Donald Armfield begins with a poem that captures the horror of fall and death. It is a tonal punch to the face.
DJ Tryrer takes you to a village that we all know, with a girl we all love. Because after all, if we didn't know the village, or for that matter love the girl, we wouldn't be there at all.
Philip Fracassi gives us a story about the most horrible day of year: the day AFTER Halloween. Hangover, the encroaching supernatural and loved scorned with a climax that will leave you with a wry, somewhat evil smile.
Tom Breen-Writes a story I REALLY enjoyed. It has all the workings of a classic Robert Bloch tale, with horror and humor being two sides of the same coin.
Calvin Demmer sets the scene at a graveyard. Insanity and a perverse idea meld into a truly horrifying scenario.
Scott Thomas: Takes us to Catherine's Hill, telling us a traditional ghost story that makes all the right chills.
Then, of all surprises, we get a comic by Brandon Barrows. This was a huge surprise, and really captures the sort of Elvira-vibe that is lacking on television with the advent of cable. No one hosts horror movie marathons anymore, it seems, but Brandon's piece captures all of the Elvira-vibe and then some. Like Tom Breen, horror and humor are workign together here.
Then...Brian O'Connell writes "The Reaping." With this poem, Brian demonstrates that he knows EXACTLY what horror is. And if you don't know, don't worry: he'll show you. Thick with atmosphere and dread, "The Reaping" stands out against its company.
Speaking of "knows what horror is," John Paul Fitch. His tale "Coronation" enters into dialog with the King in Yellow, but John makes it his own. And if earlier pieces were punches to the gut, "Coronation" is like getting sucker punched with a chair. It is truly awesome.
Then KA Opperman gives us two poems. He also has one at the very end. There is nothing more that needs saying. He's got this describing Halloween thing down. But not only that, he infuses it with enough supernatural imagery to invoke such poets as Clark Ashton Smith. The man writes weird poetry that will withstand the test of time. I won't say anything more on the matter.
Russell Smeaton provides, "The Street." I love "The Street." I don't want to spoil "The Street." It's just so well executed. You have no idea. Unless you read it, then you have an idea.
Ashley Dioses rounds out the poets in the volume. I'm having a bit of trouble describing Ashley's poetry. As all good horror (and more that matter, good POETRY) does, it doesn't hold any punches. It's brutal in showcasing Ashley's talents, were are astounding. With an impending collection from Hippocampus coming out, I'm beginning to think that maybe this is someone who has carved their own niche in Weird Verse. What I do know is this is very good poetry, and it'd be foolish to pass up. For any publisher.
Then, gentleman and high wasp-priest John Linwood Grant gives us a story about an immortal Englishman in Wyoming. John shows us that there are things more brutal than horror. War, for instance. Then, he closes out the tale leaving us oddly hopeful, but more uncertain than ever. To say it was well done is a grievous understatement.
Then there are a smattering of interviews with talented writers and artists. These subjects include Richard Gavin, Joseph Bouthiette Jr., Sam McCanna and Sam Heimer. I'll take the time here to say that Sam Heimer's covers are ASTOUNDING.
In this section we get a haunting piece of flash-fiction from Christopher Ropes. Without getting too into it, essentially Christopher Ropes takes his writing knife and goes straight for the jugular. I am really looking forward to his novella coming out from Electric Pentacle.
Then KA Opperman gives us one last poem for the road.
All of this, along with covers from Sam Heimer and Mutartis Boswell make for a quality publication well worth the price of admission.
My stories in Ravenwood 2:
Skins: What I wanted to do with this story is examine what something like being a werewolf would do to you. At the end of these movies, when the head vampire or werewolf is killed, it ultimately seems like everyone picks up their lives and moves on. But I wanted to ask the question: what would being something other than your body for so long ultimately do to you? Admittedly, I took an easy out, and I think my narrator comes off as way more unreliable than I intended her to be. I don't think I'll be doing characters like her anymore. But I'm certainly not done with werewolves.
The Cthulhu Candidate: I had a great time writing this story! With my background in Political Science, I wanted to tackle a meme that makes its way around the internet every four years, "Cthulhu: Why Vote the Lesser Evil?" This election seemed to be the perfect one, as without getting into it, it seemed like not too many people were happy. Congressman Robert Marsh of Innsmouth, MA is based on a real politician, and no one has quite guessed who it is. I also believe that he may figure into another story. Namely...I'm wondering how the Congressman won his district in the first place, and about a particular group of donors out of Miskatonic University and the Arkham Valley.
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