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.

Dracula

Dracula, written by an Irishman named Bram Stoker, was published in 1897. It was later a huge success in the 20th century and is the most popular horror novel of all-time. It inspired countless media platforms including movies, television shows, animated cartoons, action figures, comics, breakfast cereals, and costumes. The book's villain, Count Dracula, is often the icon for vampire culture - both pop-culture and the freakish folks that dress goth and avoid suntans. Dracula was, and is, a big deal.

Bram Stoker's Dracula is presented in a non-traditional way. The entire book is made up of diary entries, letters, transcripts of phonograph recordings, telegraph messages, and ship logs. It makes for a dynamic reading experience that bounces perspectives. 

The presentation begins with Jonathan Harker's diary entries. He's an attorney who has been asked to travel to the Carpathian Mountains in Transylvania to visit Count Dracula at his castle. The meeting is to settle some financial affairs and complete real estate purchases. However, Harker quickly learns that he has become a prisoner and he's only able to communicate with his fiancé Mina through letters that are read and approved by Dracula himself. Harker also discovers that Dracula is a supernatural being when he sees the Count behave like a lizard and crawl down the castle walls. There are parts of the castle that are restricted, but Harker is able to discover three vampire women that are also in the castle as well as a cemetery and chapel where the Count sleeps in a dirt filled box.

Harker eventually returns to England and is admitted into the hospital where he tells Mina everything that happened. Meanwhile, the Count has purchased an old house in London and arrives by boat in a mysterious fashion. Through diaries and letters the readers are introduced to Lucy, Mina's friend. Lucy begins to behave in a strange way and readers discover that she is a victim of Dracula, evident with puncture holes on her neck and her telepathic connection with the Count. 

Dr. Seward, who is also seeing strange behavior in a patient named Renfield, asks for help from his mentor, Dr. Van Helsing who determines that Lucy is a vampire. Together, they collaborate with other men to find Dracula's home. Eventually, horrible things happen to Lucy and the book's finale has Van Helsing and the other men chasing Dracula through the snowy mountains battling gypsies to kill Dracula.

First off, for 1897, this book is extremely violent. There's women being decapitated, garlic stuffed in the mouths of corpses, a baby that is kidnapped and drained of blood, children dying, etc. These are elements that probably created shockwaves at the turn of the century with not only the level of violence but the combination of intense scenes and the fiendish despicable villain. Despite the book's unpopularity upon publication, the intensity may have drawn filmmakers to the novel. 

The book's beginning with Harker in the castle was fantastic and the last 60 pages is really good with the chase and mystery determining Dracula's whereabouts. The ending is quite epic. The middle 200 pages was my biggest issue - which is the bulk of the book. The constant perspective changes from diary entries of one character to physician notes or letters of another character and the rotation just never glued me to the story. Also, Van Helsing's presence was a real letdown. He cries a lot, speaks like a character in Shakespeare, and is just way too literary for me. These 200 pages are similar to a medical thriller with blood transfusions and endless around the clock care for Lucy. 

I wish Dracula was a traditional novel, but its wide appeal is the style of presentation. Some people love it, others are just underwhelmed by the book. Overall, I really enjoyed Dracula but I'll never read it again. I'm one and done just because of the sluggishness of the middle. But, if you like horror, then Dracula is a mandatory read. You have to read it or else you really can't substantiate your love of vampire literature for something like Salem's Lot or Interview with the Vampire. Take a leap and try the classic. You'll be satisfied.

Paperback Warrior Podcast - Episode 108

Another exciting episode of the Paperback Warrior Podcast. In this episode, Eric discusses the life and work of legendary best-selling thriller writer Dean R. Koontz, complete with the numerous pseudonyms he used throughout his career and the many genres he contributed to. In addition, Eric reviews an iconic horror novel from the 1800s and reads a horrifying "when animals attack" story titled "Weasels Ripped My Flesh". You can stream the episode below, at YouTube, or on any streaming platform. Also, be sure to view the entirely different, exclusive video ranking Eric's favorite Dean R. Koontz novels HERE.

Listen to "Episode 108: Dean R. Koontz" on Spreaker.

Chopping Mall: The Novelization

Roger Corman's Concorde Pictures released Chopping Mall in 1986. The origin of the film's production stemmed from Corman's wife Julie negotiating a distribution deal with Vestron to create a horror film with a shopping mall locale. B-movie screenwriter, director, and producer Jim Wynorski joined the project to write the script (with Steve Mitchell) and direct. This was a partnership with the Cormans that would fuel future cult hits like Big Bad Mama II, Deathstalker 2, and Sorority House Massacre II and III (aka Hard to Die or Tower of Terror). Chopping Mall (initially titled Killbots) had a limited theatrical run but became rental store sustenance for millions of VCRs in the 1980s. Very few teenagers could pass up the amazing font and cover art.

In 2013, author, producer, and editor Mark Alan Miller teamed up with Shout! Factory to release the director's cut edition of Clive Barker's Nightbreed. Now, in 2024 Miller is the founder and president of the nostalgically modern publisher Encylopocalypse, which concentrates on horror, science-fiction, and action novels as both original content, reprints of prized vintage fiction, and new, fresh novelizations of cult films. His former collaboration with Shout! Factory inspired Encyclopocalypse to novelize Chopping Mall, which had previously never been novelized. Shout! Factory owns the rights to publish Roger Corman's film library. The marriage is a perfect curtain-jerk into more Corman films hitting the printed page. 

Chopping Mall's novelizations is by Brian G. Berry, an author of over fifty novels and the founder of Slaughterhouse Press. His most well-known series titles are Shark Files, Slasherback, and VHS Trash. Berry's experience with horror and his novelizations for SRS Cinema makes him the perfect fit for Chopping Mall: The Novelization (release date Nov. 19, 2024).

Berry's take on Chopping Mall mostly follows the film version, which is how I like my novelizations. After just reading Michael Avalonne's Friday the 13th 3-D novelization, which seemingly was written from a different script completely, I appreciate Berry's artistic integrity to preserve the film's original design.

The book, and film, concerns a technological advancement occurring at Park Plaza Mall. To detract theft and unruly behavior, Park Plaza has installed three robots deemed The Protector. They are armed with deadly, flesh-piercing devices like tasers, lasers, C-4 explosive, and pain-inducing pliers when in a pinch. The exterior of these robots is bulletproof. Why any of this is necessary at an average 80s shopping mall is never explained in the film other than security measures. 

One night after the mall closes for business, teenage employees stay late and converge inside one of the mall's furniture stores with their mattress mate. When a lightning storm frays the building's electronics, the robots are glitched and begin hunting the teens in the mall. These mop-headed survivors fight for their lives by stealing firearms, paint supplies (boom!), and other hardware to combat the run-amok robots. Like any 80s horror film there is the proverbial “final girl finale” to keep the faith. 

Berry's novel weighs in at 136 pages and presents these horrifying, stomach-clinching scenes of terror with enough descriptive detail to make it a bloody good time without being distasteful. I loved the breezy flow, shorter chapters, and the quick dismissal of the unimportant characters – pop, chop, and tase for (time) savings.

Unlike the film, Berry goes one step further and doesn't rely on the last page's embrace to welcome the credits. Instead, he includes a four page Epilogue titled “Protector 2.0” that explains the U.S. Army Special Weapons Division, funded by the Defense Department, staged this mall annihilation as an exercise to test how the robots would perform in combat. Berry also includes a scene from an undisclosed testing facility in California where the robots have killed a number of people before finally biting the hand that feeds in Dr. Vanders, in this case ripping her scalp from her head and shoving it in her mouth. Brian Berry can be nasty when he wants to be. 

Chopping Mall: The Novelization is a delightful retail rampage placing consumer combatants into an arena of oncoming death. Or debt from those monstrous credit card machines fueled on American capitalism and 80s excess. That's the believable horror story.

Buy your copy HERE.

Corpsemouth and Other Autobiographies

Although he has written two novels, New York creative writing professor John Langan is mostly known as an author of literary gothic horror short stories. Corpsemouth and Other Autobiographies is a collection of 13 short works compiled and published in 2022. I sampled four stories from the collection to see what Langon is all about.

"Kore" - This story is about a married couple with a preschooler who decide to create a Halloween haunted walk behind their house as a seasonal attraction for their kid’s classmates to enjoy. It’s filled with corny scares like rubber spiders and craft-store cobwebs. Kid stuff. Year after year the couple ups their scare game making their haunted walk more and more frightening and intricate. Could this be a vehicle to invite actual threats into the house? The climax of this very short story was plenty scary, but it really ended too soon. I wanted more, but I suppose that’s a pretty high compliment for a short story.

"Homemade Monsters" - In this one, our narrator is looking back on his childhood and his idyllic relationship with his parents among a crowded house teeming with siblings. His little rival friend gets off on destroying toys during play dates until finally enough is enough. Compelling, well-written story about childhood friendship frustrations, but not particularly scary.

"Shadow and Thirst" - August is a Newark cop visiting his father in the country. On an early morning walk, they see a ten-foot tower that has been mysteriously erected on dad’s property in the distance. The dad goes to check out this mysterious object while August heads back to the house with the family’s suddenly disturbed dog. When dad returns to the house, he’s…different. Psychotic. Dangerous. The secret to what’s happening lies in the odd tower, and the revelations are creative and satisfying. Best of the bunch.

"Corpsemouth" - The title story is the final one I read in the collection in which the narrator recalls a trip to Scotland in 1994. His father had recently died, and the trip is to visit dad’s family back in Scotland. He recalls his father’s final days in the hospital before his death, and the reader gets a glimpse into why this is a horror story. We also learn about Corpsemouth, a god/monster legend of the H.P. Lovecraft variety. The narrator also name-checks Stephen King in the story. Despite these solid ingredients, this overlong story failed to connect with me.

John Langan is a talented and inventive writer, but his work failed to frighten me in the manner Stephen King did in Night Shift or Skeleton Crew. I’d be interested in reading one of his novels because I’d really like to see what he can do with more pages to expand his thoughtful ideas.

Meanwhile, I intend to dip back into the Corpsemouth collection because these stories don’t benefit from back-to-back-to-back consumption. I’d definitely recommend this collection to anyone who enjoys their horror more cerebral and literary. Get your copy HERE. 

Sour Candy

Kealan Patrick Burke is an Irish-born contemporary horror author with a winning streak of highly-regarded terrifying novels and novellas. My first dip into his world was his 86-page Sour Candy, available as a thin paperback or a Kindle ebook.

The story opens with childless Phil grabbing some chocolate from the candy aisle of a Wal-Mart for his girlfriend at home. While browsing the sweet treats, he sees a little kid having a total meltdown in the store accompanied by his stoic and unreactive mother. Witnessing this, Phil’s primary thought is, “Man, I’m glad that isn’t my kid.”

On his way home from the store, a car plows into the back of Phil’s Chevy at a stoplight smashing the vehicle like an accordion. When the dazed Phil extracts himself from his car, he sees the driver who struck him is the lady from the store - somehow without her hellion child in tow.

That’s when things start getting scary as hell.

Giving away further plot points would spoil the fun, but if you’ve seen the terrifying film It Follows, you have an idea what’s happening. Creepy kid stories were a staple from the Paperbacks From Hell era of late 20th century horror fiction, and Sour Candy can be seen as a modern homage to that sub-genre.

I liked this story quite a bit and found it generally unnerving and quite scary in parts. I think the author was reflecting upon and playing with the anxiety that childless couples must feel at the prospect of upending their lives by having a kid. Be warned that this story won’t do much in the way of convincing young adults to take that plunge.

In any case, Sour Candy is a fun, scary ride that cemented Burke as an author to watch in the horror genre. Recommended.

Get the book HERE.

The Body Snatchers

Author Jack Finney (1911-1995) authored a number of short stories for glossy magazines like Collier's and Cosmopolitan. His career kick-started when he won a literary award from Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. His first novel was 5 Against the House, originally published as a serial in Good Housekeeping in 1953 and compiled into a novel in 1954. He followed that success a year later with what is arguably his most well-known work, The Body Snatchers. It was originally published in Collier's from November through December of 1954 and then as a Dell hardcover novel in 1955. The book was such a hit that it was adapted into a film in 1956 using the familiar title Invasion of the Body Snatchers. It would be adapted to film three more times through 2007.

The Body Snatchers takes place in the northern California county of Marin. The main character is a twenty-something divorced doctor named Miles. In the beginning of the book Miles receives an office visit from an an old high-school flame named Becky. She is also divorced and the two still have a romantic chemistry. Becky is worried and explains to Miles that her cousin believes that the man claiming to be her uncle is no longer really her uncle. He looks the same, acts the same, talks the same....but something is just different. 

Later, Miles receives more patients claiming that there friends or loved ones have been replaced by an identical person (or thing!). Miles feels this is all ridiculous and could be linked to hysteria. But, he visits a guy named Jack and the narrative then takes a spin into some really dark places. 

Inside Jack's home, Miles discovers a nude body draped upon a pool table. Oddly, the body doesn't have any identifying features, as if it is still in the process of being formed or made. Jack shockingly claims that the body was infant-sized a few hours before Miles arrival. The idea is that this body is growing to eventually become a duplicate of Jack or his wife. 

Eventually Jack, Jack's wife, Miles, and Becky find seed pods around town that suggest aliens are being created to look like humans in an attempt to integrate themselves secretly into human society. The narrative's first half is built on shock, awe, and suspenseful discovery. The concept is mysterious and spirals into a paranoid sense that the town is consumed by alien beings. 

The second half of the book is a frenzied plot-development as the characters find themselves in a fight or flight situation as they prepare to leave town. Miles, again as a doctor, feels that it is his obligation and oath to protect the town. Together with Becky, he eventually talks with the alien impostors to discover their overall plan. 

As much as I loved this book and the characters, the ending was extremely disappointing. This is a common complaint with anyone who has read this book. Finney just doesn't stick the landing and it doesn't have a suitable ending. His scientific explanation for the aliens arrival doesn't make any sense when you compare it to the book's ending. But, nonetheless it doesn't ruin the entertainment factor.

There are essays and detailed reviews of this book everywhere and one can journey down any rabbit hole to find influences and critical praise of the book's underlying message. As a fan of Finney's heist novels, I've noticed that the author often creates characters that wish to be something they are not. Often young characters will dream of being wealthy and independent which spurs them into committing crimes before facing defeat, rejection, and guilt. In many ways this book has that same central theme as the alien impostors explain how things are different (better?) when the humans give into the transfer of losing themselves to become this alien form. There is also quick references about the town planning on revitalization with a proposed interstate that will bring with it more traffic and commerce. Also, Miles complains that the replacement of the town's telephone operator for an automated system seems to be a sign that humanity is replacing itself. I loved the subtext that Finney injects into his narrative. 

You owe it to yourself to read The Body Snatchers. Despite the ending, the book is frightening, thrilling, and influential to many of the “invasion” angles you see with science-fiction and horror genres to this day. Highest possible recommendation. 

Ooze

Author Anthony M. Rud authored science-fiction, horror, and detective novels and short stories between the 1920s through the 1930s using his own name and pseudonyms of R. Anthony, Ray McGillivary, and Anson Piper. He also edited Adventure magazine for three years and Detective Story Magazine for one year. He is best remembered as authoring the title novella in the historic first issue of Weird Tales – Ooze from March 1923. 

Ooze is presented in first-person narration by an unnamed narrator. The narrator learns that his former college roommate, John Cranmer, has died along with John's son Lee and his wife Peggy. The novella begins with the discovery of these deaths and then follows a non-linear narrative as the narrator pieces together the pieces of history leading to these deaths.

Working as an aggressive scientist, John purchases a swampy area of Alabama to conduct experiments on microorganisms. The idea is to somehow grow larger livestock that would provide more food to people. However, things spiral out of control when John grows a small amoeba. John's adult son Lee visits his father and purposely begins to feed the “Ooze” large animals in an effort to supersize the growth and showcase his father's scientific prowess.

I won't ruin the surprise for you but I'll hint that this slimy gelatin-encased oozy monster may or may not bite the hand that feeds. How the deaths happen, who is responsible for this creature-run-amok incident, and the mystery of where the thing lives becomes the bulk of the narrative in a fun and gross way. Literary scholars have often cited that this story may have influenced H.P. Lovecraft's style, specifically his story The Dunwich Horror. 

If you love early horror and gross-out monster mayhem, do yourself a solid and read Ooze. Get it HERE.

Blood Farm: An Iowa Gothic

Utah native Sam Siciliano earned a Ph.D. in English from the University of Iowa. His writing career includes nine Sherlock Holmes books as part of Titan's Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. His influences are genre fiction and Victorian writers, two loves that led to his three stand-alone vampire novels. I decided to read one of them – Blood Farm: An Iowa Gothic. It was published in 1988 by Pageant Books with an incredible cover by artist Hector Garrido.

In reading the book I began seeing comparisons to Bram Stoker's Dracula. After a shallow dive online I found that Siciliano used Dracula as the template for a modern retelling of the story, relocating the tale from the Carpathian Mountains to Iowa. 

The book begins with Angela, a college student, standing by the highway in a snowstorm. She wants to get to Iowa City and spends the worst possible night begging for a ride. Roy, a Vietnam War veteran, pulls over and picks her up in a long black hearse. He's on his way to retrieve a body in a small town called Udolph. Angela agrees to go along with him in exchange for the ride to Iowa City. Fair enough.

As they pull off the highway and head to the small town they find a strung out guy collapsed by a road sign. They pick him up and together the trio arrive at a derelict old farmhouse. Inside, they are greeted by a man named Blut who appears deathly white and his weirdo girlfriend. He shows them to the body which is really just a locked coffin. He offers to host the trio of travelers overnight so they can transport the body the next morning when the snow lifts. But, things go absolutely batshit crazy. Quickly.

The chaos begins when Roy and Angela have sex (graphically explained in detail by the author). Roy goes to the bathroom down the hall to freshen up and is then raped by the albino's girlfriend. She's clearly a vampire. Roy fights his way free but it is too late. The albino guy is a master vampire and he has attacked and raped Angela. Roy escapes with his life and heads to Iowa City to retrieve a horror mythology expert, a priest, and Angela's friend. They then head back to the farmhouse to do battle with vampires.

First, this book is sort of fun in a campy sort of way. It is all preposterous and the writing isn't fabulous by any means. But, it has a nostalgic charm that reminded me of the 80s classics like Fright Night and Vamp. My biggest issue with the book is that these horny vampires rape their prey. They run around groping for a good lay which erased any scare factor the author could conjure up. I just couldn't take the evil vampire leader seriously when the image is Bela Lugosi but the dialogue is Andrew Dice Clay. It was just weird for me. 

Blood Farm: An Iowa Gothic may be entertaining to vampire buffs. But, as a horror novel with an impressive cover it just doesn't work. Very mild recommendation if you can get it on the cheap. Try HERE.

Thrill

Author Patricia Wallace's literary career is closely associated with horror paperbacks of the 1980s and 1990s. Her first novel was Traces, published by Zebra in 1982. Most of her horror novels centered around children or young adults facing some supernatural force or homicidal lunatic. I chose to read her 1990 paperback Thrill, which promised thrills inside an amusement park.

Billionaire developer Sheldon Rice has created an amusement park simply titled The Park. But, its an unusual place with three levels sitting on top of thousands of acres of rural California. The niche is that most of the park features robots as the themes – robot spiders, soldiers, creatures, etc. I was getting hints of the 1970s sci-fi flick Westworld going into the book. 

To celebrate The Park's grand-opening, a Willy Wonka type of promotional gig is provided that invites a handful of troubled teens to the dazzling entertainment mecca to experience all of the thrills for the very first time. 

Wallace presents the narrative in third-person with a variety of characters. In any given chapter the book may be from the perspective of Rice, his engineer, the park's doctor, and the variety of kids that make up the park's attendance. I found that the constant changes made for a bumpy ride through the plot-development and action. Motion sickness is my weakness, but trumping the shiftiness was the book's plodding progress. 

It takes almost 200 pages for the kids to arrive at the park. There's 388 total pages which beefed up the book's first-half narrative with tons of backstory and the various maintenance and creation that Davison, the park engineer, is constructing or finishing. Each kid has a chapter of history and predicament but none of it really mattered.

Inside the park I was hoping for Die Hard with kids being slaughtered by runaway robots (Chopping Mall!) as they attempt to free themselves from the billionaire's faulty new toy. None of that really happens. Sure, there is the occasional broken bone, severe laceration, and death, but it isn't a sizable portion of the book's payoff. The substitute is a bunch of malarkey about an old Native American who feels that the land is cursed and that Rise is receiving his comeuppance for building there. 

Thrill sucks. Period. Don't waste your time. 

Nightmare on Ice

John Stephen Glasby (1928-2011) was a British born author that produced more than 300 novels and shorts during the mid 20th century. Most of his literary work was written using pseudonyms or house names like A.J. Merak, J.L. Powers, Victor La Salle, Chuck Adams, and John E. Muller. Bold Venture Press spotlighted Glasby's Nightmare on Ice in their 45th issue of Pulp Adventures. The novelette was originally published under the pseudonym Peter Laynham in Supernatural Stories in 1963. 

The narrative features five men living in a research station miles from civilization in the Arctic. There's three scientists, a mechanic, and a meteorologist. Inside this base sits three main buildings and each of these tiny buildings is connected by a dark narrow tunnel. One of the men mentions that he can hear animal noises outside the doors, which is unusual considering the area is in a heavy thunderous blizzard. 

Days later one of the men is alone in the storeroom and hears scratching at the outside door. Considering the temperature is hovering at 60 below zero, nothing alive should be outside in the storm. The man opens the door, begins screaming, and then the reader is left guessing at his demise. This sort of thing plays out again with another member of the research team. 

With three survivors remaining, one of them tells the others that through the frost-crusted window he could see both of the dead men standing out in the snow. There's discussion among the men that ancient people in that area believed something supernatural lived in the ice and sort of embodied the winter. Needless to say things happen and eventually we're left with one survivor who is armed with a gun and attempting to keep his sanity knowing he's the next victim. But, what is the thing in the ice? Is it a ghost, a creature, Satan himself? I like that Glasby leaves it all subjective. There is an ending to the story, but it's slippery to determine exactly what's happening. 

Nightmare on Ice is a fantastic reading experience with a sense of dread looming in every dark crevice. I love books and stories set in snowy locales or frozen settings so the atmosphere and temperature was perfect. One of my favorite horror films is John Carpenter's The Thing and this novelette contained those vibes, which in itself was based on the 1938 novella "Who Goes There". Glasby's tale is mostly what I consider a horror entry but I guess you can lump it in as a science-fiction with the possibility that the evil thing is from another world or planet. Regardless of genre, this was entertaining and highly recommended. 

You can get Pulp Adventures for ten bucks on Amazon HERE and as I mentioned earlier it contains this novella and a lot of other great content. Bold Venture Press does such a great job with this magazine and I have no qualms supporting their efforts. This issue also contains pulp fiction stories from E.C. Tubb, Shelley Smith, Ernest Dudley, and contemporary stories from authors like Jack Halliday and Michael Wexler. There's also a Rough Edges article written by author James Reasoner reviewing three novels.

Crawlspace

Occasionally, books just gut us, right? Not in a bad way. I'm referring to the way talented authors can weave compelling stories that just suck you right in. Throughout the reading experience you get this bond with the characters and you become emotionally invested. When events happen in the story you feel personally connected in some sort of literary spiritual way. Just as you become comfortable with the trick – that's the writer 's magic – the crucial plot development and engaging characters get tossed to the wind. It's a bouncy, temporarily unsafe place swooshed into the funnel cloud that quickly appeared from nowhere. If the author did their job effectively (genre plays a partial role), the aftermath is the wreckage descending from the sky to surprises the reader and crush all previous assumptions about the characters or story. Or something like that. 

Herbert Lieberman's 1971 novel Crawlspace manages to check all of the boxes. The author specialized in crime-fiction and horror, churning out 14 novels between 1967 and 2003. Crawlspace was originally published by David McKay, but was later published multiple times by Pocket Books. The book sold well and was adapted into a made-for-television film that broadcast on CBS in 1972. 

Crawlspace is a difficult novel to review for fear of giving away too much of the story. The book is a character study, and a deep psychological dive, into severe social anxiety as an elderly couple experience domestic turbulence in their quaint New England farmhouse. At over 300 pages, the book's momentum shifts from a slow character development into a more sporadic frenzy as the story changes dynamics. There are crime-fiction elements, some vigilantism, and a focal point on a corrupt sheriff. However, Lieberman's story doesn't have a convincing “bad guy”. It isn't as specific in the storytelling to assign heroism or dastardliness. That's the hook.

If you are looking for a terrific novel look no further than Crawlspace. It is a potboiler that builds in intensity as the couple's fears and suspicious grow. I've never read a book quite like it...and probably never will. Track down a copy of this one. Highly recommended. Get a copy of the book HERE. 

Houses of Horror

When I was a kid, on the third of each month I would spend long days at the grocery store and pharmacy. This was the day my grandmother, aunt, and uncle received their Social Security checks, an event celebrated by my mother driving the three of them "into town" to spend Uncle Sam's dough. My part in this parade, besides being squished into the car, was a dollar's worth of quarters for the arcade machines in the grocery store. At .25 cent a game, the money bought about eight minutes of enjoyment. The rest of the time I would camp out in the magazine aisle, which had some books, and read until the shopping finished. The grocery store at the time preyed on the lower-income, Bible-belt consumers that would believe anything. The stocked books were on UFOs, alien abductions, the Bermuda Triangle, ghosts, and of course, thick books that analyzed and dissected all of the facts about Elvis to determine he was still alive and living on a tropical island off the coast of Africa. 

I would imagine, based on popularity, that I read or thumbed through a book by shock-writer Richard Winer (1925-2016). He edited or authored a handful of spooky non-fiction books about "real" supernatural events. His books, published by Bantam, included three works on the Bermuda Triangle (The Devil's Triangle 1 & 2, From the Devil's Triangle to the Devil's Jaw) and three books on haunted houses and happenings, Haunted Houses, More Haunted Houses, and today's subject for review, Houses of Horror. It was published in 1983 with cover art by David Passalacqua Jr. (Black Christmas). 

As you can see in the photo, Houses of Horror consists of 20 short articles or tales concerning a supposed ghost, haunted house, or supernatural event. I chose three of these to cover in this review:

"The Ghosts of the Wolf House"

The ghost of Jack London? News to me. But, apparently this was a common myth in California's Sonoma Valley. In this tale, Winer outlines bestselling author Jack London's Wolf House. London, who authored the beloved Call of the Wild, The Sea Wolf, and White Fang, designed the house to have 23 rooms and a dining room large enough to seat fifty guests. The plan was to move into the house in September, 1913, but the month before the nearly-complete house burned up. London had planned to rebuild the house but died three years later. The ruins of Wolf House was acquired by Jack London State Park and visitors at the ruins claimed to hear voices and see apparitions. London's widow claimed her brother Jack refused to live in the ranch house that was on the same property. He claimed London's ghost walked the halls and watched visitors. The article also documents some of the spiritual readings that supposedly caught London's voice after his death. Spooky, and creative, stuff. 

"Wisconsin's House of Curses"

The haunted house here is the Hille Farm in Waukesha, Wisconsin, a two-hundred-acre spread that was built in 1848 by German-American John Hille. Hille died around 1900, but his two sons and daughter took over the farm. In 1916, one of the sons was killed by a bull in the barn. In 1917, a stranger came to the house and convinced the Hilles to hire him as a farmhand. After a few weeks he advised the Hilles he was really a United States Secret Service agent that was investigating reports that the Hilles were German sympathizers. This was all a ruse to extort the Hilles out of money. A confrontation occurred and all of the Hilles died. The man was later arrested for extortion. In 1927 a couple bought the farm and after a few years went bankrupt. A couple then moved in to rent the place and they experiened the death of their two children. In 1932 a man named Pratt bought the place and then accidentally blew himself up blasting trees and rocks. A Chicago couple moved into the farm house in 1948 and restored it. However, the couple's son drowned in the nearby lake and a few years later the couple separated and moved away. In 1972 the next owner's young son fell from the barn's hayloft and was impaled on an auger. Coincidental events? I think not. Something is seriously wrong with that place. This was disturbing.

"Just Like One of the Family"

May, 1968. Mac Goldfinch and his family move into a house in Conway, South Carolina. Mac was an undertaker and didn't believe in ghosts. His business is the dead and he had never experienced anything unusual. Until now. A little girl with brown hair is seen moving around the house. From outside, visitors claim to have seen her moving in front of the window. Also, loud noises of banging and crashing was often heard, but nothing to source the sounds. The television would flip channels by itself, cries of "Help Me!" were heard multiple times, and the little girl's hand could be seen holding doors. Eventually, after discovering the child meant no harm, they accepted her as just one of the family. 

The book also includes eight pages of black and white photos of various haunted places examined in the book's chapters. As a harmless, enjoyable look at the supernatural, I found it a delightful read. If you treat it as horror-fiction, and not buy into the "real" idea, then there is plenty to like here. Recommended!

Note

According to The Washington Post, Winer campaigned to have Fort Lauderdale cleared of drugs and prostitutes. On July 19, 1980, an unidentified person rigged a bomb to Winer's truck ignition. Winer tragically lost his right leg in the fiery explosion.