Whenever I sit down to pen a review of a Tremblay book, I can’t help but feel that everyone who knows me must automatically expect me to write something flowery and full of praise. My admiration for Tremblay’s work is well known among my small circle of bookish friends. The fact that those assumptions are typically proven accurate does little to assuage a genuine concern about things such as predictability and, even worse, any impression of bias. But I’m here to say with all honesty that every word of praise I’ve ever heaped on Tremblay’s work (and heaped, I have) has been truly sincere and entirely well-deserved. 

As a matter of fact, I will fully admit that when I first heard about his latest project, a memoir-slash-novel whose inconsistencies and loose adherence to the truth are continually called into question by one of two unreliable narrators in notations hand-written in glaring red ink along page margins throughout the book, even I was a little dubious. There is no question THE PALLBEARERS CLUB is unlike any of Tremblay’s previous books. Which should come as no surprise to those already familiar with Tremblay’s work, as no book of his is really like any of the others. He seems to be constantly reinventing himself. And in a genre in which a certain amount of success can often be found in little more than a simple adherence to tried and true formulae, Tremblay’s willingness, which may be better described as eagerness, to continually experiment with a writing style that has garnered such critical and commercial success is commendable and, yes, even brave. Imagine if New York Yankees Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio had changed bats after every game of his 56-game hitting streak, an idea which I’m certain Joltin’ Joe never for a moment entertained. Why would he? Don’t fix what isn’t broken, right? 

Yet this is exactly what Paul Tremblay does. Over and over again. And still his hitting streak continues.

THE PALLBEARERS CLUB introduces us to Art Barbara, a socially awkward high school senior who, in addition to being branded as something of an outcast, is forced to deal with the unfortunate and debilitating effects of a severe case of scoliosis. Art has a fondness for punk rock music and a desperate desire to leave his small-town life behind. With this as his ultimate goal, Art decides to create The Pallbearers Club in an effort to bolster his college acceptance prospects which, while strong academically, are woefully lacking in extracurricular activity. The idea is that members of TPC will volunteer at local funeral homes as pallbearers and attendees at funeral services conducted for the recently departed homeless and elderly who may not have many (or any) loved ones left to bear witness to their passage into the great beyond. It is during the second service attended by the club that Art meets Mercy, an unapologetically forthright and mysterious girl with the macabre habit of photographing both the living and the dead with her ever-present Polaroid camera in an attempt to discover evidence of lingering spirits. Mercy (the author of the ubiquitous red-inked notations mentioned earlier) will play alternating roles of friend and nemesis throughout the remainder of the book. She and Art come together and drift apart over the course of many years. The drifting apart always precipitated by the strange and often terrifying things that seem to happen whenever Mercy is around. 

I mentioned earlier that no two Trembly books are alike. While that is certainly true in terms of the path he takes to get his stories across, I found the kind of creeping horror found in THE PALLBEARERS CLUB to be very much like that found in Tremblay’s fantastic, Bram Stoker Award-winning novel A HEAD FULL OF GHOSTS. TPC is a quirky, strange, and, at times, humorous book. But make no mistake, the kind of cleverly ambiguous, what-the-hell-is-going-on-here scares that are so emblematic of Tremblay’s work are most certainly there. And they are there in spades. To that point, there is a line in the book that I consider to be among the scariest sentences ever written in a horror novel (slash memoir). I hesitate to reveal it because it would be a tad spoilery. But I put it right up there with “And I think she’s still waiting for her goodnight kiss” from Stephen King’s ONE FOR THE ROAD and “Good God! Whose hand was I holding?” from Shirley Jackson’s brilliant THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE. I trust you will know it when you read it by the shivers running up and down your spine.

Believe me, THE PALLBEARERS CLUB is the kind of book that will make you hesitant to turn out the lights at bedtime. It contains some of the more genuinely creepy scenes I’ve read in quite some time. It’s also got every bit of the emotional pull of Tremblay’s earlier works; populated with exceptionally well fleshed-out characters that you will very quickly grow attached to and the things they are forced to confront throughout the course of the book are not exactly what you would describe as pleasant. 

THE PALLBEARERS CLUB is now among my very favorites of Tremblay’s’s books. I simply cannot recommend it enough.
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And I mean that sincerely.

George is a lifelong fan of horror fiction with a particular interest in small press and indie authors. He is also a proud member of the Horror Community on social media. You can find him on Twitter as Book Monster @Sshh_ImReading

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I have a confession to make; I don't even know where Exeter is, and after reading David Watkin's techno-thriller-horror, rollercoaster of a novel, I have no wish to step foot in the place, for it is a cursed (you need to pronounce that as cur-said for full effect) place, a place of death, doom and destruction, a place that will after reading this novel leave you with a feat of balls.  


While I have read most of David's work, this is the first full-length review I have written for one of his books; the last review was for his story in Leaders of The Pack, a werewolf-themed anthology, which turned out to be one of my favourite stories in the anthology. As for David's novels, I have always had a fun time with them, but more importantly, I have seen the progression and development of David as a writer; yes, The Original's Return was an entertaining werewolf novel. Still, it did have some of those first novel issues that often stop a debut novel from being brilliant rather than very good. It sounds as though I am being negative about it, which is far from the truth; there was more than enough great writing and great ideas to put David on one of my lists, not that list, although I can't remember his stance on coffee creams. Dave, do I have to put you on that list as well?  


This brings us to his fourth novel, The Exeter Incident, a balls to the wall, pedal to the metal, all guns blazing, horror, techno, police procedural thriller that hits the ground running from page one and refuses to give up until the final page is turned over. Your eyes and brain are smoking from the relentless narrative drive of Watkin's writing.  


The Exeter Incident starts with a pair of detectives investigating some gruesome murders, but they quickly realise that these murders are far from the ordinary, and soon they, along with the rest of Exeter fighting for their lives against an ancient enemy that won't stop killing until vengeance has been found. As Exeter finds itself cut off from the rest of the world, it is up to our rag-tag bunch of heroes and antiheroes to save the day and battle a ferocious enemy that is relentless in the desire to kill. 


Since reading The Exeter Incident, I have been wracking my brain trying to think of a novel that comes close to the manic intensity on show here, and I can't think of one. Watkins has a perfect grasp on how to create a narrative that forces the reader to keep on reading, from exciting, cinematic set pieces that remind me of the classic science fiction novel The Legacy Of Heriot, especially when all hell breaks loose, to the resourceful use of some familiar horror and sci-fi tropes, to the spartan but compelling characters and character development, all of which work together in perfect unison to create a story that delivers on all fronts.  


I particularly loved the villains of this story, Watkins could simply have gone down the road of creating a one-dimensional set of creatures whose only desire is to kill, but Watkins instils them with a rich and interesting backstory and a wry interpersonal relationship. Obviously, the confines of this story prevent it from reaching the epic levels of something such as Game of Thrones; nevertheless, the motivations and characterisations of these creatures are totally satisfying. I would love to read more stories about their history, where they came from, and how this family fits into the culture of their world. The interplay between "the family" is a nice touch, with infighting, distrust, and discontentment with the status quo; it adds a gratifying layer to the narrative. 




As for the story's heroes, Watkins has ensured that the characters' cast is varied and realistic; one highlight was the relationship between Paul, a criminal on the run desperate to make a new life for himself and the police inspector John Carter. Yes, it veers into a buddy movie territory at times, but Watkins steers their relationship away from the hard shoulder of cliche and keeps it on the straight and narrow.  


In terms of character development, there isn't a great deal on show here, but this isn't the type of novel where you want the action to be bogged down by excessive navel-gazing and long conversations; suffice to Watkins has given all of the significant players enough dimension and substance that you will care about what happens to them, just be prepared for some cheering and a lot of cries of "NOOOOOO!!!!"


Be warned; there is a LOT of blood and guts on display here; the creatures are pure killing machines, from spiked ball tails to skin dissolving toxins and a gloriously crazy method of transportation that isn't so much balls to the wall but walls right through the walls and anything that happens to be in the way.  The Exeter Incident is brimming with creative ways for the supporting cast to die, and boy, do they die in droves.  




Back in the late 80s and early 90s, Graham Masterton, before he went off the rails and became a bit gammony, was the go-to writer for this sort of mish-mash of horror genres; but its time to move over Masterton; there is a new master of techno horror; The Exeter Incident is a glorious over the top thrill ride of unrelenting horror, that thankfully has a fantastic modern sensibility, that manages to be horrific without being atrociously offensive.  ​

A CITY IN THE GRIP OF TERROR

As a series of gruesome murders are discovered in Exeter, Detective Inspectors Danni Brent and John Carter begin to suspect the killer may not be human. Their investigation is only a few hours old when they also realise the murderer can’t be acting alone.

There’s more than one.

A lot more.

Paul Kingston is on the run and hiding in Exeter. Whilst trying to secure a new identity, he comes face to face with an impossible monster. Hunted, alone and afraid, who can he turn to? Who can he trust?

None of them know that Exeter is about to experience its darkest day.

None of them know time is running out.

The clock is already ticking….

WHO WILL SURVIVE AS THE CITY FALLS?

Available 6/24 on Godless and 7/8 on Amazon!

​Cover art by Don Noble

Sons of Sorrow by Matthew A. Clarke 
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Planet Bizarro (25 Mar. 2022)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1739792300
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1739792305

Review by Joe Ortlieb

Firstly, I would like to say that this is not necessary a book for people who like clear, straight forward narratives or extreme horror, despite the ugly murders of children and (much to my own horror) animals. The Falls very much reminds me of one of my all time favourite Stephen King books, Needful Things. It is a long, complex and twisting narrative from multiple character perspectives, some of them deliciously awful. Combining to tell an interesting and touching story about friendship and what it takes to cause a small town to go bat shit crazy. In the Falls, the town where the story is set, all it takes is a few violent animalistic murders. After all, hasn’t the town suffered enough already? The narrative is set three years after a local serial killer is caught, that legacy lives on in the narrative and explains a number of plot points such as the under staffed and incompetent law enforcement department.

    Overall I enjoyed this book. I liked how the stories came together, the characters were rich and complex, and plenty were worth rooting for. Even the kids were realistic arseholes, characters turned out to be wrong and not everything was explainable. Real prejudices, pain and the horror of our shared existence runs though the plot like veins beneath the skin.
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    The story over all kept me reading and interested. I would say that some of the characters and narrative could have been cut in places, that the amount of characters made remembering who was who tricky at times. The friendship between the three central characters seemed, well odd to me, but still entertaining. This is an interesting book with a mystery that keeps you entertained. This is a piece of written woven art with bodily mutilation at the heart.

Mysterious disappearances. An urban legend rumored to be responsible. And one group of friends determined to save their city at any cost. Stranger Things meets Jordan Peele in this utterly original debut from an incredible new voice.

For over a year, the Bronx has been plagued by sudden disappearances that no one can explain. Sixteen-year-old Raquel does her best to ignore it. After all, the police only look for the white kids. But when her crush Charlize's cousin goes missing, Raquel starts to pay attention-especially when her own mom comes down with a mysterious illness that seems linked to the disappearances.

Raquel and Charlize team up to investigate, but they soon discover that everything is tied to a terrifying urban legend called the Echo Game. The game is rumored to trap people in a sinister world underneath the city, and the rules are based on a particularly dark chapter in New York's past. And if the friends want to save their home and everyone they love, they will have to play the game and destroy the evil at its heart-or die trying.
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One of the best things about writing reviews for Ginger Nuts is being able to find new writers and new worlds and pick books that sound like they are right up your street.

What is even more amazing is when you DON’T ask for a particular book and, with a mild communication hiccup, you get sent something that may well not have shown up on your radar otherwise.

Burn Down, Rise Up is one such surprise. It’s not like I deliberately didn’t ask for it, my attention was just grabbed by other books before BDRU. I have read a few Young Adult novels and enjoyed them, but they aren’t necessarily my first choice when looking for a new book. Although, having said that, I realise I have one sat next to me on my desk in the To Be Read pile!

But I’m glad there was some confusion, because I really liked BDRU.

The story opens with a character literally running for their lives. Vincent Tirado knows how to grab the reader’s interest and they don’t let go for the next 300 odd pages.

As the cover blurb tells us, Raquel and her friends have to navigate their way through a mysterious game that may have led to people disappearing, and maybe even killed a few, in order to save her own mom and their friend Cisco who is missing after playing the game – the chap running for his life at the start of the story.

And there you have the horror – a high stake game where, if you are lucky, you die quickly.

But you also get great characters who are facing the usual teenage stuff that makes life so difficult to navigate. It’s bad enough having to deal with school, parents and unrequited love, but once you throw love-rivals, neglected friendships, nosey cops and giant centipedes, life goes and gets a lot more complicated.

Frustratingly I can’t get into the plot much more than I have because I don’t want to give anything away. I wouldn’t say that there are lots of plot twists and turns in BDRU, it isn’t that kind of tale, but the game they play is woven into the history of the Bronx and I enjoyed learning about that at the same time as the characters did. To tell you much more about it would ruin the cleverness and originality of the game and how it relates to their neighbourhood. The fact that you get a great story is good enough, but BDRU embeds itself in the past and will, if you are anything like me, lead you off into the depths of the internet to find out more about what was a shocking period in history for those communities. Not only is this a kick-ass YA novel, it also has a serious message underpinning it.

While there are shades of other books and films, I thought it was a fairly original take and something that I haven’t seen in quite the same way before. There are elements here of Stranger Things with missing kids and a version of the “upside down” but with a fresh take and a cast of normally under-represented characters in a non-typical setting. There is more of a connection for Raquel and her friends with their version of the Upside Down which clearly reflects the harsher realities facing ethnic minorities today and how, in many ways, it hasn’t changed over the years.

Otherwise, the focus is on the characters, their relationships and how the adversity Raquel faces brings her back to old friends and pushes relationships to new levels; it’s a coming of age story, but potentially more embedded in reality than many cute, ‘realistic’ teen dramas. The characters are all believable and all the right ones are likeable. The central relationship between Raquel and Aaron is nicely developed and they have a great rapport with each other, which makes it all the more challenging for both when things come between them. The relationships just feel natural. Raquel’s parents are separated, but that doesn’t seem to define her, although it has clearly shaped her and potentially made her stronger – you don’t mess with the girl on the front cover of this book!

Vincent also doesn’t shy away from the darker side of YA horror (Amazon has it as Action and Adventure, but I would definitely see it as Horror (just wait until you join them in the Echo game) and all that comes with it; monsters, evil, injury, terror and death are all here. If you get stuck in the ECHO, you don’t tend to have a happy ending.

I wish I could talk more about it, without giving too much away, suffice to say, I enjoyed BDRU and I would recommend it to anyone with a love for YA fiction, but urge everyone else to give it a try. Vincent Tirado’s prose is smooth and unfussy, but evocative and it draws you in. BDRU is a gateway drug for horror, perfect for any budding horror fans and, while Amazon pegs this at 14-18 years olds, I don’t see anything in here that would be too shocking for mature kids of 12 and over – but that is just my opinion! Due diligence people – don’t get yourself into trouble like my grandparents, sending me a copy of Pet Sematary when I was 10! From those opening moments to the ending, this book could easily be a film, or I could certainly see this as a limited Netflix series. And I would definitely be here for more from these characters.

Sex, Slayer, teen alienation and getting your end away….


I love uncovering musical references in fiction, especially sounds I have a strong personal connection with and so when the main character in Matthew R Davis’s The Dark Matter of Natasha pitches up at a record shop and buys Slayer’s classic Seasons in the Abyss album I could not help but smile. The dude was just discovering the meaning of cool taste and a new way of life! Once experienced, as the unnamed main character realises, one simply cannot return to soft poodle rock of Def Leppard! Such was my youthful love for Slayer I even saw them tour Seasons in the Abyss in the early nineties, playing at the Edinburgh Playhouse, travelling down all the way from Aberdeen. The strong musical vibe throbs throughout this early nineties set novella and the days of cassettes and Nintendo cartridges took me back to my own formative years in a small town in the north of Scotland not too dissimilar from Lunar Bay.


The Dark Matter of Natasha is the second release on the new Emergent Expressions range from the excellent Grey Matter Press (GMP). In recent years GMP have had an outstanding track record in producing high quality horror, dark and weird fiction from the likes of Paul Kane, Karen Runge, John FD Taff and Alan Baxter. The latter two being responsible for two outstanding series The Fearing (Taff) and Eli Carver (Baxter) which rank amongst my recent personal favourites. The strength of GMP is its ability to effortlessly move between the boundaries of dark fiction, encompassing thriller, horror, science fiction, crime/noir, horror, speculative fiction and fantasy. The Dark Matter of Natasha continues this fine tradition with this very dark, but highly entertaining, coming-of-age tale.


The Emergent Expressions novella series began with Amanda Kool’s terrific cli-fi debut Resembling Lepus and will shortly be followed by Andrew McRae (horror) and Patrick Bard (fantasy). Their latest, The Dark Matter of Natasha is best described as a rather melancholic coming-of-age drama which morphs into a thriller but has a self-conscious and edgy sense of humour which had me chuckling. I devoured this story in two sittings and wished it was longer and would have enjoyed a longer slice of this particular brand of darkness. It delivers a moody shot of teen discontentment, boredom and the never-ending chase for any kind of thrill in a dead-end one-horse town.


The seventeen-year-old narrator and his single parent mother arrive at the small town of Lunar Bay and take over the Seven Stars Caravan Park. The story is narrated in the first person from some point in the future and it is this personal reflection which gives the story its dark downbeat edge. Looking back, on one level there is acceptance of being a normal teenager, looking to get laid and smoke dope, but on another he wishes he did things differently, wondering how things might have played out if he had been dealt an alternative hand, especially regarding the three women in his life, Natasha, Caitlin and his mother.


The reflective mood of the story reminded me slightly of the eighties thriller River’s Edge where disaffected teens roamed the streets looking for the next kick or easy fix. There is some of this in The Dark Matter of Natasha and even though some of the story revolves around one of the greatest teen storylines of them all: losing your virginity, I doubt this novella will be made into a teen movie anytime soon! This is as far away from John Hughes as you could possibly get. None of the teens involved show any interest in school and hang around abandoned areas and bridges unofficially named after suicide jumpers (Jennifer’s Crossing) nobody remembers. And like all small towns: everybody dreams of leaving it.


I do not want to put anybody off this novella by implying it was too downbeat, because it really was not and had a genuine sense of black humour and the sex scenes were gleefully funny. The sequence where the lead character loses his virginity was cringingly hilarious and brutally honest. The voice of the first-person narrator was also 100% authentic and at times I thought he was too hard on himself. But like many of us he has a person in his past (Natasha) that no matter how many years go by he cannot shake her shadow off. There are ghosts in every closet and perhaps they play a part in leading the unfulfilled life alluded to.       


The plot was very straightforward: the narrator is dating Caitlin Dempsey and doing his very best to get into her pants. After an argument with Caitlin, he meets Natasha, who amongst other things, introduces him to cigarettes, drugs, Slayer and sex. Natasha is scary, angry and aggressive, but he is equally fascinated by this girl who comes from the wrong side of the tracks and their worlds soon collide.


The Dark Matter of Natasha is a gripping, disturbing and funny coming-of-age drama which blends into a psychological thriller and once read you will realise why Natasha still haunts the narrators dreams after so many passing years. Matthew R Davis has had many short stories published in an impressive range of anthologies and was also nominated for the prestigious literary dark fiction Shirley Jackson Award for his novelette Heritage Hill. I’m also a sucker for Demain Publishing’s Short Sharp Shocks! series and have added Matthew’s The Supermassive Black Mass (Book 21) to my ever-growing TBR pile to check his work out further.


Tony Jones

If you like your fiction cut--and-dried with all its meaning up front and neatly packaged, then this astonishing collaborative novella by Tim Lebbon and artist Daniele Serra  isn't for you.

If, on the other hand, you like a story you can dwell over afterwards then come on in ...

"Without Walls" is just the right side of ambiguous: there is no wrong way to interpret its meaning. At whichever point in life you are when you read a story influences what you get out of it. In ten years time l will, no doubt, have a completely different take on what l think this story 'means'.

For now here's what l think at this moment in time (SPOILER: skip the next paragraph if you think I'm going to reveal too much. But, again, this is just one take on what happened.)

This is a story of a lonely house which creates a boy called Henry, but kills him with kindness. The house tries again, bringing into being not one but two girls. Every parent has to let go and the girls do not escape but are allowed to leave.

Or not. Because the joy of Lebbon's words and Serra's exquisite line drawings is that this is what was gifted to me on this particular reading at this particular moment in my life.

I love the combination of art and text, and for those of you who checked out Serra's remarkable colour collaboration with Alison Littlewood, "Five Feathered Tales", a few years back will delight in the subtle flowing lines of his black and white art this time around.

Like all great stories it lingers and keeps on giving long after you have turned the last page.
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AN ILLUSTRATED STORY by Tim Lebbon
COVER ART & INTERIOR ARTWORK Daniele Serra
CATEGORY Supernatural
PUBLICATION DATE May 2022
PAGES 130

ABOUT THE BOOK

Jasmine lives alone in the house. It’s her whole world. It caters for her every need.

The doors are locked, but that doesn’t matter, because there’s nothing outside.

One day, on the staircase, she meets another little girl who thinks the same. And Cassia will change her life forever.

A haunted house . . . two haunted girls . . . the diary of a lost boy.

Why is the house so keen to hide the truth from them?

And who, or what, is the ghost?

                                              Purchase a copy here