To the Dark Tower

It has taken me about six years to revisit Frank Belknap Long (1901-1994). My last experience with him, 1970s Monster From Out of Time, was unpleasant despite Frank Frazetta's promising paperback cover. Long is probably best remembered as a Lovecraft Circle member, sitting alongside other contemporary Weird Tales contributors like Clark Ashton Smith, Robert Bloch, and Robert E. Howard. As part of Nick Anderson's Book Graveyard YouTube show, The Guide to Gothics, I teamed up with the host and Liminal Spaces show host Chris to discuss Long's gothic paperback, To the Dark Tower (watch HERE). It was published in 1969 by both Lancer and Magnum using Long's pseudonym of Lyda Belknap Long. Humorously, the author adds at the beginning of the book, “To the untiring help and teachings of my husband, Frank Belknap Long.” I see what you did there.

The book stars a woman named Joan, an architect who recently encountered a dark supernatural force in the Pyrenees mountains. At least she thinks she did, and her life has been plagued with visions and nightmares since then. Her lover, Dr. Allen, has invited her to his rural Kentucky home so she can talk with mental health professionals about her experiences. Joan is appreciative of the gesture, but mainly just wants to get laid.

Before Joan's introduction, Long features a young disabled man named Willie witnessing some secret meeting of witches. He later finds a voodoo doll showing Joan's face before he is murdered. Two travelers in the area experience car trouble and make their way through the forest, and discover more crazy shenanigans. When they report their account to the local police, they are killed and buried in the woods. 

To the Dark Tower then shapes up to be a wild folk horror novel where the locals all worship the Devil and kill outsiders. Remember, this is just two years after Rosemary's Baby and the start of Satanic Panic. Books like Thomas Tryon's The Other and Harvest Home were around the corner, along with William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist. At least that was the idea, I think, disguised as a much safer gothic-romance or suspense book by the publisher. Unfortunately, as good as the setup is, Long fails to deliver a quality novel.

After a great beginning, Long delivers 40-50 pages of dialogue (in one room!) as the sheriff, Dr. Allen, and Joan all discuss various topics surrounding her experience in the forest, Europe, and meeting Dr. Allen's sister Helen. This is a long-winded, painful literary exercise that made me consider finishing the book, abandoning it, or simply skipping this ridiculous page padding. I skipped whole pages of this nonsense, only to find the end was nothing short of abysmal. In the finale, the author has characters reiterate what I had already read. This is a rookie mistake, not something a veteran author should be making.

To the Dark Tower is an unpleasant mess that could had the makeup of being a folk horror cornerstone. Proceed with caution; don't get this book. If you have to own it, at least throw a few cents my way by getting it HERE.

Paperback Warrior - Conversations

In this episode, I'm talking with Nick from The Book Graveyard and Chris from Liminal Spaces about a 1969 paperback titled To the Dark Tower by Weird Tales author Frank Belknap Long. Is the book an early representative of folk horror? Is it a standard gothic romance paperback? What are the ties to Lovecraft's cosmic horror? We have the answers in this newest episode of the Guide to Gothics series.

Stream the podcast below, on any streaming platform, or watch the collaboration on video HERE.

Listen to "Conversations - The Book Graveyard & Liminal Spaces" on Spreaker.

The Turn of the Screw

Henry James (1843-1916) authored a number of celebrated works, like The Wings of the Dove, The Golden Bowl, and The Ambassadors. However, his reputation is mostly synonymous with the ghost story The Turn of the Screw. The work was originally published in Collier's Weekly in 1898, then reprinted in numerous formats as part of The Two Magics collection, The Aspern Papers, and stand-alone editions by a variety of publishers. Maintaining the novella's relevancy are the endless adaptations. There have been at least seven film adaptations, ten television series productions, numerous stage performances, and a radio play. I read and enjoyed the book when I was much younger. As part of my collaboration with Nick Anderson at The Book Graveyard, I agreed to revisit the novella for a discussion on gothic paperbacks. 

The basis of the novella is told in first-person perspective from an unnamed narrator. She is the newly hired governess for a boy and a girl living in a large country house in Essex, England. While ages are never provided, I guess that Miles is around 14-16 years of age. He was attending boarding school and has been dismissed for the summer. Later, it is disclosed through a letter that Miles has been permanently kicked out of the school for some undisclosed act. Flora is Miles' younger sister. Based on clues in the novel, I speculate she is around 4-5 years of age. 

Through the narrative, the governess learns that two of her predecessors mysteriously died. While outside on the front lawn, the governess looks up to see a strange man inside the house walking along the tower. Later, the governess sees a malevolent woman dressed in black standing near the children. These appearances continue throughout the narrative, leading readers to question the narrator's mental state. In the narrator's defense, the children behave as if they see these two people as well. Later, the governess describes the people to Mrs. Grose, the housekeeper, and she confirms that these two entities could be the prior “dead” predecessors that tutored the children. 

The Turn of the Screw is a difficult novella to read. The prose and language are Victorian, creating abrasion for readers (i.e. “presumable sequestration”). The most straightforward scenes are described in abstract details that blur the actual events. There is too much anonymity to allow readers to connect to these characters, a strangeness that constructs and seals too many details. I conclude that James purposefully wrote the work in a vague way to create an air of mystery in the whole text. Either this presentation will work for you or it won't. The first time I read the novella, I was intrigued and overly enthusiastic about it. This time, I found the writing tedious and the pace sluggish.

While there are terrifying moments, the way they are described isn't captivating or revealing. Perhaps at the time of publication, this had more of an impact, but in 2025, the horror is tepid at best. I think I'm more moved by the general idea of the novella and the inspiration it provided for gothic paperbacks and films (The Others, The Woman in Black come to mind). There's no questioning the work's positive impact on modern thrillers and horror, and for that reason, I'm appreciative of James' contribution to the genre. You owe it to yourself to read the novella and come to your own conclusions.

Get a version you like HERE.

X-Files - The Calusari

Garth Nix was born in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. He was a sales rep and publicist before becoming a senior editor at HarperCollins. He later became a literary agent for Curtis Brown Pty Ltd before becoming a full-time author. He created and wrote the fantasy series Old Kingdom, consisting of six novels, as well as young-adult fantasy titles like The Seventh Tower, The Keys to the Kingdom, and two series co-written with Sean Williams, Have Sword, Will Travel and Troubletwisters. 

Nix kicked off the young adult line of X-Files novelizations in 1997 with the first installment, The Calusari, published by Scholastic. There were 16 of these books from 1997 through 2000, all of which were written by different authors and adapted from the television show episodes. “The Calusari” was the show's twenty-first episode of the second season, originally airing April 14, 1995. 

I always enjoyed the show's monster-of-the-week episodes the most. While I love X-Files, I found the through-story arc with alien invasion and cover-ups way too convoluted. These unconnected, stand-alone episodes are really where the show shines, and this episode is one of the most frightening of the franchise. 

The book, at 116 pages, features an exorcist sort of take on a child's death. In the opener (pre-theme music), Maggie and her husband Steve are at a small amusement park in Virginia. They have their two small sons with them, Teddy and Charlie. In a freak occurrence, Teddy is struck by a train while pursuing a balloon that appears to be floating against the wind. The X-Files become involved after evidence shows the balloon's trajectory and the possibility of a ghost that led Teddy to his death.

Mulder and Scully become involved in the investigation, which takes some unusual turns with Romanian customs, Charlie's bizarre grandmother, Maggie's unwillingness to succumb to the family's odd traditions, and marital woes in the wake of Teddy's death. There is a disturbing plot element introduced that suggests Charlie's dead twin may be an evil force bent on destroying the family. The Calusari emerge as the family's mysterious religious sect pitted against evil.

Novelizations are tricky. One of the most alluring aspects of these novels is the possibility of introducing a different perspective, more depth to certain film or episode scenes, different takes on the source material, or something else. The Calusari doesn't offer much to supplement the episode. This is nearly word-for-word a transcription of the episode, with a few perspective pieces coming from the train driver and Maggie's relationship with her mother-in-law. Aside from that, this is literally an episode on paper. It was brisk, enjoyable, and I don't regret reading it. But it adds nothing to the episode.

Get The Calusari HERE.

The Day They H-Bombed Los Angeles

Using his own name, and pseudonyms like Russell Storm, John S. Browning, and H.H. Harmon, Robert Moore Williams (1907-1977) authored science-fiction and adventure novels and short stories. He contributed his Tarzan-inspired series Jongor to the Fantastic Adventures pulp, and also wrote for other magazines like Amazing Stories and Startling Stories. In my search to read another doomsday novel, I chose his stand-alone 1961 Ace paperback The Day They H-Bombed Los Angeles (D-530).

As the novel begins, Tom Watkins, a former Sergeant in the U.S.M.C., is walking in the harbor area of Los Angeles when a bright splash of light engulfs the sky. He quickly realizes a bomb has decimated Pasadena and begins seeking shelter. As sirens sound, Tom and others find a fallout shelter and brace for more impacts. Earthquake tremors, more bombs, and human hysteria devour the day and night as Tom tries to survive in this hot, confined space.

In these post-apocalyptic scenarios, alliances are naturally formed. Typically, it is the calm, cool, and collected opposing the irrational, deranged lunatics. As unsatisfied people begin leaving the shelter, Tom's group hunkers down to wait for the rain to wash the fallout from the air. His group consists of an FBI agent, Tom's former classmate, a spoiled Hollywood actress, an adventuresome young man, and Tom's soon-to-be love interest, a woman named Cissie. 

The next day, the group leaves the shelter and heads to Cissie's employer, a scientist named Dr. Smith, who lives and works in a large concrete building. Inside, the group set up a makeshift living arrangement and begin prowling the streets by day gathering guns, ammunition, and food storage. At night, the group hears an unnerving howling coming from the dark streets outside. The next morning, they find the remains of a woman that appears to have been eaten. 

On one of the supply runs, the group encounters a small group of survivors displaying bizarre behavior. The people walk/run hunched over and seem to have no regard for their own safety. They just press forward and want to kill. As the narrative unfolds, these “zombies” repeatedly attack the shelter, and the group is forced to shoot them. But as more and more are killed, there are hundreds more that take their place. Is this the Dawn of the Dead?

No. Not really. Although the term “zombie” is thrown around a lot. This is more like the film franchise 28 Days Later crossed with Jack Finney's The Body Snatchers. As Dr. Smith and the group run experiments on these infected people, they realize they are all suffering from a molecule that transforms them into killing machines. But as the molecule evolves, the humans gain intelligence to unite, create armies, and eventually commandeer airplanes. There's a backstory on the molecule, how it was pulled from the ocean, and a far-reaching spin on evolution. 

Williams' narrative combines the efforts of Smith and Tom leading their respective factions against the crazies. Smith's emphasis is on research and attempts to only injure the infected. He feels he can cure them with more time. Tom is in desperation mode as the survivors defend themselves in the concrete building and on supply runs. 

Ultimately, Williams used an alien invasion angle, like the aforementioned The Body Snatchers, to make this post-apocalyptic tale work as science-fiction. It's a fun book loaded with tension, action, and some genuinely scary moments. But the author's dialogue is clunky and uneven, which reduces the book's enjoyment. If you can get through the rough patches, then you'll absolutely love this one. Recommended. Get the book HERE.

Pack Animals

I've always admired Greg F. Gifune's writing and have covered his books here on the blog and on the YT channel. Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to exclusively reveal his newest book's cover, a glorious piece by the talented Zach McCain, an internationally published artist who also created visually striking artwork for Gifune's 2022 horror novella Savages (Cemetery Dance). Since seeing the cover for Pack Animals (Macabre Ink), I've been anxiously counting the days until the book's release. Finally, the hunt is over. Or is it?

Thankfully, Gifune's writing style - an effective combination of visceral violence and horrifying psychosis - takes on one of my favorite aspects of horror. Like Savages, the early description for Pack Animals was a homage to the survival, late-night horror films of the 1970s and 1980s. Films like The Pack, Day of the Animals, The Howling, and Grizzly all sprang into my mind. This was the VHS market I grew up in in the 1980s and early 1990s, and I'm always searching for that same nostalgia in pop culture.

Pack Animals begins with an unknown woman arriving at a medical facility. Inside, she learns that her husband, or boyfriend, has experienced a significant trauma and now remains in a state of mental shock as his body recovers from exhaustive injuries. Inside his room, there's this heavy vacuum that seemingly sucks the hope from the room. The man is despondent and silent as he fixates on something far beyond the hospital, far beyond anything the two of them can understand.

As the book's narrative unfolds, Gifune then takes readers back to the start to explain the happenings and surroundings that have crushed the man's body and spirit. The author introduces a group of thirty-something male friends starting with Truck. He has experienced infidelity, a divorce, and a type of midlife crisis reassembling his life. He moves to an off-the-grid place nestled deep in the rural mountains of New Hampshire. Yet his peace and tranquility are shattered routinely with night visitors that hover in the treeline. Truck's defense is a shotgun, a handgun, and lots of ammunition, which sends up red flags for the tiny community. They don't trust outsiders and send one of their own to warn Truck to keep the peace. 

Later, Truck's assemblage of friends arrives to spend a week with him in his newfound mountain oasis. On their drive to Truck's house, they see an old woman in a bloody nightgown walking through the forest. Later, at Truck's house, they discover there's no phone signal. This isolation becomes alarming when they find Truck's behavior unsettling. He warns the group to leave before dark, before the visitors arrive. When they refuse, Truck provides them with details on something, or someone, that he chained up in his shed. Is Truck insane, or does the darkness bring a host of Hell?

I'm careful with reviewing Gifune's work because it is subjective. Many of his novellas and full-length novels play havoc with your imagination. Many of the horrors in the author's work present themselves differently depending on the reader. However, there's no denying that Pack Animals is a monster story. The book's cover, title, and synopsis suggest a werewolvish type of reading experience, and I believe the lead into the book's release promises survival horror. But it still possesses many of the ingredients that make Gifune's writing so good. 

Truck's move to the country reminds me of the events leading to Lance Boyce's move to snowy Maine in the excellent Lords of Twilight, one of Gifne's best. The disturbing arrival of the town sheriff called to mind the arrival of Bob in Gifune's equally entertaining The Rain Dancers. The idea of average individuals stranded and cold is a concept that Gifune often uses, most effectively in Midnight Solitaire. However, as much as Gifune uses his old tricks to scare us, it isn't simply a recycle. With Pack Animals, Gifune takes all of these elements and thrusts them into an action-oriented, fast-paced survival yarn that is bone-jarring horror, but equally a white-knuckled thriller. It is compared to Gifune's Savages, which is a fair comparison, but also something like Oasis of the Damned. These stories and concepts work well because they pit vulnerable, everyday people into harrowing fight-or-flight situations that push the boundaries of mental awareness and physical exhaustion. 

I could write for days on Greg Gifune's work and how much of an impact he's made not only as an author, but also as an editor. It is novels like Pack Animals that remind me just how great a storyteller he is. If you are searching for an enjoyable action-oriented monster novel, pack your bags for Pack Animals. It's a trip worth taking.

Get the book HERE.

Random Notes – I jotted down a few things as I was reading the book that didn't necessarily fit the review. The sheriff's name of Leland made me think of the nefarious shopkeeper and rival of Sheriff Pangborn, Leland Gaunt, the star of Stephen King's Needful Things. There's a character mentioned at the end of Pack Animals named Maynard. This seems like a nod to Herman Raucher's classic horror paperback Maynard's House. It would be remiss of me not to say that Michael McBride's own monster novel Snowblind came to mind as well. Both Pack Animals and Snowblind should now be the high-water mark of the survival horror genre. 

The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre

Paperback Warrior reviewed Philip Fracassi's 2023 horror novel Boys in the Valley and praised the author's skillful use of an isolated orphanage to build unease in his violent narrative. Fracassi has authored seven total novels and an additional eight novellas/shorts. His literary work has earned numerous awards including a Bram Stoker for his collection Beneath a Pale Sky (2021). Despite the wordy title, I was looking forward to reading his slasher novel The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre, published by Tor in a hardcover in 2025.

The Autumn Springs Retirement Home is an upstate New York dwelling focused on seniors living their best life. The complex contains an apartment building, a dining hall, gym, sports area, a pond, medical center and a creepy abandoned mental asylum. Intersecting the home and surrounding grounds are colored paths leading to certain areas. Surrounding the complex is dense forest, a fire tower, and a railroad. There's no doubt Fracassi knew how to isolate these characters and reader. Atmosphere is everything in horror.

The book's protagonist is Rose, a former high school teacher now retired and comfortably living her late 70s at Autumn Springs. She has a semi-boyfriend named Miller, a retired professor that adores her. She spends her time watching mystery and crime dramas with Miller while engaging with a handful of close friends. But her peaceful tranquility is about to become shattered.

Readers are periodically removed from Rose's life and thrust into various rooms with a masked killer. This masked killer commits acts of ruthless violence on the home's residents, but stages each murder to appear self-inflicted or an accident. A man is thrown from a fire tower after a lifetime of searching for alien life in the skies (accident?), a man cuts his wrist in the bathtub after his lover is killed (suicide?), another man drowns in the local pond (accident?). As the body count rises, Rose is forced into action as the obligatory amateur detective. While the real detective, a nice but useless character named Hastings, spins his wheels searching for answers, Rose is on the offensive tracking down clues to learn the identity of the killer and his/her motive.

The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre could have easily been authored by an early 20th century mystery writer like Mary Collins, Elizabeth Fenwick, or Charlotte Armstrong. Sure, the novel works just as good as a Scream slasher, but I found the narrative brimming over with a thick mystery, a claustrophobic tightening of suspects, and an admirable amateur detective Hellbent on destroying her opponent. But, like a formulaic 80s slasher, plausibility is thrown away. How the killer can move effortlessly around so many people – security guards, doctors, nurses, residents - while creating this much chaos is unresolved. While the killer's identity makes it seem possible, one must still suspend disbelief. I nabbed the killer in the opening act. 

Aside from the horror and mystery aspect, I felt like Fracassi's telling of these seniors and their lifestyles was very touching. Rose is an endearing character, one of the best I've come across in ages. Her intimacy struggles with Miller, her familial relationship with her daughter, and her history with an ex-husband are all very real and very meaningful. Rose's life story, revealed in the book's final act, proves she's a viable fighter worthy of being deemed “the final girl”. 

The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre is an exhilarating whodunit that possesses a uniqueness – the murder of an aging population already braced for death. This peek into the world of our elders was a surreal glimpse at mortality. No one is getting out of this life alive. 

Get the book HERE.

Conversations - The Book Graveyard

In this month’s installment of Guide to Gothics, Paperback Warrior teams up once again with Nick Anderson of The Book Graveyard to unearth a paperback relic: Dorothy Daniel’s The Tormented, a 1969 gothic suspense novel from Paperback Library. 

The book was successful enough to warrant two printings, one in 1971 and another in 1974. Since then, this book has lingered for decades in the shadowy corners of vintage gothic collections.

But does it earn its place among the genre’s atmospheric greats?

Together, we dissect the novel through our Gothic Litmus Test.

Stream the audio below, or watch the video on YouTube HERE.

Listen to "Conversations - The Book Graveyard" on Spreaker.

We Need to Do Something

Max Booth III is a Texas-based indie horror author whose 2021 short novel We Need to Do Something was adapted into a feature film that was well-received at festivals and currently streams on-demand.

Our narrator is teenage Melanie, and her family (mom, dad, little brother) is piling into a bathroom to wait out a tornado warning. The twister and a fallen tree decimate the house in a manner that traps the foursome in the bathroom together with no ability to escape. That’s the setup. The novel takes place in the john with no food but plenty of running water.

Much of the paperback consists of watching this dysfunctional family fight and interact with cruelty to one another. Ravaged by hunger and board games, nerves begin to fray. Also, dad is a straight-up asshole. You need to be comfortable with twisted family dynamics and a failing marriage narrative told from the eyes of a teenage child. The author certainly meant this to be a reflection on the COVID lockdowns happening shortly before publication.

Over time, it becomes clear that whatever is happening outside in the world is far more insidious and dangerous than repairable storm wreckage. The reader is only provided with clues, but the uncertainty and speculation reminded me of Stephen King’s The Mist. The few encounters with the outside world also serve as the novel’s most terrifying, and highly-effective, moments.

Meanwhile, Mel has a secret and a plausible theory about what caused all this to happen, and it ain’t a simple tornado. This storyline is delivered in small bites throughout the book until a fuller - but incomplete - explanation is provided. Leave it at that.

There were parts of this novel I loved (the horror) and parts I hated (bickering family dynamics), but I was never bored. Booth is clearly a talented author, and the paperback’s film adaptation looks intriguing. The paperback is 162 big-font pages, so it was short enough to never overstay its welcome during my spooky season horror novel binge. This is not a masterpiece, but a solid choice for a few great scares. Get the book HERE.

Crash Landing

Kathryn Johnson wrote over 40 published novels in her career, most under pseudonyms like Nicole Davidson. She actively contributed to young-adult horror and suspense published under Avon's Avon Flare paperback imprint. That's where I initially discovered her book Winterkill, published by the company in 1991. I later read her 1995 novel Crash Course and discovered there was a sequel published a year later titled Crash Landing.

Crash Landing picks up the action just a few months after the events from Crash Course. Protagonist Kelly and her friends Isobel, Angel, Chris, Jeff, and Nathan have all returned to Deep Creek Lake, the location of the first book, for a ski trip hosted by their high school. But, Kelly keeps remembering the events that caused the drowning death of her best friend Brian.

In this book, readers learn that Paula, the “killer” from the first book, was sentenced to a long-term psychiatric hospital stemming from her involvement in Brian's drowning and the attempted murder of Nathan and Kelly. But, oddly enough, Kelly runs into Paula on the ski slopes. Paula offers a sincere reproach to Brian's death and says the doctors rehabilitated her and she's out now and ready to move on with her life. Kelly believes her and welcomes the girl back into the group.

Later, Paula is stabbed to death by an unknown assailant. This kicks off a chain of events involving two police officers investigating Paula's murder. The investigation then connects to a drug-running investigation involving several of the high school kids on the ski trip. Kelly is arrested, but it's a ploy to get the real killer out in the open.

Crash Landing is a bit of a mess in terms of disjointed plot, but it does offer plenty of red herrings and an interesting central mystery that affects Kelly. I was often contemplating something from the first book and how the significance may play a role in this novel. Unfortunately, there aren't many things connecting the two books, which led me to suspend disbelief that these unfortunate, nearly fatal incidents, could all happen to the same people again. However, at just shy of 200-pages, the book breezes by and is fairly enjoyable. A very mild recommendation if you enjoy young-adult suspense.

Get the book HERE.

The Vegan Revolution...with Zombies

David Agranoff's The Vegan Revolution...with Zombies was published by Deadite Press in 2010. It marked the San Diego author's debut and helped launch a successful writing career that encompasses eleven novels and two story collections. After reading the author's Clash Books publication, The Last Night to Kill Nazis, I wanted to explore more of his work. I'll have to admit, based on the title, I probably wouldn't read Agranoff's debut. But, after reading The Last Night to Kill Nazis and Punk Rock Ghost Story, I know what he's capable of. 

The Vegan Revolution...with Zombies is a satire work that combines veganism, animal rights, and the zombie apocalypse into 200 pages of ultra dark comedy. The main character is Dani, a young woman who has recently moved to Portland, Oregon. Through her boyfriend, the charismatic Magik, she lands an editing job at Fulci House Press, a publisher that injects zombies into classical literature. Of Mice and Men with Zombies, anyone? She hates the job, but her co-workers' eating habits lead her to rethink her next bite into a burned animal corpse.

Both Dani and Magik switching to veganism is a lifesaver. No...literally. A genetic engineering company called Vir-Tech unleashes a drug that blocks the perception of pain in livestock. It's fun to eat animals that aren't aware of pain and suffering, right? In a planetary misstep, humanity eats the drugged animals and...well, you know. Brains Brains Brains. Only, it's human flesh on the menu as zombies prowl the city streets devouring prey. The survivors? Yep. Those weirdo, tree-hugging, hippy vegans. I'll conjure my Rosco P. Coltrane voice - “Dang their mangy hides!”

The Vegan Revolution...with Zombies is a riot. There's a splash into pop culture as everything from Red Dawn (the best 80s film ever!) to Burial Ground is unearthed. There are plenty of zombie films, classical literature, and music (Earth Crisis for the Earth Crisis!) for me to fanboy over. But, there's an equal amount of socially important messages about animals and the various ways they are dissected, squeezed, sliced, burned, and bred to umm...heave the heavy. It's a balance beam that made me laugh while also questioning my household menu of pork chops and chicken parm. 

Agranoff's debut is an effective, funny, serious, alarming novel that has a lot to say and a short time to get there. It's worth a read...just don't blame me if you turn to enoki sandwiches. Get it HERE.

The Rain Dancers

I've read a number of Greg Gifune novels over the last 25 years, including Apartment Seven, Savages, Midnight Solitaire, and Oasis of the Damned. I am staring to re-read a few of his books and wanted to begin with The Rain Dancers. The 77-page novella was originally published by Delirium Press in 2012, then reprinted by Dark Fuse in 2014. As of this writing, I believe the work is out of print.

The novella introduces readers to Will Colby, a New York college professor, and his wife Betty. The married couple are in a rural small town cleaning out an old house that was owned and occupied by Betty's deceased father. Gifune is a master of atmosphere, so the obligatory “one dark night” element rises to glorious fruition. As the two are finishing off a long day of cleaning and packing boxes, they are interrupted by a knock on the door. Will goes to answer and is met by Bob Laurent, an elderly man introducing himself as a close friend of Betty's. Hesitantly, Will invites the man inside.

Will excuses himself to inform Betty of their unexpected visitor. While she dolls herself up for unwanted company, Bob tells Will stories of the friendship he shared with Betty's father, a friendship that extended to Betty for many years. He goes as far as suggesting Betty called him “Uncle Bobbie”. When Betty arrives, Bob begins a physical and emotional recollection by reminding Betty of all the wonderful things they experienced in the house. Later, while Bob is in the bathroom, Betty confesses to Will that she has no idea who this man is.

The Rain Dancers is a potboiler brimming over with an intensity void of any gut-wrenching, explicit violence. Gifune's prose of “less is more” works effectively to build this novella into an emotional, creepy, and atmospheric narrative despite the lack of on-page horror. The author's engaging storytelling incorporates marital fears of unfaithfulness, complacency, and insecurity with a repressed childhood memory too disturbing to fully reveal. It's a masterful blend of secrecy and horror that only Gifune could create. This novella is a must everything – read, reprint, repost, make it relevant.

Halloween - The Mad House

In 2023, I reviewed The Scream Factory, the first of a three-book series of young-adult horror novels centered in John Carpenter's Halloween universe. The series was published by Berkley in 1997-1998 in paperback format and authored by Kelly Reno using the pseudonym of Kelly O' Rourke. Halloween is my favorite horror series and my family just recently gifted me a Michael Myers-themed coffee mug. It reminded me to read more of this series, so I grabbed The Mad House, the third installment of the series. 

As I mentioned in my The Scream Factory review, this series ignores the entire Halloween movie franchise aside from the 1978 film. In the town of Haddonfield, life goes on despite the masked serial killer, Michael Myers, vanishing after being shot by his doctor, Sam Loomis. In The Scream Factory, Myers appeared once again in the sleepy midwestern town, stalking and murdering teenagers at a haunted house attraction. At the end of the book, Myers once again vanished. 

While these books can be read in any order and are considered stand-alone novels, each book is set one year apart. The Mad House begins with the book's protagonist, Christine, recalling her school newspaper article, “Good-bye Friends”, as an emotional story about the lives and accomplishments of several students who were murdered a year earlier in The Old Myers Place. It's now late summer, and Christine is meeting a fellow student named Eddie for a planned documentary he hopes to shoot.

Eddie explains to Christine that he plans on shooting his film at Smith's Grove Mental Hospital, the place Myers escaped when he turned age 21. Eddie says the ghost of a deranged doctor, Ernest Blackwell, still haunts the abandoned hospital. In this book, it is explained that Blackwell would often treat Myers and conduct various experiments on him. Eddie hopes he can capture the ghost on film as part of a documentary documenting haunted places in Illinois. 

The bulk of the book's narrative features Eddie, Christine, and a handful of other young people spending the night inside the abandoned mental hospital. Of course, Myers is living there, huddled in the hospital's basement waiting for his next killing cycle. Through the book's second half, Myers methodically kills the kids in different parts of the building. Eventually, Eddie and Christine do find the ghost of Blackwell, but it's not quite what they imagined.

I'm trying not to completely nerd out and drown you in Halloween film mythology, but there are a couple of interesting things happening in this slim paperback. 

This novel is the only instance where a character named Blackwell appears. He is absent from the film franchise and the other novels. Also, I found it interesting that Halloween: Resurrection film (2002) used a similar idea of filming in a location central to Michael Myers' past. Like that film, characters are often attempting to record events happening so they can sell the footage to prospective studios and producers. The Mad House predates Resurrection by five years. 

Also, I loved that the author used a laundry chute in one of the chase scenes. This had been used effectively eight years prior, in Halloween 5 (1989). It's a type of homage (I think). Interestingly enough, Halloween: H2O also used a similar device to escape the killer, but instead of a laundry chute it was a dumbwaiter. 

I questioned whether Reno had watched Halloween movies before writing The Scream Factory. Reading The Mad House, I know she hasn't. In this book, she has Myers tying victims to a hospital bed and then torturing them with electricity. Myers never “toyed” with victims like that. Also, there' a strange description of Myers with a deformed head, a plastic mask, and a rotted face. I felt like Reno was confusing Myers with Jason Voorhees (Friday the 13th). Reno also routinely has Myers voicing animal growls and howling to break free from a straitjacket. This isn't the Myers character. If I'm nitpicking, I'd also question Reno using “bullets” in a shotgun.

As a quick horror read, this is a very entertaining read. There's plenty of violence as bodies are impaled, stabbed, electrocuted, and run over through the book's 144 pages. There's also a side story of Blackwell's involvement with Myers and the atrocities that occurred at the hospital in years past. If you love a good horror story, then The Mad House is recommended. However, in terms of traditional Michael Myers characterization, this one is way off.

Bone Chillers #01 - Beware the Shopping Mall

Betsy Haynes authored nearly 100 paperbacks, mostly of juvenile and young-adult fiction. Her bestselling novel, The Great Mom Swap, was published in 1986 and adapted to a film in 1995. She authored the preteen series Taffy Sinclair and its spin-off, The Fabulous Five. Beginning in 1994, Haynes authored a ten-book series titled Bone Chillers, a juvenile horror title created by Harper to compete with the successful Goosebumps series written by R.L. Stine. The series was adapted into a 13-episode television show in 1996. Fans of the PW brand know I never shy away from a good story, no matter what genre or age level. I jumped on the debut Bone Chillers paperback, Beware the Shopping Mall.

In the first-person perspective, Robin begins her tale while being dropped off at the front entrance of the Wonderland Mall. On the drive over, Robin's mom explains that the mall was built over the old Mournful Swamp, a cursed place where three teenagers mysteriously disappeared. Robin would rather trade rumors of haunted swamps for the buzz of the mall's grand opening. 

Inside the mall, Robin and her friends begin the stroll through the new stores. Yet, it seems the same three kids are working all the stores. This is impossible considering that the stores are far apart, sometimes on different levels. Yet the kids are physically identical, other than the store-branded shirts they are wearing. By mid-morning, Robin notices that many of the kids she saw shopping in the mall now resemble mannequins strewn throughout the mall's shops. When her friends begin to disappear, Robin fears that they have secretly been transformed into mannequins!

There's something to be said for a good shopping mall novel. Oddly, it's almost its own sub-genre of horror and suspense. Here on the blog, we have obvious mall-themed books reviewed like Chopping Mall, The Mall, Hacking Mall, and the then novels that take partly take place in malls like Black Friday, Suburban Gothic, and Path to Savagery. 

Beware the Shopping Mall, at 150 pages, is a brisk, breezy read that has a central mystery that kept me interested throughout. Obviously, the connection from the haunted swamp to the new mall structure is paramount to the plot, but I felt the ending was a bit disappointing. Like clowns, mannequins are equally unsettling, and I felt like the author used that to her advantage. If you want a fun, all-ages horror story for an hour of enjoyment, then Beware the Shopping Mall is an easy recommendation.

Get the book HERE. 

The Exorcist's House

West Virginia native Nick Roberts has emerged as one of the most exciting voices in contemporary horror, blending the psychological depth of classic suspense with the visceral terror of modern supernatural tales. With 2022’s The Exorcist's House, Roberts leans into one of the genre’s most enduring tropes, the haunted house possession story.

After a prologue introducing the evil dwelling within this house, we join the action in 1994 in Southern Ohio where psychologist Daniel Hill is excited to be closing on the purchase of a thirty acre plot of land in rural West Virginia with his pregnant wife, Nora, and their teen daughter, Alice.

The house upon the farm hasn’t been upgraded since its construction in the 1940s, so contractors get to work modernizing the place for the Hill family. An old timer on the crew tells his fellow workers that the house used to be owned by a backwoods exorcist before experiencing an unsettling supernatural encounter.

Once the Hill family is occupying the house, they quickly determine that all the spookiness seems to be emanating from the basement, and the paperback doesn’t waste any time becoming seriously scary. In the cellar filled with cobwebs, there’s a small sealed door that is difficult to open. Our new homeowner, Daniel, is giddy and determined to find out what’s beyond the door because he hasn’t read as many cursed houses books as you and me.

The scares escalate throughout the novel with terror, possessions and explanations of how this poor family’s basement became a portal unleashing demons from hell. There are some really terrifying scenes that work because the characters are so vivid. No joke, this is one of the scariest books I’ve ever read.

The Exorcist’s House is a seriously frightening haunted house book that was so wildly popular that it spawned two sequels with equally terrifying online buzz. I look forward to diving into the next novel about the house, but I need to let my heart rate stabilize first. Recommended. Get the book HERE. 

Lords of Twilight

I'm continuing my re-reading of the Greg Gifune bibliography. I've enjoyed and respected his novels and novellas for the past 25-years. Next on my list is Lords of Twilight. It was originally published by Dark Fuse in 2011 and now exists in a new Crossroads Press' Macabre Ink edition alongside the author's 2013 novella House of Rain. 

The main character is Lane Boyce, a former educator. Although the author doesn't offer explicit details, it is revealed in snippets that Lane had an alleged sexual relationship with a student. Whether he did or didn't, the incident led to Lane's formal dismissal as a professor and the upending of his marriage. In a type of self-imposed punishment, Lane moves to a small rural house in Edgar, Maine, an off-grid type of locale where he can become riddled in self-pity. But, things are weird in Edgar.

There's an early indication that something has invaded the town. It begins with cattle mutilation and the discovery of a local farmer's mysterious corpse. Later, three hunters appear at Lane's house with a frenzy of instructions, one of which is to load a shotgun and prepare. As government employees, the proverbial men-in-black, appear in the countryside, events begin to spiral out of control. Is Lane losing his mind in this off-the-grid frosty Hell or is something from another world inhabiting this small town?

Gifune shines when he reveals fragments of the story to readers. Often, his characters revel in emotional turmoil with undertones of loss, regret, and frustration. Along with weather elements, it is the characteristic of his writing. 

In Lords of Twilight, Lane is mentally traipsing a balance beam of what's real and unreal. That instability conveys to the readers, leaving much of the narrative as a foggy suggestion that readers can contemplate subjectively. Whether events are actually happening or simply figments of a character's imagination is the charm of Gifune's literary work and this novella is no different. Lords of Twilight is a captivating horror yarn (I think) or, at the very least, an unsettling descent into a man pushed from the rungs of relevancy. Regardless, it is a real masterpiece of the genre. Highly recommended. Get it HERE.

Punk Rock Ghost Story

I've been reading David Agranoff this month. My first experience with him was The Last Night to Kill Nazis, and I've dabbled in his work, podcast, and excellent blog ever since. He's extremely diverse, popping in and out of genres while still maintaining his strong storytelling. That's a measure of talent that often goes unnoticed. 

His 2016 novel, Punk Rock Ghost Story, was published by Deadite Press. Like his debut, The Vegan Revolution...with Zombies, this book also boasts a flavorful combination of satire, comedy, seriousness, and outright horror. I described it to Nick at the Book Graveyard as Natural Born Killers throwing a basement party with the Manson Family and Black Flag. I'm not even sure that outrageous description does it justice. Maybe throw in Ari Aster to direct the party's cell phone footage.

The book is presented in a non-linear narrative that captures events from 1982 and 2006. Agranoff masterfully blends both into a penultimate moment when everything collides – people, places, and things. It's a careful orchestration to combine these two different eras in an entrancing plot that doesn't lose the reader. 

In 2006, Nate and his band are set to tour the country's dives and basements as the fictional Indiana punk band People's Uprising. As a mode of transportation, the group bought an old beater van that was once used by a mysterious fictional punk band called The Fuckers, who had one unforgettable tour in 1982 that culminated in their lead singer, Frank Fucker, disappearing. 

As the People's Uprising hits the road, Nate begins to hear voices from the van – voices that seem to resonate from The Fuckers in 1982. Nate begins to align his principles and beliefs with Frank Fucker as he descends into a pretty dark place. His girlfriend, Ericka (the star of the show), is revolted by Nate's transformation, an intriguing part of the storyline that makes for great drama. On the flip, readers are submerged into the 1982 tour and the violent crescendo of Frank Fucker's self-appointment as punk rock's unholy gatekeeper.

As a music journalist, I've been in some pretty crazy spots on the East Coast. This book brought back some memories for me (good and bad) of the music industry roadshow. Agranoff complimented the novel with a Blair Witch Treatment. He made an actual album of punk rock songs credited to The Fuckers, including songs mentioned in the book. Further, he made a mockumentary film with real Indiana punk bands, citing The Fuckers as an influence on their music. Outrageous. 

If you enjoy unique psychological horror, or just a great backstage music bio, then Punk Rock Ghost Story is an entertaining experience. Get it HERE.

Eric's Brand New Book Haul

Eric shares his latest book haul, featuring new releases from Stark House Press and a stack of horror books borrowed from a friend. He also talks about a pulp coffee table book and outlines upcoming plans for his show through the end of the year and into 2026. Stream below or on YouTube HERE.

The Shoppe of Endarkenment

Bradley J. Knefelkamp is a commercial photographer who possesses a strong passion for music (his drum covers to Rush are rad), graphic design, and writing. His first novel was 2016's Escape from Gehenna, a young adult adventure that was followed by a sequel, Return to Gehenna, in 2022. My first experience with the writer is his horror novel The Shoppe of Endarkenment, published in 2021. 

In the Victorian town of Brown's Creek, a new trinket store has just opened. Its mysterious owner, Phineas Stumpf, offers a charming assortment of oddities that captivate the apothecary and antique consumer. But Stumpf is a peculiar shopkeeper. He has a penchant for eating insects, especially the ones that crawl out of his own skin. Stumpf can also make inanimate objects move of their own accord. But his most uncanny ability is the nearly magnetic pull he has on his customers. They “must” possess his various trinkets and treasures - at any price. But, Stumpf proves to be a fair dealer in commodities. He warns every one of his consumers of the danger and responsibility of owning these physical objects. Humanity has a history of opposition to supernatural commands.

The Shoppe of Endarkenment is a type of short story collection. Through these six offerings, listed as “episodes”, six people buy an object from Stumpf and experience horrifying results. It's a variety of offerings, and offings, as these people are essentially killed by their own material possession. Maybe. But, as each episode unravels, readers learn that each of these characters was experiencing their personal demons, an inner darkness that Stumpf preys upon. In the last episode, Stumpf meets his match with a vengeful family man who brings Jesus into the conversation.

Knefelkamp's prose is smooth and to the point, never squandering the propulsive feel of each episode's obligatory demise. He maintains a quick pace while still offering enough characterization of these men, women, and children to allow the reader to care about their fate. This book should appeal to all ages, but it is targeting young adults. There are a few gory details (like disembowelment in a bathtub), but for the most part, it all remains PG-13. You can get the book in digital and physical editions HERE.

Things Have Gotten Way Worse Since We Last Spoke

Boston horror author Eric LaRocca devised a clever 100-page novel called Things Have Gotten Way Worse Since We Last Spoke. The story employs a storytelling device organized like a documentary film pieced together by a diligent researcher via Internet postings, emails, and instant messages. It’s an inventive way to tell a horror story.

The story begins with a somewhat rattling Internet posting from a woman named Agnes trying to sell her grandmother’s apple peeler and the response from another woman named Zoe. The two women (both lesbians) develop an online friendship that veers into sexual flirtation.

Once they start confessing their sexual fantasies to one another, things take a dark turn when Zoe reveals her preferences. It’s about total escalating control over another person. No spoilers here. Leave it at that.

And then the payoff comes and it’s…disgusting. The author is a fine writer but went for the revolting gross-out when something more subtle and menacing would have been more effective. I genuinely think he’s a great writer, so I look forward to checking out his other works. This one failed by going extreme without the requisite build-up.

Also: Gratuitous animal cruelty. You’ve been warned. Get the book HERE.