Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: The Vessel by Adam L. G. Nevill 
The Vessel by Adam L.G. Nevill
Ritual Limited (October 2022)
170 pages; $10.99 paperback; $3.99 e-book
Reviewed by Haley Newlin
In his eleventh book, The Vessel, Adam L.G. Nevill summons readers with another eerie folk horror story with his usual ethereal atmosphere, creative conjurings of terror, and family at the heart of it all. Only this time, Nevill offers a cinematic approach — removing access to the character’s inner dialogue.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie 
Episode 13 by Craig DiLouie
Redbook (January 24 2023)
464 pages; $18.99 paperback; $9.99 e-book
Reviewed by Dave Simms
The new year might kick off with its first amazing novel. Episode Thirteen is different. For a fan of the paranormal, it checks all the right boxes. For horror fans, even more. For those who love different modalities of storytelling, well, double check.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: Aliens: Vasquez by V. Castro 
Aliens: Vasquez by V. Castro
Titan Books (November 2022)
432 pages; $22.49 hardcover; $12.99 e-book
Reviewed by Anton Cancre
Horror hot take: I’m not that into Aliens as a film. But I dig the heck out of Jenette Vasquez’ take no crap, tear everyone to bits attitude. Without question, I absolutely adore the heck out of everything I have read from V. Castro. While Vasquez ended up being quite different from what I expected, it also ended up being much better.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: Shagging the Boss by Rebecca Rowland 
Shagging the Boss by Rebecca Rowland
Filthy Loot (June 2022)
82 pages; $12 paperback
Reviewed by Dave Simms
Okay, before anyone starts quoting Austin Powers in a bad accent, the shagging Rebecca Rowland refers to might be a bit different. Well, quite different. The title does fit, though, yet I can’t divulge too much of this novelette’s plot. It’s unique and a quick read, easy for one sitting…but this story stuck to me like a great meal. More on that later.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: Bela Lugosi’s Dead by Robert Guffey 
Bela Lugosi’s Dead by Robert Guffey
Macabre Ink (April 2021)
264 pages; $17.99 paperback; $4.99 ebook
Reviewed by Haley Newlin
Universal monsters Dracula, Frankenstein, Wolf Man and others, primarily produced between the 1930s and 1950s, still stand today as not only icons of horror but pop culture.
And yet, so many of the horrifically haunting films featuring these creatures, including Bela Lugosi’s infamous bloodthirsty Count Dracula, have been buried away and forgotten. Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories Reviews, The Comic VaultLeave a comment on Review: A Gift for a Ghost by Borja Gonzalez 
A Gift for a Ghost by Borja Gonzalez
Abrams Comic Arts (May 2020)
114 pages; $24.99 hardcover
Reviewed by Joshua Gage
Borja Gonzalez is a self-taught illustrator and strip cartoonist from Badajoz, Spain. His first published title, La Reina Orquidea, was a precious and haunting short piece which placed the author at the center of national attention. A Gift for a Ghost is his first long form work, recently translated into English and published for readers in the U.S.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: The Black Widow by Louise Worthington 
The Black Widow by Louise Worthington
Self-published (October 2022)
116 pages; $10.44 paperback; $4.23 e-book
Reviewed by Joshua Gage
Louise Worthington started writing psychological thrillers and horror in 2019 after studying for a postgraduate diploma in psychology and reading true crime non-fiction. Her degree is in literature, and she taught English in secondary schools for many years. The emotional pull of a story is very important to her, both as a reader and a writer. She is a member of the Society of Authors and the Horror Writers Association (HWA). Her latest work-in-progress, a psychological horror novel, recently won the top spot on Litopia with agent Peter Cox. Her family lives in Shropshire, a rural, historic county in the UK. Her day job is tutoring and running a farm with her husband. Their newest collection of dark poetry is the independently published The Black Widow. Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: We Can Never Leave This Place by Eric LaRocca 
We Can Never Leave This Place by Eric LaRocca
Trepidatio Publishing (June 2022)
106 pages; $19.95 hardcover; $12.95 paperback; $5.95 e-book
Reviewed by Haley Newlin
In perhaps his bleakest, most grisly tale yet, Eric LaRocca challenges gothic horror’s most visceral and twisted minds, namely The Brothers Grimm.
We Can Never Leave This Place is a screeching, bloody curtain that will hang over readers from start to finish. On the first page, Mara says, “From baby teeth to virginity, to live is to regularly suffer loss,” and it’s here where LaRocca offers a hint of the bloodshed to come. Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: Seth’s Christmas Ghost Stories (2022) 
Seth’s Christmas Ghost Stories (2022 Set)
Biblioasis (October 2021)
$7.95 each; $25 set of three
Reviewed by Blu Gilliand
Reading a ghost story on Christmas Eve was once as much a part of traditional Christmas celebrations as turkey, eggnog, and Santa Claus.
This statement, found on the back of each of the three paperbacks in the 2022 Christmas Ghost Stories set from Biblioasis, is just another reminder that I was born in the wrong era. Ghost stories on Christmas Eve? Sign me up!Continue Reading
The Music Box 1: Welcome to Pandorient by Carbone and Gijé
Stone Arch Books (January 1, 2023)
64 pages; $7.99 paperback; $5.99 e-book
Reviewed by Joshua Gage
Having always been drawn to the world of children, Bénédicte Carboneill, aka Carbone, made the logical choice when it came time to decide on a profession by becoming a teacher. After joining the teaching ranks in 1995, she went on to become a principal before writing entered her life and quickly took over. In 2015, she tried her hand as a comics author with Le Pass’Temps (published by Jungle), taking on the pen name Carbone. She soon followed with La boîte à musique (Dupuis; The Music Box, Europe Comics, Capstone), and already has multiple other series in store, which readers can look forward to discovering over the coming years. Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: Little Eve by Catriona Ward 
Little Eve by Catriona Ward
Tor Nightfire (October 2022)
288 pages; $17.98 hardcover; $14.99 e-book
Reviewed by Haley Newlin
Catriona Ward, the author of The Last House On Needless Street and Sundial, backs readers into a corner with seething screams, venomous fangs, and hot splashing blood in her latest release, Little Eve. Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: The Gravity of Existence by Christina Sng 
The Gravity of Existence by Christina Sng
Intersteller Flight Press (December 5, 2022)
96 pages; $14.90 paperback; $9.99 e-book
Reviewed by Joshua Gage
Christina Sng is the three-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author of A Collection of Nightmares (2017), A Collection of Dreamscapes (2020), Tortured Willows (2021), Elgin Award runner-up Astropoetry (2017), Elgin Award nominee An Assortment of Sky Things (2016), and haiku chapbooks A Constellation of Songs (2016) and Catku (2016). Her poetry, fiction, essays, and art appear in such venues as Fantastic Stories of the Imagination, Interstellar Flight Magazine, Penumbric, Southwest Review, and The Washington Post, and received many accolades, including the Jane Reichhold International Prize, The Pula Film Festival International Haiku Award, multiple nominations for the Rhysling Awards, the Dwarf Stars, the Pushcart Prize, the Elgin Award, and the Ladies of Horror Fiction Award, as well as honorable mentions in the Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror, and the Best Horror of the Year. Her newest book is The Gravity of Existence, a collection of minimalist horror poetry. Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: Möbius Lyrics by Angela Yuriko Smith and Maxwell I. Gold 
Möbius Lyrics by Angela Yuriko Smith and Maxwell I. Gold
Independent Legions Publishing (October 2022)
84 pages; $11.90 paperback; $3.99 e-book
Reviewed by Joshua Gage
Angela Yuriko Smith is a third-generation Shimanchu-American and award-winning poet, author, and publisher with 20+ years of experience as a professional writer in nonfiction. She is the publisher of Space & Time magazine, a two-time Bram Stoker Award winner, and HWA Mentor of the Year for 2020 w. Maxwell I. Gold is a multiple award nominated author who writes prose poetry and short stories in weird and cosmic fiction. His work has appeared in numerous anthologies and magazines including Weirdbook Magazine, Space and Time Magazine, Startling Stories, Strange Horizons and more. Their newest collaborative collection is Möbius Lyrics. Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: Moonless Nocturne by Hank Schwaeble 
Moonless Nocturne by Hank Schwaeble
25 & Y Publishing (October 2022)
338 pages; $17.95 paperback; $7.49 e- book
Reviewed by Dave Simms
When a two-time Stoker winner pens a collection, there’s a strong chance the pages will be full of magic and exquisite darkness. Add to that an introduction by the grandmaster of horror, Dr. F. Paul Wilson, the reader will feel confident that Moonless Nocturne is worth every penny.
Hank Schwaeble has written the intriguing Jake Hatcher series, yet it’s his shorter fiction where his talent truly shines. This book of dark tales span quite the spectrum of genres here, putting to rest any thoughts that the author is a one-trick pony.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: Dear Ted by Kim Vodicka 
Dear Ted by Kim Vodicka
Really Serious Literature (June 2022)
202 pages; $19.95 paperback
Reviewed by Anton Cancre
In 2020 Kim Vodicka gifted us with The Elvis Machine, one of the most compelling, and honest collections of the year. This time, she is focusing on Ted Bundy. It would be easy to go with straight depictions of the murders. Instead, Kim pictures herself as both the fangirl obsessed with Bundy and as his victim. She delves deep into the squishy desire to be both a dehumanized thing of flesh to be used and an object of adoration.Continue Reading
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