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Dead Trees: Shockwaves by Thomas Tessier

Cemetery Dance OnlineAugust 3, 2018July 31, 2018Dead TreesColumns, Dead Trees, Mark Sieber, Shockwaves, Thomas TessierLeave a comment

It was the early years of my decades-long love affair with horror fiction. I blazed through the Stephen King books that had been published at the time, with Pet Semetery being the most current. It was 1983 — a very good year for the genre, with even better things were on the immediate horizon. I eagerly devoured the Peter Straub books that were available, and they were among the finest pieces of fiction I had ever read. I enjoyed books by James Herbert, Whitley Strieber, Ramsey Campbell, John Farris. I read landmark novels by brilliant talents such as F. Paul Wilson and T.E.D. Klein. There were numerous markets for short fiction, and I was blown away by pieces from Karl Edward Wagner, Richard Christian Matheson, and Dennis Etchison. And of course I marveled at the works of Charles L. Grant. The field was on fire, and it was an incredible time to be a fan.Continue Reading

Everyone Has An Annie Wilkes

Cemetery Dance OnlineJuly 20, 2018July 15, 2018What I Learned from Stephen KingColumns, Jason Sechrest, Misery, Stephen King, What I Learned from Stephen King3 Comments

In 1987, the gods of creativity were looking favorably upon Stephen King, who blessed Constant Readers with three books in a ten-month period — a new record for the already highly prolific author. Among the three novels published that year was Misery, an instant bestseller that would become hailed as one of King’s classics. At the time of its release, however, it might not have seemed very King-like at all. Continue Reading

Bev Vincent reviews Castle Rock on Hulu

Bev VincentJuly 11, 2018July 11, 2018Stephen King News from the Dead Zone"The Body", Alan Panborn, Bag of Bones, Bev Vincent, castle rock, Columns, Cujo, Dolores Claiborne, Hulu, It, Needful Things, News from the Dead Zone, Norris Ridgewick, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, Shawshank Prison, Stephen King, The Dead Zone, The Green Mile, The Shining1 Comment

“I fear this place. I fear what’s to come.”

In 2018, Castle Rock, the town Stephen King introduced in The Dead Zone and returned to numerous times in subsequent works, isn’t on the map any more. A few years ago, the town voted to disincorporate itself. The historic downtown is mostly home to boarded-up businesses. Nan’s Luncheonette burned under mysterious circumstances a while back. The nearest Wal-Mart is some sixty miles distant[1]. The town’s main employer is Shawshank Prison, twenty miles away. A considerable percentage of the people behind bars in that establishment are from Castle Rock.Continue Reading

Stephen King: News from the Dead Zone #206

Bev VincentJuly 6, 2018July 1, 2018Stephen King News from the Dead ZoneBev Vincent, Black House, castle rock, Columns, Doctor Sleep, Elevation, Firestarter, Flight or Fright, In the Tall Grass, It Chapter 2, Laurie, Misery, Mr. Mercedes, News from the Dead Zone, Pet Sematary, Squad D, The Blue Air Compressor, The Bone Church, The Boogeyman, The Dark Tower, The Gingerbread Girl, The Long Walk, The Outsider, The Talisman, The Tommyknockers1 Comment

Sometimes it’s hard to stay on top of everything that’s going on in the Stephen King Universe. There are so many projects underway or about to get underway or that could possibly some day get underway that it boggles the mind. This is a new Golden Age for King, especially when it comes to the various adaptations of his work to screens large and small, silver and otherwise. I’m here to help you keep track!
Continue Reading

My First Fright featuring Jonathan Janz

Cemetery Dance OnlineJune 29, 2018June 26, 2018My First FrightColumns, John Brhel, Jonathan Janz, My First Fright1 Comment

I lived a good chunk of my childhood on a small, rural road. All of the homes had families and were fairly well-kempt, so my siblings and my best buddy who lived next door didn’t really have a typical “haunted house” to be afraid of; but that didn’t keep us from concocting weird stories about the surrounding property. That creepy orchard up the hill? A kid my mom used to babysit for convinced us that he had seen a severed hand from World War II hanging from a tree up there (yep, from that famous WWII battle fought in Upstate New York, of course). Then there was the turnaround where I swear I saw a UFO land one night (okay, maybe that was just a dream). When you’re a kid, your imagination runs wild, and seemingly innocuous places can transform into terrifying locales. Jonathan Janz can relate—he read a story back in seventh grade that touched on just that idea, a story that stuck with him and put him on a path to creating strange stories of his own. Continue Reading

The Spirituality of A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors

Cemetery Dance OnlineJune 22, 2018June 20, 2018Horror Drive-InA Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, Columns, Horror Drive-In, Mark Sieber3 Comments

Wait a minute. Let’s get this straight. The idea that an eighties slasher sequel is somehow spiritual? Can even I make such a claim with a straight face?

Well, yes and no.Continue Reading

Dead Trees: The Touch by F. Paul Wilson

Cemetery Dance OnlineJune 1, 2018May 30, 2018Dead TreesColumns, Dead Trees, F. Paul Wilson, Mark Sieber, The Touch1 Comment

I first read F. Paul Wilson’s The Touch way back in 1986. I was a twenty-five year old boy, rabidly in love with horror. And after The Keep, The Tomb, and some short pieces I had read, F. Paul Wilson was one of my favorite writers.

There’s a section near the beginning of The Touch. It’s describing a seafaring historical area of a small town…

The Illusion almost worked. He could almost imagine Ishmael, harpoon on shoulder, walking down the harbor toward the Pequod…passing the new Video Shack.

Well, nothing was perfect.

I loved that. I was a modern young man and I was head over heels for the home video explosion. It was a perfect time for me. A perfect time to be a horror fan.Continue Reading

Who is the True Villain in Carrie?

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 25, 2018May 29, 2018What I Learned from Stephen KingCarrie, Columns, Jason Sechrest, What I Learned from Stephen King8 Comments

Stephen King’s first novel Carrie debuted on April 5th, 1974 with little to no fanfare. One might say that, like the novel’s title character, Carrie was always destined to be a late bloomer. Shy to the spotlight, you might find Carrie hanging out at your local library or bookstore, sitting there all but invisible upon the shelf. All the while, of course, Carrie held a great secret. A special power. Quiet and patient, Carrie was waiting to make her mark on the world, to have her revenge on those who had underestimated her, and to make Stephen King a household name. Continue Reading

Bev Vincent Reviews The Outsider by Stephen King

Bev VincentMay 21, 2018May 21, 2018Reviews, Stephen King News from the Dead ZoneBev Vincent, Columns, It, Mike Hanlon, Mr. Mercedes, News from the Dead Zone, Reviews, Stephen King, The Outsider2 Comments

Reality is Thin Ice
The Outsider by Stephen King

Reviewed by Bev Vincent

One of the themes of Stephen King’s 1986 novel It was the notion that adults lose the ability to believe in the kinds of things they embraced as children. Mike Hanlon contemplates this issue when he’s planning to summon his childhood friends back to Derry to confront the monster they defeated but did not destroy nearly three decades earlier. He wonders if they’re up to the task because their former ability to believe in the power of certain talismans gave them the strength to hurt Pennywise.

The inability to believe plays a major part in The Outsider. Continue Reading

Exhumed: “End of the Line” and “Seed”

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 18, 2018May 17, 2018ExhumedColumns, Erin L. Kemper, Exhumed, Franklin E. Wales, K. Edwin FritzLeave a comment

Exhumed is my humble attempt to read and review every short story and novel excerpt ever published by Cemetery Dance magazine. In their 29 years of publication, that comes to over 550 pieces spread out over 76 issues. Since each Exhumed post covers just two pieces (one “old” and one “new”), I think I’m going to be doing this for a while. I sure hope you’ll join me along the way.

If so, then welcome, friend! Feel free to read each story along with me or just take it all in while I do the hard work and wax poetic with my observations.

Either way, grab your shovel and dig in. There’s no telling what we’ll unearth together.Continue Reading

Video Visions: There’s Spaghetti Sauce in My VCR—Why I Don’t Love Italian Horror

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 11, 2018May 6, 2018Video VisionsColumns, Hunter Shea, Video Visions2 Comments

I’m going to be brutally honest here and you may try to take my horror club card away, but here goes.

I’m not a fan of Italian horror. I mean, at all. I am a fan of Italian women, so much so that I married one. But I digress. I know that people wax poetic over the artistry of Argento and the trippy avant garde mastery of Fulci, but at best, their movies leave me scratching my head. Or dead asleep. I tend to sleep a lot when I watch Italian horror. And this from a guy who can stay awake through The Haunting of Whaley House (as bland and uneventful as the actual Whaley House tour) and The Darkness (even Kevin Bacon can’t win them all). Continue Reading

Revelations: Ray Bradbury

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 4, 2018May 3, 2018RevelationsColumns, Dandelion Wine, Kevin Lucia, October Country, Ray Bradbury, Revelations1 Comment

Wednesday, June 6th, 2012.

First period, 10th Grade Honors English. Roughly 9 a.m.

That’s when I heard the news.

Even today, as I write this, I feel a chill. Looking back, it was not only a surreal and an unbelievable experience…it also offered a moment of affirmation for me as a teacher that hasn’t been rivaled, since.Continue Reading

Brian Keene’s History of Horror Fiction, Chapter Six: Elizabethan Evil

Cemetery Dance OnlineApril 27, 2018April 25, 2018Brian Keene's History of Horror FictionBrian Keene, Columns, History of Horror Fiction2 Comments

Last month, we explored how, after Rome’s Edict of Milan, Christianity spread throughout the world and began to influence supernatural fiction. But since our previous chapter focused primarily on twelfth century werewolf fiction, I want to begin this month by talking about another religious book that had a lasting impact on our genre. Continue Reading

Dead Trees: Others by James Herbert

Cemetery Dance OnlineApril 6, 2018April 6, 2018Dead TreesColumns, Dead Trees, James Herbert, Mark Sieber1 Comment

When you bring up the pioneers of hardcore, extreme horror fiction, you’re most likely to hear names like Jack Ketchum and Richard Laymon. As well you should, because these guys were important—important to the fans who were raised on George Romero, Tobe Hooper, etc., and wished to read more than traditional supernatural horror. We wanted, or perhaps we needed, to see the genre tackle more explicit subject matter.

But as great as Ketchum and Laymon are, James Herbert was there first. It’s almost hard to believe now, but Herbert’s first book, a gruesome novel called The Rats, came out in the same year as Stephen King’s Carrie.Continue Reading

Brian Keene’s History of Horror Fiction, Chapter Five: 12th Century Feminist Werewolf Fiction

Cemetery Dance OnlineMarch 30, 2018March 29, 2018Brian Keene's History of Horror FictionBrian Keene, Columns, History of Horror FictionLeave a comment

We’ve explored how the supernatural informed much of humankind’s early written works, from the various texts of the world’s religions to cultural folklore and myths to fiction. Eventually, one religion began to influence them all. Around the same time that anonymous writer was penning Beowulf, the Roman Catholic church’s first official accusation of real-life Satanism took place in the French city of Toulouse.

Reality is Thin Ice The Outsider by Stephen King

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Reality is Thin Ice
The Outsider by Stephen King