Monday, May 19, 2025

We Are Always Tender with Our Dead by Eric LaRocca

Michael McDowell's Blackwater meets Clive Barker's The Great and Secret Show in the disturbing first installment of a new trilogy of intense, visceral, beautifully written queer horror set in a small New England town.

A chilling supernatural tale of transgressive literary horror from the Bram Stoker Award® finalist and Splatterpunk Award-winning author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke.

The lives of those residing in the isolated town of Burnt Sparrow, New Hampshire, are forever altered after three faceless entities arrive on Christmas morning to perform a brutal act of violence—a senseless tragedy that can never be undone. While the townspeople grieve their losses and grapple with the aftermath of the attack, a young teenage boy named Rupert Cromwell is forced to confront the painful realities of his family situation. Once relationships become intertwined and more carnage ensues as a result of the massacre, the town residents quickly learn that true retribution is futile, cruelty is earned, and certain thresholds must never be crossed no matter what.

Engrossing, atmospheric, and unsettling, this is a devastating story of a small New England community rocked by an unforgivable act of violence. Writing with visceral intensity and profound eloquence, LaRocca journeys deep into the dark heart of Burnt Sparrow, leaving you chilled to the bone and wanting more.

 

There are stories within the main story but mostly it is about a mass murder of town residents at a Christmas event. For some reason, the elders of the town have decided the dead bodies of the victims should not be buried and instead remain as they are, splattered all over the place. The perpetrators of this heinous act are a faceless family of three. Literally faceless that is. Just blank and empty where a face should be. Why? I don't know. Don't ask me. Did they even really commit these murders? I don't know. They don't speak and there was no trial or evidence. Maybe it was just decided that they were murderers because they are different.

I'm going to have to file this one under the category of what in the hell did I just read? 

That being said, I will also be anxiously awaiting the next book in the trilogy.

I'm at a loss for how to review this book. I can only say that it's a good thing the town of Burnt Sparrow is fictional because it is not a nice place to visit and you would not want to live there. This is a disturbing tale of depravity, sadism, abuse, neglect and a great deal of sadness. There is a long list of trigger warnings at the start of this book so proceed with caution. 

My thanks to Titan Books and Eric LaRocca

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Tuesday, May 13, 2025

October by Gregory Bastianelli

 

A magician and a dark evil at Halloween come together in an intriguing coming-of-age thriller.

Readers of Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes and All Hallows by Christopher Golden will love this. In 1970, four boys on the cusp of becoming teenagers notice strange events occurring in Maplewood, NH, timed with the late-night arrival of an old magician who has taken up residence in a boarding house in their neighborhood, where one of the tenants is a reclusive pulp horror writer. The writer’s fears have kept him from venturing outside in over forty years, fears linked to the magician’s previous visit. As children go missing in town, the four boys try to piece together seemingly unrelated phenomena and realize dark forces are at work, but no one will believe them. 




It's October 1970 in the small New England town of Maplewood New Hampshire when a freight train that never carries passengers or stops there comes to a halt. A boy watches an elderly man in a top hat and cape disembark. What does his arrival have to do with a shut in who has not left the boarding house where he has resided for these past four decades? Why are children going missing? And what is in those pumpkins? You will have to read to find out!

Four boys coming of age in 1970 are going to have the most memorable October of their lives. Strange happenings, bizarre deaths and mysterious disappearances will plague the town. Even if they can figure out the cause, with the help of a retired horror writer who has been afraid to go outside in 40 years who would possibly believe them?

This is a story that simmers slowly at first as we are introduced to the unusual characters of the town, including the former side show fat lady, the boys from the wrong side of the tracks, and even a poor unloved dog who has lost his boy.  I love small-town horror so this was a huge hit with me. The setting was perfect!  The 70's vibe was complete with Hammer House films and Dark Shadows. The closer we get to Halloween the scarier it gets. I couldn't have loved it more!

5 out of 5 stars

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Thursday, May 8, 2025

Draw You In Vol.1: Collector's Item by Jasper Bark

Can you disappear so completely that only one person remembers you existed?

That’s what comics creator Linda Corrigan asks, when her editor, disappears without a trace. Drawn into an FBI investigation by Agent McPherson, Linda and comics historian Richard Ford unearth a chilling link to the forgotten comic artist R. L. Carver, whose work might just hold the key to a series of mysterious disappearances.

As they explore Carver’s life, they uncover the secret history of horror comics, the misfits, madcaps and macabre masters who forged an industry, frightened a generation and felt the heat of the Federal Government. They also stumble on the shadow history of the United States on a road trip that veers into the nation’s dark underbelly, where forbidden knowledge and forgotten lore await them.

Described as “Kavalier and Clay meets Clive Barker,” Draw You In Vol.1 – Collector’s Item is the first in a mind-bending trilogy of novels. It contains stories within stories that explore horror in all its subgenres, from quiet to psychological horror, from hardcore to cosmic horror.

Experience the epic conspiracy thriller that redefines the genre for a new generation.


At a comics convention, Linda Corrigan, an artist who has fallen out of favor, thinks her career may be looking up when a well-known editor invites her to an exclusive party. However, once she arrives, it appears she might be the victim of a cruel prank. She is refused entry, and everyone she speaks to claims they know of no such editor. Her attempts to track him down prove fruitless and she begins to realize this is not a joke at her expense. There is something far more sinister afoot.

She soon finds herself entangled in conspiracy theories, government plots, rumors of voodoo rituals, psychic powers, and the cursed history of another comic book artist who was famous in the 1950s but then disappeared with his final work unpublished. That is just the beginning! 

There is a lot going on in this psychological horror mystery. It features intriguing characters, the dark history of horror comics, and an original plot more layered than an onion. The more you uncover, the more there is yet to find out. This first book of the trilogy was a fast and fun read.

My thanks to Jasper Bark and Crystal Lake Publishing

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Saturday, May 3, 2025

Tales from the Parkland by Ronald McGillvray

In the tradition of The Twilight Zone and Tales From the Crypt, Ronald McGillvray’s Tales From the Parkland offers a spine-chilling collection that blurs the line between reality and nightmare.

A father is forced to make a terrible decision… Which of his children will he sacrifice to the Garbage Collectors? A family’s sightseeing trip turns into a desperate fight for survival when a city is besieged by flesh-melting rain. A man’s childhood nightmare returns, forcing him to confront the monster under the bed to protect his family. Two siblings must rely on each other to survive when their daycare turns into a den of horror. Two elite snipers wage an impossible war when a secret military experiment unleashes the apocalypse.

Prepare to be haunted by these twisted tales and others that will keep you turning pages late into the night!



Tales From The Parkland is a spine-tingling collection of short stories and a novella. Having grown up watching reruns of Circle of Fear and similar shows, I was first attracted to this book by its comparison to Twilight Zone, and having just finished reading it, I could easily picture several of these bite-sized terror treats as episodes.

A few of my many favorites were The Garbage Collectors, in which a family is forced to confront a strange practice that happens in their neighborhood.

Bogeyman is the answer to what happens to that monster under your bed once you grow up and quit believing.

A pesky little sister will regret inviting herself along for a walk in the woods with her older brother in Squealer.

A family's walk back to their hotel is interrupted by peculiar weather in Acid Rain.

There are also stories of zombies and some werewolves add a creature feature vibe to this well-rounded collection.

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