Shivers edited by Richard Chizmar

(pb; 2002: horror anthology)

Overall review:

Good horror anthology, worth owning. There's not a stinker in the bunch, though Kelly Laymon's "Throwing Caution to the Wind," while providing the anthology with an element of whimsical diversity, doesn't belong in this collection.


Standout stories:

1.) "Fodder" - Brian Keene & Tim Lebbon: American soldiers fight a more horrific and brutal enemy than they expected. Good, entertaining story, with a funny and ominous ending.

2.) "Whisper, When You Drown - Tom Piccirilli: Unsettling, clever tale about a storm, the restless dead and seduction.


3.) "Hermanos De El Noche" - Bentley Little: A man (Brock) sets out to rescue his wife (Marnie) from the mad, nude vampires who kidnapped her. Nasty, sexual and violent work, this.


4.) "Walking with the Ghosts of Pier 13" - Brian Freeman: Melancholic, mood-effective tale that recalls the feel of America in the days immediately following 9/11 (without the jingoistic bullsh*t that usally accompanies it).


5.) "265 and Heaven - Douglas Clegg: Excellent story about a tenement apartment whose filth-encrusted interior hides a deeper, more enduring and infinitely grimmer element.


6.) "The Sailor Home from the Sea" - John Pelan: In a pub, an ex-sailor gives voice to a familiar, yet intriguing personal tale about an angry woman and an avenging sea.


7.) "Always Traveling, Never Arriving" - Robert Morrish: The true nature of carnivals and how they're perceived by outsiders ("townies") is explored in entertaining and twisty fashion.


8.) "That Extra Mile" - David Niall Wilson & Brian A. Hopkins: A long distancee runner (Scott Danning) gets visions of roadside serial murders that appear to have real world consequences. Distinctive, fresh work.


9.) "The Green Face" - Al Sarrantonio: Concise, gripping work about a man (Lanois), whose dreams of strange killings compel him to necessary action.


10.) "Tender Tigers - Nancy A. Collins: Character- and action-interesting story about a monster-hunting vampire (Sonja Blue) tries to rescue a human family from an ogre who's taken over their family.

(Sonja Blue also appears in a multi-book series, starting with Sunglasses After Dark, also available in Kindle form.)


11.) "Portrait of a Sociopath" - Edward Lee: Short, sharp and occasionally gleefully sick (but believable) story, with an effective twist.


12.) "The Other Man" - Ray Garton: An extramarital affair takes on morbid and terrifying dimensions for a cuckolded husband. Excellent, distinctive read.


13.) "The Sympathy Society" - Graham Masterton: Haunting, wow-worthy story about a grieving suicidal widower who joins a cult-like support group to help him find a semblance of peace.

Shivers III edited by Richard Chizmar

(pb; 2004: horror anthology - prequel anthology to Shivers IV) 

Overall review

 Warning: (possible) minor spoilers in this review. 

 Shivers III is a decent, occasionally disappointing anthology, considering the talent involved in this endeavor. Most of the stories are either standout endeavors (see below) or not quite solid pieces that feel generic, rushed or overly long. 

 Shivers III is worth checking out from the library. Don't buy it without reading it first. 

Standout stories 

 "Underneath" - Kealan Patrick Burke: Good, entertaining tale about a nerd (Dean Lovell), a bully (Freddy Kelly) and an ugly girl (Stephanie Watts). 

 "Horn of Plenty" - Thomas F. Monteleone: A mid-level jazz band leader (George Thurston) recounts the story of his trumpet player - or "Horn Man" in jazz parlance - and a strange midnight blue horn. Good, entertaining story. 

"Becoming Men" - Douglas Clegg: In a rehabilitation camp for juvenile delinquents, inmates are spurred to action when of their own is murdered. The twist isn't unexpected, but the story is solid, attention-keeping. 

 "Flip Flap" - Elizabeth Massie: A carny midget (Mattie) and her lover, Edward, look for - and possibly uncover - a way to unsaddle Mattie of her abusive, drunken slave-master of a boyfriend. Pulpy, succinct revenge and love story. One of the best entries in this collection. 

"A Question of Doves: A Brackard's Point Story" - Geoff Cooper: Intriguing tale about a malevolent little girl, birds and strange disappearances. Excellent piece. 

"Panteon Version 2.0" - Brian Keene & Michael T. Huyck Jr.: When dead celebrities return from the dead - not as zombies, but as cognizant beings - it's the first event in a series of dark, often humorous events. Solid, entertaining work. 

"Celebrate With Us" - Paul Melniczek: The presence of spectral trick-or-treaters reminds a man (Jim) of a recent tragedy - and its belated correction. Good, engaging piece, with an effective plot wrinkle. 

"The Lingering Scent of Brimstone" - J.F. Gonzalez: A little girl (Amy Doyle) is kidnapped, and when her captor is gorily dispatched, and Emily recovered unharmed, the questions begin: who killed Amy's attacker, and why do Amy and her parents (Emily and Jeff) have missing pinkie fingers? The twisty, relatable explanation isn't unexpected, but it's well written and well-foreshadowed. Good read. 

"Run Away" - Wrath James White: A former drug addict/dealer confronts literal people-eating demons. Solid, character-interesting read. 

"Please Let Me Out" - Edward Lee: Joyce Lipnick, a wealthy businesswoman, tries to reign in her straying pretty-boy lover (Scott), with interesting results. Effective, distinctive, twisty tale. One of the best entries in this collection. 

From The Borderlands: Stories of Terror and Madness edited by Elizabeth E. & Thomas F. Monteleone

(pb; 2003: horror story anthology)


Overall review

Exemplary anthology, originally published as Borderlands 5, with only a few clunkers in the mix. Well worth your time.


Standout stories

1. ) “All Hands” – John R. Platt: Quirky, delightful entry about a man who wakes up with a different pair of hands each day.


2.) “The Growth of Alan Ashley” – Bill Gauthier: Black-humored take on the delusion of “self-improvement” – a strange “growth” on the titular character’s body becomes imbued with increasing, dangerous importance. If this were a film short, I could see this being directed by Eraserhead-era David Lynch, or Videodrome-era David Cronenberg.


3.) “The Goat” – Whitt Pond: Heartbreaking tale about a teenage boy who’s trying to save his supposedly demon-possessed brother from their fellow townspeople.


4.) “The Food Processor” – Michael Canfield: Surrealistic tale about two brothers whose collective desire to build things conflicts with their Father’s desire that they become chefs, like him. Superior, semi-bizarre work, one that would make an excellent Tim Burton film, illustrated by Peter Max.


5.) “Storytime with the Bluefield Strangler” – John Farris: Destined-to-be-a-true-classic story about a little girl who’s being terrorized by a real-life boogeyman.


6.) “The Planting” – Bentley Little: Perverse B-movie gem about a pair of panties, a cabin and a dessicated mummy.


7.) “Infliction” – John McIlveen: Stunning, emotional tale about an ex-alcoholic tracking his runaway daughter, four years gone.


8.) “The Thing Too Hideous To Describe” – David J. Schow: Funny, ultimately sad story about a small-town monster who makes a friend. One of the most imaginative entries in this bunch.


9.) “Magic Numbers” – Gene O’Neill: The operative phrase for this one-of-a-kind work is um, wow. Memorable work.


10.) “Head Music” – Lon Prater: Another destined-to-be-a-classic tale, this one about a young man who’s drawn to a oceanborn monster in the middle of the night. Reminiscent of H.P. Lovecraft’s finer nightmares, or any issue of Creepy.


11.) “Around It Still The Sumac Grows” – Tom Piccirilli: Envy-inducing entry about a middle-aged man who returns to his high school – site of countless teenage humiliations – twenty years later.


12.) “Annabell" – L. Lynn Young: Sublime, sad work about a physically-beautiful mother who seeks to protect her deformed daughter from the barbed horrors of the world.


Solid entries

“Ramis Temporalis” (Gary A. Braunbeck); “Faith Will Make You Free” (Holly Newstein); “N0072-JK1” (Adam Corbin Fusco); “Time For Me” (Barry Hoffman); “Prisoner 392” (John F. Merz); “Answering the Call” (Brian Freeman); “Smooth Operator” (Dominick Cancilla); “A Thing” (Barbara Malenky); “Slipknot” (Brett Alexander Savory); “Stationary Bike” (Stephen King).


So-so entries

“Father Bob & Bobby” (Whitley Strieber); “Dysfunction” (Darren O. Godfrey); “One Of Those Weeks” (Bev Vincent).

Headstone City, by Tom Piccirilli

(pb; 2006)

From the back cover:

“The night Johnny Danetello drove a dying girl through the streets of Brooklyn in his cab, he was trying to save her life. Instead he ran down a cop and lost her and his freedom. Every day in prison, Johnny knew that Angie Monticelli's family blamed him for her death, and that going home would be suicide. But Johnny has unfinished business with his former friend turned mob boss, Vinny Monticelli.

“Now Johnny has returned to converse with the doomed and the dead – and wait for Vinny to make his move. Survivors of a long-ago freak accident, the two men share access to alternate realities no one else can know – and to a past and present that will all become the same in a city only one of them can leave alive...”

Review:

This is a quirky, bloody and lusty genre-hopping romp, and easily one of the funnest – if not the funnest, and funniest – novels I've read in the past few months.

Piccirilli has fashioned a shotgun comedy filled with deadpan, B-movie dialogue and dumb bad-guy antics. While the absurdities and bodies start piling up, there's plenty of oh for f**k's sake this can't be happening moments that had this reader giggling in his post-midnight coffee.

Delightful stuff, this. Check it out.