Final Women

RIP John Saxon

Poppy Z. Brite's prose is poetic, luscious, intoxicating, and, most of all, addictive. This was a collection I could not put down, reading most of it in one sitting. It's one of those books where I feel sad now that it's over; I could have read so many more stories. Or maybe I wish I could reread these for the first time. I can't say I actually liked all the stories, although I liked most. However, even the ones I didn't necessarily like , I couldn't put down. Brite's writing is simply so seductive that I couldn't help but love it, even if the overall story-the plot, the characters, etc.-was less appealing. Brite has a way of writing that makes even the gruesome, the gross and grotesque, beautiful. My favorite stories include: "Angels"-I love Ghost and Steve. Their friendship reads honest and true even in the briefest of stories. In "Angels," Steve's car breaks down in a rural area, and Ghost leads them to a house and the two for

The Psychopath is a long unavailable Amicus film from 1966. I've been dying to see it since I first read about in a Rue Morgue article on Amicus films several years back. I finally got a copy of it a few weeks ago. Did it live up to my expectations? Absolutely, and then some. Directed by Freddie Francis ( Paranoiac , The Evils of Frankenstein ) and written by Robert Bloch ( Psycho ), this film assures its audience that we're in capable hands from the opening credits. The plot concerns a series of murders in which dolls, in the likeness of the victims, are left behind at the crime scenes. This set up has a lot of potential for creepiness, and the movie absolutely lives up to these possibilities. There is even a scene at the very end that is truly disturbing, really nightmare fodder. I don't want to give it away if you haven't seen it, but anyone who has will know what I'm talking about. The Psychopath is also beautiful to look at. There's something about certai

Eden Royce does southern gothic to perfection in her collection,  Spook Lights: Southern Gothic Horror . In every one of her stories, you could feel the heat of the south; she brought the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes to life. This is an excellent collection, and I will be reading everything else by her that I can get my hands on. Spook Lights  contains eleven stories and one poem, and only one of the stories, "Path of the War Chief,"  didn't really work for me. It wasn't a bad story by any means; it just didn't seem to fit well with the rest of the collection. The book starts on a strong note with "The Watered Soul," where a man seeks out the woman who cursed him with eternal life. From the very beginning of this story, you are immersed in the atmosphere of the marsh land location. Other high points include the second story, "Doc Buzzard's Coffin," which had some darkly humorous moments. In the tale, a young girl's uncle gets reve

Kill River trilogy by Cameron Roubique I love this trilogy! Roubique's writing perfectly captures the 80's slasher movie vibe, and his books are so hard to put down. He also writes great characters, even the less likable ones have moments where they evoke empathy, making their deaths more impactful. Slasher fans definitely need to check this series out. Roubique is my new favorite writer, and this trilogy is so much fun. They're some of those rare books that you're sorry when they're over, because you want the chance to read them for the first time all over again. I cannot recommend them highly enough.  Check out my review of the first book here. Sharkwater Beach by Tim Meyer Okay, so this book doesn't actually specify what time of year it takes place in, but it's set on a beach in hot weather, so I'm counting it. This is a really strange book and definitely won't be everybody's cup of tea. See, our monster isn't just any old giant killer s

Sharkwater Beach by Tim Meyer is an interesting book. It definitely went in directions I didn't expect, directions I couldn't possibly have expected, to be perfectly honest. And I'm not going to lie, things got strange . I still enjoyed it, however, and I think, if creatures features are your thing, and you keep your expectations...open...you might enjoy it too. Beware. Spoilers ahead. Sharkwater starts off with a bang. The prologue is exciting. Meyer's novel opens with a security guard stationed at a remote underwater research station, run by a mysterious, wealthy entrepreneur. Alerted to a massive security breach in one of the lower levels of the station, and unable to communicate with anyone from that level, the security guard heads below, where he encounters massive carnage and, ultimately, his doom at the hands of a massive shark. From there, Meyer moves on to the main story and introduces us to several different characters, including Jill, a grouchy detective an