Ghoul by Brian Keene Review

By Brian Keene
Deadite Press
ISBN: 978-1936383733
Review by: Rob Walter
Review posted 2/16/2012

Ghoul begins with your typical two teenagers, one the popular teen boy and the preachers' daughter having sex in the church graveyard, but with a twist. But I digress, as this is just a setup for some of the horror to come.

This is a coming of age horror story with three 12 years old. Timmy Graco, the leader of this little "rat pack" with a "normal" family life. Then there is Barry Seltzer, the muscle of the group whose father is the caretaker of the graveyard and an abusive drunk. The last is Doug Keiser, the over-weight always being picked on member whose dad ran off with a waitress from the local bar and has a family secret you will have to read the book to find out. We start with the boys at the beginning of their summer break dealing with their arch enemies the evil Ronny, Jason and Steve. We see the lesson of being careful if you are fighting monsters not to become monsters as well when the boys work together to stop the marauding neighborhood dog, Catcher, who has bitten and nipped at them for years. Then, after a fight with Mr. Seltzer in the graveyard, they come across a car hidden in the woods with a grisly cargo. Will their world ever be the same?

I enjoyed reading this story as Mr. Keene has a talent for bringing the characters to life for the reader. While the story was somewhat predictable at times, it had enough twists that were unexpected to make it entertaining.

I recommend this to all avid horror readers who are looking for a story that will keep them thinking.

Placenta of Love by Spike Marlowe Review

By Spike Marlowe
Eraserhead Press
ISBN: 978-1621050033
Review by: Terry Morgan
Review posted 2/13/2012

I have gone to several amusement parks in my time. Perhaps, I'm dating myself here. However, I don't recall going to one that is as strange as the one depicted in Placenta of Love on Venus.

The story handles Captain Carl an automated pirate robot. He is in charge of the pirate ship display at the amusement park. There are also many other rides that are for fun, some beaten down and some even for sexual pleasure. Most are with automated robots to serve the needs of customers coming in.

Captain Carl though wants to be like his creator, basically create things. He has a partner every so often in a very sexually frustrated feline who is also automated named, Jiji. Strange as it may seem, the two of them can think and at times Captain Carl tries to satisfy the cat's so called needs.

The story doesn't stop there. The Captain is lonely and discovers that he wants to help the automated ship to become his companion. So while on one of his adventures through the park he comes across a secret area and steals one of the placentas. He puts what will be his companion in there. He names her Helen. Now what happens after this is one Hell of an adventure.

It is said that parks are fun and their rides are there for our enjoyment. This book is certainly different, but focuses in its strangeness the heart and feelings of one automated being, Captain Carl and how just to find someone to love he goes through everything possibly thought of and Marlowe has thought of a lot.

With this story you will take the ride of your life. Whether or not you will end up with a season pass or with a one- time shot is up to you. Enjoy it while you can.

Deadstock by Ian Rogers Review

By Ian Rogers
Stonebunny Press
ISBN: 978-0986854743
Review by: Dana Bell
Review posted 2/05/2012

Deadstock by Ian Rogers is a fun little read full of supernatural creatures. Dryden and Raisy arrive in a small western town to help out a rancher whose cattle are being gutted and left for him to find. They meet all the members of the family before setting out to discover who or what is killing the cows.


Eventually, they discover a cave inhabited by ghouls. Yes, that's right ghouls, the proper name for what has been morphed into Zombies. There is a battle in which the creatures survive, but at least our hero and heroine now know what they're up against.

They meet Bonnie, the oldest not quite right in the head daughter, mourning the loss of her sister who dies because a rattlesnake bit her. She is found naked and muttering at an old creek bed.

Although, short, the tale is delightful and set in the wild west, complete with a mysterious sheriff who seems to know something about the Dryden and Raisy, but who allows them to do what they were hired to do. And thus the question arises, who was the man really and was he the true sheriff of the town?


Truth be told, the reviewer was expecting a UFO tale of mutilated cattle in the old west and was delighted to discover the true culprits were ghouls. The ultimate twist of the story is an interesting turn and keeps the real perpetrator a secret until almost the very end.

Not to mention an unusual use of a wolf who is summoned to help the hero and heroine. Oh, and a mysterious cat who travels with Raisy and has its own roll heroic roll in events.

 
A highly recommended read for fans of ghouls, zombies and old west supernatural tales and not as graphic as one would expect. Kudos for the writer. 

Party Wolves in My Skull by Michael Allen Rose Review

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

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

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.