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

I keep apologizing for my reviews getting sparser and sparser, but this will be my last apology. I'm simply going to read and review books when I can. Things show no sign of slowing down for me, so I will simply get back to this just being a hobby and reading at my leisure. Turning it into this workman-like thing has certainly gotten to me and somewhat extracted the joy of reading. So let's get back to it. Patrick Lacey and the joy of reading. They rhyme for me. His books tend to be exactly what I am looking for, true love letters to horror fans, with as many creatures, gory deaths and crazy stuff as he can pack into the pages. He tends to be a bit tongue in cheek, and very scant in his prose, all the fat chopped away. Where Stars Won't Shine does that exactly, but I bit more seriously in tone than he usually goes for.  Hell, there's even some sociological commentary to be seen here. It's not heavy handed or anything, but it's a nice edition to Lacey's writi...

It's been quite a while since I've cracked into some "ancient horror history", outside of a few republished books, and I am glad to have returned to it. These classics, often referred to these days as "Paperbacks from Hell", are essentially why I started the blog in the first place. It was a bit of a struggle to pick the right one to get back into the swing of it. I started another book, one that was 600 pages, that was just too slow-moving, and frankly, daunting in its size and prose.  I put that one aside for another time, before settling into this, a slightly safer bet. I recently read and reviewed Joseph Citro's excellent book Shadow Child, his first work published, which made me feel this, Dark Twilight AKA Lake Monsters, was going to be a very safe bet for a good, well-written time. Well-written, it was, for sure. But much, much less fun than Shadow Child.  There's some cool things about Dark Twilight, but really it's just far too slow and ...

Wrapping up 2018 a month into 2019, with a few books that I never got to. But the time comes where I have to let some bygones be bygones and wrap the year up. There are still books I have been sent for review that I absolutely intend to review. The reality remains that the most important part of running this blog is that I maintain the joy that I find in reading this stuff , and not let workmanship get in the way of that. As such, this list is ONLY of books I have actually read, obviously. The biggest difference for this year is that I have included for consideration in the list some books that are 'reprints'. Only one made it in, but I felt the need to clarify. That being said: LET'S WRAP UP 2018 AND GET TO READING 2019s BOOKS! These are in no particular order, as I believe that each and every one of them is worth your reading. They Feed (Click here and buy) Click here for my review This one was an almost total surprise for me. I had read Jason Parent prev...

Alright. Here it is. The last book I'm reading of 2018. There's a few others I wanted to get to before the year was through, but that didn't work out...clearly, since it's almost February 2019. I really just want to get my "best of list" done and move on, frankly. I want to get back to reading stuff from 1988. And, as such, my best-of will be ready soon. Now, I'm not sure if I am just burnt out on "modern horror" but, The Faithful, unfortunately, will not be making that list for me. There's nothing fundamentally wrong with the book. In fact, I absolutely looked forward to The Faithful. So much so that I requested a review copy. I loved Matt Hayward's debut novel, What Do Monsters Fear and his collaboration with Patrick Lacey, which I recently reviewed, Practitioners. Sinister Grin Press is dependable for quality. The birds were in row for me to love it. It's well written, it's dialogue is reasonable, characters are well devel...

2018 has come and gone, but the books from it remain in my to be read pile. Just a few more to go, and I can get into reading all the great things 2019 will offer...as well as the whole reason I started this blog: unsung classics from the "heyday". But there's plenty of good stuff being churned out by new authors, that shouldn't go ignored, thus my dedication to covering new material. If we are ever going to see a closeness to the horror fiction glory days, we've gotta take notice of the new, great stuff coming out presently. Michelle Garza and Melissa Lason, AKA The Sisters of Slaughter, have been strong contenders for being the queens of the forefront of today's horror market since they busted onto the scene with their Stoker-nominated walk through hell of a debut, Mayan Blue, a few years back. That novel was, on it's surface, a very traditional 'college kids get torn apart by demons' yarn that was elevated tenfold by the sisters incredible at...

2018 has been an overwhelmingly good and especially prolific year for Horror. So, let me start by saying I am going to hold off on my "best of" list until I've gotten through a few last books of the year, so keep an eye out for that in mid-January. That being said, there are many strong contenders for that list and here is yet another. Glenn Rolfe is an author who I have watched and followed from very early in his career, from his first novel, The Haunted Halls. I read him religiously, because he has never let me down. Rolfe's writing embodies the aura of classic horror fiction perfectly. Even better, his writing gets more focused and refined with each book. To see a guy start humbly with a single title, to now a fairly vast library and fanbase, even starting his own publishing line, Alien Agenda, this year, is a really cool thing to watch. And so, it goes without saying, if you haven't checked out Glenn and his work, you absolutely should. He's amongst th...