What Screams May Come: John Durgin’s KOSA

Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories What Screams May ComeTags , , , , Leave a comment on What Screams May Come: John Durgin’s KOSA

banner What Screams May Come by Rick Hipson

Kosa by John Durgin
Dark Lit Press (May 17th, 2024)

The Synopsis

cover of KosaIn a secluded mansion hidden away from the outside world, young Kosa lives under the strict and overpowering rule of her enigmatic mother. For Kosa, the rules set by Mother are the guiding principles of her life, shaping her beliefs and actions. She has been sheltered from the truth about the world beyond the confines of their home, conditioned to fear the darkness and malevolence that supposedly lurks outside.

However, as Kosa grows older, she begins to question the reality she has been presented with. Doubts eat away at her, fueled by a deep-rooted curiosity and a burgeoning sense of independence.Continue Reading

Dark Pathways: Why We Want That Cursed Artifact

Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories Dark PathwaysTags , , , , Leave a comment on Dark Pathways: Why We Want That Cursed Artifact

Dark Pathways

I just finished John Hornor Jacobs’ A Lush and Seething Hell, which is a collection of two absolutely fantastic novellas, and I need to talk about it. I think you can put either novella into any annual “best of” category and they’ll come out near the top. They’re well-written, original tales of cosmic horror that prickle the gooseflesh.

But I want to talk specifically about “My Heart Struck Sorrow,” which is the tale of a man working during the Great Depression era to record and catalog music in the Deep South. The main character of this story is Harlan Packard, who is seeking a specific song that’s popular in very remote areas and seems to have some kind of power, depending on the lyrics and how it’s played. As Harlan gets closer to the true song, the cosmic horror elements begin to emerge. Continue Reading

Review: Question Not My Salt by Amanda M. Blake

Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsTags , , , Leave a comment on Review: Question Not My Salt by Amanda M. Blake

cover of Question Not My SaltQuestion Not My Salt by Amanda M. Blake
Crystal Lake Publishing (February 2024)
151 pages; $11.99 paperback; $3.99 e-book
Reviewed by Chandra Claypool (Instagram) (TikTok)

Don’t let the cover fool you, this is HORROR, not a cookbook…though a cookbook from this novella just might be fun to read. ? Imagine you’re a Canadian who goes to college in the U.S., is roomed with someone you become friends with who invites you to their home for Thanksgiving… and things go… awry. Do NOT piss off Mother. Do not ask for salt and for goodness sake, spit in that wine glass and pass it already.Continue Reading

What Screams May Come: John Urbancik’s STALE REALITY

Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories What Screams May ComeTags , , , Leave a comment on What Screams May Come: John Urbancik’s STALE REALITY

banner What Screams May Come by Rick Hipson

photo of author John Urbancik
John Urbancik

Stale Reality by John Urbancik
Dark Fluidity (March 26th, 2024)

The Synopsis

“What happens is, the world, everything we know, this thing we call Reality, it exists in our heads. It doesn’t really exist. And someone decided they didn’t like Reality. Or maybe not that they didn’t like it, but they wanted to try another. They wanted it so hard, Reality changed, and now we’re in their head. Not our own. See, their Reality shifted, and in it, you don’t exist. You just got left over.” Welcome to Kevin Nichols’ new Reality.Continue Reading

Review: The Day Tripper by James Goodhand

Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsTags , , , Leave a comment on Review: The Day Tripper by James Goodhand

cover of The Day TripperThe Day Tripper by James Goodhand
MIRA (March 19, 2024)
368 pages; $28.99 hardcover; $14.99 e-book
Reviewed by Dave Simms

Who says a time traveling novel can’t be scary and also a feel-good story? To find a true comparison to this fun book is tough, but pieces of Ray Bradbury’s A Sound Of Thunder, plus Rewind and Groundhog Day as if written by Stephen King might give some ideas.Continue Reading

What Screams May Come: Jeff Strand’s IT WATCHES IN THE DARK (EEK!)

Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories What Screams May ComeTags , , , , , Leave a comment on What Screams May Come: Jeff Strand’s IT WATCHES IN THE DARK (EEK!)

banner What Screams May Come by Rick Hipson

It Watches in the Dark (Eek!) by Jeff Strand
Sourcebooks (April 2, 2024)

The synopsis:

cover of It Watches in the Dark (Eek!)“She glanced over her shoulder. Had the scarecrow moved? It stood there, smile stitched on its face, but now it felt like a smirk.”

Prepare to be scared silly in this creepy middle-grade novel! Twins seek medical help in a remote village after their father is in a canoeing accident…only to discover the scarecrow that stands watch in town may have a stronger hold over the residents than expected. Perfect for fans of R.L. Stine, Dan Poblocki, and Mary Downing Hahn.

Twins Oliver and Trisha love going on adventures with their dad. Canoeing and camping on the Champion River will be their best trip yet! But when they capsize in rapids, their father is knocked unconscious. Alone and without cell phone reception, their only choice is to continue down river for help.

Hours of paddling brings them to an old dock, and a narrow path leads them to a small village. The townspeople are kind and helpful, but strangely focused on the giant scarecrow in the village square. “He watches over us,” the twins are told in whispers. “He keeps us safe.”

An old woman warns the twins not to spend the night in the village. Not if they ever want to leave. But with the sun soon to set and their father not well enough to be moved, how can they escape? More importantly, can they survive?Continue Reading

Review: Midnight on Beacon Street by Emily Ruth Verona

Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsTags , , , Leave a comment on Review: Midnight on Beacon Street by Emily Ruth Verona

cover of Midnight on Beacon StreetMidnight on Beacon Street by Emily Ruth Verona
Harper Perennial (January 2024)
208 pages; paperback $14.39; e-book $11.99
Reviewed by Chandra Claypool (Instagram) (TikTok)

If you have ever been a babysitter, you probably know of all the urban legends and scary things that could happen while you, a teenager and almost a child yourself, is in charge of the safety of other humans. No pressure, right? Midnight on Beacon Street is a “love letter to vintage horror movies.” I weirdly love anxiety-inducing babysitting-type reads and movies. The Babysitter, When a Stranger Calls, Halloween, Better Watch Out… I love it. And this debut novel at a teensy bit over 200 pages gives us that nod to classic horror films and I’m here for it!Continue Reading

Review: The Haunting of Velkwood by Gwendolyn Kiste

Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsTags , , , Leave a comment on Review: The Haunting of Velkwood by Gwendolyn Kiste

cover of The Haunting of VelkwoodThe Haunting of Velkwood by Gwendolyn Kiste
S&S/Saga Press (March 5, 2024)
256 pages; $26.99 hardcover; e-book $12.99
Reviewed by Dave Simms

Sometimes a ghost story breaks through the confines of the tried and true and creates something different. Something unique. Something both beautiful and painful. 2024 is turning out to be an incredible year for dark fiction, and Gwendolyn Kiste just raised the bar for everyone with The Haunting of Velkwood, a novel that redefines the subgenre in the best way possible. It breaks and rewrites the rules that Stephen King, Richard Matheson and ,of course, Shirley Jackson, wrote. For those unfamiliar with Kiste’s work, this would be a fine place to begin.Continue Reading

What Screams May Come: MEAN SPIRITED by Nick Roberts

Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories What Screams May ComeTags , , , , , Leave a comment on What Screams May Come: MEAN SPIRITED by Nick Roberts

banner What Screams May Come by Rick Hipson

Mean Spirited by Nick Roberts
Crystal Lake Publishing (March 15, 2024)

cover of Mean SpiritedThe Synopsis:

An alcoholic teacher and father’s world spirals out of control when a former student is killed and he is left with her dog and the dark presence that follows it.

Matt Matheny teaches during the day, drinks at night, and barely hides his functioning alcoholism from his veterinarian ex-wife, Lucy, and his six-year-old son, Mikey. His world spirals out of control when a former student is killed, and he’s left with her dog, Conehead. But something isn’t right with Conehead. A dark presence follows him, and very soon, people around him die. Matt realizes the only way to protect his son is to sober up and work with Lucy to expose the dog’s mysterious past and face a secret so shocking — an evil so relentless — that it threatens to unleash hell on an entire town.Continue Reading

Review: No One Can Know by Kate Alice Marshall

Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsTags , , , 1 Comment on Review: No One Can Know by Kate Alice Marshall

cover of No One Can KnowNo One Can Know by Kate Alice Marshall
Flatiron Books (January 2024)
336 pages; $25.53 hardcover; $14.99 e-book
Reviewed by Chandra Claypool (Instagram) (TikTok)

“Three sisters.  Two Murders.  Too many secrets to count.”

My third book by Marshall, with a few more on my shelves. I always get excited when I see her name pop up as she writes middle grade, YA and adult thriller and horror novels and I’m a fan of it all.  Continue Reading

The Cemetery Dance Interview: Kristopher Triana

Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories InterviewsTags , , Leave a comment on The Cemetery Dance Interview: Kristopher Triana

banner graphic that says Cemetery Dance Interviews

photo of author Kristopher Triana
Kristopher Triana

Kristopher Triana is a Splatterpunk Award-winning author of extreme horror who needs no introduction — but I’ll give you a brief one here anyways. Author of such critically acclaimed fan favorites as Gone To See the Riverman (and it’s recent sequel, Along the River of Flesh), Full Brutal, The Ruin Season and That Night In the Woods, Triana is an animal-loving Connecticut writer you don’t want to miss. Although he also writes noir, crime, westerns. literary fiction, and is a columnist with Backwoods Survival Guide Magazine, this conversation centers around the soft spot I have for his particular brand of nightmare fuel. Fans of his work will be taken aback by the scope of his often traumatic, always heartfelt style of bringing us in his full throttle world of terror. Book after book, Triana continues to prove himself as a dependable curator of thought provoking, gut wrenching, ridiculously immersive and frightening stories any fan of this dark thing of ours is thrilled to get caught up and lost in.

Most recently, Triana was kind enough to let me pick about his evolution as an author, his proudest moments and a few morsels on how he does what he does so damn well. Continue Reading

What Screams May Come: Scott Cole’s HEADLESS

Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories What Screams May ComeTags , , , , , 1 Comment on What Screams May Come: Scott Cole’s HEADLESS

banner What Screams May Come by Rick Hipson

Headless by Scott Cole
Grindhouse Press (March 5, 2024)

cover of HeadlessThe Synopsis:

In the midst of a heat wave punctuated by frequent rainstorms, people are losing their heads. Literally. Not only that, but their bodies are still walking, and attacking others.

And to make matters worse, tiny, translucent, maggot-sized worms are falling from the skies like hail.

As uncanny violence threatens to take over the city, Linzy, Carter, and Joanna become fast friends and leave for points unknown, hoping to stay alive, hoping to outrun the Headless.Continue Reading

Zac Thompson on Catching a DreamWave

Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories The Comic VaultTags , , , , , Leave a comment on Zac Thompson on Catching a DreamWave

banner that reads The Comic Vault

In the new comic Cemetery Kids Don’t Die from writer Zac Thompson and artist Daniel Irizarri, people are obsessed with the gaming console DreamWave, which works while you’re sleeping. But maybe NightmareWave is a better name, as this horror/science fiction story shows friends known as the Cemetery Kids get in over their heads. Cemetery Dance spoke with Thompson about the comic’s inspiration, his interest in horror comics, and how shonen manga (Japanese comics aimed for boys) inspired the artwork. Continue Reading

Review: Hitchcock’s Blondes: The Unforgettable Women Behind The Legendary Director’s Dark Obsession by Laurence Leamer

Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsTags , , , 2 Comments on Review: Hitchcock’s Blondes: The Unforgettable Women Behind The Legendary Director’s Dark Obsession by Laurence Leamer

cover of Hitchcock's BlondesHitchcock’s Blondes: The Unforgettable Women Behind The Legendary Director’s Dark Obsession by Laurence Leamer
 G.P. Putnam’s Sons (October 2023)
335 pages; $21.10 hardcover; $14.99 e-book
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

Alfred Hitchcock’s legacy has, until recent years, mostly been portrayed through the rosy lens of Hollywood. Many consider Hitchcock one of the fathers of horror and a worthy contender amongst the greatest directors of all time. He’s remembered for his brilliance and astute demeanor, evoked throughout the evolution of cinema-from silent films to “talkies” to color to the big screen.Continue Reading

What Screams May Come: A Conversation with Tim Waggoner

Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories What Screams May ComeTags , , , , , Leave a comment on What Screams May Come: A Conversation with Tim Waggoner

banner What Screams May Come by Rick Hipson

The Atrocity Engine (Custodians of the Cosmos Book 1) by Tim Waggoner
Aethon Books (April 30, 2024)

The Synopsis:
Men in Black meets Hellraiser in this rollicking mash-up of urban fantasy and cosmic horror from four-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author Tim Waggoner.

cover of Atrocity EngineCreatures from dark dimensions infesting your home? Demonic beings trying to drive you insane? Alien gods attempting to destroy your universe?

Just call Maintenance.

This underpaid and overworked secret organization is dedicated to battling forces that seek to speed up Entropy and hasten the Omniverse’s inevitable death.

Neal Hudson is a twenty-year veteran of Maintenance. A surveyor who drives through the streets of Ash Creek, Ohio, constantly scanning for the deadly energy known as Corruption. Since the death of his previous partner, Neal prefers to work alone, and he’s not happy when he’s assigned to mentor a rookie.

But they better learn to get along fast.

The Multitude, a group of godlike beings who seek to increase Entropy at every opportunity, are creating an Atrocity Engine. This foul magical device can destroy the Earth, and they don’t care how many innocent lives it takes to build it. (Spoiler alert: It’s a lot!)

Just another day on the job…Continue Reading