True Crime by Samantha Kolesnik is a difficult book to read, for sure, but what's so remarkable about it and why I continued reading is how the author navigates this brutal material.
Tag: horror
Review: Coppice & Brake Edited by Rachel A. Brune
One of the most exciting and enjoyable reading experiences I’ve had this year. I’m enthusiastic because in a year of great anthologies, Coppice & Brake from Crone Girls Press and Editor Rachel A. Brune is an absolute favorite. I love every single story, which I cannot say about most anthologies.
New Poem: “In a Mirror, Dimming” in Eye to the Telescope Issue 37
"Beyond the scarred surface, I saw the bones of the Moon, / the geology of a crime. He would not speak of it."
Submission Opportunity: 2020 SFPA Poetry Contest
The 2020 SFPA Poetry Contest runs from June 1 through August 31, 2020 and is open to both non-members and members.
Review: In the Scrape by James Newman and Mark Steensland
At 94 pages, In the Scrape by James Newman and Mark Steensland is a quick read, but be warned that the mounting tension might require an occasional break to catch your breath. You’re going to need the oxygen: the final third of the book, when the breathless pace escalates and characters become even more desperate, becomes unputdownable.
Review: Cricket Hunters by Jeremy Hepler
Cricket Hunters subverts the usual tropes and nostalgia of coming-of-age horror by reaching for something even darker in this tale of friendship and rivalry
Review: Midnight in the Graveyard Edited by Kenneth W. Cain
I have definitely been in the mood for ghost stories, and Midnight in the Graveyard, the first anthology from Silver Shamrock Publishing, delivers the ghostly goods!
Review: How We Broke by Bracken MacLeod and Paul Michael Anderson
This little novella full of big revelations and emotions really got to me.
Review: Snow by Ronald Malfi
The rapid pace doesn’t get in the way of good details and atmosphere; I felt the cold, eeriness, and rising tension along the way. What they encounter is creepy as hell and led to heart-pounding horror and heartbreaking deaths.
Review: We Are Monsters by Brian Kirk
It took me several pages to adjust to the direction Kirk takes later in the novel, but I was rewarded with an unexpectedly humane, emotional, and satisfying ending. Despite its challenges, We Are Monsters left me with a lot to enjoy and think about.
New Poem: “Witch House” in Eye to the Telescope Issue 36
"Little girls in white dresses skipping rope / & chanting singsong in slow motion we stole / from an 80’s horror film."
Review: Miscreations: Gods, Monstrosities & Other Horrors Edited by Doug Murano and Michael Bailey
So this is what today's pro-level horror looks like.
Review: Ghosters 3: Secrets of the Bloody Tower by Diane Corbitt
What I like the most about Ghosters 3 are the characters and their personality quirks and other details that make them individual and interesting.
Learning to Horror
After years of focusing on literary poetry and fiction, including completing my undergraduate education in creative writing and taking writing workshops, I'm finally embracing my original genre aspirations.
Upcoming Appearance: UNREAL at Antigone Books
I'm joining the other Writers Studio Tucson teachers at Antigone Books for a public reading from our latest works that focus on "the unusual, the dark, and the unreal."
Shadow Award 2019 Short List
In the 2019 Shadow Award from The Molotov Cocktail, one of my entries landed me on the short list.
“Crafting Fantastic & Imaginative Worlds” at The Writers Studio!
I'm teaching a new 6-week workshop titled "Crafting Fantastic & Imaginative Worlds" and it uses The Writers Studio method of persona writing and critiquing. It begins Saturday, July 27, 2019.
Movie Review: Assimilate (2019)
Assimilate isn’t the cheap and nauseating found-footage film the trailer led me to believe it would be, but instead an effective low-budget thriller that relies too much on jump scares but tempers these with earned emotions and suspense.
Review: Horror 101: The Way Forward edited by Joe Mynhardt
Horror 101: The Way Forward edited by Joe Mynhardt explores a tremendous territory of information, advice, and experience with essays written by many different creatives who work in the genre.
Review: Nightmare Magazine, Issue 10
The highlight of this issue is most definitely the interview with Joe Hill. I haven't read any of his work yet, but I'm really interested now that I've read this interview.
