Lesser Demons, (Subterranean Press), by Norman Partridge

There are many words that be can be used to describe "Lesser Demons", most of which have already been used in recent reviews. To be succinct, here's two: Masterful and Effortless. Partridge's control of his narrative never wavers. He exhibits firm control of every story, but sacrifices neither suspense nor unpredictability.

Also, though most everyone understands that the writing process itself takes great, painstaking effort - which Partridge clearly has taken - these stories read with an effortless ebb and flow. For discerning readers this is of great importance, in an age when so many writers produce "stock and store" stories that require more effort to read than perhaps their creation required. Picking the "best" stories in a collection this fine may be a fruitless task, however...

"Second Chance", a story about a con-man seeking revenge, only to be beaten to it by someone closer to him than he can possibly imagine; "Lesser Demons", a delightful contemporary spin on the classic Lovecraftian trope of summoning the unspeakable from the ether; "Carrion", a tale about a boarded up old house out in the desert, a house brimming with a dark evil from a twisted world that infects the soul of all who encounter it; "The Fourth Stair Up From the Second Landing", a tale sporting a rich narrative about a woman and son who can never escape the shadow of the father...until the son takes final, permanent action; "Road Dogs", a werewolf tale with a decidedly American flavor; "The House Inside", a story that resonates with a delightful Bradbury-esque strangeness in a world where the sun has flamed out of control, killing all humans and bringing to life OTHER things and finally "The Iron Dead", an introduction to a monster killer with a hand forged in hell, a classic, hard-bitten character that hopefully will stand on his own soon in a longer, separate work.

Like Bradbury's "The October Country", "Lesser Demons" features stories of a wide and diverse nature, and Partridge himself displays a unique sense of lyricism. Also, for a collection of "dark fiction", Partridge still manages to infuse several of his tales with hope and a sense of resolution, if not happy endings, which is hard to find in horror and noir fiction, something that makes enduring the darkness worthwhile.

Visit www.normanpartridge.com and americanfrankenstein.blogspot.com. Buy it today.

Dweller, (Leisure Fiction) by Jeff Strand

Adrift on a sea of clichéd, over-used, beaten-to-death premises, devices, and creatures, Jeff Strand chose a unique route with this particular novel. Well written, suspenseful, sickening- yet truly heart-felt - Dweller stands out from the crowd.

Toby Floren is your average eight year old. He loves comic books; especially ones that focus on science fiction and monsters. In the massive woods behind his house, he re-enacts Martian invasions, alien battles, and whatever else his imagination can conjure. His hand mimics a laser-gun that he uses to shoot at multitudes of imaginary creatures… until one actually steps outside of a cave.

Years pass and we find Toby an adolescent trying to make friends and avoid bullies in high-school. Considered “weird” for his love of the obscure and his artistic renderings of such, the memory of his first encounter with the creature still haunts him. He sneaks out of the house one night with a flashlight and his dad’s shotgun for closure. Following the same path to the best of his memory, he finds the creature’s cave and is amazed when it comes into view.

Obviously frightened, Toby speaks to it in a frantic attempt to save his life. It must want to eat him, right? When the thing gets too close for comfort, Toby raises the shotgun. The creature covers its face and whimpers like a dog that piddled on the carpet. When he takes the barrel off of him, the creature seems as he did before, imposing, yes, but surprisingly docile.

After a few visits, Toby befriends the creature and names him Owen. Having such a creature as a friend is truly amazing, but Toby’s troubles with the bullies and his inability to make friends are more pressing matters. Especially when the bullies get the drop on him one day on his way to visit Owen. On that day...everything changes for Owen and Toby. Forever.

"Dweller" spans Toby’s life and chronicles the ups and the downs throughout. The beauty of this novel and what truly makes it unique is Strand’s use of allegory and device. Yes, we have a creature, but Owen is no monster. Who's to blame for the blood that's spilled? Engaging characters, prose that entangles the reader, and truly heart-breaking, poignant moments take a backseat to the moral that is the underlying mantra: You’re only as sick as your secrets.

Visit jeffstrand.wordpress.com. Buy it today.

Ben Eads is a dark fiction author of short stories and longer fiction. His work tends to represent modern horror coupled with what he likes to call: “Imagination-tickling elements”. Ben is also a huge fan of dark fiction and dark movies. At the age of ten he wrote his first story. Taking writing seriously in early 2008, Ben Eads has published numerous short dark fiction stories in various magazines, anthologies, and E-Zines.

Occasional Demons, (Cemetery Dance), by Rick Hautala

From the fertile mind of one of horror's most prolific writers comes a wide array of diverse, fun tales. From haunted Maine lighthouses to vaguely Lovecraftian beings living in woodland lakes to dystopian visions of the future, Hautala consistently entertains. In an often folksy narrative he spins tales worthy of countless re-tellings around the campfire. Among the most memorable are:

“The Nephews”, in which a writer too curious for his own good vanishes while investigating an abandoned lighthouse, leaving behind nothing but cassette tapes playing eerie dead-air; “Non-returnable”, about a damned book with a taste for blood – and lives; “Dead Legends”, a cautionary tale about the dangers in pursuing fame at any price; “I've Been Thinking About You”, about that first love who holds on...forever; “Toxic Shock”, a dystopian future where 'Right to Life' takes on new meaning; “The Call”, a lightly Lovecraftian story about an ancient darkness that claims the rights to a father's heritage; “Every Mother's Son”, about a hen-pecked, timid man haunted by ghosts that won't go away, even as the world falls apart around him and finally “The Compost Heap”, a tale of biodegradable murder and proof that love and devotion can survive almost anything...even decomposition.

Perhaps the most satisfying section of “Demons” is Hautala's myth-telling of “Unticigahunk – Stories and Myths of the Little Brothers”. Many authors have utilized myths to tell contemporary stories of fantasy and horror, and Hautala is at his sharpest with these. Beginning with a Micmac Indian creation myth of how the “Old One” was tricked into creating an inferior version of humanity and then how a jealous Brother Wolf tricked this creation into believing its role was to feed on all the Old One's creations, Hautala weaves several loosely connected stories detailing the movement of this creature through modern times.

“Chrysalis” begins with the discovery of a strange, leathery egg at a construction site which births something hungry; “Love on the Rocks” features an escaped convict and two archeologists who encounter something older than time itself, something that has spawned. Next is “To Deal with Devils”, in which an awful pact has been made to protect livestock, followed by “The Birch Whistle”, where a couple grieving over their recent miscarriage discover something that will end their woes – permanently. Ending this cycle is “Oilman”, about a little girl who makes a last stand against the things that killed her daddy.

In many ways, a review doesn't do justice to the breadth and width of the stories contained in this collection. Whatever your tastes, Hautala satisfies – and surprises – with each turn of the page.

Visit www.rickhautala.com. Buy it today.

RAIJU, (Tokusatsu Press), by Karen Koehler

"Tokusatsu" is a Japanese term meaning "special effects," and usually applies to movies featuring giant monsters, robots, superheroes, spaceships, and so on. Aptly, Karen Koehler's Raiju, from Tokusatsu Press, is one of those rarest of animals -- a novel about giant monsters (daikaiju, as they are known in Japanese). Yes, there be monsters here, but the greater part of the book chronicles the day-to-day struggles of Kevin Takahashi, an angst-ridden, Japanese-American teenager whose life issues run a tad deeper than those of your average 21st-Century kid.

After a giant landshark called Karkadon demolishes San Francisco -- in the process killing Kevin's mother -- Kevin and his father move to New York City. Kevin, however, doesn't mesh well with his new environment. The school he attends is populated by more than its fair share of bullies, and most of them consider him an appealing subject for abuse. At least there's Aimi, an exotic and rebellious high-school girl, also Japanese, with whom Kevin immediately falls in love. Complicating matters further, however, is Aimi's father, who runs a mysterious organization evidently related to the genesis of the giant monsters.

Soon enough, a monstrous, centipede-like creature called Qilin attacks New York and destroys much of Kevin's neighborhood. However, no sooner has the critter begun its gleeful smash-fest than an even bigger, dragon-like beast known as Raiju appears and gives its smaller kindred some serious what-for. Much to his shock, Kevin discovers he shares a psychic bond with said beast, and that his destiny and Raiju's are entwined in bizarre, troubling fashion.

One of the biggest obstacles for the literary treatment of daikaiju is that so much of their appeal lies in sheer spectacle: massive explosions, toppling buildings, tooth-and-nail battles between giants; all the things for which Japanese monster movies are best known. Ms. Koehler's treatment of the big critters is appropriately respectful, and the depictions of urban destruction strike a good balance between visual description and emotional narrative from the characters.

That said, the monsters spend most their time in the background, rarely venturing forth. Their origins are rooted in a mythology similar to that realized in Godzilla - Mothra - King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, Toho's 2001 re-imagining of Godzilla's own origin, so that the beasts are more than just rampant forces of nature. The revelation of their relationships with the human characters unfolds through a series of dramatic encounters, so there's no sudden info dump about what's really going on.

However, there's only so much overwrought teenage angst a narrative can support, and Raiju pushes it to the limit. To be fair, the novel ostensibly targets young adults, and to this end, Kevin may be just the sort of protagonist with whom Ms. Koehler's readers most relate. More objectively, however, the novel suffers from a significant number of spelling, grammar, and usage errors, which add a needless level of discomfort to the experience. Put it all together, and Raiju is a package that is alternately compelling and a bit taxing. It's not very long, though, so it's a quick read, and the monster parts are definitely fun.

Three out of five mangled skyscrapers.

Visit http://khkoehler.wordpress.com/. Buy it today.

Stephen Mark Rainey is the author of the novels Dark Shadows: Dreams of the Dark (with Elizabeth Massie, HarperCollins, 1999), Balak (Wildside Books, 2000), The Lebo Coven (Thomson Gale/Five Star Books, 2004), The Nightmare Frontier (Sarob Press, 2006, and in e-book format by Crossroads Press, 2010), and Blue Devil Island (Thomson Gale/Five Star Books, 2007); three short story collections; and over 80 published works of short fiction. Stephen lives in Greensboro, North Carolina, with a passle of Damned housecats, and over the past year have become an avid Damned geocacher. For updates on what's happening currently, visit The Blog Where Horror Dwells and/or the News page.

Fear the Woods, Book One: How to Make a Vampire, (Skullvines Press), by Jerrod Balzer

The dreaded "V" word. With the vamp market in the state that it is, many dyed in the wool horror fans will drop a book and run away, shrieking in horror the moment they see it on the cover. Worse still when it hangs beneath a bland and borderline cheeseball title. But those who run away from this book will be missing an entertaining little romp.

The forest surrounding Tapperville have a few issues that hikers and nature enthusiasts would do well to keep in mind. The most obvious are the angry locals and the serial killing whack-job wandering from house to house in the guise of a pizza delivery boy but there are much more subtle and sinister forces hiding among the trees. Be sure to watch your feet for the scurrying toes of a headless, undead gerbil and those limbs swaying against the breeze may very well be from a vampiric tree.

If you haven't guessed already, How to Make a Vampire does not take itself all that seriously. If you think of a slightly more restrained version of the Evil Dead 2 (which is directly referenced along with a Wizard of Floyd-style of viewing that I have to try some time) at one point, then you are on the right track. The whole story possesses that crazy "why not?" attitude that encapsulated some of the better cult films of the eighties. The result is a fast, fun read that has me hooked for the follow up.

The characterization is a tad thin and there is no real development of either plot or character to speak of. Of course, this is merely the first part of a serialized novel, so readers shouldn't expect more than they would get out of the first few chapters of a complete story.

Overall, How to Make a Vampire mixes a little bit of silliness in with its scares and it works fairly well, but impatient readers might be better off waiting until more is ready before jumping in.

Visit http://jerrodbalzer.com/. Buy the print version or Kindle version today.

Anton Cancre is one of those rotting, pus-filled thingies on the underside of humanity that your mother always warned you about. He has oozed symbolic word-farms onto the pages of Shroud, Sex and Murder and Horrorbound magazines as well as The Terror at Miskatonic Falls, an upcoming poetry anthology by Shroud Publishing and continues to vomit his oh-so-astute literary opinions, random thoughts and nonsense at antoncancre.blogspot.com. No, he won't babysit you pet shoggoth this weekend. Stop asking.

Joyride, (Leisure Fiction), by Jack Ketchum

Jack Ketchum is one of those guys whose work is either 100% pure hellfire on wheels or it slumps to the floor with a resounding “meh.” For every world destroying, soul crushing work like The Girl Next Door or “The Box” there is an equally unaffecting work like Hide and Seek or “Megan’s Law”. Those last ones aren’t particularly bad, but they lack the depth and liveliness that make the great stuff so damn brilliant. Unfortunately, Joyride falls on the meh side of the road but “Weed Species”, a presumably tacked-on page-filler, makes up for it in a scant 43 pages full of “Glory Be” and “Hallelujah”.

The blurb on the back makes Joyride out to be a harrowing tale of two people, driven to murder by desperation and fear, who find themselves in over their heads when an absolute psychopath decides that they should all be friends and go for a little drive. However, the story itself comes across more like a standard serial killer yarn with the occasional splash of a police procedural. While this isn’t a problem in and of itself, serial killer stories live and die by the reader’s interest in the killer and Wayne gives us no reason to be interested in him. He’s a one-note psycho who destroys everything around him because… well… because he’s crazy. And that is what crazy people do. The only matter of interest is the escalating extremity of his actions, which reduces the whole experience to little more than the violent pornography Jack’s detractors accuse him of.

Then there is “Weed Species”, the plot of which focuses on the exploits of a de rigueur serial killing and raping waste of air. Nothing special there, but the story stands as a thesis on the spread of evil, like and infection or an invasive weed, choking out all that is good and pure in the world. Peppered throughout this chain of terror and pain are little reminders of the horror that occurs daily as a part of the surrounding world, his way of reminding the readers that nothing occurs in a vacuum. Yet there are also reminders of good in the world (a cat repeatedly going into a burning building to save her kittens and tireless attempts to save lives of those on the receiving end of the violence) and even a spot of hope in one victim’s attempt to stop the cycle within herself. This is the type of story Ketchum has built his reputation upon.

Superficially, both of these tales are similar enough orgies of violence and death, but Jack works best when dealing with what lies beneath the surface. On that level, “Weed Species” is the only one that truly satisfies.

Visit www.jackketchum.net. Buy it today.

Anton Cancre is one of those rotting, pus-filled thingies on the underside of humanity that your mother always warned you about. He has oozed symbolic word-farms onto the pages of Shroud, Sex and Murder and Horrorbound magazines as well as The Terror at Miskatonic Falls, an upcoming poetry anthology by Shroud Publishing and continues to vomit his oh-so-astute literary opinions, random thoughts and nonsense at antoncancre.blogspot.com. No, he won't babysit you pet shoggoth this weekend. Stop asking.

"Book of Souls", (Harper Fiction), by Glenn Cooper

Glenn Cooper's "Book of Souls" is a conspiracy-thriller about the United States data-mining an ancient library of books listing the names, births and death of everyone throughout time. Cooper's second installment tracks a long ago missing book from the library, etched with the date 1571 and how it influenced important figures of the past including Nostradamus and Shakespeare.

Cooper's protagonist Will Piper is former FBI, an alcoholic and somewhat reformed womanizer. His second wife is his former partner, Nancy Lipinski, and they have a newborn son, Phillip. Will reveals early on he is not the nurturing type, allowing a babysitter to watch his son while he tries to find ways to entertain himself. Members of the 2027 Club contact him, because the missing book from the library has appeared in England, at an auction from the Cantwell Estate. He declines to help at first, but becomes enthralled after the courier, who delivered the book to the club members, is found dead.

Cooper's writing is tight and well researched. The story elements of international conspiracy, all-knowing government agents, and a mystery spanning hundreds of years mixed well, but seem trite and often predictable. The mystery itself is solved too easily by Will and the Cantwell's linguistic young heiress. The sections involving Shakespeare, Nostradamus, The Cantwell family and the founding of the library are very well done. The story is Dan Brown-esque in content but the characters and settings are better developed.

Visit www.glenncooperbooks.com. Buy it today.

Reviewed by Timothy Remp.