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! BLACK SHEEP by Rachel Harrison Going home to a dysfunctional family that includes your look-alike, scream queen mom because your ex-boyfriend is getting married to your one-time best friend spells a roaring good time in Rachel Harrison’s Black Sheep. Filled with all the sarcasm and snark fo

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! Holly Horror by Michelle Jabes Corpora Michelle Jabes Corpora’s YA novel, Holly Horror (book one) urges, “Playmate, come out and play with me…” After a divorce, a woman moves her family to a family home in Massachusetts. The Hobbie House is known by locals as “The Horror House” because of a mysterious disappearance and reported hauntings. T

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

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

One more review for 2025 from Sue Rovens! This time Sue shares her thoughts on The No-End House by Jeremy Bates. Check out her review below and then stop by Sue's own website to check out her books! Enjoy! The No-End House by Jeremy Bates Reviewed By Sue Rovens Jeremy Bates has been on my radar for a while now. I’ve read a few of his other books and have enjoyed them (for the most part). He’s a prolific writer, having written twenty-plus novels/novellas and doesn’t appear to

Joining us to help wrap up 2025, we have author friend Craig Brownlie with another one of his wonderful review write-ups. This one includes Millionaires Day by Kit Power, The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin, The Sundowner's Dance by Todd Keisling, Stolen Skies by Tim Powers, and Subject A by M Ennenbach. Enjoy! It’s Been A Year, Part 1 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 becau