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

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

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

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

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.