Filmmakers Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher have collaborated on four documentaries since 2009: October Country, Off Label, Rougarouing and, their latest, Peace in the Valley. Presented in the Shorts program at Sundance 2016, their new film concerns issues of religion and Lgbt rights in a small Arkansas town. Below, co-director and Dp Palmieri discusses his visual approach for the film. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this job? Palmieri: One of the reasons I gravitated towards documentary film had to do […]...
- 1/31/2016
- by Soheil Rezayazdi
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Filmmakers Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher have collaborated on four documentaries since 2009: October Country, Off Label, Rougarouing and, their latest, Peace in the Valley. Presented in the Shorts program at Sundance 2016, their new film concerns issues of religion and Lgbt rights in a small Arkansas town. Below, co-director and Dp Palmieri discusses his visual approach for the film. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this job? Palmieri: One of the reasons I gravitated towards documentary film had to do […]...
- 1/31/2016
- by Soheil Rezayazdi
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Gary Braunbeck wants to scare the living hell out of you, but he isn't content to do so with the usual cast of characters – your vengeful ghosts, your monsters under the bed. Oh, he can (and will, and does) use those things, and to great effect, but he's also aware that those things are just shadows. In the hands of the truly skilled and talented (such as his), those things can frighten, but even the best constructed shadows can be banished with just a little bit of light. Braunbeck likes to dig deeper, to find those things that scare us because they are real and relatable; things like loneliness and regret and ignorance and unfulfilled promise. Those are the types of things that go bump in the night in Braunbeck's collection Rose of Sharon and Other Stories, a group of stories that will haunt you long after you turn the last page.
- 4/10/2014
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
"If they have to call Joe Ledger - it's already hit the fan." I love that line from the back cover of Joe Ledger: Special Ops, the new book of short stories from Jonathan Maberry. If you've never read a Joe Ledger book (there are six in the series, with more on the way), that line does a good job of telling you what to expect. Ledger leads Echo Team, an elite anti-terrorism squad that only rolls out for the most dangerous of missions. Why am I writing about him on Fearnet? Because Maberry throws Ledger and his crew at threats composed of off-kilter science, mutations, tampered genetics, shape-shifters, zombies... you know, real mad scientist stuff. If you haven't read any of the novels, this is a great way to get a taste and see if it's your kind of thing. These stories (seven reprints and two brand-new tales) weave...
- 4/3/2014
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
These days it seems like we're all expecting the world to end in a zombie apocalypse. The living dead genre is thriving like never before, and it feels like zombies have completely shoved old-fashioned world-enders like comets, nukes and deities out of the running. While I enjoy a good zombie story as much as the next guy, I feel like there's still room for tales about death raining down on us from above, or a psychopath with some stolen missile codes and a hankering for a full-planet cleanse. John Joseph Adams and Hugh Howey must have felt the same way, because their new collection The End is Nigh delivers the "endtimes" in a wide variety of ways. It's the opening volume of "The Apocalypse Triptych," a series of three anthologies focusing on the three stages of the apocalypse: before (The End is Nigh), during (The End is Now) and after...
- 3/27/2014
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
Last year I praised Justin Robinson's Everyman for being completely fresh, original and, well, damn good. Unbeknownst to me, Robinson had released another novel just before Everyman, and I'm happy to say that, while City of Devils is completely different, my assessment is going to be more of the same: it's fresh, original, and damn good. City of Devils is a detective novel with all the usual trappings: a stunning blonde seeking help from a rumpled private investigator; a seemingly simple case that becomes bigger with every lead; and a journey that takes our hero to the seedy underside of a big city, uncovering corruption involving the biggest players at the highest levels. The difference is this detective novel is set in an alternate reality where classic movie monsters like vampires, phantoms, gill men and gremlins share an uneasy peace with humans. Now, it would have been easy for...
- 3/19/2014
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
Chris Alexander has snapped up some of the coolest jobs in horror journalism, and now he's creating cool new ones to take on as well. After a stint writing for Rue Morgue magazine, he moved on to become editor-in-chief at Fangoria, building a résumé between the two that is enough to make the rest of us genre hacks jealous. But then he went and resurrected Gorezone (which he edits), and now, in conjunction with horror/exploitation film legend Charles Band, he's helped create (and edit) Delirium, a magazine devoted to the film catalogs of Empire Pictures and Full Moon. It's with tongue planted firmly in cheek that I talk of jealousy, of course; Alexander is in the position(s) he's in through a combination of talent, hard work and an absolute love of the stuff he's writing about. That love shines through in Delirium #1, a debut issue that's as bold,...
- 3/11/2014
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
When your press materials lead with a quote from Stephen King calling your book "old school horror at its best," you’d better be confident that the book in question does not fall short. The Troop does not fall short. The book begins with a classic horror setup: the isolation of a group of likable, relatable people, followed by the introduction of a mysterious and deadly force. The group in question is a small Scout troop, a seemingly tight-knit squad of five teenage boys and their scoutmaster, Tim, spending their annual wilderness weekend on tiny Falstaff Island. The force comes in the form of an emaciated man who stumbles into their cabin on their first night with death literally eating its way through his body. What follows is a savage and thorough breakdown of this tiny community, as kids who are accustomed to having adults come to the rescue quickly...
- 3/6/2014
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
No less an authority than Stephen King calls Nick Cutter’s The Troop “old-school horror at its best.” The book, which goes on sale February 25, finds a young group of scouts on an isolated wilderness trip confronted by a strange man with a horrible, deadly infection. Early reviews are invoking everything from Lord of the Flies to Night of the Creeps, which is a good sign in my book. I’ll have my own review of the novel here at Fearnet next week, but for now we’ve got a few words with the author himself. Fearnet: You've cited Stephen King as a major influence on your work and this novel in particular. What elements of his work do you see in The Troop? Cutter: Well, I cribbed its structure from Carrie, which is a debt I make clear in the acknowledgements. “The Body” (made into the film Stand by Me) is another obvious touchstone.
- 2/27/2014
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
I’ve always been a fan of mixing the horror and western genres. Something about the setting of a good, traditional western makes it ripe for elements of horror. Perhaps it’s the lack of technology, the stripping away of the abundant electricity and glowing screens that we all find comfort in these days. Maybe it’s the isolation of those long-ago days, when highways and interstates were nonexistent, and travel was by horseback or on foot and took days instead of hours. These days, if something bad happens on the other side of the world we know about it almost instantly. Back then word traveled mostly by mouth, and bad things could happen the next town over and nobody would know, until maybe that bad thing showed up on their doorstep. “Adam Price and His Traveling Players,” a group of supposed actors travelling the dusty roads between towns in 1880s Mexico,...
- 2/19/2014
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
Fifty-seven years passed between the events of Ridley Scott's Alien and James Cameron's Aliens, and during that entire time, Ellen Ripley slept in stasis. At least, that's what we were told. Now along comes author Tim Lebbon to tell us that wasn't actually the case.
Alien: Out of the Shadows, the first in a barrage of Alien books coming this year from Titan Books (more on those in a minute), begins an all-new tale about what happened during those "lost" five decades and change. The book picks up some 37 years after the destruction of the Nostromo. The Marion is a mining ship much like the Nostromo, crewed by a rough-edged bunch of space jockeys in charge of a mining operation on planet LV178. It's a boring, repetitive job right up until the day the miners discover something other than trimonite below the planet's surface. When several of...
Alien: Out of the Shadows, the first in a barrage of Alien books coming this year from Titan Books (more on those in a minute), begins an all-new tale about what happened during those "lost" five decades and change. The book picks up some 37 years after the destruction of the Nostromo. The Marion is a mining ship much like the Nostromo, crewed by a rough-edged bunch of space jockeys in charge of a mining operation on planet LV178. It's a boring, repetitive job right up until the day the miners discover something other than trimonite below the planet's surface. When several of...
- 2/12/2014
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
The term "horror library" conjures certain expectations. If you go to a library, you can assume you'll find more than one specific kind of book. Likewise, a "horror library" is going to be home to more than one kind of horror - you'll have your "Quiet Horror" section, your "Splatterpunk" section, your "Haunted House" section, your "Demonic Possession" section, and so on and so forth. I believe that Cutting Block Press was very intentional in naming their anthology series Horror Library, and editors R.J. Cavender and Boyd E. Harris continue in this, the series' fifth edition, to take an all-inclusive approach in collecting its contents. While readers who are only attracted to certain kinds of horror may find such far-reaching collections a hit-and-miss affair, those who are open to varying approaches to the genre will find plenty worth reading here. Some of the terrible things you'll stumble across here:...
- 2/6/2014
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
2013 was a good year for reading in general and horror in particular, so our current set of 365 days has some big shoes to fill. Here are a handful of titles coming out this year that I think are going to help 2014 meet those expectations.
Alien: Out of the Shadows by Tim Lebbon
January 28, 2014 - Titan Books
Tim Lebbon has a deft hand when it comes to working in established properties, having written novelizations and original books for fan favorites including 30 Days of Night, Cabin in the Woods and the Hellboy and Star Wars universes. Now he's taking on one of my favorite franchises – the Alien films. Out of the Shadows is an original novel that revisits the character of Ellen Ripley, who was of course brought to vivid life in the film series by Sigourney Weaver. It's the start of a new trilogy, the events of which lead directly...
Alien: Out of the Shadows by Tim Lebbon
January 28, 2014 - Titan Books
Tim Lebbon has a deft hand when it comes to working in established properties, having written novelizations and original books for fan favorites including 30 Days of Night, Cabin in the Woods and the Hellboy and Star Wars universes. Now he's taking on one of my favorite franchises – the Alien films. Out of the Shadows is an original novel that revisits the character of Ellen Ripley, who was of course brought to vivid life in the film series by Sigourney Weaver. It's the start of a new trilogy, the events of which lead directly...
- 1/28/2014
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
Beautiful, haunting elegies for American poverty have gradually developed into a subgenre of modern documentary filmmaking: "October Country" captured the struggles of a dysfunctional family in upstate New York, while "Oxyana" found echoes of desperation among drug-addled residents a West Virginian mining town, and the newly released "12 O'Clock Boys" presents a lyrical view of daring teen street bikers from low income regions of Baltimore. Directors Tracy Droz Tragos and Andrew Droz Palmero's "Rich Hill," which won the Sundance Film Festival's grand jury prize for documentary over the weekend, epitomizes the best and worst aspects of this non-fiction storytelling tendency: It's often overwhelming gorgeous and deeply sad in its depiction of three young boys fighting through their youth in the trenches of deep poverty in Rich Hill, Missouri (where the directors grew up). At the same time, it's a meandering portrait that never snaps into narrative focus with the stunning clarity of its.
- 1/27/2014
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
It begins as many zombie stories do, with a survivor shuffling down the streets of his hometown. Everything has fallen into a post-apocalyptic ruin, the sky has turned a noxious yellow, and there’s some kind of strange mold growing over the broken walls and cracked streets. The survivor remembers that his name is David, but he doesn’t remember much else. All he knows is that he’s scared, confused, and hungrier than he’s ever been in his life.
I reached the end of the first few pages of Tim Waggoner’s The Way of All Flesh (coming in April from Samhain Publishing) with visions of The Walking Dead and 28 Days Later dancing in my head. But by the time David made it to the park and began to fight a woman over a hunk of caged meat, I knew Waggoner had something entirely different in mind. From...
I reached the end of the first few pages of Tim Waggoner’s The Way of All Flesh (coming in April from Samhain Publishing) with visions of The Walking Dead and 28 Days Later dancing in my head. But by the time David made it to the park and began to fight a woman over a hunk of caged meat, I knew Waggoner had something entirely different in mind. From...
- 1/23/2014
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
This is going to be less of a review and more of a cautionary tale. I thought I knew what I was getting into when I started reading Sixty-Five Stirrup Iron Road. It is, after all, a collaboration of nine of the hardest-hitting horror authors working in the genre today: Brian Keene, Jack Ketchum, Edward Lee, J.F. Gonzalez, Bryan Smith, Wrath James White, Nate Southard, Ryan Harding and Shane McKenzie. These are not guys known for their restraint, and when you bring them all together between the same two covers, well, let’s just say the game of one-upsmanship is taken to a whole different level. I was not prepared for some of the things I read in this book. Clearly I’m no prude (I doubt I’d be writing for Fearnet if that were the case). I’ve pounded down more than my share of horror novels.
- 1/16/2014
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
I named The Fallen Boys by Aaron Dries as one of my favorite horror novels of 2013 here on FEARnet, so my expectations were high as I cracked open his new (well, new-ish – it came out in October of last year) novella from Samhain Publishing, And the Night Growled Back. I’d like to publicly thank Dries for not making me look like a chump. Like the aforementioned novel, this new piece takes relatable actions and emotion – in this case anger, jealousy and panic – and spins them into horror that is as tragic and effective as anything based in the supernatural.
Growled features the trio of Lila, Sam, and Paul. The three are vacationing together in Iceland, and there’s an interesting dynamic at work: Lila and Sam are romantically involved, and Sam and Paul are longtime friends. While there’s an understandable tension there they seem to be working through it,...
Growled features the trio of Lila, Sam, and Paul. The three are vacationing together in Iceland, and there’s an interesting dynamic at work: Lila and Sam are romantically involved, and Sam and Paul are longtime friends. While there’s an understandable tension there they seem to be working through it,...
- 1/8/2014
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
Bentley Little is an author who’s been on my radar for quite some time as someone I “should” be reading, but for whatever reason never got around to. It’s with no small amount of shame that I admit this, as it’s virtually impossible to be unaware of his success in the genre or the admiration he garners from readers and writers alike. I’ve read the occasional short story of his, but had never tackled a full-length novel until now. The Influence, recently released by Cemetery Dance, will always be my first Little novel – but it definitely won’t be my last.
The Influence concerns the small town of Magdalena, an unassuming mix of ranches and farms deep in Arizona. Ross Lowry is a city boy through and through, and as unlikely a prospect to live in a place like Magdalena as you’ll find. However, a...
The Influence concerns the small town of Magdalena, an unassuming mix of ranches and farms deep in Arizona. Ross Lowry is a city boy through and through, and as unlikely a prospect to live in a place like Magdalena as you’ll find. However, a...
- 12/31/2013
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
2013 was a stellar year for horror fiction, and while these five titles made the cut for this column I could have easily added a dozen more. There are familiar names here, and a couple of newcomers I hope you’ll seek out. If you’re so inclined, I’d love to hear what your favorite reads of the year were – feel free to share them in the comments below.
The Bones of You by Gary McMahon
I’m a sucker for “quiet” horror, the kind of stuff that relies heavily on atmosphere and suggestion to conjure up its scares. There are no shortcuts to making fiction of this sort work; if a writer doesn’t have the particular skill set for this kind of storytelling, you’ll know it in the first few pages. McMahon proves he’s up for the challenge in this devastating novella about a haunted man...
The Bones of You by Gary McMahon
I’m a sucker for “quiet” horror, the kind of stuff that relies heavily on atmosphere and suggestion to conjure up its scares. There are no shortcuts to making fiction of this sort work; if a writer doesn’t have the particular skill set for this kind of storytelling, you’ll know it in the first few pages. McMahon proves he’s up for the challenge in this devastating novella about a haunted man...
- 12/30/2013
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
Candy House, the debut novel by Kate Jonez, sets magic and science against one another in one of the weirdest, wildest neighborhood disputes you'll ever read about. Roland Childe is a 28-year-old professor with some… interesting theories he’s been working on. The theories have garnered him some attention in the scientific community, but not exactly the kind of attention he’s hoping for. His burgeoning reputation as a crackpot, combined with his explosive temper, has resulted in a broken career and a wrecked personal life. When we first meet the man, he’s moved back into his childhood home with his mother. The Childes live next door to a family that’s anything but your ordinary suburban family. Instead it’s a wild clan of witches and demons, a colorful cast of characters with a mission – make sure science respects its boundaries and stays out of magic’s way.
- 12/19/2013
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
The immense potential and the inevitable growing pains of author Adam Cesare’s young career are both on display in The Summer Job, his upcoming (January 2014) novel from Samhain Publishing. The Summer Job begins as most good Satanic cult novels do – with a couple of out-of-towners meeting a bad end after stumbling into a mysterious party in the middle of the woods. Despite this familiar opening salvo, it’s apparent early on that Cesare has more than the typical shenanigans in mind. The Summer Job’s central character is Claire, a directionless girl who follows a help wanted ad to a quaint little hotel called The Brant in a quaint little town called Mission. Claire’s love life has hit a dead end, her relationship with close friend Allison is fraying at the edges, and she’s desperate for a fresh start. Her move to Mission gives her a new purpose,...
- 12/10/2013
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
In December of 1988, Richard Chizmar decided to publish a horror magazine called Cemetery Dance. A few months later, he did. In October of 2013, Chizmar decided to publish an anthology called Turn Down the Lights celebrating the 25th anniversary of the magazine. A couple of months later, he has. Chizmar, clearly, is not the kind of guy to back away from a challenge. It’s that kind of attitude that’s enabled him to build a veritable empire on the foundation of that first issue of Cemetery Dance, and to turn that unlikely name into a recognizable, trustworthy brand. That first issue of Cemetery Dance featured a lot of names new to the horror genre, some of whom would go on to carve out big careers, some of whom would fade into obscurity. There are no obscure names in Turn Down the Lights – this is the cream of the horror crop,...
- 12/3/2013
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
One of the things that fascinates me most about the horror genre is the vast array of approaches the author has at his or her disposal in order to achieve the desired effect of scaring the reader. Some go for aggressive, in-your-face attempts at pure shock; some fill their inkwells with blood and guts to go for the gross-out; and some simply sidle up next to you and whisper terrible, disquieting things in your ear.
That last approach is the one Gary McMahon takes in his new novella The Bones of You, the latest entry in the Earthling Publications Halloween Series. It takes serious chops to make that route work, and McMahon’s effort here is an unqualified success.
The Bones of You centers on Adam Morris, a guy who has carried some serious baggage into the new home he’s just rented. Morris is divorced, but he and his...
That last approach is the one Gary McMahon takes in his new novella The Bones of You, the latest entry in the Earthling Publications Halloween Series. It takes serious chops to make that route work, and McMahon’s effort here is an unqualified success.
The Bones of You centers on Adam Morris, a guy who has carried some serious baggage into the new home he’s just rented. Morris is divorced, but he and his...
- 11/25/2013
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
Adam Mansbach may not seem like a likely candidate to write one of the best thriller/horror hybrids to come along this year, but he's done just that with his new novel The Dead Run. Mansbach, author of the pop culture phenomenon Go the Fuck to Sleep as well as the novels The End of the Jews and Angry Black White Boy, attacks his latest book with a potent mix of literary skill and pulp savviness. The result is a lean, intoxicating funhouse of a book that is difficult to put down. Mansbach spends the first few chapters of The Dead Run setting a handful of disparate storylines in motion. We meet a man named Jess Galvan, doing time in a Mexican prison for an attempted act of bravery in a dive bar. Galvan is chosen by a mysterious prison legend known as El Cucuy to deliver a dangerous package for him.
- 11/19/2013
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
Surrealism is difficult to pull off in horror fiction. Sure, any horror writer worth his or her salt can come up with off-kilter imagery, but to ground it and give it enough heart to resonate with readers is where the true skill comes into play. The reason I’m not a huge fan of surrealistic fiction is that I don’t connect with most of it. So I was pleasantly surprised to find that in Bone Whispers, a new collection of short fiction from Post Mortem Press, Tim Waggoner manages to meld surreal imagery and events with strong character work and an immersive point of view, resulting in work that shocks you on the surface and unsettles you right down to your bones. This collection successfully mixes Waggoner’s quirky concepts with several more “traditional” scary stories, and brings the two approaches harmoniously together in “Skull Cathedral,” which stands out...
- 11/13/2013
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
If you hand someone copies of Edge of Dark Water and Bubba Ho-Tep with the author's name removed, it's unlikely they'd guess the two were written by the same man. One is a critically acclaimed coming-of-age story that's drawn favorable comparisons to the work of Mark Twain; the other is a horror story set in a decrepit nursing home, starring principal characters that include an ancient mummy, the real Elvis Presley, and an elderly black man who thinks he's JFK. Both of these are works by Joe R. Lansdale, and on the surface they are night and day. However, if you look close enough, you'll see the types of things in both that epitomize Lansdale's writing: sharp wit, flawless characterization, and pure storytelling muscle. All of these traits, from the vivid voice to the fearless exploration of genres, are represented in Lansdale's latest (and, at 500 pages struggling to contain 30 stories and poems,...
- 11/5/2013
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
I detailed the story behind the publication of the Mister October tribute anthologies in my review of Volume I last week; go here to read the long version. The short version is that respected/revered horror author Rick Hautala passed away unexpectedly earlier this year, and his friend and fellow writer Christopher Golden worked fast to assemble this anthology that would stand as a tribute to Hautala and as a means of providing some much-needed financial assistance to the Hautala family. Volume I was packed to the rafters with top-shelf genre talent, but the response to Golden's call for submissions was so strong that he was able to build a second, equally stacked volume to accompany it. Volume II boasts names like Clive Barker, Jack Ketchum, Brian Keene, John Skipp, Sarah Pinborough, Peter Straub and Tim Lebbon, as well as work by Hautala's wife, Holly Newstein, Golden, and Rick Hautala himself.
- 10/29/2013
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
When author Rick Hautala passed away unexpectedly in March of this year, his friend and fellow writer Christopher Golden wasted little time in initiating a tribute anthology. The project would quickly evolve into a two-volume set titled Mister October.
Golden’s haste was about more than celebrating Hautala’s legacy. Golden knew something that few others were aware of at the time: Hautala, successful and respected as he was, was not immune to the financial pitfalls of the professional writer’s life, and he’d been forced to let his life insurance lapse a short time before his death. He left behind a family that was going to need a little help, and Golden worked hard to make sure they would get it. A vast array of writers answered his call for stories with an amazing assortment of classic gems, rare reprints and a few never-before-published tales. JournalStone stepped up...
Golden’s haste was about more than celebrating Hautala’s legacy. Golden knew something that few others were aware of at the time: Hautala, successful and respected as he was, was not immune to the financial pitfalls of the professional writer’s life, and he’d been forced to let his life insurance lapse a short time before his death. He left behind a family that was going to need a little help, and Golden worked hard to make sure they would get it. A vast array of writers answered his call for stories with an amazing assortment of classic gems, rare reprints and a few never-before-published tales. JournalStone stepped up...
- 10/23/2013
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
In my pre-Internet, pre-instant-access-to-everything youth, magazines were a valuable commodity, a window to a world I might otherwise never see. Magazines brought us news from far-flung places, gave us inside access to rock stars and sports figures, and provided tantalizing hints at what the future might hold in just about every area of interest - especially movies. For a certified gorehound like me, Fangoria was (and still is, in my opinion) the standard-bearer when it came to magazines devoted to horror movies. Fangoria wasn't afraid to put flayed corpses, slimy creatures, or entrail-filled television cabinets front and center on its covers, and its insides were filled with plenty more guts and grue. Fango was seemingly on every horror movie set, taking pictures and interviewing the principles involved so that we, the fans, could be well-informed about what was hitting theaters and video stores in the months ahead. We already had...
- 10/15/2013
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
In his latest novella Jack and Jill, Kealan Patrick Burke continues to demonstrate his mastery of compact horror, delivering a quick little tale that packs a lasting emotional punch.
Horror is a genre in which it is a given that artists are going to explore subject matter that's considered taboo under most circumstances. Child abuse certainly falls into the taboo category, but Burke handles the subject with a sensitivity that underscores its seriousness. Yes, he's writing a story that's meant to entertain and engage, but he's not looking to exploit. Instead, Jack and Jill is an invitation to explore an uncomfortable situation that is an unfortunate reality for many, and to witness the far-reaching, devastating consequences such actions can have.
"Jack and Jill" are really John and Gillian, brother and sister. John is dead by the time the story starts, but his memory hangs heavily over the proceedings. Gillian is a grown woman now,...
Horror is a genre in which it is a given that artists are going to explore subject matter that's considered taboo under most circumstances. Child abuse certainly falls into the taboo category, but Burke handles the subject with a sensitivity that underscores its seriousness. Yes, he's writing a story that's meant to entertain and engage, but he's not looking to exploit. Instead, Jack and Jill is an invitation to explore an uncomfortable situation that is an unfortunate reality for many, and to witness the far-reaching, devastating consequences such actions can have.
"Jack and Jill" are really John and Gillian, brother and sister. John is dead by the time the story starts, but his memory hangs heavily over the proceedings. Gillian is a grown woman now,...
- 10/10/2013
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
In this day and digital age, the question of identity is murkier than ever before. With a few mouse clicks we can transform ourselves into virtually anybody or anything, and it’s amazing how many people take the personas we build on the Internet at face value. People who can barely hold up their end of a conversation in person become passionate, persuasive arguers as long as that computer screen buffer exists between them and the people they are talking to/ranting at. While it’s easier than ever to shape an identity for ourselves online, it’s also easier to have that identity stolen away. All it takes is a moderately-skilled hacker to crack a few passwords, and suddenly your carefully crafted public persona is out of your control. That’s a terrifying thought, to be sure. Now apply the scenario to the real you – not your collection of passwords,...
- 10/4/2013
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
Limbus, Inc. is not a short story collection or a themed anthology. It’s “A Shared World Experience,” a set of stories linked by the presence and actions of the mysterious, titular employment agency. Books like this are only as strong as the core concept, and in this case the participating authors had a great gimmick to work with.
Throughout the five stories that make up the bulk of the book, Limbus seeks out characters at low points in their lives, offering them employment scenarios that are tailor-made for their particular skill sets and situations. Of course, a lot of information is held back until the recruits sign on the dotted line, and they soon find themselves in jobs that are far from the simple construction gigs or administrative assistant positions they might have been expecting. How far? How about becoming a glorified food processor for a half-mad alien princess,...
Throughout the five stories that make up the bulk of the book, Limbus seeks out characters at low points in their lives, offering them employment scenarios that are tailor-made for their particular skill sets and situations. Of course, a lot of information is held back until the recruits sign on the dotted line, and they soon find themselves in jobs that are far from the simple construction gigs or administrative assistant positions they might have been expecting. How far? How about becoming a glorified food processor for a half-mad alien princess,...
- 9/26/2013
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
Full disclosure, right off the bat: I am so not the target audience for this book. I like a lot of grit in my stories. Anything that’s too smooth, too polished – whether it’s the subject matter or the prose itself – tends to shut me down. I don’t want to read something that feels like it was written – I want to read something that feels like it was survived. I’m not big on vampires, I don’t read romance novels, and when I worked at a bookstore I leafed through a few pages of the then-all-the-rage series Twilight and quickly gathered that it was not for me. Julie Hutchings' Running Home is a polished piece of prose, a re-imagining of the vampire mythos with a heaping helping of romance thrown in. In other words, it’s everything I do not look for in a book. Kudos,...
- 9/25/2013
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
In four short years, JournalStone Publishing has positioned itself as an attractive home to established authors and new talents alike. With a depth chart that includes Jonathan Maberry, Rick Hautala, Lisa Morton and Christopher Golden, and a deep catalog of horror, science fiction and fantasy novels and anthologies – not to mention an acclaimed quarterly magazine and a prominent genre website – I’d be shocked if you haven’t happened across this imprint already. But just in case you haven’t, consider this your formal introduction. JournalStone was founded in 2009 in San Francisco by Christopher Payne. It started out as a blog before transitioning into a publishing company the following year. JournalStone followed the unconventional route of building its initial slate via a novel writing contest. The first winner, That Which Shall Not Be by Brett J. Talley, was nominated by the Horror Writers Association in the “Superior Achievement in a...
- 9/13/2013
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
Summer’s End is a Halloween story, but it’s less about the trappings of the holiday and more about the ancient beliefs surrounding Samhain, the Gaelic festival marking the end of harvest in which Halloween’s roots reside. So, if you’re expecting something that celebrates plastic pumpkins, drugstore costumes and candy corn, this is not your Halloween story. But if you’re in the mood to peek into the darkness behind the revelry, then step right up. Author Lisa Morton seamlessly casts herself in her new novella as a respected horror author and Halloween expert – no stretch for Morton, who can lay legitimate claim to both titles – who is contacted by Irish archaeologist Conor ó Cuinn about an ancient manuscript he possesses. The man is nearly rabid in his belief that the manuscript contains information that upends virtually everything we know and believe about the season of Samhain…...
- 9/4/2013
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
I had a couple of questions about this book, and books on Jack the Ripper in general, when I first sat down with it. One: is it okay to base a piece of entertainment on a real-life serial killer? I realize that it happens all the time in the horror genre – most of our favorite fictional killers are based on the actions of real-life murderers. But giving those characters different names and placing them in different circumstances at least adds a layer between the made-up atrocities and the true ones. There is no such buffer when it comes to Jack the Ripper. Although we don’t who Jack really was, we know he existed, and we know what he did, and who he did it to. We know their names. Editor Ross Lockhart dedicates this book to them. So we know, going in, that we’re about to read a...
- 8/27/2013
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
Bad reviews are easy to write. Good reviews, even easier. Middle-of-the-road reviews, on the other hand, are tough to crack. But that’s where I find myself today as I’m putting my thoughts together on John F.D. Taff’s new book The Bell Witch. The book is based on a well-known haunting that took place in Tennessee in the early 1800s. Numerous books have been written on the subject, and films ranging from The Blair Witch Project to An American Haunting have been based at least in part on the legend. Taff’s version is a fictionalized account of what may or may not have actually happened, but a little research shows that he’s sticking quite close to what’s accepted as fact in the case. In Taff’s book, the Bell family begins experiencing strange events that seem to be centered around their daughter, Betsy. When...
- 8/21/2013
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
Jason Jack Miller continues his fascinating exploration of ancient Appalachian magic, the power of music, and the war for a man’s soul with The Revelations of Preston Black, the third book in his “Murder Ballads and Whiskey” series.
If you haven’t read the first two in that series, The Devil and Preston Black and Hellbender, I strongly urge that you do so. Revelations works just fine as a stand-alone novel, but the events covered here are deeply entwined in those first two books. You’ll appreciate what’s going on here more, and you’ll thank me for introducing you not to just one good book, but a whole trifecta.
The events of this book kick off when touring musician Preston Black, on stage with his creative partner and lover Katy Stefanic, references a deal with the devil. As we all know, demonic references span music history from...
If you haven’t read the first two in that series, The Devil and Preston Black and Hellbender, I strongly urge that you do so. Revelations works just fine as a stand-alone novel, but the events covered here are deeply entwined in those first two books. You’ll appreciate what’s going on here more, and you’ll thank me for introducing you not to just one good book, but a whole trifecta.
The events of this book kick off when touring musician Preston Black, on stage with his creative partner and lover Katy Stefanic, references a deal with the devil. As we all know, demonic references span music history from...
- 8/13/2013
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
The profound, personal tales stemming from the commercialization and subsequent abuse of prescription drugs deserve a penetrating exposé, but don't discount October Country filmmakers Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher's tragicomically beautiful art-doc, which sensitively favors unflinching testimonials and visually impressionistic observations over journalistic activism. In a tangentially linked, cleverly edited medley of portraits, a 22-year-old army medic gripes about the inapt pharmaceutical dregs offered him to combat Ptsd from his Abu Ghraib stationing, while a former inmate forgives the institutional villains who ruined him through forced medical experiments. Other guinea pigs step forward, like the neo-hippie couple who undergo drug trials to pay for their wedding,...
- 8/7/2013
- Village Voice
As we get closer to the swan song of summer 2013, there are a lot of reasons to look ahead to the coming fall season. As I write this it’s near the end of a sweltering Southern August afternoon, and I’m in a house where the A/C has decided to take a couple of days off. That in itself is incentive enough to look forward to cooler days, but obviously you don’t come to FEARnet to read about my temporary woes; you come here because we know what scares you. Here are a few books on the horizon that I have a feeling are going to do just that. Hell Gate by Elizabeth Massie (September 2013, Darkfuse) We’ve had one good carnival novel already this year in Stephen King’s Joyland, but that one was more of a coming-of-age type story, whereas Massie looks to be heading...
- 8/5/2013
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
A couple of weeks ago, a movie called The Conjuring came out and did big business at the box office. Despite being a project of James Wan, mastermind of the blood-splattered, torture-dependent Saw flicks, The Conjuring manufactures its scares out of atmosphere and dread rather than graphic violence and buckets of blood. Critics and audiences alike seemed amazed that a horror film with such reserve could be such a creative and financial success. That brand of horror may never outnumber effects-driven showcases at the box office, but it has always thrived in the world of horror fiction. “Quiet horror” is a revered tradition practiced by giants such as Charles L. Grant, T.E.D. Klein, Ray Bradbury and, of course, Ramsey Campbell. Campbell has been penning quiet, devastating horror stories since the mid-1960s, and this new collection Holes for Faces (gathering stories exclusively from the 2000s) proves he still knows how...
- 7/31/2013
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
It’s easy to forget sometimes that horror fiction can be fun. It’s understandable, of course; after all, horror is the genre charged with examining the dark corners. It’s the vehicle by which we take a look at how bad things can get, and how we as human beings react. Do we fight back? Are we victimized? Scarred for life? Doesn’t sound like fun, does it? Horror movies often mine the lighter side of the dark side. Maybe one of the soon-to-be-victims of a serial killer is a real cut-up (so to speak). Maybe the scares come with a wink-and-a-nudge, like in Tremors or Evil Dead II. Maybe it’s a comedy with horrific elements, like Ghostbusters. Maybe it’s something that’s just so damn cool you can’t help but grin through the goosebumps. There are tons of examples of this to choose from in horror cinema,...
- 7/26/2013
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
Every year there are books coming out that I’m pretty sure I’m going to like. They may surprise me in some ways (the best ones always do), but it’s no surprise that I like them. I’m talking about books from my favorite authors, like this year’s Joyland by Stephen King or NOS4A2 by Joe Hill.
Naturally, books like that are part of the reason I keep reading. But comprising another, even more important part, are the books that come out of nowhere and blindside me with how good they are.
Books like The Fallen Boys.
I typically take notes when I’m reading a book for review. It’s sometimes tedious, but it’s an important part of the process for me. I stopped taking notes somewhere around the second chapter of Fallen Boys. I simply didn’t want to slow the story’s...
Naturally, books like that are part of the reason I keep reading. But comprising another, even more important part, are the books that come out of nowhere and blindside me with how good they are.
Books like The Fallen Boys.
I typically take notes when I’m reading a book for review. It’s sometimes tedious, but it’s an important part of the process for me. I stopped taking notes somewhere around the second chapter of Fallen Boys. I simply didn’t want to slow the story’s...
- 7/22/2013
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher received Gotham and Independent Spirit Award nominations for their debut film "October Country," a moody experimental documentary that explores the ghosts -- of all sorts -- haunting Mosher's relatives in Upstate New York. For their second documentary, the filmmaking team took on a problem of a larger scale: America's obsession with prescription drugs. But the filmmakers tell their story from the perspective of those affected by these drugs: a woman who lost her son to suicide while he was being treated, a man who worked as a drug rep, men who volunteer themselves to be human lab rats. Oscilloscope Laboratories will release the film in theaters and on VOD August 9. Check out the trailer, exclusive to Indiewire, below:...
- 7/19/2013
- by Bryce J. Renninger
- Indiewire
Outside of the stories Eclipse Comics adapted from Clive Barker’s seminal short story collection Books of Blood, there weren’t a lot of straight adaptations of the author’s prose work being attempted in comics. The Hellraiser stuff From Marvel was a continuation and expansion of the world created in Barker’s novella The Hellbound Heart, and other comics (like Marvel’s Razorline imprint) were created especially for the medium.
That changed in 2005 when publisher Idw released an adaptation of The Thief of Always, a “children’s fable” Barker published in 1992. The release of the book was perhaps the first sign that Barker was going to stretch beyond his blood-stained, adults-only reputation to reach out to young readers with his work (something he continues to do now with the Abarat series), and the author himself acknowledged that it was a big gamble for HarperCollins. In fact, he claims to...
That changed in 2005 when publisher Idw released an adaptation of The Thief of Always, a “children’s fable” Barker published in 1992. The release of the book was perhaps the first sign that Barker was going to stretch beyond his blood-stained, adults-only reputation to reach out to young readers with his work (something he continues to do now with the Abarat series), and the author himself acknowledged that it was a big gamble for HarperCollins. In fact, he claims to...
- 7/8/2013
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
Back in November of last year, I reviewed an Apex Publications anthology called Appalachian Undead. It was one of my favorite books of 2012, but thanks to a strange set of circumstances the project was shelved, leaving me as one of the few who actually got to read it. Fortunately, Apex has refused to let the project disappear altogether. Like any self-respecting zombie, that collection will live again – in a couple of different ways. The anthology itself will be resurrected more or less intact as a new release called Mountain Dead, and I hope to have a look at it when it’s ready to go. In the meantime, Elizabeth Massie has transformed her Appalachian Undead short story “When Granny Comes Marchin’ Home Again” into a full-fledged novel called Desper Hollow. The DNA of Massie’s original story is mostly intact. There’s no widespread zombie apocalypse – the trouble is instead...
- 7/3/2013
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
In 1988, horror was (blood) red-hot, and the pages of Fangoria magazine were bursting trying to keep up with it all. The home video market had given fans access to all kinds of horror – not just the stuff making it into the local cinemas, but direct-to-video schlock and stunning efforts from foreign markets that amped up the gore and sexuality to whole new levels. From out of this fertile breeding ground Gorezone was born, a sister publication to Fangoria specifically designed to handle all of the material that was too esoteric - or even too extreme - for the flagship title.
That initial run lasted 27 issues before the Gorezone flag was folded, but now it’s coming back. Fangoria editor-in-chief Chris Alexander has announced that Gorezone is coming back in a print-only, subscription-only bi-monthly format beginning later this year. Alexander took a few moments recently to tell us what we can...
That initial run lasted 27 issues before the Gorezone flag was folded, but now it’s coming back. Fangoria editor-in-chief Chris Alexander has announced that Gorezone is coming back in a print-only, subscription-only bi-monthly format beginning later this year. Alexander took a few moments recently to tell us what we can...
- 6/24/2013
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
If you think the premise of Nate Southard’s novel Lights Out – vampires invade a maximum security prison – is little more than an excuse to stage a giant, bloody brawl, it’s a forgivable assumption. Fortunately, Southard had a little more on his mind when he set out to write the book. It’s not “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption,” mind you, but it’s a far cry from Jason vs. Freddy. How so? Well, for one thing, Southard has stocked the cupboard with a handful of believable, even relatable characters, people that you can root for (or against) when the plasma hits the fan. To be honest, I wasn’t sure he was going to pull this off at first. After a claustrophobic opening which introduces Southard’s version of vampires, the horrific elements slide into the background while we get to know the people who will soon be fighting for their lives.
- 6/18/2013
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
My advance reading copy of Shivers VII didn’t include an introduction, and the table of contents gave no indication there would be one added to the finished and published edition. I’ve gotten used to anthologies leading off with some sort of mission statement or manifesto (sometimes, these missives are better than the stories that follow), but I guess hitting the seventh entry in a series indicates you know what you’re doing, and readers should know what to expect. After plowing through the 26 stories in Shivers VII, I’d say agree that no introduction is necessary. Like the six volumes before it, this is an anthology of rare quality, a collection of contemporary fiction that provides an excellent snapshot of where the genre stands today, and a roadmap to where it’s going. However, it’s important to remember where the genre came from even as it continues to move forward,...
- 6/10/2013
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
Storms can be powerful agents of change. Just ask anyone in Moore, Oklahoma, about the changes their lives and surroundings underwent a couple of weeks ago; ask anyone in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, about the changes they saw back in April of 2011. These changes weren’t sought out, and they certainly weren’t welcome, but once those clouds stacked high and began to rotate, the changes were inevitable.
John Mantooth knows about storms. He was raised in Alabama, where tornado warnings in the spring are as common as mosquito bites and triple-digit temperatures in the summer. He’s seen the damage twisters can do. He knows that they can upend houses and lives with ease and an almost callous disregard. It’s no surprise then that tornadoes play such an integral part in his debut novel, The Year of the Storm. There are the real storms that tear through the pages of this book,...
John Mantooth knows about storms. He was raised in Alabama, where tornado warnings in the spring are as common as mosquito bites and triple-digit temperatures in the summer. He’s seen the damage twisters can do. He knows that they can upend houses and lives with ease and an almost callous disregard. It’s no surprise then that tornadoes play such an integral part in his debut novel, The Year of the Storm. There are the real storms that tear through the pages of this book,...
- 6/6/2013
- by Blu Gilliand
- FEARnet
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