Horror Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: The Little Scary Book by Kevin Duncan

★★★★½

The Little Scary Book by Kevin Duncan is a horror story collection, with ten stories for “anyone who was ever young.” This extremely brief description is surprisingly effective at summarizing the piece; the collection is meant for the slightly younger scare-fans out there, though with just as much for an older reader to enjoy. Slip back into the shoes of your younger self for a whole bunch of frights.

It’s very simple book in look and form, though frankly quite terrifying at first glance with its text-less black-and-white depiction of a warped skull. Even as an adult, readers could […]

Review: Seasons of Pain by Imowen Lodestone

★★★½ Seasons of Pain by Imowen Lodestone

Content warning for violence, sexual and partly graphic; general sexuality; abuse, substance use, and some forms of self-harm.

Jesse M. Lelrick is a Witch; well, she was a Witch. To anyone who asks, who has any right to ask, she’ll tell them flatly that she doesn’t do that anymore, she gave up her powers, and now she’s just your average college girl. She knows it’s a lie; she was cast out by her kuven and her personal struggles merely pushed her to distance herself from the practice, yet it’s still inside her, pushing for space between depression, self-destruction, and […]

James Grimsby2016-03-09T08:10:07+02:00March 4th, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Horror Book Reviews|

Review: End Time (The End Time Sage Book 1) by Daniel Greene

★★★★½ End Time by Daniel Greene

A savage, unforgettable zombie thrill ride.

From the very first scene of Greene’s gruesome, entrancing thriller, readers know that they are in for one hell of a ride. When a deadly virus begins to spread in the DRC, one might think that all the petty rivalries, policies, and ambitions of people would be put to the side for the sake of survival, but this novel takes readers not only through the brutal gore of an imagined zombie apocalypse, but also into some truly dark corners of human nature.

Readers are initially led to believe that this is a slowly […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2019-01-21T09:37:57+02:00March 4th, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Horror Book Reviews, Zombie Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Kai by Derek Vasconi ★★★★★

The disconcerting tale of Kai by Derek Vasconi follows the harbored Satsuki Takamoto, a girl living through a downward spiral of social exclusion, universal envy and ever-deepening depression; in comparison, Seul Bi Rissiello – a resident of Evanston, Illinois – is caring for the mentally ill as she strives for meaning in her life after the brutal loss of her parents in gruesome circumstance. Although unaware of each others existences, both girls live a seemingly poetic tandem of suffering as an unexpected thread ties their tortures together.

This book is quite an eloquent, yet biting read: the slow, creeping, eventually […]

James Grimsby2015-12-29T09:35:27+02:00December 1st, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Horror Book Reviews, Literary Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Rotville by Bryce Bentley Summers ★★★★

In the year 2030, humanity is devastated by a terrifying plague that forces survivors into a life of cloistered fear. A quarantine is built into a city, known as Colloseo, where Colloseo Super Max Prison houses some of the worst examples of the surviving human race. When a military genius comes up with a new super-soldier program using these violent outcasts, twenty-year-old Dylan is inducted into a series of experiments to enhance his body and replace his mind. The plan goes awry, forcing one doctor to gift the former Dylan a chance at free will in order to save the […]

James Grimsby2019-01-21T09:38:04+02:00November 19th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Horror Book Reviews, Zombie Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Nightmares Unhinged: Twenty Tales of Terror Edited by Joshua Viola ★★★★★

Nightmares Unhinged: Twenty Tales of Terror by Joshua Viola and Steve Tem Nightmares Unhinged: Twenty Tales of Terror is a horror anthology put together with the collaboration of authors Joshua Viola and Steve Rasnic Tem along with a multitude of contributors, all with a central theme of bad dreams. As elaborated in the foreword, the essence of nightmare could almost be described as pleasant, whereas a night terror – or a “nightmare unhinged” – is a far more potent, deep fear that the collection hopes to evoke.

It must be said that, strikingly, the cover and overall book layout and presentation is darkly gorgeous, even down to the perfect new-gothic style fonts. […]

James Grimsby2015-11-23T05:47:38+02:00November 11th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Horror Book Reviews|

Review: Nine-Tenths of the Law by Glenn H. Mitchell ★★★★

Nine Tenths of the Law by Glenn H. Mitchell is a pulse-pounding noir novel that takes a serious turn for the dark. The center of this tale is Detective Ben Ricci, a fair mess of a police detective with a drug-addled past and drug-addled wife. Continuously under suspicion for his bad behavior, Ricci becomes embroiled in solving a horrifying crime in which a young man has been disemboweled with supernatural underpinnings – taking him to investigate an immortal mannequin, a family of witches, a book on the occult, and the murderous spirit of a dead child. Part crime fiction, part […]

Henry Baum2020-12-23T05:52:26+02:00November 9th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Crime Fiction Book Reviews, Horror Book Reviews|

Donald Trump: Zombie Hunter by Jon Davidson

Donald Trump: Zombie Hunter is the raucous and topical satire of the man of the moment, Donald Trump, as he wins the presidency, fixes everything overnight, and then is attacked by a hoard of zombies, all of which come in the form of his current opponents: Chris Christie and Rand Paul, among others. The story is filled with amusing references to moments from the campaign trail – such as Trump taking on John McCain’s heroism. If you’re a fan of the horror crossover genre, it’s a unique take that’s at once funny and revolting.