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Review: Demo Reels and Arthouse Madness by Vince A. Liaguno

Cemetery Dance OnlineMarch 12, 2025March 9, 2025ReviewsDemo Reels and Arthouse Madness, Joshua Gage, poetry, Reviews, Vince A. LiagunoLeave a comment

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Demo Reels and Arthouse Madness by Vince A. Liaguno
Raw Dog Screaming Press (February 2025)
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Vince A. Liaguno is an award-winning writer, anthologist, critic, and poet. He is the Bram Stoker Award®-winning editor of Unspeakable Horror: From the Shadows of the Closet (co-edited with Chad Helder) and the acclaimed Other Terrors: An Inclusive Anthology (co-edited with Rena Mason), which was a finalist for both the prestigious Shirley Jackson and World Fantasy Awards. His debut novel, 2006’s The Literary Six, was a tribute to the slasher films of the eighties and won an Independent Publisher Award (IPPY). His newest collection is Demo Reels and Arthouse Madness, a collection of narrative poetry.Continue Reading

Review: Akogun: Brutalizer of Gods by Murewa Ayodele and Dotun Akande

Cemetery Dance OnlineMarch 10, 2025March 9, 2025Reviews, The Comic VaultAkogun, Brutalizer of Gods, Dotun Akande, Joshua Gage, Murewa Ayodele, Reviews, The Comics VaultLeave a comment

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Akogun: Brutalizer of Gods by Murewa Ayodele and Dotun Akande
Oni Press (March 18, 2025)
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Recipient of the (Lagos Comic Con 2023) Fist Award for Writer of the Decade, Murewa Ayodele is the writer of the Nommo-nominated comic book series New Men, the critically acclaimed webcomic series My Grandfather Was a God, and several Marvel comics. He is also the co-founder of Collectible Comics NG, a Nigerian comic book studio founded with artist Dotun Akande that was nominated in the Comic Studio of the Year category at the 2018 Fist Awards. Dotun Akande is an award-winning comic book cover artist and graphics designer who has worked with some of the biggest brands in Nigeria. He was the recipient of the (Lagos Comic Con 2018) Fist Award for Best Cover Artist and has created comic covers for comic book series like I Am Iron Man, Vengeance of the Moon Knight, Black Panther, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, and Heirs of Apocalypse. Their newest collaboration is the mythic adventure tale, Akogun: Brutalizer of Gods.Continue Reading

The Cemetery Dance Interview: Wrath James White

Cemetery Dance OnlineMarch 7, 2025March 6, 2025InterviewsInterviews, Rick Hipson, Wrath James WhiteLeave a comment

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photo of Wrath James White — Wrath James White

As constant visitors to Cemetery Dance’s site, anyone reading this conversation (you are reading this aren’t you?) are unlikely to need much of an introduction to one Wrath James White. So, I’ll keep it brief so you can get what you came for and delve into what makes the man of extreme storytelling tick the way he does.

Wrath is the founder and showrunner for the KillerCon horror author’s convention in Texas, which is home to the annual Splatterpunk Awards. An accomplished professional MMA fighter and trainer, Wrath is a splatterpunk and extreme horror novelist with such critically acclaimed titles as The Resurrectionist, Succulent Prey, The Ecstasy of Agony, and his collection of poetry, If You Died Tomorrow I would Eat Your Corpse.

On the heels of the recently published Rabbit Hunt, Voracious, and The Bug Collector, Wrath took some time out from taking names and kicking ass to reflect on his life since being forced to shut down his gym while shedding some much needed light on the future of our genre, his writing process, and why being true to yourself and your stories matter most despite what the uninformed haters try to tell us. Continue Reading

Dare to Enter THE PLAGUE HOUSE

Cemetery Dance OnlineMarch 6, 2025March 5, 2025The Comic VaultColumns, Danica Davidson, Dave Chisholm, Interviews, Michael W. Conrad, The Comic Vault, The Plague HouseLeave a comment

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Plague House, a new comic from writer Michael W. Conrad and artist Dave Chisholm, will drop its first issue on April 2, and it’s described as “a deep and disorienting reinvention of the haunted house genre.” Cemetery Dance spoke to both writer and artist about their work on this comic, what Conrad discovered about himself while writing, and Chisholm’s longtime love of horror.Continue Reading

Review: The Get Off by Christa Faust

Cemetery Dance OnlineMarch 3, 2025February 24, 2025ReviewsAngel Dare, Blu Gilliand, Christa Faust, Hard Case Crime, Reviews, The Get OffLeave a comment

cover of The Get Off The Get Off by Christa Faust
Hard Case Crime (March 18, 2025)
Reviewed by Blu Gilliand

In 2008’s Money Shot, former porn star Angel Dare was introduced to readers…and then promptly shot and left for dead in the trunk of a car. It wasn’t a flashback, and it wasn’t the end…not of the book, and not of the character.

Dare showed up next in 2011 in Choke Hold, emerging from a witness protection program to help out the son of a former co-star. At that point it felt like author Christa Faust was gearing up for an entire series of Angel Dare books, something I and a lot of other pulp/noir readers would have been ecstatic to have.

That’s not how things ultimately played out, and for a while it felt like we’d just have to be happy with two excellent entries. Luckily, Faust wasn’t done, bringing us to 2025 and the last of the Angel Dare trilogy, The Get Off.Continue Reading

Review: The Wages of Belief and Other Stories from the Dark Side by Elizabeth Massie

Cemetery Dance OnlineFebruary 28, 2025February 23, 2025ReviewsDave Simms, Elizabeth Massie, Reviews, The Wages of Bellief and Other Stories from the Dark SideLeave a comment

cover of The Wages of Belief and Other Stories from the Dark Side The Wages of Belief and Other Stories from the Dark Side by Elizabeth Massie
Macabre Ink (February 2025)
Reviewed by Dave Simms

The skill involved in creating top shelf short fiction is an elusive one. The number of writers who can pull it off with relative ease is very small, no matter the genre. To be able to succeed at both the short form and novel length exists as a tier that is much, much more exclusive. Yet Elizabeth Massie has always been able to pull that off, time and time again.

Review: Black Magick: 13 Tales of Darkness, Horror & the Occult Paperback edited by Raven Digitalis

Cemetery Dance OnlineFebruary 26, 2025February 23, 2025ReviewsBlack Magick, Joshua Gage, Raven Digitalis, ReviewsLeave a comment

Black Magick: 13 Tales of Darkness, Horror & the Occult Paperback edited by Raven Digitalis
?Moon Books (March 1, 2025)
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Black Magick is an anthology compiled and edited by occult author Raven Digitalis. Each story uniquely integrates occultism and magick, deepening the mysteries of the shadow. Raven Digitalis himself is an award-winning author best known for his “empath’s trilogy,” consisting of The Empath’s Oracle, Esoteric Empathy, and The Everyday Empath, as well as the “shadow trilogy” of A Gothic Witch’s Oracle, A Witch’s Shadow Magick Compendium, and Goth Craft. Originally trained in Georgian Witchcraft, Digitalis has been an earth-based practitioner since 1999, a Priest since 2003, a Freemason since 2012, and an empath all of his life. He holds a degree in cultural anthropology from the University of Montana, co-operated a nonprofit Pagan Temple for 16 years, and is also a professional Tarot reader, editor, card-carrying magician, and animal rights advocate.Continue Reading

Stephen King: News from the Dead Zone #238 – Monkey Shines

Bev VincentFebruary 24, 2025February 23, 2025Stephen King News from the Dead ZoneBev Vincent, Columns, Hansel and Gretel, Maurice Sendak, News from the Dead Zone, Stephen King, The Monkey, The TalismanLeave a comment

In this episode of News from the Dead Zone, I’ll be dealing with two things from the opposite ends of the age spectrum: My ramblings about a very R-rated adaptation, The Monkey, and news of an unexpected book coming up this fall that is targeted at 6-8 year-olds that was announced recently.

What Screams May Come: The Night Crew by Brad Ricks

Cemetery Dance OnlineFebruary 21, 2025February 17, 2025What Screams May ComeBrad Ricks, Columns, Interviews, Rick Hipson, The Night Crew, What Screams May ComeLeave a comment

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The Night Crew by Brad Ricks
Crystal Lake Entertainment (February 2025)

The Synopsis

After coming home to find his wife brutally murdered, Michael copes with his depression by searching for his wife’s killer. When they finally meet face to face, he uncovers a disturbing truth. Monsters are real, and a group of hunters known as The Night Crew are charged with keeping them in line. Michael must team up with them to get vengeance for his wife’s murder, but also retain his own humanity.Continue Reading

Review: The House At Black Tooth Pond by Stephen Mark Rainey

Cemetery Dance OnlineFebruary 19, 2025February 17, 2025ReviewsDave Simms, Reviews, Stephen Mark Rainey, The House at Black Tooth PondLeave a comment

The House at Black Tooth Pond by Stephen Mark Rainey

Crossroads Press (February 2025)

Reviewed by Dave Simms

Stephen Mark Rainey is one of the greatest unsung masters of the genre and has churned out solid, entertaining work for decades. From Deathrealms magazine in the eighties and nineties to several dozen short stories to many novels that both embraced the classics and pushed the envelope, he has carved out his own piece of horror history.

William Katt on KOLCHACK, CARRIE and More

Cemetery Dance OnlineFebruary 17, 2025InterviewsDania Davidson, Interviews, Kolchack, William KattLeave a comment

Kolchak: The Night Stalker might be best known as a movie and TV series, but it was the original novel by Jeff Rice that started it all. Monstrous Books will be bringing the book back to print, as well as offering an audiobook with Blackstone Audio. Actor William Katt, who played Tommy Ross in the classic horror movie Carrie and the lead in the hit show The Greatest American Hero, lends his voice talents to narrate the book. Katt spoke to Cemetery Dance about how Kolchak influenced The Greatest American Hero, what it was like working on his first audiobook, and some fun memories from filming Carrie.Continue Reading

Night Time Logic with Manuel Arenas

Cemetery Dance OnlineFebruary 14, 2025February 13, 2025Night Time LogicColumns, Daniel Braum, Manuel Arenas, Night Time LogicLeave a comment

Night Time Logic with Daniel Braum

“Unity of Effect,” “Southwest Gothic,” and “The Burning Ember Mission of Helldorado”

photo of author Mnauel Arenas — Manuel Arenas/Photo by Sara J. Griffin

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 Manuel Arenas about his work including his latest short story collection titled The Burning Ember Mission of Helldorado from Jackanapes Press.

In addition to his fiction our conversation covered his artistic and musical collaborations. We began our talk about creating a locality for the book.Continue Reading

Review: Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito

Cemetery Dance OnlineFebruary 12, 2025February 5, 2025ReviewsHaley Newlin, Reviews, Victorian Psycho, Virginia FeitoLeave a comment

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Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito
Liveright (February 2025)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

Victorian Psycho is soon to be a feature film from the horror fan-favorite A24, starring Margaret Qualley (The Substance). I heard the news before picking up Virginia Feito’s psychological and gothic horror debut, so I enjoyed envisioning Qualley as the bloodthirsty Ensor governess, Winifred Notty. This read was one of those rare instances where every responsibility of life feels like an interruption. I could not get back to it quickly enough. Continue Reading

Review: Alex’s Escape by L. Andrew Cooper

Cemetery Dance OnlineFebruary 10, 2025February 2, 2025ReviewsAlex's Escape, Chandra Claypool, L. Andrew Cooper, ReviewsLeave a comment

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Alex’s Escape by L. Andrew Cooper
Horrific Scribblings (February 2025)
Reviewed by Chandra Claypool (Instagram) (TikTok)

“Fourteen-year-old psychopath Alex Packard has his own house, a shadow version of his parents’ house that THEY help him build.” That alone caught my attention immediately. Alex takes his victims there to kill them in the most entertaining of ways with his final victims in his hometown being his own parents. Police can’t catch him because there’s no physical evidence to tie him to the crimes. What happens in his house, doesn’t happen the exact same way in the real world.Continue Reading

Horror Drive-In: Saying Goodbye to Fictional Characters

Cemetery Dance OnlineFebruary 7, 2025February 2, 2025Horror Drive-InColumns, Horror Drive-In, Mark SieberLeave a comment

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We’ve all met those tiresome people who scoff at intense grieving over a pet. “It’s a cat!” they sneer, never realizing the total and encompassing love we have for our nonhuman family members. How would they feel if they knew how deeply some of us grieve when we say goodbye to characters in book we love?Continue Reading

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