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

Capricorn Literary continues to republish some old school "Paperbacks from Hell" and as the end of year gets closer, I've enlisted some help of friend's to get through reviewing some of the books I've been sent for review. Chris Mayek says of DNTD: "It's nothing original - a family a four moves into a seemingly nice home with a haunting past - in this case, following Amityville exactly, with a gruesome murder happening there decades prior. It progressively ends up affecting each family member differently. You've read this before, likely several different examples of it. Disturb Not The Dream is unfortunately one of the more boring versions of the haunted house trope book. It's written well enough, similar to any other early 80s horror author, but it is bogged down by over explanations of non-horror scenarios in it's too-long length. There was a funny scene in the beginning - The older sister teasing her slightly younger, nerdy brother se...

Practitioners. I'd been extremely excited to read this one since it had been announced. Patrick Lacey and Matt Hayward are two of my favorite authors putting out books today, both of which put out novels last year that made my "best of 2017" list. Those novels, We Came Back and What Do Monsters Fear, are both highly recommended and if you haven't read those, you're missing out. Stop missing out and go buy a copy of each. Ten of each, give em out as Christmas gifts. Anyway, I learned that this would be coming out by Bloodshot Books, who for my money, are putting out some of the best horror fiction on the market today. Not only does Pete Kahle, the man behind Bloodshot (and author in his own rite), have a great eye for exciting new talent, but he makes sure each book the press outs out looks fantastic. Books you can judge by their cover, for sure. By all accounts of those involved in this one, looked like it was going to be a winning recipe of great horror readin...

I'm a bit late to the party, but Kill Creek was one of the most buzzed about new Horror novels of 2017, published by one of the most buzzed about new publishers with a specialty in Horror, InkShares. InkShares is a relatively new force in the publishing world, that has me fairly excited with last year's A God In The Shed and now this, both of which have been optioned for TV. One of the most exciting parts about InkShares for me, is their visibility, as they're actually making it to the shelves of brick and mortar bookstores, a feat not many genre titles, especially by new authors, are able to manage these days. For that alone, I'll give them my money, as a token of appreciation and in hopes it'll keep them there. But is this book any good? I'll be honest. A 400+ page book billed as a 'slow burn haunted house story' doesn't exactly get my reader senses jumping for joy. There's a billion of them and they generally aren't for me. It's ...

The Blood Lights, as far as I know, is the debut long-form work of author Elaine Pascle, who if I read correctly, isn't too far from me, in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Cool enough, and worth a read to support a fairly local writer. The storyline mainly takes place there, jumping back and forth between the horrific happenings of "present tense" (which in this book, for a reason I am unclear of, is 2021) and a tropical island, which seems to be unfolding at the same time? I'm not sure, but honestly, for a quick 150ish pages, this one sure had me lost. It's the constant flip-flopping between timelines, an overabundance of characters with similar occurrences happening to each, that lost me. It wasn't particularly bad, middling stuff when all is said and done, with a few great moments to put it just a bit above "bad". The Blood Lights tells it's convoluted, jagged story of women transformed by the titular menace into pus- filled flesh eaters with eno...

I'm excited. And The House by the Cemetery is my reason. It's not because the book is groundbreaking or great or remarkable. No, it's not. But it's a solid throwback to simple times, where one could traipse into a Borders or Waldenbooks and find a novel like this one by the dozen. The best part is that it just might be exactly that. Not at those retailers, but whatever brick-and-mortars remain. You see, The House by the Cemetery is my first taste of a new horror line to be widely distributed by Flame Tree Press, who seems to have made a name for themselves in other facets, before deciding to roll out their line of horror last month. This is amongst the flagship titles of that endeavor, and they are doing it right. They've enlisted Don D'auria, reknown editor of several horror lines, most prominent being Leisure and Samhain to handpick the titles, as well as some top of the line authors to spear-head the operation. These include Jonathan Janz, Ramsey Campbell...

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What a blessing it is to be me. To find a publisher like Bloodshot Books, who is committed to putting out the best horror fiction there is, to the masses. To read authors like Justin M. Woodward, who writes books that pull the heartstrings, turn the stomach and terrify the reader. There's a whole lot of people stuck reading whatever is stuck on Target endcaps, and to be immersed in such killer novels makes me feel lucky. It gives me a reason to continue to keep this blog going, and posting reviews on the standard sites, to somehow contribute to this wonderful art. To spread the gospel of the modern horror novel in 2018, not under the guise of "dark fantasy" or "paranormal thriller", but HORROR, is only worthwhile when there are books being produced that are, in fact, worthwhile. If there's a book that's worthwhile, it is absolutely Tamer Animals. Buy it, read it, own it and be blessed like me. Tamer Animals is the third novel by Woodward, but the ...