(Editor’s note: SHORT SHOTS is a column where I review horror short stories.) From the disturbing image in the first sentence to the unsettling realization in the final two lines, Lisa Quigley’s “Birth” takes the “sometimes dead is better” theme of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary to the next grim level. Released in 2018, “Birth” is …
Month: April 2022
FRESH BLOOD: Bridgett Nelson
(Editor’s note: FRESH BLOOD is a column where I interview promising new writers of horror fiction.) In her debut horror collection, A Bouquet of Viscera, Bridgett Nelson literally comes out swinging with an axe as a woman chops a man to death and spits on his corpse within the first two paragraphs of the lead …
KINDLE VELLA REVIEW | Island of the Dead
(Editor's Note: Kindle Vella publishes serial stories to read one short episode at a time.) The fantasy action/adventure novel Island of the Dead by Brian Keene is an old-fashioned story hearkening back to the days of Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian. In fact, the main character is a barbarian named Einar. The first three …
SHORT SHOTS | ‘Political Suicide’
(Editor’s note: SHORT SHOTS is a column where I review horror short stories.) Karma is a bitch, but it has nothing on Jennifer Perry, the main character in the remorseless revenge tale “Political Suicide” by Bridgett Nelson. “Political Suicide” is a standout short story in Volume 3 of the Better Off Dead Series titled If …
Horror Book Review: TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY SCREENING
Cover art by Lynne Hansen at LynneHansenArt.com In Twentieth Anniversary Screening, author Jeff Strand chronicles the tragic history of a terrible 1991 slasher movie titled The Roofer. Written like a retrospective article on a horror news website, the story recounts the bloody history of events surrounding the film. A 2021 Bram Stoker Award nominee for …
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One-Sentence Reviews: My 1st Quarter 2022 Reads
(Editor’s Note: Here’s another edition of one of my favorite features on the Web by prolific reader and horror author Priscilla Bettis.)
I had a delicious list of books to read this past quarter, everything from classic literature to extreme horror. Well, the extreme horror stories weren’t so “delicious.” I definitely needed a sweet romance palate cleanser after those!
Here are my one-sentence reviews for 1st quarter 2022:
The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood. Seriously, Atwood was ahead of her time as this book proves with its questioning of traditional family makeup, its point-of-view manipulation, and its hugely symbolic storyline. Library.
Flesh Rehearsal by Brian Bowyer. Bowyer’s extreme horror novel is written in his signature style that borders on stream-of-consciousness, and I admit that the book went over my head. KU.
Road Narrows by Brian Bowyer. I’m glad I gave Bowyer’s style of writing another shot because this brutal story with high-brow existentialist and theological themes had me in its grip and would not let go! KU.
Good Liniment by C.S. Boyack…
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The Official Website of Horror and Fantasy Writer Lionel Ray Green 