The Season of Passage by Christopher Pike Tor Books (March 2011, first pub. 1992) Paperback, 400 pages Science Fiction | Horror The Season of Passage by Christopher Pike takes sci-fi, horror, a pinch of dystopian and thriller and throws them all together in this rollercoaster ride of a novel. On the surface the book has a somewhat simple plotline: a trip to Mars gone wrong. However, there is more than meets the eye as the problems begin before the rocket even leaves Earth. Dr. Lauren Wagner is due to depart for Mars,…
Harbor by John Ajvide Lindqvist Thomas Dunne Books (Oct 2011) | Hardback, 500 pages Horror | Thriller Harbor by John Ajvide Lindqvist is a horror mystery set on the isolated Swedish island of Domarö, which has a hidden past that is still haunting the present. Our story begins with Cecilia and Anders taking their young daughter, Maja, on a daytrip to the lighthouse on the tiny island of Gåvasten, connected to Domarö by a stretch of sea that has frozen over in the spring. What starts out as a fun family…
Apartment 16 by Adam Nevill Pan Books (May 2010) | Paperback, 400 pages | Horror When starting Apartment 16 by Adam Nevill, I saw a book with the potential to be a great horror story, with a high class apartment block that contains one abandoned residence that no one will enter. The book begins well, with young woman Apryl visiting London after her great aunt’s death. Her family has inherited all of Aunt Lillian’s possessions, which includes an expensive apartment in the exclusive area of Knightsbridge. It is here that Apryl discovers…
Slights by Kaaron Warren Angry Robot (Aug 2010) Paperback, 528 pages Horror Reviewer: Melanie Slights is narrated by Stevie who starts her tale with the fatality of her mother, a fatality which she indirectly causes driving her mother home after a boozy lunch. The story is told from Stevie’s POV and we learn of her past as she reminisces while carrying on with her life following the death of her mother. As we learn about her past we are introduced to the people in Steve’s life including her family, oddball neighbours…
The Walking Dead Vol 1: Days Gone Bye by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore (Illustrator) Image Comics (Sept 2006) | Ebook, 144 pages Horror | Graphic Novel Having only just started watching the TV series that this comic book was the inspiration for, I was a bit nervous. There have been many conflicting reports on which is better. I needn’t have worried as the comic is a different entity from the TV Series. In some ways this is for the best, in others you can’t help but compare the two. From…
33 A.D. (Bachiyr #1) by David McAfee Coelacanth Press (March 2010) | Paperback, 276 pages Horror 33 A.D. is not the usual type of book I would pick up if I saw it in a bookstore. But, one thing reviewing does do is open you up to new stories and writers. 33 A.D. takes us back to a world where vampires are evil, vile, frightening creatures in a vision that would make Stoker proud. The setting of the book is the part I found particularly clever and unique. Set in Jerusalem…
The Donors by Jeffrey Wilson JournalStone (July 2012) | Paperback, 255 pages Horror Dr Jason Gelman meets the six year old Nathan when he admits him to the ER. Nathan has been abused by his mother’s boyfriend and needs to stay in the hospital for surgery. Jason develops an almost instant rapport with the young boy and with his nurse, Jenny. It is not only Jason, however, that starts to take an interest in the boy and the people in his life and before too long the story’s main antagonists make their appearance in…
HORNS by Joe Hill PUBLISHER: Gollancz (UK) | HarperCollins (US) RELEASE DATE: June 2011 (UK) | Feb 2010 (US) FORMAT: Paperback, 435 pages GENRE: Horror Merrin Williams is dead, slaughtered under inexplicable circumstances, leaving her beloved boyfriend Ignatius Perrish as the only suspect. On the first anniversary of Merrin’s murder, Ig spends the night drunk and doing awful things. When he wakes the next morning he has a thunderous hangover… and horns growing from his temples. Ig possesses a terrible new power to go with his terrible new look–a macabre gift…
ONE BLOOD By Qwantu Amaru PUBLISHER: The Pantheon Collective RELEASE DATE: 1st December 2011 FORMAT: Kindle, 488 pages GENRE: Horror For every action… Lincoln Baker, born a ward of the state, has gone from orphan, to gang banger, to basketball superstar, to lifer at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in the space of eighteen years. During his prison term, he meets Panama X, a powerful and mysterious father figure who gives Lincoln a reason for living – he must assassinate Randy Lafitte, the sitting Governor of Louisiana. There is an equal…
A BOOK OF HORRORS Edited by Stephen Jones PUBLISHER: Jo Fletcher Books RELEASE DATE: 29th September 2011 FORMAT: Hardback, 427 pages GENRE: Horror Many of us grew up on The Pan Book of Horror Stories and its later incarnations, Dark Voices and Dark Terrors (The Gollancz Book of Horror), which won the World Fantasy Award, the Horror Critics’ Guild Award and the British Fantasy Award, but for a decade or more there has been no non-themed anthology of original horror fiction published in the mainstream. Now that horror has returned to…
UPRISING (Vampire Federation #1) by Scott G. Mariani PUBLISHER: Avon Books RELEASE DATE: 22nd July 2010 FORMAT: Paperback, 470 pages GENRE: Horror A new war is dawning! The Three Laws of the Vampire Federation: 1. A vampire must never harm a human 2. A vampire must never turn a human 3. A vampire must never love a human DI Joel Solomon has a secret: he believes in vampires. But a ritual murder in the Oxfordshire countryside is just the first incident in a horrifying chain of events drawing the Detective…
X THE UNKNOWN by Shaun Hutson PUBLISHER: Hammer Books RELEASE DATE: 5 July 2012 FORMAT: Paperback, 368 pages GENRE: Horror In a quiet field in Buckinghamshire, a huge crack has appeared in the earth’s surface. And people are dying. Incinerated beyond recognition. At the same time, hospitals have noticed an increase in catastrophic deformities in foetuses, and cancer levels soaring. Dr Adam Royston, a scientist working at the nearby military base, thinks he knows what it is; a creature as old as the earth that slumbers for centuries, then wakes to feed…
THE HAUNTED by Niki Valentine PUBLISHER: Sphere RELEASE DATE: 13th Oct 2011 FORMAT: Paperback, 405 pages GENRE: Horror Arriving in the Scottish highlands, Martin and Sue decide to escape their luxury hotel, heading out for a night of back-to-basics living in an abandoned shack. When a storm strikes, they find themselves stranded. As gentle bickering leads to violent arguments, Sue starts to sense they are not alone. (Goodreads) REVIEWER: Rebecca THE HAUNTED by Niki Valentine is a horror novel set in the wilderness of Scotland, with a couple on a…
The Tale of the Vampire Bride by Rhiannon Frater (Vampire Bride #1) Library of Horror Press (Dec 2009) Kindle Edition, 680 pages Horror | Paranormal There have been many versions of Count Dracula and although I’m familiar with Dracula by Bram Stoker through film I have yet to pick up his book. The Tale of the Vampire Bride is a version of Count Dracula aka Vlad Tepes, similar to that created by Bram Stoker and I have to admit I was not keen to read this version, as although I love…
DOUBLE DEAD (Double Dead #1) by Chuck Wendig PUBLISHER: Abbadon Books RELEASE DATE: 15 November 2011 FORMAT: Paperback, 320 pages GENRE: Horror, Zombies Coburn’s been dead now for close to a century, but seeing as how he’s a vampire and all, it doesn’t much bother him. Or at least it didn’t, not until he awoke from a forced five-year slumber to discover that most of human civilization was now dead—but not dead like him, oh no. See, Coburn likes blood. The rest of the walking dead, they like brains. He’s smart….
