Sonar4 Landing Dock Reviews

Party Wolves in My Skull by Michael Allen Rose Review

2012-01-25T01:01:00.013-05:00

By Michael Allen Rose
Eraserhead Press
ISBN: 978-1621050068
Review by: Terry Morgan
Review posted 1/25/2012

When it comes to the strange and just plain out there, Michael Allen Rose tells the best tale in Party Wolves in My Skull.

Norman Spooter wakes up one day to find something wrong with his eyes. They not only sting, them seem to be alive. Several small beings are fighting, falling in love with each other and basically trying to rip out of his eyes. Not only can he not see because of this mess going on, he runs into Zoe, a woman who is running away from her out of control boyfriend. What becomes a chance meeting turns into a bizarre adventure of wits and survival through a mess no one can describe better than Rose himself.

Not only will a person want to read this just because it is such a different story, but will just want to see what happens to poor Mr. Spooter who never seems to have any luck and frankly haven't we all had one of those days?

The Walking Wounded by Robert Devereaux Review

2012-01-23T01:19:00.014-05:00

By Robert Devereaux
Deadite Press
ISBN: 978-1936383856
Review by: Ronnie Tucker
Review posted 1/23/2012

Walking Wounded, by Robert Devereaux, is a bit of a strange one. It begins with one woman who has decided to kill her husband. Good start, but then it seems to slip back in time by twenty years and has characters chatting via BBS. I'm old enough to know about pre-Internet civilization, but I think he'll lose many a reader with that. Also a fair chunk of the book is taken up with showing us how the characters are chatting, via text, in their little BBS world as in every line of chat. Complete with smilies. Really I think that it may well be down to pulling out an old story for current release. The cover is copyright 2011, but the story is (according to the second page) from 1996.

Some people out there will love this book, but it just wasn't my thing. It seemed to me to be written from a female perspective (ie: love, divorce and massages) possibly with female readers in mind. At 200 pages, it was a tough read for me.

A Hollow Cube is a Lonely Space by S.D. Foster Review

2012-01-21T00:50:00.023-05:00

By S.D. Foster
Eraserhead Press
ISBN: 978-1621050087
Review by: Terry Morgan
Review posted 1/21/2012

When it comes to short stories you often try to find that one thing that binds the collection together. In this collection that is often considered the strange, weird and many times just too far out there.

The first story, The Course of Clementine, tells of Clementine, the fruit, that tells the story of her life. Often than not she feels that she strives for something she will never get. The story is a bit out there but does give the moral implication of one's life, even a fruit's.

The other stories in this collection such as The Noggin, tells of a man loosing his head and then being reintroduced to it later. The tale is certainly odd, but grasps the attention of someone just not 'having their head on their shoulders.'

These stories bring about everything you can possibly imagine. No they aren't your normal way of thinking in what they describe, but they do hit the heart and soul of every way we truly act as human beings, even if some of the characters aren't really human.

Severed Volume 2 - Myths and Legends by Darren Sant and Sam Lang Review

2012-01-18T09:51:00.000-05:00

By Darren Sant and Sam Lang
Trestle Press
Review by: Rob Walter
Review posted 1/18/2012

This is the second in the Severed Series of short stories from the minds of Darren Sant and Sam Long and published by Trestle Press. My previous review available here: Severed: In the Beginning

The story begins by introducing a new character, Judy Brantwood, who was, pre-Zombie Apocalypse, an employee of Health-Pharm responsible for marketing the EZ-Thin Diet Pills that start the zombie infection. She ends up post-apocalypse meeting up with Zac from Severed, In the Beginning down in Florida.

We then jump back to New York City to Randall Bueller, the former head of Health-Pharm, who is now the dictator of the fortress built around the Helath-Pharm Headquarters to keep the zombies at bay ala’ Night of the Dead.

Then we change to a team of survivors who call themselves the Vindicator Team. They patrol the dead streets of New York dressed as super-heroes. The leader of the team is Rick, aka Kid-Bolt.

I won’t spoil the story for you, but it is well written if somewhat derivative and has a surprising twist at the end. The authors get the reader into the story without using the normal blood, gore and guts.

I recommend this to those looking for a different take on the standard Zombie story and I look forward to the next installment.

Santa Steps Out by Robert Devereaux Review

2012-01-04T09:45:00.000-05:00

By Robert Devereaux
Deadite Press
ISBN: 978-1621050131
Review by: Terry Morgan
Review posted 1/04/2012

When thinking of a fairy tale or holiday characters we think about, normally Santa, elves, Tooth Fairy and several others. But what are the images that come to mind? Certainly not what is in this book, Santa Steps Out.

The Tooth Fairy bored because she doesn't have a lover as she once did, goes out in search of Santa, yes, that's right, good ole Saint Nick. After all he is so giving right?

Well, we continue the story with the Tooth Fairy teasing Santa into wanting sex with her. After awhile he caves in s to speak and they have many encounters. Let's just say some people's Christmases were getting a whole lot better because of these actions.

Santa tells Mrs. Clause what happened and vows to never do it again, but again he does on several occasions. Also, they have a quest watching the spectacle of Santa and the Tooth Fairy, yes, you guessed it: The Easter Bunny who is not only disgusted by what the two are doing, but has envy of Santa for many reasons.

What this book holds back on is basically, nothing. It is not your charming tale of deers or white snow. It has sex and lots of it. It has characters doing things that perhaps even some people would cringe on. Yet through all this it brings into play everyday morals that people go through.; heartbreak, lust, acceptance, vengeance and trickery.

Santa Steps Out is not for everyone and if you are not into the far fetched and the sexual scenes that take place often, you may not want to read it. However, if you don't mind the above, then take a shot at it. Who knows you maybe now thinking of these well-known figures in a whole new light.

Scarecrow & The Madness by Robert Essig and Craig Saunders Review

2011-12-29T09:59:00.000-05:00

By Robert Essig and Craig Saunders
Blood Bound Books
ISBN: 978-0984540877
Review by: Rob Walter
Review posted 12/29/2011

The Scarecrow and The Madness are two stories published together in 2011 by Bloodbound Books. It is an interesting pairing as they really have nothing in common besides being in the horror genre and being penned by twisted authors.

The Scarecrow is by Craig Saunders and is set in England. It involves Bernie and Margaret, two people who have obviously been married forever, taking a little trip into town. Marge to do some shopping and Bernie to have a pint at the pub. This would not turn out to be your average trip to town as there was a roaming band of gypsies in town. Bernie, after imbibing more than the allowed “just one”, is rudely interrupted by the gypsies in the pub. This leads to the police busting in and breaking it up. The gypsies pledge revenge against Bernie. So far, somewhat predictable, but I won’t go into it any further and ruin the story for you, but it is twisted and will have you looking at farmers’ wives’ in a whole new light.

The Madness, by Robert Essig, is by contrast set in Colorado. It involves a nice banker, Tony, getting caught in a blizzard on his way home from the bank and being forced to seek shelter at the closest house to the road he was on. That house belongs to Dan and Sue along with their son Phillip. Sounds nice and normal right? Well, Tony has a dead brother (Randy) who manifests in Tony’s mind and has conversations with Tony. Dan has a family “curse” they call a “tickle” that causes the men in the family to kill eventually. Dan’s father killed both his mother and brother, but left him alive for some strange reason. Mix that all together and you end up with a twisted little tale that contains violence, extreme torture and coming of age.

Neither of these stories is for the weak at heart. While I liked both stories, they took my mind into places I would rather not have been. I actually had to stop reading the second story a couple of times as I had to recover from what was there. Both stories have unique twists to them that make them worth the read.

I would recommend them to anyone over the age of 18 that can handle intense violence and psychological horror.

Love Me by Danger_ Slater Review

2011-12-03T08:30:00.016-05:00

By Danger_ Slater
Jersey Devil Press
ISBN: 978-0984612741
Review by: Rob Walter
Review posted 12/03/2011

Love Me is Danger_Slaters latest work and is published by Jersey Devil Press.

BE WARNED: This book is not for the faint of heart.

This book is hard to classify as to a specific genre. Saying this book is bizarro would be an understatement. I have never read anything like it previously. From a castle of skulls reaching above the clouds to Jehovah’s witnesses being “processed” by crocoweilers (characters’ crossbreed of crocodiles and rottweilers) to discussions with the moon (made of blue cheese by the way), the story bounces around wildly while still carrying the reader. We follow the isolation and loneliness of the main character as time begins on his path to self discovery and what is the meaning of it all. Through all of the insanity the central idea still manages to come through to the reader (I won’t spoil it for you here).

The illustrations add to the story to give you a visual of what your mind can’t quite get itself around from the text.

The book has it all dark comedy, angst, nuclear attacks and genitalia. If you are thin skinned and don’t enjoy risqué comedy you may not want to try this book. If you love being entertained while your mind goes WTF! This is a book for you.

I was kind of amazed myself that when I finished reading it, I had enjoyed the journey and would actually recommend it to other readers.

What Fears Become: An anthology from the Horror Zine Edited by Jeani Rector Review

2011-12-01T19:18:00.000-05:00

Edited By Jeani Rector
Imajin Books
ISBN: 978-1926997209
Review by: Terry Morgan
Review posted 12/01/2011

What scares you in the night? What makes you even fear going to the bathroom unless there is a light everywhere you go?

In What Fears Become: An anthology from the Horror Zine Edited by Jeani Rector, you will once again sense that fear, drive yourself to the brink of insanity or beyond. Stories that deal with a cut leg replaced by a dog leg and to boot done by kids in the story Dogleg by Bentley Little, a guy who sleeps with a woman one second and then finds her this creature who gnaws at him in Gnaw by Lala Drona to Mall walkers by Chris Reed where a boy suddenly can't figure out where all the time went in his life.

There is also some great poetry in here. One that caught my eye was By John T. Carney. His poem entitled, The Ghoul was not only dark, but a meaning beyond any meaning that one could see at face value.

An added bonus is the artists' section. I do love dark art and this is filled with some very talented artists.

I really loved this book. It had so many great stories, poems and art to fill my goodie quota all year long.

Undead Drive-Thru by Rebecca Besser Review

2011-11-26T07:27:00.018-05:00

By Rebecca Besser
Living Dead Press
ISBN: 978-1611990096
Review by: Terry Morgan
Review posted 11/26/2011

Kyndra and Colleen needed some extra money so the made a choice to apply at Aunt-B's restaurant that is about to open. They get the jobs as waitstaff. Before the opening they are asked to do some work to clean, paint and what not to help with the opening. They meet John, Aunt-B's nephew and Jose who was also just hired. They then get a tour of the restaurant and find out that Aunt-B and her husband Sam live in the back a ways out. Sam apparently is sick and an alarm goes off when he is not supposed to be doing something. But Aunt-B and her nephew keep a secret: Sam does not have an ordinary illness, he's a zombie. Collen and Jose one night run into Sam who was let out to make a new cage for him. But Aunt-B and John can't allow them to go off and tell others so they kidnap them.

Undead Drive-Thru takes twists and turns, leaving gross images behind. The characters are in a frenzy most of the time either for survival or to keep the secret of Sam close.

I found myself thinking if I had a loved one who turned into a zombie what would I do? Morals and real life emotions are placed well in this story as it is not your typical bang, bang you're dead because you're a zombie. It is clear that the author put heart and soul into this writing and thought about how readers would digest the aspect of keeping your loved one even if they are a zombie.

My suggestion? Watch the diners you eat at these days, you never know what might be hidden behind those doors.

Just Like Hell by Nate Southard Review

2011-11-24T18:55:00.014-05:00

By Nate Southard
Deadite Press
Review by: Ronnie Tucker
Review posted 11/24/2011

Just Like Hell is a short anthology of five stories from Nate Southard. The first is called Just Like Hell, runs for 70+ pages, and is your stereotypical kidnapped man against several protagonists, but it's very well done since the protagonists really are quite despicable and deserve their gory comeuppance. A Team Building Exercise is like a modern day episode of Outer Limits. A bit more sci-fi than the other shorts, but has a nice twist ending that was quite humorous. Miss Kenner And Me is written in first person and is about a boy who seems just a bit too attached to his teacher, Miss Kenner, to the point where it's creepy, and who latches onto another unfortunate girl who meets an untimely demise. Senorita is a bit of an odd one. Is it horror? Maybe sci-fi? I'm not sure, but it's another one of those stories where its man meets woman, and within minutes he's so obsessed with her he's mowing people down left, right, and centre. No idea why authors seem to keep using the kills-through-obsession scenario. Finally we hit Work Pit Four. It reads like a sci-fi story, but it too has an Outer Limits feel to it. But without the cool twist ending.

Just Like Hell is a nice little book of shorts. There's really only one horror story, the title track, with the others being a bit more sci-fi, but that's OK with me since the horror story takes up almost half of the book anyway. Your a sick man, Mr. Southard. Keep up the good work!

A Vampire's Guide to Sex by Sam Lang Review

2011-11-21T09:13:00.005-05:00

By Sam Lang
Trestle Press
Review by: Rob Walter
Review Posted 11/21/2011

If you are looking for a how to manual for vampires, this isn’t it. This short story from Sam Lang is interesting in its design, but is somewhat predictable in the execution.

The story is about Mallory and Danyelle, two normal people, both of whom manage to get themselves turned into vampires before ever having sex. It begins with Mal providing his back story and lamenting that “Why isn’t there an instruction Manual?” for being a vampire. We then jump to Dany who provides her back story and leads into the two of them meeting in search of a meal and a way to finally have sex.

They devise and execute their plan to finally have sex with each other. I won’t spoil the end, you will have to read it.

Overall it was an interesting, if somewhat predictable read.

Shark & The Wolf: Predators and Prey by Daniel D. Shields Review

2011-11-18T01:04:00.023-05:00

By Daniel D. Shields
ISBN: 978-1461092391
Review by: Shells Walter (Guest Reviewer)
Review posted 11/18/2011

When you think of sharks you think of vicious marine creatures that end up attacking humans in horror movies.

What about a shark that plays pool? Yes, that's right plays billiards. That is what the shark named Shark does in Shark & The Wolf: Predators and Prey.

Shark is playing in his favorite pool bar called Gills that is owned by an aged dolphin. He and his friend Dog Z are having some fun, some beer and Shark is trying to beat a hyena named Old Jack. At first Shark thinks that Old Jack is hustling him because the last wager seems a bit weird, win and get a post card from Shark's long lost love Vixen, a wild fox that has disappeared awhile ago.

However, Old Jack gives Shark the postcard that invites him to what seems half-way across the world on an adventure to find lost treasure and to be with his love Vixen. When Shark and Dog Z arrive, they meet a bunch of interesting characters, Shark finds his lost love, but what awaits them is not only Vixen, but a whole lot of trouble that even a Shark, who by the way doesn't like water, might not be able to handle.

I read this story and suddenly felt the urge to play pool again, haven't in so long. Not only does this story bring true charisma to animals that have human characteristics, but an adventure like Indiana Jones would take.

I thought long and hard what I would do if I saw creatures such as these walking around playing pool and drinking beer. Once I got over the shock of it all, I think it be a great time. And that is what this book is, a great time.

If you love adventure and like something a bit different that isn't the same yuck, yuck, mainstream stuff that is out there, you will love this story. I guarantee you it is not Jaws, but it is also not Dr. Do Little and the thrill of reading it will be so worth it.

Severed In The Beginning By Darren Sant and Sam Lang Review

2011-11-08T01:19:00.014-05:00

By Darren Sant and Sam Lang
Trestle Press
Review by: Rob Walter
Review posted 11/08/2011

While we don’t normally review short stories, we did read Severed In The Beginning by Darren Sant and Sam Lang.

The story starts out in a prologue with a bird flying overhead and switches to a description of the Zombie Apocalypse. “The end of the world came not with a bang or a whimper, but with the use of diet pills.” Hell of a way to start the description of the end of the world, eh?

The story then changes to a diary format following a boy named Zac coping with the Zombie Apocalypse the best he can as he becomes a man and a leader of a small band of survivors.

This is a good story that involves the readers without driving the story home with the normal “blood and guts” gore of your normal zombie tale. It has a more deft touch using the psychological impact and the readers imagination to carry the reader along.

I recommend this short story to lovers of intelligent zombie horror.

Fleshbags by Gerald Dean Rice Review

2011-11-06T01:13:00.008-04:00

By Gerald Dean Rice
Review by: Dana Bell
Review posted 11/06/2011

Since Zombies are all the rage, this story capitalizes on the current trend with a slight twist - a virus is causing them to rise. Their stomachs are transparent, hanging down their torso and they contaminate others by spitting a clear fluid out their mouths.

The story opens with one being found and EMT's trying to transport it to the hospital. Boom. It blows up and spreads the contagion all over the scene. Afterwards several characters are introduced and the plot line twists between characters, the horrible events leading up to many of them dying, and eventually the open end with no real explanation on how it all came about.

Chapters are done by hours reaching ten after the epidemic starts.
Included is a short story about a little girl with hints of incest and more zombies.

Lastly, an excerpt from an upcoming novel with what looks like a murder mystery, an investment scam and mysterious tiny men in black looking for a Bible of all things.

What is done well is the sense of smell through out the work. The reader can almost taste the stench or the unwashed bodies. Also, there are many clear images adding a chill and a delightful shiver for those who are fans of the genre.

What is not done well is the constant shifting between characters which would work well in a film, but not so much in a work of prose. The action is choppy and unclear giving the reader no change to actually bond or care about any of the characters. They had horrible things happen to them. Many died. So what?

The gore and sex seem to the main focus of the Flesh Bags. Not to mention the disgusting side of humanity. Is it really important that a man farts? Or uses the bathroom?

All in all, probably a good read for those of the genre. It holds all the elements one would look for in a Zombie read. However, the lack of any redeemable character makes this a dry and unfulfilling read.

Darklands: A Vampires Tale by Donna Burgess Review

2011-11-04T11:12:00.000-04:00

By Donna Burgess
Naked Snake Press
ISBN: 978-0982966518
Review by: Rob Walter
Review posted 11/04/2011

Darklands: A Vampires Tale is the first in a new series from Donna Burgess published by Naked Snake Press.

The book starts out with a bang of action when Susan Archer witnesses the killing of her twin brother and is attacked and bitten by a Deathwalker named Devin Mcree, but not totally turned. 20 years pass and we come to Susan, now married and working as a police officer recovering from being shot on-duty. Devin returns to finish her becoming a vampire and reclaim the woman he has always loved. As the story progresses a crazed Nazi hunter named Jasper Jacobsen begins chasing them. The majority of the story is the two of them on the run as Susan learns what it is to be a Deathwalker. There is quite the interesting twist at the end that I won’t spoil for you, but it adds to the darkness of the tale.

Overall I was intrigued by the story. I was somewhat confused at first with the vampire lore used in the story, but not enough to detract from the story. The characters are strong and multi-dimensional which makes this not another “glittering vampire romance”. There is definitely violence as well as some graphical sexual content which adds to the darkness of the story.

I would recommend this story for readers looking for something more than a vampire romance. The story has heart and I look forward to the next in the series.

Kaptain Vamp by Joanne Lécuyer Review

2011-11-02T14:25:00.001-04:00

By Joanne Lécuyer
Gilmore Printing
Review by: Gina Desory
Review posted 11/02/2011

Kaptain Vamp by Joanne Lécuyer, is about a young vampire named Allistaire. He lives amongst a world of humans and vampires who don't really get along.

Allistaire wants to help humans, but doesn't know how until he reads a certain comic book. Then he becomes 'Kaptain Vamp.'

This was a delightful read. The story of how Kaptain Vamp came about is endearing. Any child would be interested in Allistaire's adventure. I certainly was. And what makes this book even nicer was the wonderful illustrations that took a part in describing this young vampire's tale.

I could not be more happier than seeing where Allistaire was going next. And if you want your child to get a taste of something horror in fiction, but don't necessarily want them getting into stuff that maybe either a bit off or watching some kind of vampire glitter, then this is the book for them. There is no doubt that Allistaire's tale is one of a kind.

Soul Survivors Hometown Tales Vol 1 Edited by Shawn M. Riddle Review

2011-10-31T01:12:00.013-04:00

Edited by Shawn M. Riddle
Knight Watch Press
ISBN: 978-0987691460
Review by: Terry Morgan
Review posted 10/31/2011

When you're thinking Halloween, you are thinking scary, spooky and downright frightening. That's what you have here in Soul Survivors Hometown Tales Vol 1 edited by Shawn M. Riddle.

In these 13 fitting stories, you come across a weird neighbor, who likes to eat dead flesh, fighting between family members, rabbits and clowns, plus more of the undead devouring people and cities.

Also, in this great collection of anything gore and bloody, you have introductions by David Moody and Joe McKinney.

A person could not ask for more in these tales. As I was reading it became apparent just how much the undead has become a popular source for fiction. It was a pure amazing adventure to read each and every page as yet another person has suffered their fate that was owed to them, or maybe even perhaps not.

I love Halloween, all the sights and screams it can produce. If you want to get that special someone a wonderful gift for Halloween to make sure they don't do any nasty tricks for a treat, get them this collection. You may just get through another Halloween.

Available here

Like Porno for Psychos By Wrath James White Review

2011-10-16T16:38:00.008-04:00

By Wrath James White
Deadite Press
Review by: Ronnie Tucker
Review posted 10/16/2011

Like Porno for Psychos certainly has an apt title. It's a book of short stories that contain everything from explicit sex (both human and bestial) to gore, and everything in between. Suffice to say, I wouldn't like to be the authors wife as most of the stories seem to involve a woman getting raped or ripped to shreds!

But, don't worry, there's a couple of poems too, so that's OK. That makes it 'proper' literature.

Several of the stories have a Twilight Zone style twist to them whilst several just have someone getting murdered for no real reason. Although one story does have a giant orgy with people literally humping each other to death.

It's quite a short book, 100 pages which includes several pages of ads at the end, but I personally prefer short books and short stories as I like to drip in and out of them (no pun intended with these stories!) and not need to remember previous plot points.

The author, Wrath James Wright, definitely has an active imagination, and isn't afraid to write about taboo subjects (female bestiality with a lion anyone?) and for that he definitely gets my respect.

All in all, a good book. Just don't expect happy endings.

Thursday Thistle by August V. Fahren Review

2011-10-04T14:21:00.001-04:00

By August V. Fahren
Star Books
Review by: Terry Morgan
Review posted 10/04/2011

Thursday Thistle is a young girl that lives with two lazy sisters who always expect her to do everything and yet deal with their constant annoyance and her father. Thursday is not your typical girl. She likes insects that crawl on her and is sometimes labeled a freak. Her only happiness comes from going into her room to draw and to watch on VHS her favorite movie, Snow White.

Until one day while waking up in a sweat, she notices a mouse, not just any mouse, but one that talks. It then runs off with Thursday grabbing her things including her drawing materials, and chases after it. Thursday soon discovers her own fairytale world with so many odd things, including others who are named after days of the week.

Thursday Thistle is a bizarre fairytale of something never been seen before. This is no Alice in Wonderland, but has you slipping into different degrees of strange. I found it odd, yet the story provoked me to keep reading.

This book is not for the reader who is looking for a light moral type fairytale. It is not something you would read to your child for a bedtime story, unless you want to give them nightmares.

Take a step into Thursday's world and enjoy the darkness, the strange and a whole heap of new things you may have not thought you could see together.

Cinema of Shadows by Michael West Review

2011-09-27T09:56:00.000-04:00

By Michael West
Seventh Star Press, LLC
ISBN: 978-0983740209
Review by: Dana Bell
Review posted 09/27/2011

A spooky old theater house - a series of mysterious deaths - a young girl with special powers…these ingredients are mixed into a paranormal investigation to discover the truth about what happened.

Set in the Midwest with plenty of local flavoring, the story follows a pretty much predictable plot line. Although, the angle about the gargoyles was an interesting touch - wait a minute - wasn't that used in Dr. Who? (giggle) Anyway, the possible parallel to the episode 'Blink' was nice, although it is possible the writer, Michael West, may or may not be familiar with the long running British series.

The final epilogue really came as no surprise, almost expected really, since many such horror stories take a final stab at their readers.

There are references to familiar series and movies, giving the story a modern day feel. Some of the language is a bit rough and the talk of female body parts and sex seems to be a common theme in most horror stories, along with the spooky elements.

There are a number of good sentences like 'The table erupted in laughter', 'Rust slowly feasting on the metal carcasses of forgotten film canisters' and a nicely done simile in reference to voodoo dolls and pins. Description is nicely done and the dialogue sounds like real people.

The labeling done for 'Preview of Coming Attractions', 'And now our Feature Presentation', 'Credits' and for the credit watchers, was a nice touch and in keeping with what the book was about.

There are also a few illustrations sprinkled in glorious black and white.

Highly recommended for fans of horror just for the imagery alone and wannabes of this genre should take lessons from a writer who has this skill mastered.

Just watch out for those gargoyles….

Want to have your fiction book reviewed?

2011-09-22T10:44:00.002-04:00

Want to get your fiction book reviewed? We accept all kinds of fiction including self-published. So please click on the link above to query for a review.

Kill Whitey by Brian Keene Review

2011-09-10T16:21:00.000-04:00

By Brian Keene
Deadite Press
ISBN: 978-1936383665
Review by: Ronnie Tucker
Review posted 09/10/2011

Kill Whitey, by Brian Keene, is the story of how a Russian stripper, called Sondra, manages to persuade an ordinary every day guy called Larry to kill her night club boss, Whitey.

The story starts off with some co-worker stuff, which is fair enough, but then it goes into several chapters of how Larry has been attending the strip club and has now become infatuated by Sondra. I've no idea why we need several chapters of Larry's perving as there's only so many ways to say a girl is hot. Once we've done the intro/perving stuff we get to some action.

The action is well done, there's good atmosphere, but it does fail to show any emotion at times. For example: in one scene Larry sees one of his good friends, and co-worker, lying dead in a pool of blood with his neck in shreds. Does he break down in tears? Go in to shock? Nope. Not a jot. He seems to quite easily go from being an every day guy into a gun totting, semi-invincible, maniac. Also there are some scenes that are obviously there for humour (to break things up a bit) but the scenes are a bit too Bill-&-Ted-ish. Something a bit more subtle would have been better.

I know it sounds like I'm being harsh on it, but I liked Kill Whitey. It's just that the end is pretty obvious once Sondra explains some background stuff to Larry, and Larry seems to act anything like a normal guy.

Even with those negative things that I've written, give it a read if you like horror films, and heavy metal, as there are quite a few references for you to catch.

Mangled Meat By Edward Lee Review

2011-08-20T17:35:00.000-04:00

By Edward Lee
Deadite Press
Review by: Ronnie Tucker
Review posted 08/20/2011

If you read horror then I'm sure you've heard of Edward Lee. Known as the godfather of gore and writer of all things deviant, Mr. Lee has written many short stories in his illustrious career. This one, Mangled Meat, features a trilogy of short stories.

First we have The Decortication Technician. This one is more sci-fi than horror and is, in my opinion, the weakest of the three. A team of people are to crack open what seems to be an abandoned space craft. It's a nice enough story, but every sentence uses several technical terms (whether real or imaginary) and/or abbreviations (again, real or imaginary) and it's very jarring. Imagine being lectured by a NASA engineer who can only use space jargon. Not very nice.

Getting better is the second story, Cyesolagniac. This one is more like it. Short, sleazy, sick and has a nice twist ending. Poor Heyton is a bit of a deviant, and is addicted to pregnant women. Trawling a red light district he can't believe his luck when a hot pregnant hooker gets in his car. This one shows why many horror/gore fans read Lee's work.

Last, but not least, is Room 415 which is about a guy who is mentally affected by his ex-wife. So much so that he is unable to orgasm as memories of his ex flash into his mind and cause him to wilt. Indulging in some voyeurism he sees a hooker getting a sound beating which, he realizes, really turns him on and does make him orgasm! Disgusted that he came, rather than call the police, he investigates the rooms occupants. This one doesn't really have any gore, as such, but does show that Lee can write a good detective story.

Another good anthology from Lee I think. Room 415 had more feeling and atmosphere than the other two, but in sickness value Cyesolagniac wins.

Belong by George Wilhite Review

2011-08-15T01:02:00.010-04:00

By George Wilhite
Lulu
ISBN:978-1257909230
Review by: Dana Bell
Review posted 08/15/2011

Ian is the very image of most young boys tormented by the bullies of his school and an undesirable to the girls. He finds refuge in a downstairs bathroom, makes contact with what he thinks is a beautiful woman in one of the stalls and they communicate by graffiti on the walls. Eventually, she sucks him into her realm and holds him as her sexual captive, until another young man, on a dare, accidentally frees Ian back into the real world.

From there, Ian learns of the terrible murder of a young girl who gave birth to the monster who kills men out of revenge for that terrible rape and death long ago. He learns the girl's identity, uses the power of her name to free her, and helps put matters right before scrubbing to the inevitable death he himself suffered twenty years earlier.

An interesting premise mixed with the power of urban legends, many of which the origins become forgotten or blurred with time. Set in a high school, a true horror to many young people and the growing sexual awareness that grows during those years, the author sets up a believable situation, including the story of how Ian was found dead - no explanation and in an embarrassing position.

Once the sexual torture scenes are over, the story becomes interesting, full of the promise the original opening scenes hinted at. The search for the truth of how the horrid creature in the mirror came about, its defeat, and the two trapped finally freed, gives the story a compelling and fulfilling ending.

Belong is a good novella with a well thought out story line, even with all the sexual cruelty and bondage images. Although it should be classified as male erotica, it is also a murder mystery, an urban legend and a little scary, although a bit too graphic in some parts, so much so it was almost cliché.

Fractured Time by Alan Draven Review

2011-08-14T11:21:00.000-04:00

By Alan Draven
Black Bed Sheets Books
ISBN:978-0976994787
Review by: Terry Morgan
Review posted 08/14/2011

Donovan Vicar is a feeler. He experiences emotions, bad and good vibrations of sorts. One day while walking home from a class he taught, he sees a man. The man produces a strange feeling for Vicar, a really evil feeling. He gets closer to the man, then hesitates. The the man goes on to the bus terminal and disappears, making Vicar regret not doing anything else.

He approaches his mentor, Mason with the problem. They talk and soon Vicar decides to go onto the bus where he thinks the man went, only to realize soon after being let off that the time has changed. He is now in the past of where he lives in Bitternest and not only has the time changed, but a growing evil force is present that he learns is darker than anything he has come into contact with.

Fractured Time is a story of dealing with one's gifts for the greater good. It was an interesting story that leads the reader down the growing paths of Vicar and the people around him in the past where the story takes place.

The one issue I had is at times when characters would do something that would just not make sense at the particular moment. For example, when Vicar tells his Mentor Mason he feels a certain way, his mentor tells him he is being paranoid. Why would a fellow feeler tell another 'you are being paranoid?' Isn't feelings what they are all about and they should listen to them?

This book regardless of that one issue is a great read. Its settings make you feel as if you are time-traveling with Vicar and experiencing all the conflict and horror that comes from the Bitternest past. I will say that no matter what you do, after reading this, you may think twice about going on a long bus trip.

His Pain By Wrath James White Review

2011-08-05T17:37:00.000-04:00

By Wrath James White
Deadite Press
Review by: Ronnie Tucker
Review posted 08/05/2011

His Pain is a book about pain, but thankfully it's not painful to read. The book begins with a new born baby who is diagnosed with a rare condition which means every sensation results in severe pain. Rather than euthanasia the parents keep the child in a manufactured world to keep him safe from every sensation and be as pain free as possible. Eventually the mother hires a yoga master who can help the child focus his pain and convert it to pleasure. And if you've read Clive Barkers Hellraiser you'll know that no good comes of pleasure and pain! Parts of His Pain remind me of Barkers Books of Blood stories. Back when he wrote good stuff.

The book starts off quite slow. It's necessary set up, but I felt it was a bit too wordy. Everything was explained to us word by word. The letter the mother writes to the yoga master is verbatim as is his speech on TV (which is what gets the mother interested in him). If things like that had been suggested to us then we'd have gotten to the action much quicker. And we'd have more room for even more action! Win win methinks.

It's once the yoga master teaches the boy to convert pain to pleasure that the real fun begins. There's top class hookers, incest, emo chicks, murder, gore... the list goes on, and all in the second half of the story!

It's a short story, at 88 pages, but it's well written and doesn't beat about the bush when it comes to sex and controversy. It takes a good writer to write about sex (and incest) without turning it into either a cringefest or a Mills & Boon romance.

If you want a quick short story with graphic depictions of sex and gore then this will fit the bill very nicely!

Alice and Dorothy by JW Schnarr Review

2011-08-03T18:17:00.000-04:00

By JW Schnarr
Northern frights Publishing
ISBN:978-0973483789
Review by: Ronnie Tucker
Review posted 08/03/2011

Alice and Dorothy is, in essence, a road movie novel. It also pulls in inspiration from, as the author admits, Alice in Wonderland, and (to a lesser extent) The Wizard of Oz.

Alice is a drug addicted prostitute who often visits her dealer who is, shall we say, a 'friend with benefits' which works both ways. One night she begins convulsing, and her dealer (being the nice guy that he is) takes her to the hospital. Unfortunately he drops her off and bolts. Alice ends up in the funny farm and it's here she, and we, meet Dorothy who, the doctors suspect, tried to killer herself. They eventually become friends, even lovers, and decide to make a jail break. Along the way things go horribly wrong involving a brick of dope, guns, hallucinations, and (of course) death.

My main complaint is that the Alice hallucinations really confuse matters as you, like Alice, begin to wonder what's real and what's hallucination. Having Alice as just a plain Jane good ol' psychopath would have been just dandy, and would probably have been a nod toward realism such as Aileen Wurnos the female serial killer.

Every so often there's be several words in italics, I assume, emphasized something, but sometimes the part emphasized didn't make sense, and I'd have to go back, and re-read a sentence/two to see what the emphasis was for! That really popped me out of the story on many occasions.

Still, a good story none the less. It has a strong female character, a hint of madness, and plenty of gore. I'm sure if you're a fan of Alice in Wonderland you'll love it even more.

The official Alice and Dorothy Page http://andjws.blogspot.com/

Highways to Hell by Bryan Smith Review

2011-07-31T18:20:00.000-04:00

By Bryan Smith
Deadite Press
Review by: Gina Desory
Review posted 07/31/2011

Highways to Hell by Bryan Smith is a collection of 13 stories that are often bizarre, thrilling and just plain scarey. The list includes:

Living Dead Bitch- Rick and Danny are in the car, hopped up on drugs and discover a woman's body in their car. It looks like a ghost, but acts like a zombie. After that, it becomes a matter of how the two handle this new found item.

Slugger- Walter Percy has a hard life. He eats to make up for any bad things that has happened to him, gets ridiculed for it and through an injury gets out of baseball. However, soon Walter gets to play a new type of game, one in which he relives the thrill of being someone in control.

Pizza Face- Will Hopkins, a pizza delivery guy, delivers a pizza to a house that is experiencing a home invasion. After the door opens for Will, his world changes forever.

Remorse- Jack Roth killed his girlfriend and what he figured was her lover. He gets a second chance to relive his life through a strange new guardian. But does getting a second chance always mean it's the right choice?

Jarhead-Craig meets up with a lost friend Mark. He takes his love, Jenny, with him. Questions are asked what happened to Mark for so long. Some are answered and others are left hanging. After a brief time, Mark takes Craig into his van to show him a head in a jar. What happens next is something Craig could not have possibly ever imagined.

Sustenance- Kent Hogan one day leaves his wife. He has no reason, just does it. He waits at a light thinking about his wife and his life, that perhaps he regrets it. When soon he sees a woman walking in front of his car. She doesn't look good and collapses. He runs to her, with thoughts he doesn't think are right, but will act on them. But soon after meeting this woman, there are things that he discovers that will never make him the same again.

Killers on the Road- Heather and Josh went to rob a store. What they didn't expect was who would be coming there as well and what they would have hoped would never have happened.

Brain worms crave soul food- Rafe Martin is a writer with a very bad relationship. He feels stuck and with writer's block becomes worried. A strange headache forms. It seems okay until little things come out of his nose, relieving the headache, but causing chaos like he has never known.

Rattlehead- Ray Webber is getting annoyed by this person they calle Rattlehead. The man never shuts up. One night he gets the urge to just kill him. And the urge produces a very strange result that will change Ray's life forever.

Truth-Kyle Miller has nightmares of killing. He doesn't want to sleep or think of these dreaded dreams. But are the dreams real or is it just a way for Kyle to get out his frustrations of life? The truth for Kyle is worse than his nightmares.

Left for Dead (Moon child ascending)- Mitch MacCaffrey gets shot one day and left for dead where all he sees is the moon in the sky. Then a woman appears and Mitch is given strange powers that he uses to seek one thing, revenge.

Walk among us- Jack Grimm and Andy O'Day are time travelers who use their magic and wisdom to track down creatures with unexpected results.

Hell ain't a bad place to be- John Marlowe wants to be a serial killer and he succeeds. Then one day one of his victims starts talking to him, one that he has already killed. He soon discovers they are a match made for each other. But where does this take John? To a place he finally feels he belongs to.

This collection often made me think, at times even cringe. The stories played out so well together except for one and that was 'Walk among Us.' This story was often too jumbled and confusing at times. While the other stories talked of revenge, even a moral in there somewhere, this particular story left me with confusion and questions, making it hard to get through.

The best story out of this collection is 'Killers on the Road.' If you like twists that seem to bring justice to bad actions, this one is for you. It had a certain niche that made me want to read more about these characters. I was thrilled to see such a story in this collection.

Highways to Hell is not a collection for those who like light horror or not bizarre type situations. However, this collection will bring the fear out of you like nothing you have ever experienced. But be warned, if you are not sure you can handle it, take care in turning the pages.

Vampyrnomicon BOOK TWO OF THE VAMPIRE HUNTERS TRILOGY by Scott M. Baker Review

2011-07-28T14:22:00.001-04:00

By Scott M. Baker
Pill Hill Press
ISBN:978-1617060526
Review by: Rob Walter
Review posted 07/28/2011

Vampyrnomicon is the second of The Vampire Hunters Trilogy from Scott M. Baker published by Pill Hill Press.

Drake Mathews and Alison Monroe are back for the second book in the trilogy. As I said in my review of the first book (The Vampire Hunters, Pill Hill Press, 2010), this is not a book about Twilight Vampires as these vampires are evil, nasty and destructive. Drake and Alison continue their crusade to eliminate the vampire nest in Washington D.C with varying degrees of success. They discover that there is a book called the Vampyrnomicon that contains information that will give them the ability to eliminate vampires once and for all or, if it falls into vampire hands, establish world control by the vampires. The vampires have gotten nastier and tougher to kill, but Jimmy Delmarco , an ex-engineering student who is the newest addition to the team, is also improving the weapons the hunters use.

The action is not as prominent in this as the author has spent time developing the characters giving them more depth and not falling into the one dimensional trap many authors have with vampire stories.

I really enjoyed reading this book and following along with the Hunters on their quest. I am looking forward to the conclusion of the trilogy.

I strongly recommend the series for anyone who enjoys good stories that are action packed. Of course it helps if the reader likes dark vampires, but these books would be enjoyable for anyone.

Revolution City by Darren James Review

2011-07-19T12:36:00.000-04:00

By Darren James
Panic Press
ISBN:978-4467945517
Review by: Chris Bartholomew
Review posted 07/19/2011

This story is written in beautifully descriptive language. First person POV's are not my favorite but when the story is written with such vivid scenes, it hooks me from the start.

This is a story about an out of body experience. The death of the body of the person this one came from is so well told that I want to know more, bringing me through the experience feeling like I was there. The writer is able to pull you in and keep you there so this is like a shared experience.

'If I was not really there, then was I moving through the world, or was the world moving through me?' This quote from the book says a lot. Was this happening, was this not happening, what would be next?

By chapter three we are following a Hudson J Shirow. The book goes into a different POV and I'm able to follow it better, the great writing continues throughout the book. The writer keeps you wondering throughout the book... is this an awakening or a death. Are the experiences real in some future world, or just the mind?

The only thing I didn't care for are the single quote marks for dialogue. Though the story flows well, I am used to double quote marks and the single is a distraction. Other than that, this is a great read and to me it's a mixture of Suspense, Literary, and Science Fiction.

Alienology – Tales From The Void Edited by T. Patrick Rooney and D.G. Sutter Review

2011-07-04T10:29:00.001-04:00

Edited by T. Patrick Rooney and D.G. Sutter
Library of Horror Press
ISBN:978-1461169529
Review by: Ronnie Tucker
Review posted 07/04/2011

Alienology – Tales From The Void is an anthology of 28 Sci-Fi/horror short stories ranging in length from just a couple of pages to a couple of dozen pages for a couple of stories.

The book starts with a short poem which is an ode to the movie Alien then it's off and running with the first short, Devil's Hole. From Devil's Hole through to, and including, The Conservators (which is roughly the half way mark in the book) the stories are all good stuff with equal amounts of alien and gore. I particularly liked Devil's Hole (which is 100% Lovecraftian in nature, and my favourite out of the whole book), Space Freaks, Fuck You ET (good action, but lame ending), Blind Encounter (good Matrix-style idea, but, again, the ending was a bit lacklustre), Salt And Copper (which, like several other shorts, shows how many Sci-Fi authors are terrified of human-eating aliens), Midnight In A Small Town (good 80's B-movie idea, but let down with a saw-it-coming slushy ending), It Came From Outer Space (reminded me of Silent Hill for some reason, and has a nice sick ending), Jacob's Bad Day (another nice idea with a sick ending), Heavenward (one of the better shorts in the last half of the book), and The Fruits Of Incubation was pretty sick too.

The only down side with Alienology is that, in my opinion, it seems that the editors have put all the good stuff in the first half with all the mediocre stuff in the last half so, for me anyway, the last half of the book is a bit of a drag. The majority of the stories all tried to have a twist ending which remind me of either The Twilight Zone, or Outer Limits (no bad thing), but, for reasons unknown, a couple of the shorts just seemed to end. Almost as though the author left it unfinished. Very odd.

All in all though the first 150+ pages were very enjoyable with some nice ideas and kudos to those authors who went for the sicko ending. They're always my favorite.

The Vampire Hunters by Scott M. Baker Review

2011-07-01T01:14:00.006-04:00

by Scott M. Baker
Pill Hill Press
ISBN:978-1617060519
Review by: Rob Walter
Review posted 07/01/2011

The Vampire Hunters is the first book in a trilogy by author Scott M. Baker. The other two books of the trilogy will be Vampyrnomicon and Dominion.

The story begins jumping straight into action with Drake Matthews already hunting and fighting the first of many vampires. Of course there is also a sexy young female sidekick, Alison Monroe. But this isn’t your average run of the mill vampire story. There are no twinkling vampires or fancy dance scenes or gauzy lovemaking bouts. The vampires of this story are evil nasty creatures that torture and kill as much for entertainment as for food. They have been around for centuries and are experienced in hiding.

The first thing you have to know about Drake is he is not the “by the book” kind of guy. He was a detective in Boston before learning the undead were real and responsible for a string of serial killings. As a result of his investigation and “final solution” for the perpetrator, he was booted from the police department for excessive force (Does burning down half a city block including a church count?). His partner Alison, a rookie detective during the aforementioned investigation, resigned from the department and followed Drake to Washington DC. Drake is a firm believer in the “scorched earth” method of fighting vampires and in the opening chapter manages to destroy half of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge getting himself and his partner arrested. Again.! Alison saves Drake’s behind on many occasions and is actually the more capable hunter.

The vampires discover that Drake and his merry band are hunting them and vow to take them out.

Scott M. Baker has taken a story that could have been cute vampire pulp and turned it into an action packed thriller with character driven details that draws the reader in. I will be looking forward to the two other books in this trilogy. If nothing else, I am now addicted to this story.

Ashton Memorial (Zombie Trilogy, Book 2) by Robert R. Best Review

2011-06-30T01:46:00.023-04:00

by Robert R. Best
Library of the Living Dead Press
ISBN: 978-1453652688
Review by: Terry Morgan
Review posted 06/30/2011

Ashton Memorial, the second book in the zombie trilogy by Robert R. Best, starts with characters from the first book: Park, Angie and Angie's kids, Maylee and Dalton walking away from the now burning Lakewood Memorial hospital. They find the truck, start it and after a discussion, head toward Ashton. It is Ashton where Angie's brother Bobby lives and Park's twin girls Ella and Lori.

However, as the zombie outbreak continues, other horrendous situations are occurring. Ella and Lori's step-dad, Gregory, has bounded and gagged Lori at the zoo he runs, Ashton Memorial Zoo. Ella is in another part of the zoo not sure whether or not her sister or even her mother is alive.
The story intensifies when Angie, Parker and Angie's kids come to the zoo, along with all the walking corpses. It is now survival not just against the walking dead, but against each other and themselves.

The second in Best's zombie trilogy throws a punch. It is in this story we learn more about Parker, about Angie and what each of them will do when being pushed to their last limits. There is not as much action as in the first book, but, there is compassion, heartbreak and certainly a showing of what family really means when it comes down to the last days on Earth. With a striking form, Best does what many zombie authors fail to do, give the characters actual feelings and situations that would seem more realistic in a zombie outbreak if it occurred. And let us not forget the ending of this story is not only drastic, compelling but totally unexpected.

I look forward to the third installment in what I consider one of the best zombie series out there.

Blood War : A Novel by Dylan J. Morgan Review

2011-06-28T06:52:00.000-04:00

by Dylan J. Morgan
Pill Hill Press
ISBN:978-1617060755
Review by:Dana Bell
Review posted 06/28/2011

Much like 'Underworld' a war brews between werewolves and vampires, escalating when hybrids, a mixture of the two species begin to appear. The conflict spans over four hundred years, ending with a battle in a village filled with the half breeds and, during the victory celebration, the betraying revelation of the powerful vampire leader.

Unlike many books about the undead and werewolves, more of their kind are not made by biting a human. Instead, there are breeding colonies and married couples who produce offspring, and raise them as well.

The imagery is vivid, drawing the reader a clear picture of the place, and early in the book, the time. However, the constant labeling of where/when the section took place became distracting as the novel progressed.

Fans of gore and the horrific werewolf transformations will love this story. The details are vivid, complete with smells. Yet the 'snapping bones' during the change got tiresome. Since that had already been established, there was no reason to continually remind the reader of the details.

One minor detail in the early section of the book is the question raised about what happened to a little girl during the Black Death. Yes, undoubtedly she died, yet the inclusion of such an image demanded some sort of finish. Instead, the reader is left dangling wondering why the scene had been included at all, unless it was an attempt to convey the feeling of real people during a horrible tragedy. And how, from the viewpoint of the character involved, would he have had such knowledge of her life? And why would he have even cared considering he was chasing his quarry?

All in all, an enjoyable book for vampire and werewolf fanatics and for those who wish to read more stories along the lines of the 'Underworld' trilogy. By the way, the name of the vampire leader is Markus - just like in the films.

Robopocalypse: A Novel by Daniel H. Wilson Review

2011-06-17T01:53:00.032-04:00

by Daniel H. Wilson
Doubleday Publishing
ISBN:978-0385533850
Review posted 06/17/2011

Technology sneaks upon us when we least expect it. In Robopocalypse: A Novel, we learn how robotics and artificial intelligence can actually put the human race on hold. How even the smallest robot created can be damaging to life as we know it.

Through interviews, stories of damaging first person accounts, like a man playing a prank on a senior citizen who has a robot that he loves with dire consequences, military extractions and battles, that the robots and machines have taken on new identities, and all are here to eventually destroy the human race.

With slight of his mighty pen and with the experience he has, Wilson tells a tale of destruction that may not be foreseen because of the obsession with advancement in artificial intelligence. Even though this is a story of fiction, it makes one aware of what can come about if we push the laws of the world. If we create something that are for our own needs, but forget how the creation can develop its own wants.

I was floored when reading this novel. As several novels before, it can tell how the human race with one fleeting idea, can destroy itself. Wilson has the flare to push the envelope and dive into the human reaction, the human soul.

To find out that this book will also be a movie in the future was thrilling to know. What better story than this to put on the screen and allow us to really or should I say hopefully, learn what can happen if we push into an area we are not sure of.

Oscar Wilde and the Vampire Murders by Gyles Brandreth Review

2011-06-16T01:15:00.029-04:00

by Gyles Brandreth
Touchstone Press
ISBN:978-1439153680
Review by:Gina Desory
Review posted 06/16/2011

It all starts with a conversion between Oscar Wilde and his friend Robert. A conversation in which Mr. Wilde seems to have forgotten key situations and incidents that are about something weird, something not normal. Robert encourages him to publish his findings, Oscar does not remember what they are. Then Robert hands him a file with all the information in it. We then go to Oscar at a party for the Duke and Duchess of Albemarle. A telling of where Oscar meets Rex LaSalle, who he believes is a vampire.

The story of Oscar Wilde and the Vampire Murders is told through various flashbacks, through letters, invitations and a whole slew of characters that give us a backdrop of what Oscar Wilde did while not writing.

Without falter, Brandreth gives us another look into the literary great.
When I first opened this book I was a bit worried. There are so many books out now combining vampires or zombies with some classic author. However, this book did not disappoint. It was not only different from those many other books that at times we are now groaning over, but it was interesting to see how Oscar's life was portrayed during such an ordeal of vampire chasing and clues that came from the likes of Arthur Conan Doyle.

Oscar Wilde and the Vampire Murders is no ordinary mystery, nor is it a horror book. It is filled with excitement, some bizarre moments and certainly will fill you personally with a want for more.

Lakewood Memorial (Zombie Trilogy, Book 1) by Robert R. Best Review

2011-06-14T11:51:00.000-04:00

by Robert R. Best
Library of the Living Dead Press
ISBN: 978-1448644193
Review by: Terry Morgan
Review posted 06/14/2011

Lakewood Memorial is the first book in Robert R. Best's trilogy.

We start the story with Angie Land, a nurse aide at Lakewood Memorial. She does her job, sometimes hates it with certain doctors and has two kids with very different attitude problems. On this particular night's shift, she feels something is off. Her two kids get a babysitter, even though her daughter objects, and Angie walks around in a haze wondering why she feels something is off.

Then it starts. The strange injuries that start to come in; gashes, bloody bites and several other wounds Angie can't figure out where they came from. Soon afterwards, the monsters come, the people who were bitten, chewed or dead from one of these wounds, sprouting up and attacking. Angie, along with Park, Kristen and Kristen's cranky father who is in a wheelchair, fight for survival in the hospital against these awful things.

What was different about this story was not a typical zombie story. In most cases there is blood, guts and gore, a bit of shooting and wham zombies down. However, this book has depth, feeling for the characters. I caught myself several times as if I was watching a horror movie and yelling at the characters in there not to do something or why did you do that?

The book was a short account of what I assume to be a longer zombie outbreak. But what's wrong with that? In the first few moments of a zombie breakout what would you do? Perhaps, worry about your kids or fight your way through the mess or maybe just sit there and complain like Kristen's father in the book always does. Either way, Best has done an amazing job of showing all sides of fear, anger and just plain being fed up.

You never know what lurks in a hospital. I know I will be looking around more if I ever have to go to a hospital again.

A Conflict of Interest by Adam Mitzner Review

2011-06-10T01:47:00.019-04:00

by Adam Mitzner
Gallery Books
ISBN:978-1439157510
Review posted 06/10/2011

Alex Miller is a defense attorney, married and the father of a young daughter. His father just died and he travels down to Florida to attend the funeral. It is there he meets his father's lifelong friend, Michael Ohlig, who asks Alex to represent him in a criminal case against a company Michael had set up.

What Alex is not aware of is what this defense of his father's lifelong friend will bring up and then starts a series of personal and public turmoil, such that Alex feels his life turning upside down.

A Conflict of Interest brings the reader into the life of the character Alex Miller with such ease and then force, that you are leaning against something to hold on. Adam Mitzner puts you into the legal process of defending a client and even throwing some interesting things in there about a so called 'judge lottery.'

The writing in this story is striking and even for some readers who may know little about a lawyer's life or what they do without joking about it, will find this book fascinating and well worth diving into. If all else, Adam Mitzner has been a new tone on Lawyer and court drama, one in which his mark on the publishing world will never be forgotten.

LEGACY BOOK ONE OF THE BLOODLINE SERIES by Michelle Bredeson Review

2011-06-09T14:12:00.000-04:00

by Michelle Bredeson
Pill Hill Press
ISBN: 978-1617060663
Review by:Gina Desory
Review posted 06/09/2011

Carly Morneau is a teenager who just lost her mother and her father has a new job that has moved them to a small town of Sterling. She starts to have dreams of a wolf and snow, not sure where they are coming from she puts it aside. Then on her first day of school, she meets a boy named Gabe. He and his friends seem nice enough and she starts to hang out with them learning the legends of the caves by her home. These legends are not only part of the Sterling community, but part of Carly's past. As time goes on Carly learns the secrets of her family and what it means to be part of the group of friends she now has. Her journey through what 'shape-shifting' means changes Carly's life forever.

Legacy is a story that takes the reader through a fantastical world of change in not only shape-shifting, but life itself. As with the likes of Mercedes Lackey, Bredeson shows us that life is not just life, but wonders beyond our imagination can exist. This story holds the reader tightly, and a want to help Carly and be her friend is strong. Bredeson awesomely lets us into her world and allows the door to be open, but seriously, after reading Legacy, who would want to leave?

Warm Bodies: A Novel by Isaac Marion Review

2011-06-07T01:04:00.015-04:00

by Isaac Marion
Atria Press
ISBN:978-1439192313
Review posted 06/07/2011

A young man, well, not a young man anymore, but a recently turned zombie, who is called R, lives in an airport with others like him. They travel in pacts to hunt, they can think, somewhat, memories are in bits and more of them are just from the human's brains they eat.

R takes his turn in eating brains in a hunt with the others. However, this particular human, named Perry, who's brains R eats, leaves more than just memories, leaves his emotions and thoughts. Perry's girlfriend, Julie is nearby and R suddenly finds himself feeling emotions he can't remember feeling since his new condition.

Warm Bodies is a charming tale of love. For a hardcore zombie fan as I am, I was curious on how love could be put in the same category as zombies. However, this tale does the trick. It warms your heart to the core to see how R handles his feelings, how he awakens his senses and how even though he is a zombie, Julie, his love interest, seems to think of him of not so much a zombie.

This story tells of how no matter what, the human core is compassion. In the fight to survive, love can be there no matter what you are or could be. There is hope within us all to be alive.

Warm Bodies has changed my outlook that monsters can't love or the stereotype that Zombies just need to fall apart or munch on brains.

It is the love of the author for his story that allows me as a reader to feel the same passion for this book and its characters as I know you will if you just turn the first page.

HEINOUS by Jonathan Moon Review

2011-06-05T18:29:00.000-04:00

by Jonathan Moon
Library of Bizarro Horror Press
ISBN:978-1461096221
Review posted 06/05/2011

Imagine bodies laughing as they are mutilated, blood spurting everywhere. You are walking, but behind something that looks like another version of you. Is it real or just a dream?

In Heinous by Jonathan Moon, the dreams of Gavin Wagner become true. After a small trip into the forest with a friend, Gavin discovers a stone in which he can't let go of. His friend warns him of the danger that seems all around them, but Gavin holds on to the stone. Then, something like no other thing goes into Galvin. Spikes, unthinkable feelings, takes a hold of him. Now like no other time, he becomes what this creature wants him to be, pure evil.

Dive into the mind of Mr. Moon. It is a scarey place filled with horrors only thought of by the masters such as Clive Barker. The thrills, the chills, the blood, and let's not forget the gruesome nightmares, are all part of thoughts that invade our souls as the pages turn and our fear becomes part of reality. Unlike anything since Clive Barker, have we experienced such impacting writing and a want to have the hell literally scared out of us.

Picking up the Ghost by Tone Milazzo Review

2011-06-04T01:16:00.029-04:00

by Tone Milazzo
ChiZine Publications
ISBN: 978-1926851358
Review by:Gina Desory
Review posted 06/04/2011

Cinque was a young boy who dealt with his cousin's constant harassment and living with his mother who was now going to school at night. He didn't know his father, as he left when he knew Cinque's mother was pregnant with him. However, one day a letter comes for Cinque informing him his father has died and all of his father's estate is his. He argues with his mother and than makes a choice to go to Chicago where his father had lived.

But the story doesn't stop there. A world unknown to Cinque suddenly opens up. A world with an African witch Doctor and a creature that shows up from time to time. In this world Cinque discovers several things about himself and those around him chasing the ghost of his dead father.

At first when I picked up this story, I thought it would be just that another ghost story. But, not only was I surprised, but was delighted to learn the depth of Milazzo's talent. In each page I was taken into the world this author created, finding myself drifting along with Cinque and wanting to know how he would deal with the strange things that kept popping up as the story evolved.

A must read for anyone who wants a story that gets you involved and wanting to know more.

Sustenance by Nate D. Burleigh Review

2011-05-27T01:03:00.001-04:00

by Nate D. Burleigh
Panic Press
Review by Terry Morgan
Review posted 05/27/2011

Coert was dealing with everyday stresses of a high school student. However, the concerns of prom and graduation take a back seat to what horror. is unleashed.

Sustenance is a young adult novel that has the horror and suspense you would expect for younger readers. I was able to tell the plot very easily, which in some ways for what was supposed to be a somewhat suspenseful book was disappointing. There were moments in the story where Coert was confused and scared. The author did a wonderful job at detailing this particular character out.

The story was overall was a decent read. But do remember that if you are looking for a hardcore scare, this book may not be for you.

Rope of Thorns by Gemma Files Review

2011-05-24T01:20:00.010-04:00

by Gemma Files
ChiZine Publications
ISBN: 978-1926851143
Review by Robert Walter
Review posted 05/24/2011

This is Gemma Files second book in the three part Hexslinger series published by Chizine Publications. The first The Book of Tongues was published in April 2010.

This book continues where The Book of Tongues left off. It is a bit confusing in the prologue due to the choppy writing to give the effect of old-time Western Union wire messages, but this gives way fairly quickly to the story itself. We come back to the characters “Reverand” Asher Rook, Chess Pargeter, Ed Morrow etc and get to know some new ones as well and leaves the reader ready for the third and final book in the series, A Tree of Bones, due in 2012.

Ms. Files has a unique style that melds magic hexes with Mayan mythology along with fantasy in a wild-west setting heading for an end of the world apocalypse. While much is familiar to the wild-west fan (Pinkerton Detectives looking for criminals) there is plenty different as well (In this wild-west the characters don’t use six-guns, they use hex-guns). It does get difficult at times to recognize which point of view is speaking as well as understand all of the action, but this book pulls the reader in past these difficulties into the world of the characters.

As with the previous book, there are some homosexual language/scenes in the book which seemed a bit too raw and graphic for the purpose of the story. This does add to the unique nature of this book since homosexuality in a western story is so rare.

This book overall has enjoyable writing and characters as well as a richness to the story. Due to the unique mix of the story, I recommend it to anyone of age, even if they don’t normally enjoy westerns or fantasy.

Mind Rotting Tales by Kevin and Ken L. Jones Review

2011-05-22T16:17:00.001-04:00

by Kevin and Ken L. Jones
Panic Press
Review by Dana Bell
Review posted 05/22/2011

If the reader enjoys gore, which there is a lot of, sexual themes and acts enjoyable, then many of these stories will fulfill the current mentality that in order to be scary, there must violence, blood and sex.

Cumbersome are the long, rambling paragraphs which are difficult for the reader to get through. Also, the 'telling' rather than 'showing' in many of the stories, causing many of what must be important details to be skipped over to get to the heart of what is supposed to be going on.

The continual and brutal murder of women, some of which are the murderer's spouse, causes a sickening sensation in the stomach of the female reader. Very few of the dealers of death are feminine and when they are, they are often portrayed as mythic creatures such as a vampire or succubus.

The writers used a good mix of popular culture, including well known people, infamous serial killers, and current eating establishments. Their readers must know these references in order to understand the story, for instance the Sugar Plum Fairy and her role in Christmas traditions. Also included is a tale about a revolting porn film style where animals are stomped to death. Granted, it is twisted differently, but the end result is just as disgusting.

None of these stories hold any type of redemption for the main character. They are shown as the worst of human nature and pure evil, taking joy in the pain and suffering inflicted upon their victims. Few are caught and run free to inflict their sickness upon others. Granted it is a true insight into what really happens in our society, but makes one wish for the outcome and them being hunted down and then captured as happens on the TV show 'Criminal Minds'.

Would you like to review for Sonar4 Landing Dock Reviews?

2011-05-21T01:57:00.000-04:00

Please click on link below:

I want to be a reviewer

Scream for Me by Brian Rosenberger Poetry Collection Review

2011-05-20T02:15:00.010-04:00

by Brian Rosenberger
Panic Press
Review posted 05/20/2011

Normally here at Sonar4 Landing Dock Reviews we only review fiction books. However, in rare cases we may review poetry collections.

Here in Scream for Me, Brian Rosenberger takes us on a journey through zombies, house hunting, strange sundaes and a slew of poems that will make you shiver, make you confused, but certainly not make you put the collection down.

It has been a long time since I have read such an extreme poetry collection that I was thrilled to see such an amazing combination of every emotion possible to experience.

If you have ever wanted to read poetry, but like some are afraid to, don't be with these poems by one of the masters of the written word. It will be worth your time in more ways than one.

Beyond the Dark by Patrick D'Orazio Review

2011-05-18T20:14:00.001-04:00

by Patrick D'Orazio
Library of the Living Dead Press
Review posted 05/18/2011

Beyond the Dark is the last book in the 'of the Dark trilogy.'
We come across the gang from the other two books, Jeff, Michael, George, Cindy and the others. In this particular time, Michael has made a choice to stray away from the others. A selfish plan that includes smashing into a wall and it doesn't include his psychotic girlfriend Cindy.

The story of course moves further into the undead scene and survival for some of the characters becomes a no win situation. We also are able to get a more in-depth look into the character's motives for everything, especially George, who learns what everything around him means and how nothing will stop him in getting what he wants.

Beyond the Dark was D'Orazio at his best. The undead come in numbers but its not the same boring zombie tale. It is a nice conclusion to this trilogy. However, it will be missed and I hope a sudden tale or perhaps a supplemental book will be in the future.

Carnal Surgery by Edward Lee Review

2011-05-13T01:04:00.013-04:00

by Edward Lee
Deadite Press
Review by Gina Desory
Review posted 05/13/2011

Edward Lee brings us 11 stories in Carnal Surgery. All of which will wet your appetite for the strange and the horrific. Some of the stories in this book, such as the story 'Seeker', takes you the reader on the journey with 'the writer' who searches for the ultimate truth, coming across some very odd things, yet surprisingly normal for the environment he gets stuck in.

The best story out of this collection is 'Please let Me Out.' It tells of a woman, Joyce, who keeps prisoner the man she loves because he has cheated on her. It strikes at the theme of revenge in so many ways. This story proves that you need to watch your actions.

The other stories in Carnal Surgery, some extreme, others taking you into moral thinking, are profound in their settings and their characters. It made me feel as if I read something that was unique and good, something that I hated to put down once I was finished.

Baby's First Book of Seriously Fucked-Up Shit by Robert Devereaux Review

2011-05-10T11:30:00.000-04:00

by Robert Devereaux
Deadite Press
Review by Terry Morgan
Review posted 05/10/2011

Baby's First Book of Seriously Fucked-Up Shit Is a bizarre collection of stories by Robert Devereaux. There are 10 stories total, each with its own strange theme. Its a disturbing collection, one in which I was at odds with on whether or not I enjoyed it.

There were several erotica moments in these stories that were often a bit extreme and I felt myself taken back. I'm not sure how some of them fit into the stories except for perhaps some shock value. Now I won't say that this collection was bad, because overall it wasn't. However, it is not for the faint of heart. If you don't like reading shocking moments where at times includes erotica behavior, this collection is not for you.

I will say this, being shocked with some of these stories reminded me I was alive. Overall this particular book left me wanting a bit more than what it could give. I look at it as a snack in which I wanted more, but the place was out of it. I will suggest as said before if you enjoy shock type stories this is your book, take a look and enjoy.

Tequila's Sunrise by Brian Keene Review

2011-05-06T15:48:00.000-04:00

by Brian Keene
Deadite Press
Review posted 05/06/2011

Tequila's Sunrise by Brian Keene, is a collection of 8 short stories that include:

Tequila's Sunrise:
A tale of the Tenochas or Aztecs, one in particular named Chalco. He is a hunter of his kind and learns to discover what it means to have Gods, to believe in the end of the world and to see what comes after he is able to see on the other side of things.

Burying Besty:
Tells of a father who buries his daughter alive to keep her from harm whatever it maybe.

Dust:
Is a ghost story based on Laura who had to deal with the tragic death of her loved one because of the 9-11 incident and learns to discover things may not be what they seem.

Fade to Null:
tells of the inner feelings, thoughts of a person dealing with Alzheimer's disease and what could be like a fantasy moment, but actually be nothing.

Bunnies in August:
Gary visits where his son Jack died. However, there are strange situations that happen in his life and bunnies are all over the place. What could possible happen next?

That which Lingers:
Sara has an abortion and her boyfriend leaves her. But does the abortion cause more than just an ending of a relationship?

Two-Headed Alien Love Child:
A woman is impregnated by aliens, Kaine is there on the case. There is just a few things to take care of.

Golden Boy:
Is about a boy that has special abilities to produce gold from his body. He never has relationships, but always finds a way to make due.

I found these stories to be odd and yet some amusing, while others really strange. It was a complete collection of everything one could want while reading short stories. An enjoyable collection that let's you take a strong look at what society would do and what seems to be a strange, strange world of Brian Keene.

The Fecund’s Melancholy Daughter by Brent Hayward Review

2011-05-02T13:08:00.000-04:00

by Brent Hayward
ChiZine Publications
ISBN: 978-1926851136
Review by: Rob Walter
Review posted 05/02/2011

The Fecund’s Melancholy Daughter is the newest novel from the mind of Brent Hayward and is the second book he has published. Chizine Press also published his first novel, Filaria, in 2009. This Sci-Fi Fantasy story is approximately 235 pages.

The story begins with three women in space entering a space craft called “mother” with rockets on their wrists and ankles. Except for all of the dead crew inside, the ship resembles a human body. Then we jump to the Kholics cleaning up trash and waste flowing from the great city of Nowy Solum. Being outcasts, the Kholics are perfect for this kind of work. Then there is path, laying in the garden under the rain waiting for his father to sleep off the spiritus binge he had been on. This path is unique in that he wiggles his stumps, but can’t escape the sling his father carries him in. The story moves in fits and starts as it continues to jump around back and forth between the different strands of the stories.

Part of the difficulty I had with the book lay in the fact that there weren’t really any chapters or headings in it. Only pictures to show some of the breaks. Some transitions between the parts of the story happened from one paragraph to the next. This made reading it more work as I often had to pause to think/re-read portions to maintain what understanding I had of the book. I was impressed that after my confusion of most of the story everything did tie together and come to a somewhat coherent conclusion.

The Secret of Lies by Barbara Forte Abate Review

2011-04-29T01:07:00.000-04:00

By Barbara Forte Abate
Dog Year Publishing
ISBN: 978-1608444182
Review posted 04/29/2011

Stevie Burke one night, feels that nothing is left but for her to leave her husband, the home that she has known for sometime. She tries to forget a past that haunts her memories, but has her make this shift choice to leave behind what she has lived for only a short time.

What I loved about this book was that Stevie is such a strong and bold character. Throughout this story, you can feel her struggle with dealing with past events, the hard choices she has to make and the feeling of regret at times when she feels these choices might not have been right.

Barbara Forte Abate strikes a cord with all of us enduring any kind of hardship, showing us that we are not alone and how at times no matter what the struggle, in the end we will know what the right choice should be.

Without Notice by Jason Hughes Review

2011-04-25T15:48:00.003-04:00

by Jason Hughes
Panic Press
ISBN: 978-446603086
Review by: Terry Morgan
Review posted 04/25/2011

A cheating fiancé takes Amanda to The Graystone Castle Apartment Complex where she takes her residence. There she learns about strange occurrences, unforeseen murders and many things that she starts to wonder about. No matter what she does, the things keep occurring, even when the owner of the complex, tries to do something different. Amanda is in for the ride of her life.

At first reading the beginning few pages I was taken into a sex scene and was wondering if the book was to develop into anything else. However, Jason Hughes took me for a whirlwind of shock, horror and mystery. I often wondered what would happen next to Amanda and actually started to feel sorry for the woman.

Without Notice is a book that starts slowly, but ends with a bang, a loud one at that. Don't be distracted when reading this book, or you will miss what good writing is.

The Spaces between your Screams by Christopher Hivner Review

2011-04-23T03:42:00.000-04:00

by Christopher Hivner
eTreasures Publishing
ISBN: 978-1607026419
Review posted 04/23/2011

What book has you standing on edge, reading about possessions, weird experiments, tragic tales of horror and frightful takings on the unknown? It could only be a collection of stories by Christopher Hivner called THe Spaces between your Screams.

In the moment I began reading this collection, I was excited to finish the first story. It was not the same common thread of death, destruction and endless gore without purpose you may see in some stories, but filled with detail and amazing horror that filled me with hope and I continued on reading the rest of the collection.

I was not only thrilled to read the rest of the stories, but also disappointed. I wanted more and so will you. This collection has a dark heart, but a heart that beats strong. The stories that fill this book bring you into such a state of joy to be reading horror that is filled with an actual plot-line. Yes, I said a real plot, spiced up in a few words of a short story.

Did I find one that was better than the rest, no. Why? Because they were all that good. In fact, I think the space between my screams has finally been filled.

Sins and Tragedies by The Editorial Staff of The Dark Fiction Spotlight Review

2011-04-21T20:34:00.000-04:00

by Stephen Roberts, J.D. Stone, Stacy Bolli and Thad Presley (The Editorial Staff of The Dark Fiction Spotlight)
Panic Press
ISBN: 978-1446621370
Review by: Gina Desory
Review posted 04/21/2011

Sins and Tragedies is a collection of short stories by the editorial staff of The Dark Fiction Spotlight in their most extreme writing yet.
The stories bring you further into a darkness which you may not have ever been in. Each of these six authors brings to you three stories of what would be some of the strangest, but horror filled stories today.

I have read some collections that they claimed to be 'horror' and just didn't make the mark. However, Sins and Tragedies does more than that, it allows you to remember to take a breath once in awhile as when you read the words of these talented authors, you are shocked, you are scared beyond anything imagined and you are left with a feeling that those stories were one hell of a ride.

Pantomine by Robert Essig Review

2011-04-13T08:23:00.001-04:00

Panic Press
ISBN: 978-446768457
Review posted 04/13/2011

Pantomime contains 4 stories by known author Robert Essig. Each story has its own creative flow and its own horror.

Pantomime tells the story of a man who has rented a house for years. A Science major in college, Clyde, wants to rent the house by himself. Thomas the owner is not sure just someone by themselves should rent the house, but goes along with it anyways after telling Clyde about the secrets within.

The story is one full of old time horror, things creeping in the night and a twist at the end that makes you think twice about renting any place that you don't research first.

A Step towards Redemption has a man trying to seek redemption for something his brother Hank and he did when they were children, killing a woman. Then a situation brings the character back to memories of his childhood with Hank and a realization that some things don't stay in the past.

This particular story shows the inner core of what a person can go through, knowing what they have done and knowing what could be ahead for them. It takes you down the road of this main character as he struggles through what life has to offer him now and how the past creeps up on you when you least expect it.

In the The Old Man, Benny does his gardening everyday because his wife just loves roses, or did. She's dead. In the meantime, an old man keeps coming up and bothering him. Getting annoyed, he tries to ignore the old man's constant bothering. Then Benny realizes there is something really familiar about this old man, something that may make him take a second look.

Benny is a character we can all relate to. Someone who feels sorrow, pain, from loosing a loved one and just trying to cope everyday with those feelings. He is a strong character that shows just what we would do in our everyday lives once a person that was always there to us is gone and what we would do to try and get them back.

A Crack in the Silver Lining is the last of the tales in this collection. A man who had a lost childhood and very disruptive one, used to look at a crack on his ceiling when his parents would fight. Both parents now dead, he lives with his wife and kids in a new house, but the crack reappears in his own bedroom.

This story was an intense look at hiding things from our past so that we can move on with our lives. It shows a deep look into someone's mind when the realization of what they were hiding comes back to the surface.

Pantomime is a compelling collection of stories that leave you with a thought of what you might be doing in your own life, or what is lurking in your past you maybe trying to forget. It is a collection of tales that make you think, make you fear what you may not know about yourself.

Werehouse by Ryan Hunter Review

2011-04-02T01:06:00.021-04:00

By Ryan Hunter
Panic Press
ISBN: 978-1446612651
Review by: Terry Morgan
Review posted 04/02/2011

Lewis through a suggestion of his friend Spencer, decides to rush a fraternity. But what he didn't know is what the pledges would be asked to do, or what secrets were part of this college group.

Werehouse has its twists and turns throughout the story. The one thing that was lacking was the action wasn't more severe. The center of the story dealt with this fraternity that didn't seem right, something not totally there, but in the same sense the story didn't grab my attention with this idea.

I was a bit disappointed that even with the twists and turns in the story, it was too predictable and lacked the enjoyment of being really surprised. The title was a good one for the story, but overall I felt that this particular theme could have expanded its setting, characters and not left me feeling like I was reading another typical horror story.

DEADication An Anthology dedicated to all things Zombies Review

2011-03-31T01:46:00.014-04:00

Panic Press
ISBN: 978-1446621066
Review posted 03/31/2011

Zombies, Zombies and more Zombies, what is a person to do? How's about picking up a new collection of zombie short stories by Panic Press called DEADication An Anthology dedicated to all things Zombies.

I love reading zombie tales and I could not be more thrilled when this collection of new stories came about. It is jam-packed with zombie outbreaks, people killing zombies and even a few stories with a different take on zombies.

One of the stories that stuck out to me was just that, a different take on the zombie tale. Zombie Holiday by Neil E. Leckman is just that. It deals with a family who had a horrible car accident. A year later, like the rest of the dead population, they come back. But this story is not just another walking around undead crunch and munch, it has heart. It shows that just because they are zombies doesn't mean they don't feel hardship or don't have things said about them, even though they live in the same community as others. It is a story worth seeing that in any society, some of the same woes and ridicule occur.

This collection is worth not only a second read, but it is a thrilling experience for any zombie fan. The stories in DEADication fill you with gore, excitement, thought and a good filling that perhaps zombies aren't that bad after all.

Shadows & Light (Volume II) Edited by Alva J. Roberts Review

2011-03-28T12:02:00.000-04:00

Edited by Alva J. Roberts
Pill Hill Press
ISBN: 978-1617060038
Review by: Rob Walter
Review posted 03/28/2011

Shadows & Light Volume II, published January 2011 by Pill Hill Press, is the follow on to the critically acclaimed Shadows & Light: Tales of Lost Kingdoms. It is a collection of thirteen fantasy short stories. The following is a list of the stories and their authors:

Choices in the Dark by Ray Tabler
Master Race by Gerald Costlow
The Hand of Fate by David J. West
Azieran: The Secret in the Mist by Christopher Heath
Mania's Children by Gustavo Bondoni
Champion by Marc Sorondo
Night Ambush by Scott Harper & Diane Smith
The Tithe of Hell by Edward McKeown
The King of Sorango by John M. Whalen
Zhea by Gregory L. Norris
Spread Your Wings and Die by Lydia Sharp
Sons of Odin by John Richard Albers
Aquila's Ring by Cat Rambo

If you like dragons, magic, gods and other worlds you will enjoy reading this collection. Choices in the Dark begins the collection with a tale of a Norseman on a quest to retrieve his kidnapped wife from a dark lord. Mania’s Children is about a people trying to survive the Romans from darkness. Aquila’s Ring brings the collection to a close with a cautionary tale that tells of similarities to life.

I enjoyed this collection and recommend it to any fan of the fantasy genre.

Clickers II by J.F Gonzalez and Brian Keene Review

2011-03-25T01:06:00.021-04:00

By J.F Gonzalez and Brian Keene
Deadite Press
ISBN: 978-1936383436
Review posted 03/25/2011

Clickers II starts out with Robert, a old man that watches other couples have sex in the hotel rooms. He then moves his binoculars over to the water where people are screaming and something like crabs or lobsters are attacking them. The story then moves on to Jerry Barker who was taking a lunch break, when looking out the window sees people screaming and running out of the water. We have the return of what was called 'The Clickers.'

Clickers II is the follow-up to Clickers. With Clickers II we come across the creatures that look like lobsters or crabs, but are sea monsters not afraid of anything a human may do. Unlike Clickers, Clickers II takes on a different tone to the chaos. The monsters are still there, but the humans are more present with the attacks and the attacks are more in the open.

Clickers II did not have the same feeling as Clickers with the monsters stepping out of a B movie, but instead a more modernized version of what seems to be Jaws. I was a bit disappointed with Clickers II because I was hoping for the same feeling I got when I had read Clickers, which was rooting for every character to either get it, or let the monster win, in this book, as in Jaws, you waited to see what the monster would do, but there were no surprises, no thrilling moments to allow you to ponder what would be next. It left a dryness that needed to be filled.

There were also, several clips of news articles featured in this book to bring what I assume a certain feeling to the reader of the terror going on with the current situation in the book. With all these articles present, it became a quick reading of them and a fast turn of the page to get to the meat of the story.

Clickers II left me feeling like I was missing out on something, that this was a only part of a book and where was the rest?

Casting Shadows By Joleen Kuyper, E.J. Tett and Jo Robertson Review

2011-03-17T01:32:00.008-04:00

by Joleen Kuyper, E.J. Tett and Jo Robertson
Lulu Press
ISBN: 978-1409284154
Review by: Rob Walter
Review posted 03/17/2011

Casting Shadows is a collection of dark poetry and short stories written by three authors, Joleen Kuyper, E.J. Tett and Jo Robertson and published by Lulu Press. Each of the authors contributes four short stories and four poems and it is organized in a unique way. The twelve short stories and twelve poems alternate throughout the collection, starting with the short story, Just the Dust and ending with the poem Under the Lake.

The mix of the short stories and the poetry take the reader on a bit of a dark emotional roller coaster starting with the apocalyptic Just the Dust by Joleen Kuyper. In the story a woman awakens in the dark, alone, trying to understand who she is, what she is doing, when it is, where she is laying and why she is there. Monsters, by E.J. Tett, is a dark poem about a 15 year old girl coping with the darkness and the very real monsters in her life the only way she can. Roses by Jo Robertson, tells a cautionary tale that one should listen and be aware to the warnings of Déjà vu for they may save your life.

I am not a big fan of poetry, but the poetry in this collection works for the most part because of the way it is interspersed with the short stories and helps to twist the emotion of the reader into different directions improving the reading experience.

Wretched Moments Edited by T.L. Perry and Jessy Marie Roberts Review

2011-03-15T01:00:00.035-04:00

Edited by T.L. Perry and Jessy Marie Roberts
Pill Hill Press
ISBN: 978-1617060458
Review by: Gina Desory
Review posted 03/15/2011

Wretched Moments is a collection of 22 stories that are strange and yet want to make you at least take a look.

The collection was what I thought to be stories on the bizarre or even more extreme horror. What I ended up finding out, at least for myself, was some confusion and some stories lacking the pull to want me to read more, leaving me disappointed.

Out of the 22 stories that filtered this anthology, the best of the 22 was Carly is Dead by Shane McKenzie. The story brought some of the bizarre into it by having Carly dead in the forest and her friend a fly who lays eggs in her tear ducks so that she can see them when they hatch. McKenzie wowed me with just the idea of something of this situation. The telling of the story was intriguing and with a certain darkness I did not feel while reading the other stories in this collection.

Wretched Moments is a collection for a certain acquired taste. I would not give up on it to try it at least once, you may feel differently than I did.

Clickers by J.F Gonzalez and Mark Williams Review

2011-03-10T01:08:00.032-05:00

By J.F Gonzalez and Mark William
Deadite Press
ISBN: 978-1936383429
Review posted 03/10/2011

Captain Kim Issac of the Lucky Mariner, feels the boat rock, thinking something they want is caught in their net, he looks to see what it is. Meanwhile, part of his crew go overboard, they scream, they don't return. The Captain tries to cut the net when he realizes there is something too large in there. But the creature attacks and soon Kim is lost with the water. And that is just the beginning...

Rick Sychek is a writer who while driving on the road hits something. He's not sure what, but he thinks it looks like a crab. It knocks out his car with him inside. An officer of Phillipsport comes to his aide and takes Rick into the small community where he gets to know the people and starts asking questions about these weird creatures.

You remember the old time horror movies, the ones where the sea creatures or werewolves come out of the woods? If you liked any of those you will love Clickers.

I'm a big fan of Godzilla movies in general and when I read this book I thought of the creature, who is somewhat of a crustacean who attacks boats, people and just plain is, well, what can I say, a monster.

What is great about Clickers is each word you read you feel the thrill like you did if you ever saw one of those 'creature feature' type movies. In fact, I would love to see this book as a movie.

The one thing I would recommend the most from this book is to read it all the way through, grab a hold of the characters, especially the monster and enjoy them all. It certainly is a book that will be kept on my shelves for easy access to read over and over again.

The Haunter of the Threshold by Edward Lee Review

2011-03-07T02:31:00.017-05:00

By Edward Lee
Deadite Press
ISBN: 978-1936383399
Review by: Gina Desory
Review posted 03/07/2011

Hazel has fantasies, not just any fantasies, but gang rape fantasies and other strange sexual fantasies every day. Her pregnant friend, Sonia, who Hazel is in love with, and her go up to a cabin that Frank, Sonia's husband has inherited.

All through this Hazel's father keeps trying to get in contact with her. She ignores the calls for the most part until one day Sonia directs her to answer it. But then even stranger things start to happen. She comes across Peter Pan and Snow White who demand she do sexual things or else they will not only hurt her, but her pregnant friend.

The Haunter of the Threshold is a big sexual whirlwind of a woman, Hazel who can't figure out if she is normal or just sick. I found that there were several times I wondered what was going on in the story. As I read I knew there were several fantasies, but then the story jumped several times. There is a good idea there about the main character Hazel trying to find out if she can think for herself without these sexual fantasies and is she really okay or mentally ill gives a good basis for a story. But where those ideas where possibly present, the story lacked a good foundation to follow through except for the explicit sex situations.

Uncle Sam's Carnival of Copulating Inanimals by Kirk Jones Review

2011-03-05T01:01:00.030-05:00

By Kirk Jones
Eraserhead Press
ISBN: 978-1936383252
Review posted 03/5/2011

Gary worked a an American Dollar store, a hardware supply store. It was his first occurrence with loosing an arm. Then he went to work at a textile factory where he lost his right leg. Soon afterwords he lost all of himself at another factory, dropping something called Rigenangent #32 that he ends up combining with, now Gary is nothing more than a blob of human flesh.

Then comes in Uncle Sam who says he has a job for Gary at his carnival. He can train what are called inanimals. Inanimals being furniture of all sorts that enjoy having sex with each other. But things turn for the worse as Uncle Sam has another agenda up his sleeve, which includes his shadows.

Bizarre, yet compelling as Jones takes the reader on a journey through finding what one's self means and what deep down inside you are really made of. Even the most innate object may have the feelings you often as a human take for granted. A must read for those who like the strange, yet thought provoking stories.

On the Verge of Madness by George Wilhite Review

2011-03-04T10:38:00.000-05:00

By George Wilhite
Lulu Press
ISBN: 978-1435719651
Review by: Rob Walter
Review posted 03/04/2011

On the VERGE of Madness is the first collection of horror stories from George Wilhite published through and by Lulu Press dealing with the theme echoed in the title of characters teetering on the line between sanity and madness. Although he has been compared to Edgar Allen Poe and H. P. Lovecraft, and one can see those influences in his writing, there is also a unique voice to his work.

The stories range from the first extended short story of Victor Chaldean and the Portal to the two page short Cast of Characters. While two pages might not seem enough to tell a tale, the two pages of Cast of Characters is more than adequate to provide enough development and detail to understand and feel the gruesome details and identify with the main character and their actions. This is not the case of slash and hack horror, but more a psychological horror. Severed heads, hmm, now that is quite the idea for story development!

Overall I liked this collection of short stories and would recommend it to anyone interested in a slightly different “not just your standard horror story” collection.

Population Zero by Wrath James White Review

2011-03-03T01:53:00.029-05:00

By Scott Kenemore
Deadite Press
ISBN: 978-1936383375
Review posted 03/03/2011

Population Zero has Todd Hammerstein, a man who has gone through several things when he was young: the suicide of his father after he killed the man who had an affair with Todd's mother, his own mother who tried to give herself an abortion and died soon afterwords and his own ordeal with being alone, no friends and finding out what the population of humans compared to animals were. As he gets older he picks up the website 'Population Zero', a extreme activist group that believes in the stopping humans from populating more.

Later in life, Todd works at a welfare assistance department. He gets flustered when he watches people come in time and time again asking for assistance, having babies just to get that assistance, so he starts telling these people to have abortions, get themselves 'fixed' so to speak so no more babies will be born and then he will approve their checks and food stamps.

Then, people stop listening to him. One day a man comes into his cubicle to ask what everyone asks of Todd, assistance. Todd once again suggests the same thing, get 'fixed.' The man just laughs in Todd's face. Then Todd suggests he goes to this one address for job training. What the man doesn't know is that is Todd's address and he is about to help the guy get fixed. After Todd has finished cutting cords, he realizes too much blood has come out and he kills the man. This action though he felt was helping take care of the overpopulated Earth, makes Todd question what he has done.The murdering of the man is only the beginning for Todd as he takes on his quest to save the Earth from overpopulation.

I have read many books in my time, some really extreme in gore, horror ect. However, Population Zero threw me down and shook my inner core.
The story of Todd and his quest to make things right in his mind, though disturbing, made me think. What would someone do if they believed so strongly in something? Would they go to those extremes as Todd did?

My mouth remained on the floor the whole time reading this. Yet, as I read, it kept me wanting to see what happened to the character. He was sick in what society considers mentally ill, but wanting to help the Earth was a redeeming quality, and yet his way of pursuing these moral beliefs caught me extremely off guard.

There is nothing for the faint of heart with this book. I would recommend this book to those that want to feel fear, but not because some vampire or werewolf is what they are reading about, but someone who you never know could be your next door neighboor.

Urban Gothic by Brian Keene Review

2011-03-02T01:56:00.015-05:00

By Brian Keene
Deadite Press
Review posted 03/02/2011

A group of teenagers from the suburbs make their way into Philadelphia to attend a Hip Hop concert. After the concert is over, they get lost and end up in an area not too friendly. They come across what seems to be what they think a gang, who scare them a bit and they run into an abandoned house, but not just any house, a house that has been rumored to be haunted with evil things.

But rumors are sometimes based on fact and what the teenagers learn is something is lurking in that house, something bad that starts killing members of their small group one by one. Is it human, or is it something else and will they all survive through the night?

Keene takes us on a journey through one's most inner fears. Each terrorizing moment of the characters is felt as if we are playing a game where the vibration settings are on. The intensity of this story gives the sense of not wanting to go into areas of a city that is dark and that you have not been around before.

Before you go driving around and then stop, be sure to look around. You never know what could be lurking in the shadows and that's what Urban Gothic is warning us about and letting us get scared just thinking about it.

The Church by John McCuaig Review

2011-03-01T01:15:00.028-05:00

By John McCuaig
Library of the Living Dead Press
ISBN: 978-14538008214
Review posted 03/1/2011

Sam Miller had a nice life. A wonderful wife, two Jack and Katie who wish to immigrant to Australia and Sam watches them go. Then the worst happens. A flu strain unlike no other takes hold of everyone. It not only kills people, but ends up bringing them back. It takes Sam's wife Pamela. He watches her die. Soon later he hears noises and she is back eating their dog. Sam now wonders what he will do and if his own children are okay.

Soon the outbreak is worse and Sam needs to flee. He comes across a church and hears what he hopes are survivors, others like him. There is a Reverend and several others inside. But Sam soon discovers something is not right about this Reverend and the way things are handled in the church. Sam begins to wonder if the situation inside the church is just as bad or worse than the one outside with the undead.

McCuaig adds a special way of dealing with survival at the end of the world. He shows people in the most human condition ever told in a story. Faith, hope and what people long for in a crisis is shown here with eloquence.

The Church is an eye opener for people to look at certain others in a position of authority where faith takes priority, where fear of dying will make you do almost anything, listen to anyone, follow anyone.

The Church is a page-turner. It is not only entertaining, but mind-blowing. It is one that I know I will read over and over again.

Unbound and Other Tales by David Dunwoody Review

2011-02-28T01:42:00.024-05:00

By David Dunwoody
Library of Horror Press
ISBN: 978-1451511581
Review by: Gina Desory
Review posted 02/28/2011

Unbound and Other Tales by David Dunwoody is a scary, yet thrilling ride of bizarre and chilling stories. The first story, Unbound, tells of Josh Talbot who works at a publishing company. His boss wants him to continue the research and possible continued writing of a certain series name Sharpe. What Talbot doesn't know is the background of the series and what horror comes from dealing with this book and the main character.

The other 8 stories in this collection range from clowns standing together forming a line and nobody able to move them in the story Clowns. More of frightening words in the story Ministry where grave riders ride graves and switch their souls with the dead buried below. In Voice, we learn just what it means to deal with what we think are our exs, but Steven deals with more than his ex-wife's voice.

What leaves the reader hanging is not having more of these glorious stories to feed on. My appetite is now wet with words from Dunwoody and a wanting for more more more!

As any fan of Horror will tell you, Dunwoody is a star and every story in this collection is is just pure amazing and a must read for a fan of his work and fans of the Horror genre.

Rock and Roll Reform School Zombies by Bryan Smith Review

2011-02-27T01:08:00.001-05:00

By Bryan Smith
Deadite Press
ISBN: 978-1936383276
Review by: Jim Cherry
Review posted 02/27/2011

Bryan Smith’s “Rock and Roll Reform School Zombies” is your average teenage boy meets girl who is sent away by her parents to be deprogrammed and “cured” of listening to heavy metal music, runs into homicidal lesbian facility headmistress, and then has to fend off zombies story.

“Rock and Roll Reform School Zombies” is meant to be an homage/parody of “B” or less movies of the 60’s and 70’s. It starts off on a right note, a fast paced Rock ‘n’ Roll tone, hitting the ground running with a sense of the irreverent. But it quickly downshifts a gear or two to a more traditionally written novel, and some of the irreverent attitude is set aside, not totally lost. Every once in a while it will show up in a nicely turned phrase or in the attitude of a character, but the break neck speed is lost, and some of the attitude that pulled you in at the beginning is gone.

In the heavy metal rehabilitation center Smith tries to make the connection that leading a life of conformity and being a Zombie are much alike. Like George Romero did in “Dawn of the Dead,” making zombies a metaphor for conspicuous consumption. But once that makes it’s appearance it is quickly left behind and not reinforced in the characters or action. It feels like Smith had a lot of ideas and tried to have them all included and it seemed he tried to go in too many directions at once. I have to say something about the end, it doesn’t make sense. The heroes do something really stupid, they know they’re doing it and it will precipitate another wave of zombies but they still do it anyway.

Of course if you just want to read about teenage, scantily clad zombies lumbering around chomping on their former friends, the bad guys all get their comeuppance first being masticated by zombies and then the ultimate justice of them getting their heads blown off after they become zombies then “Rock and Roll Reform School Zombies” is for you.

Jim Cherry is the author of The Last Stage www.jymsbooks.com

Sherlock Holmes and the Flying Zombie Death Monkeys by Chris Wood Review

2011-02-26T08:20:00.001-05:00

By Chris Wood
LBD Publishing
ISBN: 978-1906669027
Review by: Jim Cherry
Review posted 02/26/2011

“Sherlock Holmes and the Flying Zombie Death Monkeys” by Chris Wood can be a lot of things. Is it a novel with 4 chapters? Or it could be a book of short stories that are linked together by the appearance of flying zombie death monkeys? Mostly it’s a witty parody of Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories.

In “Sherlock Holmes and the Flying Zombie Death Monkeys” we’re taken to the London of Sherlock Holmes that is suddenly invaded by flying zombie death monkeys, it’s not only the title it’s the plot synopsis. Wood’s Holmes is an idiot that has the absolute conviction of the infallibility of his logic, and an unflappable demeanor when it doesn’t pan out. Holmes’ sidekick Dr. Watson is here too, barely able to endure Holmes and his insufferable attitude, but Holmes provides Watson with adventures and away from the little Mrs. at home. Watson keeps mistaking the zombie death monkeys for lawyers or politicians. I’m not sure if this is political commentary or not, but it’s funny. Personally, I don’t understand why flying death monkeys need to be zombies, but that’s beside the point.

Wood has down the cadences of Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories but he also has the voice of Holmes and Watson down to make a sonorous double parody. Period pictures add to not only the feel of the stories as Sherlock Holmes, but offer more comic counterpoint at dramatic moments.

Against my better judgment, at times I found myself laughing out loud while reading “Sherlock Holmes and the Flying Zombie Death Monkeys.” Even if you don’t think flying zombie death monkeys are your thing, you’ll find yourself enjoying these stories.

Jim Cherry is the author of The Last Stage www.jymsbooks.com

Fungus of the Heart by Jeremy C. Shipp Review

2011-02-25T01:34:00.000-05:00

By Jeremy C. Shipp
Raw Dog Screaming Press
ISBN: 978-1935738015
Review posted 02/25/2011

Fungus of the Heart is a collection of amazing and strange tales from Jeremy C. Shipp. In this work you deal with clowns, I myself hate clowns so were a bit freaked out by this particular story called How to make a Clown. There are also stories that have you guessing until the last moment such as The Sun Never Rises in the Big City where a rag is a duplicate person and a remote is much more than something you watch television with.

This collection keeps your feet on the ground so that you are able to walk the walls and then the ceiling. Then when you are done shaking yourself back into reality, you do it all over again. The strangeness of the stories and the fear, grabs a hold of you right away and you feel yourself drifting into the worlds that Jeremy C. Shipp has created.

Grab this collection if you want to be in a different world, experience a mind-altering sensation that can only come about while reading the words of these great stories.

Twisted Tales from the Torchlight Inn by Ty Schwamberger,Thomas A. Erb,Dean Harrison Review

2011-02-24T01:03:00.030-05:00

By Ty Schwamberger,Thomas A. Erb,Dean Harrison
Wicked East Press
ISBN: 978-1617060045
Review by: Gina Desory
Review posted 02/24/2011

Welcome to the Torchlight Inn where nothing is what it seems. Twisted Tales from the Torchlight Inn is a collection of 3 novellas by Ty Schwamberger, Thomas A. Erb and Dean Harrison with an introduction by Jessica A. Weiss.

The first story in this collection is Last Night Out by Ty Schwamberger. Three students, Gabe, Alan and his girlfriend Erin, take a small trip to a place called the Torchlight Inn where a bartender acts crazy and pillars are not just decorations.

The second story Tones of Home by Thomas A. Erb, has Ashely and Maurice going to meet Ashely's parents. Then suddenly things take a wrong turn and the story has odd occurrences with what seems to be members from the band The Beatles.

The last story Off Limits by Dean Harrison deals with Ellen and her troubled brother Jack who takes Shawn, Ellen's boyfriend and her to what is know as the Torchlight Inn. Jack wants payback for what was done to him years ago and this time Ellen will really know what it feels like to be scared.

Each of these stories tell a twisted version of what it is to come to the Torchlight Inn. The stories wrapped around craziness and people's own sense of being, made for these stories to be a wild roller coaster ride.

Tones of Home left me wondering at times what was going on and something was lost in having to figure out where as a reader I was at at times.

Off Limits made was a tale that shook the fear out of me. A scenario where anything was possible and yet it happened.

Last Night Out started a bit like a Young Adult type scenario where you thought vampires were about to come out, but then you get surprised and the story flows with not only horror and gore, but a nice twist to the ending.

If you are a reader who enjoys the oddness of things, the fear of the unknown, you need to pick up Twisted Tales from the Torchlight Inn and stay for awhile, if you dare.

Cursed by Jeremy C. Shipp Review

2011-02-23T09:10:00.014-05:00

By Jeremy C. Shipp
Raw Dog Screaming Press
ISBN: 978-1933293868
Review by: Rob Walter
Review posted:2/23/2011

Nicholas is a person who likes to make lists of everything people do and say including himself. He also makes dolls as well. His life is an up and down series of events. He is cursed. He meets Cicely who struggles with forces outside her control and holds onto a tennis ball and squeezes it repeatably. He goes through several different situations including getting slapped by his roommate.

I'm not normally into the odd and bizarre, but this story grabbed my attention as I read through the life of Nicholas and his trials. I was interested to keep going and learn what would happen next to him. It was a very surreal type of experience and one I recommend to anyone who wants to read something a bit different.

Zombie Ohio A Tale of the Undead by Scott Kenemore Review

2011-02-22T08:26:00.001-05:00

By Scott Kenemore
Skyhorse Press
ISBN: 978-1616082062
Review posted 02/22/2011

Peter Mellor wakes up disorientated with a car crashed nearby. He is unsure what has happened to that car. Was he in a car accident? He also doesn't remember who he is. Getting up slowly, he grabs his hat and places it on his head, which is now half-gone.

He runs across some people who recognize him and give Peter some semblance of his memory back. When he comes in contact with an old friend named Sam, he starts to realize something is not right. Zombies are all over the place and maybe he assumes he had the car crash because he was running from them. After looking at himself in the mirror with his head half-off, he started wondering if perhaps he is a zombie.

Later, he watches a zombie move and eat. Something feels right about that. As it turns out he can still walk and move okay, but Peter learns in fact he is a zombie.

Kenemore takes readers on a different take of an undead story, from the perspective of a zombie. However, not just any zombie, but one that talks and acts like a regular human, he just has a preference for a little different type of food, brains.

This story shows that even a zombie has to deal with moral issues and try to discover who they really are. It is a brilliant collection of characters with a background story that will surely make you reconsider a zombie outbreak.

Jack's Magic Beans By Brian Keene Review

2011-02-18T11:49:00.003-05:00

By Brian Keene
Deadite Press
Review posted 02/18/2011

Jack's Magic Beans by Brian Keene once again showcases the author's talent of the strange, horrific and enjoyable aspects of a short story.

In this collection of 5 stories we have:

Jack's Magic Beans that tells of a supermarket gone astray. Where people act in a hostile nature hurting each other and killing everyone they come in contact with. Their rage, unknown. Jack, who was asleep during the start of the chaos, wakes up to hear screaming and pounding on a door. He along with a few others who have not been infected with this unknown rage, try to survive whatever comes next. Jack offers a solution, but does this solution really work?

Without You tells the tale of a man who has lost his self-worth. He is in a dead-end job that he just got fired from, in debt and married to a woman he fell out of love with. He remembers how it used to be where he would say to her "I would die without you." Under circumstances in which he can no longer take, he has made a choice to kill himself, but does he really die?

I am an Exit tells the story of a killer where certain aspects of the situations becomes what they consider "an exit."

This is not an Exit deals with two people sitting at a bar discussing things. The topic comes up about if they ever killed anyone. They both agree yes they have. One only killed a family, the other has killed more. What could this type of conversation produce as a result?

The King in: Yellow starts with a homeless man telling this couple they have to see the show Yellow. Of course Finely and Kathryn think it is just ramblings of a lost soul. They go to a restaurant and see a woman yelling and singing something about "Yellow." They think it's odd and leave. Then later Kathryn wants to see a show called Yellow that she sees on a advertisement on the street. They go to the show, but will they ever be the same again?

With intensity and a flare for the extreme, Keene opens the eyes of the readers who dare turn the pages of this collection. You think of things not heard of, you experience the words like the taste of a fine wine. There is no collection that will make you enjoy a story and fear the ending as much as this.

Napier's Bones By Derryl Murphy Review

2011-02-08T01:37:00.009-05:00

By Derryl Murphy
ChiZine Press
ISBN: 978-1926851099
Review by: Dana Bell
Review posted 02/8/2011

Numbers. It's all about numbers and they're effect on each of our lives. People, nature, living creatures live and die by them. They're everywhere and those who invented them haunt us day in and day out.

So is the tale of Dom. He wanders in from the desert and begins a quest with a shadow named Billy and a young woman named Jenna. They travel the US and other places do discover the secrets and wrestle them away from the ancients. They meet those who have gone before, speak with them, and discover the doorways to new equations and possibilities.

Along the way there is good every day events. Visiting the ATM, eating food, staying in hotels and a love angle that never happens despite the characters attachment to each other and an intangible enemy who doesn't seem very threatening or even dangerous. There's even a brief encounter with an ex priest discussing theology.

Mostly it is a story of a journey not just physically but also into the discovery of numbers and their uses. The pair unlocks the mysteries and steps into a realm most in their profession could only dream about.

Well written in an almost mystical way with numbers being a type of magic that can be wielded and used.

Suggested for an audience that understands mathematics and the references to them which are lost to the general reader. Also not for those who are offended by swear words, puck or references to the male anatomy.

The Door to Lost Pages by Claude Lalumière Review

2011-02-07T00:50:00.015-05:00

by: Claude Lalumière
ChiZine Press
ISBN: 978-1926851129
Review by: Robert Walter
Review posted 02/7/2011

The Door to Lost Pages is Claude Lalumieres’ newest book by ChiZine Publishing.

While this book was thought provoking, it was confusing to me in many regards. Confusing in that the timelines of the threads in the story jump at times and took a number of re-reads to re-establish where I was in the story and or who was currently the narrator in the story.

This is definitely not a book for the younger generation as it contains some graphic sexual descriptions.

At the beginning, there is a description of Yamesh-Lot, the great antagonist, or source of evil, but other than continuing mentions throughout the rest of the book does not bring this to any conclusion or direct conflict with the Green, Blue and Brown God. The Shipfan-Shap (similar to angels) do battle against Yamesh-Lot then fade away through the rest of the book.

The titular book store, Lost Pages, would be the kind of bookstore one would love to be able to find having whatever one was looking for, no matter what the subject, language, time period or reality. Alternate realities are discussed briefly, but they are not followed or described further in the story. Simply that they exist.

The main character, Aydee and a secondary character, Lucas, follow similar paths to the bookstore, but at different times along slightly different paths. A unique technique used in this book is a letter “read” by Aydee, that adds a story line, but never reveals the author.

In the end, the story is a simile for the dichotomy of life.

2013: The Aftermath Edited by: Shane McKenzie & Jessy Marie Robert Review

2011-02-05T09:41:00.000-05:00

Edited by: Shane McKenzie & Jessy Marie Robert
Pill Hill Press
ISBN: 978-1617060335
Review by: Gina Desory
Review posted 02/5/2011

2013: The Aftermath anthology has 26 tales of bonding, of horror of people panicking, exploring all things one would see at the end of the world. All these stories take place sometime in 2013, when something of an end of the world situation has happened. Stories ranging from exploring their surroundings and possibly finding a creature called a Hydra, a person who was put on a mission and has another voice in his head to a salesman trying to sell and scam other survivors and many more stories.

What was different in this collection was so many different viewpoints on the end of the world situations. The strength that the authors showed their characters having, the raw emotions, it was amazing. No one story was the same and each one in its special way made you think about what you would do if you were in that situation.

The best story out of this collection is 'Magic Man' by Chris Lewis Carter telling of a salesman who tries to sell a cure to survivors that doesn't exist and certain things happen as a result. In every dire situation there are always those that try to gain at the expense of others and this story would show in the aftermath of something horrible, how that would not change certain people in still doing that.

Go out and get this anthology. You need to be able to experience life at the end of the world.

Eutopia: A Novel of Terrible Optimism By David Nickle Review

2011-01-25T01:19:00.008-05:00

By David Nickle
Publisher ChiZine Publications
ISBN: 978-1926851112
Review by Jim Cherry
Review posted 1/25/2011

I’m not the best judge of horror, but I’ve read Lovecraft, Poe, King, and good writing is good writing. Good writing carries over to a book regardless of genre. And there’s plenty of good writing in David Nickle’s “Eutopia.”

“Eutopia” is set in the early 20th century and explores the world of American utopian movements, and the almost instantly corruptible science of Eugenics, how easily our desires for a utopian society can be exploited and corrupted no matter how idealistic the original intent.

The story is told from the point of view of two protagonists. The first is Dr. Andrew Waggoner a negro doctor in the frontier town of Eliada, Colorado in 1911. Eliada is a town set up by idealistic and charismatic leader Garrison Harper, a city that he’s built out of the wilderness on the principles of Compassion, Community, and Hygiene. As we meet Waggoner he’s about to be lynched by the local Ku Klux Klan. But first they hang a mysterious figure known as “Mr. Juke” for the rape and murder of a young woman. As Juke is being hanged, Waggoner has a vision of Juke either being a monster or beautiful. Just as the Klan is about to lynch Waggoner he’s rescued by Sam Green, one of the Pinkerton men hired by Harper. As Waggoner recuperates in Eliada’s hospital he learns “Mr. Juke” had survived hanging, although Waggoner doesn’t see how that is possible. But there isn’t time for Waggoner to investigate as a plot is discovered that the Klan wants to finish their job on Dr. Waggoner.

The second protagonist is Jason Thistledown, a lad of sixteen whose mother has died of disease. He discovers the rest of the town has been killed by the disease and, he’s the sole survivor. As Jason waits out the winter on the farm and is unsure about what to do with his mother’s body his previously unknown Aunt Germaine appears. Aunt Germaine is on her way to Eliada having recently been in New York gathering Eugenics information in prisons. After Jason and Aunt Germaine arrive in Eliada her motives for bringing Jason there become suspect as she allows Jason to be put overnight in “quarantine” with “Mr. Juke” and the secret that town harbors reveals itself and spreads throughout the populace.

At first I had a difficult time figuring out what, if any genre “Eutopia” fell into. Was it going to be a novel with a science fiction twist? Steampunk? Or something else entirely? Nickle takes his time setting everything up, and soon, “Eutopia” revealed itself to be of the horror genre. Nickle lets the novel reveal itself through the characters and the events that befall them. The narrative moves with a Lovecraftian twist, a little Greek mythology and hillbilly lore thrown in. Nickle lays out these strings and neatly weaves them into the thread of his story and keeps the tension going and the reader wanting to see what will happen next. Set in the early 20th century, Nickle has the voice of the people and the manner of the times down.

The horror is more implicit than explicit, there’s no big ’reveal’ scene where a monstrous nightmare vision is thrown at the reader for shock or a visceral reaction. Nickle sets the tone at early 20th century creepy. The tone is more of a pins under your skin feeling, or the feeling of a spider walking across your hand, that keeps you in a state of ecstatic uncomfortableness. The closer I got towards the end, the more it kept me reading to see how this could possibly be resolved. What higher praise or expectations can you have for a book?

“Eutopia” will be released by ChiZine Publications on May 3rd, 2011.

Jim Cherry is the author of The Last Stage www.jymsbooks.com

Classsics Mutilated Edited By Jeff Conner Review

2011-01-24T10:17:00.000-05:00

Edited By: Jeff Conner
Publisher Idea and Design Works, llc
ISBN: 978-1600108303
Review by Jim Cherry
Review posted 1/24/2011

“Classsics Mutilated” is an anthology of 13 short stories that takes some literary classics and mashes them up with a twist of horror, that crosses genres, characters and the lines between them.

Mutilated is kind of a misnomer for these stories, there’s nothing mutilated or even stitched together about these stories. They’re more a fusion of genres that enhances the originals. Like alternate histories in writing a good mashup you have to have a good command of the material, balanced with a respect for the original while maintaining a sense of the irreverent about it. Hopefully, the new story, besides being entertaining will also provide a better understanding or insight into the original, and these are well written stories.

Some of the standout stories for me were:
“Death Stopped for Miss Dickinson,” which takes the literary assessment of Emily Dickinson courting death in her poetry from the figurative into the literal. Kristine Kathryn Rusch writes a story that takes the fine lacey poetics of Dickinson and creates a story worthy of Dickinson.

“Quoth The Rock Star” has Jim Morrison entering the world of Edgar Allan Poe and “The Raven” as they battle it out for possession of a soul. The author of “Quoth,” Rio Youers, writes one of the best descriptions of a Doors concert I’ve ever read. Youers interlaces Morrison’s lyrics into the prose to create effect, tone and even real power in using Morrison’s motif’s and imagery in the telling of the story and will give Doors fans a rush of recognition.

In “From Hell’s Heart” Nancy Collins has Captain Ahab from Moby Dick fused with H.P. Lovecraft. I was never a big fan of Lovecraft when he was big in the mid-70’s because he always backed away from describing the horror, but Nancy Collins takes that extra step and describes Lovecraft’s indescribable.

“Frankenbilly,” is a western homage to the B-movie. It meshes “Frankenstein” with the 60‘s classic “Billy the Kid Versus Dracula.” While successfully serving the flavor of a western and a B-movie, without degenerating into B writing.

For rock fans that want to continue in vein of “Quoth The Rock Star,” Mark Morris’ “Vicious” has Sid Vicious on tour in the U.S. meeting up with a Voodoo priestess or two, and definitely maintains Vicious’ attitude and outlook towards life.

“Twilight of the Gods” has Norse mythology going to high school and meeting the 90210 world. An apt tongue in cheek look at The Gods.

The H.G. Wells story “The Island of Dr. Moreau“ never seemed to work in concept either in Wells’ work or in the movies. But in “The Happiest Hell on Earth,” John Skipp and Cody Goodfellow have Moreau working much better when he meets up with a Walt Disneyesque Hollywood impresario.

In “Classics Mutilated” there is a quotient of fun in the stories, a joie de vive in the writing, that you can even see in titles like “Anne-Droid of Green Gables.” “Classics Mutilated” is a good for anyone who likes literature and/or horror and is looking for a little different perspective on either. A reading of “Classics Mutilated” will bring back fond memories and may even send you back to the originals.

Jim Cherry is the author of The Last Stage www.jymsbooks.com

Gone with the Dirt:Undead Dixie Anthology Edited by Jessy Marie Roberts Review

2011-01-21T07:25:00.024-05:00

Edited by: Jessy Marie Roberts
Pill Hill Press
ISBN: 978-1617060427
Review posted 01/21/2011

At the time of the civil war, many lives were lost. But could there have been a possibility of the undead helping in bring about a different war?

That is what Gone with the Dirt:Undead Dixie lets the reader into. There are 26 stories about the south, the civil war and the undead. Included in this collection is also a play.

What brings this collection to stand by itself is the idea that undead could have walked about the earth during the time there were 'southern bells' and men were fighting their brothers during one of the deadliest wars ever fought.

Out of this collection the story that stands out the most is 'Deliver the Yankee Coffin' by Kelly M. Hudson. Here is the story of how there maybe a possibility Lincoln allowed the undead attacks to occur and how those around him dealt with this choice. The story is built around a different and beautiful background. The characters based on real names, serve their purpose by dealing with these attacks, emotions running high and proving that this story is one of the best of the old south.

The only odd thing about this collection was that amongst all the short stories there was a stage play script included. Not that I mind I love plays, but for some reason that seemed out of place. However, it is an anthology and anything can go.

I would buy this to take a different look at the old south. Read the characters as they venture into something so extreme, that even holding their rifles up high will not stop the fear in their eyes.

Strange Little Band By Nancy Brauer and Vanessa Brooks Review

2011-01-18T01:30:00.029-05:00

by: Nancy Brauer and Vanessa Brooks
Triptych
ISBN: 978-1456301255
Review by: Gina Desory
Review posted 01/18/2011

Strange Little Band starts out with a person named Daniel from a company named Triptych who arrives at the home of Shane Myers. He inquires about the boy and the parents inform him he has been adopted. Shane has fights, the parents tell Daniel that Shane found out his was adopted and they don't know how he did.

The story then continues on with Addison Harris who is pregnant. She was inseminated with the sperm of a Dr. Myers, who is Shane at the Triptych company. Shane does not realize at first that Harris is carrying his baby. Most of all, some don't realize what Shane really is, half-alien, half-human or what will happen to this baby.

Strange Little Band has an interesting premise of having a baby who no one knows what will happen because he is from a half alien father. The company of Triptych is a strange company where several unusual things occur and secrets are kept.

The only problem I had with this story is the jumping around constantly from one scene to the next. At times I had to reread areas to make sure I knew where I was in the story. I won't say that made the story bad, because the story was interesting. It was just hard at times to keep track of the flow of the story.

Strange Little Band is a story in which unusual things occur, secrets are up in the air and a half-alien man makes you wonder what actually goes about with the people you thought you knew.

Felix and the Sacred Thor by James Steele Review

2011-01-17T01:23:00.028-05:00

by: James Steele
Eraserhead Press
ISBN: 978-1936383238
Review posted 01/17/2011

Flex has an attraction to horses. His guidance counselor even suggested he go into ESMS. There were so many others that wanted what he wanted as a job, that people would stand in line for a chance to work as a Equine Stress Management Specialist. Until the day that he was able to try a horse after several others have failed.

The angels played their music as he tried to feel underneath the horse, but as he did he felt the sheath deep inside to find the universe waiting there and what he thought was the horse's organ. The horse then explains that the organ was his sacrifice for the greater good. It is called 'Thor.' Felix soon discovers the power of Thor, attacking toasters and what it means to be what he is.

Felix and the Sacred Thor is certainly Bizarre in the extreme. When you have something such as 'Thor' smacking people around, customers at a retail store and becoming a weapon of enlightenment for Felix, you have stepped into the world of Bizarro fiction.

Though there is a lot of sexual innuendo in this book that sometimes reminds me of Clerks II when the one woman basically said, it is so weird , but I can't look away. That of course is not a direct quote from the movie, but you can see basically what it means. This story is so far into the realm of weird that you go 'what the?' but you can't pull away from reading it. The character of Felix alone will want you to come back and read more. This is one story that should not be forgotten in the mists of book shelves, but one that does stand on its own, even in the world of Bizarro fiction.

Flip this Zombie by Jesse Petersen Review

2011-01-16T17:30:00.000-05:00

by: Jesse Petersen
Orbit Press
ISBN: 978-0316102957
Review posted 01/16/2011

The married, arguing, sarcastic , zombie fighting team of Sara and David are back in Flip this Zombie by Jesse Petersen. This time they have dealt with the zombie infection for awhile and have opened their own business of killing zombies. Through word of mouth, people who are looking for their kind of work leave posts at the survivor camps and David and Sara look for them. In exchange for their services, they get needed supplies. One day Sara reads a post that just asks them to meet at a location. They do that and discover it is a scientist working on what he claims is a cure.

They are tempted by simple things like warm showers and fresh clothes to catch zombies for this scientist to test on. But is this scientist what they are hoping for or a deranged man who wants to keep the infection going and what is this new bionic zombies they have heard of?

Ms. Petersen once again brings back the favorite couple from Married with zombies, Sara and David. Through the charming aspect of their marriage, their battles of the past disappear, somewhat. They are funny, yet strong and laughter, along with interesting new concepts brings Flip this Zombie in its own place. The mad scientist is a nice touch with giving the couple something to possible look forward to instead of just chopping off another zombie head.

Flip this Zombie you will flip over with the sarcasm, the new ideas and just the plain charm that Ms. Petersen's pen can give a reader.

The Sherlockian by Graham Moore Review

2011-01-14T01:57:00.021-05:00

by: Graham Moore
Twelve Press
ISBN: 978-044657259
Review posted 01/14/2011

The Sherlockian tells the tale of Harold White a Sherlock Holmes obsessed fan who finally gets into one of the most elite Sherlock Holmes groups. A member of this group has the last part of Arthur Conan Doyle's diary, the author of Sherlock Holmes. He ends up being murdered and Harold starts to investigate the same way Sherlock Holmes would do and he takes along a reporter who ends up playing his 'Watson.' Funded by a relative who wants nothing more than the diary itself, they start a wild adventure.

During the time that Harold is going on in his present dealings of 2010, you get glimpses into Arthur Conan Doyle as he struggles with his fame based on Sherlock Holmes and ends up solving a murder himself taking the tactics from his stories to help find the killer.

What was most enjoyable about The Sherlockian, is that even though the chapters skipped back and forth between Harold and Doyle, you were never lost. It was interesting to see what a diary would cause in a group that was so wrapped up in an author's character and to be able to see Doyle and his mission to destroy his beloved character and ending up using him to solve a murder.

With delightful characters and a setting that makes you feel you are in a Sherlock Holmes tale, you will want to cherish this story, get involved in the mystery and want to investigate along with the characters.

Sonar4 Landing Dock Reviews has been nominated in the P&E Poll

2011-01-11T07:58:00.000-05:00

Please vote for us in the best review site here:
http://critters.org/predpoll/reviewsite.shtml

Married with Zombies by Jesse Petersen Review

2011-01-10T19:36:00.000-05:00

by: Jesse Petersen
Orbit Press
ISBN: 978-0316102865
Review posted 01/10/2011

Married with Zombies tells the story of Sara and David, a couple who want nothing more than to argue with each other. The married life not what it used to be they start seeing a marriage counselor. On one of their normal trips to one of their secessions, they notice that there is no one around, even the couple who goes before them that seems so perky all the time. They walk into the room to discover their therapist kneeling on the floor munching away on the perky couple.

Needless to say David and Sara are not happy about this, kill the therapist and begin their way home through arguments, zombies and no traffic. Their adventure in their marriage and the end of the world just beginning.

Jesse Petersen knows how to bring the humor into a horror situation. The characters of David and Sara remind us what a relationship could be, even when you are bashing and slashing zombies. The sarcasm between the two characters and how they interact with the other characters including the undead remind me of what I would do in that type of situation.

She is brilliant in putting characters into a setting that not only makes you feel it is real, but makes you want to be part of it even though the situation is loaded with zombies who want nothing more than to eat your brains out. Bravo to Ms. Petersen for making such a horrific funny story that after reading it leaves me with a strong chuckle and another look at my own relationship.

Bucket of Face by Eric Hendrixson Review

2011-01-06T01:08:00.000-05:00

by: Eric Hendrixson
Eraserhead Press
ISBN: 978-1936383313
Review posted 01/05/2011

Charles works at a doughnut shop, like his father, lives with his Kiwi girlfriend Sara of two years, smokes generic cigarettes and complains about almost anything.

As with any typical day in the shop, fruits and vegetables of gangster types come into to make deals and secret undertakings. On this particular day a banana and an apple are at a table. They fight, ending up shooting each other, fruit guts everywhere. Charlie quickly cleans up to find a briefcase full of what he later discovers worthless money and a bucket full of what looks like slime. His girlfriend figures differently and Charles gets caught up in a black market world that the fruits and vegetables control.

Bucket of Face is a page by page fun feast. You will be laughing so hard at times your stomach will hurt. The characters are so colorful and these are not just the fruits, that you will be wanting to read more.

If you have never read Bizarro fiction before, Bucket of Face is where you should start. Not only does this book bring justice to this wonderful type of fiction, it should be listed as one of the best out there. It is a pure delight and one in which no other can take its place.

Ashes in her Eyes by Alan Spencer Review

2011-01-04T09:39:00.000-05:00

by: Alan Spencer
Panic Press
ISBN: 978-446736944
Review by: Gina Desory
Review posted 01/04/2011

Ashes in Her Eyes tells the story of Stephanie who is working on moving urns for her job. Through a near miss by a couple of older people, she trips and falls with some of the ashes entering her eyes. She drives home soon after her boss cleans out her eyes. However, strange things occur afterwords and she doesn't remember doing any of these things. With her eyes bleeding and her memory lost, she doesn't know what is taking her by force and what occurs when it does.

Spencer takes the reader on an intense thrill ride. The one problem is that the story hits its plateau early on, making the rest of the story very predictable. However, this is not a reason to not carry on with the rest of the book. The characters are interesting and not one-sided. The author establishes a nice background for all the horrific events to occur. You are not left in the dust.

Ashes in her Eyes is not hard on your eyes and should be read with a nice cup of coffee. It is worth your time and worth taking it to the end. You never know what is hidden behind something.

Desiree by Ken Goldman Review

2011-01-02T10:17:00.000-05:00

by: Ken Goldman
Damnation Books
ISBN: 978-1615721245
Review posted 01/02/2011

It all started so simple. A child's game of Spin the Bottle. Her kiss sent Tommy through the sky. Just one kiss and Desiree had memorized the boy. Soon later Tommy killed himself in the name of Desiree.As years passed no one could resist the kiss, the allure of Desiree and soon after just like Tommy, they ended up dead. What power did she hold over them?

Desiree is not for the light of heart. The erotic sense of the story leaves the reader questioning why Desiree does what she does and at times the reader might believe there is a hidden evil motive behind Desiree.

What Goldman has accomplished is a psychological, erotic, horror fest that questions what is really love? He fascinates the reader with enticing characters and an overall twist at the end of the story. When reading this you will even be captivated with Desiree, but watch out, you may never want to leave.

The Weaponer by Eric S. Brown Review

2010-12-30T11:20:00.000-05:00

by: Eric S. Brown
CosCom Entertainment
ISBN: 978-1926712703
Review by: Gina Desory
Review posted 12/30/2010

The Weaponer by Eric S. Brown is a story of Alan who lost his mother to the undead and his father shortly years after. Alan who is 'The Weaponer' tracks down these undead in a time period where western style of old and new modern technology come together. Through the aide of others and another bunch of strange creatures that come into the mix, Alan deals with his past and present struggles along with just trying to keep his head in tack.

Let's go with an old time western classic with this review: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

First let's start out with 'The Good.' In reading this story the characters, especially Alan who was the main, you got a sense of the 'western style' with their chatting back and forth and just overall demeanor. It was fun to read how the characters reacted to some undead taking apart one of their loved ones.

'The Bad.' Unfortunately, there were a few things that caught me off gaurd and made the story at times a stumble to read. Though the combination of having a western type story and modern technology is a good idea in itself and not one often done, at times in this story, it was hard to pinpoint a visual on when it took place. The confusion at times made the story seem to jump around.

Also, there was a flashback scene in the story that was hard to tell if it was a memory or if it was going on presently in the story while reading it. It wasn't until after reading it it was told it was a memory. That made for a confusing adventure.

'The Ugly.' The ugly part of this book? Well the undead of course and the other attackers. Both were described so well that I thought for a moment one was coming through the book at me. One thing about Eric S. Brown you can depend on is describing the monsters good in his book and this was no disappointment.

Overall even if you don't like a 'western' feel to your stories, you will most likely at least want to give this a go. Yes, if you are not aware there is a combination of different time period's technology, you may get confused, but stick with it. It's a good read and one worth trying out.

The Man of Shadows by Angel Zapata Review

2010-12-26T13:54:00.000-05:00

by: Angel Zapata
Panic Press
ISBN: 978-446724705
Review by: Gina Desory
Review posted 12/26/2010

The Man of Shadows by Angel Zapata is a collection of 25 of her short Horror stories ranging from a tattoo that comes alive, a man afraid of trolls and a man who gets his what's coming to him from kidnapping children.

The stories by Zapata are not only disturbing, but makes you afraid to go to sleep at night. Each story has a range of description that leads you to ask yourself, 'is this really fiction?'

This is a wonderful collection of Horror shorts that one needs to keep along side such works as Stephen King on their shelves to come back to when those days seem boring and they need a little scare to shake themselves up.

Every Shallow Cut by Tom Piccirilli Review

2010-12-22T20:53:00.000-05:00

by: Tom Piccirilli
ChiZine Publishing
ISBN: 978-1926851105
Review posted 12/22/2010

Every Shallow Cut describes a man in desperation. He has lost his house, lost his wife, never had children, though he regrets the child that was aborted and lost his way with his brother, who he finds a bit obnoxious. He's a writer with really no royalties and an agent who could care less. His only friend, a dog that goes with him everywhere and the local pawn owner who normally makes a good amount of money off things the man sells.

When reading this book there is a clear sense of loss and depression. You find yourself caught up in this man's world of just pure hopelessness. He doesn't care anymore what happens, at times he does try. Piccirilli really gives a sense of wanting to either kick this character in the rear to get him to do something or lend him a hand to move forward. You battle the heartaches, the turmoils, situations this character does or has with him. And at times you find yourself extremely depressed as well. The only problem I had was there didn't seem a solution to this man's many woes. Then again when so many problems occur at once is there really a solution?

Every Shallow Cut is not a light book to read. It really makes you think about what life would be if all was lost. It is not fluff or an upbeat book, but a story that needs to be told and certainly needs to be read.

As the Worm Turns by Brian Rosenberger

2010-12-20T18:13:00.000-05:00

by: Brian Rosenberger
Blue Room Publishing
ISBN: 978-0984300631
Review by: Dana Bell
Review posted 12/20/2010

The first story from whence comes the title of the book is an accurate description of teen age life in high school, how friendships are made and the unusual professions of the friend’s father, the bully, the girl and finally, here’s how it all turned out.

‘Something Funny is going on’. Journal entries of a serial killer and how his mind works. Rather frightening and makes one hope that the BAU from ‘Criminal Minds’ is on the case.

‘Water’s Edge’ Never get too curious about a floating log.

‘GodTV’. A delightful tale about a not very nice man, Hollywood dreams and two demons who came knocking at his door. Echoes of ‘The Mummy’.

‘Rot and Roll’. You die and come back and maybe, your life will be better.

‘Dragon Skin’. Fun little fantasy piece tossed in amongst the horror stories, with a nasty twist at the end.

‘The Guests’. Halloween from another perspective.

‘Monster Burger’. Life in a small town. So true, so true!

‘Picnic in the Woods’. Where it starts is not where it ends. Where is does end – the reader isn’t expecting.

‘The Fisherman’. A familiar story, meaning, the reviewer has read it someplace else. The desire of catching the biggest fish, the secrets of bait and what championship fishers will do to win.

“The Angel and the ass’. Very ‘Miami Vice’ dealing with drug lords, undercover cops, and how no one actually wins.

‘Starting Over’. Another story read elsewhere. Unrequited love and what can come of it.

‘The Psychic’. . Twist is a bit too subtle and leaves the reader wondering ‘who’ the killer actually was. Read before too.

‘The Samaritian’. A dog, a man and a car. Not a good combination. Reviewer has read before.

‘Selling Sea Shells’. Rather frightening story based in a mythology not really familiar leaving the reader with an unsatisfied feeling.

‘The Better Mousetrap.’ Dr. Frankensmith I presume? (Read elsewhere as well.)

‘My Goth Prom Date’. Vampire on a date with a Goth. What could be more perfect?

‘Devil’s Advocate’. What you wish advice columnists would really say!

‘Shop Till you Drop’. Zombies. Who doesn’t like them? (Reviewer has read before.)

‘Hollyweird and Vine’. Hooker’s unhappy life, who she knew from the golden days and her wish.

‘The Audition’. Unfortunately, a very confusing story that didn’t seem to sew the idea together very well.

‘Bunnies’. Something awful happened to the world. The bunnies must be protected.

This collection of stories is told from the seamy side of life. The language is frank and often vulgar, but presented honestly. Sexual fantasy is played throughout from a male perspective and again, accurate and realistic. Recommended only for those not easily offended because the ideas in the tales are interesting, whether a new twist or a not so new one. Not suggested for those who don’t like the F*** word.

A Pint of Bloody Fiction:200 words to quench your bloody thirst anthology review

2010-12-19T07:37:00.000-05:00

Edited by: Nandy Ekle and S.E. Cox
House of Horror
ISBN: 978-1446119468
Review posted 12/19/2010

A Pint of Bloody Fiction:200 words to quench your bloody thirst anthology has 42 flash fiction stories of horror, delight and just pure enjoyment. There are so many talented authors in this collection that one may be thrown off by the great book put together. But you can't miss reading this.

In this book we have Charlotte Emma Gledson with her story 'The Toy.' 'The Toy' describes how a sexual encounter can turn a bit more deadly. Ms. Gledson has always shown readers that she can dive into her stories and pull out the most strange, the most horrific feelings you can imagine and this story is no different.

Other stories such as 'Rorschach's Vampires' by Jason M. Tucker, shows a different side to vampires that thrills the reader even if they are not into vampire stories.

What this collection has is a pure horror feeling. Each page turned is another story where you may cringe, you may shiver and you probably will enjoy. The fact that the stories are 200 words a piece will not make you groan because it is too long, but give you a slight taste into the world of stories past, present and future.

Into the Dark by Patrick D' Orazio Review

2010-12-18T20:15:00.000-05:00

by: Patrick D' Orazio
Library of the Living Dead
ISBN: 978-1456317102
Review posted 12/18/2010

Into the Dark is the second book of the Dark Trilogy by Patrick D' Orazio. The story starts with Jeff who we know from last time and his new found survivors from the walkers IE infected, George, Megan and a few others stopped in a van that barely works by other survivors. Their leader is someone by the name of Michael. After the confrontation is over, Michael leads Jeff's group back to where his community is staying. However, comfort is not the thing that occurs once Jeff and his band enters Micheal's little area. What comes about is a struggle of will, a struggle to live and a struggle to just go on.

When people hear the work sequel or trilogy, they think it won't be as good as the first movie or book they read. However, Into the Dark is better than the first book in the series Comes the Dark. We are learning more about Jeff the main character and what his limits are. We see more conflict with human nature and what it means to everyone to just survive.

D'Orazio grabs the reader and pulls them into this story with a large violent hook and your stuck, but what does happen is you don't mind being stuck, actually you love it.

If you love The Walking Dead you will love this book and please be aware you won't be able to live without it.

Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King Review

2010-12-06T09:49:00.001-05:00

by: Stephen King
Scribners Publishers
ISBN: 978-1439192566
Review by Jim Cherry
Review posted 12/6/2010

Stephen King is perhaps the greatest living writer of any genre working today. His “Hearts in Atlantis” was the best the book of short stories I'd read since Joyce's “Dubliners” and now “ Full Dark, No Stars” puts him in serious contention for being the being the Poe of our time.

“Full Dark, No Stars” is four stories with various levels of horror attached but each story is so very plausible the horror elements don't seem contrived or impossible. The first story “1922” is a very visceral story of murder and it's after effects. You can feel every ounce of creepiness the characters are experiencing. Some of the action may make you want to shrink away from the story but King's writing makes a reader a literary addict needing the next word, sentence, paragraph, hungry to see what happens next.

King wastes no elements in these stories, he explores every dark avenue of the story to it's fullest. “Big Driver” demonstrates this very ably. It's about a writer returning home from a book signing and is raped and left for dead after getting a flat tire. At first I thought King was going to get bogged down in every little detail of the aftermath, but it never happens, and King stays away from every cliche of the genre (whichever genre he may be writing in) but the action leads so naturally from one action to the next you think you're witnessing it unfold in real time.

King also reveals his mastery of the story not only does he show you what he wants you to see, but like any good magician he reveals things only when he's ready to reveal them, and when he does in “Fair Exchange” you realize the clue was in front of you all the time and King just moves the curtain aside ever so slightly to reveal what you only intuited was there.

Each story is loosely connected in theme that there's an unknown self in all of us that can push us over the edge into the unknown. King doubles up on this theme in his last story “A Good Marriage.” We see this from the point of view of a woman who discovers the darkest of secrets about her husband, and her reaction to it. It's a story that's going to make wives think twice about looking around their husband's workbench for spare batteries when the TV remote goes out.

I don't want to resort to the reviewers cliche of saying the author really keeps turning the pages, but in King's case it's an addictively true statement. Each story in “Full Dark, No Stars” is like enjoying a full and satisfying meal and you may want a little time to digest what you've read but you'll find yourself pulled back to find out what happens next.

Jim Cherry is the author of The Last Stage, www.jymsbooks.com