4.5/5 Stars.

Dim Shores Press is releasing Scanlines in a signed, limited run of 150. I'm leading with this so that you can go pre-order a copy. Simply put, Todd Keisling doesn't pull any punches in this one. I finished this novella about ten minutes ago and I'm still willing the goosebumps on my arms to go away.

The story is mainly told from the perspective of Robby, and focuses around him and his friends Jordan and Danny. In an effort to combat boredom, the boys spend an evening trying to download a Jenna Jameson video on the interminably slow dial-up connection available in the mid-1990's. What they get instead is something altogether more gruesome. Something that haunts the boys and follows them, pervading every aspect of their life.

A content warning directly from Dim Shores description of the book - this story deals extensively with suicide. If that's not something you want to handle, this ones not for you. If you're okay with that, and you're looking for an affecting story that has every intention of sticking with you, this is it.

The moments of hope are just about nonexistent here and Keisling does his best to ensure the reader that you're not in for a fairytale ending. It's hard to go too deep without launching into spoiler territory, but the first 70 or so pages build dread masterfully. The last 20-30 pages retain the bleak aspects, even ramping the atmosphere up a bit, but doing it with a haunting level of beauty that left me stunned.

Keisling has put something special together here, and honestly I'm torn on how to treat it going forward. Part of me is hesitant to revisit what's been crafted, while another part of me wants to go back, now that I know how it all comes out, and see everything that comes before in a slightly different light. Don't sleep on this one.


I received an e-Book copy of this book from the publisher for review consideration. 


4.5/5 stars


I wish you and I could talk more about what makes this novella so much fun, and unique as well, but I'm not sure I'd have had the same experience if I'd gone in knowing more than the bare minimum. Even if you're not sold on the whole Rewind or Die experience, I suggest you give this book a (tilt-o-) whirl. So here's the bare minimum. A group of bored teenagers gets bored and breaks into an abandoned amusement park with a bloody history. That's it. That's what you get.

Jessica Guess clearly has a good time with this one and it shines through. The book is clearly an homage to slasher horror, but with some other darker themes that the reader might not be expecting. Like I've said with this series a few times, you get what you expect, you're satisfied, but they tend to add an extra layer to truly satiate the rabid horror fan and lover of story within.

It's also a nice addition that Cirque Berserk, the amusement park in question, is in essence a character in the story. It gives the reader opportunity to picture the locations where horrors develop more clearly. The story jumps between 1989 and 2019, and I always pay extra attention when an author does this because when it's not done well it can be so distracting. Guess does a fantastic job here telling both angles of the story without making it over complicated to keep track of where we are. There's a detail I'll let you discover that makes this extra admirable.

An easy recommend for fans of the slasher genre as well as clueless teens get themselves in trouble trope seekers.

Out of all the entries thus far, this one deviates the most from the theme of a B horror movie translated to prose. That's not meant to be a dig of any kind. Instead Violet Castro brings something completely new and unexpected to the table in Hairspray and Switchblades. In a month where we all strive to read and promote women in horror, this book comes through and makes that easy. It's got a strong and engaging protagonist, a unique premise, and will make for an enthralling read outside the month of February.

The villain of the piece, the Weaver, is already a front runner for most terrifying antagonist in a 2020 work. She's described in a way where even though she only exists in my imagination, I can tell you she's horrifying to look at. She's also evil incarnate and makes some truly appalling choices throughout the novella.

By far one of the biggest selling points of Hairspray and Switchblades is the focus on family dynamics. I wasn't completely sold on the romantic relationship here, but Maya, our main character, has a fierce love for her sister that makes the story sink under your skin that much more. This relationship causes every decision and action in the plot to make total sense to the reader, and results in a very cohesive story. If this is how V Castro puts a book together, then Maria The Wanted just moved a couple slots up my list.

I'm happy to recommend to anyone interested in shapeshifter/werewolf mythology.



In the land of the blind, the man with one eye is king. Or I guess in this case, in the land of the deaf, the man who can hear is king. Wait, no, still not right. In the land of the deaf, the man who can hear is forced into indentured servitude and crippled to make sure he doesn't get away. That's more like it.

There are some really excellent pieces of sensory deprivation horror out there, and A Quiet Apocalypse can be said to stand right beside them. I've put that label on it, but our main character is not hearing impaired, it's everyone else, and our story studies the degradation of society's following a virus that leaves most of the world's population deaf or dead.

There were a lot of elements present which reminded me of the great novel, The Road by Cormac McCarthy. The world goes to hell in a hand basket, bad stuff is going on all around us, but we're mainly focused on human relationships: the good, the bad, and the ugly. I'd like to take a moment also to commend Dave Jeffrey for the sensitivity and care he uses to write about hearing impaired (pre-apocalyptic) individuals. It comes across in spades that this is a personal subject to him.

This book is a change of pace if you think you know what to expect from picking up a book by Chad Lutzke. Typically you’re in for a tough read that gets you invested in the characters and then puts them through trials, tribulations, and emotional turmoil.

The Neon Owl: When the Shit Hits the Van keeps the top notch character development but applies it to a private investigator-type setting. Jinx is instantly likable when thrust into his brand new role of motel owner, and the maintenance man, Roddy, who helps him find his bearings is irreplaceable. The rapport that Lutzke quickly builds between these two is the foundation on which the story rests it’s success.

One of my favorite aspects of this story is that all the residents of the Neon Owl motel have a backstory, and their own unique interactions with Jinx. This just about makes the motel itself a player in the story and hopefully in future installments. One could also argue that Coltrane, Jinx’s vehicle of choice, also takes center-stage. It’s also possible that as a lifelong jazz fan, I just nerded out when my favorite composer was name-dropped.

The reader has a laugh out loud good time through some of the absurd situations that go down and it’s made even better by the seriousness with which they are treated. You really need to encounter Jinx and Roddy’s first case for yourself. The dialogue is written in a snappy Lansdale-esque fashion that keeps the pages turning and a smile on the reader’s face.

The instant I turned the last page I was left eagerly anticipating the next Los Angeles-based adventure that Jinx, Roddy, and Coltrane get themselves into.

What a ride this book took me on. We follow the titular character, through past and present, on a journey to find out what happened to her childhood boyfriend. He was abducted in front of her thirty years before, and never seen or heard from again. Laura, however, hangs on to a dim hope that she might find him, and at the very least be able to provide an answer to his family as to why this happened.

The hope is dangled in front of her by X, the kidnapper, who leaves her letters every year on her birthday. X offers to tell her where Bobby is, but for a price. Items that become increasingly more personal as the story goes on. Potentially the worst and scariest thing about X is that he's not a supernatural entity, or an unstoppable force. There are people in the world like this. The horror aspect in the story derives from the fact that, oh man, everything in here could happen, and it could happen to anyone.

This debut novella by Gemma Amor is well-plotted, well-paced, and just generally well conceived. I've already picked up her short story collection, Cruel Works of Nature, and I eagerly anticipate the other two releases Ms. Amor has on tap so she can hurt me again. Bonus points for doing her own incredible art for the front cover.

The story of The Roo may have begun as a joke on the interweb, but when it came down to writing a compelling novella, Alan Baxter didn’t come here to fuck spiders.

The Roo delivers a creature feature to rival all others. When a seven-foot tall, red roo begins terrorizing the outback, it’s up to a rowdy cast of characters bearing more than a few familiar names to figure out where this evil’s come from and how to stop it. Along the way there are some spectacular, splattery, and memorable character tucker-izations. I was both proud and thrilled to have my minor player meet his demise in the grisliest of manners.

The foreword and afterword are both required reading, although for very different reasons.

Baxter includes two pages up front about the genesis of this book; how Kealan Patrick Burke designed a killer cover, and the rest of the community peer pressured Baxter into writing this book. Of course, he responded by unleashing a mad beast with fiery eyes and some serious bloodlust as his revenge. The afterword deals with some more serious details of the story, explaining how and why an important topic makes its presence felt in an otherwise over-the-top story.

Baxter clearly had a great time writing this story and sprinkling genuine Aussie slang throughout. My memory could be mistaken, but I don’t believe there was a single shrimp on the barbie, and certainly no dingoes eating babies. That sense of fun translates well to the reader and our time down under is well spent.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that the creation of this book has led to a potential series, with various authors writing killer animal stories about their local wildlife, and Burke designing some excellent covers to accompany them. As you read this, Max Booth III is hard at work on his tale about sinister armadillos.

In the meantime, the misadventures of a certain murderous marsupial awaits you. If you haven’t laid hands on this book already, you’d be mad as a cut snake not to rectify that immediately.

I was given an e-book copy by the author for review consideration.

I went into this book not really having any idea what to expect. Truth be told, this is how I generally enter into my stories these days, synopsis be damned. A lot of times even without the back cover, you can nail down what genre a story might fit into, what tropes await, and where you anticipate the story may go because of all the aforementioned bits. The Fourth Whore doesn't really work that way.

At it's heart, this is the story of Kenzi Brooks, a young woman who had a rough go of it and is now being drawn into a world of gods and demons among other colorful figures. The book draws from various sources of history, theology, and mythology to assemble quite a cast.

Principal among the players is Lilith, entering into an apocryphal telling of Genesis and now Sheol-bent on taking revenge and bringing the world to it's knees in a dramatic and brutal fashion.

This is not an overly easy read. The violence is gruesome and detailed. However, despite the realistic depictions, the semi-fantasy backdrop made some of the more brutal scenes easier to get through. The sexual nature of this book is raw and unashamed. Knight holds absolutely nothing back, and essentially puts on display in the first few pages what you're going to be getting. So basically, if the first chapter is too much for you, I'll tell you it doesn't really relent.

The Fourth Whore clocks in at just over 220 pages, but you'd swear you just read a sprawling epic by the time the credits roll. The chapters are very short, usually from 2-5 pages, but the subject matter was such that I didn't find it easy to read for long stretches. Instead, for me, it was most palatable to read 25 pages or so, stop to digest, and then go back for more when my psyche was good and ready.

In the first third or so, it felt like there was a Good Omens vibe, and while the humor is not what you're going to want to pick this up for, the interactions between characters of mythological/theological significance are well-done and very enjoyable. They add another layer to an already well-crafted book.

Okay, so here's the deal. I'm going to start by telling you that Dark Celebrations by Calvin Demmer is excellent, and should be added to your shelf/kindle. I fully anticipate that it will be on my year-end list for collections/anthologies. The problem is I can't exactly tell you why. I can share some of my favorite offerings with you, but telling you the biggest reason I love this book would spoil a reading experience that I'm glad I got to have without knowing it was coming.


Vague, I know, sorry. If you really want to know, I've seen that spoiler in a few other reviews, but I'll say it again, you'll enjoy it much more discovering it on your own.


A collection/anthology gets brownie points from me if it feels, to the reader, like the order of stories was carefully curated. For the most part, Demmer knocks this out of the park, especially toward the end, but I felt like Hungry Ghosts, while a fine story, would have been better somewhere in the middle.


Labor Day Hunt was excellent and could have made for a strong opener. The realization in this story hit me about a split second before it hit the main character, something that usually works better in movies, but is pulled off nicely here.


Three Dead Men is a terrific example of how to write tension. It features a kick-ass female lead and mummies. We could always use more mummies in horror fiction.


Spring Outbreak starts off slow but builds to a versus situation that I'm not sure I've seen before. Some well done popcorn entertainment here.


Prom Screams was an absolute favorite in Dark Celebrations. The character Fay was written in a hilariously nonchalant manner, and makes the events within the story more fun for it.


Unidentified Fatherly Object and Independence Denied are the perfect (I didn't want to use that word, but dammit, Calvin Demmer leaves me no choice) pair to wrap this collection up. We're left with aliens and Lovecraft horror to take us home.


The theme of celebrations/holidays makes for an interesting backdrop to a collection of stories that stand on their own. Even better than that is the variety on display here - werewolves, ghosts, mummies, mermaids, Cthulhu, vampires, aliens, demons, dumb teenage boys, and the list goes on.
Treat yourself to Dark Celebrations.

I was given a e-copy by the author for review consideration.