Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories Reviews1 Comment on Review: ‘The Forgotten Girl’ by Rio Youers 
The Forgotten Girl by Rio Youers
St. Martin’s Press (June 13, 2017)
352 pages; $19.03 hardback; $14.99 e-book
Reviewed by Dave Simms
Many readers will consider this novel to be Youers’ first, but fans will be familiar with the author from strong efforts such as Westlake Soul, Mama Fish, and End Times. With a voice demanding greater exposure, Rio’s The Forgotten Girl just might be the breakout novel he’s needed to reach a well-deserved massive following.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: ‘Monstrumführer’ by Edward M. Erdelac 
Monstrumführer by Edward M. Erdelac
Comet Press (January 2017)
335 pages; $15.95 paperback; $4.99 e-book
Reviewed by Frank Michaels Errington
If you read Edward M. Erdelac’s story, Andersonville, about the most sadistic rebel prison of the Civil War, with a supernatural twist, you likely have some idea where he’s going with this new novel, Monstrumführer, combining the horrors of Auschwitz-Birkenau, Poland, with Frankenstein’s monster. Once again, this gifted storyteller plays with historic events and imbues his tale with elements of horror, as Josef Mengele endeavors to improve upon the work of Dr. Victor Frankenstein.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: ‘Ruler of the Night’ by David Morrell 
Ruler of the Night by David Morrell
Mulholland Books (November 2016)
352 pages; $17.70 hardcover; $13.99 e-book
Reviewed by Dave Simms
What can one say about the conclusion of a terrific trilogy from one of the masters of horror and thrillers, besides wow? Many fans are still marveling that David Morrell, Rambo’s father and author of the classic dark novels The Totem, Creepers, and Testament, embarked on a ride back into the Victorian Age, giving birth to yet another enigmatic character in Thomas DeQuincey (the real life Opium Eater) who in real life penned several stories and essays which directly influenced Edgar Allan Poe.Continue Reading
The High-Maintenance Ladies of the Zombie Apocalypse by Melinda Marshall and Christine Steendam
Hazelridge Press (October 2016)
127 pages, $10.99 paperback; $2.99 e-book
Reviewed by Joshua Gage
The High-Maintenance Ladies of the Zombie Apocalypse is exactly what the title conveys, a humorous attempt to pit pampered fashionistas against brainless, flesh-eating hordes. Taken in that spirit, this book is a complete success. It is at times silly, gory, irreverent, suspenseful and all around fun. Co-authors Melinda Marshall and Christine Steendam have concocted some clever heroines and given us insight into their survival skills. Overall, this is a quick, fun read that’s worth pursuing.Continue Reading
The Halloween Children by Brian James Freeman and Norman Prentiss
Hydra/Random House (June 2017)
300 pages; $2.99 e-book
Reviewed by Dave Simms
A Halloween story is something no reader of horror fiction should ever miss. A broad statement, true, but The Hallowen Children is another Hallowen tale which has knocked it out of the park. This is a disturbing, claustrophobic, beyond enjoyable read which encompasses everything Halloween should be. Of course, parallels will be drawn to The Shining, but that would be extremely unfair to Brian Freeman and Norman Prentiss. The Halloween Children is utterly original and deserves to be given applause on its own merits. This is an everyman’s horror story—the best, most relatable kind—and holds family close to its dark heart.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: ‘Crow Shine’ by Alan Baxter 
Crow Shine by Alan Baxter
Ticonderoga Publications (November 2016)
$29.99 hardcover; $22.99 paperback; $4.99 e-book
Reviewed by Frank Michaels Errington
The first short story I ever read by Alan Baxter was “In Vaulted Halls Entombed,” which featured a group of soldiers chasing terrorists into a cave in Afghanistan only to see them trapped by something their training never prepared them for. Since then, I always get excited when I see his name attached to an anthology.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: ‘Life in a Haunted House’ by Norman Prentiss 
Life in a Haunted House by Norman Prentiss
Amazon Digital Services (May 2017)
175 pages; $0.99 e-book
Reviewed by Kevin Lucia
I absolutely love coming of age stories. I don’t know why. Maybe because I’m an overgrown kid myself. Maybe there’s something inside me which looks back on those years fondly, but also remembers how hard it was to be a kid. Everyone expects you to “grow up” and figure out what it is you want to do with your life, all before your sixteenth birthday. I remember those years well, and as a high school teacher, I see it enacted before me, in living color, every single day. So I’m always a sucker for a well-told, engrossing coming of age tale. Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: ‘Savage Jungle’ by Hunter Shea 
Savage Jungle by Hunter Shea
Severed Press (April 2017)
198 pages; $11.95 paperback; $4.99 e-book
Reviewed by Frank Michaels Errington
Fresh from their adventure in Scotland, Natalie McQueen and her brother Austin are called upon to aid Henrik Kooper in his quest to find the lost city Gadang Ur and the elusive Orang Pendek. Go ahead and Google it. You’ll find it’s every bit as much of a thing as Bigfoot, Yeti, The Jersey Devil, and The Loch Ness Monster—all cryptids Hunter Shea has written about in previous books. As a matter of fact, Savage Jungle is a sequel to his book Loch Ness Revenge.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: ‘Embers: A Collection of Dark Fiction’ by Kenneth W. Cain 
Embers: A Collection of Dark Fiction edited by Kenneth W. Cain
Crystal Lake Publishing (March 2017)
217 pages; $13.99 paperback; $3.99 e-book
Reviewed by Frank Michaels Errington
Embers: A Collection of Dark Fiction features twenty-five stories. In any collection of this size, there are bound to be some hits and some misses along the way. Fortunately, there are more of the former, leading me to suggest this work be added to your personal TBR list.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories Reviews2 Comments on Review: “The Fiddle is the Devil’s Instrument” by Brett J. Talley 
The Fiddle is the Devil’s Instrument by Brett J. Talley
JournalStone (April 2017)
247 pages; $25.95 hardcover; $8.20 paperback; $3.95 e-book
Reviewed by Chad Lutzke
I am no Lovecraft connoisseur. There’s a lot by him I haven’t read. My knowledge in all things Lovecraft—other than reading “The Call of Cthulhu” and the Herbert West stories—is probably just par for the course. Maybe below par, as my familiarity does extend beyond pop culture references, which has taken second only to zombies this modern day. And I suspect that most who share the Cthulhu memes and sport the elder god swag haven’t read anything past the title. Maybe it’s because Lovecraft isn’t an easy read. Maybe it’s because smart phones and video games have taken the place of brittle paperbacks and warped hardbacks. And maybe that’s where books like The Fiddle is the Devil’s Instrument fit in best.Continue Reading
A Field Guide to Kentucky Kaiju by Justin Stewart, Tressina Bowling and Shawn Pryor
Apex Book Company (October 2016)
104 pages; $14.95 paperback
Reviewed by Anton Cancre
Any amateur naturalist worth their salt knows that Kentucky is one of the finest states in this dear union. Those great, sprawling acres of wilderness call to us, filled as they are with some of the more interesting species of both man and beast. Given this, it really is surprising it took this long for someone to put together a loose guide to the more unusual of its native fauna.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: ‘Feral’ by James DeMonaco & B.K. Evenson 
Feral by James DeMonaco & B.K. Evenson
Anchor/Blumhouse Books (April 2017)
320 pages; $9.57 paperback; $11.99 e-book
Reviewed by Frank Michaels Errington
Ever read a book with all the right ingredients, one that’s well written, has characters you care about, tells a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end, yet leaves you feeling disappointed?
That’s exactly how I feel about Feral, the new novel from the powerhouse team of James DeMonaco and B.K. Evenson. Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: ‘The Girls in the High-Heeled Shoes’ by Michael Kurland 
The Girls in the High-Heeled Shoes by Michael Kurland
Titan Books (February 2016)
320 pages; $12.95 paperback; ebook $7.99
Reviewed by Peter Tomas
Michael Kurland’s sequel to his debut Alexander Brass novel, Too Soon Dead, manifested itself in The Girls in the High-Heeled Shoes: a manifestation which doesn’t disappoint.
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories ReviewsLeave a comment on Review: ‘Norse Mythology’ by Neil Gaiman 
Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
W. W. Norton & Company (February 2017)
304 pages; $13.66 hardback; $9.32 e-book
Reviewed by Dave Simms
Norse mythology has always been a strange beast. Its tenets reach around what most readers know from Greek, Roman, and Christian stories, delving into the darker but wackier side of the tales passed down through our Jungian collective. Whereas most other cultures took themselves a little too seriously for the most part, Norse mythology dances with the devil, tosses him in the air, tosses back a few, and laughs into the great beyond.Continue Reading
Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories Reviews1 Comment on Review: ‘Ararat’ by Christopher Golden 
Ararat by Christopher Golden
St. Martin’s Press (April 18, 2017)
320 pages; $24.99 hardcover; $12.99 e-book
Reviewed by Dave Simms
It has been several years since a novel has truly unsettled this reviewer. This is one which produced nightmares, repeatedly, a read that will nestle under the skin like few others. Christopher Golden has penned some great tales in the past—most recently, the disturbing Dead Ringers—but Ararat just might be his best.Continue Reading
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