Previous SFF Author: Anthony Horowitz
Coyote Songs by Gabino Iglesias
I’m giving 2018’s Coyote Songs by Gabino Iglesias five stars, and I’m going to recommend it highly here. Then I’m going to post warnings, because this is one of those “this book is not for everybody” things.
On Twitter, Iglesias describes his writing as “barrio noir,” and also “a mix of horror and noir.” Coyote Songs follows several characters on either side of the Mexico/USA border as a mysterious rage-filled entity comes into their lives.
March 25th, 2020. Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | Gabino Iglesias | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Stephen King takes over 550 pages to relate the story of the mysterious Institute and its merciless dealings with kidnapped children. Given that page count, it shouldn’t be too surprising that King spends the first forty pages setting up his tale with a seemingly unrelated story of a man adrift in his life. Tim Jamieson, an out-of-work cop, takes a hefty payout to give up his seat on an overfull flight, and ends up making his rambling way from Tampa, Florida to the small town of DuPray,
March 24th, 2020. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 3.5 | Stephen King | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
SHORTS: Our column exploring free and inexpensive short fiction available on the internet. In this week’s column, Skye and Tadiana review several of the current crop of 2019 Nebula nominees in the short story and novelette categories.
“Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island” by Nibedita Sen (2019, free at Nightmare Magazine)
This Nebula Award finalist is precisely what the title promises, as it takes the form of ten excerpts from an annotated bibliography.
I thoroughly enjoyed the form of this story — I would almost describe it as delightful,
March 23rd, 2020. Skye Walker and Tadiana Jones | A.C. Wise | Audio, Horror, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Uninvited by Dorothy Macardle
Although 1944’s The Uninvited has long been one of this viewer’s favorite spooky movies of that great filmmaking decade, it wasn’t until fairly recently that I learned of the special place it holds in cinema history. The film, apparently, was the very first Hollywood product to treat ghosts seriously. Here, at last, the specters on display were not hoaxes, not fakes, and not played for laughs. Rather, they were completely legit; supernatural survivors with unfinished business here on the material plane. Featuring first-rate acting by a cast of pros,
December 18th, 2019. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4.5 | Dorothy Macardle | Film / TV, Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
SHORTS: Our column exploring free and inexpensive short fiction available on the internet. Here are a few stories we’ve recently read that we wanted you to know about.
“Head of a Snake, Tail of a Dragon” by Zen Cho (2018, free on the author’s website)
This short story is a delightful sequel to Zen Cho’s Hugo award-winning novelette, “If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again.” And both are free online, so win-win!
Jin-Dae is an imugi, a magical serpent that can — if it learns and grows in the right way — turn into a dragon.
December 3rd, 2019. Tadiana Jones, Marion Deeds and Kat Hooper | Arthur Machen, Cat Rambo, Ilona Andrews, John Scalzi, Zen Cho | Audio, Horror, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
SHORTS: The annual Halloween edition. Our horror-themed column this week, reviewing some recent online short fiction works, features demon babies, slasher film heroines, ghosts and more.
“Growing and Growing” by Rich Larson (2019, free at Nightmare Magazine)
Ignacio and Hector are on their way home after a night of drinking when they find a baby crying in the middle of the road. Ignacio decides to bring it home for the night so he can take it to the hospital in the morning. But on the way home,
October 31st, 2019. Kat Hooper and Tadiana Jones | Jonathan Carroll | Audio, Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places by Colin Dickey
If ghosts exist, we don’t know why, but ghost stories exist because the living make them up; and the living make them up because we need them. Colin Dickey’s book Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places (2016) explores the US’s social conflicts and hidden histories as they play out in places that are publicly advertised as “haunted.” In the first chapter, Dickey says, “If you want to understand a place, ignore the boastful monuments and landmarks,
October 31st, 2019. Marion Deeds and Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Horror, Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |
Happy Halloween!
The Monster and the Girl directed by Stuart Heisler
I suppose that I owe director John Landis a huge debt of thanks, as he was the one who first introduced me to the movie in question, The Monster and the Girl … a film that I may very well have never heard of, without his knowledgeable guidance. As the TCM guest programmer one evening recently, Landis — himself the director of one of the truly great modern-day horror films, An American Werewolf in London — told host Ben Mankiewicz that he had selected the 1941 film because he found it to be totally unique,
October 31st, 2019. Sandy Ferber | Film / TV, Horror | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton by Edith Wharton
Perhaps because she is one of the most esteemed writers of the 20th century, Edith Wharton may not be immediately associated with the genre of horror. Today, she is probably best remembered for her novels The House of Mirth (1905) and The Age of Innocence (1920), which latter book copped her the Pulitzer Prize, as well as for her classic novella from 1911, Ethan Frome, a staple reading assignment for all English majors.
October 30th, 2019. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4.5 | Edith Wharton | Horror, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Monster of Venice directed by Dino Tavella
Pop quiz: Can you name a film in which a serial killer stalks the byways and canals of Venice? If your answer is Nicolas Roeg’s 1973 film Don’t Look Now, a glass of Chianti for you! If you came up with the more obscure film Who Saw Her Die?, a giallo picture directed by Aldo Lado in 1972, well, you’ve just earned yourself two glasses of Marchesi Antinori! And if your response was the extremely obscure Monster of Venice,
October 30th, 2019. Sandy Ferber | Film / TV, Horror | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Previous SFF Author: Anthony Horowitz
Do it! One of the best things I've read in recent years.
This reminds me. I want to read Addie LaRue.
We’re in total agreement David!
I felt just the same. The prose and character work was excellent. The larger story was unsatisfying, especially compared to…
Hmmm. I think I'll pass.