To say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover was probably never less relevant than with horror paperbacks from the 70s and 80s. This time period offered the most insane covers, enticing you to untold nightmares inside. In those days of pre-Internet, pre-blogs, and widespread reviews you’d find a book just by browsing the …Read More

Kate’s father didn’t even wait for his wife’s death before starting an affair. He’s been seeing Gillian on the side while his wife fades away from cancer. This is too much for Kate to take. Our story begins in the aftermath of Kate’s attack on her father’s mistress. This is just the beginning of the …Read More

Blumhouse has been leading the way in horror production lately with big box office successes like The Conjuring, Split, and Get Out. I hadn’t realised that they were lending their name to novels too now. James DeMonaco, the writer/director of the hit, The Purge, gives us Feral, a horror book from the Blumhouse Books stable. …Read More

Demons is the first book in a new series surrounding a detective. With his move to the London Metropolitan Police, Detective Inspector Daniel Graves is unfortunately getting more familiar with seeing dead bodies. A particularly gruesome late night murder falls to him and his partner to investigate. Catherine is a freelance demonologist, assisted by Marcus. …Read More

It’s time to go back to summer camp and the 1980s with Kill River by Cameron Roubique. It’s a familiar setting even for this English reviewer who’s never been to camp. There have been so many American slasher and comedy movies in that setting, it’s like a home away from home. Cyndi is sent to Camp Kiwaba …Read More

It’s a late night in a sleepy English town’s police station when all hell breaks loose. Jackals begins when three individuals enter the police station and brutally murder and then behead everyone inside. A unique sigil is painted in blood on the police station wall as a calling card and message. This sets the tone …Read More

Frank Martin brings us two short stories featuring classic monsters. In Skin Deep, Laura is a high school track star with great potential. Her wealthy parents dote on her. It’s not quite the same for her older sister, Jessica. The girls’ overprotective parents refuse to let Jessica go on a study abroad trip, and Jessica’s …Read More

In Burning Down Paradise, Eric Kapitan brings us something pretty unique. The text is delivered entirely as a poem, and this was not a style I’d come across before. Before reading further, put away any preconceptions you have about poetry, because this is not what you might expect. This story about evil, begins with the …Read More

This story has quite an interesting background. It was discovered on the /NoSleep section on Reddit and became a viral Creepypasta success. Now an expanded version of Christopher Maxim’s short story is available as an ebook. We meet a single father whose infant son is exhibiting some strange behavior. The four month old never cries …Read More

Right from the start you know that Nadya is one tough cookie. It only takes a few pages before she’s killed someone. She’s part of a tough Russian gang in London, sent by her boss to find out who killed fellow gang members during a drug deal gone wrong. After Nadya has dished out a …Read More

The Final Masquerade anthology starts with a bang with a story about professional killers who take out the terminally ill. It has a great slasher vibe and focuses on the artistry of the kill. Other stories of note include an unexpectedly sexy tree, a very unusual washing machine repairman, and a suicide prevention hotline worker …Read More

This short story is one third of an anthology called The Chicken (or 3 Weird Tales). In A Slinking Agent, the author brings us to New Orleans at a very unique time in history. It’s 1919 and the decadent city is on the verge of Prohibition. The rise of the religious right is changing the …Read More

This recent offering from Edward Lee, Terra Insanus, is a collection of four short stories. Reader beware: this is Edward Lee at his foulest, most depraved, and perverse and it’s important that you know that going in! The whole collection is a pretty quick read. The Stick Woman: This is a strong opening to the …Read More

Clockwork Universe is a Steampunk story and the debut novel from author John W Dennehy, and if you’re a fan of stories of this ilk then it’s one that comes highly recommended. Set in a Victorian-era Boston, a pair unique creatures roam leaving death in their wake – a combination of leopard and rhino – …Read More

Many of us might have thought hypothetically about taking revenge on the corrupt bankers who brought the country into a financial crisis at the expense of everyday citizens. With Junkyard Leopard, you get to live out that fantasy through a killer known as The Figure. I’m hoping most readers don’t actually fantasize about inflicting grizzly …Read More

John Stedman is an investigator who uses his sound engineering career and equipment to debunk and find the scientific explanation for hauntings, or at least what people believe are hauntings. To promote his new book he agrees to take on a particular case, that of the Dawlish Inn, at the request of a magazine editor …Read More

Rachel wakes up from a heavy night out to find the world has changed, her step-mother is dead in her bed with a glowing red mark on her, and the town is in chaos. The book starts as most apocalyptic novels do, but then offers something different almost immediately. I enjoyed the beginning in which we’re …Read More

The book kicks off with Mike Bradley unexpectedly finding himself attending a satanic cult meeting. He’s doing it for a girl, Marnie. Unfortunately, it turns out that these particular satanists are not role playing goths, but actual, legitimate, murderous satanists. They are eager to recruit their all important 13th member, Mike, to their group, The …Read More

Since his girlfriend, Gretchen, left him, Ernie’s life has taken a downward spiral. She used to take care of the apartment. Now it’s infested with roaches and there’s an insidious mould growing in the bathroom. His battle with the pervasive roaches takes a turn. He wakes up one night to an organised procession of roaches …Read More

First Scream to the Last is billed as the definitive guide to 1980’s horror movies. This is definitely the horror movie era that is dearest to me so this book was right up my alley. Just as I never get tired of watching 80’s horror, I never get tired of reading about it either. The book …Read More

This is the second book from Monte Plaisance in the Nightstalker series. I was blown away by the first book, The House on Judith Street. So it was exciting to check out this follow up, The Unhallowed. Our story begins with high school loner, Zach, contemplating jumping to his death. Something stops him, and later …Read More

This gripping novella starts at break neck pace, and the pace is not the only breakage that happens. Frank is riding his bike home when a man walks out of a house and, without warning, slams him with a baseball bat. He wakes up, injured and tied up by a psychopath. Said psychopath has always …Read More

The Summer I Died was one of the most horrific and powerful horror books I’ve read. It was a rare classic that really stuck with me. If you haven’t read it yet, you must! If you need further convincing here is my review: The Summer I Died. The story of our protagonist, Roger Huntington, continues with …Read More

I’m a big fan of the Wolf Creek movies and the character of Australian serial killer Mick Taylor. The first movie was dark and sadistic, riding the Torture Porn trend. The second was more over the top, fun, with Mick a caricature.  That’s not to say that you have to be familiar with the movies to read …Read More