This book suffers somewhat from being a short story stretched to novella length (with all the noticeable flaws that entails) and the fact that its premise isn’t terribly original, yet no Jack Ketchum effort is entirely unworthy, including I’M NOT SAM.
A short (98 page) tale of a voracious sex murderess, the novel is related in a jaunty and refined tone that dramatically offsets its depraved content
What makes it a standout is the rigorous intelligence and curiosity the author packs into his story, which is as thorough and complex an exploration of sexual identity as any you’ll find.
Now, however, a full 110 years later, John Antoine Nau’s ENEMY FORCE seems quite dull and uninvolving. The fault could be with the English translation–or, as the cover proclaims, “adaptation”–by Michael Shreve, who often seems puzzled by the text (
An account of telepathy and bodily possession that reads like a Harold Robbins or Sidney Sheldon potboiler with a horrific edge.
An early sixties horror novel that’s been MIA for over forty years, THE CASE AGAINST SATAN by Ray Russell is one of the most important reprints of 2015
A graphic novel horror/noir pastiche that’s funny and outrageous. Writer/illustrator Doug Tennapel clearly knows his noir, as evinced by his ultra-stark, SIN CITY-esque black and white imagery, and he twists the material in all sorts of delightfully unexpected ways.
eemingly everyone has praised this novel to the skies, and after reading it I’ll have to say that in this case everyone is right. A first novel of uncommon nuance and conviction, THE BIRTHING HOUSE has a probing intelligence and depth of characterization that aren’t supposed to be able to co-exist with supernatural scares. Those wanting a primer on what’s wrong with much of today’s horror fiction should read this book, as it gets most everything right!
A surprise: a moldy oldie that never seemed too promising (especially since it was made into a crummy 1982 flick) but which turned out to be one of the finest genre novels I’ve read in some time. It’s graphic, imaginative and wildly unpredictable, not to mention pleasingly eccentric.
Anyone wondering why Dell’s fabled Abyss horror line, which promised “Horror unlike anything you’ve ever read before,” didn’t last beyond the early nineties need only read this, one of Abyss’ signature entries. ANTHONY SHRIEK isn’t a bad novel, just a severely bloated and self-indulgent one.