The Gauntlet

After reading several of Bryan Smith's blood-soaked horror novels the jury is still out for me. I disliked his collaboration with Brian Keene on Suburban Gothic. I liked his novel The Freakshow a little more. My favorite of the author's work is Deathbringer, although I read it before Paperback Warrior's creation. I keep seeing his books on Amazon and the descriptions just keep getting me to click, “Yes, I would like more terror and torture, take my money.” I don't know why or how his books consistently end up in my shopping basket. But here we are again with another Bryan Smith book, The Gauntlet, published in 2023 by Grindhouse Press. 

An average guy named Nick gets into an argument with a crazed neighbor. After the verbal confrontation, the crazed neighbor goes back inside and this suburban squabble is put to rest. However, Nick receives an online message from the crazy neighbor's wife Krista. She thanks Nick for standing up to her husband. As weeks pass both Nick and Krista end up in an online relationship. As The Gauntlet begins, Krista has ran out on her husband and married life, taking up with Nick on the road. Together the two head into the Pocono Mountains for an irresponsible quick vacation and to plan what awaits them when they return to reality in a few days. 

Running low on gas, with the next city in two hours, the two stop in rural Beleth Station. Pulling into this nowhere town the two notice that the streets are void of people. When they pull into a gas station Nick is attacked by a person wearing a mask and carrying a machete. After his blood hits the pavement Krista takes off running down the abandoned streets searching for help. What she discovers is a town that is opposed to outsiders. No one leaves, no one enters. When they do, they are forced to run a macabre late-night game called...you guessed it...The Gauntlet.

Bryan Smith's novel works like a combination of The Running Man, Shirley Jackson's The Lottery, and any of those violent Saw movies. The game is that Nick and Krista are forced into running through the town's snowfall barefooted to complete objectives – like getting to a phone booth that contains a pair of shoes. Or, to a warm car to rest for 15 minutes. But, the two are separated and must complete different challenges. There's a side-story about a guy named Sean hoping to join a rebellious group of citizens to overthrow this crazed small town government and their Dystopian leadership. 

The Gauntlet isn't a bad survival horror novel. If you are familiar with Bryan Smith's writing then you should already know he writes on the trashy side. There's offensive language, graphic sex, hideous torture, and gross-out violence. I hesitate to even deem this type of stuff “horror” because it is more action-adventure with depravity as the core. If that's your jam then you will certainly enjoy running The Gauntlet. Get it HERE.

Ranking January Reads

The year's first book ranking video is now out! In this video, Eric ranks his top ten reads of January 2025. This is the widest span of reading in the show's history - the 1800s all the way to 2024! All ten books are presented here with capsule reviews, loads of amazing artwork, and tidbits about authors. Stream below or on the YT channel HERE.

Dead White

The back cover of Alan Ryan's horror novel Dead White contains blurbs from fine authors like Peter Straub, Stephen King, and Whitley Strieber applauding the book. Here's news for you – they never read this book! It's not even remotely plausible that these talented wordsmiths read a single word of this lousy unedited poorly constructed excuse for a horror novel. If they read one chapter of this book they would have unanimously panned it as amateur nonsense. Somehow, Alan Ryan was able to get this novel through Tor's editing department, which clearly had no input as to the novel's structure, basic plot outline, or any pedestrian passerby say in what the cover should be. This book is absolutely horrible and somehow Tor allowed these 356 pages to escape a destiny of pulverized packing materials.

The book (using the term sparingly) is set in a rural upstate New York town called The Kill. Ironically, this is the same town featured in Ryan's first novel, the equally deadpan Hall of Shame-winner cleverly titled The Kill. A blizzard of epic proportions is hitting the town and most of the residents decide to seek shelter in the Centennial Hotel. The Kill haven't had a train in town for decades and the railroad station and tracks are abandoned now. But, a train of carnival clowns has just rolled up to create mayhem for The Kill. 

Anyone with any sense of storytelling talent can easily make this book work. It seems so simple. The town is sheltered in the Centennial Hotel. The carnival clowns show up and hunt the residents in the hotel's hallways and rooms. It would have been a wonderful survival horror novel with a handful of characters fighting the clowns while trapped in a blizzard. Would have. Could have. Should have. But, Alan Ryan doesn't do any of that. No, he completely circumvents this entire plot device to focus on day to day activities of the residents. Each chapter is the time of the day. For example, the chapter is 8:42 A.M. and a character that has no impact on the book's resolution or plot is making coffee and eating breakfast. That's it! Then the next time, a few minutes later, will be another character walking to the mailbox or tying their shoe. Nothing happens in the book until the last couple of pages – as senseless as they are.

I could make a half-hour video on how bad this book really is. I'm close to a comparison with Roadblaster, Swampmaster, or TNT as the epitome of negativity when it comes to vintage paperback fiction. Dead White is darn close to being one of the worst published books ever written. But, I'm propping it a few notches above the above-mentioned titles simply because the book would have worked in the hands of an actual author and an editor that didn't call in sick the week this pile of wood shavings somehow assembled into this disasterpiece of fiction. Alan Ryan – fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice shame on you again. Damnit. Hall of Shame. Absolutely. If you want to purchase this drivel do it HERE so I can at least make a few cents off this hackjob. 

The Island of Doctor Moreau

H.G. Wells (1866-1946) is widely considered the father of science-fiction. He authored over fifty novels, some of which are still being adapted today into mixed media formats. Sci-fi, fantasy, and even horror writers often cite Wells as an influence on their work. His most popular novels include The Time Machine (1895), The Invisible Man (1897), War of the Worlds (1898), and the subject of this review, The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896). 

In the novel's beginning, Edward Prendick and two other passengers board a lifeboat as their passenger ship sinks into the southern Pacific Ocean. Eventually Prendick, a dehydrated starving husk, is the only survivor. A ship spots Prendick and rescues him, but in a wild turn of events Prendick is forced from the vessel and placed in a dinghy where he must face the very real possibility that his terrifying ordeal is recycling. Thankfully, a passenger on the ship named Montgomery takes pity on Prendick and allows him a stay on a very strange island. 

Prendick, who possesses a scientific education, learns that this eight-mile island is a type of laboratory owned by Dr. Moreau. Prendick remembers that he had read about Moreau's macabre experiments in vivisection and his subsequent banishment from England. Here on the island Moreau continues his work with the assistance of Montgomery and a surgically altered manservant named M'ling. 

Wells' narrative submerges Prendick into the Hellish world of a mad scientist with delusions of Godhood. Prendick learns that Moreau is surgically combining humans and animals. Disgusted and frightened he escapes Moreau's compound only to discover that the island hosts Moreau's terrifying lab result – beast folk. These beasts include humans merged with bears, dogs, sloths, hyenas, wolves, and ape. These beast folk have a bestial lust for Moreau which plays havoc on Prendick's escape.

The Island of Doctor Moreau is a horror novel like no other. Wells ignites a sense of terror as Prendick slowly pulls the curtains from Moreau's freakish lab and discovers the nightmarish prison that he has now joined. There's panic and then a heightened frenzy as Prendick attempts to disable Moreau and Montgomery while also becoming a new “god” for the Beast Folk. Wells easily transforms the mood from moments of somber solitude into grueling action and gun play. The finale is a type of role reversal that was fitting for the nature of the story. 

In a time when humans are now receiving animal organs to survive (ex. Towana Looney), The Island of Doctor Moreau is a grotesque vision of the future. Wells was ahead of his time in predicting favorable medical revolutions through painful trial and error. Gene edits and lab-created organs were a thing of the future but Wells was mired in the wonder. The author presents some trigger-points on Darwin's evolution, animal cruelty, and mankind's pursuit of an animal-state of freedom and survival – no gods, no masters. 

The Island of Doctor Moreau is a classic for a reason. Get your copy HERE.

Hacking Mall

Shortly after Brian G. Berry authored the Chopping Mall novelization, the publisher, Encyclopocalypse Publications, pulled the book from store shelves and severed ties. Berry's first response? Write another horror/science-fiction hybrid set in a shopping mall in the 1980s. The end result is Hacking Mall, independently published in 2024. 

Berry places readers in a Dystopian-styled 20th century where the stock market has crashed, society has devolved, and most inner cities now bristle with jacked up criminals possessing military grade materials. Their higher-than-usual toughness warrants a special type of police force – Defender 2000.

Chapter 11 is a nightmarish flashback of how the book's main character, Alex Murphy, was badged and sent out into the world after four grueling months of police academy. He's partnered with Jackson and the two are investigating gunshots stemming from blocks upon blocks of ghetto tenements. The probe leads to a massive firefight in a meth lab. Alex barely survives the lab's explosion while his partner is seemingly incinerated within. 

In the book's present, Murphy, along with two other officers, have been selected to wear Defender armor. These “sleeves” envelop the men in bullet-proof steel, complete with internal advanced optics programmed to locate criminals. Integrated into the armor is an advanced weapons system including automatic guns, a laser sword, and the ability to release a toxin that creates horrific delusions and a lust for murder. 

As the narrative guns its way through neighborhoods overwrought with crime, Murphy and the other Defenders begin to lose control of their sleeves. The automatons abandon their predetermined set of coded instructions and force their users to kill both criminals and innocents. The machine-over-man scenarios appears periodically and disorients the officers. 

Arden Plaza Mall is a local shopping center that now houses a criminal empire ran by Kane, a lunatic with an aggressive penchant for rape and murder. When the Defenders are ordered to penetrate the mall, Kane and his army fight back using their own sophisticated weapons. Caught in the crossfire are innocent prisoners hoping the battle will provide a small window to attempt escape or for an uprising. The mall has its share of bad guys, but none compare to a behemoth cannibal nicknamed The Butcher. He performs exceptionally well as the ultimate final boss. 

Berry describes himself as a mood writer that loves 1980s B-movies. Hacking Mall pays homage to the low-budget trash films like Warrior of the Lost World (1983) and 1990: The Bronx Warriors (1982), but the most obvious influence is a more mainstream offering in Robocop. Berry's protagonist even shares the same name with the cybernetically enhanced Detroit police officer. There's also a character named Zed that just happens to be the name of a villain in the Full Moon riffraff titled Slave Girls from Beyond (1987) and the hero's name in Zardoz (1974)  . But, it wouldn't be a 1980s-styled action-adventure paperback without the CAR-15 automatic rifles, a mainstay in something like Stephen Mertz's long-running M.I.A. Hunter series of shoot 'em ups. 

Hacking Mall is an installment in Berry's series of stand-alone books titled VHS Trash. However, the waves and waves of baddies being obliterated by the heroes is like a side-scrolling arcade shooter (call it a NeoGeo Novel). It's excessive, exaggerated, and ridiculous – but that's the central appeal. To quote 1980s pro-wrestling personality Jim Cornette: “For the kind of people who like this type of thing, that's the kind of thing that those people like.” I'm one of those people. Hacking Mall is a nostalgic highly recommended romp. Get it HERE.

The Last Night to Kill Nazis

David Agranoff is a San Diego author, screenwriter, blogger, podcast host, and quite possibly the strongest advocate for Philip K. Dick's literary work than any other. His debut novel, The Vegan Revolution...with Zombies, was published in 2010. Since then he has authored nine novels including The Last Night to Kill Zombies. The novel was published in 2023 by Clash Books with vivid cover art by Joel Amat Guell.

In this military-fiction and horror hybrid, Agranoff utilizes a real event from World War Two as a foundation to craft this unusual tale. Heinrich Himmler, one of the most notorious figures of the war, was a powerful Nazi politician, Reich Commissioner, and Commander. He is primarily considered the organizer of the horrific Holocaust and second only to Hitler in terms of absolute evil personified. Shortly after Hitler's suicide, and hours before Russia's Red Army stormed his underground bunker, Himmler was able to escape with several other leaders into the countryside where they remained on the run for several days before being captured by British intelligence. While in detainment Himmler was able to fatally swallow his hidden cyanide pill.

Agranoff begins his novel as the Red Army is within striking distance. Himmler is able to escape with as SS Officer named Heinrich and a few other Nazi personnel. In the countryside, the group travel by truck to a mountaintop fortress to meet nearly 100 German officers that await a plane that will transport them to safety in Manchuria. It's in this seemingly impenetrable fortress where the book's second half takes place.

Hunting Himmler is a small counter-intelligence force lead by Noah, a Jewish fighter and ex-Army Ranger now serving the OSS (early CIA). His team hopes to penetrate and climb to the mountain fortress to kill every Nazi in the fortress. But, with over 100 Nazis occupying this defiant stronghold, what chance does his quartet have in facing these overwhelming numbers?

The answer is Count Reiter. 

In a thrilling enhancement to the breathtaking traditionalism of a World War Two adventure novel, Agranoff introduces a Dracula-like character named Reiter. His castle in the Carpathian Mountains was ransacked by the Nazis, who not only disturbed his domicile but also his centuries of sleep. Reiter wants vengeance and will stop at nothing to kill Nazis. But, in this book Reiter is being kept as a prisoner by the Allies. In a desperate bid to hunt and kill Himmler the Allies agree to a deal with Reiter – help them orchestrate a massacre on the last official night to kill Nazis in exchange for freedom. 

The Last Night to Kill Nazis is nothing short of remarkable. The book's first hundred pages is a type of dangerous road trip introducing Heinrich and his pregnant lover Alice, who both are equal main characters to Noah's opposition. The author masterfully utilizes short chapters, each time stamped, to tell individual stories and angles presenting Alice's experiences as well as Noah, Reiter, and Heinrich's. These punchy chapters help keep the book's 250-pages turning at lightning pace. Once these characters collide atop the mountain the narrative increases speed to match the staccato gunfire, pounding footsteps, and infernal screams as Nazis meet the Hellish Prince of Darkness. 

If Bram Stoker, Alistair MacLean, and Quentin Tarrantino collaborated on a project they surely would deliver this masterpiece. The Last Night to Kill Nazis is epic entertainment and comes with my highest recommendation. Get it HERE.

Midnight Vintage

Crystal Lake began publishing horror novels in 2012. In 2023 the publisher transformed into an entertainment company, complete with imprints and divisions like Crystal Lake Comics, Crystal Lake Games, Torrid Waters, and more. As of the time of this writing the company has published over 200 books. My first sampling of their work is the ebook short-story collection Midnight Vintage, a joint venture authored by Sean Eads (Trigger Point, The Survivors) and Josh Viola (The Bane of Yoto) with vibrant cover art by Skinner.

At roughly 338 pages, give or take a font size, the book offers 20 short-stories averaging about 20 pages per story. There is an excellent introduction by Stephen Graham Jones (The Only Good Indian, Night of the Mannequins) outlining the style and nature of the contained stories and a brief history of his friendship with both authors. I enjoyed the book and here are just a few of my favorites:

“The Making”

The narrative is presented in an unusual way with a transcript detailing an investigative conversation between a detective and a murder suspect. This transcript is embedded into a first-person perspective from Stradivarious Cooper, the murder suspect. Cooper explains he was a failed musician with a father serving time in prison. He accepts a bizarre job working for a doctor and his associates in a 3,000 square foot house that looks normal – except for the torture room in the basement. The doctor believes he can capture the proof of ghosts through Cooper violently abusing and murdering victims. The most horrible death insures a very real possibility that a ghost will emerge. However, as these things normally escalate in horror literature, the experiment bites the experimenter. This was a very good opening story that matched the style and intensity of the film Martyrs.

“Many Carvings”

In the book's intro, Jones describes this story as a type of EC Comics homage. I felt it possessed a Shirley Jackson's The Lottery vibe crossed with a more contemporary flavor like Dark Harvest by Norman Partridge. A young boy named Alaster lives in a small farming village. He is questioning why his father and brother haven't returned from “the market”. His mother grows sick and when she is forced to bed he journeys to a neighbor's house. Together the two venture to the home of a pregnant woman where they witness a very strange birth. Mixed into the narrative is a witch that grows pumpkins...in a field with no pumpkin patch. It's a unique story that had me guessing until the end.

“The Bidden”

Many of the stories in Midnight Vintage take place in the 1800s or early 1900s and involve small farming communities. This story is set on a cornfield and begins with a father named Wallace attempting to lacerate himself on corn stalks to feed his ghostly son John. The story then flashes back to the beginning to explain how John's mother Amanda gave birth to the son and the weird aftereffects of birth, growing corn, and the pain of loss and absence. It is easy to compare to the most popular corn-feel short of them all, Children of the Corn, but this works more like a country-fried Frankenstein story of creator and creation.

I also really enjoyed “Bright Rain” with its post-apocalyptic isolation mood. I sense that both of these authors are mood writers. Midnight Vintage isn't the first collaboration between the two. In 2024 Blood Bound Books published their novella Stolen Pallor. It's clear they have a wonderful chemistry in their storytelling. This collection is a testament to their synergy. Recommended!

Get the book HERE.

Sharpshooter Terror

Brian G. Berry is a contemporary horror, science-fiction, and action-adventure novelist that specializes in trash fiction. He has multiple series titles featuring stand-alone books like Slasherback, Chatter from the Tomb, and Splatter Madness. My first experience with Berry was his excellent Chopping Mall novelization, published by Encyclopocalypse Publications before being pulled from shelves for internal discord between the author and publisher (story HERE). In a recent interview with Berry, he suggested that one of his better books is Sharpshooter Terror, an installment in a series of stand-alone novels titled VHS Trash. I stepped into the crosshairs for a closer look.

Berry's ode to the VHS era places Sharpshooter Terror in the 1980s. In flashback scenes readers learn that Alan LaRue served in the Vietnam War in 1968. As a Screaming Eagle of the 101st, LaRue grew into the perfect soldier with a lack of obedience to skill set. He was fast-tracked to Recon School, joined Command and Control, and carried the war on his back in black ops missions hunting and assassinating NVA forces. After years of battle rattle, LaRue is eventually outnumbered in a firefight and is killed. But, that was just the beginning. 

LaRue's body is now a part of Project Night Stalker, a type of Universal Soldier program to create super troops impervious to emotion. Program. Assign. Kill. But, in a freak accident LaRue is dumped into the small rural community of Ashbury with scrambled programming that places every citizen on his kill-list.

LaRue's opponent is a man named Olson, an armed hunter seeking revenge for the death of his family. Mixed into the carnage is a type of First Blood scenario with the military working with the town's police force to try and bring in their man. There's cat-and-mouse tactics, lots of gunfire, and plenty of over-the-top violence. I appreciate that beyond the gory madness there's a really good narrative that should appeal to fans of 80s and 90s men's action-adventure paperbacks. Also, kudos to Berry arming LaRue with the .44 Ruger Redhawk with optics, the same legendary firearm used by Martin Stone in the glorious post-apocalyptic series The Last Ranger.  

Berry is an unrestrained author that charges into his literary lunacy Hellbent on shocking his readers. His writing style mirrors the 1980s cult cinema – those movies that went straight to VHS boxes hoping rental stores found enough sickos to rent them. We're talking about movies like Combat Shock, Deadly Prey, Escape from the Bronx, and The Last Hunter. I spent a good portion of my Dad's union pay renting these movies so I can appreciate Berry's homage with VHS Trash. Sharpshooter Terror is essentially one of these films in book format - the spillage of blood, brains, and bones on every page. 

Get your copy HERE.

The Woodkin

According to his bio, Alexander James is a Seattle-based writer that enjoys Dungeons & Dragons, Double Stuff Oreos, and hiking. But, we aren't on a dating site. Alexander James also loves to write and experienced the publication of his debut novel, The Woodkin, in 2023 via CamCat Books. This unusual horror-hike novel was nominated for an Audie Award for Thriller/Suspense and earned an Independent Publisher Award for best Mystery/Thriller for Audiobook. I enjoyed my childhood backpacking the Appalachian Trail so I was anxious to see where James would take me on the trail. 

Protagonist Josh Mallory experienced a tragic childhood due to his mother dying in a blazing housefire. The memories of that day are firmly etched in his scarred memory. Josh grew up, attended college, and now finds himself in a strained marriage with his wife Deb. After discovering she may be cheating on him, Josh decides to embark on a three-week “find myself” hike through the Cascade Mountains using the popular Pacific Coast Trail.  

Early in the hike Josh (who uses the name Switchback) discovers a rotting corpse in a rugged ravine. Hoping to notify authorities, he continues his trek and meets a couple of other hikers. The most vibrant is an old hippy-esque guy nicknamed Appletree. He seems innocent enough and the two share a fire one night and Josh learns of a nearby town called Bedal. After hiking to a secluded roadway, Josh hitches a ride into town.

Bedal is a strange place where some of the town doesn't seem to physically hear or see Josh. Others have conversations with him, but it is all misplaced ramblings that seem senseless. He discovers a bulletin board with postings of missing hikers and tries to find a semblance of law and order to report the dead body. However, this weird little place doesn't have any police, working phones, or rangers. When Josh attempts to buy supplies he is introduced to the irritating character of Coars, a drug peddler that operates the town's only store. 

Soon, Josh is back on the trail and discovers more eerie things – a dead deer with a knife embedded in the skull and a wild “forest child” that seems to possess a nefarious motive. Eventually Josh finds the book's horror and it all relates to something in a cave deemed “Woodkin”. All around him Josh hears the words “feast for the woodkin” as he spirals into a really violent and dark experience cutoff from civilization.

There's a lot to unpack here, but the most entertaining parts of the book is simply Josh's flashback chapters that visualize the things that happened in his childhood. His need for a Sony Playstation, a football injury, and the horrific fire. If it wasn't for these chapters removing the reader from the forest, the book would have been rather lifeless. Picture the television show Lost without the character flashbacks. Just jungle and mystery yawns, right? The Woodkin is like one long episode of Lost where nothing makes any sense. Things happen that appear to have just been created by the writer that very second. I'm sure there is a mythology to the madness but I was completely lost on what was happening. One minute it is Wrong Turn, the next it's The Ritual, other times it's Rambo II in a forest prison. I had flashbacks of frustrating gamer days when Silent Hill and Deadly Premonition had no rhyme or reason. Just atmosphere. 

Go read The Woodkin and tell me what the Hell the book is about. I finished it. I'm weary from the fight. But, I finished it. Maybe you can too. Get it HERE.

Paperback Warrior Conversations - Brian G. Berry

Today, Paperback Warrior introduces an exciting new segment to its video and podcast programming called Conversations. In this inaugural episode, Eric sits down with horror author Brian G. Berry to discuss his action-adventure, horror, and science-fiction novels, his unique writing style inspired by cult cinema and trash VHS, and the recent controversy surrounding his novel's removal from store shelves and his dismissal from Encyclopocalypse Publications. Stream the audio portion only HERE. Watch the visual version HERE or stream below:

Nightmare Child

Author Ed Gorman (1941-2016) was a prolific author that wrote series titles like Jack Dwyer, Dev Conrad, Tobin, and Sam McCain. He also used pseudonyms like E.J. Gorman and Robert David Chase to pen stand-alone novels. My experience with the writer has mostly been his western contributions, but I found that he wrote many horror novels using the name Daniel Ransom. Books like Toys in the Attic, The Forsaken, and The Babysitter are genre fun published by paperback pushers like Zebra. My first sample of Gorman's horror novels is Nightmare Child. It was published in 1990 by St. Martin's Press. 

The book's opening paragraphs informs readers that a married couple named Jeff and Mindy are driving in an air-conditioned BMW on a hot August afternoon. In the car's trunk lies a dying nine -year old girl – Mindy's little sister Jenny. By the time the couple arrive in a secluded forest little Jenny has perished from heat and lack of oxygen...which was the plan all along. Mindy needs Jenny dead and buried so she can inherit her uncle's fortune. 

The next chapters occur three-months later. Jeff is banging a co-worker at his advertising firm and Mindy is busy eating Swiss Cake Rolls and working hard brainstorming about the intended exercise regiment she plans to achieve. Next door is the book's main character, a widowed woman named Diane. Diane loved Jenny and often cared for her. But, Jenny has been missing for months and the police fear she is dead. 

Everything changes one afternoon when Jenny appears at Diane's house and asks to come inside. Then Nightmare Child begins to live up to its name with a traditional creepy kid outing that features young Jenny attempting to enact vengeance upon the couple that killed her. Diane seeks help from the local sheriff, creating a romantic chemistry as the two struggle to learn who or what Jenny really is. 

Gorman can write just about anything so traditional horror isn't outside of his wheelhouse. But, I felt this book wasn't indicative of his storytelling prowess. The book's main activity is experiencing the weird things that happen next door as Jeff and Mindy accept Jenny's mysterious return. Diane is suspicious when the couple begin acting strange (like getting nude and prancing around in the snow) and begins to investigate all of this weirdness. I attempted to suspend disbelief and go with it, but logically the plot has holes that could swallow Nebraska. I felt like at some point police or a medical staff would check Jenny's pulse. But, that's my “minor” complaints of Nightmare Child. Read and enjoy, but don't expect a revelation.

Get the book for an astronomical amount of money HERE. 

Black Hound of Death

Robert E. Howard's weird fiction story “Black Hound of Death” first appeared in the November 1936 issue of Weird Tales. It was also included in the Summer 1976 issue of Dark Phantasms, the 1978 Sphere collection Weird Tales Vol. 1, and countless other volumes housing weird fiction and Howard stories. My review is from the Trails in Darkness 1996 paperback collection from Baen.

The story takes place at night in a dense forested area in the American southeast. While Howard doesn't specifically state Kirby Garfield is a lawman, it is implied based on his actions in the story. Through a first-person perspective, Garfield explains to readers that he's in the part of the forest to deliver a message. A man named Braxton has escaped from the law leaving a “ghastly toll of dead behind him.” Garfield believes Braxton is in the area and he is riding on horseback to warn a reclusive man named Richard Brent of the potential danger. 

On his way he stumbles upon a man begging for help after being ripped to shreds by some sort of animal. He screams at Garfield saying that “HE” done it. He relays a story to Garfield on how he was hired by a white man (wearing a mask) as a guide to Brent's house. But, somewhere along the way the mask slipped away and the man went on the attack. The man later dies in front of Garfield after providing him a warning to leave the area.

The book ventures into a pulpy horror nightmare as Garfield and a few stragglers venture to Brent's house and prepare for the flesh-ripping forest menace to appear. Of course there is an explanation on who – or what – is killing people and how it all ties to the fugitive Braxton. I can't give away any more details because it would inevitably spoil the reading fun. Trust me, the story is worth pursuing and delivers a hair-raising creature-feature experience. Recommended! Get the vintage copy of Trails in Darkness HERE.

Isle of the Undead

Pennsylvania native Lloyd Arthur Eshbach (1910-2003) discovered science-fiction at the age of 15. He soon began writing his own stories and sold his first to Science Wonder Stories in 1929. Eshbach became influential with his small Fantasy Press, initially publishing authors like E.E. Smith and Robert A. Heinlein. My first experience with Eshbach is the novelette Isle of the Undead, originally published in the October 1936 issue of Weird Tales. 

It begins with Cliff and his girlfriend Vilma on a rented yacht sailing through a sea of fog. Cliff rented the yacht, and it's captain, a guy named Corio, to entertain his small group of vacationing friends. Cliff and Vilma are horrified when they spot a strange galley ship approaching. As it nears, the couple see the crumbling timbers are blackened with rot, the prowl is bent backwards, and the mast is a jutted broken arm. But, the real terror lies in discovering the wretched crew of undead “things” sailing on the ship, a group of raggedy men that appear bloodless white with puffed and bloated skins as if they had been drowned and left in the sea for a very long time.

Soon, Cliff, Vilma, and the crew are manhandled by these monstrosities and taken to an obscure island hosting an enormous castle. Inside, they discover that this island is home to an undead legion of vampires that ransack vacationers and use them as sustenance to quench their nocturnal thirst.

I was thoroughly entertained by this pulpy horror tale and found Eshbach's writing so descriptive and imaginative. He creates scenes of stark-white terror when the group learn of their fate inside the Hellish castle. He really had to deliver the goods to match J. Allen St. John's ferocious cover design. However, his writing blends a sense of swashbuckling adventure as Cliff attempts to liberate his lover and friends. There are rescue attempts, sacrifices, nautical adventure, and plenty of fisticuffs as the group fight to survive the Isle of the Undead. 

You can listen to this story for free using Librivox, read it online at archive.org, or order a cheap copy online HERE. 

The Curse of the House

“The Curse of the House” is an early short story authored by Robert Bloch (1917-1994). It first appeared in the February 1939 issue of Strange Stories. It was later included in Subterranean Press's The Reader's Bloch series that concentrates on the writer's fantasy, horror, and science-fiction offerings. 

One of the unique features of “The Curse of the House” is that it upends the haunted house formula, proving that Bloch was already thinking outside of the box with his macabre artistic style. Instead of the average-man thrust into nightmarish home ownership or positioned as a haunted house-guest, Bloch flips the narrative by having a house “haunt” the average-man. The key is that this haunted dwelling can travel and follow the man throughout his life. It is an animate object with the ability to transcend boundaries – both physical and literary.  

The story is presented in first-person perspective by an unnamed doctor. He is interviewing his newest patient, a guy named Will Banks. Banks explains to the doctor that a house is haunting him. He then reveals that as a student he delved into the Black Arts. So much so that he traveled across the globe in a pursuit of olden devil-worship. His most alarming stop is in Edinburgh. It's here that Banks interviewed a warlock, Brian Droome. Droome invites Banks into his home and explains that his family have generations upon generations of active witchcraft. Droome is very open and hospitable to Banks, but as he temporarily leaves he instructs Banks to never go into the home's basement. He is adamant about this. But, Banks does and this creates the awful predicament that plagues his every waking moment. The house is alive.

There is a lot to this story that I can't divulge here. If you enjoy a classic horror tale that offers a non-traditional approach then look no further than Bloch's excellent “The Curse of the House”. While I'm not certain what Bloch is transcribing here, my guess is that it is a look at the mental health industry and its inner strengths and weaknesses in the early 20th century. The basement could represent an abstract approach to healthcare with authorities suggesting it is off-limits. The side-effects and long-term ailments could parallel the idea of the “house” haunting the patient. 

You can read this story HERE.

Ranking Stephen King's Night Shift

In this exclusive video, Eric presents a top 20 ranking of Stephen King's Night Shift stories. Each story includes a capsule review with tons of book covers, movie clips, and magazine inserts through the years from various publishers. Also some fun facts about King's work is included. Watch it below or stream HERE.

Gone to the Wolves

In a New York Times 2009 interview with Gregory Cowles, author John Wray professes his love for abstract music and its dream-like ability to spawn creative processes. My take is that Wray likes really weird music – nothing more and nothing less. I'm a weirdo for music as well and authored hundreds of heavy metal and hard rock reviews for a decade (MaximumMetal.com). It was of great interest to me to find Wray's 2023 hardcover Gone to the Wolves in an indy book store in Tampa. It is fitting that the book begins and ends on Florida's Gulf Coast, an area about four hours west of my Florida coastline home.

Gone to the Wolves begins in 1990. A teenager named Kit arrives in Venice, Florida to live with his grandmother. Kit feels out of place but strikes up a bizarre friendship with a black bisexual teenage boy named Leslie. Kit rescues Leslie from what he believes to be an assault, then later realizes that Leslie was just buying weed from his dealer. Kit and Leslie quickly become friends through music. 

If you aren't a heavy metal mophead, the quick basics is that death metal music (cookie monster vocals over heavy distortion) was arguably formed in and around Tampa in the mid 80s. The genre hit corporate radars in 1990 and became a marketable trend. Leslie is up to speed on the early death metal movement and incorporates Kit into the vinyl and tape trading explosion of death metal and thrash. Kit quickly replaces his love for U2 and Huey Lewis with bands like Morbid Angel, Death, and Cannibal Corpse. 

Venice doesn't have much to offer so the kids hang out at a place called the Grids, an abandoned section of unfinished housing. It is here that Kit gets to know Kira, a distant teen girl that clearly has a lot of emotional baggage. The three become a tight-knit trio and eventually move to Los Angeles. This is the middle portion of the narrative and features events that you will typically find in any rock documentary ever made – heroin, cocaine, sex, music, the Sunset Strip, and heroin – did I mention heroin?

Kit and Kira become a couple, although its loosey-goosey at best. Leslie falls in love with a guitar player and then becomes hooked on drugs. This portion of the narrative is a rags to more raggedy story of kids coming of age through a baptism of fire. Eventually, Kira's love of extreme metal leads the couple to Europe. It is here that the third act takes place, a narrative in the darkest confines of Norway. Kira is taken by strangers at a metal show and Kit spends a year wondering where she is. Eventually Interpol contacts Kit and things get ominous very quickly. 

Again, if you aren't a heavy metal mophead, the quick basics is that black metal music (think Mariah Carey caught in a bear trap over three-chord riffs and blast beats) emerged in the late 1980s and exploded in Scandinavia with a lot of occult mysticism and Viking lifestyles that aggressively rebelled against Christianity. The infamous church burnings began and there were musicians killing themselves and other musicians during this arson phase. Needless to say, Kit and Leslie journey to Norway during the height of this era and begin investigating Kira's disappearance. 

It's a cliche, but I will say this book is a love letter to heavy metal. There are enough references to musicians, albums, songs, lyrics, and riff religions to blanket Wacken in a mortuary drape. The central story is a discovery of independence and the development of adulthood. Personality, hormones, identity, and a skewed remembrance are all key factors in the storytelling. There is a purpose to it all and the finale is a very dark place that dips the book into horror's blood red red room. 

Gone to the Wolves is a mandatory read if you love heavy metal. Without at least a minimum interest in abstract music, the book may not have as much of an impact. If you are a devil's horn denim and leather wharf rat then this book is all gravy. Highly recommended for headbangers. John Wray, if you ever see this review, I cracked the logos coding and path.

Buy your copy HERE.

Paperback Warrior Podcast - Episode 109

Into the woods we go! In this episode, Eric takes a journey through a popular niche genre of men's action-adventure novels - Deer Hunter Horror. Capsule reviews are presented for novels like Shoot, Open Season, Deer Hunt, High Hunt, and more. Also, a contemporary novel is reviewed titled East Indianman by Griff Hosker. Stream on any podcasting platform, stream below or download HERE. Be sure to check out the companion video HERE featuring a deep dive into an obscure book store in central Florida with loads of vintage paperbacks and appealing pop-culture. 

Listen to "Episode 109: Deer Hunter Horror" on Spreaker.

The Yellow Wallpaper

Author Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935) mostly concentrated on writing non-fiction, magazine articles, poetry, and social theory. Her most famous work is a short story titled “The Yellow Wallpaper”, originally published in The New England Magazine in 1892. In 2015, Stephen King stated that the story terrified him. I have read numerous references to the work from influential writers citing it as an influence on their writing. Over the years I've never bothered to give it a whirl. Until today.

“The Yellow Wallpaper” is an epistolary story presented through journal entries that are narrated by the unnamed main character. For simplicity, I'll just refer to her as Jane. After giving birth to her baby, Jane descends into postpartum depression. In this Victorian age the best cure was thought to be extended rest. Jane's husband John rents a mansion for the summer in hopes this will cure her of her psychosis. 

Oddly, when the two arrive, alongside a housekeeper and John's sister Jennie, the narrator says that she is confined to a spacious upstairs nursery. Her descriptions of the room, which change over time, dominate the bulk of the narrative. Jane describes the living space as having metal rings in the walls, a floor that seems to have claw marks in it, barred windows, and a bed bolted to the floor. Seems suspicious.

The focus of course is the yellow wallpaper. Jane begins to see patterns and designs on the walls. Over the course of many days she believes the patterns are bending and being reshaped into new forms by a woman crawling inside the wall.

Needless to say “The Yellow Wallpaper” is disturbing. After the story's publication the author stated that her writing wasn't intended to drive people crazy, but to save people from being driven crazy. Gilman's motivation to write the story stems from her own mental anguish through postnatal depression and the treatment involved.

From the perspective of a horror or mystery fan, the story is wildly entertaining in its abstract style and open interpretation. No one really can provide a definitive answer on who the narrator is, if her baby is indeed alive, and if she is really in a summer home or a sanitarium. The possibilities are endless which is a testament to the story's secretive storytelling and the legacy it carries. Recommended. 

Island of the Dead

It would be difficult to discuss zombie novels without including a cornerstone of the genre, Brian Keene. Many consider his novel The Rising (2003), along with Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead, as catalysts for zombie pop-culture of the 2000s. Keene's novel spawned a sequel, City of the Walking Dead, and two additional entries that live in the very undead world of The Rising. Additionally, Keene authored stand-alone "zombie" novels like Dead Sea (2007), Entombed (2011), and The Complex (2016). Now, in 2024, he returns with another living dead novel in Island of the Dead, published by independent publisher Apex Book Company with glorious artwork by Mikio Murikami (Silent Q Design). The book flips the narrative by placing zombies in a sword-and-sorcery environment, an ambitious hybrid described by Keene as Robert E. Howard (Conan the Barbarian) meets George Romero (Night of the Living Dead).

In the book's opening pages, slaves aboard a galley ship learn that Einar is from the northern barbarian tribes. But Einar, who has worked as a thief, mercenary, pirate, and a bodyguard across sweltering deserts, mountain peaks, and jungles, is quick to explain to his fellow captives that his tribe doesn't call themselves barbarians. As introductions are made, readers learn that Einar was arrested after a tavern brawl that left several people dead. He now serves as a slave on a ship lifting, pushing, and pulling oars across the sea to a war-torn land. 

Einar hesitantly advises a charismatic slave named Chuy that he plans on escaping the ship. After convincing the guards that he must relieve himself at the head, Einar is able to overtake the guards and free the slaves. However, a freak storm has appeared that creates a disaster for the ship and crew. While the fight for liberation ensues, monstrous tidal waves thrust the men into the depths of the ocean as the ship is destroyed. When Einar awakens he discovers he has washed ashore on an island alongside a few fellow slaves and a number of guards. What is this mysterious island? What horrors does it host? These are all enjoyable surprises that await readers as they explore the Island of the Dead.

Keene makes a valid reference to Robert E. Howard with his Conan-styled hero Einar. The barbarian often speaks like the Cimmerian, referring to friend and foe as “dogs” while expertly wielding a sword to hack and decapitate enemy hordes. His diverse background parallels Conan's own experiences as a pirate, thief, and mercenary. In fact, in terms of Conan lore, Island of the Dead's early premise is similar to Lin Carter and L. Sprague de Camp's 1967 story “The City of Skulls”, which was adapted to comic form in Savage Sword of Conan #59, Conan the Barbarian #37, and even the “Blood Brother” episode of the Conan: The Adventurer animated show. 

The placement of this barbaric hero in a zombie-styled universe is an exhilarating concept enhanced by the violence, gore, and temperament of Keene's unique storytelling. In a horror sense, this story delivers the goods in grand fashion. However, looking beyond the zombie dangers, the story also possesses a cagey human element that presents both the slave and ruler's eternal dilemma and the political strife that ignites a powder keg. These apocalyptic stories always prove that human design and the quest for power leads to chaos and ruin. As scary as they may be, the zombies are just the innocent weapons of man's destruction.

Island of the Dead is out now and you can get your copy HERE.

Killer Delivery

According to his online biography at Blossoms Spring Publishing, Calum France was born in Stirling, Scotland and began writing at a young age. He holds a BA in English Literature and has authored two full-length novels and a novella in the horror genre. I acquired an ARC of the novella, Killer Delivery, published by Sapphire Creed Ink and published in 2024 as a one-dollar ebook. 

The opening chapter, “Cold Night”, places readers in a secluded mansion in the small town of Aberlea on a snowy Halloween evening. It is here that Jonathan Harker (obvious homage to Bram Stoker), successful wealthy novelist, performs the ordinary task of ordering food to be delivered to his home. But, a deranged super-fan named Karlee Monroe has been waiting outside of Harker's home for just this occasion. She savagely executes a gore-gash-to-the-door-dash and then takes on the disguise and carries the food into her literary idol's home. 

But, Killer Delivery offers readers two more surprises. Three burglars decide that this Halloween night is the perfect opportunity to break into Harker's home. Conveniently, as Karlee is inside Harker's home, the three bungling burglars tie Harker to a chair and begin the gun-wielding threats to cough over money. However, all of these intruders are shocked when they realize that Harker doesn't write his murder thrillers as fiction.

This novella slightly resembled Thurlow's Christmas Story, a short story that was authored by John Kendrick Bangs and published in Harper's Weekly in 1894. In that plot design, an author's fan surprisingly appears on his doorstep and then weird things happen. But, in a more modern sense, the novella is like a cross between Dexter and The People Under the Stairs in its clever home-invasion concept plopped neatly upon a stainless steel operating table under the gloom of a professional serial killer.  

At 100-pages, give or take a font size, the novella is presented in a smooth prose with plenty of imagery and compelling storytelling. While it is hard to create an innovative home-invasion plot with today's overuse of the plot design, France works his magic to propel this narrative into a riveting read laced with energy, violence, and a sense of lonely atmosphere that drapes the writing in a snowbound chill. Killer Delivery delivers the goods. Get it HERE.