**Jeremy C. Shipp's story, Inside, was published in Cemetery Dance magazine, and more

Jeremy C. Shipp, author of the standout bizzaro horror anthology Fungus of the Heart, had one of his stories, the empathetic and disturbing "Inside," published in issue #66 of Cemetery Dance magazine.

Other exceptional pieces in this issue include Ed Gorman's column "Fine Points" (this particular piece celebrates the legacy of horror/noir film producer Val Lewton); and Michael Lohr's chat with horror writer Edward Lee ("Said the Joker to the Thief: The Edward Lee Interview").

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Shipp had another story ("Neighbors") published on The Barcelona Review site.

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. 

The Black Train by Edward Lee

(pb; 2009)

From the back cover:

"Welcome to the Gast House.

"A historic bed and breakfast. . . or a monument to evil and obscenity? Justin Collier didn't know the house's lurid, shocking history when he arrived for a relaxing stay. He knew nothing about the train tracks that run behind the house, or that they once led to a place worse then hell. But he's learning. . .

"At night he can hear the mansion whisper. He hears little girls giggling where they are no little girls. And if he listens closely he can hear the haunting whistle of the train and the cries of the things chained in its prison cars. Each room of the house holds another appalling secret, but the great secret of all rides the Black Train."

Review:

When Justin Collier comes to Gast, Tennessee, a town with an especially violent and sick past, he has no idea what he's in for. He checks into a landmark, immediately creepy hotel (Branch Landing Inn, haunted by its previous owner, Harwood Gast, a Civil War-era plantation owner with a penchant for depravity, cruelty and slaughter, and his slightly less depraved family - a rapacious nymphomaniac wife and her two like-minded teenage daughters.

Lee's works joyously, unabashedly traffic - heck, revel - in b-movie grue, lust and other social taboos, and The Black Train is no exception. Those who find Stephen King or Dean Koontz "shocking" (as one of my friends claims they are) probably won't enjoy this gleefully gory, sometimes sexually explicit work: this is not a read for the faint of heart.

There's not a lot of plot twists here, but this is a fun, nasty and twisted blast of a b-movie novel (which screams to be shot as a film), that put me in the mindset of Herschell Gordon Lewis' Two Thousand Maniacs! - only with (slightly) smarter characters and a more salacious tone.

Good read, this, if you're a b-movie buff, looking for a grisly demonic thrill ride.

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There is one film out right now, based on Lee's work: a lower-budget, above-average Header (2006).

Header is a hillbillies-from-Hell sexually nasty work that's liable to put off anybody who cringes at brutal meldings of libido, revenge and humanity-based horrors.

If you see it, make sure to watch for Edward Lee's cameo as "State Trooper #1", as well as a cameo by Lee's real-life friend and fellow horror writer, Jack Ketchum, as "State Trooper #2".

The Golem, by Edward Lee

(pb; 2009)

From the back cover:

"From the bones of the dead. . . from a long-buried secret. . . through an ancient ritual. . . they rise to kill. What was first created to protect has now been perverted and twisted into servants of evil, commanded to exact a bloody, brutal vengeance. The original golem was molded from clay centuries ago to serve and defend the innocent. But today new golems will stalk the night to bring terror and death to the quiet Maryland coast. For one young couple, their dream home will become a slaughterhouse when they discover that nothing can stop the relentless walking horror known as. . . the Golem."

Review:

Fun, splateriffic B-movie of a horror novel (this describes most of Lee's work I've read), with a sequel-friendly finish. The characters are well-written and their interactions ring true; the horror elements -- drug addiction, rape, necrophilia, grave-robbing, Kischuph-created monsters -- are firmly in place, with thrilling results; and, with the exception of one scene (where a normally-smart character acts uncharacteristically stupid), it's a put-off-everything-else blast of a read.

Check it out.

Goon, by Edward Lee & John Pelan

(pb; 1996)

Review:

The story: Captain Phillip Straker, a member of the Violent Crimes Police Unit, and Melinda Pierce, a reporter posing as a ringrat (a wrestling groupie), are tracking a prolific serial killer who has sex with, and partially devours his (or her) victims. The crimes seem to be tied to one particular suspect -- the titular, mysterious, always-masked Goon, a wrestler in the DSWC (Deep South Wrestling Conference) who easily could be making more money in big-time wrestling, the WWF or WCW. As Straker and Pierce get closer to closing the case, however, new clues emerge that suggest there's more going on than initially meets the eye.

This gross-out of a novella is a hoot to read. It's less a horror story than an unrepentantly sexual tract, not written to titillate but to amuse, with its tasteless over-the-top X-rated debaucheries (many of their descriptions uttered by some disgusting and wildly verbose characters). Writing-wise, it reads like the bastard child of Robert Devereaux's Santa Steps Out and Lucifer Fulci's Siki City (both of which were published after Goon was published). The comparison to Devereaux's Santa stems from the well-edited, fast-dashing storyline; the comparison to Fulci's Siki City stems from Lee and Pelan's gleeful, unrestrained sidetracks into lurid carnality.

Lee and Pelan maintain an addictive balance between these disparate elements, set in the surreal, low-brow world of small-time, regional conference wrestling. They then top it off with some tasty twists, the biggest one not unexpected, but solid, followed by a few smaller, inspired ones.

Highly recommended, this, if you have a strong stomach and a nasty sense of humor (in regards to sex-mocking smut). Like much of Lee's work, this would make a great B-movie.