July 21

Red by Paul Kane

Reviewed for MonsterLibrarian.com’s Werewolf Month.

Red by Paul Kane
Skullvines, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-9799673-5-1
Available: New

Red is a fairly short, straightforward retelling of “Little Red Riding Hood” that breaks both the monster and the fairy tale form back down to their horrific beginnings. Kane’s monstrous wolf is a creature out of our nightmares, all appetite, both sexual and digestive. He’s a true shapeshifter, a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” who takes on the forms of people around him in order to get closer to his victims. Also true to the first fairy tales, this isn’t a light-hearted tale with magical creatures that is tied up in a nice happy bow. It’s a brutal tale of stalking and hunger. The only down side is that it doesn’t deviate from the traditional story much, making it a simplistic and quickly read tale. Recommended for private collections due to the sexual content and cost vs. length factors.
Contains: Violence, gore, sex

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July 10

Symptoms of a Broken Heart by Cory Cramer

Reviewed for MonsterLibrarian.com‘s Werewolf Month 2009

Damnation Books, September 2009
Trade Paper Back: 978-1-61572-032-3 $8.29
Ebook: 978-1-61572-033-0 $4.50

While Symptoms of a Broken Heart is a solid fit into the shape shifter category, the “change” in this book is a metaphor for many of the characters’ innermost desires, rather than a power or curse. It’s an interesting application that is almost a throwback to older werewolf tales where the monster represented the fear of giving into such desires.

Lisa and her soon-to-be-married sister attend a Full Moon party, meant to be one last hurrah before they settle down, but they get more than they expect when it turns out to be an actual full moon party thrown by actual shape shifters. Tragedy strikes, and one sister is left alive and seeking the power of the attendees in order to save her own rear and cover up the other sister’s death.

This is a fast, hard read with two strong female leads, neither of which are flat stereotypical female characters or stereotypical horror-fiction lesbians. Erotic, dark and spiked with a creepy aftertaste that will stick with readers, this is a novelette worth snatching up.
Contains: graphic sex

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July 7

Moon Called by Patricia Briggs

Reviewed for MonsterLibrarian.com‘s Werewolf Month 2009

Moon Called by Patricia Briggs
Ace Fantasy, 2006
ISBN: 0441013813
Available: New and Used

Mercy Thompson is unconventional from the beginning. She’s a mechanic for a small town, not to mention a tattooed skinwalker who can become a coyote at will. Mercy was orphaned by a magical father before she was born, and fostered by werewolves, and although she doesn’t truly belong with them, Mercy feels a connection to the wolves, no matter how intense and violent they might become.

When a stray werewolf shows up at her shop begging for a temporary job, she gets sucked into a plot that threatens the lives of the area alpha as well as the werewolf Merrok (ruler) who helped raise Mercy. Mercy is not necessarily violent or intense. She is weaker than most of the supernatural creatures around her. But her calm, somewhat defiant persona makes her an easygoing viewpoint character surrounded by werewolves and vampires that are straight out of horror movies. Mercy is the calm point of the dark, violent world. She knows when to fight back, when to let strong characters handle things, and how to quietly defy the big bads without having their ire crash down on her.Something of a softer dark urban fantasy book, due to Mercy’s charm, the world is no less bloody, violent or horrific than most other werewolf books. This one is likely to catch the eye of readers who love dark fiction that’s not unrelenting in terror or gore.

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July 1

Tales from the Crypt #4 Crypt-Keeping it Real

by Stefan Petrucha, Alex Simmons, Scott Lobdel, Joe R. Lansdale, John R. Lansdale, Aries Kaplan, Jim Salicrup
Papercutz, 2008
ISBN: 9781597071055
Available: New

It’s easy to look past some of the cheesiness in this volume of Tales From the Crypt because not only do the writers tap into some very pop culture places, but they really hit a fantastic stride of length here, capitalizing on the graphic format to add to the story instead of merely translating the tales from one medium into another. The first segment, “You Toomb”, is a collection of short tales with a roller-coaster, bottom-dropping feeling, is set up as if the reader is watching a series of Internet videos, all of which are classic Tales from the Crypt-style horror. “Roses Bedight” by Stefan Petrucha in this section is particularly good, almost the sort of tale you’d expect to find in Apex Digest.

With this volume the Crypt crew has found a good balance between fresh and modern and that classic Crypt feel. The monsters are cartoony rather than stomach-turning, making this book particularly good for a young adult section where readers want scary creatures and plots, but aren’t ready for hardcore gore and adult situations.

Review for MonsterLibrarian.com

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June 4

Tales from the Crypt #3: Zombilicious

Click to buy
Click to buy

Tales from the Crypt #3: Zombilicious by Mort Todd, Marc Bilgrey, Jared Gniewek, Jim Salicrup, Allison Acton, Rick Parker, and illustrated by Steve Mannion and Exes
Papercutz, 2008
ISBN: 9781597070911
Available: New

For horror fans this is just the sweetest little book–a digest-sized hard back collection of four (new) Tales from the Crypt comic stories, a complete throwback to horror’s roots modernized with slick art and shiny packaging. This volume features four tales; “Extra Life” by Neil Klied and Chris Noeth, “Queen of the Vampires” by Marc Bilgrey and Mr. Exes, “Graveyard Shift at the Twilight Gardens” by Rob Vollmar and Tom Smith 3 and “Kid Tested, Mother Approved” by Jared Gneiwek and James Romberger.

Oddly enough, in spite of the title, none of these tales feature a zombie (though there is a vampire). If you loved the old cheesy Tales from the Crypt comics and HBO show this book is right up your alley. Its literary merit is debatable, making its place in collections lean more toward those that include comprehensive or pop-culture titles than high brow, classic-worthy tales. But if horror is your passion, this book is eye-catching, familiar, and utterly groan-worthy.

Reviewed for MonsterLibrarian.com

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