Home » Posts tagged "horror book reviews" (Page 48)

Book Review: Classic Monsters Unleashed edited by James Aquilone

Classic Monsters Unleashed edited by James Aquilone

Black Spot Books, 2022

ISBN-13: 9781645481218

Available: Kindle, Audible, paperback, hardback ( Bookshop.org | Amazon.com )

 

Classic Monsters Unleashed includes one poem that opens the anthology, followed by twenty-nine stories featuring, well, classic monsters. Dracula, the Invisible Man, Frankenstein, the Mummy, and the Wolf-man are included in this homage to classic monsters. The list does not end there. Nosferatu, Captain Kronos, the Headless Horseman, the Blob and more, all find space in this anthology. I have narrowed my favourites down to my top ten, but that was difficult. Each story deserves its own time in the spotlight, really.



In Jonathan Mayberry’s “Hollenlegion,” Nazis search for the allegedly abandoned island of Dr. Moreau. Simon Bestwick’s “Mummy Calls” is one of the best, and most humorous, stories in the collection. Written as a submission letter to the anthology editor, Simon explains the story of the “Manchester Mummy” and how real she actually is. Lucy A. Snyder gives us a unique story of the Phantom of the Opera meeting Jack the Ripper in “The Viscount and the Phantom.” I do not want to give anything away, so I will just leave it at that. In “Modern Monsters” by Monique Snyman, a whistleblower contacts the crew of paranormal reality show Modern Monsters to document a science experiment gone wrong. There is some body horror in this one, but not so much that it gets too gruesome. “Hacking the Horseman’s Code” by Lisa Morton is a modern day take on The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Gil contracts a Headless Horseman AI for Halloween festivities, much to his wife’s chagrin. To mess with a political rival, he alters the AI’s programming, which backfires spectacularly. Maurice Broaddus gives us a unique vision with his “The Invisible Man: The Fire This Time.” Broaddus weaves his story through a societal racial critique that is well done and very powerful. Mercedes M. Yardley’s “The Picture of Doriana Gray” is an excellent gender-swapped take on The Picture of Dorian Gray. Crystal Sapphire, a popular social media influencer, makes a new friend who in turn influences her. In “Da Noise, Da Funk, Da Blob” by Linda D. Addison, we are presented with the Blob in a new light and Its purpose for landing on Earth. Leverett Butts and Dacre Stoker’s “Enter, the Dragon,” told through text chats, emails, YouTube transcriptions, and CCTV coverage in the shadow of COVID, tells the story of a man kidnapped by an underground group to resurrect Vlad Tepes. It’s Dracula with a dash of the X-Files. Rounding out the anthology is Joe R. Lansdale with “God of the Razor,” focusing on an antique dealer who unexpectedly meets with Jack the Ripper. 

 

Other authors who contributed great additions to this anthology include Gary A. Braunbeck, Ramsey Campbell, JG Faherty, Geneve Flynn, Owl Goingback, Michael Knost, Alessandro Manzetti, Rena Mason, Richard Christian Matheson, Seanan McGuire, John Palisano, Lindy Ryan, Carlie St. George, David Surface, Gaby Triana, Tim Waggoner, Paul Wilson, Kelsea Yu, Sean Eads, and Joshua Viola.

 

I would be remiss if I did not mention the incredible artwork. Artists include Zac Atkinson, Frank Frazetta, Jeremiah Lambert, Sam Shearan, and Colton Worley. 

 

Pick this up if you want an anthology that pays homage to both the traditional classic monsters, as well as ones that do not get much attention.  Highly recommended.

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

 

 

 

 

Posted on February 4, 2023 by , Reply

Book Review: Daphne by Josh Malerman

Daphne by Josh Malerman

Del Rey, 2022

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0593157015

Available:  Hardcover ( Bookshop.org )

 

Will Daphne continue the massive success for horror’s superstar author/musician/nice guy? 

 

Without spoilers, that would be a resounding “yes.”

 

Josh Malerman hasn’t written the same novel twice. That’s an amazing thing– he keeps on spinning his muse into fascinating circles, from the blockbuster Bird Box, to the utter weirdness of Unbury Carol, to the stunning Inspection. I won’t even attempt to describe Pearl. The bottom line is that he doesn’t seem capable of churning out a bad story.

 

Enter Daphne. At first, the story might seem to be your basic slasher novel. Yet in Malerman’s hands, nothing is rote, cliche, or a retread. There’s always something twisted that elicits something beautiful from what could easily be a miss in lesser hands.

 

Kit Lamb is in her senior year and a star on the basketball team. She’s fresh off the win in her latest game and contemplating her future. She has a quirk that adds something both unique and relatable to the teenage mindset. She shoots the free throw and asks the question she’s thinking.

 

She asks the rim about Daphne, a legendary killer that might be a figure from the supernatural or simply a regretful death caused by the previous generation, in a similar vein as Freddy Krueger. Of course, she makes the basket, and the story takes off from there.

 

Stories of the brutal killer begin to circulate and confuse the town. Who or what is Daphne? What does she want? Why does she only appear when thought about? As Kit struggles with her own destiny, one by one the basketball team begins to fall. Malerman allows us to contemplate the reasoning while ratcheting up the tension. The novel separates itself from the typical slasher by developing the characters of Kit and her friends.

 

Kit suffers from anxiety. Not the typical teen stress– true generalized anxiety disorder, which so many of us know well (raises hand high). It’s handled well here: Malerman obviously knows more than a little about the condition himself. 

 

Daphne is another must-read novel by Josh Malerman, written with the relatable prose of that King guy, but with a voice all Malerman’s own. Highly recommended.

 

Reviewed by David Simms

 

Posted on February 3, 2023 by , Reply

Book Review: The Raven by Dani Lamia with Gwendolyn Kress

 

Cover art for The Raven by Dani Lamia with Gwendolyn Kress

The Raven by Dani Lamia

Level 4 Press, Inc.

ISBN-13: 978-1933769707

Available: Preorder paperback, Kindle edition, MP3 ( Bookshop.org | Amazon.com )

 

I received a .pdf ARC of this from the publisher.

 

Rebekah is bullied horrendously at school, mostly cruel jokes originating with popular Coralie Renner and her friends. Things get much worse when Beka accidentally spills a drink on her skirt at a party and Coralie nicknames her “piss bitch.” Not only does she face name calling and humiliation but someone pees in her locker, destroying her textbooks, clothes, and sketchbook.

 

As a young child Beka had a dream friend, the Raven, who eventually stopped visiting but left her with a special edition of the works of Poe. She starts dreaming of him and carrying the book again. This time her dreams are vengeful. The students who have been tormenting her begin to appear one at a time as she watches, waking up the next day with real physical damage- a broken tooth or arm, hair pulled out in a clump. They claim the damage is from accidents but all remember bad dreams.

 

This wouldn’t normally be concrete enough for a police investigation, but after parents insist, a cop is sent to investigate, who happens to be Beka’s neighbor, Mike Wilson. Mike is a couple years older than Beka and has a crush on her. Despite her being a potential suspect and it being completely inappropriate, they start dating.

 

Meanwhile things with the Raven are escalating inside Beka’s magical Poe-inspired dreams. She asks the Raven, who has stepped things up and is now killing, to stop, and he refuses. She realizes he is not merely a dream creature, but a person who can invade dreams who has taken a personal interest in her.

 

I liked the premise a lot, but I felt like the story started to go off the rails with the police investigation and other plot threads once we got closer to the end.

 

Contains: bullying, brief description of rape, scenes of torture and murder.

 

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

Posted on January 8, 2023 by , Reply
First « 4647484950 » Last