SHADOW MASTERS “is full of win”
Barnes & Noble reader “Faithful85” has posted a review of SHADOW MASTERS: AN ANTHOLOGY FROM THE HORROR ZINE, featuring my short story, “The People Eaters”:
I have read some of the other Horror Zine anthologies and also read most of the things they have online. When I saw this come out, I had to grab a copy. The first few stories in here grab hold of you and let you know just what you are about to get into. I won’t go into too much detail on the huge amount of stories in here, but I will cover my favorites. This book is full of win, but I have to say the ones I mention are the ones that hit the creep factor button in me. Remember that fear is personal and you should read it and judge for yourself the ones you like best.
The book starts strong and ends strong. Both James Marlow‘s story, ‘The Thing That Was Not There’ and Aaron J. French‘s ‘Flame of Freedom’ get you on all the right levels. Bentley Little brings a quiet yet creepy story called the ‘End of the Trail’, and Elizabeth Massie and Scott Nicholson are as good as ever with their stories. Ronald Malfi, a writer I only learned about a year or so ago, brings a great story called ‘The Housewarming’, while people new to me like Christopher Nadeau, William Rasmussen and Lisa Morton have turned me into fans. Jeani Rector, the editor, also hits a homerun with one of her two offerings called ‘Re-Animated’ and shows that she is as good as a writer as she is an editor. But the top three stories in this one, in my humble little opinion, have to be Shaun Meeks‘ ‘Red Velvet’, Christian A. Larsen‘s ‘The People Eaters’ and Tim Jeffreys‘s ‘The Cellar’. These three writers are still newish too me, yet I have been seeing their names more and more. And each story I read that this trio has put out has been better than the last. I particularly like Shaun Meeks’ story for the sheer strangeness of it. It skates along that thin line of bizarro without crossing over to the absurd.
Overall, there isn’t a single story in here I wouldn’t read again. Highly recommend it.
But don’t take Faithful85’s word for it. Pick up a copy of SHADOW MASTERS, featuring a foreword by Joe R. Lansdale and decide for yourself which stories deserve the highest praise:
- “The Thing That Was Not There” by James Marlow
- “Red Velvet” by Shaun Meeks
- “The End of the Trail” by Bentley Little
- “Same Sex Vampire Wedding” by Garrett Rowlan
- “The Church” by Matthew Wilson
- “Holodomor Girl” by Yvonne Navarro
- “Squirrels” by Larry Green
- “The Hung Preacher” by Scott Nicholson
- “The Unknown” by Chris Castle
- “Don’t Feed the Dog” by Rick McQuiston
- “The Classmate” by Melanie Tem
- “Abandoned” by Bruce Memblatt
- “Wet Birds” by Elizabeth Massie
- “Fearful Symmetry” by Devon Carey
- “‘Come Down to the Store, Minerva!’” by Earl Hamner
- “The People Eaters” by Christian A. Larsen
- “101 Damnations” by Carl Barker
- “The Tin House” by Simon Clark
- “The Cellar” by Tim Jeffreys
- “Pig” by Michael Thomas-Knight
- “Dream House” by Cheryl Kaye Tardif
- “The Last Memory” by Dominick Nole
- “The Wood Witch” by Jonathan Chapman
- “The Housewarming” by Ronald Malfi
- “I am the Feeder” by Christopher Hivner
- “Red Ink” by Lisa Morton
- “Tommy Boy” by J.M. Cozzoli
- “Willard Junction” by Christopher Nadeau
- “Suka: The White Wolf” by Jeff Bennington
- “Seeing the Light” by William Rasmussen
- “Them Ol’ Negro Blues” by J.G. Faherty
- “Happy Cthulhu to You” by Lance Zarimba
- “The Gremlin” by David Landrum
- “Flame of Freedom” by Aaron J. French
- “Reanimated” by Jeani Rector
- “The Famous Film Star” by Jeani Rector
- “Foundlings” by Dean Wild
SHADOW MASTERS (Imajin Books) is a product of THE HORROR ZINE, a monthly e-zine that publishes new issues the first of every month.
September 8, 2013 at 11:20 am
Thanks for the mention, Christian! It is much appreciated!
Bill
September 8, 2013 at 11:25 am
And it is much deserved. Thank you for “Seeing the Light”!
September 8, 2013 at 11:53 am
I just took a look at your publishing history–man, you have quite a resume! Congrats! Bill
September 8, 2013 at 5:26 pm
Thanks, Bill. Do you have a website I can link to in future updates Re: SHADOW MASTERS?
September 8, 2013 at 11:29 pm
I sure do Christian! Here it is:
http://williamcrasmussen.wordpress.com/
Thanks so much!
September 8, 2013 at 11:30 pm
I sure do Christian! Here it is:
http://williamcrasmussen.wordpress.com/
Thanks, man!
September 9, 2013 at 6:01 am
Thanks, just changed it in yesterday’s post.