deal with the devil

The Devil of Echo Lake by Douglas Wynne

April 17, 2014 by Bob Leave a Comment

I love rock n’ roll horror. It’s an under appreciated subgenre rich with untold stories. There isn’t enough quality musical fiction out there. Joe Hill’s Heart Shaped Box is an obvious exception. Anne Rice’s Vampire Lestat fronted a rock band in The Queen of the Damned, as did the pre-emo bloodsucker of S.P. Somtow’s Vampire […]

Filed Under: Ebooks, Ghost Stories, Horror, Novels, Supernatural Thriller Tagged With: deal with the devil, devil of echo lake, douglas wynne, evil producer, ghost story, great god pan, haunted church, haunted studio, musical fiction, rock and roll horror, rock star, satyr

Little Deaths by John F.D. Taff

May 5, 2013 By Bob 3 Comments

Little Deaths by John F.D. Taff is a strong collection of creepy tales, served up in a variety of literary styles. Taff experiments with different storytelling techniques, sometimes cribbing prose styles and themes from grand masters of the genre. In lesser hands this work would be hack, but Taff puts his own unique spin these […]

The Book of Paul by Richard Long

October 23, 2014 By Bob Leave a Comment

I didn’t know what to expect when I dove into Richard Long’s debut novel, The Book of Paul, other than Stephen King endorsed it and the novel was billed as “ a paranormal thriller.” Based on the cover, I figured The Book of Paul was a mythology-based tale of pirates for young adult readers. The skeleton […]

The Passage by Justin Cronin

August 23, 2013 By Bob Leave a Comment

Justin Cronin’s The Passage is an impressive work. The first book in a planned trilogy, The Passage reads like a series of short novels and novellas stitched together, creating a whole greater than the sum of its parts. There are shades of the Harry Potter and Twilight franchises here. The Passage is a long, sprawling, […]

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

February 10, 2014 By Bob Leave a Comment

I didn’t read John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men in high school; we read The Pearl instead — and I don’t remember much about it. I wanted to experience Of Mice and Men for myself, but I didn’t expect to be knocked on my ass by its raw power. As the father of a son […]

Desperation by Stephen King and The Regulators by Richard Bachman

May 15, 2013 By Bob 2 Comments

Sifting through old computer files, I found this November 1996 review of Stephen King’s Desperation and Richard Bachman’s The Regulators. Enjoy! — R Stephen King’s Desperation, and The Regulators — penned by King’s alter ego, Richard Bachman — feature the same cast of characters in polar opposite roles. In Desperation, the Carver family of Wentworth, Ohio […]

The Painted Darkness by Brian James Freeman

August 25, 2012 By Bob Leave a Comment

A man in a remote locale is driven insane my personal demons, delves into strange artistry, and turns on his family. Oh, and he needs to keep an eye on a potentially explosive boiler too. No, it’s not Stephen King’s The Shining, though Brian James Freeman has a character-driven, flashback-obsessed style similar to King’s. […]

What Do Monsters Fear? by Matt Hayward

October 8, 2017 By Bob Leave a Comment

What do monsters fear? Responsibility. Withdrawal symptoms. Owning up to their past mistakes. One of the recovering addicts in Matt Hayward’s creep-fest What Do Monsters Fear? sums up the plot in a few well-chosen words: “Three strung-out fucks are gonna stop an ancient evil god?” Hell, yeah, they are! Because the ancient evil god—a body-snatching baddie […]

Rob's books

The Bone Worms

by Keith Minnion

Minnion's supernatural police procedural reminds me of the work of Graham Masterton. Minnion's characters may no be wholly original -- the emotionally unstable cop, his doting ma, his long-suffering gal, his trusted partner -- but they'r...

Waltz of Shadows

by Joe R. Lansdale

Joe Lansdale is a master storyteller and Waltz of Shadows is no exception. Like many of Lansdale's novels, this is a tale of family, and the bonds that tie us to one another. It's also the story of death-defying thrill seekers, cheating ...

Burial to Follow

by Scott Nicholson

Scott Nicholson often writes about the strange burgs and creepy backwaters found along the Appalachian Trail, and Burial to Follow is no exception. I'll admit, I didn't understand everything that was going on in this novella - something ...

The Painted Darkness

by Brian James Freeman

Elsewhere

by William Peter Blatty

Sometimes good writers produce crappy novels. Such is the case with William Peter Blatty’s Elsewhere. Blatty is a master of supernatural and horror fiction. Hell, Stephen King might have remained a high school English teacher if Blatty h...

The Devil of Echo Lake by Douglas Wynne

Born of mud.

Made for murder.

Get A Job, Son!

“Spine-Tingling Tales Of Musical Terror!”

“Bloodcurdling Historical Horror!”

New Release!

Spoken Word + Ambient Music =

Blog On It!

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