I’m a huge fan of Stuart Gordon’s RE-ANIMATOR, so when @astounding_herbert_west asked if I’d like a copy of this graphic novel to review I jumped on the opportunity! I know the @night_worms had a book party of it last year so it has been on my TBR list for awhile

I was born after the Satanic Panic of the 80s, but growing up in the 90s-00s with super religious parents I feel like I still caught the tail end of it. It was nothing like the outright fear and terrifying public bandwagon action of what's in this book, but while reading I did get flashbacks to misplaced apprehension from my own childhood.

The novel alternates between two timelines: the 80s with a young protagonist named Sean, and then thirty years later with an adult protagonist named Richard. Each storyline is compelling on its own, but when they start to overlap and the threads become more clear the book really hits another level of awesomeness. The first half is unsettling, but the pace really picks up in the second half and I white-knuckled it to the climatic ending.

Each character is also very well-constructed. I really felt for Sean's predicament. It's hard to believe something like what he did could happen (an innocent fib turning into a spiraling web of lies, ending with massive public outcry and a shocking suicide), but the book is based on a true story. I also really felt Richard's increasing anxiety, as his world crumbles around him. I haven't read many books that epitomize paranoia as well as this one.

There are elements of the supernatural here - and with Richard's splintering reality it's harder to tell as he becomes more of an unreliable narrator - but this story focuses more on the "panic" and less on the "satan" of Satanic Panic. It's a fractured tale of dishonesty and terror, and it's sure to please fans of horror, thrillers, and true crime!

You know those books that completely subvert your expectations? The ones that linger in the mind long after you finish, rolling around and revealing layer after layer of brilliance. Ones where the longer you meditate on them the better they are (and that's not discounting how great they were in the immediate reading)?

Well, if you haven't guessed where I'm going...THIS is one of those books.

All I knew going in was: this is a collection of three interconnected novellas, the stories span several different genres in horror, Sadie Hartmann (aka Mother Horror) dug it, and that Off Limits Press can do no wrong so I was likely to enjoy it. Happy to say it was all the above and beyond.

- Story 1: haunted doll torments young girl; brutal shocker of an ending

- Story 2: phony medium uses sex to fill a void and trees start growing from his fingertips; scenes of full on eye-averting body/eco horror mixed with meditations on relationships, identity, and fatherhood

- Story 3: older woman takes care of her mother who is terrified a malicious presence will take her if she's left alone; slow-burn dread and despair that rises into taunt suspense before falling into a reality-shattering ending; upends the whole collection on its head

All three stories have a basic premise structuring them, but did you notice how increasingly complex they got (and how much harder of a time I had distilling them into concise summaries)? I absolutely love the way the author did this. We begin with a child, move to a young adult, and end with an elderly woman. What starts as a straight-forward evil doll story ends as a cosmic, existential reckoning. I was not prepared to wrestle with such heavy philosophizing on the meaning of life, but it elevates the collection to a whole other level.

Another thing I loved is how the stories are all connected to each other. I'll try not to go into spoilers here, but each protagonist was a side character in one of the other stories. It was so cool to get insight on some of the overlapping scenes from a different character's perspective; to see how things affected each character differently and learn more about their motivations and personalities.

As mentioned previously, the author presents us with a variety of different genres in horror and nails each of them perfectly. The pacing is fantastic and the stories are very character-driven, full of emotion and complexity. I'm speaking in vague terms for this review because I went in blind and that's the best way to go. Just know that I loved this book and the more I reminisce, the more it creeps up my "best of" list for 2021.

I've been wanting to read this one for a long time, so when I saw the Netflix adaptation was about to drop I leapt into action (I'm always a fan of reading the book first, when I know there's a book anyway). I've become a big Jeff Lemire fan, and I'm happy to say this has everything I wanted it to: his realistic-adjacent sketching, a grim and intriguing storyline, and wonderfully well-rounded characters.

There are hints at a much larger story here, and I'm very excited to continue the series. I mean this one ends on a panel with a grizzled old guy saying "I'm going to kill them all," so it's not like I can just stop reading now haha. It's a post-apocalyptic tale in the vein of The Road, with young innocent thrown into companionship with older world-weary survivor. No characters are clearly good or evil here (with the exception of the protagonist, possibly) which I absolutely love, and I'm very interested to see where the story goes next.

"They burned down the market on the day Vivek Oji died"

It's no surprise that this is a heavy, sad story to read. But it's also brilliantly structured, filled with complex characters, and written in a style that breezes along.

Much of the book is concerned with Vivek's life growing up in Nigeria, but told predominantly through the eyes of characters around him (his parents, his cousin, his friends, etc). This puts the emphasis on how other people view his "strange" behavior, and that's kind of the point. How well do we really know someone, even someone so close? How well can we empathize with someone so "different" than us.

The structure is brilliant because we know that he's going to die the entire time, giving a layer of depth and emotion to all the scenes preceding this monumental event. Since it's a story centered around grief and loss, the moments of joy and life sprinkled throughout help show us characters in a different light and also highlight the sadness of Vivek's death. The story also jumps around in time, juxtaposing scenes post-death with events leading up to it. There's a lot of moving in time, a lot of moving pieces, and a lot of characters. And yet it all flows so well and I never felt lost, which speaks to the power of the story and the storyteller.

There's also a murder mystery element to the story, as Vivek's body is found naked and wrapped in a cloth on his parent's doorstep. This mystery deepens as we get closer to the end of the book, ultimately revealing itself in the final earth-shattering pages.

I'm speaking vaguely here. Yes, the death isn't a spoiler (it's in the title and the first line). But the shocking reasons behind it, as well as the complexities of the relationships and character dynamics in the book, should absolutely be experienced in the moment as you're reading. There's no way I could discuss it as well as the author writes it...so go read it!

I came across this one whilst researching sci-fi horror comics, and I immediately had to buy it. It’s a total cover buy, but thankfully what’s inside is just as awesome!!

This has to be one of the goriest comics I’ve ever read. So much steaming viscera, lopped off limbs, and gooey tentacles. The amount of red on the pages is seriously insane. There’s a forward by the artist in which he discusses his love for drawing disgusting things, and he ain’t lying! Seriously the art and creature design is next level here (and that coloring by @sobreiro

Zombies, crusaders, awesome artwork, and loads of gore - what more could you want? The story is fairly simple and the characters lean towards the threadbare, but it didn't ever bother me while I was reading. In fact, this was a real "page-turner" for most of the ride. This is thanks in large part to the artwork, which is gloriously violent and detailed (with some truly delightful full-page spreads). Interesting ideas, tense moments, great art, and a cliffhanger ending. I'd definitely recommend it, and I can't wait to see where the story goes next!

Man, Christine Morgan did a fantastic job breathing new life into what I considered to be a mostly dead genre about, well, the mostly dead. I'll be honest, I've mostly stayed away from zombie stories just because I feel like the genre had been overdone (at least for me). I enjoyed Train to Busan, Blood Quantum, One Cut of the Dead, and The Living Dead - and that's about it in the last few years. I think it's partly also because I feel like it's hard to bring anything new to the table. That is, until I read this collection!

The nine stories presented here are fantastically varied in their settings, style, and plots. You've got viking zombies, WWII zombies, stories from the zombie's perspective, and so much more. Short story collections are generally hit or miss for me, but this one was pretty much all bulls eyes. Below I'll give a quick, spoiler-free look at each story.

"Dawn of the Living-Impaired" - six months into the zombie apocalypse and humans are adjusting to new way of life; TV anchor interviews a zombie rights activist and then chaos breaks out on set; a fun premise but completely overshadowed by all the awesome stories that follow it.

"Seven Brains, Ten Minutes" - incredibly disgusting (even for this collection) story about a boy pretending to be a zombie to save a girl.

"The Barrow-Maid" - epic viking revenge story told from the perspective of the wife of a fallen hero; I was completely invested in all of these characters, and Hildirid is the best.

"Cured Meat" - possibly my favorite story; told from the perspective of a zombie as he goes about daily life in his "clain"; fantastic writing style with kennings galore!

"Be Brave" - set during WWII and switches perspective between a young girl named Klara and a embittered rebel named Jakob; great character building, but it felt like it was cut off when the story was just beginning (I need a whole novel about Klara's coming of age in the zombie apocalypse).

"Family Life" - a hilarious story told from the perspective of zombies a la a sitcom/comedy with an unexpected twist at the end.

"A Tower to the Sky" - interesting take on the Babylon story from the Christian Bible.

"Good Boy" - super sad story about a loyal dog (told from his, Baxter's, perspective) trying to protect his disabled owner; why is it always sadder when animals are involved??

"Thought He Was a Goner" - a fun/funny look at what young Herbert West might have been like in school, told from the perspective of a crush.

Wow, what a tale. Steeped in the tenets of folk horror, but with a lore that is completely original to this story. Brutal violence, relentless dread, and unsettling imagery. This book is everything I wanted it to be and more!

The world that we're dropped into is a dark and disturbing one. An area of land encompassing several rural villages is held under the power of ancient gods who demand annual sacrifice from the townspeople in order to maintain balance between the worlds of human and other. Everyone has a part to play, and each year the wheel turns with gruesome results. Except this time there is a family who has given too much, and a mother and her daughter who refuse to submit any longer. But the powers that bind them are strong and seeped in dark magic. When mankind challenges the ancients, can anyone survive?

I can't express enough how much I love the lore/world that author Stephanie Ellis has created. The gut-wrenching rituals, the hierarchy of the supernatural order, the variety of terrifying beings, the connections/reliance on humans, and so on. It manages to somehow feel comfortably familiar while also staying full of surprises around every turn. The rituals themselves are BRUTAL, and one is constantly fearing for the safety of the main characters (and, no spoilers, but the author gives you good reason to be afraid). Thematic concepts of grief, suffering, oppression, silence, and modernity vs traditionalism are also explored and powerfully intertwined with the narrative.

I absolutely devoured this book. The writing style is easy to fall into and the story is completely engrossing. I love folk horror, and Stephanie Ellis has given us a spectacular addition to the genre!

You ever read a book and then wonder why more people aren't reading it? A book so provocative, so engrossing, and with such style that you instantly want to put it in the hands of everyone you know? Well for me Eidelon Avenue: The Second Feast is one of those books (and really all books by Jonathan Winn, who seems to be a criminally underrated author).

To be completely upfront, I was asked by the author to write a blurb for the book. As flattering as that proposition was, I knew I couldn't accept if I didn't think the book was worth reading. Well, you can probably tell by now I found the collection worthy of praise and adoration. The pull quote they went with is "A new level of dread, heartache, and nightmare", but here are some additional thoughts.

The return to Eidolon Avenue is a triumphant one. Five new stories of darkness and disturbing imagery, both shocking and delightful in their depravity. Five decaying rooms of ghosts and guilt. Five dark scenarios of perverse pleasure and hellish consequences. You'll be begging to leave but unwilling to go, caught in the mesmerizing pull that is Eidolon.

Submerged in the lucid dream world the author has created, I was sufficiently disturbed yet compelled to read on with squirming stomach and heavy heart. These stories are DARK. But they are also infused with intriguing themes and broken characters that make you want to keep reading, eyes half-covered as you read through mounting tension towards a gut-wrenching climax.

I absolutely love the author's writing style. It may not be for everyone (it's very poetic yet intentionally disjointed), but for me it really works. It's also extremely vivid, and there were several times I had to momentarily put the book down because certain scenes were so graphic and disgusting (and yes, in this case that is a compliment). Winn delves into the darkest recesses of humanity, spinning tales of terror and grotesque imagery that will linger in your mind long after you close the book.