Dave Simms Archives - Cemetery Dance Online

Review: Family by Ian Rogers

Cemetery Dance OnlineDecember 18, 2024December 8, 2024ReviewsDave Simms, Earthling Halloween Series, Earthling Publications, Family, Ian Rogers, ReviewsLeave a comment

cover of Family Family by Ian Rogers
Earthling Publications (October 2024)
Reviewed by Dave Simms

When is a haunted house story not a haunted house story? Earthling Publications knocks it out of the park with this novel by Ian Rogers. Comparisons will be made to the classics such as The Haunting of Hill House and newer entries like A Head Full of Ghosts, but also to cinematic hits like Poltergeist and The Changeling. What’s the best description? All and none of them.

Review: Night of the Long Knives by Tyler Jones

Cemetery Dance OnlineDecember 11, 2024December 8, 2024ReviewsDave Simms, Earthling Publications, Night of the Long Knives, Reviews, Tyler JonesLeave a comment

cover of Night of the Long Knives Night of the Long Knives by Tyler Jones
Earthling Publications (December 2024)
Reviewed by Dave Simms

Another Earthling Publications book, another head-spinning tale that combines several genres and spits out a brutal novel that lingers like a scar on the soul.

Tyler Jones is already known as a smart writer, able to weave together the best and worst of society, along with heavy themes, while never letting them weigh down the pages. In Night of the Long Knives, he combines a thriller with grief horror (which has become a massive trope in the genre lately), true crime, and the supernatural. That’s a lot to blend, but Jones nails it. This reviewer is not a fan of hard-hitting grief in fiction at all — life’s too depressing as it is! However, it works here without smothering the reader in that sadness and loss.

Review: The Soul of Wes Craven by Joseph Maddrey

Cemetery Dance OnlineNovember 22, 2024November 17, 2024ReviewsDave Simms, Joseph Maddrey, Reviews, The Soul of Wes CravenLeave a comment

The Soul of Wes Craven by Joseph Maddrey
Harker Books (June 2024)
Reviewed by Dave Simms

From Last House on the Left to Scream, Wes Craven had been a staple of horror. He rubbed dark souls with John Carpenter and Tobe Hooper, carving out his own legend in the Mount Rushmore of the genre. Fans knew him from the obvious Nightmare on Elm Street series, but diehards will never forget even the oddball films, such as The People Under the Stairs and Vampire in Brooklyn.

Review: The Rack: Stories Inspired by Vintage Horror Paperbacks edited by Tom Deady

Cemetery Dance OnlineOctober 23, 2024October 14, 2024ReviewsDave Simms, Reviews, Stephen King, The Rack, Tom Deady1 Comment

cover of The Rack The Rack: Stories Inspired by Vintage Horror Paperbacks edited by Tom Deady
Thomas E. Deady (September 2024)
Reviewed by Dave Simms

Who in their right minds (okay, readers of a certain age) hasn’t been excited to walk into a drug store or supermarket to find THE rack. That spinning metal beast of wonder that held so many amazing covers; some cheesy, some over the top, and others that make your head spin. It always signaled that fun times were on the way as we turned and swiveled and reached behind the book in front to find an even better book behind it. Many found it more exciting than heading to the Waldenbooks or Borders Books (different eras, but same good times). The thrill of discovering a frightening story with cool cover prompted so many of us to ride our bikes, walk, or drive on over on the day when we knew the manager would break open the new stock. Finding treasures behind that first book was even better, possibly hid by another horror fan to buy at a later time.

Review: Lexie by F. Paul Wilson

Cemetery Dance OnlineSeptember 16, 2024September 14, 2024ReviewsDave Simms, F. Paul Wilson, Lexie, ReviewsLeave a comment

cover of Lexie Lexie by F. Paul Wilson
Crossroad Press (September 2024)
Reviewed by Dave Simms

Recommending an F. Paul Wilson novel is akin to saying oxygen might be good for you. Over the course of his career, there hasn’t been a bad book in his vast catalog. Lexie is no different — it’s the stunning second book of his duology that began last spring with The Upwelling and a fitting conclusion to a tale that holds all the tenets of a classic Wilson story. The characters are intriguing and fully fleshed out, the plot twists and turns yet plays fair with the reader, and the mythos he’s created is on full display.

Review: The Damage Done by Tony Tremblay

Cemetery Dance OnlineSeptember 11, 2024September 7, 2024ReviewsDave Simms, Reviews, The Damage Done, Tony TremblayLeave a comment

cover of The Damage Done The Damage Done by Tony Tremblay
Haverhill House Publishing (July 2024)
Reviewed by Dave Simms

Old-school horror. It’s a term that’s tossed around lightly these days but many are unfamiliar with that entails (save for those who lived through the first golden age of paperbacks). What it truly means to many is a solid scary story with real people — just full bore ahead without stopping for subtleties, which is refreshing if the reader craves pure entertainment. There’s enough deep tomes in the dark realm to rip hearts and morals apart. Sometimes, a good story is just a good story.

Tony Tremblay knows how to spin a good — and great — story. The Damage Done is 100% great storytelling that makes the reader strap in, thrill ride style, and produces a smile that doesn’t let up until long after the final page.

Review: Sarafina by Philip Fracassi

Cemetery Dance OnlineAugust 28, 2024August 25, 2024ReviewsDave Simms, Philip Fracassi, Reviews, SarafinaLeave a comment

Sarafina by Phillip Fracassi
Earthling Publications. (September 2024)
Reviewed by Dave Simms

Phillip Fracassi has emerged as a force in horror over the past few years, as his Boys in the Valley rocked the genre, and rightfully so. After a pair of solid follow ups (Gothic and A Child Alone with Strangers), he’s hit another home run with Sarafina.

Review: When You Leave I Disappear by David Niall Wilson

Cemetery Dance OnlineAugust 7, 2024August 6, 2024ReviewsDave Simms, David Niall WIlson, Reviews, When You Leave I DisappearLeave a comment

When You Leave I Disappear by David Niall Wilson
Shortwave Media (August 20, 2024)
Reviewed by Dave Simms

When can a novella be accurately described as a mindf**k? One can imagine David Niall Wilson arching his fingers and giggling like a cartoon villain, just waiting for readers of When You Leave I Disappear to have their heads explode. It’s likely best as a one-sitting read, but slowing it down accentuates the fine lines and threads which weave their way through this nesting doll of horror mystery. It’s that good.Continue Reading

Review: Chisel the Bone by Renee S. DeCamillis

Cemetery Dance OnlineJuly 31, 2024July 30, 2024ReviewsChisel the Bone, Dave Simms, Encyclopocalypse, Renee S. DeCamillis, ReviewsLeave a comment

cover of Chisel the Bone Chisel the Bone by Renee S. DeCamillis
Encyclopocalypse (July 2024)
Reviewed by Dave Simms

When I first read The Bone Cutters by Renee S. DeCamillis a few years ago, I was impressed by the brutal talent of the author in a way that knocked my psyche out of my comfort zone — in a very cool way.

Now, she returns to that world in a full novel that allows her story to breathe, expand, bleed, and chisel itself into the reader’s primal fears.

Chisel the Bone is beautifully vicious, both in story and writing. Dory, the main character from the novel, returns. She’s damaged from her stay in the mental hospital, but safe from her attackers. Living with a friend who watches her back, she’s almost able to put the nightmares behind her.

The nightmares? A good cult almost always makes a novel fun. DeCamillis does that here with her “Dusters,” a sick group who are addicted to chiseling the bones of their victims. They grind the slivers of bones into a fine dust and, well, snort them like cocaine. Disturbing? Definitely. Yet the story is so much more than that. Dory barely escaped the hospital the first time but burns for revenge. Her friends who helped her stick with her; a father and daughter, both who bring out the best in the main character while becoming strong elements themselves.

On the flip side, there’s a cast of baddies who range from the head doctor who organizes the movement, hoping to grow his movement of dusters, to the addicted and unhinged members both within and outside the hospital.

What resonates here is how the DeCamillis imbues all of her characters with distinct personalities. Each rocks their scenes and punctuates the horror in a way that speaks of a talented hand. The writing is as cutting as the tools the cults utilize. The words dig deep, and her prose is electric. For those expecting “quiet horror,” look elsewhere. This is “loud horror,” if that term actually exists. That doesn’t mean it isn’t quality — it holds plenty, but this is metal in style: beats pumping, staccato rhythms with smooth breakdowns, and lyrics that bounce off the page.

Recommended.

Review: The Upwelling by F. Paul Wilson

Cemetery Dance OnlineJuly 22, 2024July 18, 2024ReviewsDave Simms, F. Paul Wilson, Reviews, The UpwellingLeave a comment

The Upwelling by F. Paul Wilson
Crossroads Press (July 2024)
Reviewed by Dave Simms

F. Paul Wilson has been a grandmaster of horror, thrillers, science fiction, and medical mysteries, but it somehow feels natural when he slips into this mythos that he’s built for decades. Beginning with The Keep, and through the Adversary series, which launched the iconic Repairman Jack series, the tales of the Otherness thread through novels, sometimes peripherally, sometimes head-on.

While recent novels have been entertaining and well-written, it’s in this novel, The Upwelling, that Wilson reclaims the throne of what he has built — awesome storytelling with interesting characters that readers root for and wish for future adventures to enjoy.

Review: Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman

Cemetery Dance OnlineJuly 17, 2024July 16, 2024ReviewsDave Simms, Incidents Around the House, Josh Malerman, ReviewsLeave a comment

cover of Incidents Around the House — Version 1.0.0

Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman
Del Rey (June 2024)
Reviewed by Dave Simms

The early buzz about Josh Malerman’s newest novel was high. Yet, an eight-year-old narrator? How is that scary? How could he pull off detailed, intense scenes with a sense of dread through an entire novel? I wish I knew, but all doubts fell by the wayside after a few chapters. Incidents Around the House is a stunning achievement in the most fascinating ways.

Review: All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker

Cemetery Dance OnlineJuly 10, 2024June 29, 2024ReviewsAll the Colors of the Dark, Chris Whitaker, Dave Simms, ReviewsLeave a comment

cover of All the Covers of the Dark All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker
Crown (June 2024)
Reviewed by Dave Simms

This novel just might be this year’s Whalefall, a story which defies true categorization but is full of darkness, mystery, and enough emotion to bring a lumberjack to tears.

2024 is shaping up to be even better than last year, which was astounding for dark fiction. Making a best-of list is going to be a tough one, and it’s only July.Continue Reading

Review: The Gathering by C.J. Tudor

Cemetery Dance OnlineJune 17, 2024June 9, 2024ReviewsCJ Tudor, Dave Simms, Reviews, The GatheringLeave a comment

The Gathering by C.J. Tudor
Ballantine Books (April 2024)
Reviewed by Dave Simms

Full disclosure here: not a vampire fan, because most fiction and movies aim for the tried and true tropes rather than injecting new blood into the subgenre. Once in a while, a novel changes that view. The Gathering is one of those, an enjoyable, left turn of a blood-sucking story that can make the reader forget about the bad stories.Continue Reading

Review: Necrotek by Jonathan Maberry

Cemetery Dance OnlineJune 10, 2024June 9, 2024ReviewsDave Simms, Jonathan Maberry, Necrotek, ReviewsLeave a comment

Necroteck by Jonathan Maberry
Blackstone Publishing (May 2024)
Reviewed by Dave Simms

Military science fiction crossed with Lovecraftian horror with a cast of offbeat characters in an adventure that begs for a film adaptation? Yes please!

Jonathan Maberry has conquered a bit of everything in his career, from the straight-up horror that won him a Bram Stoker award to the popular weird adventure series starring Joe Ledger to resurrecting the Weird Tales franchise in style. His style combines Matheson and Bradbury, a pair of giants he knew as a child, along with the fun adventure tales that filled drugstore spinner racks. This is all strong praise, especially for this new novel, which promises to be the start of another successful series.Continue Reading

Review: Hellweg’s Keep by Justin Holley

Cemetery Dance OnlineJune 5, 2024June 4, 2024ReviewsDave Simms, Flame Tree Press, Hellweg's Keep, Justin Holley, ReviewsLeave a comment

cover of Hellweg's Keep Hellweg’s Keep by Justin Holley
Flame Tree Press (November 2023)
256 pages; $16.77 paperback; $4.99 e-book
Reviewed by Dave Simms

Horror in space has always held a special place in many readers’ hearts. However, for the most part it’s been more prevalent on the screen than on the page. Thankfully, the subgenre has been making a comeback in the past few years, striking a fine balance between science fiction and dread.

Justin Holley has added an interesting entry into this canon with Hellweg’s Keep. a novel that brings to mind several elements of well-known and well-loved stories, including The Thing, the worlds of Philip K. Dick and H.P. Lovecraft — all while keeping it grounded, no pun intended.Continue Reading

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