Mafia | Musings of the Monster Librarian

Book Review: GabaGhoul: A Mafia Horror Anthology edited by Mark C. Scioneaux and M. Wesley Corie II

GabaGhoul: A Mafia Horror Anthology, edited by Mark C. Scioneaux and M. Wesley Corie II

October Nights Press, 2025

ISBN: 9798315277019

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

GabaGhoul is an enjoyable Mafia-themed horror anthology of short stories, and includes contributions from authors such as Brian Keene, Jeff Strand, Joseph Sale, Jessica McHugh, and JG Faherty, among others. It’s a good collection, but it is best read only a couple stories at a time, as the limited scope of the anthology does get a bit confining at times.

All the stories are written well, and the best part is these are not just “shoot em’ up-bang em’ up” stories of mobsters and repetitive gunfights, although there is plenty of shooting. Instead, most of the gunfire is reserved for the creature-feature style monsters that slash and stomp through the pages. Animated corpses put in an appearance, as well as vampires, and best of all, a DRAGON!

There is more to the book then just various Vinnies, Tonys, and Angelos getting shredded, though For example, the story “Daddy’s Girl” involves a monster, but its theme centers around a fun question: how do Mafia bosses react when their only daughter starts dating? “The Corpse Box” is a doozy that revolves around a foolproof way of dead body disposal, and “Now That’s a Spicy Meatball!” does a nice job putting a culinary twist on the standard revenge tale. There are other odd tales spaced throughout the book, a nice counterpart to the mob vs. monsters ones. For comic relief, and possibly the most fun, “Donnie’s First Whack” is a side-splitting laugher where everything that can go wrong during a standard murder, does go wrong. Overall, the book provides an entertaining grab-bag of organized crime chaos.

That being said, the book could have been improved by broadening out the nature of the crime families in it. All of them focus on the Italian style mob, whether this was by design of the editors or coincidental. While they make good characters, they start to seem like carbon copies after a while. How about some Russian crime groups? (they only put in an appearance as secondary characters in one story) Or some of the Mexican ones? A bit more variety to their activities might have been a good addition also. Most of the mobsters in this seem like they came out of either the movies The Godfather or Goodfellas, and they are usually doing the same thing: racketeering, truck hijackings, etc. A lot of what today’s mob does involves stunts like phone scams, cybercrime, and online gambling: a few stories that put a more modern twist on the traditional gangster stereotype would have been welcome.

GabaGhoul is a good anthology, but just a few minor tweaks could have pushed this book up to the next level. Recommended.

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson.

Book Review: Lie or Die by A. J. Clack

Lie or Die by A.J. Clack

Firefly Press, 2024

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1915444417

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition (pre-order)

Buy: Amazon.com

Kass broke the friend code by kissing her BFF Thea’s ex. To prove she’s trustworthy, Thea insists they audition together for a new, livestreaming reality show based on their favorite game, Mafia, called Lie or Die.

Lie or Die’s version of Mafia lasts for four nights and consists of ten players. Among them are two Agents, who work together to kill of the other players, a Detective, who has the opportunity to learn the status of a player of their choosing, and a Judge, who moderates play. There’s a Kill Window each night, when the Agents can kill a player, and an Accusation Window, in which the players can accuse up to two players of being agents. Only one player can be eliminated per round. The accused must defend themselves in the Courtroom and hope they can get enough votes to stay alive, or face “execution” by electric chair Survival in Mafia is based on players’ ability to identify deception and lie effectively, and Kass is very good at both of those. If she teamed up with Thea, they would have a good chance of winning. Kass lacks the necessary charisma in her audition, but goes with their friend Lewis to take Thea to the studio. Shortly before the show starts, one of the players has a serious allergy attack, though, and the director asks Kass to step in and Lewis to join the studio crew. Kass is intimidated by the other contestants, also young adults, who all seem flawless and confident to her, but agrees.

The set for Lie or Die is a closed set. Once the contestants are in, they aren’t coming out until they are eliminated. Their cell phones are confiscated and the judge, Cohin, is an AI, so while the contestants are constantly being recorded, they don’t have any direct contact with the outside world while the game is going on. The game also has a secret agenda to accomplish, and it’s there that things start to go very wrong. Is Kass being gaslighted, or has the game become murderously real? Clack had me turning in circles trying to figure out what the motivations were for the story’s events. I am going to be honest, I did not see the ending coming..

While the motive behind the show was not believable, and I couldn’t bring myself to care about Thea and Kass, who were terrible to each other, this is a whirlwind of a book, and I was impressed at how well Clack did at differentiating the characters, given the short time span so many of them had on the show.

As a side note, I have to give Taylor Swift props: she is everywhere now. Kass and Lewis have a game where they share messages using Taylor Swift lyrics, and when all else fails, they’re able to use it as a code to plan their escape.

Lie or Die is a dark, fast, and twisty read with a dash of humor and a little romance, that will keep readers on their toes. Start it on the weekend, as you won’t want to put it down until you’re done. Recommended.

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski