Necro Publication, 2009

ISBN: 9781889186849

Available: New

Wrath James White is known for a hardcore horror style that includes blatant gore and violence and is sure to make readers cringe. But in Yaccub’s Curse the cringing is more likely to happen in the space between gang violence and cold-hearted murders. This biography-style book follows Malik, a poor black man who grows up neck-deep in gang warfare and ends up working for the worst of them all—a drug lord named Scratch who might truly be the devil. Malik is very intelligent, deeply philosophical, and yet never hesitates to make the choices that mimic the black stereotype. This is one of the most horrifying elements of the whole book, as readers can only watch Malik make one brutal choice after another, barely thinking past his surface actions.
And if that wasn’t bad enough (or uncomfortable enough for readers to experience with Malik, because make no mistake you will be wrenched along with him) Scratch, the white drug lord Malik works for, believes he truly is the devil, a creature created out of racial hate and vengeance millions of years ago solely to tear apart the races. Overwhelmed by guilt and pressure, Malik wonders if it might be true, until Scratch gives him the command to kill a crack baby who he claims is the next coming of Jesus.
Yaccub’s Curse is a very rough read, well written and near poetic. It also is very hard on itself and takes the reader to places of horror far beyond serial killers and monster attacks. Here the monster is a person’s very genetics, a frightening suggestion that also makes Yaccub’s Curse a highly recommended, must read for horror fans and an essential part of modern horror collections.
Contains: Rape, violence, gore, foul and racial language

Review by Michele Lee

Tales of Madness is small (about 30 pages) collection of shorts from William Ollie, who displays his strength and knowledge of horror with every page. This pair of stories are sure to give readers a fierce, short read whether they’re stuck in a line or at the doctor’s office or just look for a dark little literary snack before bed.

First up is “Dial Any Number”, a tale of two psychosis and the people caught between them, centering at a call center that just might be a little slice of hell. Next is “Honeysuckle and Magnolia”, a southern tale of greed and gambling and black magic.

At only a buck fifty it’s also a great way to sample Ollie’s voice before shelling out for the higher priced Ollie books, The Damned, and Sideshow.

I won this book in a contest.

Isis is the first work I’ve ever read by Douglas Clegg and I have to wonder why it took me so long. Isis is a classic style horror story, part darkness, death and depression, and part fairy tale. Gorgeously written it’s the tale of Iris Villiers, a girl who grew up wandering a land haunted by ghosts and legends, who by all means should have known better than to breach the veil between the living and the dead.

Short (about 100 pages) Isis is full of barely restrained raw emotions, sadness and love. Also peppered between Clegg’s stunning style are illustrations that match the tone of the book with their classic fairy tale style and simple black and white morbidity.

It’s hard to review such a short tale without ruining the plot, so I’ll leave it at this: Isis is not to be missed, a haunting tale that crosses genres and trends and is sure to be just as appealing years from now.

Lee wakes up every morning, battered, bruised with no idea what happened to her while she slept. Haunted by half-remembered dreams, maybe even memories, she’s tried everything to find out what’s happening to her. The truth is more than she expected. Born of another world, a world at war, Lee somehow manages to travel there, to fight on the battlefront in her sleep, though she can’t get there when awake. Until the call of Kalen, a fellow warrior desperate for her help and her magick, pushes her through the veil between worlds during the day.

Ishtan is a buffer world, sitting between the demon realm of Anqar and our world. The demons of Anqar have nearly laid waste to Ishtan. Desperate to continue their race they kidnap women and children for use as breeders and body slaves. Women who breed powerful children with the Anqar Warlords are highly prized and well treated, but still prisoners.

Kalen is a battle leader on the front lines of the war, trying to defend the women of his world against the Anqar raids. He’s worked with (and loved) Lee for years, never having an opportunity to tell her how he felt. But now she’s reappeared, in the flesh, and his biggest priority is keeping her safe.

Through the Veil is mesh of a book. It’s a romantic fantasy that reads like an urban fantasy, but these character also wield plasma charges and cold-firing guns (and cannons). The world setting is excellent, intriguing and reminiscent of Anne Bishop’s Black Jewels books (which are a favorite of mine).

The book, however, is not without its flaws. Lee is set up to be very powerful, almost infinitely powerful, special and an all around bad-ass. However nearly the entire book she’s shown as a shaken, obtuse woman. Some of this is understandable, since she’s not the same person awake in Ishtan as she has been dreaming in Ishtan. It’s her refusal to believe in herself, combined with everyone else’s blind faith in her specialness that wears the patience thin.

Kalen is a drool-worthy, sizzling hero and had my vote of most awesome character until about halfway in, when Lee repeatedly tells him to stop touching her and instead they have sex. Set in a frame of Kalen being the hero fighting against a race that’s kidnapping and raping women, keeping them as sex slaves and breeders, the multiple times Lee said no and Kalen kept going anyway until Lee finally loosened up and gave in to her own lust killed off the like I had for him. (Note: I don’t consider the scene to be rape per say, but it was too close to non-consensual for m tastes.) I’m afraid I just couldn’t simultaneously accept that the Anqar demons are evil for what they do to women, but when the hero does it it’s supposed to be hot.

As stellar as the world building is the description gets repetitive and there’s a lot of time spent repeating that could have been spent on other things, namely the missing battle scenes. After all Kalen and Lee and everyone else are in the middle of a huge war for their world, yet there aren’t any battles shown “on screen” and the darker aspects of the tale are glanced over and described as little as possible. Lee and Kalen might be watching a pyre of the teen soldier that just died in a fight with the giant wyrms that the Anqar demons put on Ishtan to take out the natives, but the emotion of these moments is glanced over.

Given the power of the lust between Kalen and Lee, the vividness of the world setting and story concept, and the depths of the emotion Lee feels between what she’s supposed to be and what she thinks she is, the lack of power to the darker parts makes the story feel like Walker is pulling her punches. The combination of how very much I loved the fantasy setting, Kalen in the beginning and Walker’s style versus the things I was dissatisfied with leaves me feeling very conflicted about this book. Certainly it will appeal to romantic fantasy fans, and probably also to Anne Bishop fans. The uniqueness of the world and its conflict is engaging (and that’s why I bought the book), I just feel unsure that this is the tale Through the Veil wanted to be.

One thing I do know is that if Ms. Walker ever turned her pen toward a true dark fantasy or urban fantasy I would be all over it.

ISBN: 978-0738715438
Available: New
Karen tragically died from a major fall from the top of the cheerleading pyramid. Even more tragically, she has discovered that she is a genetic zombie and now has to live out the rest of her days slurping down animal brains and fearing maggot infestations. She’s even transferred to DEAD high, where supposedly she’ll learn how to cope with her new, long-lasting, but secret, un-life.

But high school, even undead high school, is cruel, and to make bad things worse, a full day into Karen’s new life a body of a student is found with her brain harvested by an unknown bad guy that just happens to be lurking around the school. Now perky, driven Karen is taking it upon herself to ferret out the killer before something really, really bad happens.

My So-Called Death weaves back and forth over the line between strong characterization and too much. As amusing as Karen’s ultramodern and perky inner monologue is, it, and the lack of strong characters outside of the lead, her best friend, and her boyfriend, is bound to annoy some readers who never saw the spirit behind similar tales, like the movies Clueless and Legally Blonde. It’s a perky-fun-gruesome mystery, horror-lite in terms of gore, violence and general darkness.  But it’s not without creepy, and almost-serious scenes, sort of like the dread one would feel at seeing a bedazzled pirate flag on an approaching ship.

As for its value to collections, there’s definitely an audience for Jay’s kind of creepy-gross-not-quite-dark humor. At the very least, adults could enjoy it for all the in-jokes about iconic 80s and 90s culture.

Contains: fried brain bites and giant maggots