Thursday, October 31, 2013

Dead Folks by Tim Byrd


DEAD FOLKS, Tim Byrd, Kindle, $1.99, www.amazon.com, reviewed by Barry Hunter.

Here is a different look at the people who return from the dead and cause problems for the living. Leave it to Tim Byrd to come up with a unique idea in this story, originally written for Pulphouse in 1985, but never published.

Johnny and his sister find Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the lake, Abraham Lincoln is found in the trunk of car, and other folks are found around town. Somehow they have been removed from their graves and are appearing all over town.

Johnny and the Preacher end up seeking the aid of the late Widow Bradley, who was considered a witch.

Tim Byrd has written an unusual tale that would fit being read at a Halloween campfire or to the children on Halloween around the Jack-O-Lantern at him.

I can feel Tim’s disappointment in the folding of Pulphouse, I was one of the staff reviewers for them at that time.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

The Secret Zombie History of the World is coming



The Secret Zombie History of the World
by Paul Finch, Matthew Sprange & Toby Venables

Coming to life on 10th Dec in paperback (US & Can)
and ebook (worldwide)

$12.99/$14.99 ISBN 978-1-78108-160-0

Northern Europe, 976 AD: a Viking crew find themselves in a bleak land of pestilence, where the dead return as draugr to feed on the flesh of their kin and a dark castle in a hidden fjord hides a terrible secret.

Britain, 1295 AD: A young English knight joins a force sent to capture a castle from Welsh rebels, but druids summon an army of the undead, bent on revenge. Will the stronghold – once thought impregnable – hold out?

The Cape of Good Hope, the 1820s: Captain Havelock discovers his ship and the French frigate he has been ordered to hunt down are not alone as an enemy thought long since vanquished rises from the deeps...

This is The Secret Zombie History of the World – an omnibus of historical zombie stories, released in this new format for the North American market, that reveals the outbreaks that have plagued mankind for hundreds of years. From Viking ‘draugr’ to the medieval undead and Napoleonic corpses, this trio of tales from the popular Tomes of the Dead series will keep you awake at night wondering just how close humanity has come to joining the hordes of the infected!

Toby Venables, Matthew Sprange, and Paul Finch each weave historical fact into thrilling tales of rotting revenants and cutthroat cadavers!

About the Series

Rotten bone and raddled flesh, shuffling perils and moaning menaces – Tomes of the Dead re-imagines the zombie genre not as an endless retread of the same tired themes, but as a prism crack’d, exploring the gut-churning, flesh-biting world of the shambling dead from new, different and unexpected directions!


About the Authors


Paul Finch is a former cop and journalist, now turned full time writer. He first cut his literary teeth penning episodes of the British TV crime drama, THE BILL, and has written extensively in the field of children's animation. However, he is probably best known for his work in horrors and thrillers. He has won two British Fantasy Awards and the International Horror Guild Award, and has written Doctor Who audio dramas for Big Finish as well as scripts for several movie adaptations of his own stories and novellas. Paul lives in Wigan, Lancashire, with his wife Cathy and his children, Eleanor and Harry.

Matthew Sprange has a solid history in roleplaying design as well as writing over two dozen gaming books, including the Babylon 5, Judge Dredd and Starship Troopers games, and has won two Origins Awards for his work in miniature wargames. Death Hulk is his second novel, with his first being a trip into the Babylon 5 universe, entitled Visions of Peace.

Toby Venables is a novelist, screenwriter and lecturer in Film Studies at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge. He has since worked as a journalist and magazine editor – launching magazines in Cambridge, Peterborough, Oxford and Bristol – and once orchestrated an elaborate Halloween hoax for which he built and photographed a werewolf. He still works as a freelance copywriter, has been the recipient of a radio advertising award, and in 2001 won the Keats-Shelley Memorial Prize.

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

The Clearing available today from Exhibit A/Angry Robot

The Clearing by Dan Newman

In 1976, four boys walked into a jungle. Only three came back alive.

Haunted by terrifying childhood memories he doesn’t fully understand, journalist Nate Mason returns to the Caribbean island of St. Lucia where he grew up.

Back then, as the son of a diplomat, he was part of an elite social circle. But during a weekend of whispered secrets and dares in a decaying jungle mansion staffed by the descendants of slaves, Nate’s innocence was torn apart.

The survivors of that gathering blamed what happened on a myth, an unseen terror from the bush. No one believed them. But now. almost forty years later, is the truth finally about to come out?

Within hours of arriving back on the island, Nate becomes convinced he’s being followed. He soon discovers that his search for answers could cost him his sanity as well as his life, as he realises that some childhood nightmares never go away.

Can childhood nightmares haunt you for the rest of your life? How much do you need to believe in a monster for it to become real? The Clearing is a dark and atmospheric psychological thriller, full of intrigue, terror and superstition, which examines our deepest fears of the unknown. A potent mix of the friendship and bravery of Stand By Me and the betrayals and fear of Angel Heart.

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Fleetwood Mac Cancels Tour

FLEETWOOD MAC CANCELS AUSTRALIAN/NEW ZEALAND TOUR

Fleetwood Mac who has just completed the European leg of their phenomenally successful worldwide tour has announced the cancellation of their upcoming 14 date tour of Australia and New Zealand.

John McVie, one of the co founding and original members of Fleetwood Mac is now scheduled to be in treatment for cancer during that period of time.

"We are sorry to not be able to play these Australian and New Zealand dates. We hope our Australian and New Zealand fans as well as Fleetwood Mac fans everywhere will join us in wishing John and his family all the best.”

This is not the kind of news I wanted to hear!

Friday, October 25, 2013

Halloween Titles from William Morrow, HarperCollins and Avon

Halloween is almost upon us, and I’d love to share some spooky reads from William Morrow, Harper Voyager, and Avon with you, From a tale of terror in the Mexican desert from #1 New York Times bestseller Adam Mansbach, to a tour-de-force of heart-stopping horror from Joe Hill to a combination of literary history and the story of the real life occultists and mad scientist that inspired Mary Shelley, and many more.

JESSIE EDWARDS | PUBLICIST
Avon/Harper Voyager/HarperCollinsPublishers
10 East 53rd Street, 8th Floor; New York, NY 10022

Joe Hill’s (Heart-Shaped Box and Horns) latest novel, NOS4A2 (William Morrow; Trade Paperback On Sale October 15, 2013) is his magnum opus, a tour-de-force of heart-stopping horror and nightmarish terror that is also powerful, wrenching, and redemptive. Definitely his best, most terrifying, and most sophisticated novel to date. Victoria McQueen is a very special girl with a “gift” for traveling anywhere to retrieve lost objects of importance to people. Charlie Manx is a very evil man who kidnaps children is his Rolls-Royce with the vanity license plate NOS4A2 and takes them to a place he calls “Christmasland,” where every day is Christmas morning, and you never grow up and you never die. But you are turned into something absolutely terrifying. Young Victoria is the only child to ever escape Charlie’s unmitigated evil. Now Vic McQueen is all grown up and trying to put the past behind her. But Manx is back on the road again and he’s picked up a new passenger: Vic’s young son Wayne.


HELP FOR THE HAUNTED
by John Searles (On Sale: September 17, 2013; William Morrow)

"Everyone has a ghost story, or at least that’s how it has always seemed to me,” says author John Searles, who recently wrote about visiting an unlikely tourist attraction -- the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston, West Virginia, for The New York Times. (http://travel.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/travel/getting-into-the-spirit.html?_r=0). Searles’ latest novel, HELP FOR THE HAUNTED, is the perfect Halloween treat. One of the best reviewed novels of the season (“Dazzling” says Gillian Flynn, of Gone Girl fame), it’s a ghost story in the classic sense, but also a compelling coming-of-age tale that has captured the hearts of readers and critics alike. In it, narrator Sylvie Mason tries to uncover the secrets behind her ghost-chasing parents’ deaths one cold winter night, and finds truths and mysteries that run much deeper than she ever imagined. (John Searles on NBC’s Weekend Today: http://www.today.com/video/today/53320846#53320846).


THE DEAD RUN by Adam Mansbach (On sale: September 24, 2013; Harper Voyager)

A supernatural thriller set in the US/Mexican borderland by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of GO THE F*** TO SLEEP. On both sides of the border, girls are going missing. Then, later, other bodies surface, and a small-town police chief faces an investigation worse than any he’s ever seen before. Kidnapped teen Sherry Nicholls manages to escape from a maniacal cult, but freeing herself was the easiest part.. Meanwhile, in a Mexican jail, unjustly-imprisoned estranged father Galvan accepts a devil’s bargain--transport a sinister package for the prison’s infamous Old Man across the border in 24 hours. If he can do so, he’ll be free and able to regain custody of his daughter. But there are more than coyotes in the desert, and as ancient evils resurface, everyone must face their deepest terrors.


DEAD SET by Richard Kadrey (On sale: October 29, 2013; Harper Voyager)

After her father’s funeral Zoe and her mother moved to the Big City to start over. But life’s not so easy, the money is tight and a new school always brings trials. Zoe’s only escape, as has been the case all her days, is in her dreams. A world apart from her troubled real life and the only place where she can spend time with her closest companion: her lost brother Valentine.

But something or someone has entered their dream world uninvited. And a chance encounter at a used record store where the vinyl holds not music, but lost souls, has opened up a world of the lives of the restless dead. It’s here that the strange proprietor offers her chances to commune with her dead father. The price? A lock of hair, a tooth, then ....


THE LADY AND HER MONSTERS: A Tale of Dissections, Real-Life Dr. Frankensteins, and the Creation of Mary Shelley's Masterpiece
(On Sale: October 22, 2013; William Morrow Paperback)

Montillo holds her MFA from Emerson College where she teaches courses on literature and in THE LADY AND HER MONSTERS, she traces Mary Shelley's life story and the writing of Frankenstein and uses the novel to explore the dark world of early nineteenth-century science. The daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft, renowned feminist and author of A Vindication of the Rights of Women, and William Godwin, a political philosopher, Shelley spent much of her youth eavesdropping on private lectures hosted by her father in their family home, given by vibrant and rotating cast of scientists, poets, and philosophers. She grew up surrounded by a lively discourse and debate regarding the advancements of the scientific revolution and witnessed its effect over other cultural mediums of the times—like the arts. By the nineteenth century, the topic of reanimation was considered quite fashionable and many artistic disciplines overlapped. Shelley, as well as many of her colleagues, including her husband Percy Shelley, found themselves captivated by these scientific efforts and often infused their writing with this new found knowledge thus enabling the early concept of Frankenstein to take form. From maniacal body snatchers, to gruesome public dissections, and the details of Shelley and Percy Shelley’s relationship, Montillo carefully chronicles the unbelievable events during this period—all leading to the masterful creation of Frankenstein.

THE LADY AND HER MONSTERS
is a shocking ride through the grotesque Industrial Age and into the Romantic Movement. Entertaining, provocative and rich with detail, this is a look at a literary classic that is not to be missed.


EVER AFTER
by Kim Harrison (On sale: October 29. 2013; Harper Voyager, mass market)
The ever after, the demonic realm that parallels our own, is shrinking, and if it disappears, so does all magic in our own. It’s up to witch-turned-daywalking-demon Rachel Morgan to fix this, before life utterly changes for the worse.

Of course, there’s also the small fact that she caused the ley line to rip in the first place, and her life is forfeit unless she can fix it. And that the most powerful demon in the ever after--one who eats souls--has vowed to destroy Rachel, and kidnapped her friend and goddaughter as leverage. If Rachel doesn’t give herself up, they will die.

Rachel must team up with elven tycoon Trent Kalamack--a prospect both thrilling and dismaying--to return to the ever after and rescue the hostages, then keep both worlds from being destroyed.


New York Times bestselling author Ian Douglas returns with ABYSS DEEP (Harper Voyager, on-sale 10/29), book two of the Star Corpsman series, a new military SF series about the elite units of recon Marines and S/R Corpsmen who infiltrate alien worlds ahead of major military strikes and planetary invasion to gather intelligence on both the local environment and on the psychology and biology of the enemy.

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

New Book From John Gilmore, “On the Run With Bonnie and Clyde

New Book From John Gilmore, “On the Run With Bonnie and Clyde,” Separates Historical Fact From Pop Culture Myth

Release coincides with big-budget event TV miniseries “Bonnie and Clyde” airing simultaneously on A&E, Lifetime and History Channel

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 20, 2013 – Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow’s crime spree and grisly deaths have become the stuff of legend. And like all legends, much of the reality of the events has been glossed over with the passage of time. Author John Gilmore’s mission, to tell the real story of Bonnie and Clyde, has unseated the popular misconceptions that have held the public’s imagination. Gilmore places the reader squarely inside a succession of stolen cars on a dusty, two-year, devil-take-the-high-road spree of robberies, shoot-outs and murder—all the way to its infamous end in a torrent of bullets and blood. Gilmore delivers a captivating and factual tale of betrayal, demonization and bloodthirsty revenge. He exposes the demise of Bonnie and Clyde as an outright assassination—no due process, just a secretly mandated murder of Barrow and anyone unlucky enough to be with him.

Gilmore dispels the notion that Bonnie was an equal partner in crime. Instead, she was there to support the man she loved, and paid the ultimate price for that devotion. As verified by FBI and the State of Texas, Bonnie’s only crime was being an accessory to transporting a stolen car across state lines.

John Gilmore’s lifelong fascination with the Bonnie & Clyde case was spurred as a teenager when he had the unusual opportunity to see a coroner’s naked photo of Bonnie Parker. Gilmore’s father, an LAPD officer, was partnered with then-policeman Gene Roddenberry (later to become the renowned creator of “Star Trek”), who showed the younger Gilmore the seldom-seen and gruesome portrait. This disturbing recollection has now culminated in the publication of “On the Run with Bonnie and Clyde.”

“This book is a masterpiece of care, lyricism, joy and sadness in the midst of grief. Gilmore made me want to meet these people, to experience their personas, the auras that people put out. I was swept away . . . I couldn’t put it down,” enthuses Lois Banner, author and professor of History and Gender studies at the University of Southern California, about “On the Run with Bonnie and Clyde.”

In December, the small screen will be host to the newest interpretation of Bonnie and Clyde’s Depression-era saga. In an unprecedented three-network simulcast, A&E, Lifetime and the History Channel will air the event miniseries “Bonnie and Clyde” on December 8 and 9. Pop culture enthusiasts and historians alike will be interested in contrasting Gilmore’s narrative with that of the miniseries.


Last Flame — Last Love; Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow on the run



Black Bayou, Louisiana, south of Shreveport.

About the Author

With more than a dozen titles to his credit, John Gilmore (http://www.johngilmore.com) is the most successful author currently working with Amok Books (http://www.amokbooks.com). Previous titles include “Inside Marilyn Monroe,” “Laid Bare,” “Hollywood Boulevard” and “Severed: The True Story of the Black Dahlia.” Firmly rooted in the noir tradition, Gilmore’s themes include the dark current that flows beneath the modern fascination with celebrity. Author, playwright and journalist Gary Indiana says, “John Gilmore is one of America’s natural-born gifts to literature. His books aren’t just inspiring and wicked by-products of genius: they’re miracles.”

Reprinted from THEORIGINALVANGOGH'SEARANTHOLOGHY.COM with permission. Copyright 2013

Sunday, October 20, 2013

The Damned Book of Interviews by Tina Hall

The Damned Book of Interviews, By Tina Hall, First Digital Edition published by Crossroad Press, $3.99, 676 pages, reviewed by Barry Hunter.

In this jam packed book, Tina has gathered all of her interviews from various sites on the internet so that they will be available for anyone who has missed them. Tina maintains TheOriginalVanGogh’sEarAnthology.com and many have appeared there along with many, many other interesting articles, poetry and fiction. I am honored to have appeared there with the other outstanding folks who have appeared there.

Among the writers who have been interviewed are: John Gilmore, Ian Ayres, Joe R. Lansdale, Kasey Lansdale, Jack Ketchum, Terry Brooks, Graham Joyce, Graham Masterton, William Hjortsberg, James P.Blaylock, Tim Powers, Lewis Shiner, Jane Yolen, Rick Hautala, Chet Willamson, Tim Lebbon, Christopher Golden, Nancy Holder, Kathe Koja, Kealan Patrick Burke, and many others. Each interview is interesting and in some cases are the last interviews done before their passing.

Some of the artists interviewed include: Jim Davis, Joe Kubert, Adam Kubert, Dan Brereton, Bob Eggleton, Glenn Chadbourne, Langdon Foss, Vincent Chong, Shannon Wheeler and others who may not be familiar to you, but make for interesting reading.

Actors & Producers interviewed help tell the stories from behind the camera that you will not find in other places. They are Courtney Gains, Helene Udy, Reggie Bannister, Andy Milder, Pollyanna McIntosh, Sean Kanan, Damian Maffei, and Rick Traum.

This is an extremely interesting volume and I’m sure there are names that are known to you as well as some you will see for the first time. I am sure that you will enjoy meeting all of those interviewed in this volume.

Thanks, Tina for all of your hard work in obtaining the interviews and the insight you have given us, the readers, into this varied assortment of people. Tina is currently working on Volume 8 of The Original Van Gogh’s Ear Anthology

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Shadowplay Coming in 2014 from Strange Chemistry

Shadowplay by Laura Lam



For all fans of Robin Hobb and Tamora Pierce, this extraordinary crossover fantasy features a truly unique central character.

The circus lies behind Micah Grey in dust and ashes. He and the White Clown, Drystan, have taken refuge in the decaying Kymri Theatre, home to the once-great magician, Jasper Maske. Though no longer a circus performer, Micah must still conduct a balancing act between his past and his future, while both avoiding the renewed and embittered rivalry of the magicians of Ellada, and the Policiers who are convinced Micah played a part in the death of his old Ringmaster.

A tale of phantom wings, a clockwork hand, and the delicate unfurling of new love, Shadowplay continues Micah Grey’s extraordinary journey.

Friday, October 18, 2013

The Almost Girl Coming in 2014 from Strange Chemistry



The Almost Girl by Amalie Howard



For readers of Beth Revis and Patrick Ness this is an SF novel that can’t be missed.

17 year-old Riven comes from a world ravaged by a devastating android war, a parallel world to Earth. A Legion General, she is the right hand of the young Prince of Neospes. In Neospes, she has everything: rank, responsibility and respect. But when Prince Cale sends her away to find his long-lost brother, Caden, who has been spirited back to modern day Earth, Riven finds herself in uncharted territory. Thrown out of her comfort zone but with the mindset of a soldier and in a race against time to bring Caden home, Riven has to learn how to be a girl in a realm that is the opposite of what she knows. Will Riven be able to find the strength to defy her very nature? Or will she become the monstrous soldier she was designed to be?

S

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Emilie and the Sky World Coming in 2014 from Strange Chemistry



Emilie and the Sky World by Martha Wells



A Girl’s Own Adventure in the spirit of Jules Verne

When Emilie and Daniel arrive in Silk Harbor, Professor Abindon, an old colleague of the Marlendes, warns them that she's observed something strange and potentially deadly in the sky, a disruption in an upper air aether current. But as the Marlendes investigate further, they realize it's a ship from another aetheric plane. It may be just a friendly explorer, or something far more sinister, but they will have to take an airship into the dangerous air currents to find out. Emilie joins the expedition and finds herself deep in personal entanglements, with an angry uncle, an interfering brother, and an estranged mother to worry about as well as a lost family of explorers, the strange landscapes of the upper air, and the deadly menace that inhabits the sky world.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

FEATHER BOUND Coming in 2014 from Strange Chemistry

Feather Bound by Sarah Raughley



In contemporary New York, a swan girl must help her enemy destroy her best friend or risk being sold to the black market.

When Deanna’s missing friend Hyde turns up at his father’s funeral to claim his corporate empire and inheritance, she is swept into his glittering world of paparazzi and wealth.


But Deanna has a secret - and somebody knows. Someone who is out to get Hyde. And if she doesn’t play along, and help the enemy take Hyde down…she will be sold to the highest bidder in the black market for human swans.


Now Deanna is struggling to break free from the gilded cage that would trap her forever

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Under Nameless Stars Coming in 2014 from Strange Chemistry

Coming in 2014



Under Nameless Stars by Christian Schoon



Zenn Scarlett’s novice year of exoveterinarian training on Mars isn’t quite going to plan…

After facing a plot to destroy her school and its menagerie of alien patients, could things get worse? Yes, they could: her absent father has been kidnapped.


Desperate to find him, Zenn stows away aboard the Helen of Troy, a starliner powered by one of the immense, dimension-jumping beasts known as Indra. With her is Liam Tucker, a Martian boy who is either very fond of her, very dangerous to her, or both. On the verge of learning the truth about her father, Zenn’s quest suddenly catapults her and Liam thousands of light years beyond known space, and into the dark heart of a monstrous conspiracy.


Braving a gauntlet of lethal environments and unearthly life forms, Zenn’s courage is tested as never before. With the fate of entire worlds in the balance, she is racing headlong into trouble... again.

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Farpoint Convention


FULL GUEST LIST ONLINE AT WWW.FARPOINTCON.COM

MELISSA McBRIDE
“Carol Peletier”,
The Walking Dead

ALAN DEAN FOSTER
Author
Grand Master, IAMTW

PHIL LaMARR
“Baxter Stockman”, TMNT
“Hermes”, Futurama


Mailing Address:
Farpoint Enterprises, Inc.
11708 Troy Ct.
Waldorf, MD 20601


F E B 14-16, 2014
CROWNE PLAZA BALTIMORE
2004 GREENSPRING DRIVE
TIMONIUM, MD 21093
Hotel Room Rate: $125.00 (plus taxes)
Reservation Code FAR

Reservations, 1-877-2-CROWNE (1-877-227-6963)
Over 200+ hours of programming for 3 full days!
• Panels and discussion on books, movies, TV, filmmaking, podcasting,
costuming, webcomics, science and more
• Interactive Workshops, Live Performances & Gaming
• Activities For All Ages – Children, Teens & Adults
• Opening Ceremony, Cocktail Party, & Karaoke – Friday Evening
• Masquerade & Ten Forward Dance Party – Saturday Evening
• Art Show Friday and Saturday with Art Auction Sunday Morning
• Charity Auction benefitting the Julien Fleming Memorial Fund

FOLLOW US On Facebook (Farpoint Convention) & Twitter
(@FarpointCon) for Program Updates!

FARPOINT ENTERPRISES
11708 Troy Ct
Waldorf, MD 20601
www.farpointcon.com

REGISTER ONLINE OR WITH THE FORM BELOW!

Explore the full range of your interests: science fiction, fantasy,
science fact, fandom, movies, art, TV, books, costuming,
podcasting, film-making & more!

SUBMIT A PANEL IDEA:
Send your idea to us at Programs@farpointcon.com

DONATE AN HOUR:
Want to lend a hand, but still see programs? Donate An Hour to help out and receive entries for special prizes!
Let us know you’re interested – email us at Volunteers@farpointcon.com

QUESTIONS?
Email us at Contact@farpointcon.com

I would like information on (please circle)
HELPING, Being on a Panel, Art Show, Club, Meeting/Table Space, Masquerade, Dealer Tables

NAME:________________________________________________ Quantity Cost Total
ADDRESS: _____________________________________________
CITY/STATE/ZIP: ______________________________________
TELEPHONE: _________________________________________
E-MAIL: ______________________________________________

____ Weekend, Pre-Reg $80 _______
____ Child (6-12) – weekend $25 _______
____ Saturday Only, Pre-Reg $55 _______
____ Sunday Only, Pre-Reg $40 _______
____ Friday Only $10 _______
____ Saturday after 7 pm $10 _______
____ Cocktail Party Food Tkt $25 _______
____ Cocktail Child Food Tkt $25 _______
Name(s) for badges: _____________________________________
GRAND TOTAL $ _______
________________________________________________
Checks/money order payable to FARPOINT ENTERPRISES

Autographs
Each Membership includes one signature from Melissa McBride at no extra charge on Saturday
and Sunday! Other guests may be signing for a fee – check our website/blog for details

Friday, October 11, 2013

Hair Raising, A Dan Shamble Zombie P.I. Adventure

Hair Raising
Kevin J. Anderson
Kensington, Apr 30 2013, $15.00
ISBN: 9780758277381


In the Unnatural Quarter, Rusty the full-time werewolf hires zombie private investigator partner Dan Shamble of Chambeaux and Deyer (he being Chambeaux while Robin the African American lawyer is Deyer) to watch for suspicious behavior during cockatrice fighting family night. The client is especially concerned that Monthlies like bad bikers Scratch and Sniff will cause trouble. Shamble assumes the full-time is paranoid due to the prejudice between his type and the Monthlies. However, the action ends when Officer “McGoo” and other cops arrive.

While Robin assisted by Sheyenne the office assistance ghost work a father rights case for graveyard Steve against the Addams Family Practice; Dan investigates the assaults on werewolves that leaves them humiliatingly hairless. Bald werewolves prove less horrific to Dan than dealing with the human horde attending the Worldwide Horror Convention.

The latest Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. paranormal investigation (see Unnatural Acts and Death Warmed Over) is once again a superb satirical thriller as Kevin J. Anderson lampoons societal morality in which feuds over microscopic differences are the norm. Readers will enjoy this entry with added twisting freshness coming from the Unnatural Quarter residents fearing the dangerous denizen of paranormal human fans attending a horror convention.

Harriet Klausner

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Bombing Nazi Germany by Wayne Vansant

BOMBING NAZI GERMANY, The Graphic History of the Allied Air Campaign that Defeated Hitler in World War II, Wayne Vansant, Zenith Press, $19.99, 104 pages, ISBN: 9780760345306, reviewed by Barry Hunter.

Wayne is presenting us with another in his graphic war stories that are keeping the history of the events and the names of the participants alive in a method that will appeal to the people who are old enough to remember the events and today’s new generation of comic readers.

The stories are well researched and historically accurate and tell the real stories as they happened and the people involved in them. This is not just a story of the bombing runs, but is also a history of how the Army Air Force evolved into a solid fighting unit and not just a footnote in the history of the war.

I had never realized the number of Medal of Honor winners that were pilots during the war. Many of them are recognized by name and their accomplishments are documented.

Even though I have said it before, Wayne is the go to artist for the stories that give us the true history of warfare. He is able to give us stories of the Civil War, World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. He is also able to tell the story from multiple points of view from both sides.

He is currently working on the second volume of KATUSHA – about the Russian Tank corps in World War II and the story of The Red Baron – the German ace pilot of World War I. Other volumes of his work are available from Zenith Press. All of his books come highly recommended.

Monday, October 7, 2013

Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs

WORLDS OF EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS, edited by Mike Resnick and Robert T. Garcia, Baen Books, $15, ISBN: 9781451639353, reviewed by Barry Hunter.

There is a lot to be said about Edgar Rice Burroughs. He was the creator of Tarzan and John Carter and a host of other characters that have filled a plethora of books and have been read by generations and now are into their second century of readership. This wonderful volume of stories should only add to the popularity of his creations.

Kristine Kathyrn Rusch gives a story of “Tarzan and the Great War” that takes place in Algiers while Tarzan was searching for Jane after the Germans had burned the plantation and kidnapped her. Mercedes Lackey gives a tale of Pellucidar and girl who has fallen from the moon. “The Forgotten Sea of Mars” is a reprint from ERBdom in 1963 by Mike Resnick that is extremely hard to find.

Richard A. Lupoff writes about the “Scorpion Men of Venus,” Ralph Roberts takes us out west with “Apache Lawman”, Peter David tells us of “Moon Maid Over Manhattan”, Todd McCaffrey returns us to Poloda with a new adventure of Tangor, Kevin Anderson & Sarah Hoyt channel H. G. Wells and Burroughs in “Tarzan and the Martian Invaders”, while Max Allan Collins & Matthew Clemens return us the Chicago of The Mucker.

Kudos go to F. Paul Wilson for his different take on Pellucidar in “The Dead World” – related by David Innes via Gridley Wave and Joe Lansdale gives us a lost adventure of “Tarzan and the Land That Time Forgot”.

Each of the writers involved in this project deserve credit for showing the spirit of Burroughs and doing credit to his creations. There are more lands that could be explored in another anthology of this caliber. I don’t know if there is a volume two in our future, but I would love to see it.

Thanks to Baen and all the fantastic writers who made me feel like a teenager again as I was able to revisit with a bunch of old friends.

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Doctor Sleep by Stephen King

DOCTOR SLEEP, Stephen King, Scribner’s, $30, 532 pages, ISBN: 9781476727653, reviewed by Barry Hunter.

Even after all of the books he has written, don’t let it be said that he can’t still amaze and pull a rabbit out of a hat and to throw his constant readers a wtf moment. I and others have been waiting for this a long time and I am definitely satisfied with the finished product.

DOCTOR SLEEP is the follow-up to THE SHINING; I don’t want to call it a sequel. It is the continued story of Danny and Wendy Torrence and Dick Hallorann in the years following the burning of The Overlook Hotel. Shortly after the events, Danny is still haunted by the lady in Room 2217 and others. Dick comes to his aid and teaches him how to handle them.

Later on Danny follows in his fathers footsteps by becoming an alcoholic and only when he reaches dead bottom and ends up in a small Vermont town does he find a place to settle and goes to work in a hospice. Here he earns the nickname of DOCTOR SLEEP as he is able to help the patients pass over without pain.

Abra Stone is a young girl who is extremely strong in the shine and although she knows little of the power she holds but she is so powerful that she comes to the attention of the True Knot, a group of psychic vampires who feed on “steam” or the power released by the ones they torture and kill in order to gain their essence.

King gives us one hell of a ride as the True Knot seeks ou Abra in order to obtain her team”; Abra becomes friends with Dan and together they must come up with a way to save her life and help Dan get rid of the final demons that haunt him and clean up the evil that remains at the site of the Overlook.

To me, his may be the best book he has written thus far. I still am hoping for sequels to THE STAND and ‘SALEMS LOT. Thank you Stephen, for a wonderful read and an exciting trip down memory lane. I’m one happy “constant reader”.

Friday, October 4, 2013

Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I.

Can't remeber if I have posted this one before or not.

Hair Raising
Kevin J. Anderson
Kensington, $15.00
ISBN: 9780758277381


In the Unnatural Quarter, Rusty the full-time werewolf hires zombie private investigator partner Dan Shamble of Chambeaux and Deyer (he being Chambeaux while Robin the African American lawyer is Deyer) to watch for suspicious behavior during cockatrice fighting family night. The client is especially concerned that Monthlies like bad bikers Scratch and Sniff will cause trouble. Shamble assumes the full-time is paranoid due to the prejudice between his type and the Monthlies. However, the action ends when Officer “McGoo” and other cops arrive.

While Robin assisted by Sheyenne the office assistance ghost work a father rights case for graveyard Steve against the Addams Family Practice; Dan investigates the assaults on werewolves that leaves them humiliatingly hairless. Bald werewolves prove less horrific to Dan than dealing with the human horde attending the Worldwide Horror Convention.

The latest Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. paranormal investigation (see Unnatural Acts and Death Warmed Over) is once again a superb satirical thriller as Kevin J. Anderson lampoons societal morality in which feuds over microscopic differences are the norm. Readers will enjoy this entry with added twisting freshness coming from the Unnatural Quarter residents fearing the dangerous denizen of paranormal human fans attending a horror convention.

Harriet Klausner

Thursday, October 3, 2013

The Eidolon by Libby McGugan Press Release

The Eidolon
By Libby McGugan

The countdown to disasters begins 28th Oct (US & Can) and 7th Nov (UK)

£7.99 (UK) ISBN 978-1-78108-158-7
$8.99/$10.99 (US & CAN) ISBN 978-1-78108-157-0

Available in paperback and ebook

Mixing science, philosophy and espionage, Libby McGugan’s stunning debut – The Eidolon – is a thriller like no other.

A former flying doctor and veteran of the Second Gulf War, McGugan’s first novel calls into question the very nature of reality in a contemporary SF adventure that explores deep ideas but with an edge-of-the-seat story line featuring dark matter, the CERN laboratory, and the barrier between the dead and the living.

Following the death of her father in 2007 McGugan was inspired to explore the conversations they shared about life and death further, even basing one of the characters on him.

When physicist Robert Strong loses his job at the Dark Matter research lab and his relationship falls apart, he returns home to Scotland. Then the dead start appearing to him, and Robert begins to question his own sanity.

Victor Amos, an enigmatic businessman, arrives and recruits Robert to sabotage CERN’S Large Hadron Collider, convincing him the next step in the collider’s research will bring about disaster. Everything Robert once understood about reality, and the boundaries between life and death, is about to change forever. And the biggest change will be to Robert himself...


About the Author
Libby McGugan was born 1972 in Airdrie, a small town east of Glasgow in Scotland, to a Catholic mother and a Protestant-turned-atheist father, who loved science. She enjoyed a mixed diet of quantum physics, spiritual instinct, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. Her ambition was to grow up and join the Rebel alliance in a galaxy Far, Far away. Instead she went to Glasgow University and studied medicine.

A practising doctor, she has worked in Scotland, in Australia with the Flying Doctors service and, for a few months, in a field hospital in the desert. She loves travelling and the diversity that is the way different people see the world, and has been trekking in the Himalaya of Bhutan, potholing in Sarawak, backpacking in Chile and Europe, and diving in Cairns.

Her biggest influences are Joseph Campbell, Lao Tzu, David Bohm, Brian Greene and Yoda.

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Notice from Brian James Freeman

Hi Folks!

I'm very pleased to announce the newest Lonely Road Books project, which should prove to be very popular among our collectors!

BLATTY, William Peter Blatty, the legendary author of The Exorcist and Legion, has opened his personal library to share five screenplays he wrote at different stages of his career that have never been read by the general public before.

These include a first draft of Viva Las Vegas (yes, the Elvis movie!), a version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest meant to star Kirk Douglas, a screenplay based on an unfinished novella by Truman Capote, another constructed around the idea of a "behind the scenes" look at the making of a film very much like The Exorcist, and the story of a Japanese detective set in Tokyo.

Each screenplay will be bound as its own collectible Limited Edition volume and those five volumes will then be housed in a hand-made slipcase. Each screenplay is an exact reproduction of the writer's work, down to any imperfections in the typewriter he was using at the time.

You'll never be closer to these films-that-could-have-been than when you're reading these screenplays. The versions you will hold in your hands have never been read outside the offices of Hollywood production companies and William Peter Blatty's personal library, so this is a rare glimpse into an alternate film universe that could have been very different from the one we know. There are no plans for these screenplays to ever be reprinted.

You can place your order through the Cemetery Dance website before time runs out.

I'll post more news on the website, Twitter, and our Facebook page as soon as I have it.

Thank you, as always, for your continuing support!

Best wishes,
Brian James Freeman

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Fadeaway 37 from Robert Jennings

FADEAWAY 37, Robert Jennings, fabficbks@aol.com, October/November 2013, 40 pages, subscriptions are 6/$18, also available for a letter of comment, or a print fanzine in trade.

There are still plenty of fanzines being produced, even though I see very few these days, but one of the best is Fadeaway from Bob Jennings. He always has interesting articles about the golden years of science fiction, older radio and television programs, quality illustrations, and a lively letter column.

This issue is no exception to the rule. John Purcell’s article “All This, and Supeer Science, Too” is a look at the Arcot, Morey and Wade stories of John W. Campbell. Campbell is well known for his abilities in nurturing the field with his editorship of Astounding from 1937 to 1971 and his stint as editor of Unknown from 1939-1943. Purcell chooses to concentrate on the “super science” stories that I really enjoyed in their Ace reprints. This is space opera at its’ best and his works were well written, mindless escapism. Anyone doubt that we could use some of that today?

Robert Jennings and Wayne Boenig present a major history of the Marx Brothers from their vaudeville days, the radio, movies and finally television in their “You Bet Your Life; How Groucho and his Brothers Left Their Marx on Network Radio.” The article is filled with vintage photos and posters. It may also surprise some of the newer readers to discover that Groucho was the Original Captain Spaulding (Hi Rob and Sheri Moon Zombie!).

The topics in the letter column range from BEN HUR, Captain Future and Sax Rohmer to Power Point Presentations and science fiction conventions. Dan Carroll’s ERB inspired back cover is another wonderful piece of art.

Just give this one a try and for the newer generation of fans, it might be something you may have never seen before, but will want more after you peruse one issue.