Undivine Interventions: Reviews of Horror Novels, Past and Present.

Since Paperbacks From Hell hit shelves last year, actually shortly before, as the buzz around the subject covered in the book got going, readers interest in the countless Horror Novels of the 80s has been at a higher boil than it has been in some time. Around that time, several publishers started republishing the 'lost classics' and capitalizing on what could theoretically be a lucrative niche market in horror reading. Cue the new imprint, Capricorn Literary, who have just released their flagship books, of which, Soul-Eater is amongst the first in the inaugural run of books hoping to be rediscovered. I'm really quite excited for many of the books planned for release under the line, but honestly, a bit perplexed by the choice of Soul Eater to spearhead the lineup. My befuddlement is not in that Soul Eater is particularly badly-written or poor. Rather, it's simply unremarkable when held up against its literary counterparts. It's a haunted house novel through and ...

Busy, busy times continue to plague me, and I continue to have fantastic support from other members of the horror reading community in upholding the blog. This particular review is exciting for me in that, it's the first in a new line of horror novels from yesteryear being revamped and republished, by a new press called Capricorn Literary, in their 'Resurrected Horror Imprint'. There are some very cool books in their upcoming canon, so I would suggest you keep an eye on their output, which you can do  here. Coincidentally, I am also currently reading one of their books, Dana Brookins' Soul Eater , which I am about halfway through. I anticipate having that review by this weekend or so. Anyway, a buddy of mine, Jeff Maiello, agreed to help me out with some reviewing, in these busy times, to keep the content coming and this was the first of the books I sent his way. About Jeff-  Jeff Maiello has been reading horror since the early 90s. He enjoys both the pulp class...

Ahh , the first book I've read after moving into a new home. It makes it special by design, doesn't it? Read mostly on new comfy furniture, in between the moving of big heavies and yardwork and unpacking and all the things that my 32 year old body and mind was woefully unprepared for in buying my first, admittedly beautiful home...it has been a special one indeed. It helps largely that The Goat Parade is a fantastic book. What a great choice to get started reading in the house I'll do much of my reading in for the anticipated next third of my life. It's a book of many firsts. I've not read anything by author Peter Dudar or publisher Grinning Skull. They've both been on my radar for a bit, but so hasn't Book X by Writer Y published in 1987...but I didn't get to that one yet either. So what made me pick up this VS. any of the hundreds of unreads? Frankly, a killer endorsement by a great author and friend, Glenn Rolfe. The cover art was alluring enough...

Per my last post, I recently moved and as a by-product, most of my collection, new and old are boxed up and awaiting a new bookshelf-home. As much as it bums me out, we have to get the necessities unpacked first, as well as little things, like painting, before the big old book collection comes out. Sure, reading rules, but being able to eat and shower rule just a little bit more. Kinda. I've attempted to start reading again, but really, there's still so much to do that my next review might be a little ways off. As such, I reached out to my friends in the Books of Horror group on Facebook to help me keep the content coming on the blog. Sure enough, I had an overwhelming response for guest reviews. I chose this one first, because it's a peculiar book, a Canadian-only release (I believe?), that spawned a lovable-but-atrocious 1981 clusterfuck of a movie, The Pit. Also, because Chris Mayek, the gentleman and fellow-horror reader, is a trusted source for me. He's been ...