drakaina16's Reviews (2.21k)

I'll admit that I started this book last August. Then my dad died, and I had to put it down because it was a little too realistic, and I needed to slip into a world that was nothing like this one. Ultimately, I picked it back up because of the positive reviews I'd heard. I'm glad I did. The story was solid, the characters are well fleshed out, and the pacing was great. I felt it ended a bit abruptly, but that didn't affect my enjoyment overall. A solid 4 stars.

I really enjoyed Deeper Than Hell, but I definitely love Septum more. It's still an insane, drug-soaked waking nightmare of a book and I mean that in the best way. Learning more about the structure of the underground societies was awesome, and I hope the author keeps writing about it.

I've had this book for quite some time and I'm sad that I hadn't read it before now. I'm no stranger to Richard Chizmar; I'm a huge fan of Cemetery Dance and "work" for them as an ARC reader. Somehow this book just kept getting overlooked, but I'm very glad I finally read it. 
I'm a huge fan of true crime, and the scope of this fictional "true" crime story is pretty epic. The pictures included were a very nice touch that truly made me feel like this was something that could have happened. The only parts that dragged a bit involved the history of Edgewood, but I did enjoy the stories about the author's childhood. All in all, an excellent story that I highly recommend. 

Thank you to Lyndsey Smith and Horrorsmith Publishing for providing a review copy.
I always love anthologies with a theme. It's so interesting to see how authors interpret the prompt - in this case, the stories revolve around a forge or a blacksmith. I really enjoyed this collection and I'm excited to see what Horrorsmith has in store for the future. 

Lock and Key by Nat Whiston ⭐⭐⭐
The Ozymandias Crucible by J-F Dubeau ⭐⭐
Death Whisperer by Garrett Rowland ⭐⭐
Find A Penny, Pick It Up by Alexa K Moon ⭐⭐⭐
The Pit of Heaven by George Jacobs ⭐⭐⭐
The Trophy by D.W. Hitz ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Vestiges of Humanity by Thomas KS Wake ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Grandy's Rocker by Simon J. Plant ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Forge by Michael H. Hanson ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Born of Death by C.M. Forest ⭐⭐⭐
Forging A Partnership by Justin Boote ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Chosen Sword by Eddie Generous ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Emily by Edmund Stone ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Nowa Kuzina by R.C. Hausen ⭐⭐⭐
Serasthes by Tim Borella ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Art of Fear by Jennifer Claywood ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Sculpture by Theresa Jacobs ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Darwell Curse by John Kiste ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Iron by Alex Reid ⭐⭐⭐
A Eulogy of Love, Blood, and Iron by E.L. Giles ⭐⭐⭐
Life Masks by Andre E. Harewood ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Mostly Alone by D.W. Gillespie ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was an interesting book. I found the detective story somewhat formulaic and had the whodunit figured out pretty early on. Where The Peacekeeper really shined was the world-building. An uncolonized America is something I've thought about a lot and I enjoyed the author's vision quite a lot. I'm interested enough in the society B.L. Blanchard has created to read the second book someday.

Thank you to Encyclopocalypse for providing a review copy. 
This is the story of Celeste, some kind of vampire or succubus who lives off of the attention of men. It's never explicitly stated what Celeste is, although we do get her origin story. Mostly it's the story of the various men in Celeste's life and the absolute chaos she causes them. It's well-written and has some very sympathetic characters. It was an interesting twist on the traditional vampire story. 

Thank you to Encyclopocalypse for providing a review copy.
Dying Sheep is the kind of extreme slasher novel I really love. The storyline is very unique, while still paying tribute to the classic 80s slasher movies. Just like the best of those movies, this novella doesn't take itself too seriously and I found parts of it quite humorous. This is good ol' 80s slasher fun with a hellish twist. Highly recommended. 

Thank you to Cemetery Dance for providing a review copy. 

4.5 stars rounded up. Midnight Under the Big Top comes out swinging with some very large names. It's divided into two acts, with a poetry intermission, and some excellent illustrations by Glenn Chadbourne. 

Act One
The Night of the Tiger by Stephen King ⭐⭐
Twittering From the Circus of the Dead by Joe Hill ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Facts In the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch by Neil Gaiman ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Girl In the Carnival Gown by Kelley Armstrong ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Herd Immunity by Tanarive Due ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Pickled Punks and the Summer of Love by Lisa Morton ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Courting the Queen of Sheba by Amanda C. Davis ⭐⭐⭐.5
The Circus Room by Nayad Monroe ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Black Ferris by Ray Bradbury ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Intermission (Poetry)
There are a lot of poems, and I didn't rate them individually, but these are my favorites:
Apology To the Ape Girl by Norman Prentiss
Clowns by Robert Payne Cabeen  

Act Two
The Great White Way by Robert McCammon ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Buried Talents by Richard Matheson ⭐⭐⭐
The Carnival by Richard Chizmar ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Mr. Bones' Wild Ride by Billy Chizmar ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Fair Treats by Jeff Strand ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Smoke & Mirrors by Amanda Downum  ⭐⭐⭐
Circus Maximus by Robert Brouhard ⭐⭐⭐
Laughable by Dominick Cancilla ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Count Zardov's Circus and Museum of Terrifying Grotesques by Heather Graham  ⭐⭐⭐
Dandy by Josh Malerman ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Oh man, this book is a gut-punch from start to finish. It's hard not to feel sympathy for Michael, even though he's done horrible things as well. I've got to say, the Morrow family are some of the nastiest villains I've ever encountered in literature. Bleak, but absolutely beautiful. I'll be thinking about this book for a long time. 

Thank you to the author for providing a review copy. 
Broth House is my favorite kind of extreme horror novel. It is exceptionally well-written, with plenty of gore and ick factor, as well as enjoyable characters you want to root for and very nasty villains. This was my first Robert Essig book, but it definitely won't be my last.