Nightmare by Stephen Leather

Posted on 15th May 2012 in Reviews

When we last left hard-boiled and supernaturally-inclined PI Jack Nightingale (in Nightmare‘s prequel Midnight) he’d met with the demon Proserpine to discuss her numerous and quite flagrant attempts to kill him. That meeting had concluded with something of an uncomfortable revelation for Jack, and a realisation that he really needed to stop trying to read the intentions and guesswork of the otherworldly and diabolically-evil-influenced party-set.

Nightmare, the third book in the series, opens at a rapid pace. Leather is an author adept at getting his readers turning the pages of his books eagerly, and there’s little time for dallying around here. So it is that Jack’s pulled from his flat by the police, who seem to perpetually flick between both needing and deploring him in some way or other, and carted off swiftly to assist them with their enquiries. Click here to read more.. »

comments: 0 » tags: British horror, horror-thriller, Jack Nightingale, London, Nightmare, Paranormal, Spring Into Terror 2012, Stephen Leather

Sprung Spring and Something About Terror

Posted on 7th May 2012 in Blog

Spring may well have sprung a few weeks ago (or sprung a leak given the dire wet-weather that’s been all the rage here in the U.K.) but don’t fret. As per usual, the horror collective review crowd headed up by The Monster Librarian, are once again launching our Spring into Terror season. During this time we link up to share our reviews of horror books released in this period, and to give a little bit of extra love to that genre of fiction that holds a special place in our hearts.

So please, spare a moment to check out The Monster Librarian, Horror World, Hell Notes and Horror Fiction Review sites for their coverage of horror book reviews during the Spring into Terror season. As ever, check out our super cool mascot for this as painted by artist Darlene Wanglund – Mr Horatio P. Bunny. For the next couple of weeks we try and give a special season cross-site focus to our beloved scary fictional genre, so do check here and the other sites for related reviews.

comments: 0 » tags: Spring Into Terror, Spring Into Terror 2012

Phantoms by Dean Koontz

Posted on 27th April 2012 in Reviews

Dr. Jenny Paige’s mother has just died, and taking up the maternal mantel she collects her younger sister Lisa to come and live with her in the remote mountain community of Snowfield. On returning home the town seems strangely deserted. But then Jenny comes upon the body of her housekeeper and things begin to worsen, to quite horrific levels.

A little more investigation reveals that Snowfield is far more than simply desolate, that the body count is escalating, and it seems that a fair few inhabitants of the town are also missing. So begins our journey alongside Dr. Paige in Dean Koontz’s 1983 novel Phantoms. And for those who were wondering, yes, this is the same book upon which the 1998 film of the same name, starring Peter O’Toole and Ben Affleck, is based. Click here to read more.. »

comments: 4 » tags: Big Evil, Dean Koontz, isolation, Phantoms, supernatural horror

Vampire Fiction Clichéd in 1897 Too!

Posted on 21st April 2012 in Blog

Bram Stoker's Dracula 1897Yesterday marked the 100th anniversary of the passing of Bram Stoker, whose novel Dracula, published in 1897, is well deserving of its legendary status and place eternal in the horror fiction canon. Whilst that book is often cited as having had huge influence upon the vampire genres in literature, film and beyond, the very vampire genre itself is as equally often derided by many as nowadays being saturated.

Anne Rice, Twilight, Buffy, True Blood and numerous other less worthy contenders have accusatory fingers pointed in their direction as being to blame for this cacophony of blood-suckers that have invaded what seems to be every corner of society. Yet, curiously, an article at The Guardian refers to a review of Dracula in the Manchester Guardian in June 1897 which you might find quite interesting, as it seems claims of derivative prose in the genre aren’t a particularly new occurrence. Click here to read more.. »

comments: 0 »

Deadfall Hotel by Steve Rasnic Tem

Posted on 18th April 2012 in Reviews

Deadfall HotelI sought a suitable metaphor to describe my experiences with Deadfall Hotel. I thought about using the patchwork quilt, with its multi-segmented, sometimes jarring and other times interweaving and flowing nature. That might have been more than adequate.

Then something more appropriate fell into place, as I recalled a scene from the book where hotel manager Richard Carter is assigned a task by the caretaker to check on some cleaning work recently undertaken by some contractors. Richard has put together his own proprietary map: “now several sheets taped together, walls drawn with pencil, erased, and redrawn, arrows used to indicate geometries that made no logical sense.” Click here to read more.. »

comments: 1 » tags: Deadfall Hotel, Steve Rasnic Tem, Weird Fiction
« Previous