Morpheus Tales January 2015 Reviews Supplement by Adam Bradley

THE BOOK OF THE CROWMAN The Black Dawn Volume Two By Joseph D’Lacey ...... 2 DELIVER US FROM EVIL ..................................................................................................... 2 THE BABADOOK.................................................................................................................... 4 WEREWOLF By Matthew Pritchard........................................................................................ 4 Ramblings of a Tattooed Head By Simon Marshall-Jones ....................................................... 5 JUST BEYOND THE DESERT: THREE SHORT STORIES FROM THE EDGE BY SPENCER LOEB ...................................................................................................................... 6 7500 ........................................................................................................................................... 8 THE EMPEROR’S BLADES By Brian Staveley..................................................................... 8 WILDERNESS By Dean Koontz.............................................................................................. 8 Interview with Trent Zelazny By C. M. Saunders .................................................................... 9 BARCLEONA SHADOWS By Marc Pastor.......................................................................... 17 CHICAGO HISTORY: THE STRANGER SIDE BY RAYMOND JOHNSON .................... 17 DRAGON By James Austin McCormick ............................................................................... 19 From The Catacombs By Jim Lesniak .................................................................................... 19

Edited By Stanley Riiks. Written By Adrian Brady, Jim Lesniak, Simon Marshall-Jones, C.M. Saunders, Trent Zelazny. Proof-read By Sheri White. © Morpheus Tales January 2015.

Morpheus Tales Back Issues and Special Issues are available exclusively through lulu.com: http://stores.lulu.com/morpheustales For more information, free previews and free magazines visit our website: www.morpheustales.com Morpheus Tales Review Supplement, January 2015. COPYRIGHT January 2015 Morpheus Tales Publishing, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Review can be used, in full or in part, for publicity purposes as long as Morpheus Tales Magazine is quoted as the source.

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that will haunt you for life. Quite an incredible accomplishment from the talented D’Lacey, and certainly a lingering piece of genius. By Stanley Riiks

THE BOOK OF THE CROWMAN The Black Dawn Volume Two By Joseph D’Lacey www.angryrobotbooks.com D’Lacey has written some really, really good books. MEAT was shocking. The Garbage Man was a morality tale told through a B-movie. With this second volume (split by the publishers but really one book) everything that he had worked on previously is brought together in one epic, magnificent, and poignant myth. And this really is a mythic novel. Set in a post-apocalyptic world where the earth is dying, destroyed by the actions of men. Peace is coming, but a war must take place first, and who wins will decide the fate of the planet. Gordon Black is searching for the Crowman, a legendary figure who is meant to lead the world to salvation. Black is hunted by the fascist-like Ward, the brutal police/army that keeps the rule of law, or make the most of it, depending on who you ask. The Green Men, those who want to look after the world, must fight the Ward to see who can take control. Megan is a keeper from the future, she is training and telling Black’s story as she watches him through time. Can she help Gordon find the Crowman and avoid the final battle; can she keep him safe from the Ward and their treachery? The second book continues the story until its inevitable conclusion. Like the first book there is not a huge amount of action, but D’Lacey never lets the story slow down too much. There is always something new to learn about our characters or this strange new world. It feels like an epic myth, and it is. The mild pacing allows for much more character development, and a gradual rising of tensions towards a climax that is as sad and brutal as we have come to expect from a D’Lacey novel. This is the kind of book that sticks in your heart and in your mind long after reading it. There are images in this book

DELIVER US FROM EVIL Director: Scott Derrickson Deliver Us From Evil is supposed to be this year’s Conjuring, one of the surprise box office smashes of 2013. Both films deal with demonic possession, and both claim to be based on true stories. In this case, the film is adapted from the book Beware the Night, co-written by Ralph Sarchie, a maverick New York cop and part-time demon hunter. The movie casts Eric Bana in the lead role, and he does a great job portraying the macho cop trying to keep it together, and rid his city of evil, whilst his family fragments around him. The movie opens in the Iraq War in 2010, when a group of American soldiers encounter something evil in a cave. The evil presence follows them back to America and makes them do some frankly awful things. Sergeant Sarchie and his partner get involved in the spiralling chaos, and begin to witness things that are far from ordinary. They enlist the help of a priest, who turns out to be a reformed drug addict, and then strange things begin happening in Sarchie’s house. It sounds like an unbelievable tale. That’s because it’s a pile of nonsense. Director Scott Derrickson (maker of Sinister) admitted as much in subsequent interviews. The only part of the story rooted in reality is the existence of Ralph Sarchie, who really was a police sergeant and part-time demonologist. The clue is right there on the poster, in letters larger than the film title, “INSPIRED BY THE ACTUAL ACCOUNTS OF AN NYPD SERGEANT.” The story itself, and the rest of the characters, are completely made up. Ah, Hollywood. By C.M. Saunders 2

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an emotional level with all the accuracy of a sniper’s bullet creating more tension and atmosphere than any idiot with a bucket of fake blood can ever hope to. For one reason or another, until now women have only been able to exert limited influence on the horror genre, but that could all change as audiences grow tired of gore-fests and start searching for something deeper. In many ways, the character of Mister Babadook could be a metaphor for angst, grief, alienation, fear, guilt, and a ton of other emotions, none of them good. The embodiment of dark energy. How much is real, and how much is imagined, is often left ambiguous to the viewer. Deliberately so, I think. An instant classic. By C.M. Saunders

THE BABADOOK Director: Jennifer Kent This could be the biggest revelation in Australian horror since... well, ever. One of those rare films that burrows under your skin and leaves an impression for a long time after the credits roll, it has been generating overwhelmingly positive critical reviews since its worldwide debut at the Sundance Film Festival where it won Best Actor, Actress, Screenplay, and Feature. Amelia (Essie Davis, who you might recognize from Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions) is a single mother left to raise her six-year-old son Samuel alone after her husband is killed in a tragic accident. Samuel is obsessed with magic and fantasy stories, an obsession that increases tenfold when he asks his mother to read from a pop-up book that mysteriously appears on his bookshelf. It turns out to be the story of a nightmarish character called Mister Babadook, who wants to ‘eat your insides.’ After hearing the story, young Samuel becomes convinced it is real. Of course, Amelia doesn’t believe him. Parents rarely do. But then Samuel turns into the most horrible, despicable little kid on the planet, and all manner of strange things start happening around the house. As the sinister events increase, Amelia comes to think Samuel might just be right about Mister Babadook after all. Part of the appeal is the fact that the Babadook was written and directed by a woman, Jennifer Kent. As such, it benefits from a female perspective, sense of empathy, and even tenderness in places, especially when describing the unique bond between a mother and a son. Don’t get me wrong, there are shocks and scares aplenty. The Babadook contains some of the most genuinely terrifying scenes in recent memory. The difference is that the scares are less visceral and in your face. There is no gore here, and very little in the way of cheap thrills. Instead, it gets you on

WEREWOLF By Matthew Pritchard www.saltpublishing.com Germany, August 1945. The allies have just won the war. A strange ritual murder is committed, the bodies found in the caller of a confiscated house. Detective Inspective Silas Payne, of Scotland Yard, has been brought over to train the new Germany police force as anyone associated with the Nazi regime is a war criminal. But as his trainees are currently interned he finds himself investigating the first in a series of murders, and embroiled in the petty politics of a country part-destroyed, and filled with hate-fuelled conquerors. The setting is massively interesting, and the politics, and factions are well portrayed, giving the book a real atmosphere. The murder mystery is quite interesting, but feels a little like a backstory, and the characters are pretty poor for the most part. It is the setting that is the star of crime novel, war-torn Germany attempting to get back on its feet under the control of its invaders in fascinating. Sadly the murder mystery plot nor the characters live up to the setting. This is still an entertaining read, 4

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to unsettle me, even in broad daylight. Other books which have bowled me over I can’t really talk about, as they’re ones I am publishing myself – and that would be cheating. I have no such qualms in talking about favourite films, however. I’ve seen more in 2014 than in the previous four or five years, mainly because I had fallen out of love with cinema. I still have my odd moments now and then, but I have to say there have been some crackers in my DVD machine. Of the recent so-called ‘blockbusters,’ I have to put my hand up and say that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been entertaining me in a totally unexpected way, with The Guardians of the Galaxy coming out on top, closely followed by Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Yes, I know they’re not horror, but I make no apologies for that. For pure entertainment they were absolutely top-notch. I also enjoyed the latest Godzilla iteration (which I talked about in these very pages earlier this year) – the BIG G was envisioned in exactly the way I have always imagined him to be: feral, huge, and unstoppable. This is a monster movie in the grand old tradition. Horror-wise, I got to see Sinister and the Evil Dead remake, as well as The Quiet Ones and a few others. Sinister I thought was excellent: there was one genuinely cringe-inducing moment which made me physically flinch – the sequence involving the lawnmower. On top of that, the soundtrack was one of the best I’ve heard in a long time – it really did add an extra dimension, grating and sawing at the nerves in a way few other soundtracks do. The Evil Dead remake was okay, but it was always going to be a difficult act to better. The story followed the original, and the effects were much more realistic, but it didn’t have the same joyful “let’s get some friends together, grab a camera, some cheap effects, and make a film” vibe the very first one had. A different approach is not necessarily a bad thing, especially as the original is so well-loved,

but nowhere near as good as it could have been had half as much effort been put into the characterisation and the plotting as has clearly been put into the atmosphere and setting. Shows promise, very interesting, and nice and short. Lacking memorable characters and not much of a plot. By Stanley Riiks Ramblings of a Tattooed Head By Simon Marshall-Jones You all know what usually happens this time of year: people make lists of what they deem to be the ‘Best _____ Books/Films/TV Shows’ of whatever year it is. I sometimes do the same, except that, in spite of being a publisher and editor, I don’t get to read or watch as much of the new stuff as I would like. However, what I propose to do instead is to take a few of the more notable books, films, and shows I’ve encountered and talk about those. As far as books are concerned, standing head and shoulders above everything else is Adam Nevill’s No One Gets Out Alive, published in September/October this year. Adam possesses the enviable ability to induce involuntary bowel movements, his writing is so scary. This one is no exception: Stephanie Booth moves into a house owned by a landlord with the rather sinister name of Knacker McGuire, but it isn’t him she necessarily needs to worry about. The house itself contains all manner of unsettling occurrences: whispers coming from the fireplace, disembodied footsteps, scratchings, weeping women, and screams. It really gets you right from the start, a device which Nevill has a particular knack for. A marketing cliché perhaps, but Nevill has been touted as the British Stephen King – but such trite epithets really miss the mark completely, as here we have a genuine home-grown talent with a unique voice and a unique vision. Moreover, he is one of the very few writers who has managed 5

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told you. Well, that’s it for another year – 2014 was a weird year for Yours Truly, in both good and bad ways. Let’s hope that 2015 improves on that, and everyone achieves what they set out to do. I don’t make resolutions as I am crap at keeping them, and also then I cannot disappoint myself. Here’s to a good year ahead!

but it played out as a blow-by-blow copy of Sam Raimi’s breakout effort with more gore and better effects. Despite that, I enjoyed it immensely, and will probably watch it again. The same cannot be said of The Quiet Ones – a rather dismal effort which had a great premise but was ruined by soso acting (with the exception of Jared Harris, whose manner can be very unsettling), as well as being completely devoid of atmosphere, and imbued with predictability. It’s sad to think that the once great Hammer House of Horror has come to this – the trailer promised much but the film failed to deliver, being just the good bits in the trailer with less successful sequences in-between. This was the only film where I could feel the unreality of the film being made – it was as if I could see the cameraman operating the machine while the actors pretended to be unnerved and scared. Quite disturbing in itself, I felt. TV shows have been mainly of the American variety – Grimm (which is a great little episodic series with an intricately developed mythology which sustains it nicely), Constantine (which is more than a tad disappointing, as it’s mostly a ‘monster of the week’ show), Arrow (which I am absolutely delighted to have discovered), and Marvel’s A.G.E.N.T.S of Shield, which started off slow and uninspiring but then kicked into high-gear and has remained there ever since. I still need to see True Detective and American Horror Story, as I’ve been assured they’re superb shows. Favourite rum of the year: I just had to include this one, because rum is my all-time top spirit. The award has to go to Deadhead Rum, because not only is it a great-tasting rum, it also comes in a bottle which is modelled on a Jivaro Indian shrunken head. Just the kind of thing an easily-pleased man with an inclination towards the macabre is bound to be attracted to. If it has skulls or dark imagery, I’m there. Been like that since childhood, as my late mother would have

JUST BEYOND THE DESERT: THREE SHORT STORIES FROM THE EDGE BY SPENCER LOEB Spencer Loeb is new on the scene, and is already picking up some great reviews for his debut, a collection of three shorts all set in the same alternative universe, the Edge, a place that exists “on the shadowy fringe of our everyday world.” Loeb does such a great job of implanting this Wild West badland in the mind of the reader, in a style reminiscent of the great SK, that after a while you forget all about U2’s guitarist. My personal favourite here is the middle story, “Desert Sun Amusement,” a punchy little number about a guilt-ridden insomniac who kills a man in self-defence and goes to see a shaman shrink to help solve the problem. The shaman shrink sends the man back to a scene from his past, where he confronts fears he didn’t even know he had. “Desert Sun Amusement” is slotted in between “Worse Things Than Death” and “Rail 715” like a hefty slice of meat in a sandwich, though the latter also entered the running for my ‘favourite story’ award. All in all, an impressive, polished start from Mr Loeb, and I’m looking forward to reading more of his work. By C.M. Saunders

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one demand my attention against the likes of Peter V. Brett, Andy Remic, Mark Lawrence, et al? Well, actually yes. This first book in the series offers another magical world of heroic fantasy to explore. The emperor has been murdered, and his children must find out who is behind it. Behind that seemingly simple sentence lies the whole of the story contained in the first book of the Unhewn Throne series. As you might expect there are a slew of interesting characters, lots of mystery and intrigue, and a host of exciting fighting and machination. Although the book doesn’t have the speed and relentless pace of Remic’s and Lawrence’s stories, it does have the depth of Brett’s work. More intrigue and drama than some of the more action-filled fantasy novels currently available, this still has a fascinating world and characters to keep you interested. Vivid and brilliant, this is another series to wrap yourself up in and spend several glorious hours. By Adrian Brady

7500 Director: Takashi Shimizu A very timely film from the creator of Juon and The Grudge, given the extraordinary rise in air disasters in recent years. Flight 7500 takes off for Tokyo from Los Angeles. In the opening scenes we are treated to snapshots of the lives of some of the passengers, the film capturing perfectly that weird mix of tension and mundanity that encapsulates modern air travel. So far, so good. Then one of the passengers suffers some kind of seizure and drops dead. Just what you don’t need on a plane. As the passenger is dead already and no detour is going to save him, the decision is made to tuck the corpse away in the hold out of sight and continue the journey as planned. But then the questions begin. What killed him? Is it contagious? And what was in the suitcase he was so keen to keep from view? Even all this is soon forgotten when lots of weird shit starts happening, and then the cabin loses pressure, sending everyone into bouts of hysteria. Again, not what you want on a plane. The back story of 7500 is almost as strange as the film itself. It was originally scheduled for an August 2012 release, but for one reason or another, the US and European release date was pushed back over two years, despite the film being officially released in several countries in Asia and, of course, being leaked online in between. The result has of all this has created hype bordering on urban myth status. Imagine a cross between Lost, The Ring, and Snakes on a Plane, and you are halfway there. All in all, a cracking piece of work. By C.M. Saunders

WILDERNESS By Dean Koontz http://www.deankoontz.com/ It must really piss Dean Koontz off to always be second to Stephen King whenever anyone discusses the masters of contemporary dark fiction. It isn’t like he doesn’t try. Koontz’s descriptive powers are second-to-none, and he has written a stack of superb books in his time. Unfortunately, especially in the past decade or so, the Odd Series apart, most of said books have tended to be formulaic and even unimaginative. No doubt Koontz is a fantastic writer, but I get the feeling he has begun to run out of ideas, and just wheels out the same old concepts time after time knowing he has enough fans who will buy whatever he puts out regardless. There is a world of difference between catering to the masses, and being

THE EMPEROR’S BLADES By Brian Staveley www.panmacmillan.com Now out in paperback, yes, another fantasy series starts in earnest. Will this 8

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brave enough to step outside your comfort zone. There is some middle ground there that Koontz needs to find, and maybe he finally has. This ebook short story is designed as a primer, introducing Koontz’s devoted fan base to Addison Goodheart, a nice young kid who really does have a good heart, but is born with some monstrous physical deformity that has people running in fear at the mere sight of him. Even his own mother can’t stand to look at him. Wilderness follows him into the woods near his home, where he retires to nature when his deformities become too much for his mother to bear and she mercilessly kicks him out of the house. Unfortunately, one day he meets more than he bargained for. Although primarily serving as a prequel to the novel Innocence, this could also be interpreted as a nice little standalone read, which can easily be devoured in one sitting. If the idea was to whet the public’s appetite for the further adventures of Addison Goodheart, Wilderness is a job well done. By C.M. Saunders

primarily write fiction, but there is truth within all of it. Genuine personal truth, down to the point that some of the things in my stories are literally things that have happened to me. The other stuff is (or was at the time) my genuine thought process, or emotions. Yeah, I’m one of those writers. I essentially bare my soul, though I was raised and mostly influenced by pulps and popular fiction, which I think gives my writing an interesting texture. Good or bad, that really isn’t for me to say, but it’s genuine. I don’t lie when it comes to that stuff, but conversely fiction is making stuff up, and I love doing that. Truthful lies, or

Interview with Trent Zelazny By C. M. Saunders A reviewer once said that when you write, you leave blood on the page. Is that a fair evaluation, do you think? It may very well be more accurate than I want it to be at times. I’ve been writing for pretty much as long as I can remember, in one way or another, but 2009 and 2010 flipped my life around and tossed it in so many different directions all at once, and my writing changed drastically. When it comes to writing, I try to be a straight shooter, and by that I mean I tell the truth as best as I can, and when I say that I mean my truth, because that’s the only truth I know. For me writing is self-exploration. The two aforementioned years gave me a lot of new things, as well as new lenses through which to see older things. I

fictional memoir, as I have been calling it lately. Honestly, I think that blurb about my work is, if not the most, certainly one of the most flattering blurbs I’ve ever received, because, to me, they got it.

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Where did you get the idea? No clue. Ideas come to me all the time. The way I usually write is by sitting down and writing a couple of sentences. If it’s interesting to me then I will write a little more, and if I’m still interested, curious to see where it will go, then I just write it. I cannot outline or plot. I just start writing. Fairly early on I usually get an ending in mind. That ending often changes because I usually allow my characters to do what they want, but it then becomes the challenge of, how do I connect what I already have to that ending, or some semblance of that ending, that popped into my mind? That’s my favourite part, figuring out how to connect the tangible and the tentative pieces together.

Tell us about your new novel, Voiceless. Fictional memoir, I guess, though cloaked entirely in fiction, about a guy named Max, who is trapped in an extremely unhealthy marriage, and due to financial circumstances, is forced to move to a desolate little town, which traps him even more. Depressed, downtrodden, things in this new place get steadily worse. The only thing to bring him any hope at all is a dog. I personally consider it a… let’s say suspenseful drama, though it could also be a murder mystery, and there is a sprinkle of horror in it. To me, it is to date the best prose I have written. I’m really proud of my language use in that one. Also, like my other work, much of it is deeply rooted in my own reality. Some things in it really happened, and some lines and dialogue exchanges are direct quotes, verbatim. It’s also currently the longest book I have out (as I never seem to remember my novel Complications with Affirmations), though my work in progress has already blown Voiceless away, length-wise.

How long did it take to write? Off and on, about a year and a half. I took a long break from it, wrote some short stories and novelettes and a whole other novel, which will hopefully be out next year. The majority of the book took about four or five months, then when I got back to it, I’m guessing about another six or eight weeks. I had thrown in several subplots which, I discovered, did not belong, so I had to go through and pull those out, which took a fair amount of time as well. So, over the course of about a year and a half, I think, but really about six months within that time. Oh, and I totally suck at math.

I’m quite proud of Voiceless. I’m honoured to have it released through Evil Jester Press (Shannon Giglio is a fantastic editor), and I think folks might really like it, even if it isn’t the most upbeat book out there.

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How do you choose the names of your characters? Often the names just come to me, but not always. I had the name Jack Dempster in my head for several years, then finally I wrote To Sleep Gently, where Jack took center stage and said, “Finally. I was getting frustrated just being in your head.” It just took a long time for the right story to come along for him. The book I am currently working is about a guy named Brett Harrington. I’ve used the Harrington name before—Grant Harrington in my short play Not Any Little Girl—but the name Brett Harrington has been with me since I was around twenty or twentyone. I’m thirtyeight, and only now has Brett’s proper story come up. Sometimes names just pop into my head, or I’ll do a baby name search. At times I look at my Facebook friends, and maybe combine someone’s first name with someone else’s last name.

What is the process? Do you plan everything methodically? Or take a more liberated approach? I guess I kind of answered this, but I don’t plan a thing. I typically write an opening sentence, or maybe a few sentences, and see where it takes me, if anywhere. These days I prefer writing longhand, using a ballpoint pen and a legal pad. Early on, if it is a story I am likely going to take all the way through, an ending comes to me. More often than not that ending changes, but that is the fun part for me, connecting what I have to the ending my mind has conjured, and while they so often change, it’s what keeps me on track. It gives me something to shoot for. For the most part I let my characters do what they want or need to. Sometimes I have to prod them or manipulate them a bit, but while it’s me, it’s also the characters’ story, so I do my best to let them tell it. Research can also be a lot of fun. To a degree, I’m a little like a method actor. When I was writing Too Late to Call Texas, for example, I tied myself up the same way one of the characters gets tied up, and spent about an hour on the floor, figuring out how my body could move, what I could and couldn’t do. Maybe a bit weird, but at the time it was a lot of fun.

What does a day in the life of Trent Zelazny consist of? Waking up late. An ideal morning is when I have coffee with Laurel, my fiancé, and we just chat, or often sit and listen to music. Then either writing or reading. If the writing is going well, it will rule my entire day and I will put anywhere from 12

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six to sixteen hours in. When it isn’t going so well, I at least try to write a little bit, or go over what I’ve most recently written. If I’m not dead tired by the end, Laurel and I have dinner and usually watch a movie or something (she’s just gotten me into Criminal Minds). That’s a kind of typical day, but I also have severe depression and anxiety, so that can definitely change how the day goes. But Laurel is wonderful and patient and supportive. She makes even the roughest times easier.

Do you listen to music when you write? If so, what? I don’t listen to music when I write. For me, it’s just too distracting. I do, however, love music, and when not writing, listen to quite a bit of it. For the most part, while there is always something to like in any genre, I am a rock and roll guy at heart. My work, however, especially the longer pieces, all develop soundtracks in my mind, and that is often apparent in the book, especially, I’d say, in Destination Unknown. What I began doing was, when the book either had a musical accompaniment, or when I learned what kind of music this character or that character liked, I would make a mix on my iPod, and listen to it pretty frequently, which has always helped me to keep in touch a bit with that character. A cool thing regarding that: I watched an interview with Kevin Bacon, and in that interview he said that, once he knew what kind of music his character liked, he would make a mix of that type of music and put it on his iPod to help him, on another level, keep in character. I loved that because I had come up with it on my own, but then got confirmation on its validity by an actor I very much admire.

How do you relax? Not well. Okay, that’s not entirely true, but while I am mostly an introvert, I am also incredibly high-strung. I have a whole list of disorders, from depression to severe generalized anxiety disorder to PTSD. So it can be very difficult for me to relax. But some things that do help me relax would include spending time with Laurel and our dog Banjo. Reading can be a big one, as can watching movies, certain TV shows, or a basketball game or pro wrestling match (usually old school 80s and 90s pro wrestling; watching some early matches by Bret “Hitman” Hart just the other night really helped pull me out of a funk and got me to relax a bit). When I am able to sit still and just be, listening to music can be very relaxing. 13

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me for being stupid, as I had not mastered the English language. I ripped it up right then and there and didn’t try writing again until high school. My father was starting to encourage me a bit, but then he passed away. I never really got a solid writing education. Mostly it was by reading and writing a lot. Though Jane Lindskold, for a while, became a mentor to me and was an amazing help.

What attracts you to dark fiction? That is a much harder question to answer than it should be. I think, being the personality type I am, it’s often a safe way for me to explore the darker aspects of human nature. The human monster is what is generally most fascinating to me. That’s what I at least attempt to explore with my own work, and very often enjoy reading about. Blood and gore have their place for sure, but I am personally more interested in the psychology. Genres and sub-genres get thrown around everywhere—our need to label things, so I could say I like psychological thrillers, but I also like mysteries, horror, crime, literature, thrillers, westerns, popular fiction, young adult, science fiction and fantasy. Pretty much all of these genres (as well as the ones I didn’t mention) are all about the same thing: people. What’s gonna really grab me is the characters. It may sound like the coolest concept ever, but if I start reading it and the characters are flat or uninteresting, I don’t care how cool the concept may be. As a reader, I will put it down.

If you could go back and give your younger self some advice, what would it be? A lot of people are gonna screw you. They’re gonna use you and then discard you, over and over again. You’ll be known as a generally nice guy, but you’re gonna get fucked time and time again, sometimes by those closest to you. Don’t let them do it. I’d be a very different person if I could do that, and my younger self actually took the advice. What was it like growing up the son of a famous writer? I didn’t really think much about it until later. When I was a kid, it’s just what my father did. I was clueless that I was often hanging around with legendary SF&F writers. It was just part of the world I grew up in, so we’d go to this convention or that one, but it was no different to me than my friend whose father was a doctor, or another friend whose father was a fireman. My dad was a super great guy, and I loved him a lot. Being the son of a famous writer didn’t really set in until I started trying to write for publication. Most of the time there were (and still are) drawbacks rather than any kind of help. I had no connections, and any time I have even a moderate success, it’s somehow because I have the connections. Being Roger’s son in my own circumstances can be incredibly frustrating. But whether for publication or not, I will always be writing. It’s just a part of who I am.

Every person on the planet has a light side and dark side. We’re supposed to generally show our bright side, and only live our dark side vicariously through art and entertainment. Okay, I guess, maybe that’s for the best in some ways, if not a bit constricting for day-to-day life, but writing about the darkness, reading about the darkness, is a way of exploring the stuff we’re generally not supposed to show. It’s a way of acknowledging something that, in one way or another, is in all of us. What was the first thing you ever wrote? How old were you? Did it ever see the light of day? It was a three page short called “Ax Killer,” which I wrote when I was maybe seven or eight. I took it to my grandma and showed it to her, proud that I had written my very first short story. She made fun of it, made fun of me, belittled and shamed 14

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Has your father had any influence on your work? Yes. Quite a bit, especially his short stories. I love everything I’ve read, but as far as influence I have to admit his short stories did a lot more for me than his novels. I wanna emphasize here that I love his novels, and I am not in any way discounting them in the least, but as far as personal writing influence goes, it was his short stories that really hit me.

There are a lot of people who have used me just to try and get to my father’s work. A lot of people have used me, fed me lies. If it’s about my father, people will talk with me for days. If it’s about me, usually I am not given the time of day, and that’s often hard to take. What is the best piece of feedback you’ve ever had from an editor or a fan? I guess the one that keeps me going is how people appreciate my honesty. My fans, while there are not millions of them, are the very best fans in the world.

We imagine it can be a kind of double-edged sword. Do you ever feel that people don’t give you enough credit for what you’ve achieved under your own steam? I guess I’ve kind of been answering this, but yes. I have wonderful fans, very, very wonderful and loyal fans, but it has been the eternal battle since I started. “Oh cute, Trent is trying to write” is a fairly typical response from a number of people who used to hang out with my father. To many of them I am a bit of a joke who they’ve never bothered to read. Or certainly that is the way I’ve always been made to feel. I’ve never asked for a push and no one has ever offered me one. That’s fine, it shows that everything I have accomplished, I’ve done without their help and against the odds of having my last name.

What is your stance on the traditional v independent publishing debate? That stance has changed over time. I have been published by mid-list publishers, small press publishers, and I have selfpublished. They all have their ups and their downs. I don’t see anything wrong with self-publishing. The problem with it so much of the time, though, is that people just slap something together and post it on Kindle or whatever and expect it to just sell. You still need to know how to write, and still need someone to look at it, and you need to be fairly decent at editing and copy editing. I’m very forgiving in regards to typos and such, but a lot of 16

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people aren’t. I’ve had good and horrendous experiences with publishers, so you are often taking just as much of a gamble going with a publisher than you are just putting the thing out yourself. At this point, in a lot of ways, they’re all the same. I’m not going to read or not read a book because it was published this way or that. A good story is a good story.

Now out in paperback, this disturbingly dark book is set on the very mean streets of Barcelona, a Barcelona far from the tourist traps of the Sagra Familia and the famous coloured fountains. This is a deeply gritty detective thriller where we follow inspector Moises Corvo, who is hunting a murderer through the brothels, backstreets, and slums of a dirty Barcelona. Richly described, this Barcelona is a hellhole, a brilliantly dark place that is frighteningly colourful, and a character within the story itself. A deeply disturbing crime/horror detective thriller, bringing new darkness to the city of Barcelona, and showing it in a deadly new light. Intelligent and ingenious, much like the slew of Scandinavian crime thriller which have reached our shores in recent times, this gives us another unique perspective. By Adrian Brady

If you could have lunch with any three people, alive or dead, who would you choose? At the moment of being asked this, I would choose my father, pro wrestler Bret “Hitman” Hart, and pulp author David Goodis. What would you talk about? Art, writing, music, philosophy. What it means to be exactly who you are, shadows, voids, jamborees and all. What advice would you give to young writers just starting out in the business? Read a lot and write a lot. Read in many different genres and about different things, but write the books and stories that you yourself would want to read.

CHICAGO HISTORY: THE STRANGER SIDE BY RAYMOND JOHNSON Raymond Johnson is a former criminal investigator, local historian, and writer whose previous books include Chicago’s Haunt Detective. If anyone is in a position to tell us about the Windy City’s dark side, it’s him. This book is meticulously researched and vividly descriptive. However, that often comes at the expense of the actual stories the author is trying to relate. Too often the reader (well, this one, anyway) was left wondering whether it was strictly necessary to give blow-byblow accounts of a building’s construction just because something slightly odd happened there a hundred years later. Still, for anyone fascinated by the darker side of American history, this is a must. By C.M. Saunders

What’s next for you? I’m finishing up a new novel, then I have a contract for another book. I should have a new short story collection coming out this year called An Evening Wasted with Trent Zelazny, along with a novel called Dreams Die First, which I co-wrote with my buddy Martin Reaves. After that, I guess I’ll see how I’m feeling about all this writing business stuff. How can readers keep tabs on what you are doing? Currently the best way is through my Facebook page, Trent Zelazny – The Writer in Ward Eleven. BARCELONA SHADOWS By Marc Pastor www.pushkinpress.com 17

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enough that it can be used for action, as opposed to giving up and surrendering to the forces of the world.

DRAGON By James Austin McCormick www.classactbooks.com This is a simple and action-packed, but brilliant SF novel. The story follows two unlikely heroes, a more mismatched pair we have not seen since The Odd Couple. They must fight a crazy warlord who has stockpiled ancient and mysterious weapons which he will use to put an end to the intergalactic ceasefire. Some inspired ideas, great tension and pacing, plenty of action, and great but hapless characters make this an absolute must read. Much more exciting than most mainstream publishers are putting out, this is a book that deserves to be read. Great fun. By Adrian Brady

Exquisite Terror #4 Editor: Naila Scargill http://www.exquisiteterror.com/ There was a long wait between issues of this digest-sized magazine, which I last reviewed a couple of years ago. Long enough that it slipped off my radar until I saw a random tweet from Ms Scargill recently to find issue number four had, indeed, seen the light of day. It is good that we still have Exquisite Terror, no matter how late, as it has a unique niche in the small press horror world. Exquisite Terror is academically focused – not in the dry, bookish, dull manner of textbooks and treatises, but in the aspect of intelligently examining subjects in its articles and features. For example, there is an overview of the folklore and literary heritage of Dracula, tracing various sources that may have inspired Stoker’s work, as well as a psychological examination of the “Buffalo Bill” character from Silence of the Lambs (both film and literary sources). Add to this features on The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Horror Workshop (in Germany), and an interview with Jim Van Bebber to give an scholarly, but still entertaining, view on horror. There is no fan boy hero worship in Exquisite Terror. In a time where antiintellectualism is treated like a badge of honor in many aspects of life, it is quite refreshing to have a well-reasoned and aptly written magazine being published.

From The Catacombs By Jim Lesniak Fear of the unknown, to paraphrase Mr. Lovecraft, is the oldest and strongest fear known to mankind. This is true, not just in horror, but in life itself. Recently, Ye Olde Reviewer was concerned about the future of the catacombs and the castle itself, subsumed in a fear of the unknown that made it seem that it was easier to do nothing rather than something. Of course, most of us have a survival instinct that kicks us into gear and the crisis was averted. It did leave a lingering fear, however, that there is no complete security in complacency – adapt or die, in more direct terms. What does this rambling have to do with horror? Everything, especially as most horror is predicated on the mysterious unknown in one form or another. The visceral charge of vicariously experiencing a horrific moment in text or on the screen brings many of us back for more. Maybe horror prepares us to NOT be overwhelmed in the face of the unknown so we will not freeze and roll over when faced by adversity. The adrenaline rush of fear has been felt often 19

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Publications. The insightful introduction helps set the tone for the blood-drenched, lurid comics to follow. Highly recommended to fans of the Haunted Horror series, also from IDW and Yoe Books, as it drags you into the things the EC Comics only hinted at!

The illustrations are also fantastic, as if the quality of the articles has inspired the delineation. Check out the website, as it is kept up to date with reviews, interviews, and articles. The magazine is well worth the money and the wait. The Worst of Eerie Publications IDW Publishing Editor: Mike Howlett http://www.yoebooks.com Oh, yes yes yes! This is an encapsulation of the madness of Myron Fass’ Eerie Publications. The redrawn and touched up pre-code horror comics, adding more gore and ick, are given a nicer showcase than in their original publication (Glossy paper? Madness!!). These are not your EC Comics or Harvey quality stories, and are a blast from the sheer outré nature of it all. There is also a small selection of those lurid, gross covers included as well, in horrifying full color. All of the art is clean and obviously restored to be as sharp as possible. Ironic, since these were printed quickly and cheaply to turn a fast profit. They may or may not truly deserve the presentation they receive, but the trashy fun is infectious and a great counterpoint to “serious” horror. These 21 stories were selected and introduced by THE source for Eerie Publications, Mike Howlett. His overview of the entire publishing “empire” is a fascinating read that I previously reviewed: The Weird World of Eerie

Web of Scares #1-5 Scary Strange Terrors #1 This Magazine is Scary and Haunted #1-4 Compiled by Dennis Druktenis Dennis Druktenis Publishing & Mail Order, Inc. http://www.scarymonstersscarestore.com/ Each of these ten volumes is a square bound, 68page collection of pre-code horror comics in black and white. Culled primarily from the Fawcett horror line of the 1950s and presumably in the public domain, these are not the greatest or the worst of the precode era. This Magazine is Haunted and Web of Evil are heavily represented, as far as I can tell since there is no indication of what titles/issues the individual stories came from originally. The reproduction is a bit muddy in places as if either the scanner or the printer could not handle higher resolutions and the cleanup work was minimal at best. Although these are scanned from issues in nice shape, they have not been restored in an archival collection like those from PS Publishing. 20

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The publisher of Scary Monsters Magazine is behind these “limited” editions of reprints. As much as I enjoy the content of the magazine and the “Captain Company” style catalog at the end, the presentation has been intentionally kept in the past on cheap newsprint. Whether this is, at this point, an aesthetic choice or a cost measure, I do not know. All I know is that it affects the readability of the magazine. For these “special editions” they have, at least, used nicer paper, but the print quality is pulp newspaper quality. Additionally, for an archival-type project, I would expect SOME editorial content or a source list for the original stories. Nothing. Not a single word on sources. There is no context, just the collection of random precode stories Although it is commendable that these comics are being reprinted, this is not an attractive format. At the price being charged per issue (US$12.00-15.00), better reproduction and an index of original sources would be expected, especially when IDW is putting out 160-page hardcovers, in color with editorial content, for US$25.00-28.00. These are not really worth the price and I really wanted to like these editions. Pass.

illustration style. “Over-the-top” is putting it mildly, with decapitations, dismemberment, rape, stereotypical representations, and almost transgressive violence. Choosing to view this as a descendant of the original underground comix, Fukitor is an extreme parody of glorified violence. By wallowing in gore and misogyny, Karns is mocking it, not glorifying it. Perhaps he is just bathing in graphic violence and I am over-thinking this thing. It is hard to tell if this is being imbued with an unintentional quality, much like some reviewers claiming all sorts of subtext in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre when it was designed to scare people and make money. Fukitor is not pleasant and is certainly not “politically correct,” but, like the best horror, is disturbing as well as subversive. If you are not offended, then you are not reading closely enough. Definitely not a title for general audiences, Fukitor will damage your synapses like underground death metal. The cartoony art style lures the reader in for the sucker punch of violence. Check out the blog – the cover images and page samples will warn you if it is too much for you.

Fukitor By: Jason Karns Fantagraphics Underground http://fukitor.blogspot.com/ I am not sure if I am offended or amused by Fukitor. This volume is a “best of” collection of strips from the self-published comic series. It is over-thetop gore in a very clean

Creephouse Comics Vol 1: Creeps The Haunter #1 21

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By Kevin Gentilcore and Tooker Creephouse Comics http://creephousecomics.com

horror to my son. Creephouse looks to have a decent foundation with well-written (post-code) tales of horror and suspense for when the boy is a little older. Both books are appropriate for the kids, but are NOT dreadfully dull for the grown-up contingent. Many of their titles are serialized online for a free look, but consider supporting them – all ages that is truly all ages is a rarity in any genre, not the least horror.

William

Now, for something different! Creephouse Comics ostensibly intends to produce horror comics for all ages. The common problem with “all ages” comics is, of course, they are dreadfully dull for anyone over the age of ten since the usual approach is to dumb it down, water it down, and make something as bloodless as Mina Harker. Thus far, the two titles I have sampled from this publisher have avoided this quite nicely. Creephouse Comics Vol. 1 is a digest-sized black and white book with color covers reprinting two tales from earlier in the publisher’s run. “Spirits in the Well” follows a lost traveler in the woods encountering a ghoul who had been a hotel proprietor to ghastly effect. “The Terrible Revenance of Grandfather Bones” watches the return of an evil man to carry his wife with him to Hell. Both stories are told in rhyming verse with minimal dialogue and sharp, clean art. I would not recommend this 56-page digest to the youngest readers as they may not catch the rhythm of the language and the content may be a bit much for them – although, I hasten to note that there is more death in Disney films than in these pages. The Haunter is a hero in a horror town; there are creatures on the loose, good and bad. A mixture of super-heroes, classic horror monsters and mad science are thrown at the reader in this debut issue to hit the ground running. This full size, color, twenty-four page comic is a fun romp in a familiar playground that has enough unique quirks that it should find its own audience. Although no real background is given, it is relatively easy to pick up the gist of the characters and start with some action as opposed to lengthy exposition. Since becoming a father, I have kept an eye out for ways to introduce

The Shadow Collection Volume One The Diaz Brothers http://theshadowcollection.com This is the debut volume of what is advertised as a six-volume graphic novel series of eighteen short stories, all introduced (thus far) by a mysterious host in what appears to be a library or museum. None of the three stories in this volume are interconnected by anything but this framing devise. According to the introduction, this was originally envisioned and written as a television anthology series, but given to multiple writers and artists to re-envision as a graphic novel series. It grabbed my eye by advertising one of the writers being Stoker-winning author Lisa Morton. The framing sequences fall a little flat. Perhaps it’s the use of multiple artists for these sections when it may have been more effective to have one do all of the intros to keep a consistent style. Perhaps it’s the lack of background info on this Twilight Zone/Night Gallery/Tales from 22

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the weird, or subject yourself to a reboot of I Know What You Did Last Summer. There will be a quiz.

the Dark Side pastiche. Perhaps the source material is weak. Many things can be forgiven in an original idea if enough shines through even weak presentation. The most interesting thing in Volume One (besides Lisa Morton’s story) is the promotional tarot cards included as a first printing bonus. Odd thought, though: if a book is on Createspace (print on demand), how do you determine a “first” printing? By checking the printing date at the end of the book? Inquiring minds and all that jazz. The Shadow Collection, Volume One is not bad, it is just bland. Entertaining, but it is eminently forgettable and unlikely to set the world on fire. I frankly do not care if further volumes actually see print as they did not grab me with the concept, the presentation or the production. As we fade from 2014 into 2015, remember that under the surface there are films, books, and comics that are not sequels, over-exposed media properties, or dumbed-down works for the lowest common denominator. Not even just new stories; there is a mountain of classic literature that is easily accessible either in physical or electronic form that may reward the digging. Support current, living authors in 2015! It’s a crime that so many legendary authors are a medical bill away from destitution or cannot publish without a crowd funding campaign. (No, I won’t name them; you can follow many of them in your preferred social media platform and figure it out.) You get the fiction you deserve. Don’t put up with the regurgitated crap or we’ll only see a copy of a copy of a copy. Unique voices, whether of the past or present, are necessary – especially ones we may not agree with completely. If you have ever wondered why there are so few reviews of “big” authors or comics from the major publishers in this column, it is precisely because you have seen them before. The passion of the underground, the marginalized, or the simply odd cannot be replicated in the mainstream. Wallow in

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www.morpheustales.com Morpheus Tales Review Supplement, January 2015. COPYRIGHT January 2015 Morpheus Tales Publishing, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Review can be used, in full or in part, for publicity purposes as long as Morpheus Tales Magazine is quoted as the source.