Ricardo Delgado’s illustrated novel Dracula of Transylvania is not only full of blood, guts, monsters and gore, but chock-full of history and references to art. It’s a great addition to the Dracula lore. Continue Reading
This is what’s needed right now: a wonderfully brutal anthology about cannibalism in American history. At first, readers may feel a touch of reluctance due to the subject matter. My advice? DO NOT HESITATE.
These stories, chosen with exquisite taste by editor Rebecca Rowland, are all about the story and characters as the history of this country frames some truly unique tales. I’m not one for gore and this anthology, again, focuses on the true horror: human behavior and the awful acts people inflict on each other before the blood begins to spill.Continue Reading
From the award-winning author of Our Lady of the Inferno comes another tale of New York in the Bad Old Days: A saga of murder, bloodshed, and betrayal set against the backdrop of Times Square at the height of its decadence and depravity.
In the kingdom of the damned that is 42nd Street, there’s no lowlier subject than Andy Lew. An unrepentant junkie, voyeur, and degenerate, he’s only tolerated by the more dangerous men around him because he keeps the projectors at the Colossus theater running on time, entertaining them with the most extreme horror cinema money can buy.
There’s something unique about Andy, though. He owns a movie. It’s the only one of its kind. No one knows who made it. Only he knows where it came from. The woman it stars is beautiful beyond imagination—and the images it depicts are more nightmarish than the darkest depths of Hell. The beasts of 42nd Street will do anything to possess it, but there’s something they don’t understand. Andy loves the woman in the movie—and he’ll go to any lengths to protect her…
A savage love letter to 70s exploitation cinema and a biting satire of toxic fan culture, Beasts of 42nd Street makes horror dangerous again as it ventures into the mind of a psychopath like no other— one that will have readers recoiling even as they keep coming back for more.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Preston Fassel is an award-winning writer whose work has appeared in Fangoria, Rue Morgue, Screem, and on The Daily Grindhouse, Dread Central, and Cinedump.com. He is the author of the first published biography of British horror actress Vanessa Howard, Remembering Vanessa, which appeared in the Spring 2014 issue of Screem. His debut novel, Our Lady of the Inferno, won the 2019 Independent Publisher’s Gold Medal for Horror and was named one of the ten best books of the year by Bloody Disgusting. He currently serves as the Managing Editor for The Daily Grindhouse.
There’s something incredibly profound about horror anthologies. Organizers and editors decide on one bloodied but beating heart that thrums aching, booming life into stories. But it is the minds of the authors — those who conjure the devilish indulgences, the unquestioned yet morally gray, ahem, black methods of group leaders, and the deceiving nature of the desperate, and who reveal the snapping jowls of humanity — that give collections such as Human Monsters breath and mobility. Continue Reading
Vern Smith’s Scratching the Flint is a street-level look at crime and punishment revolving around a small-time auto theft ring and the two detectives tasked with busting it up.
Alex Johnson, a veteran of the Toronto police force, is teamed up with — some might say burdened with — Cecil Bolan, a hot-headed detective who often bucks against the obstacles that bureaucracy and politics place in the path of police work. When an old buddy Cecil uses as an informant is murdered, followed closely by a prostitute Cecil has befriended, he sets his sights on the crew of car thieves and their nervous, paranormal leader.Continue Reading
Angels of Hell: Poetic Tales of the Apocalypse by Christopher ~cliff~ Reichard Self-Published via Kickstarter
191 pages; $21.99 hardcover
Reviewed by Joshua Gage
Chris ~cliff~ Reichard is the writer and creator of the Angels of Hell comic book and poetry series. Their dark writing style has been influenced by various horror, Gothic and religious media that has only been darkened further from the worldly experience of being a combat veteran and a social activist. They successfully ran a Kickstarter campaign to get the comic series started. Chris is a simply, complicated person that lives and breathes in his Midwest American roots, the Greater St. Louis area of Missouri. Their newest collection is Angels of Hell: Poetic Tales of the Apocalypse. Continue Reading
I was super pumped to be able to sit down with none other than Stephen King historian and scholar, Bev Vincent, who provided his fantastic historical contribution to Stephen King Revisited Volume 1 from Cemetery Dance. The book is the culmination of author/Cemetery Dance founder Richard Chizmar’s decision to revisit every single Steven King book in order of publication. This first volume discusses King’s work between Carrie and Eyes of the Dragon and includes tons of special guests to go along with Rich’s interpretations from the first time he read each book to his most recent. But of course this conversation is all about Bev Vincent who is kind enough to provide a fascinating glimpse into Stephen King throughout the years. Without further ado, let’s get this ball rolling, shall we?Continue Reading
Admittedly, I’m a Lucy Snyder fan. Ecstatically so. Still, I’ve been found wanting of her longer fiction for awhile now. Thankfully, I now have Sister, Maiden, Monster to shove into my brainmeat.
A new virus has found itself among and within humanity. It changes us in ways we don’t really understand. We follow three women, Erin, Savanna, and Mareva as they find their place in this new world of murder, brain devouring, and grotesque teratomas. Unfortunately, there isn’t much more I can say without giving away the fun.Continue Reading
Little girls follow adventure. There’s a wilderness to them, as Kate Alice says in What Lies In The Woods. The local woods was the heart of Naomi, Cass, and Olivia’s childhood fantasies…and nightmares. Among the trees, they created a mystical game, “The Goddess Game,” which guided their lives, fate, and friendship. It was their secret, one they only shared with someone who could never speak the truth. Continue Reading
Trev, Kent, and Brian, collectively known as Ghostbros, are three struggling television paranormal investigators. Their show is about to be cancelled due to low ratings. Their competitors, Parawarriors, are stealing their audience with their new gadgets and their ability to not just investigate ghosts, but actually fight them. To save their show, Trev forces Kent and Brian to go to the most haunted place he can imagine: Edgeway Penitentiary in rural Montana. The team gets there and, within hours, discover that not only are ghosts real, but they are willing to kill. That’s when the problems really being in the young adult graphic novel, Dead Dudes.Continue Reading
Ghostface asks this as he stands outside an unsuspecting Casey Becker’s (Drew Barrymore) house. Becker entertains the raspy voice on the other end of the line and plays horror movie trivia. But the game turns deadly when she wrongfully answers Jason Vorhees as the killer in the 1980 slasher film Friday the 13th instead of Mrs. Vorhees.
Cut to Barrymore strung up on a tree in her front yard, disemboweled. And to make it worse, the killer escaped.
Sounds intense, maybe even offensive to some. So that leaves the question: why do we like scary movies? Why subject ourselves to this kind of distress?Continue Reading
I ADORE SUSAN SNYDER. Like, seriously. My girl has so much personality clawing its way through these pages. You don’t even know.
But, fine. Let’s back up a tick.
Encyclopedia Sharksploitanica is a movie guide book. You know the type. Movies are listed. Reviews are given. Yawn. We’ve been here a thousand times.
What makes the difference here is the abject joy and love Susan has for sharks in general and these stupid movies that have taken up so much video, TV, and streaming space in our consciousness. Have you seen her Sharksploitation Sunday YouTube channel? You should. She is cute and fun and a great time to hang out with while she talks about sharky stuff. This book has all of that same personality and exuberance, but in a more compact and oddly more silly format.Continue Reading
One of the short-listed nominees for the Bram Stoker Award in Short Fiction caught my eye this week: “That’s What Friends are For” by Larry Hinkle, published in volume 16 of Dark Recesses Press. I really liked it. Sometimes, when you’re in a good reading groove you can lose yourself in a short story, eschewing all distractions (and never once checking Twitter!) “That’s What Friends Are For” did that for me.Continue Reading
Lone Women by Victor LaValle One World (March 28, 2023) 304 pages; $27 hardback; $13.99 e-book Reviewed by Dave Simms
Some books, special books, have a narrative style that grab the reader by the throat while whispering the words of angels in the ear. When that writing connects with a story so mesmerizing, the result is a reading experience that whisks away the hours.
When attempting to explain the plot of Lone Women, one might find themselves a bit tangled. Victor LaValle has been know to accomplish this before. The Changeling, The Ballad of Black Tom, and The Devil in Silver all exemplify this in stories that meld genres, the fantastic with the grotesque, the beautiful with the grittiest of settings.Continue Reading
For those unaware of the Marvel Universe, specifically Earth-616, the Klyntar are a race of conscious symbiotes. While Klyntar are fully sentient creatures, in their natural state they are predators who feed on the darkest emotions of their hosts, compelling their hosts to violence and corrupting them. Scream: Curse of Carnage, written by Clay McCleod Chapman and illustrated by Chris Mooneyham, focuses on one of these symbiotes, Scream, and its host, Andi Benton. For fans of the Marvel Universe, this is a really compelling tale, and for fans of horror, the allusions to classical myth and horror will be entertaining as well.Continue Reading