Review by Ben Arzate The Isle of Flowers is covered with cherry blossom trees, the primary resource of its inhabitants. Every winter, or “the Cold” as they call it, freezing lotus flowers bloom, requiring them to burn the trees for warmth. The trees, however, are starting to thin out. What’s worse, sea creatures called “tourists”
Sad Discoveries Good poetry, especially in the small press world, is difficult to come by. I don’t intend this as an attack on small presses in any way; take it as a testimony to the difficulty of writing poetry that truly resonates with readers. Poetry requires more than mere images. The image, after all, doesn’t
Review by Bob Freville Duncan P. Bradshaw’s Mr. Sucky is very funny and very British. From its first paragraphs, we are graced with a scenario straight out of a Monty Python episode. By that, I mean that Bradshaw takes familiar imagery and subverts expectations with hilariously matter-of-fact horror that’s at once bust-a-gut funny and uber-cringey.
Review by Zakary McGaha 3.5/5 stars. This is a stellar collection of short stories and flash from one of indie lit’s most enthusiastic readers/reviewers. Every story has something to like about it, but some definitely stick out more than others. The style of prose is on the minimalistic side of things, which I uniformly loathe,
By Bob Freville 1. Kathe Koja Long before modern readers embraced the brutal, gut-churning minimalism of Chuck Palahniuk, Kathe Koja introduced a clipped literary style to speculative fiction that was brusque, brave and fringe before fringe was really a thing. A prominent figure during the 90s genre paperback boom, Koja made a name for herself
By Ben Arzate Welcome to the first installment of “The Unreprinted,” wherein I discuss out-of-print books of every genre. For this initial discussion, we’ll be taking a look at the cult erotic horror novel by author and film critic Tim Lucas, Throat Sprockets. “A city without theaters is a guilty city; it is a place
“Death Obsessed” by Robert Essig Review by Zakary McGaha 4.5/5 stars. Death Obsessed is, without a doubt, one of the best indie horror books I’ve read in a while. Usually, I’m really easy to please when it comes to horror, and it takes a lot for me to say a book is really bad. Consequently,
by Zakary McGaha 3.8/5 Amber Fallon came to my attention with all that social media drama not too long ago, so I felt compelled to look up what really matters: her fiction. The Warblers is the type of book you read in one sitting. The way it’s written pulls you into the story and forces
By Bob Freville At 62, controversial French novelist Michel Houellebecq continues to rankle the literary community with his caustic post-modern novels, banal poetry, musical vanity projects and mundane photography. For those unfamiliar with the author’s style, imagine Andrew Dice Clay if he was raised on a steady diet of hookers, Valium and Voltaire. His voice
by Bob Freville “And I’ve got good news for you! This gospel of clean and aggressive strength is spreading everywhere in this country among the finest type of youth. Why today, in 1936, there’s less than 7 percent of collegiate institutions that do not have military-training units under discipline as rigorous as the Nazis,
