Review of THE KILL CREW - Joseph D'Lacey

The Kill Crew by Joseph D’Lacey is an intelligent, well-written story. While at first glance it is a post-apocalyptic tale, it falls far outside the realms of other tales of this type. It deals more with the psychological changes brought about by the end of the world as we know, rather than the horror of the antagonists. The characters are truly brought to life in the mind of the reader, and dialogue is very believable and flows well. Also, the inner dialogue of the main characters is very well handled. The principle character is well depicted, and comes across as very human, which can be a sticking point for many new writers. There are strong comments on society as we know it, and how that society can break down in a very short time with the right triggers. Joseph D’Lacey has managed to capture this breakdown with a great deal of accuracy, with a dollop of despair and desperation added. Self-destruction plays a part in the story, as does hope for a better future, and although these points seem polar opposites, D’Lacey ties them together with style and skill. What truly stands out in this story is the humanity of the characters, hoping in the face of hopelessness and dealing with events no sane person should have to deal with. Redemption plays a part, as does the modern consumer-driven society we live in today. It tells the story of Sheri, Ike and Trixie, survivors of an apocalyptic event like no other, and how they find the strength to get through each day. It tells the story of the end of human society as we know it, and the effects of that ending on the few survivors left untouched (at least physically) by the events taking place around them. The ending seems to combine both a sense of inevitability of outcome with hope for the future, a very hard thing to write, but the author performs this task with great skill. This is a very well-written tale that is both compulsive and confrontational. I recommend this story highly to all, and am glad to have been given a chance to read it. Joseph D’Lacey is an author on his way up, one who will grab people’s attention from the start. I highly recommend this author and this book.

Available HERE!

Books OUTSIDE the current generic publishing theme

Charnel House - Brother Odd (lettered)


CH - Velocity (lettered)


CH - The Stress of Her Regard (numbered)


CH - Last Call (numbered)


CH - The Regulators (lettered)


CH - Where They Hid (lettered)


Can anyone say these are NOT beautiful pieces of art as much as they are books?

Here's some more!

Assouline - Chanel ($550)


Assouline - Venice Deluxe ($395)


Assouline - Magritte ($300)


I would love some books that looked like any of these. Now the first publisher (Charnel House) is our genre, I know, but the second is publishing stuff about Barbie, Venice, Chanel and Formula One Racing. But I STILL love the presentation of these books. They would look beautiful on anyones shelves.

Are we???

Are we demanding enough? Are we demanding enough from our publishers, and are we demanding enough of ourselves as collectors?

I look at my shelves of collectible small press publications, and I see, for the most part, uniformity. I see CD books that all fit nicely together, I see Sub Press and NEP books that are the exact same size and basic design as CD. I see limited's with the same publishing standards and ideas. I see (admittedly only a few in MY shelves, but I see in the LATEST TREASURE thread when photos are posted) lettered editions that use leather and leather and more leather and then even MORE leather.

With a few exceptions.

You know who you are!

I question….where is the art, where is the ingenuity, where are the differences between the books and the publishers?

Where is the value?

Are people here, people who collect the small-press publishers religiously, REALLY happy with the status quo? Don't we mind that the same old publishers are releasing books that look like the same old books? I don't mean to knock the publishers themselves (well, not TOO much), because this is what we, the consumer, seem to demand. Affordable limited editions that don't push the envelope when it comes to presentation?

Sure, the books are very nice. Don't get me wrong. I LIKE the stuff I have on my shelves, and I LIKE the stuff I don't own.

I like it all a LOT!

But I don't LOVE IT!!!

Where is THE LOVE?

Where is the beauty and the art?

Where are the unique editions?

They are out there. I know. I've seen them.

I've seen them here



And I've seen them here!

Most recently, I've seen them here!

These publishers are thinking outside the box. Outside the whole damn WAREHOUSE, really!
Are we really that impressed with the current status quo that no-one can go outside without being sanctioned?

CCP published their first lettered edition with a non-leather traycase.

I personally thought that this was a brave thing to do. I can only imagine the messages and emails HM and Brian must have received.

"What…..NOT LEATHER!!!! Well, count me out! " Something like that, maybe?

Maybe this genre of small-press horror needs to start thinking outside the box like some of the off-genre small presses do. Arion Press and Assouline are designing beautiful books….unique books!

Something I could pull down off display and show my grandkids and have them go OOOH, AAAAH!

We seem, as buyers, to have developed a mentality of I MUST HAVE EVERY BOOK I WANT. We don't pick and choose by workmanship anymore, to any real degree. We don't have a smaller collection of FINE QUALITY books, we all have the same larger collection of as many books as we can afford.

I had to re-assess my buying and reading habits last year. I had to prioritise my buying, and somehow facilitate my reading as well. DB book club (pb) has allowed me to have reading material at a much cheaper price. Thank GOD for that!

Now, I can pick and choose by publisher (and by author) in regard to the HC books I buy. I chose to get lettered editions of a couple of new small presses that appeal to me, with their ideas and their vision for the future.

Again, you know who you are.

There are also a couple of other publishers I would like to collect lettered editions of, but there are no lettered slots free at the moment.

Maybe one day!

My questions are these:

1) Do we, as buyers, really want to own everything at around $50-60, and have a million generic books, or would we like to pay a bit more, pick and choose a bit more, and have smaller, more unique, higher quality collections?

2) Do we, as customers, expect too little from the publishers in regard to design and cost for the editions we buy?



What do you all think?

Half-Sick of Shadows by Graham Masterton

I have just finished reading this manuscript today. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Half-Sick of Shadows, the upcoming release from Graham Masterton and Sideshow Press is absolutely wonderful.
Three short stories all based on the Tennyson poem The Lady of Shallot, these stories are wonderfully written and very captivating.

The first, CAMELOT, is outlined at the Horror Mall store as the story of a man who loses his beloved to another world beyond a mirror, and how he tries to free her. This story is unlike any I have read before, as the surrealism and vivid imagery both captivate and enthral the reader, dragging them into Masterton's imagination successfully. Reading like a bizarro author, this story is both powerful and evocative in it's scope, and is much too short for me....I could have read more and more of this mind-blowing journey.

The second story, REFLECTION OF EVIL, has been available on the BBC website in an abridged form. It tells the story of an archaeological survey that unearths more than the diggers bargain for. Short and nasty, this one is also a powerful tale carrying the ultimate warning to be careful what you wish for.

The third and final story, HALF-SICK OF SHADOWS, warns most profoundly to avoid voyeurism at all costs, or pay the price. This tale is previously unpublished and original to this collection, and is a well-written tale centred around a man who sees himself as a guardian angel rather than a perve.

Masterton is indeed a master of the horror genre, with a fluid and unrelenting style that draws the reader in and allows them to lose themselves in the story...complete invisibility as a writer. VERY easy to read and a real feather in the cap for Sideshow press that they could entice this modern master back into the world of small-press horror.
KUDOS to Sideshow Press for bringing us this outstanding collection by Graham Masterton!


Available at www.horror-mall.com/HALF-SICK-OF-SHADOWS-by-Graham-Masterton-Limited-Edition-p-18906.html

Cemetery Dance and pre-orders!

I'm a rather new to small press collecting so I have a few questions regarding Cemetery Dance that I hope that Brian or Richard Chizmar can answer.

First let me say thanks to Brian for communicating with their customer base at Shocklines, as it seems that the communication between CD and its customers has been rather uninformative of late.

It should be noted that Cemetery Dance is not lacking a great communication vehicle to get information to their customer base as I nearly daily receive grab bag offers, banged and dented book sale, signed author volleyballs (has anyone received theirs by the way…its now December). However, even with this great marketing vehicle customers never seem to receive viable or reliable updates on the books they purchase from Cemetery Dance.

Brian gave us a very nice update on IN LAYMON'S TERMS stating that the reason for the five plus year delay is due to one person's introduction. If Kelly is having some issues getting this to you…five years worth of issues, why not have someone give her a hand writing it…hell she could dictate it to them over the phone or bullet point it and have one of the authors ghost write a beautiful introduction. Should we expect another 5 year delay if Kelly doesn't find her muse? How about giving us a deadline…a real, honest deadline that this book will be in our hands on this date? Delirium Books can do this, Bloodletting Press can do this, and Centipede Press can do this. Even new publisher's like Cargo Cult, Chizine and Sideshow Press can do it and it amazes me that CD cannot.

Let's put aside IN LAYMON'S TERMS for a minute and let's even say that we'll give you guys a pass on that one, it's an important book and one we all want done right. However, Can you please give us an update on the 29 other titles that you've taken money for and not published or given accurate updates on? Furthermore can you give us some heads up on what Cemetery Dance is doing with the hundreds of thousands of dollars that they've taken in advance orders from customers that haven't been published and CD hasn't given reliable updates on?

I'm not stating hundreds of thousands of dollars lightly and please feel free to refute my numbers Brian or Richard. However all someone needs do is use a calculator and some simple addition to figure out that it's a very high number. Heck, between just three of your titles and only in lettered edition you're talking $114,000. LEGACIES $23,000 CENTURIES BEST $52,000 and Fifteen Year Celebration $39,000. I sure hope that customer's cash for these and other titles hasn't gone to purchase the movie rights to From a Buick 8 and others and it's still setting in your bank account.

I've listed them below for easy reference. I'm not talking about the update I'm used to getting from CD that states "we're deep in production" (which has come to mean we're three years away from even looking it) or "it's at the printer" (which has come to mean anywhere from 10 to 2 years out) or the inevitable "the signature sheets are making the rounds" (which is the kiss of death).

1. Blatty, William Peter: Elsewhere
2. Booth, Bob: The Big Book of Necon
3. Burke, Kealan Patrick: The Turtle Boy: Peregrine's Tale
4. Chizmar, Richard: Shocklines: Fresh Voices In Terror
5. Chizmar, Richard: Cemetery Dance: A Fifteen Year Celebration
6. Clark, Simon: King Blood
7. Clark, Simon: Butterfly
8. Clegg, Douglas: Afterlife
9. Etchison, Dennis: Got to Kill Them All & Other Stories
10. Furth, Robin: Stephen King's The Dark Tower: The Complete Concordance
11. Golden, Christopher: British Invasion
12. Golden, Christopher: Mind the Gap: A Novel of the Hidden Cities
13. Golden, Christopher: Prince of Stories: The Many Worlds of Neil Gaiman
14. Hautala, Rick: Occasional Demons
15. Howison, Del: Dark Delicacies: Original Tales of Terror and the Macabre
16. Keene, Brian: The Cage
17. Keene, Brian: Scratch
18. King, Stephen: The Secretary of Dreams (Volume Two)
19. Lansdale, Joe R.: The Horror Hall of Fame: The Stoker Winners
20. Laymon, Kelly: In Laymon's Terms
21. Lee, Edward: The Innswich Horror
22. Newman, James: The Forum
23. Pelan, John: The Century's Best Horror Fiction
24. Sauers, Michael: A Collector's Guide to Dean Koontz
25. Wilson, F. Paul: Sims (Book 5: Thy Brother's Keeper)
26. Winter, Douglas E.: Clive Barker: The Dark Fantastic
27. Wood, Rocky: Stephen King: The Non-Fiction
28. Sarrantonio, Al: Moonbane
29. Sarrantonio, Al: Halloween: New Poems
30. Chizmar, Richard, Legacies

Different Seasons by Trever Palmer from Sideshow Press

The residents of the idyllic little mountain town of Pikes Field, Kentucky love their church bingo and fear the hand of God. Everyone knows everyone, and serious crimes are unheard of.

By the light of the first full moon, the terror begins…

January The first victim is a young man working his way through college. The last bits of his corpse are surrounded by wolf tracks.

February A rejected woman reaches her final orgasm with the help of a creature that God didn't spawn. Now, as each full moon rises, so does the body count. A killer stalks the once-safe streets of Pike's Field, and it's up to the local sheriff to stop him.

A werewolf has come to town, and its bloodlust cannot be sated.

I have the lettered pre-ordered and am anxiously awaiting it's publication!!!! Sounds like a damn fine premise to me, and I LOVE Tom Moran's artwork for this one (in fact, I love ANY of his artwork)!!!

The limited and lettered editions of this are both STILL available for purchase at the Horror Mall HERE, and I am really surprised this hasn't sold out yet.
Don't miss out on a chance to get in on the ground floor from this new publisher with such a brilliant house artist!!! The price of the lettered is worth it just for the signed original piece of artwork by TOM MORAN on vellum.
Once Tom becomes more renowned, this piece will be sure to escalate in price!
OH YEAH!

Buy it HERE!

THE DEAD PARADE by James Roy Daley....debut novel!

I really enjoyed this book, from the first page to the last, 'cause it had me....right from page one, it had me. The novel was fast, frantic and blood-crazed...just how I like 'em! The main character is a likeable guy who does do horrible things, but I still felt for the guy! The inner monologues were relevant and well set-out. I read until I couldn't keep my eyes open last night, then woke up this morning and finished it off straight away.................... I HAD to find out what was gonna happen. Well written, well researched and explained, I also feel this is one of the best first novels I have read in a loooong time (maybe ever), and hope that James is working on more. I want MORE Daley!!! I HIGHLY recommend this one to all you readers, and will be reviewing it on myspace for all to see. BUY THIS BOOK and READ IT! Do it NOW!!!!! (I know I have said this a few times, but the quality of writing I have found in my recent reads has just been awesome, and James Roy Daley is no slack hack...this guy can really turn up the horror!


Available for purchase at Horror Mall.