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Review: 'While the Black Stars Burn' by Lucy Snyder

Cemetery Dance OnlineMarch 7, 2016ReviewsAnton Cancre, Featured, Lucy Snyder, Raw Dog Screaming Press, Reviews, While the Black Stars BurnLeave a comment

While the Black Stars Burn by Lucy Snyder
Raw Dog Screaming Press (November 2015)
166 pages; $13.95 paperback; ebook $4.99
Reviewed by Anton Cancre

I’ve been a huge fan of Lucy Snyder’s work for years. Her yarns are fun, gutsy and weird as all get out. While the Black Stars Burn, though, has caused me to realize how important it is in the pantheon of full out capital-L Literature.

“Mostly Monsters” makes this indisputably clear from the first page. On the surface, we have the destructive relationship between a father and his daughter and the damage it causes. A sharp, heartbreakingly personal tale of familial horror that kicked me right in the teeth. At the same time, it screams its manifesto to refuse to look away from the small terrors that shape us daily. The sense of causation here, the implications of what went wrong, where and what could be done to keep it from happening in the future are woven through every word without ever stopping the story itself or robbing it of emotional impact.Continue Reading

Review: 'Northwoods' by Bill Schweigart

Cemetery Dance OnlineMarch 4, 2016Reviews- Frank Michaels Errington, Bill Schweigart, Featured, Hydra, Northwoods, ReviewsLeave a comment

Northwoods by Bill Schweigart
Hydra (February 2016)
202 pages; $2.99 e-book
Reviewed by Frank Michaels Errington

It’s been a year since the events in The Beast of Barcroft, and friends Ben McKelvie and Lindsay Clark are still trying to put their lives back together when they each get a call from the mysterious and very wealthy Richard Severance, asking them to drop everything and head to Minnesota.

Richard has a fascination with cryptozoology, a pseudoscience involving the search for animals whose existence has not been proven due to lack of evidence. This includes living examples of animals that are otherwise considered extinct, animals whose existence lacks physical evidence but which appear in folklore, such as Bigfoot and Chupacabra; and wild animals drastically outside their normal geographic ranges.Continue Reading

Review: 'SNAFU: Hunters' edited by Amanda J. Spedding and Geoff Brown

Cemetery Dance OnlineMarch 2, 2016Reviews- Frank Michaels Errington, Amanda J. Spedding, Cohesion Press, Featured, Geoff Brown, Reviews, SNAFU: HuntersLeave a comment

SNAFU: Hunters edited by Amanda J. Spedding and Geoff Brown
Cohesion Press (February 2016)
327 pages; $4.99 e-book
Reviewed by Frank Michaels Errington

Admittedly, I’m a bit of a pessimist. I see an anthology series in its fifth incarnation and I fully expect it not to be as good as its predecessors. I’m overjoyed to say that is not the case with the SNAFU series from Cohesion Press. It’s hard to believe that a little over eighteen months ago the very first SNAFU anthology saw the light of day.

Here’s what I said about the first book…

My expectations were not that high for this anthology. Although I love horror in all its many forms, I’ve never been that big a fan of the military story. Well, I needn’t have worried at all. SNAFU: An Anthology of Military Horror delivers. Every story killed (pun intended).

Each book in the series has taken a slightly different approach to the military horror theme. This time it’s all about hunters, both the hunter and the hunted.Continue Reading

Review: 'Paper Tigers' by Damien Angelica Walters

Cemetery Dance OnlineFebruary 29, 2016ReviewsDamien Angelica Walters, Featured, Jonathan Reitan, Paper Tigers, ReviewsLeave a comment

Paper Tigers by Damien Angelica Walters
Dark House Press (February 29, 2016)
286 pages; $10.63 paperback
Reviewed by Jonathan Reitan

In a horribly tragic apartment fire, Allison is left disfigured and emotionally haunted by the inner ghosts of pain the trauma has caused. Her disfigurement is so overpowering, Allison confines herself to her home to escape the constant stares and whispers from the outside world. A nagging mother and routine visits with a therapist are her only connections to reality.

In her own personal confinement, Allison finds solace in collecting old photo albums and forgotten photos from sales and thrift stores. It’s through these photos of other people’s families and other people’s memories that Allison escapes. She transforms herself into their memories, their past…while leaving her sorrowful and somber self in another plane.Continue Reading

Review: 'Ritualistic Human Sacrifice' by C.V. Hunt

Cemetery Dance OnlineFebruary 24, 2016ReviewsAnton Cancre, C.V. Hunt, Featured, Grindhouse Press, Reviews, Ritualistic Human Sacrifice1 Comment

Ritualistic Human Sacrifice by C.V. Hunt
Grindhouse Press (October 2015)
200 pages; $12.95 paperback; ebook $3.99
Reviewed by Anton Cancre

So, there’s this guy. Nick Graves. Nick is a bit of a jerk. He hates his wife, but when her surprise pregnancy derails his plan to divorce her, he decides to move them both far from friends, family and anything they know. That’ll show her. Too bad he didn’t look into the neighbors a bit closer as everyone he meets seems to act very strange and they have their own plans for him.

Let’s be straight here: this is not a book for most of you.Continue Reading

Review: 'This Year's Class Picture' by Dan Simmons

Cemetery Dance OnlineFebruary 17, 2016ReviewsBlu Gilliand, Dan Simmons, Featured, Reviews, Subterranean Press, This Year's Class Picture1 Comment

This Year’s Class Picture by Dan Simmons
Subterranean Press (March 2016)
54 pages; $20 hardcover; $50 signed, numbered limited edition
Reviewed by Blu Gilliand

The limited edition hardcover treatment for a short story might seem like overkill, but some pieces deserve to be highlighted on their own. Such is the case with This Year’s Class Picture, a classic zombie tale by Dan Simmons that first appeared nearly 25 years ago in John Skipp and Craig Spector’s stellar anthology Still Dead: Book of the Dead 2.

Ms. Geiss is dealing with the aftermath of the zombie uprising as best she can – staying vigilant, fortifying her sanctuary, keeping a watchful eye out at all times. She’s also trying to maintain some sense of normalcy, albeit through some rather extreme measures. Ms. Geiss was a fourth grade teacher in another life and another world; a dedicated educator who chose the school she taught in for years as her safe place during the end of the world; a woman who now maintains and attempts to teach a small class of undead children in her former classroom.Continue Reading

Review: 'American Nocturne' by Hank Schwaeble

Cemetery Dance OnlineFebruary 10, 2016Reviews- Frank Michaels Errington, American Nocturne, Cohesion Press, Featured, Hank Schwaeble, ReviewsLeave a comment

American Nocturne by Hank Schwaeble
Cohesion Press (January 2016)
287 pages; $4.99 e-book
Reviewed by Frank Michaels Errington

There are so many talented writers working in the fields of horror and speculative fiction that I’m constantly discovering authors I’ve not read before who immediately leave me wanting to read more of their work. Case in point: Hank Schwaeble. Prior to being sent a copy of this new collection from Cohesion Press, I’d never even heard of him. Maybe I just need to get out more or stay in and read more.

Jonathan Maberry, an author I have read and greatly respect, has penned an excellent introduction to Hank Schwaeble in general and specifically to American Nocturne. In essence, he says Hank is the real deal, and that’s good enough for me.Continue Reading

Review: 'Hell's Bounty' by Joe R. Lansdale and John L. Lansdale

Cemetery Dance OnlineFebruary 8, 2016ReviewsBlu Gilliand, Featured, Hell's Bounty, Joe R. Lansdale, John L. Lansdale, Reviews, Subterranean PressLeave a comment

Hell’s Bounty by Joe R. Lansdale and John L. Lansdale
Subterranean Press (February 2016)
190 pages; $40 hardcover
Reviewed by Blu Gilliand

I don’t know how the Lansdale brothers divvied up the writing duties on Hell’s Bounty, and, truth be told, it doesn’t matter. Storytelling runs deep in the Lansdale family, and Joe and John’s new novel is a seamless powder keg of a collaboration, packed tight with wild, weird western fun.

Something has emerged from an old mine shaft near the town of Falling Rock. Moving about as it does on bat wings, leaving a whiff of sulfur in its wake, chances are it’s nothing good. Typical for Falling Rock, which seems to attract bad things – and bad people. Take Trumbo Quill for example, a man bad enough to shoot another man dead just for accidentally sitting on his hat. Or Smith, a newly-arrived bounty hunter whose explosive confrontation with Quill lands him, literally, in Hell.Continue Reading

Review: 'The Last Weekend: A Novel of Zombies, Booze, and Power Tools' by Nick Mamatas

Cemetery Dance OnlineFebruary 5, 2016Reviews- Frank Michaels Errington, and Power Tools, Booze, Featured, Nick Mamatas, Night Shade Books, Reviews, The Last Weekend: A Novel of ZombiesLeave a comment

The Last Weekend: A Novel of Zombies, Booze, and Power Tools by Nick Mamatas
Night Shade Books (January 2016)
252 pages; $33 hardcover; $12.22 paperback; $9,99 e-book
Reviewed by Frank Michaels Errington

Despite having the word “Zombies” in the title, this novel is far from your typical zombie fare. If you’re looking for a brain munching gore-fest, you may want to look elsewhere.

On the other hand, if you’re familiar with the Billy Wilder directed film-noir, The Lost Weekend, based on Charles R. Jackson’s 1944 novel of the same name about an alcoholic writer, then you’re in for a real treat.Continue Reading

Review: 'Dust of the Dead' by John Palisano

Cemetery Dance OnlineJanuary 29, 2016ReviewsDust of the Dead, Featured, John Palisano, Jonathan Reitan, Reviews, Samhain PublishingLeave a comment

Dust of the Dead by John Palisano
Samhain Publishing (June 2015)
216 pages; $14 paperback; ebook $5.49
Reviewed by Jonathan Reitan

Oh God, another zombie book? Wait, before you jump to conclusions, sit a spell and give Dust of the Dead by first-time novelist John Palisano a chance, for what he offers is a fresh look at the zombie mythos.

The zombie apocalypse came, and then life returned to normal. Late night TV talk shows were back on the air, iPhones were re-charged, people returned to work, and life resumed, but not entirely as it once was. Zombies still existed but were contained and were few and far between.Continue Reading

Review: 'Death Do Us Part' by JG Faherty

Cemetery Dance OnlineJanuary 27, 2016Reviews- Frank Michaels Errington, Death Do Us Part, Featured, JG Faherty, Reviews, Samhain PublishingLeave a comment

Death Do Us Part by JG Faherty
Samhain Publishing (January 2016)
76 pages; $2.66 e-book
Reviewed by Frank Michaels Errington

A marriage that’s falling apart, an apparent suicide, and a haunting that turns out to be so much more. Death Do Us Part by JG Faherty is a thrill ride from start to finish. A complex tale of the lengths one will go to for love and what the dead will do for revenge. This is one of those stories that just reaches out from the pages, grabs you by the collar, and shakes and shakes until you collapse from exhaustion.Continue Reading

Review: 'Eidolon Avenue: The First Feast' by Jonathan Winn

Cemetery Dance OnlineJanuary 25, 2016Reviews- Frank Michaels Errington, Crystal Lake Publishing, Eidolon Avenue: The First Feast, Featured, Jonathan Winn, ReviewsLeave a comment

Eidolon Avenue: The First Feast by Jonathan Winn
Crystal Lake Publishing (January 2016)
212 pages; $12.99 paperback/$3.99 e-book
Reviewed by Frank Michaels Errington

2016 is only a few weeks old and already it’s showing signs of being a banner year for horror.

Whether you’re snowbound or it’s too cold to venture outside or you’re just looking for a great read, Eidolon Avenue: The First Feast will keep you warm and entertained for hours.

From the description of the book on the publisher’s website:

One building. Five floors. Five doors per floor. Twenty-five nightmares feeding the hunger lurking between the bricks and waiting beneath the boards.

If that’s not enough to drag you kicking and screaming through the front door, let me introduce you to the tenants on the first floor.Continue Reading

Review: 'Familiar Spirits' edited by Donald J. Bingle

Cemetery Dance OnlineJanuary 22, 2016ReviewsAnton Cancre, Donald J. Bingle, Familiar Spirits, Featured, Orphyte Inc., ReviewsLeave a comment

Familiar Spirits edited by Donald J. Bingle
Orphyte, Inc. (September 2015)
131 pages; $14.99 paperback/$4.99 e-book
Reviewed by Anton Cancre

I grew up with ghost stories, passed down from my mother while sitting around a fire or simply hanging out and chatting after watching the X-files or Tales from the Darkside. I am sure that’s why I feel such a comfy, cozy connection to them. Admittedly, I warmed up quite a bit when I saw this anthology arrive in the mail.

Right off the bat, Sarah Hans kicks the door off the hinges with “The Cold Earth,” making it clear that this won’t be a simple collection of traditional drafty-old-mansion tales. We are placed square in the POV of our dear departed, a poor girl murdered by her ne’er do well husband, but it doesn’t devolve into the simplistic revenge story it so easily could have. Instead, we are shown a victim working to stop the cycle of violence and predation of the past, instead of simply exacting revenge for it.Continue Reading

Review: 'Flowers In a Dumpster' by Mark Allan Gunnells

Cemetery Dance OnlineJanuary 20, 2016Reviews- Frank Michaels Errington, Crystal Lake Publishing, Featured, Flowers In a Dumpster, Mark Allan Gunnells, ReviewsLeave a comment

Flowers In a Dumpster by Mark Allan Gunnells
Crystal Lake Publications (November 2015)
314 pages; $13.99 paperback/$3.99 e-book
Reviewed by Frank Michaels Errington

I’ve found myself reading more and more anthologies and collections these days. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy story-telling in the long form, but there’s something about anthologies that allow you to get to know a lot of new authors quickly, and then there are the collections for a single author which permit a more in-depth look into what makes a particular author tick.

Prior to reading Flowers In a Dumpster, I had not read anything by Mark Allan Gunnells. Now that I’ve gotten to know his work, I’m pretty sure I’ll be returning for more.Continue Reading

Review: 'Prince of Nightmares' by John McNee

Cemetery Dance OnlineJanuary 18, 2016Reviews- Frank Michaels Errington, Blood Bound Books, Featured, John McNee, Prince of Nightmares, ReviewsLeave a comment

Prince of Nightmares by John McNee
Blood Bound Books (January 2016)
189 pages; $11.99 paperback/$3.99 e-book
Reviewed by Frank Michaels Errington

Prince of Nightmares begins with a Traditional German charm against nightmares…

I lay me here to sleep;
No night-mare shall plague me,
Until they swim all the waters
That flow upon the earth,
And count all the stars
That appear in the firmament.
Thus help me God Father, Son, and Holy host. Amen.

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