has crafted an entertaining and damn creepy romp through those shows in Mister Magic, which might just cause a therapy visit or two. For a Bram Stoker-winning author, she definitely lives up to the hype, surpassing her previous work, Hide, which was impressive.Continue Reading

Review: Whalefall by Daniel Kraus

cover of Whalefall by Daniel KrausWhalefall by Daniel Kraus
MTV Books (August 8, 2023)
336 pages; $27.99 hardcover; $14.99 e-book
Reviewed by Dave Simms

What is a whalefall? A spoiler would be cruel, so steer clear of any marine biology sites until the end. What Whalefall the book is cannot be contained in the definition of the word readers will discover late in the story. What can be said is that this is one of the most intense — and moving — stories that will grace the bookstores in 2023. It’s bound to make the year’s “best of” lists, which is quite the feat on its own, yet what Daniel Kraus has created here is something that can’t be quantified.Continue Reading

Review: The Price of a Small Hot Fire by E. F. Schraeder

cover of The Price of a Small Hot FireThe Price of a Small Hot Fire by E. F. Schraeder
Raw Dog Screaming Press (July 2023)
72 pages; $13.95 paperback
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

E.F. Schraeder believes in ghosts, magic, and dogs. A Rhysling nominated poet, Schraeder is an Active Member of the Horror Writers Association. Her newest collection is The Price of a Small Hot Fire.

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Review: Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward

cover of Looking Glass SoundLooking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward
Tor Nightfire (August 8, 2023)
352 pages; $25.19 hardcover; $20.53 paperback; $14.99 e-book
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

Catriona Ward lures readers with charming coming-of-age humor and strife in her latest novel, Looking Glass Sound, reminiscent of Stephen King’s “The Body.”

Those who’ve read Ward’s previous work, Little Eve and The Last House on Needless Street (favorites of mine), know the loveable and exciting are a facade. And the truth, particularly a harsh one, leaves readers black with poison, bitten by the spider, trapped in her intricate web. Twitching with metaphysical dread, desperate for answers.Continue Reading

Review: Beautiful Malady by Ennis Rook Bashe

cover of Beautiful MaladyBeautiful Malady by Ennis Rook Bashe
Interstellar Flight Press (June 2023)
72 pages; $14.99 paperback; e-book $9.99
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Ennis Rook Bashe is a nonbinary graduate student from New York who loves their rescue cat, making cosplay TikToks, and watching horror game streamers. They write books about queer and disabled people surviving and recovering from trauma, finding community, living their best lives… and falling in love.  Their newest book of poetry is Beautiful Malady. Though short, this collection is a powerful exploration of what it means to be disabled in a world that is not willing to accommodate or undersand, written from a place of honest authenticity that will capture the attention of any reader.

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Review: The Militia House by John Milas

cover of The Militia HouseThe Militia House by John Milas
Henry Holt and Company (July 2023)
272 pages; $18.99 hardcover; $13.99 e-book
Reviewed by Dave Simms

Military horror. It’s a subgenre that doesn’t get enough love, but should, especially when in the hands of a writer who has lived the nightmare of war itself. John Milas’s debut, The Militia House, is a taut novel that walks the razor-wire between entertaining and uncomfortable in a gothic ghost story.Continue Reading

Review: Fearless by M.W. Craven

cover of FearlessFearless by M.W. Craven
Flatiron Books (July 2023)
416 pages; $28.99 hardcover; $14.99 e-book
Reviewed by Blu Gilliand

We’ve all seen multiple movies and read multiple books in which the heroes are described as “fearless,” meaning they are able to put aside their self-preservation instincts and do what needs to be done in the face of grave danger.

In M.W. Craven’s thriller Fearless, the scenario is a little different. Ben Koenig is a man who literally cannot feel fear. As cool as that sounds, it’s a condition that often puts Ben — and those around him — in danger.

Koenig is a man on the run, a U.S. Marshal who upset the wrong people and has a sizeable bounty on his head. He’s pulled out of the shadows by an old friend whose daughter has gone missing. Koenig is convinced the woman is already dead, but he agrees to go on the hunt for her…and for those who took her.  The chase leads Koenig down a dangerous, elaborate rabbit hole that involves warring cartels, solar energy, and a passel of angry Russians.

Craven is an award-winning crime writer who has the thriller format down pat. Short chapters (most of them only three pages) and constant forward momentum make this a quick, fun read. There’s not a lot in the way of characterization — Koenig’s backstory gets a good amount of attention, but the supporting cast is barely sketched out — but that’s not the point of a book like Fearless. This is all about the action, and Craven deals it out on nearly every page.

The back of my advance copy screams “Major Streaming News to Come,” and I can see this becoming a really fun piece of episodic content.

Fearless is crammed with shooting, chasing, hand-to-hand combat, scene-chewing villains, tough guys and tough ladies, plot twists and surprising revelations. If that’s your idea of the perfect summer thriller, you won’t be disappointed.

Review: Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates

cover of Dead of WinterDead of Winter by Darcy Coates
Poisoned Pen Press (July 11, 2023) 
352 pages; $14.39 paperback; $4.99 e-book
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

Darcy Coates upholds her reputation as a deft storyteller with a knack for conjuring atmospheric page-turners in her latest release, Dead of Winter, “an icy homage to Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None.” Continue Reading

Review: The Little Book of Satanism by La Carmina

cover of The Little Book of SatanismThe Little Book of Satanism by La Carmina
Ulysses Press (October 2022)
144 pages; $14.95 paperback; $10.99 e-book
Reviewed by Dave Simms

Now for a controversial topic, one that is highly misunderstood. La Carmina, a journalist and television travel host, penned this short, but highly informative and entertaining pocket-sized book about the history and culture of the religion.Continue Reading

Review: The Sibyl by Hamant Singh

cover of The SibylThe Sibyl by Hamant Singh
Partridge Publishing (December 2022)
102 pages; $27.99 hardcover; $8.03 paperback; $3.99 e-book
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Hamant Singh is a Singaporean writer who is influenced by horror, different cultures and the occult. He currently resides in the mountains of Chiapas, Mexico where he enjoys gardening, reading and making music. He is currently working on a second book featuring more international writers. In 2022, he completed his first collection of poems entitled The SibylContinue Reading

Review: Horrific Punctuation by John Reinhart

cover of Horrific Punctuation by John ReinhartHorrific Punctuation by John Reinhart
Arson Press (July 2021)
34 pages; paperback $3.99; $0.99 e-book
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

An arsonist by trade, John Reinhart lives in Maine. He is a Pushcart, Elgin, Rhysling, and Dwarf Stars Award nominee, and has had over 500 poems published internationally in print and on the internet. He was the 2016 Horror Writers Association Dark Poetry Scholarship recipient. His newest collection is Horrific Punctuation.Continue Reading