Glitter Rose

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Mercedes M. Yardley

Finding Marianne de Pierres’s Glitter Rose collection in my World Fantasy Con swag bag was like taking a walk on the beach and stumbling across a sapphire in the sand. It’s a charming, hardcover book with a soft and feminine cover.

Beautiful, I thought, and I started to read.

Ten years ago, strange spores blew onto Carmine Island, occasionally covering the sand with rose glitter. The spores not only bring beauty to the island, but perhaps something darker and deeper as well.

The five stories—four previously published, one new to this collection—are told from the point of view of Tinashi, a quiet, almost unfriendly woman who has moved to the island for the solitude. She encounters the rather bizarre residents of the island and is pulled into their personal lives very much against her will. I was interested in Tinashi and wondered why she was so bitter. I was pleased when this was explained in a later story, and her actions made sense.

Glitter Rose is written in a fairly straightforward style that somehow manages to be lush and elegant. It reminds me of Deborah Batterman’s collection Shoes Hair Nails: sensual, elegant, and with layers of meaning underneath the surface.

Although only five stories long, I read Glitter Rose in just a few sittings, pondering on the world that the author built. It’s fantastic, of course, but written in a way that almost seems feasible. It’s a thing of subtle, dark beauty.

It isn’t for everyone, but if you want to be immersed in the complexity of relationships, Glitter Rose might be the book for you.

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Zee Dreamt and Deathless Wurm

Posted on February 5, 2012 by John Boden

David James Keaton’s Zee Bee & Bee (a.k.a. Propeller Hats For The Dead), as it was called when it was sent to me last spring, has since been rechristened Zombie Bed & Breakfast (Zee Bee & Bee). Regardless of which title you acknowledge, this is one of the zaniest sort-of-zombie works I’ve ever read. Its audacity to be so smart and ridiculous at the same time is a feat worthy of your time.

In this novella, Keaton tells the story of a Zombie Bed & Breakfast, one of those themed places where folks pay to stay and be entertained. In this case, attacked by hotel workers dressed as the shambling dead.

Keaton has a keen eye for personality and pop culture references. The broken-down hotel workers are all schooled in their zombie lore and mythos and all know their script…but when things start to meander from the scripted path, chaos and bloodshed ensue.

Bizarro and smart. Keaton has a unique voice in his writing, the literary equivalent to Geddy Lee’s vocals—those who dig it are really going to dig it; those who hate it…you know what I’m getting at. It is also worthy of mention, an urban legend suggests that Tom Savini was so offended/insulted by this novella that it led him to “unfriend” the author on Facebook.

If I know David as well as I think I do, he wears that fact as a badge of honor.

—

Andrew Bonazelli steps up with his slice of world-ending pie, “The Dreamt and Deathless Obscene.”

His apocalypse is sort of quiet. Set in the mid 70′s, people just start acting strange. A plague has reduced half the populace to raving maniacs, while the rest don’t seem all that better off.

A group puts down roots in Philly and tries to start again, or at least live normally until a cure is found. In this, we are introduced to the Gall family, flawed and harboring their own insanities, well before the supposed plague began. The father and his two sons struggle to come out on top, through any means necessary.

Where Bonazelli elevates this above the typical post-apocalyptic crazy plague story, is with his unique grasp of the language. Quirky phrases and characters that are real and not at all the empathetic likeable survivor-types we’re used to. He takes all the templates of this genre and sets them aside, giving us a bleak and not-all-that-positive idea of the world ending—not with a bang, but with a whimper.

You can buy this book through Vitriol Press.

—

I don’t like worms. They’re icky and slimy. I get it. I’ve seen the world end at the hands of worms before. Keene served it to us and the 70′s film classic Squirm did as well. Worms are scary.

In 1991, Matthew J. Costello and Diamond Books gave us his novel Wurm. These worms are the scariest I’ve read about yet. Deep sea leech-like creatures that burrow inside and become what we are…and then become more.

Filled with great strong characters and frenzied pulp horror violence and gore, Wurm reminded me of all that I loved about the paperback heyday of the 80′s and early 90′s.

Wurm begins as an exploratory group is surveying a deep-sea volcanic rift and discovers countless species of strange life. Mainly worms. Big long worms. They go deeper…and are attacked by bigger, meaner worms who live in burrows. They return to the surface with a piece of a worm. From there, bad things happen and a new god struggles to rise.

Wurm is a quick read, a crazed comic-book fun ride through sci-fi tinged Lovecraftian landscapes. Recommended!

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Bring More Lore!

Posted on February 3, 2012 by John Boden

Born in a New Jersey basement in the mid-90′s, Lore was a DIY magazine for dark fiction and fantasy. In their time, they took home a number of awards, including The Dragon’s Breath Small Press Award for Best New Magazine, as well as had several stories from within their pages garner awards of their own.

I must admit, here, that I had never heard of Lore. This is a fact I am now somewhat ashamed of, after reading this, a collection of stories that appeared during their five-year run. I missed out on some quality reading back in the day.

I won’t go through every story in this collection, but will touch upon those that stuck with me most.

Starting things off with Harlan Ellison is always a smart move. Ellison has long been regarded as a master of speculative fiction, and with “Chatting with Anubis” we get a tongue-in-cheek tale of archaeology and spiritualism and the dark threads that bind them.

“The Mandala,” by Kendall Evans, is a bizarre exercise in surrealism as symbolism. Patricia Russo’s “Rat Familiar” is Grimm-style fantasy that is served up nasty and dark, while Jeffrey Thomas’s “Empathy” is a sadly sweet tale of trust, mistreatment and revenge.

Brian Lumley turns in “The Vehicle” which is a lighthearted “fish out of water” sort of sci-fi tale. Donald R. Burleson gives us what might be my favorite tale in the book, “Sheets,” a terrific haunted-house story, and it is exactly not what you think it is.

All the stories in this volume are strong. Some skirt the edges of the Horror estate, while others wander that bizarre and weird landscape on its outskirts. “The Challenge From Below,” a group-penned tribute to Lovecraft, as well as many other pieces, have never been reprinted before this. And a few are nearly science fiction. All, however, have a classic feel and mature voice.

This is old-school writing.

As of 2011, Lore has resurrected itself. I would have loved the magazine back in its heyday, so I hope to follow them, now, and keep up with what they put out.

This volume can be purchased through the Lore website.

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Dark Treats from the Midnight Asylum

Posted on February 1, 2012 by John Boden

I first heard about Mark Allan Gunnells through James Newman, a mutual friend and a writer I consider family. On the merits of that alone, I knew Gunnells’s work must be special.

So I contacted Mark, and we quickly became friends. He is a sweet and humble guy. More importantly, he has a lot of heart. The one common thread that weaves through all that I have read from him, is the empathy and humanity his characters possess.

That is not always an easy thing to get across in print. In his short story collection, Tales from the Midnight Shift, Vol. I, Gunnells gives us a fine and varied compilation of these types of characters. From the fantastically titled “God Doesn’t Follow You into the Bathroom” to the breathtakingly surreal “Jam.” He goes from serious and somber to silly at the drop of a hat.

I won’t go into details on every story here, but I will touch on a few that left a lasting impression.

The tome opens with “God Doesn’t Follow You into the Bathroom.” While slightly predictable there is enough freshness injected here to keep your attention. Sometimes confession does not gain you the absolution you hoped for. This is followed by my absolute favorite in the collection, “Jam.” A traffic jam is the setting for this bleak exercise in tension and fear and humans being. “The Gift Certificate” teaches a valuable lesson about possession. “The More Things Change” is astounding, a heart-wrenching painting on bullying. This is one of the best things in the collection.

Tales from the Midnight Shift, Vol. I was the first example of Mark’s craft I encountered. I have since delved deeper into his work and have yet to be dissappointed.

—

Despite its short stature of 67 pages, Asylum has a lot of substance.

At a glance, the premise—a group of misfits, standing tall to fight off the zombie apocalypse—doesn’t seem all that original. Mark peoples this story with an almost entirely gay cast, sets it in a gay club, and spatters it with plenty of gore and sex.

But where Asylum shines is with the deep textures given to the characters.

They are not mincing caricatures or flaming queens—well, maybe one is—but instead they are presented as the flawed human beings that we all are.

Once again, this proves to be Gunnells’s strong suit—painting pictures of people.

—

Just in time for this past Halloween, Mark gave us all this little gift—Dark Treats, a five story collection, with all tales revolving around the October holiday.

Opening with “Halloween Returns to Bradbury,” we get a riotous romp about how the devil has grown disgruntled with the commercialism of his holiday and returns to show us how it’s to be done. Some fantastic and ridiculous imagery ensues. “The Neighborhood that Halloween Forgot” is a slightly cliché tale of tolerance.

“My Last Halloween” is a sad little coming-of-age tale. “Treats” finds us in cheesy 80′s horror movie territory—silly monsters, rational logic, great fun! The collection ends on the somber “Family Plots,” which, while good, seems a bit cramped, begging to be worked into a longer work someday.

Mark Allan Gunnells is one to watch. His work is consistently entertaining and full of heart and soul.

Sometimes that’s what you need.

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Ghost Hunting with TAPS

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Mercedes M. Yardley

It was with some glee that I got my hands on Ghost Hunting: True Stories of the Unexplained Phenomena from The Atlantic Paranormal Society, by Jason Hawes, Grant Wilson, and with Michael Jan Friedman. Who doesn’t love a slightly creepy, slightly campy glimpse into ghost hunting? After all, I almost signed up for a ghost hunting class while living in Seattle!  (I almost signed up for helicopter piloting and broadsword, as well.  I have the attention span of—shiny!)

I’m familiar with the show and the “try to debunk it” view that TAPS. takes of the paranormal. I was hoping that this book would delve into some of the more interesting cases.

It did hit a large number of cases, but I was disappointed in how briefly each case is discussed. Each chapter covers one case and the average chapter is about four pages long. It briefly runs over what you saw in the show with very little added. Each chapter is told from Jason’s perspective and Grant chimes in at the end with a few summing up sentences. All in all, not what I expected. Aw.

The best part about this book, however, is seeing Jason’s views on the other TAPS members. He’ll say, “So-and-So broke the equipment” and “So-and-So is a workhorse,” and I enjoyed that sort of thing. This book was quick, cheap fun and while I wanted more substance out of it, I scarfed it like a bag of Doritos.

Ghost Hunting is literary junk food and there’s nothing wrong with that.

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Aleera: Tainted Blood

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Mercedes M. Yardley

I just finished Joseph Mead’s debut novel, Aleera: Tainted Blood. Aleera, the daughter of a demonic warlord and a succubus, is being tormented by a serial killer who leaves behind charred bodies. While trying to track down the killer, she is constantly battling her own dark urges. Will she be able to control the demon inside her when her life is at stake?

The book reads like a mostly complete novel rather than a completely finished one. I was easily distracted at first by the numerous typos and what I felt was rather contrived scenarios. Aleera manages to get a knife pulled on her not once but twice in the first 13 pages. That seemed extreme to me and hey, I live in Las Vegas.

Oh boy, I thought. This is going to be a long read.

Only it wasn’t. I quickly grew to appreciate the interesting and diverse cast of characters. There’s someone for everybody here. The group includes a sexy half-succubus, a shy best friend, an older mentor and his feline familiar, among others. I also enjoyed the physical manifestations that took hold when Aleera slipped into bloodthirsty demonic mode. Sharp claws protrude from her hands, wings sprout from her back, and her eyes glow red. The action scenes are fast, vicious, and engaging. It was also fun to see how she navigates changing relationships with her friends. After all, otherworldly or not, she’s still a teenager.

Aleera: Tainted Blood isn’t to be confused with the earlier version of this story, which is simply known as Tainted Blood.

While I would suggest to Mr. Mead that he go through and give this book another round of polishing, I found it entertaining. I also enjoyed the easily sustainable world that he created. If he were to write a sequel to Aleera, I would most likely pick it up and follow the characters on their other misadventures.

Dark, sexy, and bloody, this book delivered on what it promised.

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Your First Hate Mail

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Mercedes M. Yardley

My guest post, “Your First Hate Mail: How Life Can Change After Working for a Magazine,” is up and running at The Fictorian Era. 

Come by and say hello!

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The Prodigal’s Foole

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Mercedes M. Yardley

Podcaster, writer, and all-around good guy, R.B. Wood has released his debut novel, The Prodigal’s Foole. If you’re looking for a fun, fast read with a strong creep factor, this might be the book for you.

For the last ten years, Symon Bryson, a hard-drinking, snarky Irish anti-hero, has turned his back on his friends and his…uh, rather unique set of skills. Suddenly he receives an urgent message regarding his old mentor, and he grudgingly decides to come back, bringing his baggage with him. 

First off, Symon is a likable protagonist. He has the ability to use magic but hates every second of it. I dig the scathing sarcasm that hides a lifetime of secrets and pain, and some of the dialogue is laugh-out-loud funny. Symon’s constant reference to a mysterious incident of ten years ago was equal parts intriguing and at times a little frustrating until the reader is let in on the secret. I was interested in each of the characters. Wood built a world filled with the demonic, bitter ex-best friends, mystical old lovers, and—my favorite part—priests in Kevlar. The relationships between the characters are delightfully painful and intricate, and unfold throughout the novel, giving me several “Oh, cool!” moments. 

All in all, I’d suggest that you pick up The Prodigal’s Foole, if you want some fast, funny, dark fiction that doesn’t cross into the world of horror. It’s an enjoyable read with a satisfying conclusion.

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King Death of Nowhere Hall

Posted on January 9, 2012 by John Boden

Simon Marshall-Jones’s Spectral Press is setting itself up as a force to be reckoned with. Spectral releases limited-edition, professionally-designed chapbooks. I reviewed the first two releases last year. Both shared a theme of loss, guilt, and coping with that loss.

So it’s no surprise that the next two titles in the catalog share a theme, as well. The third published title from Spectral is Nowhere Hall, by the wonderful Cate Gardner. I was familiar with her quirky style and prose from her connection to Shock Totem (her story “Pretty Little Ghouls” was featured in issue #2).

Nowhere Hall follows the bizarre adventures of Ron, a man who seems to teeter on the edge, both courting and fleeing from Death. He ends up in a dilapidated hotel, peopled with odd mannequins and living shadows. Ron plays cat and mouse with Death and learns the power of a good umbrella. A more whimsical one-man version of The Shining through the looking-glass.

The visuals are strong, and though sometimes the prose gets a bit coiled and confusing at times, there is a lot to process here. Incredible descriptions and a depressing mood ooze from the pages. Were I not already a fan of Cate’s work, this would be a step toward winning me over.

—

The next release was Paul Finch’s King Death, a daring story set in 1348.

A plague-battered England is a smorgasbord for Rodric, a morally bankrupt looter and opportunist. He trolls the countryside stealing from the dead. As he roams, he encounters a strange young boy and presents himself as King Death in order to scare the boy into leading him to his estate, where he envisions wealth and shelter.

The boy does in fact lead him to his manor, and it is here where things begin to turn, where Rodric learns things are not always as they appear and that Death is, in fact, an entity that is best not toyed with.

Incredibly deft writing is what makes this story so enjoyable. These types of tales, set in this period are usually dry as hell and leave the reader frustrated at trying to decipher what they just read. Finch tells his tale with ease and in a way that flows smoothly. The few characters are strong and the atmosphere presented is bleak and hopeless.

So far, Simon and Spectral Press are four for four, and I can’t wait to read what comes next.

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Kevin J. Anderson Talks Writing

Posted on January 9, 2012 by K. Allen Wood

Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert kicked off separate multi-city book tours on January 3 in support of their just-released collaborative novel, Sisterhood of Dune. Check out this inspirational video from Kevin’s tour stop in Denver, CO.

And if you’re looking for more inspiration, follow Kevin on Twitter and Facebook. The man is a writing machine!

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