Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: Artemis Made Me Do It by Trista Mateer 
Artemis Made Me Do It by Trista Mateer
Central Avenue Publishing (September 6, 2022)
184 pages; $16.99 paperback
Reviewed by Joshua Gage
Trista Mateer is the award-winning and bestselling author of multiple poetry collections, including the feminist greek mythology retelling, Aphrodite Made Me Do It. Mateer is a passionate mental health advocate, currently writing in South Carolina. Her newest collection is titled Artemis Made Me Do It.Continue Reading
He Who Fights with Monsters by Francesco Artibani and Werther Dell’Edera
Ablaze (August 30, 2022)
144 pages; $24.99 hardcover
Reviewed by Joshua Gage
Francesco Artibani has long worked for the Walt Disney Company Italia, where he writes many tales for Topolino, PK, and W.I.T.C.H., of which he’s been a scriptwriter and story editor for three years, and has created the science fiction series Kylion. Werther Dell’Edera is an Italian comic book artist who provided interior art for the unreleased comic Aliens: Colonial Marines – Rising Threat for Dark Horse Comics, as well as Marvel Comics, and BOOM! Studios hit Something is Killing the Children. Their newest collaboration is the WWII graphic novel He Who Fights With Monsters. Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories Reviews, The Comic VaultLeave a comment on Review: Over My Dead Body by Sweeney Boo
Over My Dead Body by Sweeney Boo
HarperAlley (August 30, 2022)
240 pages; $24.99 hardcover
Reviewed by Joshua Gage
Sweeney Boo is a comic artist and illustrator living in Montreal, Canada.
When she’s not busy drawing witchy girls and hairless cats, she works with various publishers including BOOM! Studios, Archie Comics, IDW, Marvel, Image Comics and DC Comics. She is also the author and illustrator of graphic novel Eat, & Love Yourself. Her newest graphic novel is Over My Dead Body.Continue Reading
Endymion or The State of Entropy: A Lyrical Drama by Kurt R. Ward
Self-Published (July 2022)
88 pages; $21.99 hardcover
Reviewed by Joshua Gage
Kurt R. Ward has privately published numerous poems as well as a recording of his jazz compositions for solo piano. His newest collection of poetry is Endymion or The State of Entropy: A Lyrical Drama.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories Reviews, The Comic VaultLeave a comment on Review: Recursion’s End by Emma Groom
Recursion’s End by Emma Groom
U-26 Comics (July 2022)
189 pages; $15.00 paperback
Reviewed by Joshua Gage
By day, Emma Groom is an undergrad biologist. She’s an entrepreneur specializing in aquaponics and exotic plants/animals with prior work experience in prairie restoration. By night, however, Groom is a comic book artist, and her newest graphic novel is the epic Recursion’s End. Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: Blackwater by Jeannette Arroyo and Ren Graham
Blackwater by Jeannette Arroyo and Ren Graham
Henry Holt and Co. BYR Paperbacks (July 19, 2022)
304 pages; $24.99 hardcover; $17.99 paperback
Reviewed by Joshua Gage
Jeannette Arroyo was born and raised in New Mexico but recently relocated to the rainier Seattle area. She has done freelance in animation and children’s book illustrations. A huge fan of the horror genre, Jeannette likes to mix in some lighthearted spooky elements in her work.
Ren Graham is a fiction writer and illustrator currently residing in the rainy Pacific Northwest. They have B.A. in Art History and a graduate studies certificate in Science Illustration, so biology, world mythology, and natural elements tend to influence and reappear in their work. Ren is interested in spooky stories, chilly hikes in the woods, and the ways in which art and science intersect. Co-created, Blackwater is their debut graphic novel. It’s a fabulous horror story geared towards a teen audience.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories Reviews, The Comic VaultLeave a comment on Review: Black Mass Rising by Theo Prasidis and Jodie Muir
Black Mass Rising by Theo Prasidis and Jodie Muir
TKO Studios (May 2022)
170 pages; $19.99 paperback; $7.99 e-book
Reviewed by Joshua Gage
Theo Prasidis is the author of The Doomster’s Monolithic Pocket Alphabet (Image Comics), Black Mass Rising (TKO Studios), and Swamp Dogs: House of Crows (Black Caravan). A fantasy devotee and cult media specialist by degree, he’s a zealous propagator of the magical and the mystical, the nostalgic and the psychedelic, the pulp and the weird. He lives a rather undramatic life in his hometown Drama, Greece, with his wife and two sons, heirs to a kingdom of horror books, heavy metal vinyl, and more band t-shirts than any sane person should ever be allowed to own. Jodie Muir is a freelance illustrator, based in the UK. Having previously worked in comics (Marvel, TKO) and concepting, she is currently an illustrator on Magic: The Gathering. Their newest book is Black Mass Rising, a sequel to Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: Venomous Words by Jeff Oliver and Gordon Reilly 
Venomous Words by Jeff Oliver and Gordon Reilly
Blurb (May 2022)
126 pages; $148 deluxe hardcover edition (buy direct from Blurb)
Reviewed by Joshua Gage
Born in Baltimore Maryland in 1982, Jeff Oliver has been writing from his soul for many decades. Gordon Reilly is a Special Operations Veteran who found macro photography of scorpions and invertebrates as a hobby. Their newest collaboration is Venomous Words, a collection of macro photos of scorpions and other invertebrates combined with poetry. Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories Reviews, The Comic VaultLeave a comment on Review: Cat’s Cradle: The Golden Twine by Jo Rioux
Cat’s Cradle: The Golden Twine by Jo Rioux
First Second (June 21, 2022)
128 pages; $21.99 hardcover; $14.99 paperback
Reviewed by Joshua Gage
Jo Rioux is an author, an illustrator, and a life-long space cadet who flies by the seat of her rocket pants. Since graduating Sheridan College in illustration, she’s illustrated picture books and novels, but her favorite medium remains comics. Her debut graphic novel, Cat’s Cradle, was recently printed by First Second Books.Continue Reading
Black Beth: Vengeance be Thy Name by Blas Gallego, Alec Worley, DaNi
Rebellion (June 7, 2022)
80 pages; $24 paperback
Reviewed by Joshua Gage
Black Beth was a one-time character published by Scream in the 1980s. She was a combination of Red Sonja and The Punisher, an armor-clad woman warrior who sought vengeance against the tyrants that slaughtered her love and her village. Aided by her mentor, the blind wild man Quido, she sought vengeance for 23 pages before disappearing into the memories of comic aficionados until 2016, when Rebellion purchased the rights from the original publisher. Alec Worley and artist DaNi have reinvented Black Beth for modern audiences in a dark fantasy tale that is sure to thrill readers. Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: Witch 13 by Patrick Delaney 
Witch 13 by Patrick Delaney
Oblivion Publishing (June 7, 2022)
358 pages; $28.99; $17.99 paperback; $3.99
Reviewed by Joshua Gage
Award-winning author Patrick Delaney grew up in varying cities in the greater Los Angeles County, where he attended Canyon High School. Throughout his childhood he pursued various forms of art, from writing short stories to drawing and modeling. Throughout his undergraduate career he gradually polished his debut novel Dante’s Town of Terror, which would go on to win the gold medal in the Independent Publisher Book Awards(IPPY) in the horror category for 2018. His most recent novel is Witch 13.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: Helpmeet by Naben Ruthnum 
Helpmeet by Naben Ruthnum
Undertow Publications (May 24, 2022)
94 pages; $11.99 paperback
Reviewed by Joshua Gage
Naben Ruthnum is the author of A Hero of Our Time, and Curry: Eating, Reading, and Race. He lives in Toronto and also writes thrillers as Nathan Ripley. His newest horror novella is Helpmeet.
“Helpmeet” is an outdated term for a spouse. Updated to “help mate,” it’s defined as “a helpful companion or partner, especially one’s husband or wife.” In this novella, Dr. Edward Wilk is dying of a disease that’s rotting him from the inside out. His wife, Louise, is there to support and help him until his dying breath, but she realizes that his ailment is not actually a disease, but merely a transformative phase leading to something far darker or insidious than readers could possibly imagine. Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: Silk Hills by Brian Level and Ryan Ferrier
Silk Hills by Brian Level and Ryan Ferrier
Oni Press (May 24, 2022)
176 pages; $24.99 hardcover
Reviewed by Joshua Gage
Brian Level is a cartoonist, tattooer, and a writer who has contributed to premiere comic books including Star Wars, Batman, Spider-Man, Avengers and Deadpool. Ryan Ferrier is a Canadian comic book writer, published by every major North American comics company, and best known for his original comic series such as Kennel Block Blues, Death Orb, I Can Sell You A Body, the highly celebrated D4VE trilogy, and the acclaimed graphic novel Criminy. Ryan has also written for some of pop culture’s most beloved properties, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Marvel’s Deadpool, DC’s Batman, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, G.I. Joe, and Planet of the Apes. Their newest graphic novel is Silk Hills, a really strong paranormal horror story that is sure to entertain readers.Continue Reading
Howls from the Dark Ages: An Anthology of Medieval Horror edited by P L McMillan and Solomon Forse
Joshua Mortensen (May 12, 2022)
352 pages; $19.95 paperback
Reviewed by Joshua Gage
HOWL Society, located on Discord, is the most active horror book club on the web. With hundreds of members, the club offers readers the chance to join a supportive community where they can enjoy books alongside other horror-lovers while engaging in meaningful discussions and forming long-lasting friendships. Aside from serving as an organized platform for discussing books, HOWL Society is also home to a tight-knit group of horror writers. Additionally, members can participate in tangential conversations about horror films, horror games, and much more. Because the club aims to provide equal access to all readers and writers around the world, membership is 100% free. Occasionally, HOWL Society publishes anthologies, and their most recent is Howls from the Dark Ages: An Anthology of Medieval Horror.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: What Flies Want by Emily Pérez 
What Flies Want by Emily Pérez
University of Iowa Press (May 11, 2022)
96 pages; $19.95 paperback
Reviewed by Joshua Gage
Emily Pérez is an English and gender studies instructor and grade-level dean at Colorado Academy. She is the author of What Flies Want, winner of the Iowa Prize; House of Sugar, House of Stone; and the chapbooks Backyard Migration Route and Made and Unmade. She lives in Denver, Colorado. What Flies Want, her newest collection, is a dark collection of poems that deals with very real traumas — mental health, marriage difficulties, self-harm, etc. — and their very real consequences.Continue Reading
Copyright © 1988 - 2025 Cemetery Dance Publications / Performance Website by 2C
