Reviewed for MonsterLibrarian.com
Lyons Press, 2009
ISBN: 9781599219097
Available: New
A disturbing trend in zombie fiction is the role of the military in the zombie uprising. It seems to play one of two roles, either the perpetration of the disaster, or bungling idiot failure. Rare is the book that shows the military in a vital role. With this book, which should be a shelf resource for any writer wanting to do more than fiddle about with zombie tales, perhaps that will change.
U.S. Army Zombie Combat Skills gives zombie fans an explicit, precise look at how the military is prepared to handle all threats, even the forces of the undead. The detail is elaborate, including the best defense strategies based on the number of of men, first aid, equipment specifics and detail on effective communication. This book is both a parody (complete with figures and tables featuring the moaning hungry dead) and completely serious. A valuable addition to zombie based libraries, especially for writers, one has to wonder why the military has this particular kind of foresight.
Reviewed for MonsterLibrarian.com
Damnation Books, 2009
ISBN: 9781615720316
Available: New, print and digital
Sam, his wife and son have just bought a dilapidated monster of house in the countryside, determined to see the old hulk rehabilitated and livable for the first time in over forty years. But things aren’t adding up. The previous owner keeps visiting, despite having already replaced the bits he agreed to, and there is a creepy old heater in the basement. Then one of the roofers tells Sam about the strange murders that took place in the basement long ago, and hints about ghostly visions and occurrences that have scared off the town folk since. Not even these disturbing tales touch the surface of what really lives in Farnham House.
The Haunting of Sam Cabot holds reader attention very well. It’s a classic haunted house tale with a heavy dose of foreshadowing and an abbreviated length to keep eyes glued to the pages. Some of the events will be familiar to the well-read. Also, this books uses a method of storytelling wherein the author withholds information from the reader to aid in the final reveal, which will aggravate some readers. However, the book is solid and readable and in this age of so many ghost investigation and haunted house shows, deserves a place in public collections. Private collectors should adjust their buying decision to their own taste. Recommended for public library collections.
Reviewed for MonsterLibrarian.com
Harlequin Teen, 2004
ISBN: 9780373210152
Available: New and used
Elphame, the Chosen of the Goddess Epona, is half-centaur and half-human. She leaves the luxury of home, and her mother, the Goddess Incarnate, to travel to a crumbling castle. Elphame is determined to revive the site, once the scene of slaughter, and find her place in the world. When she arrives, she finds the half-breed descendants of the Fomorians, the demons who destroyed the castle in the first place, recognizes one of them as her soulmate.
Elphame’s Choice is not horror, or even dark fantasy, but will still reach some readers in those audiences, particularly those who enjoy the kind of fantasy found in the Twilight books. Some readers, however, will find the pace slow and repetitive, the prose purple and the characters too perfect. There’s little tension here, little question that all will end well, and little action that explains why the characters deserve the adoration and love they seem to get. But there’s also no question that this kind of fantasy has an audience among teens and adults alike. As for the place this novel deserves in a public library collection–there are certainly worse books already to be found on the shelves, but there are more enchanting choices as well.
Contains: Explicit sex, masturbation
Review by Michele Lee
MonsterLibrarian.com Editor’s note: Elphame’s Choice was initially published for an adult audience. P.C Cast is also the co-author of the popular young adult vampire series The House of Night, so readers of those books may pick this up due to its location on the shelf. When considering reader’s advisory, librarians should be aware that the level of mature sexual content in the book has caused some controversy.
5
Feb
Reviewed for MonsterLibrarian.com
Snarl by Lorne Dixon
Coscom Entertainment, 2009
ISBN: 978-1897217870
Available: New and Used
Chev, a trucker, Ross, a grandfather and David, his ten year old grandson who just lost his whole family to a house fire, all have the bad luck to find themselves in a horror novel, the kind where the characters get lost and end up in a tiny town terrorized by a gang who also happen to be werewolves. The human townies can’t give the outsiders over to the beasts quickly enough, and the werewolves want to use Chev and Ross as excuses to break the pact made between human and monster fifty years ago.
Snarl is a tale that belongs with the best of werewolf movies: fast-paced, dark, and gruesome. Between humans willing to live complacently with the brutal deaths of many others (as long as it isn’t them) and shape shifters who might have motive to slaughter, there are no clear good guys. For werewolf and general horror fans, it’s a good, solid read and would make a quality addition to public and private libraries looking to expand the number of horror titles in their collection. Recommended.
Contains: Gore, language, violence
Reviewed for MonsterLibrarian.com
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Zombies by Michael P. Spradlin
Harper, 2009
ISBN: 9780061956430
Available: New
The book’s premise is simple, Christmas carols rewritten as zombie Christmas carols. The book includes such favorites as “Zombie the Snowman”, “I Saw Mommy Chewing Santa Claus”, “We Three Spleens” and “Good King Wenceslas Tastes Great”. There are familiar songs that tweens will find hilarious, and more obscure ones that adults will love as well. This is an excellent gift book, and could be fun for sing-alongs at horror-themed library holiday parties for older kids or adults as well. The illustrations are somewhat gory (rotting bodies, zombies decorating Christmas trees with entrails and bare brains). Being black and white blunts them, but kids under ten or so might be bothered. Still, it’s a great community or group interaction type book that will make people laugh and get new holiday songs stuck in their heads. Recommended for gifts, collections for zombie lovers and older kids/adults.
Contains: Mildly disturbing art, humorous/cartoonish descriptions of violence
3
Dec
Reviewed for MonsterLibrarian.com
Bare Bone #6 edited by Kevin, L Donihe
Raw Dog Screaming Press, 2004
ISBN: 0974503185
Available: New and used
Bare Bone #6 is a solid collection of horror tales and poetry, all well written and entertaining to the point where it’s hard to pick standout stories. Inside, readers will find subtle and dark tales of unexpected killers, unspoken of traditions that befall children, as well as two holiday tales, “Daddy Didn’t Forget” by Mollie Burleson that mirrors The Nutcracker and “Don Huavaca’s Dia De Los Muertos” by Kendall Evans which offers a tongue-in-cheek, but dark look at the tradition of honoring the dead. Between the former story and “Momma’s Lesson” by Tanya Twombly there’s a delightful variety in cultural point of views as well.
Bare Bone #6 would make an excellent addition to private and public collections, and between the variety, solid writing and slim, but not skinny size it makes for an easy, enjoyable read.
30
Nov
Reviewed for MonsterLibrarian.com
Escape of the Living Dead by John Russo
Avatar, 2006
ISBN: 1592910343
Available: New & Used
This graphic novel is a sequel to Night of the Living Dead, written by the original co-creator, John Russo. The story picks up right where Night of the Living Dead leaves off. Three years have passed and life is finally returning to normal, although the survivors of the original breakout are still haunted by the events and losses that occurred then. The local sheriffs serve a warrant on a mysterious complex and find that some of the zombies from the first attack weren’t destroyed. Instead, they were preserved after the government’s experiments were supposed to be over. In an effort to escape the law, the scientist in charge has shipped all his zombie patients to a new location, and of course they just happen to get free and start running amok again.
All stereotypical aspects of a zombie tale aside, there are excellent visuals in this book, and even in such a small space the characters take on a life of their own (the near understanding of the lead zombie is particularly creepy). Readers will find all the standard bits in this book, from the unrealistically sexy useless woman in danger to characters related to said woman solely to amp up tension.
Contains: Graphic gore, nudity, language, violence
Reviewed for MonsterLibrarian.com
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe
Hyperion Voice, 2009
ISBN: 9781401340902
Available: New and Used
This book is not horror, but rather historical fantasy. The premise of this book is interesting–what if some of the “witches” hanged in the Salem Witch Trials actually were witches? However, the execution fails, first because the first two hundred pages of this book are spent hinting at this concept, of which readers are already aware.
The main character is a supposedly very intelligent woman working on her PhD thesis. While cleaning out a family house in New England she discovers hints at a book of shadows that might prove the Salem witches were really witches. The story is primarily about her search and her mental growth from complete skeptic to, um, not.
Detail, historical flavor and character building are Howe’s strong points. Storytelling, pacing and plot are her downfalls. The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane is about a historian telling the story of this neat thing they’ve researched, but with a last minute, obvious mystery plot tacked on, and some pretty heinous and unrealistic treatment of antique books. It’s less of a fast-paced mystery and more like a book wherein a mystery plot smacks an uninterested, and dense, main character in the head for 300 plus pages until she finally decides to do something about it. Not without merit altogether, the prose is pretty when not overwritten, the detail is interesting, when not overpowering the story and the historical scenes are inspiring. This book might have a place in the libraries of readers who love rich historical tales, but it doesn’t speak to a horror or even dark fantasy audience despite the subject matter.