This week is so unhinged with reviews, and I couldn’t be more excited for you friends to start adding these to the ol’ TBR.
Without further ado…
Enjoy!
THE AMITYVILLE BUKKAKE
By Ed Lee, R.J. Benetti, and Judith Sonnet
Um… how do I even start this off? There’s a straw scene that makes me never want to use one again, a facial mask that one wants, and so much more.
Shooter, Lois, Joey, and Shauna set out to make a smut film for a millionaire named Sombrack. Oh, and it’s Amityville House. When the extras show up, things really get… wet? Sticky? Dirty? Is there any truth to the rumors that the house is haunted or is it just flim flam?
These three are absolutely insane and I love it! This is brilliant from beginning to end. Lee’s trademark names for anatomy had me rolling (a vagina being referred to a “pecker-silo”, come on! Perfection!) Interestingly, while three very different authors collaborated on this story, it is 100% seamless. I have read everything by Benetti, many by Lee and a few by Sonnet but I couldn’t tell you who wrote what, except the anatomy names.
Filled with more than enough laughs, bodily fluids, and kills, THE AMITYVILLE BUKKAKE is one party not to be missed.
An astounding collaboration and a HIGHLY, HIGHLY RECOMMEND. 5/5
Order Here:
The Amityville Bukkake - Kindle edition by Lee, Edward, Benetti, R.J., Sonnet, Judith. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.
DWELLINGS
By Jay Stephens
I saw Jasper Bark post about this comic series about a year ago and had it in the back of my mind ever since. Then I saw it was available to request on Netgalley and I crossed all my fingers, toes, and eyes for approval… and friends, I am happy to report, this is a banger of a series!
Six comic issues are in the first volume ranging from a witness protection couple being found and crows following one of them (I hate birds but this comic gets a pass), to possessions, puppets that protect the wearer, to frequencies that cause hallucinations, and a woman on the run. Even though the characters are drawn to look like children, they aren’t. There’s so much blood and death… sooooo much.
I was so engaged with this series, I didn’t want it to end! The style reminds me of Casper while the kills and blood remind me of Happy Tree Friends. With a comic in between issues (think Spy vs. Spy from MAD), that features the devil trying to win a soul and old time-y like advertisements that relate to the stories, this is a superb collection that any horror fan needs to have on their shelves.
A HIGHLY, HIGHLY RECOMMEND 5/5.
Releasing April 9th, it’s available for pre-order now.
Order Here:
DRACHENFELS
By Kim Newman
I am so pissed off at this book. I thought one thing and then I got M. Night Salamandered! Unforgivable!
The book starts out with the final battle against Drachenfels. We learn a bit about each character before he is banished. Then we fast forward to all of the “heroes” twenty-five years later and Detlef, an imprisoned playwright, is tasked with writing their hero’s quest. With a killer on the loose, will the play go off without a hitch or will there be blood?
I’m not great with fantasy. It’s something my brain has problems with but this was so accessible, funny, and filled with enough gore that I didn’t feel like I was reading anything too insane. The characters (I’m side eyeing the one… he knows why) so well written and relatable. What shocked me the most was how the exposition was so cleverly inserted into the story so seamlessly.
I’m not going to sit here and pretend I understand Warhammer but what I can say is that if you are hesitate to dip into this universe, don’t be. But start with this one.
An astounding HIGHLY RECOMMEND from this gal. 5/5
Order Here:
STOKER NOMINATIONS FOR SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN SHORT NON-FICTION
“Words Wielded by Women”
By Carina Bissett
From Apex Magazine, Issue #138
A thoroughly researched article on the historic rise and profound impact of women in horror. From Mary Shelley to Gwendolyn Kiste, and encompassing other authors, filmmakers, and publishers no page in our history is left unread. (And did you know that the word ‘genre’ is derived from the Old French for gender - well, now you do.)
Phenomenal 5/5
“A Theatre of Ghosts, A Haunted Cinema: The Japanese Gothic as Theatrical Tradition in Gurozuka”
By Kevin J. Wetmore, Jr.
From the abstract to the last sentence, Wetmore, Jr. takes an in depth look at the theatrical origins from no plays to J-Horror and ending with Gurozuka, a modern Japanese slasher. 100% scholarly with the feel of charring with a film buff best friend, Wetmore, Jr. entertains and educates. (I could read an entire book on his article.)
Superb! 5/5
“100 Livers”
By K. P. Kulski
From UNQUIETED SPIRITS: ESSAYS BY ASIAN WOMEN IN HORROR - edited by Lee Murray and Angela Yuroki Smith
After losing two family members close to her, Kulski takes the reader as she states in the article, “a painful journey exacerbated by brutal loss… to ultimately hunger for identity”. Through the Kumiho story of ‘The Fox Sister’, Kulski shows her fight - for her identity, culture, and more importantly her voice.
100% heartbreaking. 5/5
“Becoming Ungovernable: Latah, Amok, and Disorder in Indonesia”
By Nadia Bulkin
From UNQUIETED SPIRITS: ESSAYS BY ASIAN WOMEN IN HORROR - edited by Lee Murray and Angela Yuriko Smith
Bulkin starts the essay with a familiar quote from Hocus Pocus and it quickly turns dark. Explaining Latah and Amok and the difference affecting gender, Bulkin writes in such a way that a bit of feminist rage comes out - even for someone like me. I’m obsessed with her ending quote, “Tap into whatever your culture perceives a madwoman to be and watch the berth you are given widen, watch the leash you’re on extend.”
Powerful. 5/5
“Displaced Spirits: Ghosts of the Diaspora”
By Lee Murray
From UNQUIETED SPIRITS: ESSAYS BY ASIAN WOMEN IN HORROR - edited by Lee Murray and Angela Yuriko Smith
What are hungry ghosts? What is diaspora? Do you know what a joss stick does? While educating and holding the readers hand through the tradition of her family and many other Chinese, she also shows how in the past men dying didn’t count the women that suffered as well. Written with an urgency that is felt throughout, Murray shows how both genders suffered from displacement.
Masterful. 5/5