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Review: Rest Stop by Nat Cassidy

Cemetery Dance OnlineNovember 13, 2024November 11, 2024ReviewsHaley Newlin, Nat Cassidy, Rest Stop, ReviewsLeave a comment

Rest Stop by Nat Cassidy
Shortwave Media (October 2024)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

I read Nat Cassidy’s novel Mary: An Awakening of Terror last summer and can’t shake how it made me feel more than a year later. Carpeted in historical and generational trauma, Mary was about women, especially “women who are only invisible until somebody needs to be blamed.”

Above the novel’s intricate weavings of religious fanaticism and Cassidy’s protagonist’s unsettling behavior, Mary is about power and the tendency to mythologize those who claim it like some god. Given the political climate, it’s a haunting reminder that this narrative has long existed in the real world and feels all the more suffocating.

Rest Stop, Cassidy’s latest release, a horror novella about a troubled musician, Abe, traveling to visit a dying relative who tormented him through childhood with spats of disapproval and disappointment, dissects the ghosts of historical trauma.Continue Reading

Review: The Collected Enchantments by Theodora Goss

Cemetery Dance OnlineNovember 12, 2024November 11, 2024ReviewsJoshua Gage, Reviews, The Collected Enchantments, Theodora GossLeave a comment

The Collected Enchantments by Theodora Goss
Mythic Delirium Press (February 2023)
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Cemetery Dance readers familiar with the name Theodora Goss are most likely familiar with her Victorian Gothic historic mystery series The Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club trilogy, which begins with The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter. For those who don’t know, it follows the exploits of Mary Jekyll, daughter of Henry Louis Stevenson’s character Dr. Jekyll, as she unites with the daughters of various other fictional characters, as well as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, to discover and foil the plots of a cabal of mad scientists. However, for readers who might not be aware, Goss isn’t just an overnight success, but a talented author with a rich literary history stretching back to 2002 with the publication of her short story, “The Rose in Twelve Petals.” Fortunately for all of us, Goss has released her complete bibliography in one mammoth volume titled The Collected Enchantments. Continue Reading

Meet Marco Finnegan’s Undead Detective

Cemetery Dance OnlineNovember 8, 2024November 4, 2024The Comic VaultColumns, Danica Davidson, Interviews, Marco Finnegan, The Comic VaultLeave a comment

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cover of Calavera, P.I. Cartoonist Marco Finnegan’s love of film noir and pulps led him to creating Calavera, P.I., about an undead murdered detective who comes back on Dia de los Muertos. Not only will Detective Juan Calavera have to solve a new crime, he also needs to find out who killed him. Finnegan spoke with Cemetery Dance about the use of Mexican folklore in the graphic novel, his horror influences, and what he would like people to take away from his newest work.Continue Reading

Review: Island of the Dead by Brian Keene

Cemetery Dance OnlineNovember 6, 2024November 4, 2024ReviewsBrian Keene, Chandra Claypool, Island of the Dead, ReviewsLeave a comment

cover of Island of the Dead Island of the Dead by Brian Keene
Apex Book Company (October 2024)
Reviewed by Chandra Claypool (Instagram) (TikTok)

When zombies, barbarians, giant ants and a group of people also stuck on the island collide!

Brian Keene is well known for his zombie stories and there’s a good reason for it! While this is only my second read by this author, he has certainly found a new fan and I’ll be adding a lot more to my horror arsenal. Continue Reading

Review: CAW: Poetry by a Murder of Writers edited by Stasha Strange

Cemetery Dance OnlineNovember 5, 2024November 4, 2024ReviewsCaw, Joshua Gage, Reviews, Stasha StrangeLeave a comment

CAW: Poetry by a Murder of Writers edited by Stasha Strange
Ix Studios (October 2024)
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Stasha Strange is a writer who draws inspiration from the untamed worlds found within books. Recently, she embarked on a new chapter of her life, transitioning from the vibrant San Francisco Bay Area to the welcoming embrace of Ohio. Beyond her literary pursuits, she passionately advocates for the homeless and tenants’ rights. She shares her life journey with her partner, Andrew, and her beloved companions, a feline familiar, Jax, and a silly California King Snake named Noods.Continue Reading

Review: The Bone Picker by Devon A. Mihesuah

Cemetery Dance OnlineNovember 1, 2024October 29, 2024ReviewsDevon A. Mihesuah, Reviews, Rowan B. Minor, The Bone PickerLeave a comment

The Bone Picker by Devon A. Mihesuah
University of Oklahoma Press (October 2024)
Reviewed by Rowan B. Minor

Devon A. Mihesuah is a writer, historian, and the Cora Lee Beers Price Professor in the Hall Center for the Humanities at the University of Kansas. She is an enrolled citizen of the Choctaw Nation, and a Chickasaw, Norwegian, French, German, and Irish descendant. Mihesuah served as editor of the American Indian Quarterly, and most of her own work tackles colonization, Indigenous stereotypes, Native women, and violence against Natives. She has written several award-winning books, including Choctaw Crime and Punishment, 1884–1887; American Indigenous Women: Decolonization, Empowerment, Activism; and American Indians: Stereotypes and Realities. Mihesuah is the recipient of numerous awards, including from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Ford Foundation, and American Historical Association. Her most recent book, The Bone Picker, is a fictional collection of Indigenous horror short stories. Continue Reading

Review: Dame Evergreen, and Other Poems of Myth, Magic, and Madness by Rebecca Buchanan

Cemetery Dance OnlineOctober 30, 2024October 29, 2024ReviewsDame Evergreen, Joshua Gage, Rebecca Buchanan, ReviewsLeave a comment

Dame Evergreen, And Other Poems of Myth, Magic, and Madness by Rebecca Buchanan
Self-Published (October 31, 2024)
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Rebecca Buchanan is the editor of the Pagan literary ezine Eternal Haunted Summer. Her work has appeared in a variety of venues, including Abyss & Apex, Enchanted Conversation, Eye to the Telescope, and Star*Line. Her newest poetry collection, Dame Evergreen, And Other Poems of Myth, Magic, and Madness will arrive on October 31.Continue Reading

Review: At Summer’s Wistful End by K. A. Opperman

Cemetery Dance OnlineOctober 28, 2024October 14, 2024ReviewsAt Summer's Wistful End, Joshua Gage, poetry, Reviews. K.A. OppermanLeave a comment

At Summer’s Wistful End by K. A. Opperman
Jackanapes Press (September 2024)
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

K. A. Opperman is a poet of the Gothic and the grotesque hailing from Southern California. He has been published in a wide array of contemporary horror and dark fantasy magazines, journals, and anthologies, including Weirdbook, Skelos, Ravenwood Quarterly, The Audient Void, The Weird Fiction Review, Spectral Realms, and many others. His debut book-length collection, The Crimson Tome, is available from Hippocampus Press, and a second collection, The Laughter of Ghouls is available from PS Publishing. While not drinking a fine ale or writing morbid poems, he can often be found tending to his pumpkin patch. He has a religiously zealous, year-round devotion to Halloween, and some people have called him “The Pumpkin King.” Since 2020, he has been amassing a collection of conversational verse related to Halloween. This collection has been published over three books on Jackanapes Press, culminating in At Summer’s Wistful End.Continue Reading

Review: The Rack: Stories Inspired by Vintage Horror Paperbacks edited by Tom Deady

Cemetery Dance OnlineOctober 23, 2024October 14, 2024ReviewsDave Simms, Reviews, Stephen King, The Rack, Tom Deady1 Comment

cover of The Rack The Rack: Stories Inspired by Vintage Horror Paperbacks edited by Tom Deady
Thomas E. Deady (September 2024)
Reviewed by Dave Simms

Who in their right minds (okay, readers of a certain age) hasn’t been excited to walk into a drug store or supermarket to find THE rack. That spinning metal beast of wonder that held so many amazing covers; some cheesy, some over the top, and others that make your head spin. It always signaled that fun times were on the way as we turned and swiveled and reached behind the book in front to find an even better book behind it. Many found it more exciting than heading to the Waldenbooks or Borders Books (different eras, but same good times). The thrill of discovering a frightening story with cool cover prompted so many of us to ride our bikes, walk, or drive on over on the day when we knew the manager would break open the new stock. Finding treasures behind that first book was even better, possibly hid by another horror fan to buy at a later time.

Kolchak Kickstarted Again! Kolchak Meets the Classic Monsters

Cemetery Dance OnlineOctober 22, 2024October 19, 2024The Comic VaultColumns, Danica Davidson, Interviews, James Aquilone, Kickstarter, Kolchak Meets Classic Monsters, Rodney Barnes, Steve NilesLeave a comment

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Cover of Kolchak Meets the Classic Monsters — Art by Dave Acosta

After successfully Kickstarting Kolchak: The Night Stalker 50th Anniversary Graphic Novel and Jeff Rice’s original novel Kolchack: The Night Stalker, editor James Aquilone is back with a Kickstarter campaign for Kolchak Meets the Classic Monsters from Moonstone Books. Cemetery Dance spoke with Aquilone, along with writers Rodney Barnes and Steve Niles, both of whom are contributing stories, about this latest project in the world of Kolchak. Continue Reading

Review: Leviathan Volume 1 by Shiro Kuroi

Cemetery Dance OnlineOctober 21, 2024September 29, 2024Reviews, The Comic VaultColumns, Joshua Gage, Leviathan, Reviews, Shiro Kuroi, The Comic VaultLeave a comment

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Leviathan Volume 1 by Shiro Kuroi
Abrams Comic Arts (October 29, 2024)
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Shiro Kuroi is a rising star manga author who lives in Toyko, Japan. Leviathan is his first international serialized work, which has been published simultaneously in France and Japan. Highly praised for his character writing and illustration, Leviathan went on to become one of the top 10 bestselling new manga titles in France, and he has already received international attention online from manga fans hoping for an English release of his work. Fortunately, the wait is over, as Leviathan, Volume 1 has finally arrived. Continue Reading

Night Time Logic with Brian Evenson

Cemetery Dance OnlineOctober 18, 2024October 10, 2024Night Time LogicBrian Evenson, Columns, Daniel Braum, Interviews, Night Time LogicLeave a comment

Night Time Logic with Daniel Braum

“MU-TH-UR, Overlapping Nets, and Productive Ambiguity.”

photo of author Brian Evenson — Brian Evenson

Night Time Logic is the part of a story that is felt but not consciously processed. It is also the name of this interview series here at Cemetery Dance and over on my YouTube channel.

Through in-depth conversation with authors this column explores the night time part of stories, the strange and uncanny in horror and dark fiction, and more.

My short story collection with Cemetery Dance is titled The Night Marchers and Other Strange Tales in homage to Aickman and his kind of stories that operate this way. It can be found here.

I spoke with Brian Evenson in September 2024 about his new short story collection Good Night, Sleep Tight. Our conversation is here on YouTube.

We begin our conversation today with a look at “crossing over” in fiction and a discussion of the first two stories in the new book.Continue Reading

Review: Inside Every Dream, A Raging Sea by Liz Worth

Cemetery Dance OnlineOctober 16, 2024October 7, 2024ReviewsInside Every Dream A Raging Sea, Joshua Gage, Liz Worth, ReviewsLeave a comment

Inside Every Dream, A Raging Sea by Liz Worth
Book*Hug Press (October 22, 2024)
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Liz Worth is a poet, novelist, and nonfiction writer. She is a two-time nominee for the ReLit Award for Poetry for her books The Truth Is Told Better This Way and No Work Finished Here: Rewriting Andy Warhol. Her first book, Treat Me Like Dirt, was the first of its kind to provide an in-depth history of Southern Ontario’s first wave punk movement. Her other works also include Amphetamine Heart, PostApoc, and The Mouth is a Coven. Her writing has appeared in Chatelaine, FLARE, Prism, the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, and Broken Pencil, among others. Liz is a professional tarot reader and lives in Hamilton, Ontario. Her newest collection is Inside Every Dream, A Raging Sea.Continue Reading

Review: Invasive by Cullen Bunn, Jesús Hervás, and Federico Sabbatini

Cemetery Dance OnlineOctober 14, 2024September 29, 2024ReviewsColumns, Cullen Bunn, Invasive, Joshua Gage, ReviewsLeave a comment

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Invasive by Cullen Bunn (Author), Jesús Hervás (Illustrator), Federico Sabbatini (Illustrator)
Oni Preess (October 22, 2024)
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Cullen Bunn is the writer of comic books such The Sixth Gun, Shadow Roads, The Damned, and Helheim for Oni Press. He has also written titles including Harrow County (Dark Horse), Uncanny X-Men, and Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe (Marvel). Cullen claims to have worked as an alien autopsy specialist, rodeo clown, pro wrestling manager, and sasquatch wrangler. He has fought for his life against mountain lions and performed on stage as the world’s youngest hypnotist. Buy him a drink sometime and he’ll tell you all about it. His newest graphic novel is Invasive, illustrated by Jesús Hervás and Federico Sabbatini.Continue Reading

CJ Leede, Pray for Us

Cemetery Dance OnlineOctober 11, 2024October 14, 2024Interviews, ReviewsAmerican Rapture, CJ Leede, Cynthia Pelayo, Interviews, ReviewsLeave a comment

Cemetery Dance is proud to present this special review/interview combo from Bram Stoker Award & 6x International Latino Book Award winning author Cynthia Pelayo.

“Well, we don’t know everything. I mean, we know basically nothing,” a character says in American Rapture, and in a way this is the major question explored by CJ Leede’s main character in her highly anticipated sophomore novel — “What do we know?”Continue Reading

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