October 18

Louisville Event

I always get excited when there’s a book-type event coming to town. My friend and fellow writer Polly Frost is bringing her one woman comedy show to town, to The Bard’s Town Theater on Bardstown Road to be specific. Polly is a smart, savvy, funny, sexy lady (I reviewed her SF/F/H collection Deep Inside, which is how I learned all this. Still one of my favorite erotic collections!)

She’ll be here for one show, Thursday November 3rd.

Details on the show here.

I hope to make this one, but if I can’t I hope Louisville comes out to give her some love.

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October 17

Review: Jack o’ Spec: Tales of Halloween and Fantasy

Raven Electrick Ink, 2011
ISBN: 9780981964331
Available: Trade paperback

The air has turned crisp and pumpkins are appearing all over. The trees are donning their fall colors and stores have been slinging fun-sized candies in purple and orange for a month now. It’s the perfect setting for some great Halloween-themed tales, and this book delivers. Jack O’ Spec is a delightful collection of poems and prose all centering on some of the themes of Halloween. Not the typical horror fare of monsters and killers, instead it studies magic, what Halloween would be like if we were no longer subjected to Earth’s season and the myths behind the celebrations and masks in the first place.

This isn’t a collection out to scare or turn reader away with blatant gore. It’s out to dazzle and does its job well. From Michael M. Jones’ holiday noir ″Who Killed the Pumpkin King?″ to Daniel R. Robichaud’s steampunk story ″Autumn Jitters″ and Samantha Henderson’s south-of-the-border ″Sugar Skulls″, Jack O’ Spec has a lot to offer. It’s an excellent choice for Halloween lovers, and for public collections. Highly recommended.

Contains: Pagan themes, language, adult situations

Reviewed by: Michele Lee

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October 17

Review: Fifty-Two Stitches

Strange Publications, 2009
ISBN: 0982026625
Available: Trade paperback

Fifty-Two Stitches is a short (about 150 pages) anthology of flash fiction. The stories come at readers fast and furiously, and are potentially forgettable. Flash fiction is very hard to write and too often flash stories depend on see-through twists or (groan) puns. The stories here are no exception. There are some gems, and even more good writing, but much of it is strangled by dependency on clichés and character shorthand, although there could be interesting writing and twists. The length of the stories, too, lends to the feeling of them blurring together into one halting whole.

Fifty-Two Stitches will sate the needs of classic and ″monsters popping out of the shadows″ horror fans. I’d be able to recommend it more highly if there was a less expensive digital version available, or if there were more gems in the mix.
Contains: Sex, violence, gore, language
Reviewed by: Michele Lee

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October 17

Review: The Loving Dead by Amelia Beamer

Night Shade Books, 2010
ISBN: 9781597801942
Available: Trade paperback & multi-format digital

Kate and Michael, a pair of twenty-something hipsters, are the point of view characters of choice for this attempt at a wry, offbeat, new take on the zombie apocalypse.

Unfortunately, it’s an unsuccessful attempt. Kate and Michael aren’t sympathetic characters. They witness two full zombie transitions (one during coitus and one their friend who pluckily tries to rape the first zombie) but instead of doing anything helpful they get high and watch zombie movies.There are bizarre, disconnected sex scenes (everyone on the sight-seeing zeppelin tour is being eaten, so let’s go have blood-covered sex in the bathroom) and bits of “cleverness” that just come off as eye roll-worthy (an iPhone app that sounds like a whip saves the day?). Kate and Michael seem uninterested in their own story, so it’s hard for readers to get involved either. The book just failed to connect with this reader.

For readers who like zombie stories where most of the action happens off screen while the leads make Jesus jokes and have lots of sex, The Loving Dead will be a huge hit. For readers looking for a smart, funny zombie apocalypse story, there are better choices out there.

Contains: Explicit sex, language, gore

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October 17

Review: This is My Blood by David Niall Wilson

Macabre Ink, 2010
ISBN: 9780965813532
Available: multi-format digital

This is My Blood is a sneaky, beautifully written Christian horror tale of supernatural damnation and love. In this hard-to-put-down book, a vampire, turned by Lucifer himself to punish humanity, becomes enamored with the mythos of The Christ and finds the love and power radiating from the man himself to be more than she expected. Taking on the role of Mary Magdalene, she finds herself drawn to him, despite Lucifer’s promise that she’s bound to damn him.

Wilson’s tale is enchanting, deeply religious without being judgmental or hypocritical. Beautifully written, it’s definitely worth the cost and the time to read. Highly recommended for budding digital collections.
Contains: Violence, religious themes
Review by Michele Lee

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