Horror Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: Chainsaw Honeymoon by Steven Ramirez

Written with a manic energy and a tongue perpetually shoved in its own cheek, Chainsaw Honeymoon by Steven Ramirez is a brilliant new novel that balances humor and horror in an unforgettable way.

Ruby Navarro is a young girl with big dreams and a tangled mess of family that she is determined to fix. Spending the summer with her father sets the stage for a fast-paced and unpredictable ride through the wild world of Los Angeles, complete with a maniacal killer and the chance for Ruby to live out her wildest dreams.

The writing throughout the novel is sharp and […]

Review: Counter-Zombie Warfare by Jason A. Beauchemin

Telling a horrific story about the coming zombie apocalypse is no longer a unique approach to the genre, but Counter-Zombie Warfare by Jason A. Beauchemin takes a decidedly different angle. Once the zombie apocalypse happens, there are bound to be some people standing boldly on the front lines, tasked with protecting the rest of us from certain death. This is the story of one such soldier.

Readers are invited to see the strange and terrifying new world through the eyes of a counter-zombie infantryman, and while the context of the dead coming back to life is far-fetched, there is a […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2019-02-11T08:44:18+02:00March 1st, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Horror Book Reviews, Zombie Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: The Breaking (The End Time Saga Book 2) by Daniel Greene

★★★★½

In a world of mindless zombies, eccentric hillbillies, deadly skill sets, and endless loyalty to the people you’ve survived beside, Daniel Greene has carved out an exciting apocalyptic series that stands head and shoulders above other offerings in the zombie genre.

In The Breaking, the sequel to End Time, readers are dropped back into the world of Steele, Mauser, and Gwen, as well as a United States that has fallen under the weight of a zombie onslaught. Multiple narrative perspectives provide readers with a three-dimensional picture of this harsh new world, which constantly borders on insanity. Death […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2019-01-21T09:37:34+02:00August 4th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Horror Book Reviews, Zombie Fiction Book Reviews|

Devils by Erik Henry Vick

Devils by Erik Henry Vick is a horror collection of deliciously disturbing and unsettling tales about many varieties of devil: revenge fantasies, kidnapping, murderous salesmen, and more. The collection is brilliantly composed through slow, creeping exposition and enough shuddering moments to keep readers awake at night.

The subtle writing style isn’t overdramatic or macabre, but the weight and power of Vick’s words infuse more than enough fear into every story. Taking the time to develop rich and unique characters is often lacking in short story writers, but Vick makes certain that readers are engaged and intrigued by each player that […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2017-07-19T09:11:15+02:00July 19th, 2017|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Horror Book Reviews, Short Stories Book Reviews|

Review: Footsteps in the Dark by Carlo Armenise

★★★★½

The most terrifying stories are those that strike close to truth – those that make you question your understanding of the world and your grip on reality. In Footsteps in the Dark: Stories of the Bizarre and Unusual, author Carlo Armenise manages to capture the best elements of strangeness, teasing them out into brief, dark stories that are recognizable, and so all the more chilling.

From gruesome murders and strange bedfellows to magical potions and nightmares that can kill, the book is a fast-paced collection of scary stories that brush against the paranormal, but don’t quite leap over […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-03-10T12:34:44+02:00June 30th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Horror Book Reviews|

Review: Come As You Are by Steven Ramirez

★★★★

If anyone discovers a source of mysterious power that can help solve all their problems, it is probably too good to be true. That is certainly the case in Come As You Are, a chilling YA horror novella from author Steven Ramirez.

When Ivan, an often-bullied seventh grader, finds a magical notebook in an old locker at school, he thinks that his middle-school years might be salvageable after all. The list that this notebook contains doesn’t necessarily make sense, but Ivan knows that he must complete the list if he wants to unlock the full potential of this […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2018-02-16T11:45:39+02:00June 12th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Horror Book Reviews, Young Adult Book Reviews|

Akeldama by RD Meyer

Turf wars and unlikely alliances are hardly novel concepts in fiction, but add gangs of vampires and a 2,000-year-old conspiracy to the mix and you’ve got yourself a well thought-out tale in Akeldama that goes far beyond your typical vampire fare.

Newly-appointed Hunter, Seth Gendrickson, works for the Catholic Church’s secretive Order of Mount Sion, a group of vampire hunters. His small team’s first assignment is to investigate a worrisome spike in vampire activity that’s left a few gruesome remains and troubling questions in its wake. Seth is young and eager to prove himself which leads to some horrible consequences […]

Marta Cheng2017-06-02T09:01:57+02:00June 2nd, 2017|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Horror Book Reviews, Vampires Book Reviews|

Return to Mateguas Island by Linda Watkins

Return to Mateguas Island by Linda Watkins In Mateguas Island, the first novel in this series, Bill Anderson mysteriously drowns (or did he?) after moving his family to the idyllic locale, but Mateguas Island turns out to be rife with magic and the specter of ancient rituals. His body was never recovered, so ten years later, his twin daughters, Terri and Sophie, are determined to find out what happened to their father. Karen, their mother, is unsurprisingly reluctant, given she’s moved on and remarried, but she accompanies them back to the island, where the mystery deepens, as does the danger.