Exhumed Archives - Cemetery Dance Online

Exhumed: “Markers” and “Scree”

Cemetery Dance OnlineMarch 15, 2019March 17, 2019ExhumedColumns, Exhumed, K. Edwin Fritz, Steve Rasnic TemLeave 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. For a comprehensive list, you’ll want to check out Michael P. Sauers’ Cemetery Dance Magazine Index (Issues 1-75).

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. 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

Exhumed: “Better Than Breadcrumbs” and “Pelingrad’s Pit” by Ronald Kelly

Cemetery Dance OnlineJanuary 12, 2018January 1, 2018ExhumedColumns, Exhumed, K. Edwin Fritz, Ronald KellyLeave a comment

Welcome to Exhumed, my humble attempt to read and review every story and novel excerpt ever published in Cemetery Dance magazine.

Each month I’ll summarize and analyze a pair of related works. Usually this means comparing one “older” and one “newer” piece by the same author.

In their 29+ years of publication, CD has already printed 560 pieces, spread out over 75 issues. I think I’m going to be doing this for a while…Continue Reading

Exhumed: “Four-in-Hand” and “Life of the Party”

Cemetery Dance OnlineNovember 3, 2017November 3, 2017ExhumedColumns, Exhumed, K. Edwin Fritz, William Relling Jr.2 Comments

This is Exhumed’s 12th installment.

That’s right, peeps, it’s been a full year of digging up and examining great old stories from the bowels of Cemetery Dance.

Wow.

What an honor it’s been thus far. Continue Reading

“The Sanctuary” and “In the Room”

Cemetery Dance OnlineSeptember 29, 2017September 28, 2017ExhumedBentley Little, Columns, Exhumed, K. Edwin Fritz1 Comment

In its illustrious 29*-year print run, Cemetery Dance magazine has published no less than 560 short stories and novel excerpts in 75** issues. As the super fan that I am, Exhumed is my humble attempt to read and review them all in monthly double reviews.

*and counting!

**there were also two “double issues” (#17/18 in 1993 and #74/75 in 2016), each of which squeezed twice as much content into a single magazine.

Last time I reviewed two Steve Vernon stories…

“In Loving Memory” from Cemetery Dance #2 (1989), and
“A Wiggle of Maggot, a Curl of Bacon” from Cemetery Dance #59 (2008).

Something very interesting happened with that publication. Mr. Vernon himself read and commented! Woo-hoo! Do check it out if you haven’t already, if for no other reason than to see what he thought. 😉

This month is the 11th installment of Exhumed and, as promised last month, I’ll be reviewing two Bentley Little stories.

Let’s get to it…Continue Reading

“In Loving Memory” and “A Wiggle of Maggot, a Curl of Bacon”

Cemetery Dance OnlineAugust 18, 2017September 27, 2017Exhumed"A Wiggle of Maggot, "In Loving Memory", A Curl of Bacon", Columns, Exhumed, K. Edwin Fritz, Steve Vernon4 Comments

In its illustrious 29*-year print run, Cemetery Dance magazine has published no less than 560 short stories and novel excerpts in 73** individual issues. As the super fan that I am, Exhumed is my humble attempt to read and review them all in monthly double reviews.

*and counting!

**there were also two “double issues” (#17/18 in 1993 and #74/75 in 2016), each of which squeezed twice as much content into a single magazine.

Last time I reviewed two Norman Partridge stories:

“Save the Last Dance for Me” from Cemetery Dance #2 (1989), and
“Slippin’ Into Darkness” (a novel excerpt) from Cemetery Dance #17/18 (1993).

If you missed it, you missed a particularly complex story (and a particularly “colorful” review).

This month is the 10th installment of Exhumed and, as promised, I present to you two Steve Vernon stories.

Let’s get to it… Continue Reading

“Save the Last Dance for Me” and “Slippin’ Into Darkness”

Cemetery Dance OnlineJuly 21, 2017ExhumedCemetery Dance #17/18, Cemetery Dance #2, Exhumed, K. Edwin Fritz, Norman Partridge, Save the Last Dance for Me, Slippin' Into Darkness2 Comments

*and counting!

**there were also two ‘double issues (#17/18 in 1993 and #74/75 in 2016), each of which squeezed twice as much content into a single magazine.

Last time I reviewed:

David A. Lindschmidt’s “The Hounds of Hell to Pay” from Cemetery Dance #1 (1988), and
Jonathan Lethem’s “Martyr and Pesty” from Cemetery Dance #36 (2001).

There was also an Exhumed-first BONUS review of the overall issue of Cemetery Dance #1. If for no other reason you should go check the article out for that.

This month is the ninth installment of Exhumed and, as promised, I present to you two Norman Partridge stories.

Let’s get to it…Continue Reading

“The Hounds of Hell to Pay” and “Martyr and Pesty”

Cemetery Dance OnlineJune 16, 2017June 16, 2017Exhumed"Martyr and Pesty", "The Hounds of Hell to Pay", Columns, David A. Lindschmidt, Exhumed, Jonathan Lethem, K. Edwin Fritz4 Comments

“The Officer’s Club” and “The Phone Call”

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 19, 2017May 18, 2017Exhumed" "The Phone Call", "The Officer's Club, Columns, Exhumed, K. Edwin Fritz, Roman A. Ranieri6 Comments

Hello again, fans of the Dance. This is the seventh installment of monthly double reviews studying the structure of great horror fiction published in our beloved Cemetery Dance.

Last time I reviewed two Barry Hoffman stories: “An Island Unto Herself” from Cemetery Dance #1 (1988) and “Vicious Cycle” from Cemetery Dance #26 (1997). If you haven’t checked it out yet, please do so and let me know what you think.

In keeping with the popular notion of reviewing two stories by the same author separated by time, this month I’m going to dive into a pair of Roman A. Ranieri stories. The first, once again from Cemetery Dance #1, was published in 1988. The second, from Cemetery Dance #23, was published in 1996.

Let’s see what eight years of separation did for ole’ Roman’s skill set… Continue Reading

“An Island Unto Herself” and “Vicious Cycle”

Cemetery Dance OnlineApril 14, 2017April 12, 2017Exhumed"An Island Unto Herself", "Vicious Cycle", Barry Hoffman, Cemetery Dance #1, Cemetery Dance #26, Columns, Exhumed, K. Edwin Fritz5 Comments

Hello again, folks. This is the 6th installment of monthly double reviews studying the structure of great horror fiction published in our beloved Cemetery Dance.

Last time I reviewed two Bentley Little titles: “The Janitor” from Cemetery Dance #1 (1988) and “We” from Cemetery Dance #64 (2010). This marked the 2nd time my little column compared an older and a newer story from the same author. I know I liked it, and readers seemed to as well.

Fortunately, I get to do this again this month with a pair of Barry Hoffman stories. His two pieces were published in Cemetery Dance in 1988 and 1997. And while they may not be separated by the two full decades like we saw with Mr. Little, Mr. Hoffman’s stories nevertheless show both growth over this span of time as well as a certain, unique thematic element.

Let’s see if you can figure it out before I connect those dots…Continue Reading

“The Janitor” and “We”

Cemetery Dance OnlineMarch 8, 2017March 5, 2017Exhumed"The Janitor", "We", Bentley Little, Columns, Exhumed, K. Edwin Fritz3 Comments

Hello again, folks. This is the fifth installment of monthly double reviews studying the structure of great horror fiction published in our beloved Cemetery Dance.

Last time I reviewed my favorite story from Cemetery Dance #1, Anke M. Kriske’s “The Departing of Debbie” and William Peter Blatty’s semi-controversial “Terry and the Werewolf” from Cemetery Dance #62 (2009).

If you want to know about some really great early horror fiction and/or give your respect to our recently-lost great, Mr. Blatty, do please check it out.

This month, I’m going to review 2 stories from the same author, a man who is clearly one one of Cemetery Dance’s favorite repeat contributors based on the fact that he’s been published in Cemetery Dance numbers 1, 2, 4, 7, 13, 14, 34, 36, 39, 50, 64, and 71. He has been published by CD more than only one other author (that’s a column for another day), and has been there since the beginning.

His name is Mr. Bentley Little.

Let’s get to it…Continue Reading

“The Departing of Debbie” and “Terry and the Werewolf”

Cemetery Dance OnlineJanuary 18, 2017January 18, 2017ExhumedAnke M. Kriske, Columns, Exhumed, Exhumed: The Fiction of Cemetery Dance Magazine, K. Edwin Fritz, William Peter Blatty3 Comments

Hello again, folks. This is the fourth installment of monthly double reviews studying the structure of great horror fiction published in our beloved Cemetery Dance.

Last time I reviewed John B. Rosenman’s “Rock of Ages” from Cemetery Dance #1 (1988) and K. S. Clay’s “Bad Luck” from Cemetery Dance #74/75 (2016). Fellow author James Pyne commented that short fiction is becoming the preferred mode of digesting fiction these days. Do you agree? Continue Reading

“Rock of Ages” and “Bad Luck”

Cemetery Dance OnlineDecember 21, 2016December 21, 2016ExhumedBad Luck, Columns, Exhumed, John Rosenman, K. Edwin Fritz, K.S. Clay, Rock of Ages2 Comments

*Humblebrag… I own all 75 issues. Took me 8 years to track ‘em all down. Just look at that collection!
(Photo Copyright 2016 K. Edwin Fritz)

Hello again, folks. This is the third installment of monthly double reviews studying the structure of great horror fiction published in our beloved Cemetery Dance.

Last time I reviewed David B. Silva’s “Fury’s Child” from CD #1 (1988) and Lisa Morton’s “The Rich are Different” from CD #74/75 (2016).

If you haven’t read either one, do check them out. The Silva story in particular is hard to find… of course. 😉

This month we’ve got another 2 stories from the same 2 issues…Continue Reading

“Fury’s Child” and “The Rich Are Different”

Cemetery Dance OnlineNovember 23, 2016November 22, 2016ExhumedCemetery Dance #1, Cemetery Dance #74/75, Columns, David B. Silva, Exhumed, Fury's Child, K. Edwin Fritz, Lisa Morton, The Rich Are Different4 Comments

Hello again, folks. This is the 2nd installment of “Exhumed”—monthly double reviews studying the structure of great horror fiction published in our beloved Cemetery Dance.

Last time I reviewed Steve Rasnic Tem’s “The Double” from CD #1 (1988) and Michael Wehunt’s “The Inconsolable” from CD #73 (2016). If you didn’t catch that one, do check it out. Both stories are well worth your consideration.

Let’s see what we’ve got on the docket for this month… Continue Reading

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