by @Asenath Ah, incest. The Gothic’s favorite taboo, there from the very beginning. Much like the function of incest in the original Gothic novels, the horror in Pin is less focused on the perverse acts themselves than on the ways in which a young woman is forced to exchange one captor for another. Here, teenage… Continue reading Pin by Andrew Neiderman
Category: Reviews
The Final Reconciliation by Todd Keisling
by Christopher O’Halloran (@BurgleInfernal) Gone are the days of the chonky novel. The thousand-page tome is losing its appeal among readers. People want a nice, quick, story. All action, right now. The Final Reconciliation pulls that off with no wasted space. BEHIND THE PEN TODD KEISLING was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement… Continue reading The Final Reconciliation by Todd Keisling
Maynard’s House by Herman Raucher
by Molly Collins (@mollyec) A cold, snowy landscape; a protagonist grappling with the ghosts of his past; a witch tree surrounded by animals acting strangely; and a long history of tenants fleeing a haunted house. These are the ingredients Herman Raucher makes use of in his novel Maynard’s House, and by all means, it ought… Continue reading Maynard’s House by Herman Raucher
The Icarus Girl by Helen Oyeyemi
by @Asenath Children have been a longstanding part of horror. Whether you clutch your pearls at the thought of precious innocents in danger or find little kids to be extremely creepy to begin with, few things bring the terror like the involvement of a child. Helen Oyeyemi plays with both tropes at once in The… Continue reading The Icarus Girl by Helen Oyeyemi
Fantasticland by Mike Bockoven
by @SemaphoreRaven "Our sires' age was worse than our grandsires'.We, their sons, are more worthless than they;so in our turn we shall give the world a progeny yet more corrupt."Book III of Odes, Horacecirca 20 BC1300 AD Pretentiousness aside, the point is that adults have been complaining about Kids These Days for thousands of years.… Continue reading Fantasticland by Mike Bockoven
Last Days by Brian Evenson
by Christopher O’Halloran (@BurgleInfernal) Sometimes it’s advisable to skip trailers. They hold all sorts of spoilers for the movie you’re probably already going to watch. The trailer for Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace spoiled Darth Maul’s double-ended lightsaber. The trailer for Thor: Ragnarok spoiled the inclusion of the Incredible Hulk. The trailer for… Continue reading Last Days by Brian Evenson
The Elementals by Michael McDowell
by @SemaphoreRaven Sand is the worst part of any beach trip. In the words of an expert on the subject, “It's coarse, and rough, and irritating. And it gets everywhere.” No matter how careful you are, it’s all but guaranteed that you’re going to be encountering it for days after you last see the ocean.… Continue reading The Elementals by Michael McDowell
The Ruins by Scott Smith
by Christopher O’Halloran (@BurgleInfernal) Sex and the City brought about an activity that swept the nation. Which of these four friends did you identify with? Were you a Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, or Miranda? This characterization exercise could not be contained. It spread to other shows. Which Golden Girl were you? Which Friend on Friends? Buzzfeed… Continue reading The Ruins by Scott Smith
Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica
by Amanda Nevada DeMel For those of us in the horror community, ideas about cannibalism are not strangers. The situations that create a need for cannibalism, however, can be very strange. Such a world is created in Agustina Bazterrica’s novel Tender is the Flesh. What happens when cannibalism is not taboo, but actually the norm? … Continue reading Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica
Confessions by Kanae Minato
by Molly Collins (@mollyec) School sucks. Most of us can agree on that point, regardless of our background. But does it suck enough that we’d turn to a life of crime? Does it suck so much that we’d commit murder and send our classmates through a dizzying series of tragic events? BEHIND THE PEN Kanae… Continue reading Confessions by Kanae Minato