Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: Seth’s Christmas Ghost Stories 2024 
Seth’s Christmas Ghost Stories 2024 Set
Biblioasis (December 2024)
$25 paperback set
Reviewed by Blu Gilliand
It’s become a favorite December tradition for me — reviewing the new set of Seth’s Christmas Ghost Stories as delivered to my stocking each year by the fine folks at Biblioasis. This year’s package contains tales of dread that will raise goosebumps on your arms faster than the coldest winter wind.Continue Reading
Into the Green Wild Yonder by Peter Crowther and Tim Lebbon
PS Publishing (August 2024)
Reviewed by Blu Gilliand
Acclaimed authors Peter Crowther and Tim Lebbon have joined forces to produce this nightmarishly surreal novella about a young couple, a rundown old garden, and an ancient evil.
Gordon and Sally Kenney are house hunting when they visit a rundown old home with a wildly overgrown garden. They find themselves both repulsed by, and strangely drawn to, the old-fashioned decor, the creepy old lady who shows them around, and the untamed thicket that bears a sign saying, “Beware of the Garden.” Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: Pay the Piper by George A. Romero and Daniel Kraus 
Pay the Piper by George A. Romero and Daniel Kraus
Union Square & Co. (September 2024)
Reviewed by Blu Gilliand
What a gift it turned out to be when George A. Romero’s estate allowed Daniel Kraus (recently of Whalefall fame) to complete Romero’s novel The Living Dead, released back in 2020. Kraus worked his way through tons of notes and ideas and chapters to put together what would have been Romero’s final, masterful word on the zombie genre. In my review, I called it “… a crowning achievement, serving as the fond farewell that George Romero deserves.”
Not so fast, my friend.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: Highway Thirteen by Fiona McFarlane 
Highway Thirteen by Fiona McFarlane
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (August 2024)
Reviewed by Blu Gilliand
Is it really a serial killer book if the serial killer is absent from the book?
That’s the question I had in mind when I picked up Highway Thirteen to review. I’d been led to believe — by the jacket copy, by the press materials, and by a few advance reviews — that the focus was not on the killer, but instead on the victims, family members, acquaintances, and curious parties caught in his orbit. That was all true. It was my assumption that the killer was absent that was incorrect.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: Blood in the Cut by Alejandro Nodarse 
Blood in the Cut by Alejandro Nodarse
Flatiron Books (June 2024)
Reviewed by Blu Gilliand
Ignacio “Iggy” Guerra returns home, fresh off a three-year stint in prison, to find nothing but turmoil. His mother has passed away in a tragic accident. His father is angry with Iggy for the mistakes that sent him to prison. His family’s business is struggling, and his neighborhood is being reshaped through a series of unwanted changes.
Iggy, just 23, is standing at a crossroads, and everywhere he turns, there’s another bit of trouble waiting, idling, hoping for the chance to gun the engines and run him down.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: Seth’s Christmas Ghost Stories (2023 Edition) 
Seth’s Christmas Ghost Stories 2023 Set
Biblioasis (December 2023)
$25 paperback set
Reviewed by Blu Gilliand
These annual sets of ghost stories from cartoonist Seth and publisher Biblioasis has, over the last few years, become one of my favorite holiday traditions. The 2023 set arrives bearing three creepy stories and an armload of stark, atmospheric illustrations that perfectly capture and bolster them to chilling effect.Continue Reading
Sackhead: The Definitive Retrospective on Friday the 13th Part 2 by R.G. Henning
Independently Published (January 2023)
277 pages; $18.99 paperback
Reviewed by Blu Gilliand
Despite the legal entanglements that have stunted the growth of the Friday the 13th series for years, the popularity of the movies, and Jason Voorhees in particular, continues to grow. Friday fans are bombarded now with more t-shirts, soundtrack releases, action figures and merchandise than was ever available when new movies were being made. The series has seen its share of making-of books as well, including a couple on the first movie (Making Friday the 13th and On Location in Blairstown), plus a massive series-spanning tome called Crystal Lake Memories that stands as one of the best behind-the-scenes books ever devoted to a film franchise, if not the best.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: The Last Day and the First by Tim Lebbon 
The Last Day and the First by Tim Lebbon
PS Publishing (July 2023)
72 pages; $24 hardcover
Reviewed by Blu Gilliand
In Tim Lebbon’s novella The Last Day and the First, we miss the apocalypse. It’s already happened. We miss the confusion, the destruction, the panic, the bloodshed. We miss the desperate struggle for survival. We miss the loss of life and the downfall of society.
What we get instead is the last few, quiet breaths of humanity as we give way to the next inhabitants of this world.
Lebbon’s greatest gift as a writer is his ability to find the beauty and strength in otherwise horrific circumstances. Here we have a village with a handful of inhabitants, living out their lives deep in the safe green spaces between the crumbled remains of cities. As long as they stay off the roads they’re relatively safe; cross one of those ribbons of asphalt and they’re apt to be killed by something they call a scorer.
Soon they stumble across a strange new sight, something they come to call the bloom. Before long, it becomes apparent that this, and other blooms that crop up in the wild, are not a new danger; rather, they are a next step for a healing planet.
There’s a melancholy tone to this story, a peaceful sort of acceptance the main character, Rose (who may in fact be the last woman alive) adopts as she realizes she is witnessing humanity’s final days. There’s no anger, no last-ditch effort to turn the tide, no race for a cure or a weapon or an answer. There’s just understanding, and a strange kind of hope for a future none of us will be around to witness.
Tim Lebbon is an author we don’t talk about enough. The Last Day and the First is a reminder of how powerful his work is, and how lucky we are to have him out there, creating stories for our enjoyment.
Also, I’d be remiss not to give a quick shout-out to artist Tamislav Tikulin for the gorgeous cover art gracing this book.
The Last Day and the First is highly recommended.
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: Fearless by M.W. Craven 
Fearless by M.W. Craven
Flatiron Books (July 2023)
416 pages; $28.99 hardcover; $14.99 e-book
Reviewed by Blu Gilliand
We’ve all seen multiple movies and read multiple books in which the heroes are described as “fearless,” meaning they are able to put aside their self-preservation instincts and do what needs to be done in the face of grave danger.
In M.W. Craven’s thriller Fearless, the scenario is a little different. Ben Koenig is a man who literally cannot feel fear. As cool as that sounds, it’s a condition that often puts Ben — and those around him — in danger.
Koenig is a man on the run, a U.S. Marshal who upset the wrong people and has a sizeable bounty on his head. He’s pulled out of the shadows by an old friend whose daughter has gone missing. Koenig is convinced the woman is already dead, but he agrees to go on the hunt for her…and for those who took her. The chase leads Koenig down a dangerous, elaborate rabbit hole that involves warring cartels, solar energy, and a passel of angry Russians.
Craven is an award-winning crime writer who has the thriller format down pat. Short chapters (most of them only three pages) and constant forward momentum make this a quick, fun read. There’s not a lot in the way of characterization — Koenig’s backstory gets a good amount of attention, but the supporting cast is barely sketched out — but that’s not the point of a book like Fearless. This is all about the action, and Craven deals it out on nearly every page.
The back of my advance copy screams “Major Streaming News to Come,” and I can see this becoming a really fun piece of episodic content.
Fearless is crammed with shooting, chasing, hand-to-hand combat, scene-chewing villains, tough guys and tough ladies, plot twists and surprising revelations. If that’s your idea of the perfect summer thriller, you won’t be disappointed.
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: The Siberia Job by Josh Haven 
The Siberia Job by Josh Haven
Mysterious Press (June 6, 2023)
384 pages; $26.95 hardcover; $17.49 e-book
Reviewed by Blu Gilliand
I thought, This is either going to go right over my head, or it’s going to bore me to tears.
Fortunately, thanks to the skilled writing of Josh Haven, The Siberia Job is neither boring or bewildering. Instead, this “lightly fictionalized” account of true events is a taut thrill ride through post-Soviet Russia.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: Everything the Darkness Eats by Eric LaRocca 
Everything the Darkness Eats by Eric LaRocca
CLASH Books (June 20, 2023)
202 pages; $16.95 paperback; $10.99 e-book
Reviewed by Blu Gilliand
Eric LaRocca brings cosmic horror to a small Connecticut town in his dark, grim new novel, Everything the Darkness Eats.
An old man, concealing miraculous powers in a frail frame, is prowling the streets of Henley’s Edge, plucking a handful of citizens from their everyday lives to use as pawns in a mysterious, arcane ritual. His final and most important pawn is a man who is barely existing, a man teetering on the edge of a void of grief and sorrow. Drawn into the old man’s scheme, he finds he has two choices: fight for the light, or be consumed by the darkness.
LaRocca brings some serious Clive Barker vibes to the table in everything from character names (Ghost, Heart, Saint Fleece) to the concept of a glowing orb (“…scabbed with ancient constellations, crusted with distant galaxies…”) that may or may not be God. It’s heady stuff, but LaRocca keeps everything grounded, putting us inside the head of various characters, letting us see things from many different points of view.
At its core, Everything the Darkness Eats is about survival; or, more accurately, the will to survive. What drives people to keep moving forward in the wake of unthinkable tragedy and unimaginable despair? What enables someone to walk through the dark shadow of grief in search of the merest glimmer of hope?
This is no easy, breezy summer read. It’s bleak, but not without light, and not without hope. LaRocca has been steadily building a solid reputation in the horror genre, and this novel represents a giant step forward for him. Strongly recommended.
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby 
All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby
Flatiron Books (June 6, 2023)
352 pages; $23.79 hardcover; $14.99 e-book
Reviewed by Blu Gilliand
Blending social issues, unforgettable characters, and razor-sharp prose, S.A. Cosby has muscled his way to the front of the crime fiction genre. Cosby’s newest, All the Sinners Bleed, showcases his horror/thriller roots in a way we haven’t seen since his debut novel, My Darkest Prayer, and stands poised to cement the author’s position as the new king of the crime hill.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: The Insatiable Volt Sisters by Rachel Eve Moulton 
The Insatiable Volt Sisters by Rachel Eve Moulton
MCD x FSG Orginals (April 2023)
464 pages: $16.20 paperback; $12.99 e-book
Reviewed by Blu Gilliand
Rachel Eve Moulton mixes familial drama and supernatural horror in The Insatiable Volt Sisters, a long, eerie novel that lulls you in but never lets you get too comfortable.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: Scratching the Flint by Vern Smith 
Scratching the Flint by Vern Smith
Run Amok Crime (April 15, 2023)
242 pages; $17.99 paperback
Reviewed by Blu Gilliand
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
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: All Hallows by Christopher Golden 
All Hallows by Christopher Golden
St. Martin’s Press (January 24, 2023)
336 pages: $22.99 hardcover; $14.99 e-book
Reviewed by Blu Gilliand
Christopher Golden sets us up for what sounds like a perfect Halloween night in the opening chapters of his novel All Hallows…and then viciously, gleefully rips it all apart.
It’s 1984 in Coventry, Massachusetts. The kids on Parmenter Road are looking forward to a night of trick-or-treating; the adults are looking forward to the party that starts once the trick-or-treating is done; and everyone is looking forward to a visit to the Haunted Woods, one family’s tradition that’s grown into a much-anticipated annual event. On the surface, things are great. But behind that thin veneer of neighborly civility, things are coming to a boil.Continue Reading
Copyright © 1988 - 2024 Cemetery Dance Publications / Performance Website by 2C
