Reviews Archives - Cemetery Dance Online

Review: Consensual Violence by Del James, Illustrated by Giulia Brusco Arjuna Susini

Cemetery Dance OnlineNovember 26, 2025November 11, 2025Reviews, The Comic VaultColumns, Consensual Violence, Del James, Giulia Brusco Arjuna Susini, Joshua Gage, lucha libre, Reviews, The Comic VaiultLeave a comment

Consensual Violence by Del James, illustrated by Giulia Brusco Arjuna Susini
Dead Sky Publishing (November 25, 2025)
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Del James is a meat-eating, pro-choice, sober atheist. He writes horror fiction, screenplays, and music. As a lyricist, James has cowritten songs with groups such as Testament, The Almighty, The Outpatience, and Guns N’ Roses, including two songs on GNR’s Grammy-nominated Use Your Illusion album. James has directed several music videos and written live television for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. His newest graphic novel, Consensual Violence, explores the dark underbelly of Lucha Libre wrestling.Continue Reading

Review: The Pulse Remains by Rob Grimoire

Cemetery Dance OnlineNovember 24, 2025October 26, 2025ReviewsElizabeth Broadbent, Reviews, Rob Grimoire, The Pulse RemainsLeave a comment

cover of The Pulse Remains The Pulse Remains by Rob Grimoire
Undertaker Books (August 2025)
Reviewed by Elizabeth Broadbent

In a Southern Gothic novel, the past returns to haunt the present. Emphasizing moral bankruptcy and degeneracy, particularly of the upper classes, the genre has traditionally been dominated by white people and white stories — William Faulkner, Flannery O’Conner, and Michael McDowell.

That tradition often omits or elides the contributions of Black authors: Toni Morrison, Zola Neale Hurston, Octavia Butler, S.A. Cosby, Tananarive Due, and Alexis Henderson. Like their white counterparts, these stories usually include traditional Southern Gothic tropes: the past intruding on the present, the moral and spiritual corruption of the elite, an emphasis on landscape and setting. Continue Reading

Review: Take Up Your Skin and Others by Jennifer Crow

Cemetery Dance OnlineNovember 21, 2025November 11, 2025ReviewsJennifer Crow, Joshua Gage, poetry, Reviews, Take Up Your Skin and OthersLeave a comment

Take Up Your Skin and Others by Jennifer Crow
Self-Published (November 2025)
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Jennifer Crow is grateful for friends whose words, artwork, and photography inspire both poetry and hope. Her work has appeared in a number of print and electronic venues over the years, most recently in Not One of Us, The Wondrous Real, and Abyss & Apex. Her newest chapbook, Take Up Your Skin is available directly from her or free to subscribers of her Patreon page.Continue Reading

Review: The Dead Husband Cookbook by Danielle Valentine

Cemetery Dance OnlineNovember 19, 2025October 26, 2025ReviewsDanielle Valentine, Haley Newlin, Reviews, The Dead Husband CookbookLeave a comment

cover of The Dead Husband Cookbook The Dead Husband Cookbook by Danielle Valentine
Sourcebooks Landmark (August 2025)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

The Dead Husband Cookbook by Danielle Valentine is a worthy follow-up to the author’s motherhood-horror and debut novel, Delicate Condition. Delicate Condition inspired season twelve of Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story: Delicate, starring Emma Roberts and Kim Kardashian.

The Dead Husband Cookbook is another exploration of the daily horror of the female experience. However, it’s less body horror than you might expect. It’s a gritty mystery, each reveal more twisted than the last. I had a really tough time putting this one down.Continue Reading

Review: Moan by Junji Ito

Cemetery Dance OnlineNovember 17, 2025October 26, 2025Reviews, The Comic VaultColumns, Danica Davidson, Junji Ito, Moan, Reviews, The Comic VaultLeave a comment

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cover of Moan Moan by Junji Ito
VIZ Media (October 2025)
Reviewed by Danica Davidson

Junji Ito, a popular horror manga creator in Japan, has been getting increasingly known in America. More and more of his horror works are being released in English, with the most recent being Moan, a short story collection. The first few stories run on the long end, and then there are a couple of shorter pieces.

Each story shows off Ito’s masterful artwork. He knows both how to draw characters beautifully and how to set a mood. The stories also showcase Ito’s penchant for weirdness, creepiness and mystery.Continue Reading

Review: ADAK by Keith Minnion

Cemetery Dance OnlineNovember 12, 2025October 23, 2025ReviewsADAK, Dave Simms, Keith Minnion, Reviews, White Noise PressLeave a comment

cover of ADAK ADAK by Keith Minnion
White Noise Press (August 2025)
Reviewed by Dave Simms

When is an apocalypse novel not an apocalypse novel? When it’s ADAK by the incredibly talented Keith Minnion. ADAK shares some ingredients with Contagion, The Thing, and the best of the action-adventure novels of the ’70s and ’80s. It’s a thriller novel at heart that marries the theme of Michael Crichton with Preston and Child — intelligent, but never slamming the reader with scientific details that make readers’ heads spin.

Review: MrBallen Presents: Where Nightmares Live by MrBallen and Andrea Mutti

Cemetery Dance OnlineNovember 10, 2025October 13, 2025Reviews, The Comic VaultAndrea Mutti, Joshua Gage, MrBallen, MrBallen Presents Where Nightmares Live, Reviews, The Comic VaultLeave a comment

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MrBallen Presents: Where Nightmares Live by MrBallen and Andrea Mutti
Ten Speed Graphics (September 2025)
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Better known as “MrBallen,” John B. Allen is a former U. S. Navy Seal, the founder of the multi-platform content company Ballen Studios, and the creator and host of the popular podcast MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories. Allen uses his platform to give back and founded the MrBallen Foundation with the mission to honor victims and support families of heinous crimes through education, training, and financial support.

Andrea Mutti began his career illustrating DNAction for Xenia Edizioni, Sergio Bonelli Editore, and Star Comics. He’s worked with Marvel, DC, Vertigo, MadCave, Stormking, Dark Horse, IDW, Image, BOOM! Studios, and more. His titles include Maniac of New York, Bunny Mask, Rebels, Batman Eternal, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. He’s a member of the National UFO Center and resides in Sarasota, Florida. Continue Reading

Review: Nightmuse: Poems of Speculative Darkness by Scott J. Couturier

Cemetery Dance OnlineNovember 5, 2025October 13, 2025ReviewsJackanapes Press, Joshua Gage, Nightmuse, poetry, Reviews, Scott J. CouturierLeave a comment

Nightmuse: Poems of Speculative Darkness by Scott J. Couturier
Jackanapes Press (November 2025)
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Scott J. Couturier is a Rhysling-nominated poet and prose writer of the weird, liminal, and darkly fantastic. His work has appeared in numerous venues, including The Audient Void, Spectral Realms, Tales from the Magician’s Skull, Space and Time Magazine, Cosmic Horror Monthly, and Weirdbook; his collection of Weird fiction, The Box, is available from Hybrid Sequence Media, while his collection of autumnal & folk horror verse, I Awaken In October, is available from Jackanapes Press. His newest collection of speculative horror poetry, Nightmuse, is available on Jackanapes Press. Continue Reading

Review: The Graveyard Club by R. L. Stine and Carola Borelli

Cemetery Dance OnlineOctober 31, 2025October 13, 2025ReviewsCarola Borelli, Joshua Gage, R.L. Stine, Reviews, The Comic Vault, The Graveyard ClubLeave a comment

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The Graveyard Club by R. L. Stine and Carola Borelli
Boom! Studios (October 2025)
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

R.L. Stine, of Columbus, Ohio, is one of the best-selling children’s authors in history. His Goosebumps and Fear Street series have sold more than 400 million copies around the world and have been translated into 32 languages. He has had several TV series based on his work, and two feature films, The Goosebumps Movie (2015) and Goosebumps 2: Hunted Halloween (2018), starred Jack Black as R.L. Stine himself. Just Beyond is his first-ever series of graphic novels. Bob lives in New York City with his wife Jane, an editor and publisher. The Graveyard Club is his newest graphic novel.Continue Reading

Review: Crafting for Sinners by Jenny Kiefer

Cemetery Dance OnlineOctober 27, 2025October 9, 2025ReviewsCrafting for Sinners, Haley Newlin, Jenny Kiefer, ReviewsLeave a comment

Crafting for Sinners by Jenny Kiefer
Quirk Books (October 2025)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

In Jenny Kiefer’s latest release, Crafting for Sinners, Ruth walks the aisles of a craft store in Kill Devil, Kentucky. There’s fall decor from floor to ceiling, but no sign of ghosts, witches, or black cats for Halloween, the holiday omitted entirely. Emblazoned glass jars read: Be Pure, for those who give themselves to immortality will suffer the punishment of eternal fire. A placard with two vintage handguns forming an X, barrels overlapping, declares: Righteous judgment will be revealed on the day of His wrath – Romans 2:5. Continue Reading

Review: White Flight by Peter O’Keefe

Cemetery Dance OnlineOctober 20, 2025October 4, 2025ReviewsElizabeth Broadbent, Peter O'Keefe, Reviews, White FlightLeave a comment

White Flight by Peter O’Keefe
Uncomfotably Dark Horror (October 2025)
Reviewed by Elizabeth Broadbent

Everyone loves a good haunted house story. Make it short and quick, throw in some serious tension, stir in a few vivid characters, add a dose of disorientation — you’ve probably got a hit. Peter O’Keefe does this one better in White Flight, out October 21 from Uncomfortably Dark. His fast-paced, nail-biting little gothic novella delivers something unexpected: a seriously squirm-worthy look at American racism. Continue Reading

Review: The Possession of Alba Díaz by Isabel Cañas

Cemetery Dance OnlineOctober 17, 2025October 7, 2025ReviewsHaley Newlin, Isabel Canas, Reviews, The Possession of Alba DiazLeave a comment

cover of The Possession of Alba Diaz The Possession of Alba Díaz by Isabel Cañas
Berkley (August 2025)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

Isabel Cañas is a gothic horror revivalist who would appease and astonish the founding mothers of the genre and excite the readers they continue to lure in today. What makes Cañas stand out is her use of classic Gothic tropes — such as isolation, family turmoil, claustrophobic settings, and hauntings —but she re-centers them in Mexico. She symbolizes historical trauma, evangelization, colonization, generational violence, and misogyny throughout her work in a way that’s accessible and impactful.

In her latest genre-defying release, The Possession of Alba Díaz, Cañas conjures an unforgettable, wicked tale so compelling and cinematically evocative that readers will talk about it for years to come. It’s haunting and gory. Fierce and uncanny.Continue Reading

Review: Feral and Hysterical by Sadie Hartmann

Cemetery Dance OnlineOctober 13, 2025October 7, 2025ReviewsFeral and Hysterical, Mother Horror, Reviews, Rowan B. Minor, Sadie HartmannLeave a comment

cover of Feral and Hysterical Feral and Hysterical by Sadie Hartmann
Page Street Publishing (August 2025)
Reviewed by Rowan B. Minor

Sadie Hartmann, also known as Mother Horror, is a writer and editor from the Pacific Northwest. She is the co-owner of the horror fiction subscription company Night Worms and has been the editor-in-chief of her own horror fiction imprint, Dark Hart Books. Hartmann is a 2023 Bram Stoker Awards Winner for her book 101 Horror Books to Read Before You’re Murdered from Page Street Publishing. Her most recent book is Feral and Hysterical: Mother Horror’s Ultimate Reading Guide to Dark and Disturbing Fiction by Women, also from Page Street Publishing.Continue Reading

Review: The Witch of Willow Sound by Vanessa F. Penney

Cemetery Dance OnlineOctober 10, 2025October 7, 2025ReviewsReviews, Rowan B. Minor, The Witch of Willow Sound, Vanessa F. PenneyLeave a comment

Cover of The Witch of Willow Sound The Witch of Willow Sound by Vanessa F. Penney
ECW Press (September 2025)
Reviewed by Rowan B. Minor

Vanessa F. Penney is a new author who was born in northern Newfoundland and raised in rural Nova Scotia. Currently living in Dartmouth, NS, she is most inspired by “the coal-black ocean depths and bone-buried shorelines of the East Coast.” The Witch of Willow Sound is her debut novel. Continue Reading

Review: The Widows of Winding Gale by Kealan Patrick Burke

Cemetery Dance OnlineOctober 7, 2025October 6, 2025ReviewsDave Simms, Earthling Halloween Series, Earthling Publications, Kealan Patrick Burke, Reviews, The Widows of Winding GaleLeave a comment

Cover of The Widows of Winding Gale The Widows of Winding Gale by Kealan Patrick Burke
Earthling Publications (October 2025)
Reviewed by Dave Simms

For those readers who have read Kealan Patrick Burke, a familiarity with gorgeous writing is a given. The stories themselves are varied, the voices far-ranging, but no matter how far the author stretches his wings, somehow, it all comes back to his style and craft. Like Peter Straub and Gwendolyn Kiste, one knows they are in the midst of a singular voice that entrances. For musicians, the tone of a famous saxophone player or blues guitarist can be unmistakable once the song begins.

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