Horror – The Warbler Books

The Ballad of Black Tom – Victor LaValle

May 22, 2017 1 Comment

Note: Herein begins a series of reviews of books nominated for this years Hugo Awards. For those who don’t know, I will be attending the Hugos this year in Helsinki, Finland, and have more than a little catching up to do in regards to the nominees. I’ve already reviewed a few nominated stories, which will be back-tagged with the Hugo tag, should you be interested in seeing the group together. When my dad first saw Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds, he expressed an emotion that, at first, struck me as odd, but as I thought about it, made a great deal of sense. He found the film deeply cathartic. To watch a group of empowered Jews brutalize Nazis, he said, felt good. Really good. I thought about that for a long while. The second world war carved a deep wound on the entire world, and the holocaust left horrid scar tissue

Simone – André Brun

October 24, 2016 No Comments

André Brun must be some kind of masochist. The author of Lies and Deception (to be published by Inkshares some time next year), knowing the difficulty of crowdfunding a book, has gone back for more on multiple occasions. For the currently-running horror contest, he’s entered a book of connected short stories, Arcadia, the first of which he sent me for review. Simone is very short, and in a pretty rough state, but what it lacks in polish doesn’t detract from the content of the tale. Secret cults, monsters, and true fear creep into the periphery, seeding curiosity in the reader about what’s to come in the stories that follow. Though it might frustrate some readers, there’s a moment in Simone that I found greatly appealing. The character—presumably Simone—states that, while she was traveling, she came upon a pillar in a jungle cave. There’s something delightful about not knowing the details

Draftshares: Mystery, Thriller, and Horror

June 2, 2016 No Comments

Today’s a two-fer, friend! We’re continuing our Draftshares coverage with Mystery, Thriller, and Horror drafts that are worth a gander. Take a look! A Cup for the Dead: (Mystery) The Great War is over and young widow Hattie Moncrieffe hopes Paris will help her forget. But when an Egyptian curse strikes, can Hattie outwit a cunning murderer while persuading the police she’s not guilty? The Darkest Places: (Horror) The discovery of an ancient artifact buried deep beneath the sands of Cairo brings three individuals together in a race against time to stop an eldritch evil from awakening. Detective Diaries: (Mystery) Amani Marshall is searching for her father’s killer in a crime-filled city known as Rochester as a rookie detective; however, she ends up training under a veteran detective called Carbine that is following a murder mystery around Twilight District. Off the Grid: (Thriller) A case of mistaken identity forces an office drone to go

Featured Author: Peter Ryan

April 15, 2016 1 Comment

Periodically, a book will come around that deserves some additional attention. While this one is not in the Geek & Sundry competition, it’s got eleven days remaining in its campaign. Time being of the essence, I felt it prudent to weave it in with this batch of featured author posts. Take a look at Peter Ryan‘s Sync City. About Sync City: Armed, surly and vulgar. Jack Trevayne is humanity’s best hope for the future. Just don’t tell him. Sync City is the first part of the Sync City cycle, a story set on Earth in a dystopian past, present and future. Jack Trevayne is a Keeper, a blunt, no-nonsense enforcer for a group of pacifist post-humans known as the Deacons. Jack’s responsibilities, with the help of his sentient motorbike and sometimes partner Vic, are to keep the timelines clean and protect humanity by killing the War Clans and the Scythers. He also doesn’t mind

Lurk – Adam Vine

February 13, 2016 1 Comment

After reading The Monstrous, a collection of horror shorts edited by Ellen Datlow, I fancied myself reborn; a fan of a new genre. So when Adam Vine emailed me asking if I’d review his debut horror novel, Lurk, I was quick to accept. Here’s the thing I learned from my second foray into the genre: I’m something of a scaredy-cat. And I shall henceforth wear that mantle with pride. Another thing I learned is that I really enjoy reading horror. It is a peculiar thing, to discover that a genre which has no appeal for me in visual media resonates so strongly in literary form. I should like to study this more closely, but I imagine that it’s not all that complicated. The feeling a page-turning novel like Lurk elicits in me is likely the same feeling most fans of horror get from watching a scary movie or TV show.

The Monstrous – Ellen Datlow

August 25, 2015 No Comments

I have to admit to some trepidation when I first received this collection of short stories in the mail from Tachyon. Granted, I asked for this book, but I was still wary of the genre. You see, I had read almost no horror fiction prior to this collection. I respond very viscerally to frightening visual media, regardless of if it’s gory, psychologically thrilling, or suspenseful. I assumed that reading horror would prove an analogous experience. I am so glad I read this anthology. Ellen Datlow has an remarkable CV. A sci-fi, fantasy, and short fiction editor of 30+ years, she is considered one of the best (if not the best) horror editors in the business. Among other awards, she’s won Hugos, Stokers, Locuses, Horror Guild awards, and a lifetime achievement award from the Horror Writers association. She’s pretty serious about horror fiction. The Monstrous was an excellent introduction to Horror,

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