Best Horror of the Year: All the rest.

-At the Riding School by Cody Goodfellow -Mr. Pigsny by Reggie Oliver -–City of the Dog by John Langan -Just Outside Our Windows, Deep Inside Our Doors by Brian Hodge -Lesser Demons by Norman Partridge ––When the Zombies Win by Karina Summer-Smith –30– by Laird Barron –Fallen Boys by Mark Morris –Was She Wicked? Was [...]

Best Horror of the Year: Fallen Boys and Was She Wicked….

-At the Riding School by Cody Goodfellow -Mr. Pigsny by Reggie Oliver -City of the Dog by John Langan -Just Outside Our Windows, Deep Inside Our Doors by Brian Hodge -Lesser Demons by Norman Partridge –When the Zombies Win by Karina Summer-Smith –30– by Laird Barron Fallen Boys by Mark Morris I won’t lie I [...]

Best Horror of the Year: When the Zombies Win and –30–

-At the Riding School by Cody Goodfellow -Mr. Pigsny by Reggie Oliver -City of the Dog by John Langan -Just Outside Our Windows, Deep Inside Our Doors by Brian Hodge -Lesser Demons by Norman Partridge When the Zombies Win by Karina Summer-Smith I’m only going to spare this story the barest of space.  It isn’t [...]

Best Horror of the Year: Lesser Demons by Norman Partridge

-At the Riding School by Cody Goodfellow -Mr. Pigsny by Reggie Oliver -City of the Dog by John Langan -Just Outside Our Windows, Deep Inside Our Doors by Brian Hodge Lesser Demons by Norman Partridge Norman Partirdge’s Lesser Demons is sort of an action/horror hybrid wherein a small-town sheriff fights a lonely battle against demon [...]

Best Horror of the Year: Just Outside Our Windows…. by Brian Hodge

-At the Riding School by Cody Goodfellow -Mr. Pigsny by Reggie Oliver -City of the Dog by John Langan Just Outside Our Windows, Deep Inside Our Doors by Brian Hodge Horror fiction has often had a fascinating relationship with children.  Maybe it’s just me but I always feel that a lot of horror features children [...]

Best Horror of the Year: City of the Dog by John Langan

-At the Riding School by Cody Goodfellow -Mr. Pigsny by Reggie Oliver City of the Dog by John Langan City of the Dog represents a marked improvement over the previous story though I still thought it wasn’t quite what I was looking for in horror.   City of the Dog opens with a young couple [...]

Best Horror of the Year: Mr. Pigsny by Reggie Oliver

-At the Riding School by Cody Goodfellow Mr. Pigsny by Reggie Oliver This was a rather interesting story one part Goodfellas and one part Faust.  A Cambridge professor takes his two nephews to the funeral of their gangster uncle.  There he meets the mysterious Mr. Pigsny (who in my imagination looked an awful lot like [...]

Best Horror of the Year: At the Riding School by Cody Goodfellow

Given that this month has been a bit crazy I’m trying to stick with a short fiction for a bit.  As a result the remainder of this week, and likely next, will feature commentaries on the stories in The Best Horror of the Year (Volume 3) and maybe a bit of Supernatural Noir.   I’m [...]

Short Fiction Review: The Crawling Sky

The Crawling Sky by Joe R. Lansdale Subterranean Press Magazine, Spring 2011 (free here) …And let me tell you, he is not the God of Jesus, he is the God of David, and the angry city killers and man killers and animal killers of the Old Testament. He is constantly jealous and angry and if [...]

Thoughts on Black Gate 14

So late last year, mostly on a whim, I decided that I wanted to subscribe to Black Gate magazine.  For those that don’t know Black Gate magazine, founded back in 2000, is a fantasy fiction magazine that focuses on “adventure fantasy.”  Character driven stories with brisk pacing, often strange landscapes, and more often than not [...]