This review originally appeared on Goodreads on October 10, 2020.

The Deep

By Nick Cutter – Gallery Books – January 13, 2015

Review by Robin Marx

The blurb plugs this book as “The Abyss meets The Shining,” which isn’t a lie, but there’s a lot of John Carpenter’s The Thing in here and a big Clive Barker streak as well.

This book has a simple but immediately appealing premise. The world is being swept by an Alzheimer’s-like disease, and a potential cure has been located at the bottom of the ocean. Top scientists begin researching a mysterious cure-all substance dubbed “ambrosia” at a hastily-assembled research station at the bottom of the Marianas Trench. Initial results are promising, but after a cryptic message from below, communications between the station and its tender ship are disrupted. Hoping to reopen the lines of communication with Clayton, one of the genius scientists below, his younger brother Luke is flown in and ferried down to the station by Alice, an experienced Naval officer. Horror inevitably ensues.

While I found the premise extremely engaging, the first half of the book was more than a little frustrating. There are regular flashbacks and dream sequences that take the reader back to Luke’s past, including his abusive childhood and the traumatic disappearance of Luke’s young son. The length and frequency of these flashbacks irked me, as the undersea setting was so creepy and atmospheric. It seemed like every time something interesting happened down below, the reader gets dragged up to the surface and into the past. Happily, everything pays off at the very end.

This book is pretty gory and nasty (a perk for me, but not for all readers), but it makes excellent use of a fascinating setting. Highly recommended to horror fans, especially those fascinated by the deep sea.

★★★★☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on October 6, 2022.

My Best Friend's Exorcism

By Grady Hendrix – Quirk Books – May 17, 2016

Review by Robin Marx

Set in the 80s during the height of the Satanic Panic, this briskly-paced horror story focuses on the intense friendship between two high school girls: Abby and Gretchen. Abby comes from a poor family and is self-conscious about her poor complexion. Gretchen is more confident and affluent, but feels incredibly stifled by her religious, Republican parents.

Early chapters take their time, showing how the pair met and walking the reader through some key moments in their friendship. Things rapidly escalate after they, along with other friends Margaret and Glee, have a sleepover at Margaret's cottage. After some skinny-dipping, the teens have a disappointing experiment with LSD, after which Gretchen disappears overnight. Abby finds her the next morning naked and alone in the woods, clearly agitated but with little memory of the previous night's events.

After the sleepover, Abby notices marked changes in her friend. She complains of phantom groping, refuses to bathe or change her clothes, and grows distant and uncommunicative. Despite being rebuffed by her friend and ignored or treated with hostile skepticism by adult authority figures, Abby embarks on a desperate and dangerous mission to save her best friend.

Much like the author's previous novel Horrorstör, there are touches of humor throughout the book, including graphic inserts of newspaper clippings and advertisements. Like the humor, the 80s setting is used to good effect. Sensational journalism had put Satanic conspiracies and demon worship at the forefront of Americans' minds, making that decade a natural home for this novel. Hendrix indulges in some references to the pop culture of the era, including naming all the chapters after pop songs, but wisely doesn't go too overboard with the nostalgia-baiting.

Despite some of the lighter touches, this becomes a nicely creepy story when Gretchen's possession is in full swing. The book never really erupts into a bloodbath, much of the demonic influence is more subtle and manipulative, but Abby's isolation and her fear for her best friend are communicated very effectively.

There's a great risk of “love conquers all” plots becoming cheesy or corny, but this is a good story about the power of friendship. It acknowledges the ups and downs and occasional limits of friendships, but also the strength and staying power of some rare relationships. While the titular exorcism was well done and much more unique than seen in these kind of stories, it was the denouement that I found most satisfying.

Highly recommended for horror fans (especially if you can remember the 80s) and maybe even those who read spooky YA books. And go hug a friend.

★★★★☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on September 5, 2019.

The Ballad of Black Tom

By Victor LaValle – Tordotcom – February 16, 2016

Review by Robin Marx

This novella is a companion piece to H. P. Lovecraft's “The Horror at Red Hook.” While the original story focused on a New York detective named Malone and his investigation of the rich, aging occultist Robert Suydam, this book introduces a new character named Charles Thomas Tester to the mix. “The Horror at Red Hook” is one of the more racist Lovecraft stories—full of “swarthy” types of various ethnicities up to no good—and Victor LaValle counters this by centering the African American perspective. The result is sort of an inversion of the original tale, elevating racism as one of the multiple horrors in the story and turning the original protagonist into one of the villains.

The writing was generally fine, but the story was a bit sleight. “The Horror at Red Hook” isn't particularly interesting as Lovecraftian source material, so it's a little baffling why it was chosen as a story. The above-average racism is basically the only element recommending it for use in a progressive reaction to Lovecraft. And while Cthulhu doesn't play a role in “The Horror at Red Hook,” he's been shoe-horned in here. His inclusion seems more like fan-service, or something especially blatant to clue in those unfamiliar with Lovecraft's work of the connection. It just seemed a little extraneous to me.

“The Ballad of Black Tom” interweaves interestingly with “The Horror at Red Hook,” providing a more intimate view of events elided in the original story, but it's also lacks subtlety in places. The racist abuse faced by Charles Tester is horrific, but it also felt that the story lacked the page count to handle his descent into villainy in a realistic manner. I see it singled out for praise in other reviews, but the “Every time I was around them, they acted like I was a monster. So I said goddamnit, I’ll be the worst monster you ever saw!” line is so cheesy and on-the-nose.

Overall I liked this story and thought the confrontation of racism in Lovecraft's work was interesting, but I can't help feel there was a missed opportunity. By all means, confront retrograde elements in Lovecraft's work, but “The Horror at Red Hook” is one of the lesser works in the canon. Deconstructions tend to work best when they target a great piece of art, not one that even die-hard Lovecraft fans are lukewarm on.

★★★☆☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on September 6, 2021.

Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of '70s and '80s Horror Fiction

By Grady Hendrix – Quirk Books – September 19, 2017

Review by Robin Marx

This is a brisk, thoroughly entertaining look at the heyday of straight-to-paperback horror fiction. Grady Hendrix is often snarky about the books and the over-the-top excesses of their plots, but his affection and enthusiasm for the subject material comes across loud and clear. This book also deserves praise for the attention devoted to lurid cover artwork and skilled artists that played such a critical role in moving these books off the shelves. This book is an easy recommendation for any horror fan. It will make you want to scour your local used bookstore.

★★★★☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on November 6, 2021.

The Only Good Indians: A Novel

By Stephen Graham Jones – S&S/Saga Press – July 14, 2020

Review by Robin Marx

Brisk and thoroughly entertaining, this horror novel centers on four Native American men stalked by a vengeful spirit ten years after shooting a pregnant elk.

The pace and narrative are both extremely engaging, but the highlight for me was the characterization. The characters grapple with their ethnic identity, poverty, lifestyle choices, and feelings of obligation to and entrapment by the reservation from which they all originate. Their view of the world vividly comes across through the prose and choice in metaphors.

The only real issue I had was close to the end of the book, where an incredibly tense and bloody sequence is followed by…an extended one-on-one basketball tournament. While I understand what the author was trying to do, it wasn’t very interesting for this non-sports fan and killed much of the momentum built up during the preceding chapter. The book still has a satisfying conclusion, but the basketball stuff felt tedious and extraneous.

Overall, this book was exceptionally well done and I look forward to reading more by the author.

★★★★☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on April 17, 2021.

The Life and Tryals of the Gentleman Pirate, Major Stede Bonnet

By Jeremy R. Moss – Captain's Row Books – September 15, 2020

Review by Robin Marx

“Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.” (H. L. Mencken)

This biography tells the tale of one such normal man, an English plantation owner from Barbados who decides to buy a small ship, outfit it with cannons, and take to a life of piracy. The reasons for the change in vocation are absent from the historical record and unclear. The author suggests sympathies with the Jacobite rebellion or an unsatisfying home life; he leaves his wife and small children and never returns.

While it gets off to an intriguing start and the book seems effectively researched, throughout it I couldn't shake the feeling that Stede Bonnet was not a very apt selection for full length biographical treatment.

He didn't seem like a very successful pirate, for one. Because he lacked any experience with shipboard command he quickly gets critically injured in an ill-considered battle with a Spanish Man-of-war. Perhaps recognizing that Bonnet has no idea what he's doing, famed pirate Edward “Blackbeard” Thatch quickly usurps command of his ship, relegating Bonnet to a passenger on his own vessel. Bonnet remains in this situation for roughly half the book, lacking any apparent agency. He is quite literally “along for the ride.”

After he parts ways with Thatch, Bonnet does manage to take some ships and engage in some plunder, but his exploits didn't seem particularly noteworthy compared to the other pirates mentioned in passing. He is a “Gentleman Pirate” because of his breeding, not due to any particular gallantry on the high seas. He doesn't seem to have been a particularly violent pirate, but then again most historical pirates weren't as bloodthirsty as literature and Hollywood would suggest.

Towards the end of his piratical career, Bonnet halfheartedly angles for a royal pardon but continues to board and steal from passing ships. Inevitably he gets captured and put on trial, and without spoiling things too much, he does not comport himself in a particularly manly or defiant way.

I have no complaint about the book's writing, just the choice in subject. Apart from the inciting mystery (i.e., what made this man drop everything to become a pirate?), he doesn't seem to have done enough to justify a whole book written about him. There doesn't seem to be enough historical documentation to make him anything more than a cipher. It seems like he was in over his head throughout his piratical career, but without diaries or other records of his thoughts and motivations it's difficult to come away from this book with any kind of moral or other instructive lesson.

This book is brief and competently written, but I wish I had spent my time reading about a more interesting and fully documented pirate.

★★☆☆☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on October 22, 2012.

Thieves' World: First Blood

Edited by Robert Lynn Asprin and Lynn Abbey (Editor) – Tor Books – December 1, 2003

Review by Robin Marx

The volume collects the first two Thieves' World anthologies, Thieves' World and Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn. While it was great finally having a chance to read these (previously long out of print) stories, I don't think many of them lived up to the great premise.

The Thieves' World I expected was quite similar to what was described in the Making of Thieves' World essay included in the book: a massive slum various sword & sorcery heroes call home, their adventures tangentially intersecting and their paths crossing. While there are some stories that deliver—those stories tend to be the highlights—there are surprisingly few actual thief protagonists, and far too much high fantasy mucking about with competing gods. Fritz Leiber is cited as an influence, but Thieves' World's city of Sanctuary is nowhere near as lush, decadent, and dangerous as Lankhmar, and few of the adventures found here have the same kind of personal stakes and gritty, street-level action of the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser tales. The Making of Thieves describes a teeming hive of corruption that could play home to Conan, Elric, Karl Edward Wagner's Kane, etc., but then it has too many stories about humans acting directly as pawns for interventionist, physically manifested gods. This felt like a bait and switch to me. For something called “Thieves' World” there were surprisingly few heists; perhaps “Prophet's World” would have been a more appropriate title.

Perhaps it can be said that Thieves' World shows the fantasy genre in transition. It was released in 1979, when pure sword & sorcery was on the decline and Tolkien-inspired high fantasy (as embodied by Terry Brooks's The Sword of Shannara, released in 1977) was becoming increasingly commercially successful. I suspect that's the reason for the tension between the few gritty street-level tales and the more high flying epic stories. This is interesting from a genre history perspective, but not really what I was looking for. I don't think I'll go out of my way to seek out the sequel anthologies, as it appears that the competing pantheon aspect of the stories only grows more prevalent.

As a final note, the Kindle edition of this book is probably the most poorly formatted commercial e-book I've seen to date. There are numerous cases of OCR errors (spelling errors are particularly obnoxious in jargon-prone fantasy), several instances of strangely hyphenated words, and even a few snippets of missing text. While I didn't factor this into my rating, I expect better from a major publisher like Macmillan/TOR.

★★☆☆☆

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This review originally appeared on Goodreads on August 25, 2016.

Gloriana

By Michael Moorcock – Allison & Busby – April 1, 1978

Review by Robin Marx

This is an incredibly lush story about an idealized England. Albion has emerged from tyranny and into a Golden Age, brought about by its perfect queen, the titular Gloriana. As with most empires, there's corruption behind the scenes, however: the queen's advisor, Montfalcon, breaks quite a few eggs making the omelets necessary to keep Albion running while protecting her from his scheming. A careless mistake leads to hurt feelings and a growing sense of enmity that threatens to topple the whole kingdom.

The novel is tightly-plotted and evocative. Everything ties together and the twists and turns keep the reader guessing until the satisfying end. Even more than the plot, the richly described world is the main draw for this book, however. Moorcock crafts a world that I enjoyed visiting immensely. And although there are a few allusions to his Eternal Champion series, this novel stands alone, serving as an approachable introduction to his work. Highly recommended.

★★★★☆

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This review originally appeared at Grimdark Magazine on August 25, 2024.

To Walk on Worlds

By Matthew John – Independently published – June 23, 2024

Review by Robin Marx

Wizards are dicks! Or at least that seems to be the core take-home message of To Walk on Worlds, the debut short fiction collection by occasional Grimdark Magazine contributor Matthew John. This volume collects 11 works of pitch black sword & sorcery: seven previously published stories and four never-before-seen. While alternate dimensions and planets feature heavily in the collected stories, they all share the same overall setting, with a few central characters reappearing across them. Looming especially large is Maxus, a ruthless sorcerer—or “meddler” in the setting’s parlance—on a never-ending quest for arcane supremacy.

The title story “To Walk on Worlds” sets the tone for the volume, introducing Maxus and demonstrating the lengths to which he will go to further his own dominance. When he pushes his luck too far in dealings with the local king, Maxus draws the ire of the monarch’s suspicious retainer General Playsus. Suddenly besieged and forced to think on his feet, Maxus uses a series of escalating dweomers to mercilessly crush his opposition and ensure his place at the top of the hierarchy.

Previously published in the tenth issue of Tales From the Magician’s Skull, “A Simple Errand” involves a fateful meeting between Maxus and another recurring protagonist, Lachmannon the Kael. Maxus springs the barbarian swordsman Lachmannon from a prison cell, whisking him away to another world to kill an alien god as part of one of Maxus’ inscrutable schemes. This story combines savage combat with bizarre, otherworldly vistas in the tradition of the best classic sword & sorcery adventures.

“The Circle” is one of the quieter stories in this volume. Fleeing from relentless pursuers, the archer Nylas wanders into ancient ruins in search of shelter. Cautiously joining a stranger’s campfire, he soon learns he has stumbled into a chilling magical trap. Apart from one truly nauseating instance of violence, “The Circle” focuses less on action and more on horror, depicting magic as something very clearly inimical to the natural world.

“The Gift of Gallah” is another tale in which contact with sorcery has unforeseen consequences. Seeking revenge against a taunting meddler called the Hooded One, Andwin plunges through the jungle in search of a mystical source of strength. In true monkey’s paw fashion, Andwin gets what he wants, but not in the way he hoped. Wizards are dicks.

Originally featured in A Book of Blades: Volume II, “Cries from a Sleeping City” is another adventure starring the barbarian Northman Lachmannon. The wealthy ruler of Zanzara hires a tavern full of sell-swords to scour the tunnels beneath the city, searching for the mythical Queen Vashka, thought to be an imprisoned immortal sorceress. Initially skeptical of the task, Lachmannon quickly learns that the tales of Vashka are true. To survive, he must fight to escape a nightmarish subterranean hellscape filled with cannibalistic “eaters” and unseen lurkers that use body-invading tentacles to drive their victims insane with bloodlust. The story is fast paced, with a fun menagerie of monsters and a dark streak a mile wide.

“Man of Xerus” chronicles another meddler’s attempt to walk on worlds. Through intense dedication and powerful magic, the sorcerer Vulka propels himself to another realm, hoping to bargain with a demon and return to his home planet more powerful than ever. In this story’s squirm-worthy body horror-filled finale, Vulka learns that there are far more diabolical foes than demons.

“A Final Errand” reunites Lachmannon and Maxus the Meddler for one more dimension-hopping adventure. Deeply wounded himself, Lachmannon drags a nearly incapacitated Maxus through monster-filled terrain hoping to acquire the “bug juice” that will allow Maxus to regain his magical powers. Much like “A Simple Errand,” the interplay between Maxus and Lachmannon is the highlight of the narrative. Neither fully trusts the other, but there’s a grudging, semi-antagonistic respect between the two that entertains. Despite the seemingly conclusive title of this story, this reader hopes the two cross paths again.

“The Meddler” is perhaps the most horrific story in To Walk on Worlds, and that’s saying something. Bizarre parasitic creatures stalk the wilderness outside an isolated farm house in which terrified young Shel huddles with her tearful little brother. Their parents are feared dead. Who should show up at the door but an injured Maxus, promising a safe escape if Shel is willing to venture out and fetch an arcane talisman from his tower. Shel is in a desperate situation, but everyone knows that you should never trust a meddler… “The Meddler” benefits from an appealing heroine that is easy to root for, supremely creepy monsters, and a tense atmosphere. Over the course of the story Maxus also reveals an important new side of himself.

“A Fate Worse Than Exile” is another survival story, this time involving an inveterate liar and cheat named Quent. Trapped in a bone cage with a sullen warrior that hates his guts, Quent must use any means at his disposal to escape his malicious captors and ensure his own passage off the hazardous, untamed island upon which he is marooned. In addition to bloody struggle and a generous helping of moral ambiguity, this tale features one of my favorite sword & sorcery tropes: the “dragon” that the reader can plainly recognize is, in actuality, a dinosaur.

Shel makes a welcome return in “A Chance Burden,” this time older and wearier than she was in “The Meddler.” No sign of her younger brother, but no obvious hint of past tragedy, either. This time she finds herself protecting an infant rescued from the arms of its slain mother. For reasons unknown, the duo are pursued by a squad of mercenaries led by a massive warrior with glowing red eyes. To make matters worse, wolves have begun to circle in the vicinity. Where the bulk of the stories in To Walk on Worlds features characters gleefully choosing expediency over more moral options, “A Chance Burden” features a heroine doggedly electing to do the noble thing, even in the face of certain death. Most of the collected stories function perfectly well as self-contained narratives, but “A Chance Burden” feels like it could easily be used to launch a full-length novel, should John choose to revisit it.

To Walk on Worlds concludes with “Black Harvest,” a cryptic and moody vignette in which a lone farmer is subjected to ominous and portentous questions by a menacing stranger. All the while, sinister tribal drums echo in the hills. The exchange recalls Anton Chigurh’s unnerving conversation with the gas station clerk in “No Country For Old Men.” The stranger’s motives and the full nature of the titular black harvest remain obscure, but we know they can’t be good.

Matthew John’s work is becoming a frequent sight in the top sword & sorcery and weird fantasy-oriented periodicals, but To Walk on Worlds bundles it together in one convenient package, where the connections and references between the stories can more easily be appreciated. The stories in To Walk on Worlds are grim, brutal, horrific, and bleak but also contain flashes of wonder and even humor. As strong a debut collection as this is, To Walk on Worlds also gives readers a sense that Matthew John is just getting started. Just remember: wizards are dicks.

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This review originally appeared at Grimdark Magazine on August 23, 2024.

I Was a Teenage Slasher

By Stephen Graham Jones – S&S/Saga Press – July 16, 2024

Review by Robin Marx

Set in 1989, I Was a Teenage Slasher is the first-person confessional of Tolly Driver, a disaffected youth living in the rural town of Lamesa, Texas. While fundamentally a decent person, Tolly has struggled with a sense of rootlessness since the untimely death of his father. Lamesa feels stifling and small, but college and prospects of a life outside of his hometown feel distant and unattainable. His plight goes from bad to worse after crashing a pool party, where his drunken awkwardness is punished with near-fatal hazing at the hands of his classmates. A sudden brush with the supernatural saves Tolly’s life but leaves him fundamentally changed. Tolly undergoes a strange transformation when night falls. A passenger in his own body, he witnesses himself commit horrible murders that he is powerless to stop. Tolly’s only friend Amber begins to suspect that he’s becoming a slasher: not merely a conventional serial killer, but a supernaturally enhanced murderer of the Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees variety. As the death toll rises, Tolly and Amber work together to test his newfound abilities and attempt to prevent future bloodshed.

I Was a Teenage Slasher combines a surprisingly poignant coming of age story with an exploration of the slasher horror subgenre. It avoids becoming too heavy-handed and on-the-nose, but the unwelcome transformation Tolly experiences feels like an allegory for puberty or some manner of gender awakening. The treatment of slasher tropes is likewise fascinating. Tolly does not simply don a mask and embark upon a quest for revenge, instead the slasher quality is transmitted, like vampirism or lycanthropy. In addition to preternatural resilience, in true slasher movie tradition Tolly gains the ability to cover more ground when hidden from his prey’s sight. Even reality starts to bend around him, as if the world is facilitating his inexorable urge to kill. Broken chainsaws roar to life with a single pull of the start cord. Teenagers who know they are being actively stalked irrationally elect to go skinny-dipping by moonlight. I Was a Teenage Slasher leaves the reader with unanswered questions about the supernatural phenomena at the heart of the narrative, but die-hard horror movie fans will find themselves nodding and grinning at how events develop over the course of the book.

Following so close on the heels of The Angel of Indian Lake, readers can’t be blamed for feeling a sense of déjà vu. Many familiar Stephen Graham Jones elements are present and accounted for. Apart from the slasher-centric plot, there’s a painfully realistic presentation of suffocating small-town life. Jones returns to poke at the “Final Girl” trope once again, and there’s even a horror movie-obsessed Native American girl as a supporting character. Lamesa feels like a distinct setting from the Indian Lake Trilogy’s Proofrock, however, and hapless Tolly has a very different voice than the wounded, combative Jade Daniels. While there are touches of the unreliable narrator here and there, I Was a Teenage Slasher is also written in a more plainspoken style, with less of the challenging impressionistic touch of Jones’ earlier works.

While it feels lighter and less intentionally literary than The Only Good Indians and the Indian Lake Trilogy, I Was a Teenage Slasher is a fun summer horror flick in novel form. Existing Jones fans are sure to enjoy the ride, and it also serves as an approachable introduction for newcomers curious about one of the genre’s hottest talents.

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