Crack the Spine - July, 2026 Written by Kerry E.B. Black July is National Picnic Month in the United States. This time-honored tradition sees families fighting ants and mosquitos to soak up some sun and enjoy a meal al fresco. To that end, let’s pack a hamper with our favorite treats, spread a red checkered cloth, and crack a spine or two - of our favorite, thematically appropriate horror books, of course! In Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House, Eleanor and Theodora

Today, we have another guest review from local Pittsburgh author, Kerry E.B. Black! Check out her thoughts on her most recent read below! I just added this one to my TBR. You should too! WAKENHYRST by Michelle Paver In the early 1900’s, a dreadful man rules his little United Kingdom dominion outside of the fen with little regard for his family or staff in Michelle Paver’s Gothic coming-of-age novel Wakenhyrst. The lead is a Maud, who reveals the story through innocent eyes.

Today, we have another guest review from local Pittsburgh author, Kerry E.B. Black! Check out her thoughts on her most recent read below! I just added this one to my TBR. You should too! WILLIAM by Mason Coile Is it a Faustian deal?’ readers may wonder, when reading Mason Coile’s novella William, yet from page one all the way to its conclusion, dread gathers. The material is timely, the fear universal. Can a creation surpass its creator? In this, an agoraphobic genius creat

Today, we have another guest review from local Pittsburgh author, Kerry E.B. Black! Check out her thoughts on her most recent read below! I just added this one to my TBR. You should too! Curdle Creek by Yvonne Battle-Felton Set in an ambiguous past, the award-winning novel Curdle Creek by Yvonne Battle-Felton tells of a young widow in the Curdle Creek community. This all-black settlement has some unsettling traditions and celebrations that are meant to bring such literary

Today, we have another guest review from local Pittsburgh author, Kerry E.B. Black! Check out her thoughts on her most recent read below! I love the cover for this one, gorgeous! THE BOG WIFE By Kay Chronister Deep in a secluded pocket in West Virginia, a once wealthy and important family tends a bog, as their family always has, but something is wrong in Kay Chronister’s Gothic folksy novel The Bog Wife. This is told from the perspective of each of the surviving siblings of

Today, we have another guest review from local Pittsburgh author, Kerry E.B. Black! Check out her thoughts on her most recent read below! And just check out that awesome book cover! YOUR FAVORITE SCARY MOVIE by Ashley Cullins Ashley Cullins wrote something of a love-letter to the beloved “Scream” franchise with her non-fiction book titled Your Favorite Scary Movie. In it, she packed back stories, controversies, successes, and troubles of the self-aware stories that helped el

Today, we have another guest review from local Pittsburgh author, Kerry E.B. Black! Check out her thoughts on her most recent read below! And just check out that gorgeous book cover! On Sundays She Picked Flowers by Yah Yah Scholfield Yah Yah Scholfield’s novel, On Sundays She Picked Flowers, grabbed me by my throat from word one and didn’t release its grip until its conclusion. Our lead is an abused woman who’s reached the end of her patience. When her complicated Mama push

Today, we have another guest review from local Pittsburgh author, Kerry E.B. Black! Check out her thoughts on her most recent read below! HUNGERSTONE By Kat Dunn In the Gothic, period novel, Hungerstone, Kat Dunn retells the 1872 Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. However, Dunn’s work firmly embraces justified, feminine rage. For example, Carmilla possesses great agency, making her a mysterious, unaccompanied woman who accepts the shelter of the manor after a carriage accid

Today, we have another guest review from local Pittsburgh author, Kerry E.B. Black! Check out her thoughts on her most recent read below! SMOTHERMOSS by Alisa Alering Set in the Appalachian Mountains during the 1980’s, SMOTHERMOSS by Alisa Alering follows a family of women, focusing primarily on the young sisters. Because of their poverty and “otherness,” both girls are ostracized by their peers. The older of the two caregivers for her elderly grand aunt and her pet rabbits,

Today, we have another guest review from local Pittsburgh author, Kerry E.B. Black! Check out her thoughts on her most recent read below! HOUSE OF DEAD CHILDREN by Alex Hartwell Ah, the American dream! The lead character in Alex Hartwell’s novel, The House of Dead Children, is living his. After the unfortunate death of his mother, he, as Power of Attorney, is given her worldly goods, which he uses as a down payment on a house for himself, his beautiful wife, and their two, ad

Today, we have some guest reviews from local Pittsburgh author, Kerry E.B. Black! Check out her thoughts on some Easter Horror below and be sure to grab both books to give them a read! CARL by A.C. Hessenauer Billed as an Easter horror, A.C. Hessenauer’s novella, Carl, focuses on a fourteen-year-old girl named Tess. Tess discovers a once-loved stuffed rabbit she’d named Carl among the Easter decor. She takes the tattered toy to her room and places him in a place of honor whil

Reviews and thoughts on writing with Craig Brownlie That sounds a little anxious, though definitely in the proper order. RE/Search 8/9: J.G. Ballard V. Vale (Editor), Andrea Juno (Editor) The Hematophages: Splatterings Stephen Kozeniewski Dark Entries Ian Rankin, Werther Dell'Edera Madness and Greatness Can Share the Same Face Amanda Headlee There are two parts to these reviews for the first quarter of 2026. The first half is already floating about on Uncomfortably Dark. As a

Reviews and thoughts on writing with Craig Brownlie That sounds a little desperate, but life is often a wee bit frantic. From This Day Forward by John Brunner The Doctor… is in: Three Twisted Tales Inspired by the Legendary Dr. Hunter S. Thompson Kevin Candela, Kent Hill, John Bruni Getting to Know the General: The Story of an Involvement by Graham Greene Hellboy Omnibus Volume 3: The Wild Hunt (Hellboy Omnibus: The Wild Hunt) by Mike Mignola, Duncan Fegredo et al. There are

Back with us for a movie review, author friend Sue Rovens shares her thoughts on THE FLY! This is one of my favorite movies, as gross as it is, so let's see what Sue thought of it! Enjoy! Movie Review The Fly (1986) Reviewed By Sue Rovens It might be old news, but Mel Brooks (of Blazing Saddles, The Producers, and Young Frankenstein fame, among others), not only produced this updated version of the 1958 film of the same name but came up with the tag li

Today, Sue is back with another oldie but goodie movie review! The Initiation of Sarah (1978) By Sue Rovens What do Kay Lenz, Shelley Winters, Morgan Fairchild, and Robert Hays have in common aside from being some of the big names of the day (in the latter half of the 70s)? Being featured in a made-for-TV movie about two sisters, telekinesis, bullies, sororities, and Hell Week. The tagline reads: An innocent co-ed, a secret sorority, its bizarre rites of womanhood... Sudden

It’s Been A Year, Part 7 Reviews and thoughts on writing with Craig Brownlie That sounds a little pompous, but it’s been a minute since I’ve done any reviews because 2025 has been a worse year than even 2024, which is saying something on a personal level. But I have kept reading and writing! And this is the last of it until I actually read another book. Meaningless Cycles in a Glass Prison by Anton Cancre Scandals by Alex Osman Endless Now by Ira Rat Dark poetry doubtless goe

It’s Been A Year, Part 6 Reviews and thoughts on writing with Craig Brownlie Such big britches, but it’s been a minute since I’ve done any reviews because 2025 has been a worse year than even 2024, which is saying something on a personal level. But I have kept reading and writing! Let’s just agree this is madness. Fountain of Youth R.V. Park by R.J. Benetti Submitted for the Approval of the Midnight Pals I & II by Bitter Karella Haunt of Southern Fried Fear by Ronald Kelly Ha

COVEN OF THE EAST Reviewed by Tamika Thompson In Angela Yuriko Smith and Pauline Chow's anthology Coven of the East: Reimagining Asian Women's Magical Histories , every work is masterful. With an ethereal quality that begins with Chow's cover art, Coven brings together poetry, stories, essays, and hybrid works, which teach as much as they captivate. Readers are treated to a range of themes, settings, characters, and figures of lore in arresting works that tackle hauntings

It’s Been A Year, Part 5 Reviews and thoughts on writing with Craig Brownlie I may have implied to a few authors that I had every intention of reading their books, but it’s been a minute since I’ve done any reviews because 2025 has been a worse year than even 2024, which is saying something on a personal level. But I have kept reading and writing! So let’s see what I thought- in real time, the way Kurt Vonnegut meant us to write. Poacher by Mark Scioneaux Brady by D.W. Hitz T

It’s Been A Year, Part 4 Reviews and thoughts on writing with Craig Brownlie Don’t get me started, but it’s been a minute since I’ve done any reviews because 2025 has been a worse year than even 2024, which is saying something on a personal level. But I have kept reading and writing! So, let’s get started! Out of Aztlan by V. Castro Fragile Anthology by Michael Allen Rose et al. Back when local newspapers reviewed books, a lot of English majors found use for their educati