My Mother had never turned her back on anyone in the family for a minute. I swallowed down a surge of hatred for her parents. I wanted to meet these people. Along with that came a vague anger toward my father for falling in love with her and stealing her away.My Mother had never turned her back on anyone in …

“The last kind words ever spoken to Jesus were spoken by a thief.” Normally, I’d start off with some kind of hook, a generalized statement that ties into my feelings about the book being reviewed. Summary. A well reasoned list of pro’s and con’s. Professional and clean, if a bit self-conscious at times. That’s not what you’re getting today, because …

The existence of hero worship aimed at some of the monsters of horror films is something that is often looked at with dismay if not complete and total disgust by many people outside of the horror community. Hell, it’s looked at that way by many of the people WITHIN the horror community. Why would someone venerate a serial killer, a …

A common complaint in the genre is that Weird Fiction is no longer weird. That Speculative Fiction no longer speculates. Instead of the bright, dimensional boundary shattering work that started the genres, we’re getting stale, staid and bland rehashes that stick to the established formulas. Nearly every fantasy is a copy of either Tolkein or Howard. Far too much Sci-fi …

The Last Whisper in the Dark (his followup to The Last Kind Words), I thought it might be nice to take a look aback at one of my favorite books from the man. Then tear the flesh off its bones so I can watch its heart beat while all joy flutters away. I tend to do those this. Of course, …

“I hear all this bullshit about road rage, air rage, black rage, white rage, male rage, female rage, kid rage. Fuck, man, I got f*cking life rage. Just being alive makes me pissed off all the f*cking time.” Modern Society seems to leave many of us just plain pissed off most of the time. Maybe it has to do with …

We’ve all read the Stephen King hierarchy: going first for terror, then the scare, then, if all else fails, the gross out. It’s a too-oft spoken rule, so much so that it is taken for granted. Even in the horror community, where we certainly do love our greasy, grimy gopher guts, i’ s agreed that gore and the gross out …

“TO SEE MORE IS TO FIND OBLIVION. THIS IS WHAT MAKES YOU DIE.” Because it always feels so personal, it’s hard to separate Piccirilli’s work from the man himself. It certainly doesn’t help the situation when he names his first person narrator Tommy Pic. Of course, he knows that and I’m fairly certain that the bastard is intentionally messing with …

Robert Arthur is finally starting to settle in at Lovecraft Middle School. He’s managed to secure a solid friendship with the boy who once demanded a regular “dweeb tax”, found a new two headed rat for a pet and enjoys the company of the lovely, if slightly dead, school ghost. All while defeating the plans of an evil outer being …

Tales from Lovecraft Middle School: Professor Gargoyle by Charles Gilman Quirk Books “Hang on a second,” Glenn said, “I’m going to tell you a story.” He flipped to a passage in the middle of the book. “Deph-pha. Ctzelzog. Enorhula-tu.” He was stumbling over the words; they were impossible to pronounce. “Is this French or something? Who talks this way?” Arguably, …

“Where do all the things you believed go, when all the supporting structure is found to be a myth?  How do you know how or on what to take a moral stand, how d you behave when it turns out there are no cosmic rules, no categorical imperatives? Creating a viable, entertaining narrative that exists solely to expound on some …

Given that A Violent Emotion quickly became a staple and almost immediate classic of the aggrotech scene, AP has a high bar to step up to. Overall, I think All Beauty Destroyed is an okay followup, but is too focused on playing it safe vocally while buying into worn out tropes of the genre. The music is about what you’d expect: …

ORGY OF SOULS Written by Wrath James White and Maurice Broaddus Published by Apex Publications Publication Date: 2008 Format: Black & White – 138 pages Price: $13.95 ’Why won’t you answer me?’ ‘Not enough,’ a voice finally murmured and extinguished the candles. Samson collapsed into an exhausted heap of spent flesh. ‘I’ve failed.’ ‘Twenty for one. Their blood must be spilled …

“Once you been noticed by the gods- and believe me, Jessie, you’ve been noticed all right- you have to choose your alliances carefully. There are wars going on right now with stakes and consequences you can’t even imagine. Every human is born to die, but people are good at making new people; humanity will continue no matter how many souls …

I remember, back in the idealized olden days of yore long forgotten (hence the idealization) by aging brain cells, when you new exactly what you were getting when you picked up a western. Men being men while hunting down the other men who done took their wife or town hostage. Outlaws. Gun slinging sheriffs. Whore houses in trouble. It was …