Joshua Gage Archives - Page 2 of 8 - Cemetery Dance Online

Review: Beautiful Malady by Ennis Rook Bashe

Cemetery Dance OnlineJuly 19, 2023July 16, 2023ReviewsBeautiful Malady, Ennis Rook Bashe, Joshua Gage, poetry, ReviewsLeave a comment

Beautiful 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.

Review: The Sibyl by Hamant Singh

Cemetery Dance OnlineJune 26, 2023June 25, 2023ReviewsHamant Singh, Joshua Gage, Reviews, The SibylLeave a comment

cover of The Sibyl The 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 Sibyl. Continue Reading

Review: Horrific Punctuation by John Reinhart

Cemetery Dance OnlineJune 23, 2023June 19, 2023ReviewsArson Press, Horrific Punctuation, John Reinhart, Joshua Gage, ReviewLeave a comment

Horrific 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

Review: Constellations of Ruin by Andrew S. Fuller

Cemetery Dance OnlineJune 20, 2023June 29, 2023ReviewsAndrew S. Fuller, Constellations of Ruin, Joshua Gage, ReviewsLeave a comment

cover of constellations of ruin Constellations of Ruin by Andrew S. Fuller
Trepedatio (April 2023)
246 pages; $18.95 paperback
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Andrew S. Fuller is a fiction author who grew up climbing trees and reading books, later dabbling in archery, theater, and heavy metal. He once stared at the waters of Loch Ness for nearly twelve full minutes, but his family made him leave early. His fiction appears in magazines, anthologies, and a few short films. His screenplay Effulgence won the Deep One Best Screenwriter Award at the 2009 H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival. He has served as Editor of Three-Lobed Burning Eye magazine since 1999. His debut short fiction collection, Constellations of Ruin, is a solid debut collection with over 20 stories of weird, speculative horror. Continue Reading

Review: They Hide: Short Stories to Tell in the Dark by Francesca Maria

Cemetery Dance OnlineJune 5, 2023June 4, 2023ReviewsFrancesca Maria, Joshua Gage, Reviews, They HideLeave a comment

cover of They Hide by Francesca Maria They Hide: Short Stories to Tell in the Dark by Francesca Maria
Brigid’s Gate Press (April 2023)
205 pages; $13.99 paperback; $4.99 e-book
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Francesca Maria writes dark fiction surrounded by cats near the Pacific Ocean. She is the creator of the Black Cat Chronicles comic book series. Her most recent short story collection, They Hide: Short Stories to Tell in the Dark is now available. It is an impressive collection of dark short stories, perfect for any readers looking for quick and spooky stories. Continue Reading

Review: Curses, Black Spells, and Hexes: A Grimoire Sonnetica by Juleigh Howard-Hobson

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 29, 2023May 20, 2023ReviewsAlien Buddha Press, Curses Black Spells and Hexes: A Grimoire Sonnetica, Joshua Gage, Juleigh Howard-Hobson, ReviewsLeave a comment

Curses, Black Spells, and Hexes: A Grimoire Sonnetica by Juleigh Howard-Hobson
Alien Buddha Press (July 23, 2021)
33 pages; $10.44 paperback
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Juleigh Howard-Hobson is most widely known for her modern poetry which is written in form. Working under the principle that taboos — even literary ones — must always be challenged, she also writes fiction, creative non-fiction, reviews, and articles in various genres from literary to pulp horror. Recognition for her poetry spans decades, from the 1980 ANZAC Day Award (in Australia) to nominations for Best of the Net, the Pushcart Prize, the Rhysling Award, and the Elgin Award. Her most recent book is Curses, Black Spells and Hexes: A Grimoire Sonnetica, which is a combination spell book and poem sequence sure to delight fans of horror poetry. Continue Reading

Review: Bleeding Rainbows and Other Broken Spectrums by Maxwell I. Gold

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 19, 2023May 18, 2023ReviewsBleeding Rainbows, Joshua Gage, Maxwell I. Gold, ReviewsLeave a comment

cover of Bleeding Rainbows Bleeding Rainbows and Other Broken Spectrums by Maxwell I. Gold
Hex Publishers (June 2023)
174 pages; $39.99 hardcover; $4.99 e-book
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Maxwell I. Gold is a multiple award-nominated author who writes prose poetry and short stories in weird and cosmic fiction. His work has appeared in numerous anthologies and magazines including Weirdbook Magazine, Space and Time Magazine, Startling Stories, Strange Horizons, Tales from OmniPark Anthology, Shadow Atlas: Dark Landscapes of the Americas, and more. He’s the author of the Elgin-Award nominated prose poetry collection Oblivion in Flux: A Collection of Cyber Prose from Crystal Lake Publishing. His newest collection, Bleeding Rainbows and Other Broken Spectrums, is a book of queer, cosmic-horror poetry.Continue Reading

Review: Once Upon a Fang in the West by John Dover

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 15, 2023May 14, 2023ReviewsJohn Dover, Joshua Gage, Not a Pipe Publishing, Once Upon a Fang in the West, ReviewsLeave a comment

cover of Once Upon a Fang in the West by John Dover Once Upon a Fang in the West by John Dover
Not A Pipe Publishing (May 2021)
223 pages; $14.55 paperback
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Author and musician John Dover began his writing journey with his jazz-noir novellas and comic book series, Johnny Scotch. His most recent novel is Once Upon a Fang in the West.Continue Reading

Review: Grendel, Kentucky by Jeff McComsey and Tommy Lee Edwards

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 5, 2023May 4, 2023The Comic VaultColumns, Grendel Kentucky, Jeff McComsey, Joshua Gage, Reviews, The Comic VaultLeave a comment

Grendel, Kentucky by Jeff McComsey and Tommy Lee Edwards
Upshot (March 2021)
96 pages; $9.99 paperback
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Grendel, Kentucky by Jeff McComsey is an incredible graphic novel that takes the Beowulf saga and modernizes it. The story focuses on Marnie, who leads the all-women biker gang The Harlots. She’s called back to her hometown of Grendel for the funeral of her adoptive father, Clyde, who was supposedly killed by a bear. When she finds out the truth, which is much worse, she seeks vengeance for her father and learns about what it means to be a family and what it means to hold on to family secrets.Continue Reading

Review: In Memory of Exoskeletons by Rebecca Cuthbert

Cemetery Dance OnlineApril 26, 2023April 24, 2023ReviewsIn Memory of Exoskeletons, Joshua Gage, Rebecca Cuthbert, ReviewsLeave a comment

In Memory of Exoskeletons by Rebecca Cuthbert
Alien Buddha Press (January 2023)
53 pages; $10.99 paperback
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Rebecca Cuthbert is a speculative, slipstream, and dark fiction and poetry writer living in Western New York. She is an Affiliate Member of the Horror Writers Association. She loves ghost stories, folklore, witchy women, and anything that involves nature getting revenge. Her debut poetry collection, In Memory of Exoskeletons, is out now with Alien Buddha Press. In Memory of Exoskeletons is a book that teeters between the personal and the horrific, memoir and terror, and takes the reader through the shifts and shudders eloquently. Continue Reading

Review: Weird Fiction Quarterly

Cemetery Dance OnlineApril 18, 2023April 17, 2023ReviewsJoshua Gage, Reviews, Russel Smeaton, Weird Fiction QuarterlyLeave a comment

Weird Fiction Quarterly edited by Russell Smeaton
Independently Published (Winter 2022 | Spring 2023)
120 pages; $10.00 paperback
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Weird Fiction Quarterly is a quarterly anthology series that deserves some attention. What makes this series intriguing is that each story must be five-hundred words exactly. Continue Reading

Review: Sifting the Ashes by Michael Bailey and Marge Simon

Cemetery Dance OnlineApril 5, 2023April 3, 2023ReviewsCrystal Lake Publishing, Joshua Gage, Marge Simon, Michael Bailey, Reviews, Sifting the AshesLeave a comment

cover of Sifting the Ashes Sifting the Ashes by Michael Bailey and Marge Simon
Crystal Lake Publishing (April 2022)
222 pages; $15.99 paperback; $4.99 e-book
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Michael Bailey is a freelance writer, editor and book designer, and the recipient of over two dozen literary accolades, such as the Bram Stoker Award and Benjamin Franklin Award. Composite novels include Palindrome Hannah, Phoenix Rose, and Psychotropic Dragon, and he has published two short story and poetry collections, Scales and Petals, and Inkblots and Blood Spots, as well as a children’s book, Enso.

Marge Simon lives in Ocala, FL, City of Trees with her husband, poet/writer Bruce Boston and the ghosts of two cats. She edits a column for the HWA Newsletter, “Blood & Spades: Poets of the Dark Side.” A multiple Bram Stoker award winner, Marge is the second woman to be acknowledged by the SF &F Poetry Association with a Grand Master Award. She received the HWA Lifetime Achievement award in 2021.

Their recent post-apocalyptic horror prose and poetry collection is Sifting the Ashes.Continue Reading

Review: Numinous Stones by Holly Lyn Walrath

Cemetery Dance OnlineApril 3, 2023March 26, 2023ReviewsHolly Lyn Walrath, Joshua Gage, Numinous Stones, poetry, ReviewsLeave a comment

Numinous Stones by Holly Lyn Walrath
Aqueduct Press (April, 2023)
98 pages, $10 paperback
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Numinous Stones is a collection of speculative pantoums, a form derived from the Malay verse pantun berkait, which is a form of interwoven verses of alternating lines. This is a difficult form to accomplish, as the repeated lines need to seem fresh each time the reader encounters them, but also echo back to the previous stanza. The tightly entwined stanzas, when executed well, create a rhythmic and incantatory experience for the audience, hypnotizing them in a sonic spell.

Readers, if you read Numinous Stones, be prepared to be hypnotized. Continue Reading

Review: Angels of Hell: Poetic Tales of the Apocalypse by Christopher ~cliff~ Reichard

Cemetery Dance OnlineMarch 20, 2023March 18, 2023Reviews, The Comic VaultAngels of Hell: Poetic Tales of the Apocalypse, Christopher ~cliff~ Reichard, Columns, Joshua Gage, Reviews, The Comic VaultLeave a comment

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Angels of Hell: Poetic Tales of the Apocalypse by Christopher ~cliff~ Reichard
Self-Published via Kickstarter
191 pages; $21.99 hardcover
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Chris ~cliff~ Reichard is the writer and creator of the Angels of Hell comic book and poetry series. Their dark writing style has been influenced by various horror, Gothic and religious media that has only been darkened further from the worldly experience of being a combat veteran and a social activist. They successfully ran a Kickstarter campaign to get the comic series started. Chris is a simply, complicated person that lives and breathes in his Midwest American roots, the Greater St. Louis area of Missouri. Their newest collection is Angels of Hell: Poetic Tales of the Apocalypse. Continue Reading

Review: Dead Dudes by Christopher Sebela and Ben Sears

Cemetery Dance OnlineMarch 10, 2023March 5, 2023Reviews, The Comic VaultBen Sears, Christopher Sebela, Columns, Dead Dudes, Joshua Gage, Oni Press, Reviews, The Comic VaultLeave a comment

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cover of dead dudes Dead Dudes written by Christopher Sebela, illustrated by Ben Sears, colored by Ryan Hill and Warren Wucinich, lettered by Crank!
Oni Press (September 2020)
126 pages; $19.99 paperback
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Trev, Kent, and Brian, collectively known as Ghostbros, are three struggling television paranormal investigators. Their show is about to be cancelled due to low ratings. Their competitors, Parawarriors, are stealing their audience with their new gadgets and their ability to not just investigate ghosts, but actually fight them. To save their show, Trev forces Kent and Brian to go to the most haunted place he can imagine: Edgeway Penitentiary in rural Montana. The team gets there and, within hours, discover that not only are ghosts real, but they are willing to kill. That’s when the problems really being in the young adult graphic novel, Dead Dudes.Continue Reading

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