Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: Roam by Erik Therme 
Roam by Erik Therme
Self-Published (January 2017)
244 pages; $9.99 paperback; $2.99 e-book
Reviewed by Josh Black
Roam, Erik Therme’s third novel, begins in deceptively typical fashion. A broken down car, and a couple of kids with no cell reception. Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: The Goat Parade by Peter Dudar 
The Goat Parade by Peter Dudar
Grinning Skull Press (March 2018)
300 pages; $23.58 paperback; $3.99 e-book
Reviewed by Dave Simms
Peter Dudar hit the scene hard with his Stoker finalist A Requiem For Dead Flies, offering a style that evoked the best of Bentley Little and Rick Hautula. He returns with The Goat Parade, a novel that hits the gas full throttle in a thrilling supernatural tale that might remind readers of some other guy from Maine.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: The Boulevard Monster by Jeremy Hepler 
The Boulevard Monster by Jeremy Hepler
Bloodshot Books (April 2017)
300 pages; $14.99 paperback; $3.99 e-book
Reviewed by Chad Lutzke
Once in a while I’ll start a review with some poetic prose plucked from the pages to give the reader an idea of the skills the writer may possess. The Boulevard Monster has none of that. Instead, it’s a straightforward, entertaining story with a thrilling Koontz-ish vibe…and the best book I’ve read so far this year. There’s good reason it was nominated for a Stoker award. Hepler’s no-filler prose is designed to simply tell a story with no literary glitter, which makes perfect sense considering the protagonist. Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion by Margaret Killjoy 
The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion by Margaret Killjoy
Tor Books (August 2017)
130 pages, $10.39 paperback; $3.99 e-book
Reviewed by Anton Cancre
Brace yourself for this one, friendos, because it gets pretty weird here. I know. I know. Whodathunk a book about crustpunks that summon a demonic deer to protect their squat only to have the demondeer turn on them would be weird. Odd how that works.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: Slashvivor! by Stephen Kozeniewski and Stevie Kopas 
Slashvivor! by Stephen Kozeniewski and Steve Kopas
Sinister Grin Press (September 2017)
296 pages; $16.99 paperback, $3.99 e-book
Reviewed by Frank Michaels Errington
It’s 1983. An accidental nuclear war has left the U.S. with just 1% of its former 234 million residents. Stephen Kozeniewski and Stevie Kopas have created such a world and have decided to have some fun with it. Take for example the tagline for the TV ads for Albino Al’s Discount Surplus: “Come on down! It’s not illegal. In the Geiger Lands, nothing is!”Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: Unbury Carol by Josh Malerman 
Unbury Carol by Josh Malerman
Del Rey (April 10, 2018)
384 pages; $24.54 hardcover; $12.99 e-book
Reviewed by Blu Gilliand
I had certain expectations for Unbury Carol. That was foolish. I should know by now, after reading much of Josh Malerman’s output (except, somehow, the one that got everybody talking about him to begin with: Bird Box), that he is not going to deliver the expected. So, when I allowed the title and the synopsis and the cover to lead me to expectations of a western/horror hybrid that would be a dark cross between a fairy tale and a Hammer movie…well, I should have known that wasn’t what I was going to get.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: Skyjack by K.J. Howe 
Skyjack by K.J. Howe
Quercus (April 10, 2018)
400 pages; $26.99 hardcover; $12.99 e-book
Reviewed by Dave Simms
Last year’s surprise thriller by K.J. Howe, The Freedom Broker, hit the field hard, introducing both a razor sharp writer and a series featuring Thea Paris, a character tough enough to stand toe-to-toe with Reacher and Repairman Jack. The kidnap and rescue team delves into dark territories that combine the thriller aspects with a character development rarely found in the genre.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: Witches by Donna Lynch and Steven Archer 
Witches by Donna Lynch and Steven Archer
Raw Dog Screaming Press (March 2018)
66 pages, $23.06 paperback
Reviewed by Anton Cancre
I never read Daughters of Lilith, the previous literary/artistic collaboration between Donna Lynch and Steven Archer. Why have I never read it? Seriously, because Witches is a wonderful, odd bit of joy in the world.
Let’s start with the obvious: $25 is a bit intimidating when looking at a book of poetry, especially one this short. But, as much as it feels weird saying these words in this specific order, this is more than just a book of poetry. It is also more than just a book of art. It’s the combination of the two and how they mesh and interact to create something that, to beg forgiveness for the cliché, is much more than the sum of its parts.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories Reviews1 Comment on Review: The Nightmare Room by Chris Sorensen 
The Nightmare Room by Chris Sorensen
Harmful Monkey Press (January 2018)
274 pages; $10.99 paperback, $2.99 e-book
Reviewed by Frank Michaels Errington
At it’s heart, The Nightmare Room (The Messy Man Series Book 1) is a ghost story and a very good one to boot. Here’s a killer opening line for you…
The boy woke to the sound of his screams.Continue Reading
Where Nightmares Come From: The Art of Storytelling in the Horror Genre by Joe Mynhardt & Eugene Johnson
Crystal Lake Publishing (November 2017)
368 pages; $16.99 paperback; $3.99 e-book
Reviewed by Dave Simms
Books on writing usually bring on the snoozes, even from the authors who read them. Of course, exceptions exist, like the one from the King guy and Morrell and Steve and Melanie Tem, but reading most of these kinds of books feels like dragging eyeballs across sandpaper.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: Down There & Others by Keith Minnion 
Down There & Others by Keith Minnion
White Noise Press (2017)
206 pages; $10.99 paperback; $3.99 e-book
Reviewed by Dave Simms
Sometimes, people excel in multiple creative fields, displaying talents many would kill for. Folks such as Neil Gaiman, Joe Hill, Clive Barker, and the author of this collection, Keith Minnion. Those familiar with the iconic magazine Cemetery Dance will recognize the name as the most innovative illustrator in each issue. Those who picked up the Stephen King/Richard Chizmar bestseller of last year, Gwendy’s Button Box, might notice the illustrations in that book look familiar. Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: Mapping the Interior by Stephen Graham Jones 
Mapping the Interior by Stephen Graham Jones
Tor (2017)
112 pages; $7.07 paperback; $1.99 e-book
Reviewed by Chad Lutzke
Mr. Jones doesn’t know it yet, but we have a lot in common. When writing, we both dig deep for the little boy inside that’s packed full of maybe too much emotion, then put him in a situation where maybe we could never survive ourselves; maybe we wouldn’t want to even try. Then dig deeper still for all that hurt and confusion from our own lives invested in this and that, take it and use it in stories that are meant to do much more than entertain, but to touch people, make them consider. Mapping the Interior does that perfectly.Continue Reading
If You Died Tomorrow I Would Eat Your Corpse by Wrath James White
CLASH Books (February 2018)
100 pages, $13.95 paperback; $5.95 e-book
Reviewed by Anton Cancre
I know poetry fans are a fairly small subset. Fans of extreme horror poetry even more so. Once we cut (CUT—Ha! See what I did there?) that down to fans of extreme horror erotic poetry, we’ve got Steve. Maybe Jessica. Clearly, Leza is. But I’m pretty sure those three bought this the second it came out. The question is how to convince the rest of you.
Because If You Died Tomorrow is just solid poetry, regardless of your personal proclivities.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: Here’s to My Sweet Satan by George Case 
Here’s to My Sweet Satan: How the Occult Haunted Music, Movies and Pop Culture, 1966-1980 by George Case
Quill Driver Books (March 2016)
210 pages; $16.67 paperback; $8.69 e-book
Reviewed by R.B. Payne
“1971. I drop the turntable needle onto black vinyl and slip on headphones. I lounge on the waterbed. Later, after a few hits off the hash pipe, I play “Stairway to Heaven” in reverse. There, among the eerily garbled sounds, I detect a mysterious incantation:
Here’s to my sweet Satan/The one whose little path would make me sad, whose power is Satan/He will give those with him 666/There was a little toolshed where he made us suffer, sad Satan.
The world spins darkly, I fall asleep.”Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: Nightmare’s Eve by Stephen H. Provost 
Nightmare’s Eve by Stephen H. Provost
Black Raven Books (February 2018)
266 pages; $13.95 paperback
Reviewed by R.B. Payne
Presented for your consideration are sixteen Twilight Zone-inspired tales and ten dark poems in Nightmare’s Eve by Stephen H. Provost. Paying homage to Rod Serling, these stories are told in a highly omniscient style that slips between character point of view and occasional god-like narration. Generally this approach provides a satisfying read but this stylistic choice comes at the cost of emotional depth in some of the stories.Continue Reading
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