Horror World

The Qualia Nous horror anthology (edited by Michael Bailey and published by Written Backward Press) is quite the horror tome weighing in with 30 stories and poems, all of which having firm roots in science fiction.  The anthologies content appears to be divided into two themes, which for the sake of brevity I will summarize:  Qualia – the way it feels to have mental states, and, Nous – the ability to understand what is true or real.  The themes are decidedly literary, and while they may have served the purpose of guiding authors with their submissions, readers need not remember them when reading the stories. I accepted Qualia Nous for review without realizing the stories were science fiction based.  I admit, I am not a fan of the genre.  The more hard science in a story, the more I tend to tune the story out.  Take Michael Bailey’s introduction for instance.  My eyes glazed over while reading it (something about binary numbers and lots of X’s and O’s).  I know it … [Read more...]

Carnival of The Damned is the third circus/carnival related anthology for review that has come across my desk in the last six months.  I had read the other two prior to Carnival of The Damned, and I was highly disappointed with them.  I admit to picking up Carnival of The Damned with hesitation, but after glancing at the table of contents and spying a few authors who I was familiar with, I was pretty sure my experience Carnival of The Damned was going to be much more pleasant.  And I was correct.  Carnival of The Damned had all the ingredients that were missing from the prior two circus/carnival anthologies, namely innovative plotting, strong prose, and the stories were genuinely entertaining. Three of my favorite stories in this anthology are from talented authors who have never let me down, including Scott T.  Gousward (Ghost Lights), Tarcy L. Carbone (The Mirror), and Gregory Norris (Calliope). But there were other authors, new to me, who also managed to grab … [Read more...]

There are not many authors that I like enough that I would read a romantic comedy. Jeff Strand is one of the rare breed that I would follow anywhere, though. So when I found out that his latest, KUMQUAT, is, at heart, a romantic comedy, I decided that he’d built up enough goodwill with me that I could suck it up, take one for the team, and give it a shot…. Jeff Strand is best-known as the author of darkly comedic Horror novels/novellas/short stories such as I HAVE A BAD FEELING ABOUT THIS, DEAD CLOWN BARBECUE, WOLF HUNT, KUTTER, and literally tons and tons more. I’ve never read a thing he’s written that I didn’t absolutely love, or at least like a whole, whole lot, so….bring on the romantic comedy. Worst case scenario: I’d hate it. But the silver lining would be that if anyone ever asked me if I had read a romantic comedy novel, I would now be able to answer “Yes. Yes, I have.” So, having read KUMQUAT, I can now say that not only have I read a romantic … [Read more...]