Review: Come What May by Lindsey Goddard and Suzie Lockhart

cover of Come What MayCome What May by Lindsey Goddard and Suzie Lockhart
Independently Published (July 2025)
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Convinced she was destined to be an artist, Suzie Lockhart attended The Art Institute of Pittsburgh after graduating high school, but the gnawing urge to write continued to challenge her. Originally, her desire was to write romance novels, but after discovering the innate ability to tell chilling tales, Suzie embraced her inner creepiness. Her middle son, Bruce, realized the same passion for the macabre, so it was a natural progression to team up. Over a decade later, they have published enough short stories that they can no longer remember all of them! Co-author Lindsey Goddard is an author of dark fiction, poetry, and true crime, living in Missouri, whose short stories have been published in e-zines such as Gamut Magazine and Carnage House, as well as in anthologies such as Error Code (Riverfolk Books). Her work has been performed on popular podcasts like Creepy Podcast and Chilling Tales for Dark Nights. She is the author of four short story collections, two poetry books, and a novel, Ashes of Another Life. Their newest collection is Come What May, a collection of short stories and poems. Continue Reading

Review: When the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy

cover of When the Wolf Comes HomeWhen The Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy
Tor Nightfire (April 2025)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

After reading Mary: An Awakening of Terror, I swore Nat Cassidy had written his magnum opus, not realizing it was his debut novel. And then I read Rest Stop from Shortwave, which is absolutely stellar with its exploration of historical trauma and triggers amongst the political state of things. And it was UNHINGED. So, I was certain that the novella was my new favorite. But, man, Cassidy came to the plate swinging with When The Wolf Comes Home and he knocked it out of the park. In his fairytale-inspired story Cassidy once again proves he’s one of the strongest voices in modern horror. His work is thoughtful, compelling, and fiercely chaotic as hell. I will devour EVERYTHING this man writes.Continue Reading

Review: The Invisible Woman By James P. Blaylock

cover of The Invisible WomanThe Invisible Woman By James P. Blaylock
PS Publishing (February 2025)
Review by W.D. Gagliani

Because The Invisible Woman is a sequel to James P. Blaylock’s Pennies From Heaven (2023), I’ll first need to weave some threads from a review of that novel here.

If you are already a fan you know Blaylock was one of the pioneers of the Steampunk genre (along with Tim Powers and K.W. Jeter) and later produced a notable series of unrelated “California Gothics.” Anyone who hasn’t read, at the very least, Homunculus, Lord Kelvin’s Machine (and the related St. Ives steampunky adventures), The Digging Leviathan, The Last Coin, The Paper Grail, Knights of the Cornerstone, All the Bells on Earth, and especially Night Relics, The Rainy Season, and Winter Tides, should go and do so right now. These novels form the backbone of his corner of the fantasy field, the one that’s magic realism, fantasy, horror, and SF adjacent. Because they have given me much pleasure over these many years, I confess to some bias up-front.Continue Reading

Review: House of Monstrous Women by Daphne Fama

cover of House of Monstrous WomenHouse of Monstrous Women by Daphne Fama
Berkley (August 12, 2025)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

Every culture has a boogeyman, a shapeless entity that eats children, such as El Cuco in Spain, Portugal, and Latin America, or a shadowy, witch-like figure that eats and imprisons children, like Baba Yaga in Russia, Iraq, and Syria. In Daphne Fama’s Filipino Folk and Gothic Horror novel, House of Monstrous Women, it’s the aswang. Some declare the aswang monsters; others say they were people cursed “with a vicious hunger” and “who spent their lives like wolves cloaked in the fleece of lamb.”Continue Reading

Review: October Dark by Ron Terranova

cover of October DarkOctober Dark by Ron Terranova
Outskirts Press (July 2024)
Reviewed by Rowan B. Minor

Ron Terranova is a writer of novels, short stories, and poetry from Huntington Beach, California. His work has been published in Chiron Review, and he is author of two novels: The Red Wing Chronicles and I, Polyphemus. Terranova’s most recent book, October Dark, is a book of short horror stories that center around nihilism, dark noir, absurdism, and macabre humor. October Dark, which follows books October Light and October Twilight, is the third book in Terranova’s dark fiction trilogy. The stories in October Dark are 3 to 17 pages long and are all set in the month of October. Continue Reading

Review: Arcana: The Lost Heirs by Sam Prentice-Jones

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cover of ArcanaArcana: The Lost Heirs by Sam Prentice-Jones
Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group (June 2025)
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Sam Prentice-Jones is an author-illustrator working in Brighton UK who graduated from Arts University Bournemouth in 2019 with a BA Hons in Illustration, specializing in digital, graphic, character-based work. Sam likes to create work that celebrates diversity and queer culture and began his career by curating a queer illustration magazine titled POOF Magazine which ran 2019-2021. Since then, Sam has gone on to create work for the worlds of book publishing, web design, advertising and product design as well as being featured in art fairs across the UK. His newest book is the graphic novel Arcana: The Lost Heirs.Continue Reading

Review: Evil-ish by Kennedy Tarrell

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cover of Evil-ishEvil-ish by Kennedy Tarrell
Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group (July 2025)
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Kennedy Tarrell (She/They) is a Los-Angeles based writer, storyboard artist, and comic-maker. She’s currently working as a story artist at Walt Disney Animation Studios, most recently on Wish. She’s also written, storyboarded, or developed in both the feature and TV space for clients including Cartoon Network, Netflix Animation, DreamWorks Animation, and WB. In the publishing space, her debut YA graphic novel, Evil-ish, is now available.Continue Reading

Review: Vellum Leaves & Lettered Skins by Colleen Anderson

cover of Vellum Leaves & Scattered Skins
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Vellum Leaves & Lettered Skins by Colleen Anderson
Raw Dog Screaming Press (July 29, 2025)
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Colleen Anderson is a Canadian author writing fiction and poetry and has had two collections and over 300 poems published in such venues as Grievous Angel, Polu Texni, The Future Fire, HWA Poetry Showcase and many others. She is a member of HWA and SFPA and a Canada Council grant recipient for writing. She has performed her work before audiences in the US, UK and Canada and has placed in the Balticon, Rannu, Crucible and Wax poetry competitions. Colleen also enjoys editing and co-edited Canadian anthologies Playground of Lost Toys (Aurora nominated) and Tesseracts 17, and her solo anthology Alice Unbound: Beyond Wonderland was published by Exile Books. She has served on both Stoker Award and British Fantasy Award juries, and guest-edited Eye to the Telescope. Her latest collection of poetry is Vellum Leaves and Lettered Skins.Continue Reading

Review: “Dr. Werthless” by Harold Schechter and Eric Powell

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cover of "Dr. Werthless"“Dr. Werthless” by Harold Schechter and Eric Powell
Dark Horse Comics (July 2025)
Reviewed by Blu Gilliand

If you read comics, you’ve likely heard the name Dr. Fredric Wertham. His 1954 book Seduction of the Innocent had as big an impact on the comics industry as, say, the first appearance of Superman in Action Comics, or perhaps the work of Stan Lee.

In fact, Wertham’s book was so impactful, it nearly killed the entire comics industry.Continue Reading

Review: Tick Town by Christopher A. Micklos

cover of Tick Town

Tick Town by Christopher A. Micklos
Castle Bridge Media (June 2025)
Reviewed by W.D. Gagliani

Giant bloodsucking beasts invade… screams the cover copy, and if you’re like me, that’s about all you need to crack open this short novel and wait for the fun. So you may know going in what you’ll get, and the question is: how rip-roaringly entertaining will it be?Continue Reading

Review: The Library at Hellebore by Cassandra Khaw

cover of The Library at HelleboreThe Library at Hellebore by Cassandra Khaw
Tor Nightfire (July 22, 2025)
Reviewed by Chandra Claypool (Instagram) (TikTok)

I FREAKIN LOVE THIS BOOK! I can’t believe I’ve waited so long to read Cassandra Khaw. I have 3 other books of theirs on my shelves and I don’t know why I kept skipping over them.

Welcome to The Hellebore Technical Institute for the Gifted — the “premiere academy for the dangerously Anti-Christs and Ragnaroks, the world-eaters and apocalypse-makers.” DONE. SOLD. TAKE MY MONEY. Here we meet Aleesa — she’s been kidnapped and forced to go to Hellebore but is told this is a place where she will find acceptance and a “normal life” after graduation. However, on graduation day, the faculty decides to eat the class. One must be sacrificed every night or everyone will be killed. There can only be one survivor. Or can there?Continue Reading

Review: Stay On The Line by Clay McLeod Chapman and Trever Henderson

cover of stay on the Line by Clay McLeod Chapman
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Stay On The Line by Clay McLeod Chapman with Illustrations by Trever Henderson
Shortwave Media (July 30, 2024)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

Clay McLeod Chapman is the undeniable king of grief horror. He’s torn readers apart with his lyrical, evocative stories exploring addiction in Ghost Eaters (named one of Vulture’s Best Horror Novels of 2022) and the loss of a child, as in his Southern gothic folk horror novel What Kind of Mother and his Bram Stoker Award-nominated novella Kill Your Darling.

Stay On The Line is another tale of grief’s haunting phases and lasting impressions, yet it still feels unique from Chapman’s other titles. Trevor Henderson’s accompanying illustrations are the cherry on top, adding to the unsettling atmosphere. Henderson’s Stay On The Line style reminded me of Stephen Gammell’s iconic illustrations in Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark.Continue Reading

Review: The Terror At Love Lake by Joey Powell

cover of The Terror of Love LakeThe Terror At Love Lake by Joey Powell
Mad Axe Media (May 2024)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

The Terror At Love Lake is a cosmic, snack-sized tale of a teenage cheerleader, Diane. Coming of age for women incites fear. Men look at you a little too long. Sure, they were creepy before, but now it’s like a hunter spotting prey. The vulnerability of a child transpires into a fight for autonomy.

This reviewer was impressed by author Joey Powell’s ability to create an authentic narrative that explores women’s constant struggle for personal agency and the threat of coercers. Continue Reading

Review: The Last Delivery by Evan Dahm

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cover of Last DeliveryThe Last Delivery by Evan Dahm
Iron Circus Comics (June 2024)
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Evan Dahm was born in 1987, growing up in Asheville, North Carolina. He’s been a resident of Brooklyn, New York since 2010, and has been creating and self-publishing comics online and in print since 2006. His prior work includes Vattu and Order of Tales, the Iron Circus graphic novels The Harrowing of Hell and Rice Boy, and The Island Book series for First Second. His newest book is The Last Delivery. Continue Reading

Review: Beyond the Bounds of Infinity edited by Vaughn A. Jackson and Stephanie Pearre

cover of Beyond the Bounds of InfinityBeyond the Bounds of Infinity edited by Vaughn A. Jackson and Stephanie Pearre
Raw Dog Screaming Press (July 2024)
Reviewed by Dave Simms

This is a great year for horror anthologies. Something dark and amazing must be in the water as there are some stellar books released that hit all the right buttons.
This one holds zero duds in the entire book. That’s not typical in this era, so when it does, it makes a reviewer happy. The lineup between the covers is strong, which makes choosing favorites that much tougher. Upon a second reading my thoughts pivoted, and I assume they would again if there was a third time. Everyone will find gems in this anthology, depending on preference of style, topic, or voice, but there’s no doubt that readers will enjoy this one.

Continue Reading