Horror World Book Reviews
May, 2010
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BLACK WINGS: NEW TALES OF LOVECRAFTIAN HORROR; edited by S. T. Joshi; PS Publishing; 2010; 464 pgs; $40.00
I am a huge fan of H. P. Lovecraft and of the tales written by others inspired by, and those that build upon, his wonderful, weird world of cosmic horror. Yet I must say that I only like such stories if they’re actually good and as much as I love the Cthulhu Mythos, also known as the Lovecraft Mythos to some, there are a whole lot of really bad stories based on Lovecraft’s works. However when such tales are good there is nothing more icky, awe inspiring, mind blowing, or disturbing. Luckily for all us Lovecraft aficionados this newest collection of authors playing in the huge, lantern-jawed shadow cast by Uncle Howard was headed up by S. T. Joshi, a man who has chronicled the life and works of HPL for years. So if there’s anyone that knows what it takes it make a good Lovecraftian story, it’s got to be Joshi and he proves that with this anthology of twenty-one terror tales wrapped up in a beautiful looking tome with Big Daddy C proudly displayed on the front cover. Ok, pedigree and good looks aside, let’s get to the stories.
Black Wings runs the gambit from pastiches, to “sort of” sequels to some of HPL’s stories, to tales that just use the feel and flavor of Lovecraft as seasoning for their own well cooked nightmares. Oddly enough, whatever their take, all of the stories work well, something I found as a delightful surprise. Even the couple of stories that have H. P. Lovecraft mentioned in them as someone that wrote his weird tales from real life as opposed to his own creative genius I liked quite a lot, and usually I hate such things. The point is that no matter what kind of Lovecraft fan you are, there’s going to be stories in this book that speak to you.
Do you love HPL’s flesh eating ghouls? Well then you are in luck as there are a number of tales here that pick up where “Pickman’s Model” left off, most notably Caitlin R. Kierman’s “Pickman’s Other Model (1929)” which I thought was fantastic. Another story I really dug uses Lovecraft’s lesser known “The Hound” as a jumping off point, that tale being Nicholas Royle’s “Rotterdam”. David J. Schow is an author that has written many stories that I’ve loved forever, but his is not a name I would have thought of if someone came up to me and said, “name some Lovecraftian writers.” Well I’m going to have to rethink that because his “Denker’s Book” was a wonderful addition to the Lovecraft milieu, yet it still sings with Mr. Schow’s very distinct voice. If you read my review of Michal Shea’s collection titled Copping Squid that I did right here in March then you will already know that I adore all of Mr. Shea’s mythos tales. Well for those that missed that book you’re in luck, Black Wings has the short story “Coping Squid” within its pages so you now have no reason not to read that cool and creepy tale of cosmic and urban horrors coming together to form a Reese’s cup of nightmarish goodness.
Damn it all to R’lyeh, there are so many other great stories to highlight, but I’m running out of space to do it in. So here are some titles of stories the I really enjoyed tossed at you lickety split style: “Lesser Demons” by Norman Partridge; Michael Marshall Smith’s “Substitutions”; “Engravings” by Joseph S. Pulver, Sr.; Jonathan Thomas’ “Tempting Providence”; and of course the always enlightening Ramsey Campbell with his “The Correspondence of Cameron Thaddeus Nash.”
If you are a Lovecraft lover, a Mythos maven, or even an old Cthulhuhead like me, then I am sure you’ll like each and every story found within these Black Wings. I’ll even go so far as to say that you might love some, I know I did.
-- Brian M. Sammons
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WITHIN HIS REACH by Steve Gerlach; Tasmaniac Publications; 2010; 107 pgs.; $14.00
Whenever I’m presented a story in which the author proclaims he’s penned as a tribute to The Twilight Zone, I am positive of one thing before starting it… that it will inevitably contain a “gotcha” , or a “holy cow!” moment, at or near the end of the piece. This isn’t a negative for me, after all, who doesn’t fondly recall watching all of those twilight episodes and wondering how the screenwriter was going to place that ironic twist at the end of the tale. The only thing I am not certain of when reading an author’s homage to Rod Serling’s series, is whether the story can live up to the high standards Serling demanded for his scripts. Within His Reach is Steve Gerlach’s tribute to the man and his show, and I am pleased to report that Gerlach has done an outstanding job with this novella; it could have easily been the basis for a Twilight Zone script.
Gerlach gives us Arnold Enright, a man suffering badly from polio. It’s the early 1950’s, when drug stores still had fountains and pay phones. It was a time when people drove Oldsmobile Starfires and women usually wore dresses or skits. But unfortunately, it was also an era where polio was rampant, and the treatment for advanced cases was to place the patients in an iron lung. And that’s where we meet Arnold, during his sixth year occupying his metallic prison.
Saying that Arnold has it bad is a gross understatement. His pregnant wife left him only a short time after he was placed in the iron lung, and he has never seen his daughter. His wife had been kind enough to send him a few pictures over the years of his young girl, and he has them placed above his head so he can continually gaze at them and wonder how she turned out. Or if she even knows of him. Of course, Arnold has become bitter of his situation, and he cannot stop thinking the worst about his wife for leaving him and for never bringing his daughter to the hospital to see him. Even suicide is not an option to help him forget his problems as he has no control of his body from the neck down.
Then one day, Arnold learns from his doctor that there is a new medical procedure that may be able to help him. He quickly agrees, and the doctor performs the operation.
When Arnold wakes up from the procedure, he inexplicably finds himself on a park bench.
To his amazement, he’s breathing on his own, he can feel his body, and learns that he can walk again. He is jubilant to say the least, but confused as to why he’s on the bench. Things get even stranger though; he discovers that he is alone in the park, and there doesn’t seem to be anyone else he can see mulling around outside the park. When he strikes off to find others, he is at first startled to realize he’s in his hometown, but then soon becomes excited at the prospect of visiting his home and finally getting to meet his daughter. Now if this were an actual Twilight Zone story, this is where that eerie jingle would kick in and the camera would pan on Arnold’s face before we went to a commercial.
As you can guess, we learn quickly that things are not what they seem and Arnold makes one sad discovery after another. The oddest of them is a strange, low flying aircraft with uniformed men on a railing that slowly cruises over the town watching all that goes on below them. To write anymore about Arnold’s plight would be to give too much away, but I will say, that sometimes when wishes are granted, they don’t always turn out the way it’s expected.
Steve Gerlach has hit the ball out of the park with Within His Reach. He has done an outstanding job following the basic tenets of a Twilight Zone story by keeping the tale thought provoking, morally positive, entertaining, and downright spooky. Fans of Gerlach who are accustomed to his more extreme horror tales will be surprised, there’s not a bloody hammer to be found anywhere in this story, in fact, there’s not an ounce of gore or extreme violence to be found on any of the pages. Here’s hoping that he continues to write more work in this vein.
Within His Reach is another superb offering from Tasmaniac Publications. Their affordable trade paperback line of releases with their glossy and stunning covers, signed author sheets, interior artwork, and high quality paper, should be a model for all small presses. If you haven’t picked up a Tasmaniac book yet, you owe it to yourself to give it a shot, and Within His Reach would be a great way to introduce yourself to this publisher.
--T. T. Zuma
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DWELLER by Jeff Strand; Dorchester Publishing ; 2010; 292 pgs.; $7.99
Hyper-imaginative misfit Toby Floren stumbles upon an orphaned monster in the woods close to his home. What starts as something horrifying eventually sets the beginning of a lifelong relationship as “Owen”, as the kid baptizes it, becomes Toby’s only friend. Their bond is further strengthened on a fateful day when Owen comes to Toby´s aid after an encounter with two bullies that goes terribly wrong. This will become the turning point in Toby’s life, a downhill spiral where the ever present Owen will be Toby´s only way to vent his anger, frustration and depression.
Jeff Strand has been around for quite a while, but many will remember him for his incredible novel Pressure (in this reviewer’s opinion one of the best books he has ever read). Pressure was a nail-biting unstoppable page-turner. It was brutal and disturbing.
Dweller is not Pressure. However, this isn’t a problem at all. There’s a very simple reason for these two novels to be so different from each other. Dweller features a monster, yet it isn’t a horror novel. Dweller features murder and mayhem (though very limited) and a perpetual risk of harm and death, yet it isn’t a thriller. Dweller is more of a drama. It is a story about an impossible friendship around which revolves humiliation, failure, despair, yet also hope.
Is it a page-turner? Certainly. Is it disturbing? For sure.
Telling a story that spans 70 years in a man’s life is no easy thing to do, but Strand succeeds. He takes us by the hand year after year and makes us want to scream at every bad decision Toby makes, makes us laugh (man, do we laugh) at every witty comment, makes us root for Toby whenever he seems to catch a break. Many readers will find they can easily identify with Toby at some stage of his life and that is what makes it so effective. He feels real, and so does the bond he shares with Owen. This is why we can understand why he won’t just leave the creature despite how wrong things turn.
Dweller is heart-breaking, yet hilarious. Yes it has some flaws (there were times where the humor dose made Toby appear younger than he actually is, especially during his teen years, I kept thinking of him as a child) but these won’t hinder the experience. A certain hit from author Strand. Highly recommended.
-- César Puch
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BRAINS: A ZOMBIE MEMOIR by Robin Becker; EOS Books; 2010; 192 pgs; $13.99
Zomedies, a combination of zombie tale and comedy, are certainly the big thing right now. Be it in books, movies, or video games, everyone seems to want laughs mixed in with the living dead. Really it’s nothing new, even the original zombie master, George Romero, had some slapstick in his seminal film; Dawn Of The Dead. Yet that movie and all of the memorable and best zomedies ever made all had one thing in common, something that bad zombie comedies don’t. I’m not talking about ghouls and guffaws, that’s a given. No I’m talking about a good, well written and story. A fresh approach, a unique turn of events, and most importantly of all, great characters the reader can relate to and care for as opposed to disposable cardboard cutouts just waiting to get eaten. Thankfully Brains has a good story with some neat twists and great characters you’ll come to love…even if they’re all zombies. That’s right, the protagonist and his pals are all undead, and while some stories have been told from the zombie point of view before, this one is different. These zombies have brains.
The story starts with one Dr. Stein (first name and middle initial ‘Frank N.’ I wonder?) looking to build a better human through the wonders of genetics and virus. Gee, what could go wrong with that? Well naturally everything does and soon the world is in the middle of a full blown zombie apocalypse. Enter Jack Barnes, a likable college professor that all too soon becomes a member of the undead masses. However, unlike 99% of his fellow zombies, Jake retains the power of thought and the ability to read. Yet Jack is still a zombie, so he craves the one thing that all zombies crave ever since Return Of The Living Dead came out; warm, living, luscious brains. That and the answers to two of life’s great mysteries, why is he here and what is the meaning on his un-life? While us poor living folks can only ponder these questions, Jack is bound and determined to get the answers right from the source. So he sets off on a cross country journey to meet his maker. No, he’s not after God; he’s off to find Dr. Stein. Along the way, Jack will encounter other thinking zombies, each with their own unique gifts. This ragtag group will become friends in a very harsh world and will soldier on, overcoming adversities such as human zombie hunters, other zombies of the non-thinking variety, and the constant craving for the cerebrum that always threatens to get them into trouble.
I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a funny, adventurous romp through a zombie infested America as long as they don’t mind some gruesome bits or take the zombie genre too seriously. In a word, Brains was fun. Now I could use other words to describe it, such as hilarious, charming, zombielicious, and most surprising of all, touching. But fun is just the right word for this book. I had a blast reading it. I really loved Brains. I couldn’t get enough Brains. When I was done I just wanted more Brains. Take it from me, you need Brains. Go out today and get yourself Brains. I bet you’ll be glad you did.
--Brian M. Sammons
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51 FIENDISH WAYS TO LEAVE YOUR LOVER by Lisa Mannetti & Illustrated by Glenn Chadbourne; Bad Moon Books; 2010; 117 pgs; $15.95
Fresh off winning the Stoker award for Best First Novel last year, Lisa Mannetti gives both the horror world and romantically challenged, a fun, dark romp which serves as great therapy for anyone who has dated someone who might serve humanity better by sleeping six feet underground. We’ve all been there. We’ve all wanted to dish out demonic, sick, disturbingly funny yet wholly satisfying “remedies” to our ex-lovers tore our souls out and beat the living hell out of them with our hearts. Mannetti gives us a little fantasy time here.
P.D. Cacek opens the volume with a foreword and poem, “To My Love,” which sets the tone. Mannetti sounds like she’s been there and survived, with a few scars, in her introduction. The line, “A little healthy venom – dispensed by you – is a good thing” sums up the 51 ways to use your “inalienable right” to “send the monstrosity packing.”
As for the details of the “fiendish ways,” I won’t kill any of the surprise, as each will tickle the funny, yet evil bone we all have (either inside us or taken from someone who turned just a little psycho on us or left us in the cold – yeah, I felt her pain – big time). Let’s just say that voodoo, dildos, leprosy, and funerals are all fair game here.
As for the illustrations, Glenn Chadbourne displays his mastery on all 51 ways. For those unfamiliar with his work, check it out on the amazing Secretary Of Dreams (the Stephen King graphic collection) and special editions by Joe Lansdale, Ray Garton, Rick Hautala, Chris Golden, and James Moore. If Mannetti’s words don’t elicit a chuckle or shiver, Chadbourne’s illustrations surely will.
Highly recommended for anyone who has ever felt the burn of a scorched heart and wished to deal with that bitch/bastard in a totally legal fantasy world. Mine will be worn out in no time.
-- Dave Simms
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DEADFALL by Shaun Jeffrey; Leucrota Press; 260 pgs; 2010; $9.95
Shaun Jeffrey is back with a vengeance. After killing us with suspense in his last novel, The Kult, he’s returned to the horror genre, armed with blood, zombies, sexy heroines, and his always in-your-face attitude.
Amber Redgrave is a mercenary with the looks, skills, and sarcastic wit made for movies. You can see Angelina Jolie stepping into this role. When Amber signs on to help rescue two children from a group of kidnappers, that’s when the trouble starts.
Yes, you guessed it - zombie attack. Only it’s not random. Amber and her team quickly find out they’ve been set up. As the novel progresses, she has to battle the living dead while also finding out the who, what, and why of their creation. In the meantime, two animal rights activists stumble into things, and find themselves playing a pivotal role in Amber’s deadly adventure.
Jeffrey is a talented writer, and he’s at the top of his game in this novel, from the non-stop action to the graphically-accurate-and-bloody descriptions of both the zombies’ attacks and their own frequently explosive demises. The finishing touches are the frequent bon mots issued by Amber and her maladjusted group of mercs.
And, if all this isn’t enough, Jeffrey throws some twists in as well, especially having to do with the origin of the zombies.
This book isn’t long by some standards, and it’s such a fast, action-packed read that you’re likely to finish it in one sitting, as I did. And, like me, you’ll probably be hoping for a sequel. Long live Amber!
-- J.G. Faherty
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GHOSTS by Noel Hynd; Damnation Books; 2010; 337 pgs.; $6.95 (download)
When I was given the chance to review this recently re-released version of Ghosts, I jumped at it. Just seeing the title made my mind rush back to when it was originally released in 1993, with one memory in particular making me smile. I was sitting with some friends one evening, enjoying a drink on my deck, when one of them, a woman who taught at the local public school, turned to me and asked me if I had read this new book called Ghosts. This woman knew of my love of horror novels and she would occasionally poke fun of my reading preferences. She told me that not only had she read Ghosts and enjoyed the hell out of it, but she said that it scared the ever-loving crap out of her. I remember thinking it odd that in a time when the “Big Three” horror authors (Stephen King, Peter Straub, and Dean Koonz) ruled the best seller lists, that this non-horror reader choose to read a novel by someone I had never heard of. It piqued my curiosity and I purchased it soon after. To this day I remember my experience reading that novel, by how amazed and captivated I was by it, because my friend was right, it was scary as hell.
Nineteen Ninety Three was an odd year for horror fans; Stephen King had released, Gerald’s Game, Peter Straub gave us The Throat, and Dean Koonz brought out Mr. Murder. All of these were great reads, but to my mind, they were more thrillers than hardcore horror. So, to say the least, I found it amusing when I saw the title of this book…how it took a friend, a school teacher no less, who had never read a contemporary horror novel, to recommend an unknown author who would once again make me afraid of the dark. The big question now is, would I think the same of the novel after 17 had passed?
Ghosts opens wonderfully with one of the main protagonists, the Reverend George Osaro, conducting a local conference where the inhabitants of Nantucket Island recite their own personal ghost stories. In attendance is his good friend, Tim Brooks, a local cop who came to the island to escape the politicking of his previous job as a detective on the mainland. Not only do the stories these attendee’s tell set the tone of what is to follow, it establishes the relationship between Osaro and Brooks, setting the readers up for a pivotal plot point that will occur later in the story. And it also brings to the forefront of the debate the role religion should play in the exploration of the supernatural.
Soon after the conference, there is a violent murder of a girl on the island, and her boyfriend is arrested for the killing. Brooks is convinced the young man did not murder the girl, but he has no proof. Shortly after, there is another death on the island, this time a drowning of a boy, and the body shows the same type of violence that killed the girl. Brooks tries to convince his superiors that the deaths are related, but the police force is unwilling to make the connection between them.
In the meantime, a beautiful Hollywood actress has purchased a house on the island, and while things seem idyllic for her at first, strange things soon start to occur. Objects become displaced in her home, she begins to feel uneasy in the evenings, and one day she witnesses an intruder in her home who had just seemed to vanish before her eyes. Brooks is called in to investigate, and soon a romantic relationship follows. Then a third murder occurs, this one similar to the other two, and it occurs in the basement of the actress’s house. After a time, Brooks, Osaro, and the actress, are doing battle with a malevolent ghost, a demon of sorts, who threatens to not only kill them, but to wreck havoc on everyone else on the island.
Ghosts just may be the scariest supernatural story you will ever read. Noel Hynd’s novel deservingly stands along side Peter Straub’s masterpiece, Ghost Story in terms of the fearful impact it has on a reader. It is one of the most atmospheric, action oriented, and character driven tales of the supernatural I have come across, and it all works together beautifully. And most importantly, the novel is damn frightening. Hynd’s plot is cleverly written, it never resorts to clichéd theatrics, and it assumes that the reader is intelligent; Hynd never talks down to us. And just wait until you get to the ending, you will never see it coming.
So, do I think as much of the novel as I did 17 years ago? Just about. I admit that knowing the ending of the story did take a little bit of the fun out of the rereading, but to tell you the truth, I still found myself sitting up straight in bed in the evening while flying through the pages, my mind filled with a mixture of awe and excitement at the storyline. And you know what? Even knowing how the story unfolds, it still spooked the hell out me after I turned off the lights.
I do have two negative observations to make concerning the re-release however. First off, I’m not sure who edited this (I read the PDF version), but the beginning of the book has too many typo’s that can take a reader right out of the story. For a novel as good as this one is, it deserved a better editing job. Secondly, I think the author went a little too overboard making the story more contemporary, it seemed too painfully obvious at times.
However, those are minor issues and they should not interfere with a reader’s enjoyment of the story, so please, pick up a copy of Ghosts and be prepared to read a fantastic novel of the supernatural that is truly frightening. I can’t recommend this novel enough.
--T. T. Zuma
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TALES OF THE FALLEN: BOOK I: AWAKENINGS By David G. Barnett; Necro Publications; 193 pgs, 2009; $25.00
David G. Barnett is primarily known for creating Necro Publications over fifteen years ago, a small, independent publishing house that does high quality signed, limited editions of books by Joe R. Lansdale, Edward Lee, Gerald Houarner, Charlee Jacob, and many others. What most readers are unaware of is that Mr. Barnett is also a writer. His first anthology of short stories, Dead Souls, was published by Shocklines Press in 2004. Mr. Barnett’s newest book, Tales of the Fallen, came out at the end of 2009 and is made up of three novellas: On Fallen Angels, Daddy Demon’s Day Out, and Sleeper Angels Awaken.
Tales of the Fallen is Book I in a projected series that deal with the battle for heaven and maybe even earth. The good angels fight the bad, while God and Gabriel square off with the winner taking all. Caught in the middle of this battle will be mankind as the bad angels use certain humans to kill off all that is primarily good in humanity. This will certainly give the bad angels a greater edge when the final conflict arises. Let me say right up front that these novellas in Tales of the Fallen are going to be different from anything you’ve ever read before. They’re violent, raunchy, perverted, funny, fast paced, and filled with a deep insight into what the afterlife might actually be. These stories are not to be taken lightly or seen as nothing more than popcorn entertainment in the horror genre, though in many ways that’s exactly what they are. Mr. Barnett has put some serious thought into his concepts of heaven and hell and how mankind ties into it. That said, this book is not for the light-hearted, either, or for readers seeking something along the lines of the Twilight series. David Barnett issues a solid kick to the gut with his precise prose and vivid descriptions of murder, mayhem and utter perversion, while delivering a knockout punch with his poignant take of God and his plans to win back his throne. This book with its collections of novellas goes straight for the jugular and takes no prisoners. In other words, this is exactly the kind of high I needed to feel rejuvenated with the horror genre. Mr. Barnett is a man with a mission, and the reader can either hop on the bus to Armageddon, or risk being left behind.
The first novella, On Fallen Angels, introduces us to Mal Branch, a lowlife, alcoholic, who was set on fire by a mysterious stranger while in a drunken stupor and lying in a street gutter one night. Mal was then miraculously saved by an angel named Gregory, who is of enormous height and has a large, strong-as-hell assistant, Desmond. Professing to be the good guys, Gregory and Desmond proceed to take Mal under their care and to train him so that he can become the best assassin alive. Mal is then given targets to hit, the first one being a school teacher who is loved by everyone who knows her, especially her students. This first killing will have dire consequences down the road for Mal, but he doesn’t know that as he cuts her throat in the classroom with her students watching. Instead, Mal doesn’t question his assignments. He simply kills in the most violent ways imaginable and lives a lonely life of debauchery and self-destruction. It isn’t until he’s given the task of killing Jonas White, a successful, powerful man who seems to do nothing but good things with his company that Mal begins to wonder what it’s all about. The questions, however, multiply ten-fold when he goes to carry out the assassination, only to discover that Jonas White is patiently waiting for him.
Daddy Demon’s Day Out is the second novella. In this story, Travis Bumsfield, who has been performing black magic and sacrificing victims over the years in the hope of calling forth a demon to assist him in avenging the death of his wife, finally gets his wish. The only catch is the demon (Dewanal) that arrives isn’t quite what he expected. This evil entity is damn happy to finally be back amongst the populace so it can enjoy all the addictions that feed the human mind and body. He tells Travis to call him Dew, and refers to the conjurer as Chico. Before Dew will assist Travis in his quest for revenge, he wants to have a man’s night out, getting a cheese steak sandwich, visiting Starbucks, and then heading to the Pain Freak Club to get their tubes cleaned by participating in the most obscene and perverted acts imaginable. That, however, is just the beginning. You see, Travis will finally get his wish granted in the most unexpected way and meet the man who killed his wife so violently…a man who has gone through a major transformation after completing his last killing.
The third novella in this collection is The Sleepers Awaken. An elderly man awakens and steps out into the street to view the destruction of Jonas White’s offices on the top floor of a building. A white feather is floating down, and the man stops in the middle of the street to catch it as police cars and fire trucks barrel down upon him. He freezes everything in stop motion so that he can catch the feather from the wings of angel. The man is God (think of the late David Carradine from the Kill Billmovies), and he has been lazy and compliant in his governing of the universe. This has cost him his throne and heaven. Now, he has to awaken his fallen angels who have lived on earth for centuries and hope they will join him for the upcoming battle. Surprisingly, it isn’t Lucifer who has gained control, but rather Gabriel. Lucifer has been too busy collecting souls for his own empire to worry about heaven. Gabriel, on the other hand, now has what he has longed for and is ready to fight in order to keep it.
All in all, there is some very powerful story-telling here. Though I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started reading Tales of the Fallen, I quickly found myself caught up in this intriguing concept, enjoying the mixture of good and evil characters. In fact, though a number of the character do really bad things, there are still good qualities about them that make you wonder if they will eventually shift their allegiance over to the good guys. Something else which was totally unexpected was the humor. I found myself laughing out loud at the antics and dialogue of Dew in the second novella. A lot of the stuff which takes place in Daddy Demon’s Day Out is so over the top and perverse that you can’t help but laugh at the obscurity of it all. In many ways this is like real life and the day-to-day turmoil most humans face, but on a much smaller scale. Another thing I liked was how vividly drawn the characters were. I could see them in my mind and then began to unconsciously substitute them with well-known actors and actresses. Imagine Max Von Sydow playing Gregory and then calling Mal (played by Nicholas Cage) a woozy for being hesitant in taking the last assignment to kill Jonas White. Then, imagine Jonas White (played by Richard Gere) telling Mal that he’s been nothing but a pawn of Gregory’s since the very beginning. Or, think of God (played by David Carradine) sitting at a small town diner, talking to the waitress, Rosa, who’s played by Bridget Fonda and reminding her of her ancient past and the need to prepare herself for the coming battle. These three stories could easily be adapted and turned into a movie. That would be something to watch.
So, while not for everyone, Tales of the Fallen is a must read for serious aficionados of the horror genre. I hope author David Barnett will continue the series to its completion. I, for one, want to find out what happens between God and Gabriel, and the part Mal will play in this catastrophic event. Hell, let’s be honest. I want to see Mal finally kick Desmond’s butt. I want Mal to say to Desmond, “I told you to put the bunny down.” For those of you who don’t remember, that’s the line uttered by Nicholas Cage’s character in Con Airafter he’s gone ballistic on another inmate in the luggage compartment of an airplane.
-- Wayne C. Rogers
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THE 6th BLACK BOOK OF HORROR edited by Charles Black; Mortbury Press; 2010; 245 pgs; £7.00
Having reviewed the first five books in the successful British series entitled Black Book of Horror, I was looking forward to the sixth volume, confident that I would have found therein a further selection of excellent new horror stories . Predictably, the latest volume is up to its previous (high) standard and to my (high) expectations.
The line-up of contributing authors includes a group of fine writers whose names are deservedly dominating the current horror scene plus a few newcomers who, frankly, failed to impress me much.
Among the formers I’d like to praise RB Russell, formerly known in the world of indie press for being the co-publisher of the excellent imprint Tartarus Press, by now an established, acclaimed author of remarkably good dark fiction.
His contribution “An Unconventional Exorcism”, by far the most accomplished piece in the book, is a perfect, delightful tale, very elegantly written.
The story, exploring complex family matters, features and old sex-phobic aunt whose death brings about surprising developments.
Sheer terror on the road is the theme of the gripping, nightmarish “Traffic Stream” by Simon Kurt Unsworth, where a man gets lost in a traffic becoming quite dangerous in a rather unusual way.
Reggie Oliver provides “Mr Pigsny” ,yet another of his splendid pieces of superior narrative style,, a captivating mix between a gangster story and a spiritual mediation about afterlife.
In the well crafted , very effective “The Doom”, by Paul Finch, a priest, after a medieval affresco depicting Hell is discovered in his church, has to face a confirmed sinner with peculiar theological views.
Worth mentioning are also “Six of the Best” by John Llewellyn Probert, an entertaining yarn where a serial killer supplies material for a psychic TV show, and Steve Lockley’s “Imaginary Friends”, a creepy seesaw between imagination and reality.
In short, this compelling anthology continues to provide first-rate horror fiction, much to the satisfaction of any genre enthusiast.
-- Mario Guslandi
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DAWN OF THE DREADFUL by Steve Hockensmith; Quirk Books, 2010; 287 pgs; $12.95
This follow up to last year’s surprise genre mixing smash starts off with a few things going for it, and a few against it. First it’s following in the bloody footprints of the book that started off the whole “take a classic story and add monsters” subgenre that’s all the rage these days. That’s a good thing. It is also not a direct mash up, that is it’s not a remake of a real Jane Austen novel, instead it borrows some characters and a bit of style from Jane and then throws in a whole bunch of George Romero. This fact is both a good and a bad thing. It’s good because the author is allowed more freedom to explore and escape the confines that the previous book’s modern author, Seth Grahame-Smith, was limited to. The bad part of that is it lacks a certain something, call it authenticity or gravitas, that the original had. Further, while very fun and enjoyable it did make me appreciate Seth’s cleverness all the more knowing that he had to work the zombies into a preexisting framework while Steve could just toss in the undead anytime he wanted. Yes I know it’s not exactly fair comparing this book to its predecessor, but it is a sequel so the author and publisher had to have known comparisons would be made.
Oh sorry, I need to make a correction; this book is a prequel. So if you were a fan of Pride And Prejudice And Zombies and wanted to know how the lovely Bennet ladies became zombie butt-kickers of the highest caliber, then this will be the book for you.
This novel begins with the world already aware of the zombies, or as they are known here, "unmentionables”, but the dead have been surprisingly restful and haven’t gotten up to boogie or bite people in quite some time. All that changes at the funeral of Mr. Ford when the dearly departed hops out of his coffin to grab a quick snack. Luckily for everyone in attendance Mr. Bennet is on the scene and just so happens to be part of a secret society devoted to putting the walking dead to rest. With the deadly deed done, daddy Bennet knows the time of the unmentionables has returned and so as quick as a bunny he sets about training his daughters to be killing machines. What follows is pretty much what you might expect if you read the previous book, weird martial arts training, lots of zombie bashing, some unrequited Victorian romance, and several attempts to get the period language right that just seem to fall a tad short of hitting the mark. However even with those expectations filled, there are enough things vastly different from the original P&P&Z, or P&P for that matter, to allow this book to stand on its own two feet, for better or worse.
First and foremost, remember that author freedom I hinted at? Well that is largely used to make this book chock full of zombies with a generous amount of gore as well. This is a great thing for undeadheads, but not so much for Austen purists. Also the characters, especially the Bennet girls, seem like blurry photocopies of the originals. That is not meant to be taken as a bad thing, it just means that there are a lot of differences between the ladies here and the ladies in P&P&Z. Lastly the pace of this book is much quicker and has more action than the book that preceded it, so if you thought the Seth Grahame-Smith novel was a bit slow then this should be more to your liking.
Dawn Of The Dreadfuls is the quintessential sequel, being an enjoyable continuation of a story, but not quite measuring up to what came before it. I found Mr. Hockensmith’s book to be a fun, funny, and fast read that I enjoyed quite a bit. Do I recommend this book to you, dear reader? Well if you read and enjoyed P&P&Z then yes, this is more of the same with a slight change of flavor to make it stand out on its own. If you didn’t like the first book because you wanted more zombies or action then this book is for you. Finally if you didn’t get around to reading Pride And Prejudice And Zombies and was thinking of rectifying that, then this book would be a good place to start seeing that it is a prequel. However if you just didn’t like P&P&Z then this book won’t do anything to change your mind.
-- Brian M. Sammons
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BIOHAZARD by Tim Curran; Severed Press; 2010; 314 pgs; $10.76
Though primarily known for his action oriented, apocalyptic fiction, Tim Curran’s love for creating beasties that are imaginative, ghastly, and deadly, should also come to mind whenever his name is mentioned. In Biohazard, Tim seems to have pulled out all the stops, there are far more disgusting abominations in this story than in any other of his tales since his masterpiece, Dead Sea.
Biohazard is the first person accounting of a man named Rick Nash, who begins his story with a short explanation of how Armageddon has arrived on earth in the form of a nuclear conflict. Rick doesn’t mention the details of the war, who started it, or who was involved, just its consequences. He also doesn’t go into too much detail about the immediate aftermath of the war, we just know that first there was a nuclear winter then a heat wave, followed by marauding militias, roving gangs, lots of murders and rapes, and disease. Rick then goes on to tell his story of survival. And Rick has quite the story to tell.
After tending to his dying wife as she suffered from a prolonged sickness due to radiation poisoning, Rick gets conscripted into a National Guard type organization that cleans up dead bodies from the streets and peoples houses. Aside from the nastiness of handling squishy, diseased bodies, Rick has to watch out for the corpse worms (one of Curran’s most disgusting creations), who apparently have no preference for either a living or dead host. Fortunately, it doesn’t take all that long for Rick to make a few friends, and when the opportunity presents itself when a corpse worm burrows into his boss, he and these friends make a break for freedom and start traveling west. Why west? Because a voice in Rick’s head told him to, and so far, that voice in his head has done a pretty good job of protecting him from all sorts of creepy stuff.
As he travels westward, Rick and company start to collect a small band of comrades, including a young woman and a Hell’s Angle’s type outlaw. With Rick as their de facto leader, they battle giant rats with three heads, people who have turned into mutants called Trogs, roaming tribes of homicidal maniacs they dub Hatchet Clans, and battle an entity called The Medusa (and that’s just a partial list of the monsters they encounter). During these skirmishes, most of Rick’s group live following the confrontations, but some of them do die, and not very pleasantly. But Rick survives, mainly because of the voice in his head that he has taken to calling The Shape, has an interest in his making it out west. But things aren’t all that rosy for Rick.
It seems that every full moon The Shape needs Rick to present it with a sacrifice, and it has to be a normal, innocent person, who has not yet succumb to the effects of radiation. And if Rick can’t find someone to sacrifice to The Shape, then he must choose one from his little group. So in addition to fighting all sorts of monstrosities to stay alive, Rick’s group is a little paranoid that their leader might decide to make one of them lunch for an awfully hungry monster.
Curran doesn’t veer much from the formula he’s been using to great success since his earliest books. The action is non-stop in Biohazard and the plotting is as creative and bizarre as it gets. The only change a long time fan might notice is that the violence and the horror is a bit more extreme than some of his earlier works. If I were to find any fault with Curran’s recent work, it would be that characterization has suffered a bit because of this.
Though usually Curran’s protagonists are basically good and moral people, by the end of the stories they have been corrupted by all the horror they have been exposed to. Things usually end pretty badly for these leading characters because, well, that’s the way Curran wrote it. But it would be nice, after investing so much time with these hero’s and anti-heroes, if they would beat the bad guys once in a while. I love shuddering in disgust at Tim’s plotting, and I look forward to all of the mayhem that occurs, but I miss that feeling of cheering for his characters, and wondering what will happen to them next after I turn the last page and close the cover of his novel. For me, that was what made both Dead Sea and Medicine Man so outstanding; even after suffering through all the carnage in both those stories, there was a smile on my face at the end of those stories. But that’s just me, and I’m pretty sure I am in the minority when it comes to happy endings in horror.
My recommendation is to purchase Biohazard, then kick back and enjoy some the most violent and genuinely scary apocalyptic horror written by one of the finest dark fiction authors plying his trade today. And yeah, you may feel terribly depressed after finishing Tim Curran’s, Biohazard, but in this case, feeling bad has never been so exciting… or entertaining.
--T.T. Zuma
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CREATURES OF THE POOL by Ramsey Campbell; Dorchester Publishing, 2010, 354 pgs; $7.99
Ramsey Campbell is one of England’s greatest reigning treasures. His horror and suspense never fails to rise above most of his peers, often garnering him comparisons to Peter Straub, bordering on the literary instead of the genre specific scares that plague so many authors. Why this man has never broken through is a mystery which dwarves the multi-layered ones which populate his novels.
Gavin Meadows gives tours of Liverpool, which just happens to be Campbell’s stomping grounds. For those readers not familiar with the UK’s tourist trade, all guides must be sponsored by the government if they wish to be advertised and supported. Gavin’s luck has seen a bad streak. Bad weather, annoying customers, and his father. Deryck Meadows is something of a loose cannon around the city, spinning his wheels on his bike in search of conspiracies, and annoying his son’s girlfriend. Liverpool also could be home to James Maybrick, a merchant who just might happen to be Jack the Ripper. Of course, the tourist official takes issue with Gavin adding this element to his tours and sabotages him several times, but the real trouble arrives when Deryck disappears. Armed only with the theories his father shared with him and random, cryptic text messages, Gavin hunts down both the man and the myth which might be one of the worst men in history. Each turn becomes a spiral, his language twisting the mundane into something murky and unsettling, leading into the underground tunnels which house something that borders on a nod to Lovecraft. However, Campbell never sends the reader on a direct path, nor gives him or her a straight answer; rather, he urges them to find their own way, their own conclusion.
Creatures Of The Pool becomes as dark and mysterious as the town itself. The subtext and sentences hide true meanings, just as the townsfolk do in their help and hindering of Gavin’s search. Beings that may or may not be there, strange water that affects Gavin’s mind and body, and clues which lead to ancient texts and rites all are embraced within Campbell’s writing. For those who desire a literary treat with tastes which reveal themselves bite by savory, yet sometimes bitter bite, this novel will not fail to satiate.
-- Dave Simms
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BAD NIGHT IN THE HOLDING CELL by Dennis Latham; CombatPTSD; 2010; 134 pgs.; $ 12.50
Those of us that have never been arrested can only imagine how much of a nightmare it would be. For those that have had the handcuffs thrown on them, I’m sure they could give us all the reasons why we wouldn’t want to be making that trip. Well, leave it to Dennis Latham to think up one more.
Simon Dawson had a beef with his landlord, so like many disgruntled renters he decided not to pay his rent. The trouble is, after he wrote a check to the landlord, he took all the money out of the account so the landlord wouldn’t get paid. He soon discovered that writing a check for insufficient funds is illegal, and a warrant is made out for his arrest. His lawyer convinces Simon to turn himself in and he will spring Simon the next morning. And Simon agrees. After all, how bad can it be spending one night in a holding cell?
Once Simon is placed into the cell, he finds himself confined with three others cellmates and then each of these cellmates takes turns telling Simon their story. Simon finds a few of the stories pretty sad and he feels bad for the guys, but one story is hilarious and he can’t help but feel pity for the guy. When they are done Simon tells them his story, and they all become comfortable with one another as the night goes on. But just when things start to wind down for the night they get another cellmate. One that is quite dead.
There’s been one hell of a rainstorm raging for the past couple of days and some of the roads around the town are washed out. So when a “floater” is found in the river, the police officials have to leave the body at the jail since they can’t make it to the morgue. The jail does have its own morgue, but it’s on the top floor, and the elevator is out, so the Sheriff, decides to put the body in a jail cell with Simon and friends.
As it turns out, this is no ordinary floater, its body is too far bloated and pasty for only being in the water for a day or so, and it’s making noises. They all decide to stay away from the dead man, but when one of cellmates accidently sticks his toe into the floaters mouth, he receives a small cut. At first the cut won’t stop bleeding. Then the guy’s entire leg feels like its on fire. After that, pustules begin to appear all over his body. And that’s when the shit hits the fan…and the toilet, and the bunks, the walls, the steel bars… and other cellmates.
Latham’s novella is horror fans delight. Though he takes his time building the plot, he lets us get to know his characters a bit, so when the horror does arrive, he does a great job making us feel their terror. And wow, when the horror does strike, Latham holds nothing back. And once Latham does get to the meat of the tale, the story is pure action packed carnage, and he doesn’t let up, even to the very end.
Dennis Latham is one of those independent press authors where you scratch your head and wonder why he isn’t more popular than he is. His early horror novels, Michael In Hell, and especially, The Bad Season, are fantastic reads that every dark fiction fan should own. Latham isn’t a flashy author; his writing is very down to earth and easy on the eyes. His writing is focused, atmospheric, and often rife with ironic humor. Bad Night In The Holding Cell continues in this tradition and ranks up there with his finest work. Here’s hoping that that Bad Night In The Holding Cell opens him up to a much wider horror reading audience, and he gets the readership he deserves.
-- T. T. Zuma
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FOREVER ZOMBIE: A COLLECTION OF UNDEAD GUY TALES by Stan Swanson; Dark Moon Books, 2009; 247 pages; $14.95
If you love zombies then this might be the book for you. I say ‘might’ because this collection of twelve zombie stories has more in common with films like Zombieland and Shaun Of The Dead then it does with the movies of George Romero or Lucio Fulci. Meaning that these are all funny zombie stories and it that’s not your cup of freshly scooped-out brains (Mmmmm, yummy) then this is NOT the book for you. While there is some mention of the red stuff and shambling corpses to be sure, all of these stories are far more interested in the yucks than the yuck. So if you are that kind of zombiephile that likes their funny bone tickled rather than gnawed on then keep on reading.
Still with me? Good. Now I’ll come right out and say that my enjoyment of this book was exactly fifty-fifty. Six out of the twelve stories were silly in just the right way that I felt the humor was fresh and easy and opposed to stale and forced like many other horror/comedy mashups. That doesn’t mean that the jokes always worked, only that, for me, they usually did and that’s all I can ask of any zomedy. As for the other half dozen stories, well they fell flat for many reasons. Some were just not funny, which is the worst offense any sort of comedic material can make. Others just used tired premises and didn’t offer anything new. And still others, well I hate to say it but they just weren’t written well. Of those thankfully few tales that fell into this category, the biggest offenses came from stilted, forced, or just corny dialog and several glaring mistakes that any editor should have picked up on. I’m not talking about typos, those can be forgiven, but jarring boo-boos like a character’s name changing for half a page mid-story, and then changing back again. Come on, that’s just sloppy.
Another aspect in all the stories that I feel I must point out is all the pop culture references. Now I sort of liked these up to a point, but man there’s a lot of them. Too many, truth be told. I think that if Mr. Swanson would have sparsely sprinkled these thought the entire collection they could have been fun little winks and nods to the reader that spotted them. But with the pop culture sensor pinging an average of eight times per story, and once pinging away fifteen times in a single tale, the novelty for me wore off fast. However if you enjoy playing Where’s Waldo while reading a story then you might get a kick out of this and the author is kind enough to list all of the “Easter eggs” at the end of every tale and give a brief description of them.
In the end I give Forever Zombie a middle of the road recommendation. If I used a five star rating it would get a solid three. Some stories I liked quite a lot while others I didn’t enjoy at all. I won’t name names and point out those I liked and those I didn’t, I’ll leave that up to you to decide. So that begs the question, should you read this book? Well as I said at the start, if you like zomedies then I say sure, there are enough good things in here to give you quite a few grins and maybe even some out loud laughs. Sure it’s not perfect, but so few things are. If you are a straight up horror fan and like your zombies more frightening than funny then this is not the book for you.
-- Brian M. Sammons
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NOBODY GETS THE GIRL; by James Maxey; Phobos Books; 2003; 244 pgs; $14.95
The title of this book is actually a misnomer, or a bit misleading at any rate, Nobody does get the girl. In fact, Nobody gets two of them.
Richard Rodgers is having a pretty tough day. In his spare time he’s an amateur comedian and this evening he’s doing his stand up in front of a crowd of about 13 people. After finishing his set, an attractive woman comes up to him and begins to flirt, which soon turns into an invitation to sex. Being a man of some moral principles (and a suspicious wife), he turns her down and heads home for the evening to try to get at least a couple hours sleep before having to wake up and go to his day job. As it turns out, this frustrating day will be the last normal full day Richard Rodgers will ever have.
When Rodgers awakens the next morning, he discovers that everything has changed. His house is the same, but the furnishings are different. And there’s another couple who appear to be living in it. Things go from bad to worse for Rodgers as he learns that he can’t communicate with anyone and he can’t seem to touch anything without his hands going through it. Rodgers comes to the conclusion that he is a ghost.
Just when Rodgers comes to accept his fate, things change again, this time, in the form of a scientist who approaches him and tells him that he is not a ghost, but simply a man who never existed. Apparently the scientist had gone back in time and accidentally altered it, so when Rodgers dad went to purchase some condoms for that evenings love making session with his wife, he bought a different package of condoms, ones that wouldn’t leak, and prevented Rodgers from ever being born. Since Rodgers was never conceived, he is now a “nobody”.
If you gotten this far and think the plot might be a little on the odd and humorous side, well, that synopsis only covers the beginning of the novel, Rodgers life from then on only gets more and more bizarre. For instance, this scientist takes Rodgers into his home and introduces him to his daughters, both of which have superpowers in a world where superhero’s and villains are the norm. And between the scientist trying to make the world a better place, his two daughters who use their powers to fight evil, and the villains who attack everything and anybody, the world is getting blown to smithereens.
Nobody Gets the Girl is one hell of an entertaining comic book written in the form of a novel. Typical fictional horror conventions are thrown out the window and replaced with the anything goes principles of comic books and graphic novels. Despite its wacky plotting, unrealistic scenario’s, and bizarre characters, Nobody Gets the Girl does use some restraint and takes it’s plotting seriously. Readers will find themselves feeling sympathy for Rodgers as he desperately tries to reverse his plight, and all the while smiling at the ingenuity Rodgers uses when confronted with adversity. Maxey wisely sets up Rodgers moral turpitude early in the novel, thereby giving readers’ insight as to his actions and reactions when dealing with matters concerning life, death, sympathy, and love. We have no qualms at all with the decisions Rodgers makes though out the novel, even when they seem at odds with the greater good.
So if you’re like me and have an aversion to comic books because of their serial formats, the high costs of a single issue, or you just feel plain silly reading a comic book, Nobody Gets the Girl will more than satisfy any craving you might have reliving a youthful pastime. And it’s a damn good read and a whole lot fun to boot.
-- T. T. Zuma
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