Reviews Archives - Page 34 of 68 - Cemetery Dance Online

Review: A Little Amber Book of Wicked Shots by Robert McCammon

Cemetery Dance OnlineJune 22, 2020ReviewsA Little Amber Book of Wicked Shots, Blu Gilliand, Borderlands Press, Little Books Series, Reviews, Robert McCammonLeave a comment

cover of A Little Amber Book of Wicked Shots by Robert McCammon A Little Amber Book of Wicked Shots by Robert McCammon
Borderlands Press (Spring 2020)
146 pages; $30 limited edition signed & numbered hardcover (750 copies; sold out)
Reviewed by Blu Gilliand

Borderlands Press has a built an outstanding back catalog of titles with its Little Books Series, attracting an array of legendary-or-heading-there authors including Charles L. Grant, Jack Ketchum, Josh Malerman, Sarah Pinborough, Caitlin R. Kiernan, and a host of others. These tend to sell out quickly—including the entry we’re looking at today, A Little Amber Book of Wicked Shots by Robert McCammon. So, while today’s review may not serve as a call for you to rush out and buy this book—I mean, I ain’t sellin’ mine, and I doubt many others will, either—let it be a lesson for you to get on the Borderlands Press mailing list so you can start grabbing these titles when they are released.Continue Reading

Review: All the Dead Men by Errick Nunnally

Cemetery Dance OnlineJune 19, 2020June 19, 2020ReviewsA.E. Siraki, Alexander Smith, All the Dead Men, Errick Nunnally, Reviews, Twisted PublishingLeave a comment

cover of All the Dead Men by Errick Nunnally All the Dead Men by Errick Nunnally
Twisted Publishing (July 20, 2020)
252 pages; $18 paperback
Reviewed by A.E. Siraki

All the Dead Men is the sequel to Blood for the Sun by Errick Nunnally, both recently re-issued by Haverhill House Publishing. This is a werewolf novel, but it’s unique not only because the protagonist comes from a mixed-race background (he comes from a black father and a mother from the Kainai nation of Saskatchewan in Canada), but also suffers from a condition like Alzheimer’s. The thing that struck me must about Alexander Smith, the protagonist, when we first meet him is the way his scent power works with analysis of clues to solve murders. Trigger warning: those who have issues with harm against children should be aware that Blood for the Sun starts off with it, and it continues in the next book as well. Continue Reading

Review: The Neon Owl (Book I): When the Shit Hits the Van by Chad Lutzke

Cemetery Dance OnlineJune 15, 2020June 15, 2020ReviewsChad Lutzke, Mother Horror, Reviews, Sadie Hartmann, The Neon OwlLeave a comment

The Neon Owl (Book I): When the Shit Hits the Van by Chad Lutzke
Independently Published (January 2020)
168 pages; $8.99 paperback; $2.99 e-book
Reviewed by Sadie Hartmann

Showing up for a Chad Lutzke story is a resignation of emotional preservation. You come to engage with the words on the page with your heart fully exposed and a willingness to let Lutzke do as he wishes. More often than not, the book will end on a note that breaks your heartstrings and leaves the reader with a nasty bookish hangover.

The Neon Owl is a bit of a departure from the usual agreement and I loved it! This story manages to put a big grin on your face instead of streaking your cheeks with tears and I’m not mad about it.Continue Reading

Review: The Lost Memories of Freddy Frehling by James Newman

Cemetery Dance OnlineJune 10, 2020June 9, 2020ReviewsIn Your Face Books, James Newman, Mother Horror, Reviews, Sadie Hartmann, The Lost Memories of Freddy FrehlingLeave a comment

The Lost Memories of Freddy Frehling by James Newman
In Your Face Books (January 2020)
32 pages; $0.99 e-book
Reviewed by Sadie “Mother Horror”Hartmann

It’s tricky to review a short story of just thirty-two pages. My primary objectives here are to make readers aware of this title, and to praise the work of James Newman.

The Lost Memories of Freddy Frehling is a story about the feelings adult children have for their parents. Continue Reading

Review: Fishing by P. Gardner Goldsmith

Cemetery Dance OnlineJune 8, 2020ReviewsFishing, Kevin Lucia, P. Gardner Goldsmith, Reviews, Shadowridge PressLeave a comment

cover of Fishing by P. Gardner Goldsmith Fishing by P. Gardner Goldsmith
Shadowridge Press (February 2017)
132 pages; $10.99 paperback
Reviewed by Kevin Lucia

P. Gardner Goldsmith’s Fishing is a hallucinatory, Kafka-esque, surreal ride which invokes reflections of Charles Beaumont and Rod Serling by way of Ray Garton and even Richard Laymon. Gardner’s terse, tightly-controlled prose thrums with drive and energy, and even though it’s precise and efficient, it occasionally breaks out into a lyricism invoking ghosts of Ray Bradbury himself.Continue Reading

Review: White Pines by Gemma Amor

Cemetery Dance OnlineJune 5, 2020June 4, 2020ReviewsGemma Amor, Mother Horror, Reviews, Sadie Hartmann, White PinesLeave a comment

White Pines by Gemma Amor
Independently Published (March 2020)
442 pages; $16 paperback; $3 e-book
Reviewed by Sadie Hartmann

I like that the synopsis of White Pines is short and ambiguous. I’d like to leave it that way. I’m going to do my best to share my reading experience without disclosing important plot details in order to protect “reader discovery.”Continue Reading

Review: Eden by Tim Lebbon

Cemetery Dance OnlineJune 1, 2020May 31, 2020ReviewsEden, Kevin Lucia, Reviews, Tim Lebbon, Titan BooksLeave a comment

cover of Eden by Tim Lebbon Eden by Tim Lebbon
Titan Books (April 2020)
384 pages; $11.99 paperback; $8.99 e-book
Reviewed by Kevin Lucia

It’s amazing how quickly nature overcomes what man has built. During quarantine, I’ve spent hours walking paths in the woods I haven’t for years, visiting old camping spots, and one spot in particular: a clearing near a creek where, five years ago, we built a fire pit with cinder-blocks, erected a small, portable charcoal grill, and built several wooden tables and chairs.Continue Reading

Review: These Evil Things We Do by Mick Garris

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 28, 2020May 27, 2020ReviewsCinestate, Fangoria, Mick Garris, Mother Horror, Reviews, Sadie Hartmann, These Evil Things We DoLeave a comment

These Evil Things We Do by Mick Garris
Fangoria/Cinestate (May 2020)
$9.99 e-book
Reviewed by Sadie Hartmann

I’m going to go with total honesty and transparency by revealing that I didn’t know who Mick Garris even was when I accepted the review copy from the team at Cinestate/FANGORIA. I just read whatever they give me because it’s always entertaining; if not amazing.

After finishing the first three stories of These Evil Things We Do and feeling totally blown away by how much I had enjoyed them, I decided to look this Mick Garris guy up on Google.

Oh.

Mick Garris is kind of a big deal.Continue Reading

Review: watch the whole goddamned thing burn by doungjai gam

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 26, 2020May 27, 2020Reviewsdoungjai gam, Kevin Lucia, Nightscape Press, Reviews, watch the whole goddamned thing burn downLeave a comment

cover of watch the whole goddamned thing burn watch the whole goddamned thing burn by doungjai gam
Nightscape Press (May 2020)
50 pages; $30 Limited Edition
Reviewed by Kevin Lucia

If you’ve read doungjai gam’s glass slipper dreams, shattered and savored that collection’s wonderfully raw emotion, then her recent novella from Nightscape Press—llustrated by the immensely talented Luke Spooner—is a must buy. In it, gam takes all of the intensity and power of her verse and packs it into prose, weaving a highly emotional and devastating tale which will leave you gasping for breath and, quite possibly, weeping at its end.Continue Reading

Review: The Horror Writer: A Study of Craft and Identity in the Horror Genre edited by Joe Mynhardt

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 21, 2020May 20, 2020ReviewsDave Simms, Hellbound Books, Joe Mynhardt, Reviews, The Horror WriterLeave a comment

cover of The Horror Writer The Horror Writer: A Study of Craft and Identity in the Horror Genre edited by Joe Mynhardt
Hellbound Books (January 2020)
216 pages; $14.99 paperback; $4.99 e-book
Reviewed by Dave Simms

Books on writing have been churned out by the dozens, and while many have been worthy reads, few have been standouts. In the horror genre, even fewer come to mind, although there are a few classics.

Joe Mynhardt has compiled a wonderful, useful, and frightening insight into the minds of some of the best dark minds writing today. It’s like someone tore straight into the souls of these authors and culled their best, and darkest secrets.Continue Reading

Review: Tales of the Lost Vol. 1: We All Lose Something! edited by Eugene Johnson and Steve Dillon

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 15, 2020ReviewsDave Simms, Reviews, Tales of the Lost, We All Lose SomethingLeave a comment

cover of Tales of the Lost We All Lose Something Tales of the Lost Vol. 1: We All Lose Something! edited by Eugene Johnson and Steve Dillon
Things in the Well (December 2019)
283 pages; $15 paperback; $3 e-book
Reviewed by Dave Simms

Horror anthologies seem to be emerging like gremlins dunked in fetid water these days. While some are stellar, others fill up the pages with reprints from the greats, and some just fall through the cracks because the authors within aren’t household names.Continue Reading

Review: The Best of Both Worlds by S. P. Miskowski

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 13, 2020May 13, 2020ReviewsDave Simms, JournalStone, Reviews, S.P. Miskowski, The Best of Both Worlds, Trepidatio PressLeave a comment

cover of The Best of Both Worlds The Best of Both Worlds by S.P. Miskowski
Trepidatio Publishing (May 2020)
80 pages; $9.95 paperback; $4.95 e-book
Reviewed by Dave Simms

Skillute is one of those towns that has quickly become one to remember in horror fiction. It’s creeping like a tainted tide, inspired by Oxrun Station from Charlie Grant and Cedar Hill from Gary Braunbeck. The land has been poisoned, seeping into the soil of a town that should be long forgotten, but things that refuse to die grasp hold of the frayed threads of reality in this Pacific Northwestern hell. Good people still reside there, and S.P. Miskowski has made them pawns in her playground, a setting that never can shed the shadows which infect everything that breathes within.Continue Reading

Review: The Ancestor by Danielle Trussoni

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 11, 2020May 4, 2020ReviewsDanielle Trussoni, Mother Horror, Reviews, Sadie Hartmann, The AncestorLeave a comment

The Ancestor by Danielle Trussoni
William Morrow (April 2020)
368 pages; $19.61 hardcover; $14.99 e-book
Reviewed by Sadie Hartmann

I have never wanted to live in the pages of a horror novel as much as I did while reading The Ancestor. Alberta Montebianco lives a stressful, emotionally complicated lifestyle in New York. With almost magical timing, a letter shows up addressed to her but with a new title in front of her name— “Countess.” As it turns out, Alberta discovers that she is possibly the sole, living heir to a noble title, and a castle in Turin, Italy.Continue Reading

Review: The Darkling Halls of Ivy edited by Lawrence Block

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 7, 2020May 6, 2020ReviewsBlu Gilliand, Lawrence Block, Reviews, Subterranean Press, The Darkling Halls of IvyLeave a comment

Cover of The Darkling Halls of Ivy The Darkling Halls of Ivy edited by Lawrence Block
Subterranean Press (May 2020)
328 pages; $50 limited edition hardcover
Reviewed by Blu Gilliand

A life in academia always struck me as a somewhat safe, even enviable career choice. I mean, what could be so bad about a career dedicated to increasing knowledge—your own, and that of others? What could be bad about a workplace where you’re surrounded by books and intelligent colleagues, and you’re encouraged to pursue whatever niche interest catches your eye?

Turns out there’s a lot that can be bad about it. Continue Reading

Review: The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 5, 2020May 6, 2020ReviewsMother Horror, Reviews, Sadie Hartmann, Stephen Graham Jones, The Only Good IndiansLeave a comment

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones
Gallery/Saga Press (July 14, 2020)
320 pages: $20.63 hardcover; $12.99 e-book
Reviewed by Sadie “Mother Horror” Hartmann

I read an interview with Stephen Graham Jones where he said, “I just figure I am Blackfeet, so every story I tell’s going to be Blackfeet.” (Uncanny Magazine/Julia Rios)

This one, simple statement is manifested in SGJ’s body of work; each book wildly different from the last, but distinctly identifiable as his own because they bear his fingerprints, unique storytelling voice and personal context.Continue Reading

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