Book Reviews

VISIONS OF THE MULTIVERSE Multiverses, quantum physics, worm holes, time-space…these are no light matter (pun intended). In fact you may have some familiarity with these thru recent films and tv shows that spout out bits and pieces to engage viewers. Well look no further than Steven Manly’s new book by the title of “Visions of the MultIverse.” I love the …

DREAMS THE RAGMAN (Delirium Books) by Greg F. Gifune As a young boy Derrick listened to his grandfather’s spooky tales of “The Ragman,” an old junk dealer and boogieman of sorts to the children in the neighborhood who he claimed had followed him throughout his entire life and stalked him from the depths of his own worst nightmares. But as …

FIFTEEN MINUTES by William Ollie (Dark Regions Press) It is a ring, forged deep within the jungles of Ecuador, centuries ago. Sixteen-year-old Simon had no idea what he was getting into when his mother packed him off to spend the summer at Granny’s house. A cat’s eye ring with mystical powers. The first thing he noticed was the hip clothing, …

DARK THINGS II Dark Things II edited by Ty Schwamberger is yet another well put together anthology from Pill Hill Press. After reading the first of the Dark Things books I was very excited to get a chance to read another. Once again we have a very different assortment of stories from demons and angels to ghosts and zombies, this …

ASYLUM LAKE I could be wrong (it’s usually the case), but I believe this is the author’s debut novel. It certainly bodes well for the future. Asylum Lake is a good old-fashioned horror novel – accessible, creepy and eminently readable. It tells of a writer, Brady Tanner, returning to his home-town of Bedlam Falls. (Bedlam, in case you don’t know, …

JACKS MAGIC BEANS I eagerly await every new Brian Keene release. Without a doubt, I am a huge fan as should you be. This man is amazing and to date I have yet to read anything that has not totally blown me away and I’m glad to say that the streak continues with Jack’s Magic Beans. Jack’s Magic Beans is …

Dan Rhodes writes like Roald Dahl on some bad acid. I say that as a compliment. The story begins by introducing us to a sinister old man who survives on a diet of chocolate cake and spiders. He’s the curator at a German museum dedicated to suicide. The museum is supposed to be a deterrent. However such is the bleakness …

WILLY (Uninvited Books) by Robert Dunbar In a school for boys with emotional problems, a disturbed adolescent struggles against a mire of superstition and oppression. Then he meets Willy … and the other boy – charismatic and strange – saves him. Or damns him. Robert Dunbar’s new book “Willy” is one of the most powerful and compelling books I have …

THE HORROR OF THE SHADE On a warm summer night, death comes for Gayle Jern. It comes unheralded and like all of us, she is unprepared. Her mind is on her family’s recent move to a new home and she is happily filled with the promise of a new beginning. However, promises were made to be broken. In one terrifying …

HORROR-LIBRARY VOLUME 3 Seated in the dark confines of my bedroom which serves as my office space, I’ve just finished reading Horror-Library Volume 3. The third installment of the Horror-Library series edited by R.J. Cavender. This time around, the thirty twisted and disturbing tales written by the minds of people who are just as ordinary as we are…or are they? …

Frankenstein – A Pop Up Book  With its riveting blend of horror and science fiction, Frankenstein has gripped the public’s imagination since its publication in 1818. Now Sam Ita, the genius of paper engineering and art, transforms Mary Shelley’s tragic masterpiece into an unforgettable, stunning, and accessible pop-up book. For the third time, Ita—who created the magnificent Moby Dick and …

REAL ALIENS, SPACE BEINGS, AND CREATURES FROM OTHER WORLDS(PAPERBACK) Written by Brad and Sherry Steiger Published by Visible Ink Press Publication Date: 2011 Format: Black /White – 350 pages Price: $19.95 You’ve read the stories, seen the tv shows and heard the rumors, though it never seems to be enough. Are aliens invading, have they already or is our historical …

DAY TERRORS “I yanked her head back by her hair and sank my teeth in her neck, crunching through her esophagus, and again, and again, chewing, swallowing, her blood washing hot over my face, my neck, feeling her spasm and die, sacrificed to the new race she had created. I dropped her corpse, a gravestone over what humanity had been. …

Let’s try an experiment. “So I was reading Zoot Campbell’s Zombie Bitches from Hell the other day.” What kind of reaction do those words evoke in you? Are you offended by the book’s title or by any of the words contained therein? If so, you should, without question, pass on this one, ‘cause it doesn’t exactly increase in political correctness …

HOUSE OF FALLEN TREES Gina Ranalli Grindhouse Press Trade Paperback, 264 pages ISBN: 978-0-9826281-1-9 I must admit, when I read this Grindhouse Press novel several months ago, I was expecting something very different. I’d seen Ranalli’s work before in The Bizarro Starter Kit, and she’s known as a very inventive and off-the-wall kind of alt-lit writer. For someone with a …