RIP John Saxon

RIP John Saxon


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Book Review: Peel Back and See

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I read Mike Thorn's Darkest Hours about a year ago and was seriously impressed by it. Peel Back and See might be even better. There are some truly great stories in this collection, and while not every story will work for every person (and you might not want to eat before reading some of these), I found myself enjoying most of them even more than I expected. My favorites include "Mini McDonagh Manor." In this story, after her mother's death, Julie builds a replica of her childhood home, before ultimately deciding to go home and visit the real thing for the first time in years. She believes something sinister lurks there and wants to find out once and for all what it is. This is the most legitimately creepy story in the whole collection and gave me actual chills. If you like this one, make sure you also don't miss out on "Dreams of Lake Drukka," which could easily be a companion piece to "Manor." Another standout is "Deprimer," which a...
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Book Review: Darkest Hours

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Mike Thorn's Darkest Hours is a diverse collection of stories, that, at its best reminds me of Graham Masterton, less in style, more in terms of subject matter and gore. Some of the stories (for instance collection opener, "Hair") were a little stomach churning for my taste, but Thorn is a talented writer even when going for the gross-out. Animal lovers like myself might want to skip "Fear and Grace" and "Satanic Panic" (although the latter has a standout ending). I also found the cruelty to the creature, although it really wasn't by strict definition an animal, in "A New Kind of Drug" hard to take. Many of the stories in this collection concern the topics of academia (with academics being alternately portrayed as buffoonish or somewhat sinister) and drinking/drunkenness; the two are most amusingly combined in the clever "Speaking of Ghosts." "Long Man," concerning the titular creature that haunts children's mirro...
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Halloween Reading

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Want some good seasonal reading to get into the Halloween mood? Here are some of my top picks for October. Usher's Passing by Robert McCammon One of my absolute favorite novels, Usher's Passing tells the story of the Usher family, descendants of Poe's Ushers, as they prepare for the family patriarch's death. Sinister events begin occurring around the family's North Carolina estate, as the heirs to the family fortune (and curse) gather. McCammon's novel takes place in October and really captures the feel of the season. A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazney A new favorite, A Night in the Lonesome October (illustrated by Gahan Wilson), is set in the Victorian era and features characters such as Jack the Ripper, Count Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, Larry Talbot, and Sherlock Holmes. The story is narrated by Jack's familiar, Snuff, a very good dog, who is helping his Master prepare to fight the attempted release of the Old Ones into ...
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