By JOYCE CAROL OATES (Dutton; 1995)
Joyce Carol Oates is one of America’s most distinguished and prolific writers, the recipient of quite a few high-profile awards and untold critical adulation. Yet Oates has an evident attraction to dark and scary material–horror, in other words, though her work would [...]

By EDWARD LEE, WRATH JAMES WHITE (Medium Rare Books; 2003)
Here’s a true match made in Hell: Edward Lee and Wrath James White, the current sultans of literary mayhem. Lee’s output includes over-the-toppers like THE BIGHEAD, GOON and CITY INFERNAL, while White is responsible for the fictional atrocities POISONING EROS and SUCCULENT PREY. Put [...]

By TOM MARSHALL (McClelland & Stewart Inc.; 1991)
The Author’s Note preceding this novel says it all: “This story may seem implausible from beginning to end.”
Implausible? Let’s see. Set in early 1960s Canada, CHANGELINGS is about a twin brother and sister who were sexually abused as children and as a result have developed multiple [...]

By GARY BRANDER (Fawcett Gold Medal; 1977)
You likely know this late-seventies paperback best as the source for the famous 1980 movie of the same name. That Joe Dante directed film remains popular with horror mavens the world over, yet I’ve never been all that impressed. Despite a few [...]

Edited By BILL BREEDLOVE (Dark Arts Books; 2007)
I doubt I’ll read a stronger horror-themed collection this year than WAITING FOR OCTOBER, the genre-busting follow-up to Dark Arts Books’ 2006 anthology CANDY ON THE DUMPSTER. Like that publication, WAITING FOR OCTOBER features four authors each contributing three stories.
The contributors here are unusually strong: Andrew Mayhem [...]

By “JACK MARTIN” [DENNIS ETCHISON] (Zebra Books; 1983)
Yes, this is a movie novelization, and yes, it does suffer from quite a few of the pratfalls afflicting most such books: it’s hastily written and definitely could have withstood another draft, if not two or three. Overall, however, it’s far better than the majority of movie [...]

By VITEZSLAV NEZVAL (Twisted Spoon Press; 1945/2005)
A real curiosity: a surrealist novel masquerading as a gothic thriller that never entirely satisfies as either. Rather, it’s a rare book that exists in its own indefinable category.
I know VALERIE AND HER WEEK OF WONDERS best in its 1970 film incarnation by Jaromil Jires, which has in [...]

By JEREMY C. SHIPP (Raw Dog Screaming Press; 2007)
Fans of the late Philip K. Dick will appreciate this hallucinatory first novel, as will all those unafraid of challenging, thoughtful writing. In the manner of Dick masterworks like THE THREE STIGMATA OF PALMER ELDRICH and UBIK, this is a profoundly trippy book, but also a [...]

“Edited” By Chet Williamson, “Alan Drew” (Cemetery Dance; 2007)
Here’s something unique: a novella, penned by veteran horror scribe Chet Williamson, written in the style of the late Lafcadio Hearn. In fact, it purports to be an actual manuscript by that author, complete with an introduction attesting to that “fact” and an afterward disputing it. [...]

By CHRISTOPHER FOWLER (Warner Books; 1994)
To be sure, the novels of England’s Christopher Fowler–which include ROOFWORLD, RUNE, RED BRIDE and DARKEST DAY–have quite a few flaws: most are steeped in “hip” culture (SPANKY’S title character’s every appearance is accompanied by elaborate descriptions of his trendy duds) and so tend to date none too well, and [...]