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The

CLASSIC HORROR BLOG

Critical Essays on Horror, Ghost Stories, & Weird Fiction

— from Mary Shelley to M. R. James —

by M. Grant Kellermeyer

GOTHIC NOVELS & NOVELLAS

MACABRE MASTERS BEST STORIES BY AUTHOR

STORY SUMMARIES & ANALYSES HORROR TROPE SPOTLIGHTS

FILM ADAPTATIONS NEW BOOK REVIEWS HOLIDAY STORIES

May 28, 2021
6 min

Reviewing: Paul Draper's Black Gate Tales: A highly-recommended work of quiet dread, wonder & loss

I often receive requests to review active writers’ horror novels and anthologies, and it is always a pleasure to be asked, but I have rarely been quite so grateful to be asked as I was with Paul Draper’s recent anthology of dark fantasy, Black Gate Tales. In his bio, Draper lists his influences as Machen, Le Fanu, Lovecraft, Blackwood, Hodgson, and M. R. James, which obviously piqued my interest and – to a lesser degree – my skepticism. I rarely encounter modern horror which

Jan 17, 2019
4 min

Reviewing: Ty Tracey's Three Days in Ashford

Longtime readers of my reviews and my own short stories will probably know that I have a passion for two particular literary motifs: slow-burning, high-concept, low-gore, mystical terror and a deceptively disarming Midwestern setting. In Ty Tracey’s powerful freshman novel, both are brilliantly combined into a chilling narrative about a hardscrabble paranormal investigator’s fateful arrival at an ill-starred ghost town hidden in the sleepy hill country of Ohio. I certainly ha

Oct 24, 2018
9 min

8 Essential Ghost Story Collections to Start Your Own Haunting Library this Halloween

Anthologies are the sampler flights of literature. When I go to a restaurant with its own microbrewery, I always get the sampler flight: six different beers with six different colors, smells, tastes, bodies, character, and personality. By doing this I've opened myself up to trying beers that I never would have bought a whole pint of, and have found myself redirected to entirely new styles of beer. It's the same with anthologies: nearly all of my favorite writers of supernatur

Oct 9, 2018
2 min

Reviewing: Matt Danza's Always Yell Fire

Some of the novels I review can be described as pleasant, humorous little reads – Gothic but campy, dark but easygoing – and I certainly don’t mind that; at times it’s even a pleasant respite. But this is a novel that offers no such respite, to the credit of its talented writer, Matt Danza. “Always Yell Fire” is a novel that builds itself up in increasing planes of intensity, ratcheting up its tension with sudden, startling motions as jerky and nausea-inspiring as a rusty til

Sep 13, 2018
2 min

Reviewing: Lou Yardley's Hellhound

The best part of reading Lou Yardley’s excellent werewolf novel, “Hellhound,” is a very basic, very underrated, very underappreciated thing: it’s the writing. Horror writers often excel at creating eerie atmosphere, summoning terror, or what Stephen King called “the gross-out,” and while Yardley is gifted in all three respects, her work has something else that many supernatural novels lack: the ability to write a good story. “Hellhound” is a guessing game that keeps its reade

Apr 27, 2018
4 min

Reviewing: Andrew Struther's Dracula Incarnate -- Unearthing the Definitive Dracula

A little known secret about me is that I take great guilty pleasure – and unapologetic enjoyment – in reading about historical conspiracy theories. Not harmful ones that put the blame of the nation’s woes on people groups or deny the existence of undisputable facts (Alex Jones, Sean Hannity, Carson Tucker: I’m looking at you schmucks), nor do I have the patience for baloney ideas about chemtrails, fluoride in the water, or former presidents’ birth certificates. But give me a

Oct 2, 2017
2 min

Reviewing: "Ghosts of Manor House" by Matt Powers

I have to admit that when I accept a request for a review, I usually find myself reading an excellent horror story – but rarely the kind that I would naturally gravitate to. This is not a big problem for me, because I think it stretches, adapts, and challenges my literary instincts, but sometimes I get to eat chocolate cake, and Matt Powers’ “Ghosts of Manor House” are my chocolate cake. Intelligent, witty, unapologetically gothic, and delicious to read, his debut novel is a

Aug 21, 2017
2 min

Reviewing: Knucklebones, by Marni Scofidio

A powerful drama of desire and loathing, Marni Scofidio’s Knucklebones is one of the sharpest horror novels I’ve read in the past two years – a truly fascinating study in human psychology, repression, and rage. The novel is set in the windy wilds of Northern Wales, where the landscape and culture are the backdrop for the unexpected clash between Daere – a responsible, tidy woman from a generation weaned on responsibility, politeness, and duty – and Clary – a single mother who

Jun 6, 2017
2 min

Reviewing: Serial Killer Shop

As regular readers know, I like to give a nod to worthy writers from time to time, but I’ve never reviewed a t-shirt website until today – and I’m happy to change that with Serial Killer Shop. This site has a fantastic range of off-color, black-humored, horror-themed t-shirts (and other garments) with sharp designs, clever messages, and jolting graphics. Cult horror movies, true crime, black humor, serial killers, and fringe culture feature heavily in this campy collection, w

Dec 22, 2016
2 min

Reviewing: "The Man Behind the Glass" by Greg Howes

A Gothic novel set in the mid-Victorian era, Greg Howes' “The Man Behind the Glass” is a scintillating, engaging narrative that combines elements of science fiction, supernaturalism, mystery, and the psychological thriller in a balanced mélange of commanding prose. One of the more refreshing examples of speculative fiction written in recent years, the novel is not weighed down by the pomposity or pretension that makes so many candidates of this sub-genre difficult to read or

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FEATURED POSTS

The

CLASSIC HORROR BLOG

S U B S C R I B E:

GOTHIC NOVELS & NOVELLAS

MACABRE MASTERS BEST STORIES BY AUTHOR

STORY SUMMARIES & ANALYSES HORROR TROPE SPOTLIGHTS

FILM ADAPTATIONS NEW BOOK REVIEWS HOLIDAY STORIES

OLDSTYLE TALES PRESS | FORT WAYNE, IND.
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FEATURED POSTS

The

CLASSIC HORROR BLOG

S U B S C R I B E:

GOTHIC NOVELS & NOVELLAS MACABRE MASTERS BEST STORIES BY AUTHOR STORY SUMMARIES & ANALYSES HORROR TROPE SPOTLIGHTS FILM ADAPTATIONS NEW BOOK REVIEWS HOLIDAY STORIES

GOTHIC NOVELS & NOVELLAS

MACABRE MASTERS BEST STORIES BY AUTHOR

STORY SUMMARIES & ANALYSES HORROR TROPE SPOTLIGHTS

FILM ADAPTATIONS NEW BOOK REVIEWS HOLIDAY STORIES