Ronald Kelly does short fiction, and does it well. He also seems to be attempting to corner the market on holiday horror, first with Halloween Season, then dropping Season’s Creepings on us just a few months later. Clocking in at just over 100 pages makes this collection easily digestible and a fantastic candidate for perennial rereads.

I’m partial to the name of the main character in “Jingle Bones”, but it’s the supernaturally-aided revenge tale that drew me in and kept me turning pages. “The Skating Pond” fits a niche I really enjoy reading, where something terrible happens to the main character, and the reader is left to wonder how much is real, and how much is the imagination. Are we actually reading about a deluded villain?

“Depravity Road” is a fun (that doesn’t seem like the right word at all) bite-size tale that would have been more than at home in Kelly’s The Essential Sick Stuff. “Heirlooms” was a standout, presenting a unique idea of magic and revenge, and wrapping it all up in a satisfying package. “As For Me, My Little Brain” is definitely one of the creepiest of the bunch, a whole lot of uncertainty rolling around the parents in the tale.

Probably my favorite story in the bunch was “Beneath the Branches”. I’ll be diving into Kelly’s magnum opus, FEAR, in the next month, so I appreciated the opportunity to get an outsider’s glimpse at Fear County and see what might be in store for me. The creature in this creature feature is well-fleshed out, or at least scaled out, and will have me checking it twice next time I pick out a Christmas tree.

The stories range from creepy to psychological to funny to poignant, as showcased in “The Peddler’s Journey”. Kelly packs a lot into a small book, crafting a collection that is just downright enjoyable. The stories aren’t life-changing, but you’re going to have a good time.


I received a copy from the author for review consideration.

For a bit more of a full review, tune into February’s episode of Unburying the Dead podcast. The twist here is about impossible to avoid in pop culture, but chalk that up to the value of the art being such a horror staple. Often when you trace something that pervasive back to the source material, it can be a letdown. Psycho doesn’t let down. At just over 140 pages, there’s no fat to be found. It drives from start to finish and even though you know how it’s going to end, the journey is worth the price of admission.

The whole Rewind or Die project kicks off with a throwback anthology featuring three stories to set the tone for what you may be reading over the next 12 months. The authors included here are Stephen Graham Jones, Renee Miller, and Philip Fracassi.

There is an introduction as well as interludes separating the three otherwise unconnected stories, introducing is to a very sinister chauffeur. Of course the tag line "when the ride ends so does your life" doesn't help his case.

Stephen Graham Jones' entry, Too Little Too Late, revolves around what I always thought of as a cootie catcher, a paper contraption frequently engineered by younger children to predict careers and spouses. With great accuracy, of course. This piece of childhood nostalgia wouldn't have it's place in a horror anthology, if things didn't start going wrong though...

Another Pretty Face is the star of the show here. We're treated to a Twilight Zone-type mash-up of what if women ruled the world with just a dash of Groundhog Day. This story is brutal and a lot of fun. It also has me really looking forward to Miller's book, Blood Lake Monster, coming in July.

My Love, Do Not Wake is the first story I've read from Philip Fracassi. It's a strange story, no doubt, but very intriguing. You see the end coming before the main character does and it's phenomenal.

3.5 stars rounded.

Mind’s Horizon, by Eric Malikyte, starts off with a prologue that reaches out and grabs the reader, giving them a taste of the cosmic, other-worldly content that the author intends to address throughout the rest of the story.  I read it right before leaving for work, and found myself weighing whether or not I could afford to be late. Rather than an introduction to what we will spend the next 350 or so pages doing, it actually serves as more of a bookend.  The bulk of the book spends more time dealing with human relationships than with cosmic monsters. That doesn’t mean we don’t get a lot of the latter, but Mind’s Horizon makes a full-fledged effort to distance itself from its’ Lovecraftian ancestors where the characters are second-rate in service to gods and monsters.

Malikyte lets the novel take it’s time getting to the locale where most of the story will take place.  We get to live in the world he built, we meet all the characters. Through mostly dialogue and limited flashback, we examine their complex relationships, ranging from familial to having fought on different sides of a civil war.  The world our story takes place in is in a second ice age, and survivors are still reeling from a war between federalists and revolutionists. Malikyte gives a clear glimpse of what has lead to this moment without beating us over the head with it.  We get enough information to set the stage, but it never becomes a distraction. 

The cosmic elements never disappear throughout. There are always looks back at the events from the prologue and the novel’s primary antagonist attempting to balance the line between summoning and serving the alternate dimensional beings.  At the forefront is the way the characters deal with isolation, the surroundings in their new home, and each other. In many ways, Malikyte uses the isolation that stems from the ice age to replicate the atmosphere created in movies like Alien or Event Horizon, without venturing into the farthest reaches of space.

Pacing was occasionally an issue throughout.  I found myself either plowing through chapter by chapter, anxiously anticipating what was coming next at some points, and dragging through other parts to get to next event of plot during other parts of the book.  The story as a whole works on the basis of character relationships and tense atmosphere, just not in a strictly linear fashion. If you’re okay with that, and you like a cosmic horror story that doesn’t (metaphorically) sacrifice humanity for tentacles, this might be the one for you.


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




Hopefully you’re reading this because you enjoyed the first book in Anthony Hains’ Nightshade Chronicles Series – Nightshade’s Requiem. If so, continue on good reader. If not, take a moment and check that review out. When I read a series, I always like to go in order, however I appreciate that some readers may want to know if that’s necessary here. In short, no. Sins of the Father works as a stand-alone, however it does move the story of Cole Nightshade forward, so there is character development you will miss out on if you jump right in here.

Sins of the Father picks up pretty immediately after Nightshade’s Requiem with Cole recovering from the events of the first book’s finale. Having grown up an orphan, Cole is surprised to discover an extended family he never knew. This leads to revelations about Cole’s father, a man he never knew anything about, and ultimately the uncovering of a new evil to wreak havoc upon the town.

At the beginning, the reader is treated to a novel that doesn’t reflect the horror tones present in the first book. It’s a story about Cole discovering who he is, what he’s made of, and a little more about his abilities as a seer. With the exception of a few visions here and there, we are more focused on Cole’s character than his surroundings. When it starts to go down, however, Hains brings it downhill in a great big hurry. The slow build makes a scene that occurs about halfway through shocking in it’s brutality, gore, and dispatch of characters who looked like they might be key players in the narrative.

The pacing never really lets up from that turning point as we go full-on ghoul meets creature feature. One thing that doesn’t change with the rest of the atmosphere is the heart with which Hains writes main character and series namesake, Cole Nightshade. It’s clear that the author has plans to continue writing in Nightshade’s world, and I aim to be a part of that journey going forward.

One element I missed from the first story was the interchange between the children in Saint Edward’s, borrowing the group coming-of-age element present in such stories as It or Stranger Things. There is a new cast of younger players this time around, but they don’t really play to the team element. In defense, it did feel like Hains moved on to new components as a way of storytelling in order to avoid retreading the same ground and just putting out the same novel twice. In that, he succeeds. This feeds the hope that the third book in the series, not yet announced, I’m simply jumping the gun, will be an entirely fresh story that keeps Cole at its heart, and continues to make his growth concern number one.

I’m happy to recommend this strongly to fans of the first book, as well as fans of supernatural creature horror, twisted family dynamics, and character-driven horror.


I was given a copy by author for review consideration.

Before I even read the first word, this book had a lot going for it. Zachary Ashford grabbed my attention with Sole Survivor, and ravaged it with an island of ferocious koalas. I’ve been looking forward to reading other words from him since I finished that one. Also, this book is part of Demain’s Short Sharp Shocks, a series that has published people like Hailey Piper, Steve Stred, Mike Thorn, and Calvin Demmer.

The first story “The Encampment by the Gorge” showcases Ashford’s ability to do gorey action to a T. Four men head out of a mission of vengeance, and as horror tends to do to us, things don’t quite go as planned. While Ashford’s stories have a surface-level enjoyment to them, he perpetually seems to include an underlying layer of commentary, not only here, but in the next story as well. It’s worth warning that there is violence against a dog in this story, but it’s not lingered on or done specifically for shock value.

“Blood Money” was my favorite of the two here, delving into the deepest recesses of Ashford’s imagination to retrieve a colossal prehistoric type monster. Here again, we get a blood-spattered creature feature, but if one digs just a bit deeper, there is also some biting commentary on the treatment of indigenous people in Australia. As I mentioned before, Ashford deserves praise for crafting entertainment that can be touted as popcorn fare, or can be read with a studious eye and go on to enlighten the reader.

The Australian horror scene is alive and thriving with the likes of Ashford, Baxter, Dries, Warren, and Cull among many others. Obviously, there’s something in the water down there, and I’d just bet it’s scary as hell.


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

3.5 stars rounded up for Amazon

Jill Girardi’s Kandisha Press is doing some cool things in 2020. They released Under Her Black Wings in January, an anthology I absolutely loved, jam-packed with horror stories by women. Assuming this anthology might be an annual thing, I was pleasantly surprised to see they were doing it again in July with Graveyard Smash, and as of this writing, Kandisha is open to subs again for volume three.

One of my favorite things about these collections are the mixture of known and loved entities with up-and-coming names, a fair few new-to-me authors. Graveyard Smash is a bit bigger than its predecessor at 21 stories. As with any anthology, some hit hard, some sink their teeth in, and some simply didn’t resonate with me for whatever reason. Allow me to highlight some favorites:

“Holes” by RA Busy - The opening gambit in this anthology comes out swinging. Admittedly this is the first short story I’ve read that directly references corona, and I was worried at first, but the execution here is top notch and really encapsulates paranoia using trypophobia.

“Two’s Company, Three’s a Shroud” by Catherine McCarthy - This one stood out for being really different, not an easy feat in such a sizable collection. Funny and original, I really enjoyed being immersed in this story. I mean, there is a pun in the title.

“The Clockmaker” by Sonora Taylor - The best story in the collection comes in pretty early. Taylor’s creepy story is note perfect and has the feel of a classic story in the vein of Poe or Shirley Jackson.

“Love You to Death” by Yolanda Sfetsos - Yolanda’s story in Under Her Black Wings was a stand out there as well. This author seems to have it, and I look forward to reading more by her. That said, I adore horror mixed with mythology and this story had it in spades and did it well.

“Cicada Song” by Michelle Renee Lane - Another top notch tale. Lane’s story had a very original premise and even though it was laugh-out-loud funny at points, the humor didn’t detract from the weight of the story.

“The Invitation” by Janine Pipe - It’s hard to lay out what I liked about this story without spoilers, or at least affecting the reader’s experience. I will say that it’s well-plotted and Pipe’s use of misdirection is Prestige-level. “Are you watching closely?”

Lest this write-up exceed the length of one of the stories contained within, I’ll leave longer story descriptions at that. There are other fun, creeptastic, engaging, and even beautiful stories by V Castro, Beverley Lee, Ellie Douglas, Susan McCauley, Ksenia Murray, and Christy Aldridge. Kandisha is putting out consistently entertaining work by women of horror, drawing readers in with the big names and introducing future stars. As long as they keep these anthologies coming, I’ll keep lining up for them.

I was given a digital copy by the publisher for review consideration.Rating/review coming soon

Publishers take note. This is how you set up the buzz for an anthology. Submission calls opened nearly a year before release, and once the author signings began rolling in, every one was more exciting than the last. From Brian Keene to Tim Meyer to Owl Goingback to Graham Masterton to established Silver Shamrock authors like Steph Ellis, Shannon Felton, and John Quick. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Weighing in at about 500 pages, Midnight in the Pentagram offers stories focused around demons, possessions, and all sorts of tangential areas; stemming from both Christianity, as well as religions and mythologies far older than that.

As we found with Midnight in the Graveyard, Silver Shamrock Midnight anthologies are a nice blend of new voices and established voices. As with most other anthologies, there were some stories that worked brilliantly for me, and some that didn’t resonate. It seems a silly complaint to moan about a loaded table of contents being too big, but there were certain instances during the back half of the book where stories, although well executed, felt like we’d been there before. As a silver lining, the authors who took the themed trope and pulled it off in a unique way really stood out. Let me share a few favorites:

The Other - Laurel Hightower: One of the stories I anticipated most in this collection, and it didn’t disappoint. Hightower managed to surround her main character with other people and still write in a sense of isolation, one of the most effective tools in horror. This story is more about losing your sense of self than demons popping out from behind corners.

Angel Dust - Shannon Felton: This one worked for me for the same reason that Felton’s The Prisoners of Stewartville did. It felt fresh, original, and unexpected. The use of second person narration gives it a bit of a Chuck Palahniuk vibe, but the story is all Felton.

My Body - Wesley Southard: Unapologetically Southard, My Body reminded me of King’s Needful Things, combining it with a monster only this author could have dreamed up.

Discovering Mr. Jones - Cameron Ulam: Another story I was anticipating. I keep seeing Cameron Ulam’s name pop since her acceptance to this book. For good reason too. Ulam makes great use of sensory description to paint a picture and bring the audience into the story.

A Night Above - John Quick: Great mix of humor, twists, and horror. I picked this book up to be entertained, and this one did the trick.

Brujeria - Michael Patrick Hicks: The idea Hicks uses to explore the book’s theme is underutilized, in my opinion. Hicks doesn’t leave much to the reader’s imagination, but manages to create a landscape you can’t look away from.

The Furious Pour - Amanda Hard: Hard’s story came late in the book, and the originality shone a spotlight on it. It’s mostly the setting that I found unexpected, leading to a moment of revelation I really enjoyed.

That’s a fair list of favorites, but it’s worth noting the hits resonate throughout. Brian Moreland’s opening number kicks things off exactly the way you hope it will. Kenneth McKinley follows up his entry in Graveyard with a lesson in how to keep the train running smooth for a time, then send it careening off the rails. Kenneth Cain’s entry guarantees you’re not reading another possession story quite like this. The humor lands and it doesn’t overstay its welcome. Like Wesley Southard’s story, Todd Keisling writes one that could only have come from his pen, or laptop I guess. Brian Keene’s entry is the most brutal thing in the book, bringing the blood and guts.

As I mentioned before, most of the stories that didn’t work for me tiptoed into familiar territory without adding enough new material. One or two utilized humor in a way that just didn’t land. Others came from authors I’ve been lukewarm to in the past, and their entries didn’t do much to sway me. The one caveat I’ll add here is that with so many stories, there’s not a bland one in the bunch.

Silver Shamrock’s Midnight anthologies are going to continue to be highly anticipated. They’ve only just announced Midnight From Beyond the Stars, and readers are already clamoring about the possibilities. If you enjoyed the variety presented in Midnight in the Graveyard, you’re going to enjoy this one too. Space out the stories. Read one every few days. There are some real unmissables in here. The kind that’ll have you avoiding dusty old books full of strange symbols and people who sacrifice animals. Well, maybe you should be avoiding those anyway.


I received a copy from the publisher for review consideration.