{"id":20009,"date":"2025-08-06T07:00:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T11:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/?p=20009"},"modified":"2025-08-05T22:29:33","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T02:29:33","slug":"review-october-dark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-october-dark\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: October Dark by Ron Terranova"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/m.media-amazon.com\/images\/I\/512Vf+6XkDL._SL1360_.jpg\" alt=\"cover of October Dark\" width=\"262\" height=\"405\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/October-Dark-Ron-Terranova\/dp\/1977275443\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>October Dark<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>\u00a0by Ron Terranova<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Outskirts Press (July 2024)<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Reviewed by Rowan B. Minor<\/strong><br \/>\n<\/span><i><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ron Terranova is a writer of novels, short stories, and poetry from Huntington Beach, California. His work has been published in <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chiron Review<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and he is author of two novels: <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Red Wing Chronicles<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I, Polyphemus<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Terranova\u2019s most recent book, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">October Dark<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, is a book of short horror stories that center around nihilism, dark noir, absurdism, and macabre humor. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">October Dark<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which follows books <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">October Light<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">October Twilight<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, is the third book in Terranova\u2019s dark fiction trilogy. The stories in <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">October Dark<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are 3 to 17 pages long and are all set in the month of October.\u00a0<\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While this collection is a simple read with no overtly complex plots or characters, it is also slow and stagnant, with some increasing tension in each story. Found within these stories are vivid descriptions and interesting concepts that force characters to fight for survival. Some stories, such as \u201cAs Shadows Loom,\u201d tap into a supernatural world, while others, like \u201cClose to Perfect,\u201d encompass plausible, real-world crime. Regardless, these stories will leave readers questioning the intentions of every person they meet. Although nearly all of these stories are completely original ideas, Terranova also has unique takes on familiar horror tropes, such as the grim reaper.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This collection is littered with grammatical and mechanical errors. Many stories seem underdeveloped with potholes and arbitrary rambling and subplots. A few stories, such as \u201cBetter than Death,\u201d are over-saturated with characters and ideas, and might have been more successful as well thought out, thoroughly-plotted novellas. Instead of leaning into the book\u2019s marketed philosophies, the author tends to write absurdly for the sake of being absurd, or includes mention of these philosophies without applying them to his writing style. Clearly the author is inspired by the more grotesque macabre, as this is heavily displayed throughout this collection. In nearly every story there is some uncomfortable reference to excessive, pornographic sex, child death, trophy hunting, kidnapping, pedophilia, and\/or rape. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">October Dark<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> should also probably be avoided by those with religious trauma.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Overall, these stories contain some good ideas with limited potential and subpar execution. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">October Dark<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> might be enjoyed by anyone who likes heinous splatter, as well as those who are close followers of Terranova\u2019s work.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>October Dark\u00a0by 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\u2019s most recent book, October &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-october-dark\/\" class=\"more-link button bg-gold white\">Continue Reading!<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Review: October Dark by Ron Terranova&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[80],"tags":[3452,79,3453,3226],"class_list":["post-20009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","tag-october-dark","tag-reviews","tag-ron-terranova","tag-rowan-b-minor"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Review: October Dark by Ron Terranova - Cemetery Dance Online<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Rowan B. 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