Novels
-
Coulrophobia and Corn: A Teenage Nightmare
Once, when I was in high school, some friends and I watched the Stephen King film Children of the Corn, and then drove a few miles out of town to run around a local cornfield in the dark. The cornstalks were high above our heads, and it wasn’t long before we couldn’t see one another, having moved around from row to row. That feeling of isolation, of completely losing your bearings (even with knowing that following the row was the way out) was insanely creepy. I won’t say that it scarred me, but I’ll never forget that feeling. At least there were no clowns. Adam Cesare’s 2020 effort, Clown in…
-
The Ultimate Lifestyle Shopping Experience: Horrorstor
Have you ever discovered a new author, gotten really into their book, praise them as a new find to anyone who’ll listen, puffing out your chest because no one else knew about them? You can go on for weeks about your discovery, and how they should be praised from the mountaintops and given movie deals and so on. Well, that’s my story with Grady Hendrix. (‘No one else’ in these stories usually means ‘tons of people, just not you’). Awhile ago I came across his amazing history of 70s and 80s horror, Paperbacks from Hell, and was instantly hooked on his writing style. Then, last year, I received My Best…
-
‘Every Heart a Doorway’ Takes Us Beyond the End
Most of us, at some point, wished we could open a magic door and find ourselves in a wonderful Elsewhere, our own Narnia, or Where the Wild Things Are, or the 13th Reality, or Oz, or Wonderland. These and many other worlds, accessible to us through books, create rich, vibrant worlds that so many of us would like to visit, to become part of, to adventure through. Countless authors have shown us these doors, and we travel with the protagonists, sharing their struggles, their wonder, and their joy. However, there’s one thing that nearly never gets explored in these tales—what happens when they come back? When they return to our…
-
A Very 80’s Exorcism
In a just world, Grady Hendrix would be seen by all as an up-and-coming horror writer, with big ideas and the writing skills to match. My Best Friend’s Exorcism is Hendrix’s second novel, published by Quirk in 2016, and takes the reader on a fast-paced, roller coaster ride of suspense and terror that subverts the tropes of the genre while simultaneously celebrating and paying tribute to them. Hendrix throws us right into the deep end of the world of our high-school protagonist, Abby. It’s a stressful life she leads, but she has her best friend of the title, Gretchen, to support her and keep her feeling loved and complete. Then,…