Previous SFF Author: Anthony Horowitz
All Heads Turn When the Hunt Goes By by John Farris
Having never read anything by John Farris, I stumbled upon his 1977 novel All Heads Turn When the Hunt Goes By after seeing David J. Schow‘s very laudatory remarks concerning the book in Jones & Newman‘s overview volume Horror: 100 Best Books (1988). In his essay, Schow calls it a “unique horror novel; the strongest single work yet produced by the field’s most powerful individual voice,”
March 4th, 2013. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | John Farris | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
John Wayne Cleaver’s journey started in I Am Not a Serial Killer, but his problems get more severe in the second book in Dan Wells’s trilogy, Mr. Monster. The teenage sociopath is very determined not to become the serial killer he longs to be in his heart of hearts, but it’s a challenge. His dark side — Mr. Monster, he calls it — wants out, and it especially wants to kill Brooke, the beautiful girl he drives to school every day.
February 25th, 2013. Terry Weyna´s rating: 4 | Dan Wells | Horror | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Green Man by Kingsley Amis
Kingsley Amis’s sole horror novel, The Green Man, had long been on my list of “must read” books, for the simple reason that it has been highly recommended by three sources that I trust. British critic David Pringle chose it for inclusion in his overview volume Modern Fantasy: The 100 Best Novels, as did Michael Moorcock in Fantasy: The 100 Best Books AND Brian Aldiss in Horror: 100 Best Books.
February 18th, 2013. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Kingsley Amis | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Terror by Night: Classic Ghost and Horror Stories by Ambrose Bierce
Wordsworth Editions, published in London, has a wonderful thing going with its current series entitled “Tales of Mystery & the Supernatural,” bringing back into print short story collections and full-length novels from such relatively unknown authors as Gertrude Atherton, Edith Nesbit, D.K. Broster, Marjorie Bowen, May Sinclair and Dennis Wheatley. The imprint’s collection of horror tales from Ohio-born Ambrose Bierce is a very satisfying and generous one,
February 11th, 2013. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 5 | Ambrose Bierce | Horror, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
A Scent of New-Mown Hay by John Blackburn
The old whimsical phrase “there’s fungus among us” might not sound so amusing after a reader finishes John Blackburn‘s first novel, A Scent of New-Mown Hay. This short (my New English Library paperback edition from 1976 is only 160 pages long) but densely written book originally appeared in 1958, and is a curious combination of sci-fi, horror and spy thriller. I first came to hear of it after reading a very laudatory article on the novel in the excellent overview volume Horror: Another 100 Best Books edited by Stephen Jones and Kim Newman.
February 4th, 2013. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | John Blackburn | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Nine Horrors and a Dream by Joseph Payne Brennan
Nine Horrors and a Dream is a collection of Joseph Payne Brennan’s best horror tales, and was first published by Arkham House in 1958. The book consists of short stories that, for the most part, first appeared in the classic pulp magazine Weird Tales in the early 1950s; indeed, the book is dedicated to that great magazine, which ended its 31-year run in 1954. Prospective readers of Brennan’s collection should be advised that this is NOT an easy book to acquire.
January 28th, 2013. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 5 | Joseph Payne Brennan | Horror, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Terror is based on the British vessels HMS Erebrus and HMS Terror and their voyage to discover a northwest passage in the 19th century. Using their unknown fate as a literary springboard, Dan Simmons freely fills the gap in history as his imagination allows, and in the process has created a work of historical fiction that transcends genre. Classified horror due to one of its plot devices, the novel is in fact much deeper in scope.
January 14th, 2013. Jesse Hudson´s rating: 4.5 | Dan Simmons | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The third issue of Nightmare is more accomplished than one would expect from a magazine so new. The choice of stories is excellent, and the debut story is especially disturbing.
That debut is “Chop Shop” by J.B. Park, and if it is any indication, Park is going to have a brilliant career as a horror writer. The viewpoint character is a woman who has a horrifying sexual fetish: she is turned on by a man cutting away her flesh, her limbs, her organs slowly but surely. She is able to experience this because a virtual reality program makes it so,
December 31st, 2012. Terry Weyna | Mike Mignola, Sarah Pinborough | Horror, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Those Who Went Remain There Still by Cherie Priest
Those Who Went Remain There Still is a short Southern Gothic horror novel by Cherie Priest which I listened to in audio format. The story follows two plotlines told in alternating chapters. One is excerpts from Daniel Boone’s Reflections Upon the Wilderness Road which he wrote while leading a group of trailblazers across Kentucky. Every night, Boone and his men are being stalked, picked off, and eaten by a huge bird-like monster.
The second plotline follows the history of Daniel Boone’s descendants in the rural Kentucky area where Boone met the monster.
December 31st, 2012. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Cherie Priest | Audio, Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Every House is Haunted by Ian Rogers
Ian Rogers must love Shirley Jackson, for his stories are often like hers, gentle on the surface, but with a knife thrust from below. In Every House is Haunted, his debut collection, Rogers writes about haunted houses, yes, but more often about haunted people, or shadows of people. Rogers sometimes has trouble finding appropriate endings, but his stories are always engaging.
The collection is divided into sections named for rooms in a house: the vestibule,
December 24th, 2012. Terry Weyna´s rating: 3 | Ian Rogers | Horror, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Previous SFF Author: Anthony Horowitz
Pretty challenging book. Cut by half, speed up the cadence. Trying to figure out the plot, the main point of…
Thanks for the kind words, Marion! Coming as they are from a professional writer, they are much appreciated!
Wonderful review, Sandy.
The "body count" bothered me a bit less because being dead seemed more like an inconvenience than anything else... unlike…
Detailed, thoughtful review, Bill. I'm going to read it for two reasons. First, Karen Russell wrote it, and second, it…