Wild Justice
Edited by Ellen Datlow
Ash Tree Press, $6.99 (Kindle)
February 15, 2012
Review by Darkeva

Formerly published in the UK under the title Lethal Kisses in 1996, the first edition of Wild Justice featured a decidedly more erotic cover than the amazing re-design, which is much truer to the stories of revenge included in this anthology edited by the reigning queen of horror anthologies, Ellen Datlow.

The introduction to this reprint is fantastic, and explains why Ellen chose the title wild justice, which is from a Francis Bacon quote. We’re all obsessed with revenge, how to get it, and how to make others suffer for what the wrongdoings they’ve caused us, but most of us know better than to pursue it, because we’re civilized. Well, at least some of us.

I will say that the stories of revenge contained in this volume are definitely unconventional to say the least. Nothing is black and white, concretely good and concretely evil. There are many shades of gray in each of the characters contained in the tales of Wicked Justice, and nothing plays out the way you think it will, so I would advise readers not to approach these macabre tales with the expectation that they’re going to be obvious, typical, or in any way fun. These tales are not for the faint of heart, as is often said when describing horror fiction, but in this case, it’s really true.

“Warmer” by A.R. Morlan kicks the anthology off with the story of a girl who is an extra in music videos (an ’80s hair metal band seemingly); a mogul record executive wants to use her in an upcoming video, and when she visits him, she finds three cacodemons, old spirits, in his office, and although I didn’t quite put two and two together in terms of why he wanted to get revenge on her, or what for, it was an entertaining tale.

Caitlin R. Kiernan provides a borderline stream of consciousness offering in “Anamorphosis,” which can be a bit hard to follow at times. The main character, Deacon, is in some kind of trouble with the law. He encounters the handiwork of a monster and fear it will come for him. It’s written in an almost experimental style, heavy on the hallucinations, but the afterword helped to provide Kiernan’s inspirations for this dark, twisted fairy tale.

“A Grub Street Tale” by Thomas Tessier shows two people discussing how overrated a certain writer, Patrick Hamm, is, something essential to the female character’s task, as she’s writing a biography of Patrick. This story was one of my favorites, inverting and turning the tables on who is the aggressor and who is the victim, as well as incorporating some neat back-story that comes full circle well.

Joyce Carol Oates treats us to the tale of a disturbed woman who goes off the rails in “Leave Me Alone, Goddamn You,” and the title, as you can imagine, is pretty self-explanatory. She suffers from loneliness, and has strange markings on her, but has to wait to show them to the men she elects to sleep with. She has a string of one night stands until she meets a guy that she really cares for, and gets an unexpected surprise.

One of the other standouts is “Rare and Most Exquisite” by one of my favourite horror writers, Douglas Clegg. The main character works in a retirement home and relishes working with the elderly, because he wants to feel needed. When he meets one particular old man who says he will give him a seventy year-old rose that he has carried around if he promises to take care of it, the tale becomes gripping and powerful. The old man says love is the darkest gift as it takes all that we are and destroys us, an impactful statement that resonated with me.

I loved the historical elements and the framing story structure – and it’s ultimately a tale of a grand deception, steering the reader in one direction and then doing a complete 180. The old man has a few surprises up his sleeve, which makes for a creepy ending.

“Martyr and Pesty” by Jonathan Lethem is also a great story about an embittered guy watching his ex-music partner on TV, plugging his newest project. How bitterness turns people into such slaves is a fascinating but disturbing descent-definitely read this story.

“Foreign Bodies” by Michael Marshal Smith has a funny tone, and is about two guys who are friends and one of them has to go on a double date with the other one to bail him out of something. Only the main character has met his best friend’s girl, Tamsin – but her real name isn’t Tamsin. He seems to have memory loss, and the downward spiral that he goes in until he remembers everything and sees the truth is gruesome and sad indeed. Definitely an ominous surprise ending.

In “Ships,” Michael Swanwick and Jack Dann introduce us to a main character who says he was dead and thus his third eye opened. He meets a guy, Starbuck, on a ship, and there’s also an odd creature on-board who starts out as a male, but then goes female. This particular tale contains two instances of revenge, both equally intriguing.

“A Flock of Lawn Flamingos” is also one of my favorites, from Pat Murphy, about a woman, Joan, who moves into a neighbourhood only to encounter its resident Oscar the Grouch, Mr. Hoffer, who is an absolute uptight atrocity of a human being. He’s so anal retentive that he makes Woody Allen seem relaxed. Joan puts up a series of flamingo ornaments, much to Hoffer’s ire, who calls a neighborhood meeting and amends the neighborhood lawn ornament code to force her to get rid of them. It soon escalates and turns into a war of seeing who can get back at whom first, who can turn the neighbors against the other person, etc, and the ending will definitely surprise you.

“The Screaming Man” by Richard Christian Matheson, not to be confused with his legendary father, relates the tale of a man inside the protagonist, Bob’s chest, but there’s also a woman’s voice, and they argue. The voices mount and multiply, and no matter what Bob does, or what kind of specialists he sees, he can’t shake the voices. When he has a good day, the voices are quiet, but when he has a bad day, they scream. It will make you question whether there really are monsters in this guy’s head.

“Rare Promise” by M.M. Driscoll shows Vincent, who is pretending to be dead in order to slow time with his friend, Bear – he hangs out with Bear despite his parents’ admonitions, but when his cousin comes to town, things get complicated. Although I enjoyed the first half of this story, the second part I became a bit confused as to what was going on, although the end capped things off nicely.

Overall, this is a great anthology that has good potential to be rediscovered by a new audience, particularly with its availability on the Kindle platform and with the re-packaging, which definitely suggests “horror” far more than the previous edition.

Nerves
John Palisano
Bad Moon Books, February 2012
Review by Darkeva

Nerves is one of those novels that makes you wonder how something so good, a book written so well, could be a writer’s debut, their first novel. After I finished Nerves, this is exactly how I felt, marvelling at how it could be possible that this is the first offering of fiction I’ve read by the enormously talented John Palisano. The book has received praise from genre heavyweights such as Scott Nicholson, Deborah LeBlanc, John Everson, Rio Youers, and Gabrielle Faust who all have nothing but wonderful things to say about Nerves and deservedly so.

Like the main character, Josiah, the book will attach its feelers into you and won’t let go of its vice grip until the very end. As John Everson mentioned in his blurb, the book really is like X-men meets H.P. Lovecraft, a delicious amalgamation that, though it may seem odd at first, makes for a dynamic combination. As the title suggests, Josiah has fluid, string-like nerves that actually shoot out from his fingers and into his victim in quite the predatory manner. With this action, it’s like he’s sucking all the victim’s brain fluids and energy out – a fantastic hook made even more amazing by the presence of the victim, in this case, Ogam, who is a dastardly, malicious witch. He’s also the only one who knows why Josiah has suddenly manifested this change – and even more interestingly, that he’s not the only one.

Ogam has tortured Josiah’s family for a long time, his mother in particular, and pulled an old switcheroo on them, giving magic to the children instead of the parents. Not to mention Ogam’s meddling and Josiah’s subsequent attempts to help his mom, Holly, along with his brother, Horace, led to a complete disaster, pretty much. Holly is in a catatonic sort of state, and though she can think and remember, has never been the same since her breakdown.

But as one brother punishes with his nerves, and takes away life, the other, Horace, has even worse abilities. Animals and plants don’t last very long in his presence, because he radiates a silent death ray, and although he, too, has nerves, his abilities are not as showy as Josiah’s. Humans take a bit longer to die when in his presence, but eventually, they do, unless they get away from him, something that doesn’t exactly do wonders for Horace’s love life, which is where Ogam comes in. Horace asked for the demonic witch’s help to find him someone who preferably doesn’t die within a day of being with him, and he delivers, but the price he demands is pretty darn high.

When he visits Michael Leyke, another of Ogam’s associates, he meets Leyke’s girlfriend, Cecilia. A huge brawl ensues with all parties, and huge carnage follows. Horace and Cecilia seem to fall for each other instantly, even more so when they discover that she isn’t affected by his abilities. There’s mention of a family prophecy, about one brother giving life, and the other giving death; Ogam, of course, seems to have set all of this in motion. The brothers, although they haven’t been on speaking terms for a while, have a common enemy in the witch.

Apart from magnificent characterization, atmosphere development, action sequences, and a fantastic plot, Palisano is a master artisan when it comes to his descriptions, which will make you stop and say, “Wow!” over the course of reading this book. Unsurprisingly because of Palisano’s background in film, the descriptions and action are highly cinematic, which makes the text even more engaging.

Ogam is a great villain, one of those who definitely doesn’t go away that easily, and I found it very cool that his origins were only touched on, with Horace remarking that he’s not of this world, and that he’s a demon. I also liked the fact that he showed vulnerability amid all his cockiness and bluffing, something that Palisano integrates for each of his characters with the use of multiple POV. The head-jumping isn’t distracting, because we’re told whose head we have slipped into, and although it’s generally a big writing no-no, I didn’t mind it.

We also meet a few minor characters who have their part to play in the saga, most notably Jimmy, the Fish Man, the Pale Man, who is even more enigmatic than Ogam, and Minnesota Flatts, a shady but somewhat decent musician who has a great role that comes full circle by the end. The Dagu-Chi are an interesting addition – fish-like, underwater creatures that have many abilities, but are deadlier than piranhas and feed on their victims in a torturous but ultimately cool way.

I’m a fan of prophecy/lore/legend elements in a story as long as they’re not hokey or too much into the corny farmboy element, and in this case, I didn’t mind the prophecy element because it wasn’t a cliché at all.

The ending comes together and wraps up nicely, ending on a hopeful note, and encapsulates the thrill ride that is reading Nerves. John Palisano is a mighty storyteller. He knows how to weave a damn good yarn. I have nothing but high praise for this novel, and definitely urge horror fans to pick this one up now. It’s a great, fast-paced read that I think should be on many of the “best of” lists for 2012.

Everything Howls
Christopher Lopez
Bad Moon Books
Trade Paper, 192 pages, $15.00
Review by Sheila M. Merritt

Gore and sensitivity may seem mutually exclusive, but in Everything Howls by Christopher Lopez they coexist compatibly. Lopez ladles on the graphic violence, but balances the gruesome imagery with deft penetration into the minds of his characters. There are scenes that wrench the stomach and interactions which warm the heart. This is a dichotomy that doesn’t emotionally disconnect. The author maintains an effective equilibrium.

In the small town of Keme, something supernatural is afoot. But it isn’t Bigfoot; it’s another legendary monster: The wendigo. The creature has been tackled before in horror fiction, most notably by renowned writer Algernon Blackwood. In Lopez’s take on the entity, a hamlet is paralyzed by a winter whiteout. Townspeople are reported missing, and when they are found certain pieces (of them) fall into place. Relationships between family members, friends, and lovers, get tested and frequently severed. The wendigo can possess a body, using it as a vessel to feed on live flesh. Sort of like the alien in The Thing, it lodges within a host and commits horrible acts of carnage. Local sheriff Aaron Bishop is at sea as to how to deal with the murderous rampage, but luckily there’s a sage Native American (what would we do without them?) to give advice.

Bishop, a widower, has forged friendships in his late wife’s hometown; loyalties that have stood the test of time. As coziness of community and precious bonds get savaged, the lawman reflects on loss. What was familiar and safe is viciously violated. No one can feel secure.

Psychological scrutiny is coupled with detailed depictions of hideous attacks. When a local little old lady’s remains are discovered, it isn’t pretty: “What remained of Mrs. Valentine’s body was savagely mutilated and drenched with blood. Her housecoat lay around her in tatters. Her head was gone, nowhere to be found in that grisly tomb. Just beneath where it should have been, her neck hung open, a large chunk torn from its side. The sinewy cords rested flaccid on the pillow beneath. Barbarously grained flesh lined the perimeter of the gaping hole and the edge of what had been the old woman’s jaw line. Frayed arteries straggled out beyond, pooled in their own spilt and congealing cargo.”

Everything Howls allows the blood to flow freely, but never loses sight of the intricacy and delicacy of relationships. This is a first novel that exhibits an understanding of good story telling. Christopher Lopez wisely blends insight into the explicit.

The Darkest Shade of Grey
Alan Baxter
The Red Penny Papers, Digital, $1.99
Review by Matthew Tait

The Red Penny Papers is a journal (electronic) of fantastic fiction publishing novellas in a serial style reminiscent of a bygone era. Merged in this fashion with a webfiction factor and you have an appealing disparity of new technologies with a penny dreadful twist – a welcome hybrid of the modern with the historic. With The Darkest Shade of Grey, Alan Baxter has concocted a tight and stylish supernatural thriller daubed in the ethereal tones of film-noir.

David Johanssen is a broken man. After a devastating encounter with an Ouija board many years previous he has slowly succumbed to a species of insanity, losing his entire family in the process. Now his days are regulated to imbibing huge quantities of alcohol and trying to keep his job as a small time reporter intact. It doesn’t help that he has begun to see the auras of those that surround him – colours and ill-defined shapes that reflect a world burgeoning with chaos and mystery. When a homeless hobo drifts into his life espousing the cryptic message of another realm, David is soon drawn into the dark underbelly of a different world entirely – a world where deities play among the masses and salvation is just a fairy-tale for mortals.

Right off the cusp we’re introduced to Alan’s breezy style, and it’s one that most readers of speculative fiction will find easy to digest (if not find overly eccentric at times). There’s an everyman quality to the syntax with subtle humor smirking from just around the corner of every paragraph. Our protagonist is flawed but ultimately good: a motif that works – especially within the confines of noir – because it taps into the constant reader’s receptivity. With novella length stories becoming more admired at every turn in the publishing industry, The Darkest Shade of Grey is just the right length to fit nice and snug into a serial arrangement or have a permanent home on an e-reader device.

The only quibble I had with the tale (and it’s minor) has to do with personal predilection. When Gods and Demons stampede across the pages of dark fiction, I have often been disillusioned when they inhabit human form. A perfect example of this would be the dovetailing plot-strands of the latter episodes of the TV series Supernatural. Angels shift into our realm, and when they do, the effect can become juvenile (or comedic) and frequently overshadows any emotional impact we might have expected in the climax.

Predilections aside, this is an accomplished little tale from a writer whose evolution has been interesting to watch. Also featured is a mini- author interview where Alan talks about the genesis of David Johanssen.

The Darkest Shade of Grey is available to read in serial format at The Red Penny Papers and can also be purchased in the Amazon Kindle store.

[Editor's Note: Matthew Tait’s novella Slander Hall is currently available for the month of May for only $0.99]

Corrupts Absolutely?
Edited by Lincoln Crisler
Damnation Books
Trade Paper
217 pages, $20.25
Review by Sheila M. Merritt

There is an adage that power corrupts. Does that then mean, by extrapolation, that super powers can irrevocably taint the soul? The stories contained in Corrupts Absolutely? (note the implicit query in the title’s question mark) examine the ethical ambiguities and inherent moral issues of those endowed with extraordinary abilities. Editor Lincoln Crisler has gathered 21 stories in this fine collection; tales which delve into the minds of beings who possess superhuman attributes. For some, the anomalies are an affliction, while others lose what remains of their fragile human side. It is that loss of humanity and humility that creates the utmost horror.

“Hollywood Villainy” by Weston Ochse best exemplifies that horror. The author fashions an individual who is, indeed, absolutely corrupted by his powers. Mired forever in the body of his boyhood, the concocted aged entity revels in sadistic acts. Taking a page from Stephen King’s Carrie and other works concerning vengeance by abused misfits, Ochse superbly executes the deranged venom of his protagonist. There is little room for sympathy for the main character or for his victims; the yarn is set in Los Angeles, and everyone who dwells there is guilty of something. The seedy city seethes with corruption. Even its edifices are contaminated: “Everything is in a state of decay. The floor looks as if it’s hosted a hundred orgies. The furniture is tattered and filthy. The tables are scarred and scored with cigarette burns. The walls are tan from too many cigarettes. The popcorn of the ceiling seems ready to drip like snot from the nose of a flu victim.”

Ochse’s narrative depicts a youthful caped crusader who, like Darth Vader, ultimately embraces the dark side of the force. For others with powers, however, the choice is less black and white. And comes with collateral baggage. Several of the characters who inhabit the pages of the anthology are in therapy; hoping to find coping mechanisms to help deal with their abnormalities. In “Mental Man” by William Todd Rose, for example, the first person narrator verbalizes his internal torment: “Pain, guilt, remorse, agony, despair, terror: a tsunami of emotion and sensation crashed over me as the scene exploded in a brilliant burst of light, like a flashbulb going off in a darkened room.”

Dealing with one’s powers also entails knowing the mechanics of them. The main character in Jeremy Hepler’s “The Real Church” must work out some kinks in his raising-of-the-dead technique. The story features a wonderfully gripping and amusing opening sentence: “It started when I resurrected Mister Fulton’s Chihuahua, Brutus.” Hepler’s protagonist refines his skills, and manages to happily prosper from them.

The end is not nearly so satisfying for the eponymous characters in Andrew Bourelle’s “Max and Rose.” The two lovers are torn apart by one’s abuse of power. Max can will others to do his bidding; cavalierly flaunting his psychic prowess. He demands people pay heed, to stroke his vanity. His egocentricity and pettiness take their toll on Rose, and the severing of their relationship is both shocking and sad.

Lincoln Crisler’s compilation is commendable for showing a range of variations on its theme. The contributors address the motif from different aspects and genres. Aficionados of horror will find several tales to whet their genre appetite. There is deep darkness of the soul when power corrupts – absolutely.

The Fourth Fog
Chris Daniels
Lillies and Cannonballs Review, 2011
Review by Matthew Tait

Taking on a novel where one has zero preconceived notions can be liberating. Almost no information about the author exists online – and there is relatively no news about said book. One of the reasons I do this is to discover works like The Fourth Fog … a book quite unlike any other in the genre.

Newlyweds Ben and Tula have moved into area ‘C’ and a new apartment complex. Ben is a book editor surrounded by a mish-mash of clearly unlikable individuals. Tula works as a nurse … but their home is far from the welcoming sanctuary they envisioned.
Soon, an infestation of flies take root as something in the ceiling perishes. Yet the flies appear to be something far more sinister than the common house fly: they have purpose and intent – a malign, elusive quality. Not only that, but Ben has become increasingly dependent on a popular drug called HAL. But is this the sole cause of the small but meaningful signs of increasing paranoia around him?

To call this novel ‘bleak’ is an understatement. But I have an inclination that is exactly what the author intends. Beginning with a mere domestic setting, there is a slow build-up of palpable dread, enhanced by Ben’s slow downward spiral into confusion and melancholy. It reaches boiling point when the supernatural elements – which are never overtly defined – are shoved into the mix with gross management but ultimately superior handling. Although the backdrop and plot are pertinent, the whole bizarre thing seems to be a vehicle for the author’s unique prose and depressing (yet droll) social commentary.

With a tag line consisting of: A Horror Novel for the Ages starring God, Terror and (you guessed it)! KILLER FLIES … The Fourth Fog is more than recommended for those seeking something unique.