Black Hare Press Year Seven anthology

Black Hare Press' Year Seven Dark Moments anthology collects stories from the 2025 Dark Moments monthly prompts and BHP's Patreon site. I'm honored to have two drabbles included.

This year's anthology includes over 240 stories, including multiple offerings from Kai Delmas, Liam Hogan, and Eric Fomley. It also includes “FLEISCHFRESSER” by Bunny Rose, one of the longer stories in the collection.

I shut the door behind me and exhaled. She had scared me, grabbing me like that. Her nails were sharper than they looked, and she was certainly strong. It had sent a bolt of lightning up my spine. Utterly unnerving.

You can order a copy (paperback, hardcover, or ebook) here: https://books2read.com/BHP-Y7

Black Hare Press - Year Six anthology

Black Hare Press' Year Six anthology, filled with stories from the 2024 Dark Moments monthly prompts and BHP's Patreon site, is out now. I was honored to have a few of my drabbles included.

The collection includes over 200 stories, including four each by master storytellers Kai Delmas and Tracy Davidson. It also includes "Literal Potions" by Lisa H. Owens -- an amazing drabble with a great twist(ed) ending.

The nine-iron protruded from her ear like a grotesque appendage. Passersby tried not to stare, but no matter where they looked, something was off-kilter.

Order a copy of the book (paperback, hardcover, or ebook) here: https://books2read.com/BHP-Y6

Two-Sentence Horror Story Contests (2024)

With Halloween creeping up, it's officially Two-Sentence Horror Story Contest season! How quickly can YOU scare a reader?

Contests and their deadlines listed below:

- 10/11/24: Two-Sentence Horror Story Contest (C-VILLE Weekly)

- 10/12/24: Tiny Terrors 2-Sentence Horror Story Contest (Craven-Pamlico Regional Library) - multiple age categories

- 10/13/24: Two-Sentence Horror Story Contest (Frankfort Public Library District) - middle and high school writers only

- 10/18/24: 2-Sentence Horror Story Contest (Laurel County Public Library) - must submit entry in person; open to writers 16+ only

- 10/19/24: Two-Sentence Horror Story Contest (Cromaine Library) - multiple age categories

- 10/22/24: Two Sentence Horror Story Contest (Ypsilanti District Library)

- 10/25/24: Lake Hills Library Spooky Story contest (King County Library System) - 4th-8th grade only

- 10/25/24: Two-Sentence Horror Story Contest (Monroe County Public Library)

- 10/26/24: Teen 2-Sentence Horror Story Contest (Anchorage Public Library) - Anchorage teens (12-18) only

- 10/27/24: Two-Sentence Horror Story Contest (Berlin-Peck Memorial Library) - open to library card holders only, 14+

Book review: Empire, by David Dunwoody

Empire is a zombie novel by author and short story writer David Dunwoody.  The book takes place, as many zombie novels do, in post-apocalyptic America.  The zombie plague has been around for a hundred years or so, and much of the United States has been overrun and is now considered "badlands."  The book chronicles the adventures of residents of Jefferson Harbor, Louisiana, struggling to eke out a day-to-day existence and fight off the ever-growing legions of shambling undead.

Where the book strays from the typical zombie novel plot is the addition of one more character: Death.  Death, or the Grim Reaper, has come to Jefferson Harbor to slay zombies, whose very existence is an affront to everything he knows.

The book has its pros and cons, but Dunwoody's treatment and personification of Death is nicely done.  The concept alone deserves recognition, and Dunwoody handles it very well.  The Grim Reaper enters the story to collect a dying man's soul and slice a zombie in half, and over the course of the book develops into a full-fledged character.

At under 300 pages, Empire is a short novel that doesn't waste much space with unimportant details or unnecessary info dumps.  The book starts out with a letter written by a soldier, used as exposition for the reader.  While most of the information in the letter helps to set the scene, it reads a little awkwardly at times, and could easily have been cut in half without much loss to the story.

Zombies have been done to death (no pun intended) in books and movies lately, and Dunwoody makes every effort to separate Empire from the pack.  He even introduces new slang to replace the over-used terms "zombie" and "undead," which for many readers may come as a welcome change.

Dunwoody is clearly a talented writer, and his action scenes are intense and well-described.  There are many typos throughout the book, especially in the latter half, that over time tend to draw the reader out of the story (which is never a good thing).  The book's main fault is its ambition: so many characters come and go that it is hard to keep track of them all.  More than once as I started a new chapter I found myself trying to remember who the character being mentioned was.

The problems I had with Empire were minor (and mostly technical issues).  The author's character-oriented style and superior storytelling ability make this book stand out from the horde of other zombie novels on the market.  I would heartily recommend Empire to any fan of apocalyptic horror, or horror in general.

The 2010 edition currently available from Amazon ($11.48), Bookshop ($19.99) and others is a newer edition than the one I read.  It may be slightly different (and hopefully fixed the typos).

At the time of this review, the author was working with the publisher on a sequel.

(Originally posted on Helium.com 3/22/09)
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Book review: The Afterblight Chronicles, School's Out, by Scott Andrews

School’s Out, by Scott Andrews, is another installment in Abaddon Books’ post-apocalyptic series, The Afterblight Chronicles. The story follows a group of students and staff members at St. Marks, a private boys’ school, trying to stay alive after a worldwide virus (called “The Cull”) has killed off everyone whose blood type is not O-negative.

The story is told first-person by Lee, one of the surviving students. At first glance the book may seem to be a young-adult novel, but once you get a few pages in, you realize that’s not the case at all. It’s a gory, violent tale; telling it from the point of view of a 15-year old boy doesn’t make it a YA book.

A small group of students and a few teachers survive The Cull. Others who have left to be with their families eventually make their way back to the school, looking for safe haven. Some folks in the surrounding countryside have also survived, and as can be expected, many strange and threatening communities rise out of the chaos.

The book is very well-written. I found myself fully absorbed right away, and I didn’t lose interest at all throughout the story. At times it seems an updated version of Lord of the Flies, with more bad language and heavier artillery. There is an underlying theme of leadership that runs throughout the book – the thin line that differentiates a good and a bad leader, and how that line can become blurred very easily.

The first-person format works well here. The reader gets to follow Lee and see both how he changes and how the world changes, and Andrews does a great job of making Lee’s narrative insightful and entertaining, as well as occasionally comical.

The book is filled with a cast of fleshed-out characters, some of whom get killed off and some who desperately hang on till the very end. Even the bad guys are real enough to make you care about what happens to them. The story is well-paced and very action-packed, but the action does not override the plot or take the place of real storytelling.

I would recommend this book to any horror or dark fantasy reader. There is no supernatural element – just a bunch of deranged and twisted people – so those who can’t live without a vampire, demon, or ghoul, be forewarned.

The Afterblight Chronicles: School’s Out by Scott Andrews is a 290-page mass market paperback, available online from Amazon. The ebook version is also available from Rebellion Publishing, which owns Abaddon Books.

(Originally published by Whispers of Wickedness, March 2008)

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Book review: Strangewood Tales, edited by Jack Fisher

Strangewood Tales is a bizarre horror/dark fiction anthology put together by Jack Fisher, editor of Flesh & Blood Magazine. The book contains a collection of twenty short stories, from just plain weird to weirdly terrifying. It is a nicely-printed book, and it retails for $10.95.

The book boasts a strong stable of writers, many of whom have published their own collections of short stories, or in other cases, their own novels. Some of the notables include DF Lewis (1998 winner of the Karl Edward Wagner Award), Jeff VanderMeer (2000 winner of the World Fantasy Award), Monica J. O'Rourke (an associate editor for Space & Time), Shane Ryan Staley (editor of Delirium Magazine), and Mark McLaughlin (editor of The Urbanite). A large chunk of the contributing authors have had stories appear in (or received honorable mentions from) The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror.

Jack Fisher has put together a strong collection of disturbing stories (including one of his own) destined to provoke a response from even the most deranged reader. The book suffers from more than a few typographical errors, but these minor flaws do little to detract from the content of the various stories.

The cover of the book is great. It is a dark drawing of a very evil-looking clown. This clown would make Pennywise (from Stephen King's It) pee himself with fear.

And on to the stories themselves...

In my opinion (which is what this is, after all) the best story of the bunch is "The Green Spider," by Jeffrey Thomas. The story doesn't really fit with the rest of the book; it's not so much bizarre as just plain fantasy. It is a well-written tale about a sleeping heart that yearns to beat again, and though the heart is not human it certainly has a strong will.

"Finders Keepers" is also a great read, and possibly the most entertaining story of the lot. Gene Michael Higney writes of a homeless junkie, one of the dregs of society, suddenly turned from prey into predator.

Jack Fisher's story "In the Belly of a Demon" ranks as one of the best in this anthology. The originality and narrative that make this story good are only slightly undercut by choppy writing. However, in some ways the strange word choices and jagged style draw you (the reader) deeper into the story, since it's told from a paramedic's point of view, not a writer's.

Like most collections, Strangewood Tales contains its share of stories that shouldn't have made the cut -- "Aphids" and "To a Living Earth." "Aphids" was too short, and did not generate any interest on my part, and "To a Living Earth" was just too weird for me to get a grip on. But who knows, you may enjoy them. Different strokes for different folks, right?

Many readers may see "dark fiction" or "horror" and think Stephen King, or maybe Dean Koontz. But by opening Strangewood Tales, you're stepping into a whole new realm beyond mainstream horror... macabre and bizarre only begin to describe it.

If you're a fan of bizarre/offbeat fiction (mainly horror but also strange in a less-terrifying way) check out this anthology. It contains top stories by some of the leading writers out there, as well as some talented up-and-comers. With the eclectic mix that Jack Fisher put together between these pages, you won't be disappointed.

(Originally posted on Helium.com, 2009)

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Book review: Dark Hollow, by Briane Keene

Brian Keene is without question one of the strongest horror writers in the field.  He's written numerous novels and won two Stoker Awards, and he doesn't show any signs of slowing down.  Dark Hollow is a good read that most horror fans will probably enjoy, but it's not the best example of Keene's writing ability.

The plot for Dark Hollow is genius -- something from ancient Greek mythology comes to life in present-day suburban Pennsylvania and starts terrorizing the residents.  It's up to a local mystery writer and his closest neighbors to stop the evil before it's too late.

The story is told in first person point of view, narrated by the mystery writer, Adam.  In order for the ending to work the way it does, the story has to be told in first person, but there are points throughout the book where the writing sounds a little contrived or cliched.  It may be Keene's intention, but it detracts from the story.

The first-person narrative starts off slow and takes a while to get into, but as the book progresses it gets better and more involving.  The climax is action-packed and well-paced, and the story's resolution is wrapped up very nicely (while still leaving something to the imagination).

This book also has several inconsistencies which are missing from most of Keene's other works.  One character hates to gossip, then a little while later he's trading rumors with neighbors; a grill is parked on the main character's patio, and then somehow it's in the shed where it's been stowed all winter; someone drains a beer and then a paragraph or two later takes a sip from it.  These aren't major issues, but they do draw the reader away from the story.

Keene is a great descriptive writer, and his talent is clearly shown as he describes both the deep dark forest and the insides of an abandoned farmhouse.  His talent for narrative isn't fully realized in the first-person retelling of this story, however.  For a better example of Keene's potential, read his first novel, The Rising, or its sequel, City of the Dead.

Dark Hollow can be purchased online as a mass-market Leisure paperback from most of your typical booksellers.  The book includes a bonus preview of one of Keene's other novels, Ghost Walk.

(Originally posted on Helium.com, July 2010)

Book review: Beast, by Peter Benchley

Beast is the first book I have had the pleasure of reading by Peter Benchley. I worked in a discount bookstore one summer, and we received in a half dozen or so old hardcover copies of Beast from some library. We were selling them for about two bucks each. I figured, it looked like a decent book, and supposedly the guy knew his stuff, so why not? (This is the brain behind Jaws, after all!)

Turns out, it is a great book. Benchley really does know his stuff, and it shows. He goes into major detail on everything from the currents of the ocean to the anatomy of the giant squid. But he does it like a master storyteller -- enough detail to wow you and color in the picture that he's trying to paint, but not so much that you get bogged down in it or can't understand it.

One mark of a good author is that he cares about the characters he creates. If he doesn't care about them, how can he expect you (the reader) to? It's obvious that Benchley cares about his characters from the amount of effort that he puts into fleshing them out and making them real. And he doesn't use the "expendable character" archetype, which is great. (You know what I mean -- you can always tell which characters are going to get killed off in a story; they're the ones who don't have names, or who play minor roles.) In Beast, Benchley breathes life into almost all of his characters -- from the ones who last the whole story to the ones who get killed to the ones who pop in for a minute and then you never see them again.

The story is about a giant squid that, due to ocean currents, has drifted toward the coastline of Bermuda. Not able to find its normal food, it resorts to plucking people off of boats and snacking on scuba divers. Of course, once its presence is discovered, people want to hunt and kill it. (Benchley does a very colorful job of pointing out the dangers of hunting giant squid.) The book is about more than the squid, though -- that's just the main plot.

It is unquestionably a book worth reading. Especially if you are a fan of the sea or a student of it; you will appreciate Benchley's extensive knowledge and the detail that permeates the book. Aside from the scientific motives, the book is a strong work of fiction, and the author is an expert at weaving his tale so subtly that you don't even realize, until the hunger pangs or need to use the bathroom hit you, that he's woven you into it.

(Originally posted on Helium.com, April 2009)

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Book review: Bits of the Dead, edited by Keith Gouveia

From the dark minds of 38 horror writers comes a collection of short zombie fiction, appropriately enough titled Bits of the Dead.  The anthology includes a tiny tale from each writer (most are less than two pages) tackling the subject of zombies from every angle.

Many of the writers included in this book are well-known and highly-respected authors.  Some of the numerous recognizable names include (in no particular order) Tim Waggoner, Kurt Newton, Steve Vernon, Piers Anthony, Charles Gramlich, and Marcie Lynn Tentchoff.  All of the stories come illustrated by Sean Simmans.

Most of the stories chosen by editor Keith Gouveia deserve to be included.  There are a few misses (as there will always be), but for the most part, this is an anthology of good, strong zombie stories.

Lee Thomas starts the anthology off with a three-paragraph-long story, "Tuesday."  While besieged by hungry zombies, a small group of survivors discovers that the two species are not quite as different as they thought.

Nate Southard's story, "Another Lonesome Day," brings one man's loneliness to a whole new level.  In "The Courting," Piers Anthony shows that even in a world full of zombies, there's no escaping sexual harassment.

One of the best stories of the lot is Drew Brown's "Run."  A father's love for his family is tested, and Brown paces the story perfectly for maximum effect.

Another stand-out story is Charles Gramlich's "Once Upon a Time with the Dead."  The story is action-packed, and you can almost see it playing out in your head as a movie.

Ed Dempster's "Carson's End" had a lot of potential, and the tone of the story made it interesting, but in the end it just failed to deliver.

Another story that I wouldn't have missed is "It's a Shame It Had to End Like This," by Michael Laimo.  The plot is interesting, and the story is well-written -- especially the action -- but the climax is told to the reader, rather than shown, and it's a bit of a letdown.

Overall, Bits of the Dead is a worthwhile collection of zombie flash fiction.  Horror fans will enjoy this book, especially those that are constantly on the go or prefer very short stories.  If you've read Bits of the Dead and are in search of another dark flash fiction anthology, try Book of Shadows from Brimstone Press.

Bits of the Dead is a 171-page paperback published by Coscom Entertainment and edited by Keith Gouveia.  The book is available online from AbeBooks and Amazon.

(Originally posted on Helium.com, June 2009)

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Book review: Hallows Eve, by Al Sarrantonio

Hallows Eve is the second tale in Al Sarrantonio's Orangefield series. Though it follows the first book, aptly named Orangefield, you can read them out of order without fear of missing any important details.

Orangefield is a small New England town, rustic and quaint, known for the large and robust crop of pumpkins it produces every year. Without the pumpkins, Orangefield would just be another Smalltown, USA.

Corrie Phaeder is an Orangefield native who escaped westward to become a photographer. However, the problems that drove him from his home town were a lot greater than the usual "I graduated high school and now I wanna get out of this place" variety. His life has been full of supernatural sights and sounds ever since he was seven, culminating in the violent death of his mother.

As the story begins, Corrie finds himself on a train back to Orangefield, just before Halloween. Once he steps foot off the train, he discovers that (cliche alert) the more things change, the more they stay the same. After a heart-to-heart with a pumpkin-headed scarecrow, Corrie realizes that everything that's been happening to him since he was seven was preparation for (yes, another cliche) an epic battle between good and evil.

Hallows Eve is the first Al Sarrantonio book I've read. I like his writing style as well as his vocabulary; both, combined with the story, make the book an enjoyable one. It's not excessively long, and I got the feeling it ended right where it should have.

Based on the cover art and the description of the book I read, I thought it would lean a lot more toward hardcore horror than it does. Except for a few scenes that border on slightly gory, the book reads like it could've been written for young adults. However, the story line is suspenseful and purposeful enough to keep adult readers well involved. The ending, certainly, could have been written for younger readers.

The only major downside (for me, at least) was the price. Hallows Eve is published by Cemetery Dance Productions (the same folks who put out Cemetery Dance Magazine), and it was originally available in only two editions, geared more toward collectors than toward the casual reader. Both editions of the book were signed by the author. The first was a limited hardcover edition, priced at $40, and the second was a fancier traycased edition (with full-cover artwork) that went for $175. However, since then the book has been released as a paperback, so you should be able to find a copy for six or seven bucks.

For horror fans, I would recommend reading Hallows Eve. It tells a fast-paced, involving story, without being over-the-top violent or gory. (Not that there's anything wrong with that, but sometimes it's nice to read a good horror story without it.)

Hallows Eve is out of print as a collectible hardcover from Cemetery Dance Productions, but is still available as a trade paperback or ebook from Barnes & Noble and other retailers.

(Originally posted on Helium.com, April 2009)

Horror books for under $5 on Amazon

All of the horror books listed below (hardcopy) are available on Amazon for under $5. 

• The Devil's Pocketbook by Ross Jeffery, $3.45

"Drawn to the waters, Erik and Lara discover a large Devil's Pocketbook, and inside: the miracle child they could never have."

• Our Own Unique Affliction by Scott J. Moses, $4.48 (large print)

"An existential bleak, quiet until it's not, hallucination on duality, rife with fangs, empathy, blood, and grief."

• A Labyrinth of Horrors by Dusty Davis, $3.79

No description on Amazon and only one rating, but maybe worth taking a chance on for under $4. This is the publisher's only listed horror book.

• Death Moon: Teddi McCoy Horror by David Brookover, $3.81 (book 3 of 3)

"Death Moon is a sinister tale about the haunting origins of violence and evil."

• The 7th Man: An Urban Horror (Part One) by Marcus T. Jones, $3.92

"Six young men in their quest for riches, power, and just a better quality of life conjures up a demon that they control and use in their sleep to rob and kill off local drug dealers."

• The Alien Buddha's House of Horrors 4, $3.98

227 pages of horror fiction and poetry from Roberta Beach Jacobson, Alan Catlin, LB Sedlacek, and many others.

Commissions earned -- As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

7 horror books for $2 or less on Amazon

Looking for some new horror to read? Check out these bargain paperbacks on Amazon. Each one is $2.00 or less, and most are eligible for free shipping if you spend at least $25.

• Too Tough To Die by Rachael Goddard, $1.63

"When the undead start to rise from their graves and infest the town of Tombstone..."

• The Shade: "Spirits of Salem", Book 1 by E. S. Kern, $1.70

"The sinister “Shade”—a fear-devouring shadow spirit—has been dogging Cibil since she was just a child."

If you like this one, there's a Book 2, but it's $16.95. 

• Sad Taxidermy by Olin Wish, $1.92

"When relatives of recently departed Elizabeth Cartwright set foot onto her plantation estate with ideas of making a quick buck, what they find instead may just be their undoing."

This one would be a quick read, at only 61 pages. 

• Killer Species #3: Out for Blood by Michael P. Spradlin, $1.93

"Part batlike screech, part insect buzz -- it seems to be coming from the roof. Suddenly the sky is full of dark, beating shapes, and they're all headed straight for Emmet."

• Killer Species #4: Ultimate Attack by Michael P. Spradlin, $1.93

"This time, Dr. Catalyst is releasing his most deadly creation yet. It's a terrifying lone hunter, bred to stalk and destroy one specific target -- Emmet Doyle."

• Wrong Time, Wrong Place by Simon Kernick, $1.95

Amazon doesn't have a description for this one, but it has a 4 out of 5 rating from almost 1500 people.

• Fangland by John Marks, $2.00

"This darkly funny tale will appeal to vampire and horror aficionados as well as anyone who's fed up with what passes for 'news' today."

 This one looks promising...

Commissions earned -- As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. 

Book Review: This Rage of Echoes, by Simon Clark

I'd heard of Simon Clark before, but I'd never read anything he wrote until I picked up a copy of This Rage of Echoes.  The plot sounded interesting -- clones of the main character keep popping up and trying to kill him -- and the book was on sale, so I gave it a try.  I wasn't impressed, but I don't regret reading it, either.  The book falls right around "average" on my scale.

The story centers around Mason Konrad, a likeable guy who for some reason keeps turning people around him into duplicates of himself.  That might not be such a bad thing, except for the fact that those duplicates seem bent on killing the original Konrad.  Mason meets up with other people who have been experiencing the same thing, and the book takes you on a violent, wild ride from there.

The beginning of the book is great -- there is a well-executed juxtaposition between the normalcy of cooking up some microwave pizzas and the savageness of slaughtering an Echoman, as the clones are called.  It definitely hooks the reader in.

The pacing fluctuates between split-second fights and hours (sometimes days) of relaxation and contemplation.  The main characters are well-developed and interesting, and most readers will find themselves engaged enough to wonder what happens next.  Clark is clearly a talented writer, and he does a good job of carrying this story through in first-person point of view.

When I was drawn into the story, I enjoyed it, but there were far too many times where I felt jerked out of the book and back into reality.  The narrator repeats a lot of things throughout the story, past the point of redundancy to where it's almost an insult to the reader.  Add to that a significant amount of typos (especially for a major publisher) and it's hard to remain focused on the story itself, which is a shame.

The ending was disappointing as well.  It seemed like a convenient way out, and it didn't fit in with everything that led up to it.  I really wanted to like this book, because the premise is unique and it could have made for a great story.

I probably wouldn't recommend This Rage of Echoes to other readers, but if given the opportunity I would try another book by Clark.  The praise he's received from other writers and from critics makes me pretty sure that this book isn't the best example of his writing prowess.

This Rage of Echoes is a 342-page mass-market paperback, published by Leisure Books in 2007.  You can get a new copy on Amazon for as low as $4.00 ($0.01 plus $3.99 shipping).

(Originally posted on Helium.com, Sept 2010)

Disclaimer: I earn a commission on Amazon sales made from links in this post.