Scarecrow & The Madness by Robert Essig and Craig Saunders Review

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.