Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: Red Hands by Christopher Golden 
Red Hands by Christopher Golden
St. Martin’s Press (December 8, 2020)
320 pages; $27.99 hardcover; $14.99 e-book
Reviewed by Dave Simms
“Weird shit.” That’s Ben Walker. The expert on weird shit from the previous two entries which are standalone novels, Ararat and The Pandora Room, one of which left a scar few horror novels ever manage to accomplish while the other dug deep into thriller territory in a deliciously fun manner. How does Chris Golden follow this up? Red Hands.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: Bone Chase by Weston Ochse 
Bone Chase by Weston Ochse
Gallery/Saga Press (December 1, 2020)
336 pages; $26 hardcover; $9.99 paperback
Reviewed by Dave Simms
A hunt for giants? Ties to the Bible? Rival factions that stretch back eons?
This is easily going to be one of the hottest thrillers of the year. Imagine if you will, Dan Brown writing with the pacing of Lee Child with the adventure factor of James Rollins. If that’s not enough to crack open this book, nothing will. Did I mention there are giants?Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: WYRD and Other Derelictions by Adam L.G. Nevill 
WYRD and Other Derelictions by Adam L.G. Nevill
Ritual Limited (October 2020)
106 pages; $7.99 paperback; $3.99 e-book
Reviewed by Dave Simms
Adam Nevill has quietly transformed into one of the top writers in the past decade. His novels, ranging from Apartment 16 to last year’s The Reddening (easily this reviewer’s vote for most frightening novel of the year), have evolved into fiction that’s both accessible and surreal. The Netflix adaptation of The Ritual broke open the floodgates to new audiences everywhere. Hopefully, other films will follow.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: One Who Was With Me by Conrad Williams 
One Who Was With Me by Conrad Williams
Earthling Publications (October 2020)
$45 limited edition hardcover
Reviewed by Dave Simms
It’s that wonderful time of year again when Earthling Publications announces their Halloween series title for the upcoming holiday. When was the last time Paul Miller failed to publish a stellar tale for this press? Hint: I’m still waiting.
Conrad Williams returns to the series in fine form here, following up his award winning The Unblemished from fourteen years ago, with a novel that at the onset sounds familiar but trust me—it’s anything but. I don’t know if the author is a baseball fan but he appears to be a master of the screwball, curveball, and sinker.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: Writing in the Dark by Tim Waggoner 
Writing in the Dark by Tim Waggoner
Raw Dog Screaming Press (September 16, 2020)
236 pages; $34.95 hardcover; $19.95 paperback
Reviewed by Dave Simms
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: Signalz by F. Paul Wilson 
Signalz by F. Paul Wilson
Crossroad Press (July 7, 2020)
188 pages; $29.99 hardcover; $17.99 paperback; $5.99 e-book
Reviewed by Dave Simms
Nightworld. For F. Paul Wilson fans, it’s often in the top two or three novels by the legend, surpassed only by the first book in the Repairman Jack series, The Tomb. Nightworld signaled the end of civilizations as we know it (kinda fitting these days, isn’t it?) and was so popular, Wilson rewrote it to fit the series canon after the original Adversary sextet concluded. While that novel hit on all cylinders and checked every box that satisfied both thriller and horror fans across the globe, plenty of mysteries remained. Wilson has plugged some of those, most notably with last year’s Jack novel, The Last Christmas, and prior to that, Wardenclyffe.Continue Reading
The Horror Writer: A Study of Craft and Identity in the Horror Genre edited by Joe Mynhardt
Hellbound Books (January 2020)
216 pages; $14.99 paperback; $4.99 e-book
Reviewed by Dave Simms
Books on writing have been churned out by the dozens, and while many have been worthy reads, few have been standouts. In the horror genre, even fewer come to mind, although there are a few classics.
Joe Mynhardt has compiled a wonderful, useful, and frightening insight into the minds of some of the best dark minds writing today. It’s like someone tore straight into the souls of these authors and culled their best, and darkest secrets.Continue Reading
Tales of the Lost Vol. 1: We All Lose Something! edited by Eugene Johnson and Steve Dillon
Things in the Well (December 2019)
283 pages; $15 paperback; $3 e-book
Reviewed by Dave Simms
Horror anthologies seem to be emerging like gremlins dunked in fetid water these days. While some are stellar, others fill up the pages with reprints from the greats, and some just fall through the cracks because the authors within aren’t household names.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: The Best of Both Worlds by S. P. Miskowski 
The Best of Both Worlds by S.P. Miskowski
Trepidatio Publishing (May 2020)
80 pages; $9.95 paperback; $4.95 e-book
Reviewed by Dave Simms
Skillute is one of those towns that has quickly become one to remember in horror fiction. It’s creeping like a tainted tide, inspired by Oxrun Station from Charlie Grant and Cedar Hill from Gary Braunbeck. The land has been poisoned, seeping into the soil of a town that should be long forgotten, but things that refuse to die grasp hold of the frayed threads of reality in this Pacific Northwestern hell. Good people still reside there, and S.P. Miskowski has made them pawns in her playground, a setting that never can shed the shadows which infect everything that breathes within.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: The Faces by Douglas Clegg 
The Faces by Douglas Clegg
Alkemara Press (November 2019)
106 pages; $11.99 paperback; $3.99 e-book
Reviewed by Dave Simms
Doug Clegg has long been a fixture of superior horror fiction. The Faces is a perfect representation of what the novella form can be—powerful, succinct, and deep. Fans of The Twilight Zone and the best of Bentley Little with a touch of Harlan Ellison will devour this strong tale within hours.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: The Reddening by Adam Nevill 
The Reddening by Adam Nevill
Ritual Limited (October 2019)
420 pages; $15.99 paperback; $4.99 e-book
Reviewed by Dave Simms
Adam Nevill is a special writer. Those familiar with The Ritual, either the novel or the Netflix adaptation last year, know it’s a story that elevated horror in a way few authors can these days. Those who are fans of Banquet of the Damned, Last Days, and Apartment 16 realize the man writes with a smooth fury that evokes comparisons of Peter Straub, later-Robert McCammon, or Graham Joyce. Still, Nevill has a voice that’s all his own.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories Reviews1 Comment on Review: The Boneyard by Keith Minnion 
The Boneyard by Keith Minnion
Crossroad Press (September 2014)
320 pages; $2.99 e-book
Reviewed by Dave Simms
Keith Minnion has long been a force in the horror genre, both as an author and artist. He made his name as an illustrator for several magazines and publishers, most notably and recently for the Stephen King/Richard Chizmar novels Gwendy’s Button Box and Gwendy’s Magic Feather. His short stories have been making the rounds since 1979 and his two collections have garnered high praise.
His first novel The Boneyard, immensely readable and well-written, tears into ground that feels untrodden and fresh. Finding something new these days is tough; finding something that is both new and successful in execution is much tougher. This novel nails it on both counts.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: The Deep by Alma Katsu 
The Deep by Alma Katsu
G.P. Putnam’s Sons (March 10, 2020)
432 pages; $18.39 hardcover; $13.99 e-book
Reviewed by Dave Simms
Those who devoured Alma Katsu’s The Hunger (which should have won awards across the board last year—pun intended) will want to take the plunge into The Deep, a beautifully disturbing cross-genre tale that might even top that previous novel. Whereas The Hunger mined the ill-fated travels of the pioneers who traversed the Donner Pass, this one dives into the mystique of the Titanic, yet with a twist. The ship had a sister—the Britannic. This ship was retrofitted to be a hospital to be used during the war.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: Doll Crimes by Karen Runge 
Doll Crimes by Karen Runge
Crystal Lake Publishing (November 2019)
222 pages; $11.66 paperback; $3.99 e-book
Reviewed by Dave Simms
We could be looking at the next Jack Ketchum here. Actually, Karen Runge is quite her own identity, her own voice that simply delves into the deep, dark places which Ketchum mined so well. Doll Crimes is a novel that will likely disturb while it also examines the human soul, the good, the bad, and the downright evil in a manner that digs so deep, readers will have a tough time forgetting the characters long after the final page is turned.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: The Chill by Scott Carson 
The Chill by Scott Carson
Atria (February 11, 2020)
448 pages; $24.30 hardcover; $12.99 e-book
Reviewed by Dave Simms
What is The Chill? Answer: the first great novel of 2020 that sets a high bar for the rest of the genre with a story that both mines familiar territory but digs deeper than most.Continue Reading
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