Urban Gothic by Brian Keene

Overview; 

On their way home from a concert six surbanites find themselves lost in Philadelphia with a broken down car.  When they are approached by a group of young black males they flee for safety into an old abandoned house. 

“Kerri had the impression that if she reached her hand out, the darkness would bbe a tangible thing, capable of sticking to her fingers like tar.”

Review;

 Brian Keene’s Urban Gothic is a brutal nearly nonstop grueling horror experience.  Before the first chapter is complete the six kids are in the house, and shit hits the fan.    There is absolutely no safety once in the house.  The teens are in constant danger with the smallest of respites between the attacks from the deformed humanoids within. 

The atmosphere of the story is the real star in this novel.  Every aspect of the house from the sounds smells and feels (the kids frequently find themselves in total darkness) are thoroughly and fully realized.  The creatures dwelling within are some of the most heinous creations in horror fiction bare none. 

One aspect of the story I appreciated the most was the will to survive of the entire cast.  There were no throwaway kills from the cast and it created a much bleaker atmosphere when the kids do everything right (except going into the house) and still end up dying horrible deaths. 

The kids were also a clear weak point as they were not as well developed as the casts of most of Keene’s other works. This is clearly an effect of starting the horror with such speed and fervor, but I can see it irritating some readers.  That is not to say the cast are 2D stock characters.  Their backgrounds are slowly filled in, however compared to other Keene novels they were the least defined characters he has created to my knowledge. 

The story bounces between the kids trapped within the building and the teens outside who are the indirect cause of their flight, trying to save them.  This was one of the most interesting aspects of the novel and was an interesting  technique to break up the near constant action from within the house. 

In the end;

Brian Keene’s Urban Gothic is one of the most relentless tense grueling horror novels I have ever read.  With an atmosphere I could reach out and touch combined with a tough group of survivors this novel will not disappoint those looking for a brutal action packed survival tale. 

Ravenous Monster Reviews Where the Dead Fear to Tread

"It could be a future movie or video game franchise hit that you can brag about having picked up when it was just a humble indie e-book. Give it a chance and you may be surprised to find out Where the Dead Fear to Tread."

Click above for Robert Hibbs full review. 

Shivers aka They Came from Within

Shivers or They Came from Within is David Cronenberg's controversial first film. Combining elements of zombies, nymphomania as well as weird slugs they film holds up incredibly well. If you can buy the premise that the major players share a single massive apartment there is much to enjoy here. The practical effects are great in there subtlety and the eerie atmosphere is top notch. This flick is pretty difficult to find for a reasonable price and impossible to rent, but you can stream it here.

Funding for the film was acquired using a Canadian tax dollars and people were outraged when they saw the final product.  Despite this outrage it's the only flick funded with this program that turned a profit. 

Anno Dracula - The Bloody Red Baron by Kim Newman

"Kim Newman's Anno Dracula is back in print, and we must celebrate. It was the first mash-up of literature, history and vampires, and now, in a world in which vampires are everywhere, it's still the best, and its bite is just as sharp. Compulsory reading, commentary, and mindgame: glorious." - Neil Gaiman

"Politics, horror, and romance are woven together in this brilliantly imagined and realized novel. Newman's prose is a delight, his attention to detail is spellbinding." - Time Out

“Stephen King assumes we hate vampires; Anne Rice makes it safe to love them, because they hate themselves. Kim Newman suspects that most of us live with them… Anno Dracula is the definitive account of that post-modern species, the self-obsessed undead.” - New York Times
It is 1918 and Graf von Dracula is commander-in-chief of the armies of Germany and Austria-Hungary. The war of the great powers in Europe is also a war between the living and the dead. Caught up in the conflict, Charles Beauregard, an old enemy of Dracula, his protégé Edwin Winthrop, and intrepid vampire reporter Kate Reed go head-to-head with the lethal vampire flying machine that is the Bloody Red Baron...
In the brand-new novella Vampire Romance, Genevieve Dieudonne, newly returned to England, infiltrates a singular vampire gathering in the service of the Diogenes Club.

Click below for a review by Sean Lee Levin of She Never Slept

The Frenzy War Gregory Lamberson

Overview;

Two years have passed since the events of The Frenzy Way.  Captain Tony Mace has been publicly disgraced, unable to provide a final account for the Manhattan werewolf. A department scapegoat he is about to be recalled into action when a terrorist group enters Manhattan with the goal of eradicating the entire werewolf species, turning the city into a bloody war zone.  

“Jason looked up, fear evident in his eyes even as his face contorted.”

Review;

Gregory Lamberson’s Frenzy War builds naturally on the ideas first presented in The Frenzy Way.  The few surviving characters are brought back with new additions.  Tony Mace has a full squad backing him up this time, and terrorist group The Brotherhood of Torquemada’s members are fully developed as well.  Mace is the anchor the story revolves around and allows the reader a great window into this world.  From the new cast a standout is Rhonda a werewolf caught up in the war.  Until I picked up this series I always thought of werewolf fiction as the hardest classic monster to write.  Mr. Lamberson has me rethinking this.

Lamberson has an incredibly eye for detail.  His supernatural work contains elements of police procedural, which adds plausibility to the fantastical elements.  His character creation is also superb.  I read horror to provoke a reaction, and Lamberson delivers. A found myself rooting for some of the characters strongly hoping they would survive.   A key to this is Lamberson’s willingness to spend time with the psychological effects of this violence on those around it, not just the graphic gore, though that is included as well. 

The plot has a few great logical reveals and as a reader I never felt cheated.  The action sequences are well conceived and play out cinematically.  His ability to clearly keep track of multiple characters in massive sequences is astounding.  The Frenzy War is a more ambitious novel than The Frenzy Way, and while I generally like smaller scale stories more I found myself enraptured in Lamberson’s story.

In the End;

The Frenzy War further solidifies Gregory Lamberson as one the defining writers in contemporary horror.  He knows how to give horror fans the conventions they love, without falling into cliché.  I devoured this book and if you have any interest in the synopsis I am confident you will as well.  

In the Grindhouse Traditoin...Shadow: Dead Riot

Derek Wan's Shadow: Dead Riot is an affectionate homage to; prisonploitation, sexploitation, Kung Fu and zombie movies.  If you have no interest in any of these sub-genres you will find nothing to like here.

However if this sounds appealing to you on any level you will find much to like here.  The plot revolves around Tony Todd's Shadow being executed for murdering a pregnant woman.  Twenty years later Solitaire played with incredible gusto by Carla Greene is sent to the same prison which no operates as an experimental woman's prison.

The effects are well done, and the kung fu sequences are amazing especially for the budget.  The makers of Shadow: Dead Riot went out and got some of Jackie Chan's crew and it shows.  Carla Greene performs admirably in these sequences and is a true standout in the film.

Shadow: Dead Riot has strong production values for its low budget, and never looks so bad it takes you out of the film.While there are some obvious lapses in logic and a couple plot holes and actions of convenience if you want to see a woman's prison kung fu zombie movies that molds these elements into a clear fast paced coherent film, I challenge you to find another flick meeting all this criteria.  This is a bloody entertaining movie.

This film is available in a DVD two pack with Flesh for the Beast and is filtered to look like a distorted out 70's reel.  Or you can rent it from youtube below.

In the Grindhouse Tradition...Brain Dead

Kevin Tenney's Brain Dead is a film with a very specific audience in mind, and he does not want to disappoint, and he doesn't.  With filmography including Witchboard, and Night of the Demons Tenney knows genre fare.

Brain Dead moves at an incredibly fast pace, wasting no time establishing its characters and set up.  The cast is strong with Joshua Benton's performance great as the semi capable wise ass forced to lead the rag tag group against an alien zombie onslaught.  Michelle Tomlinson also provides a strong role.  The interplay between the assembled group including an adulterous minister an escaped convict and two grad students works well.  This comes from having a group of strong personalities stuck together.  No one is a simple follower or immediate zombie fodder. 

Tenney's action set pieces are strong with a followable sense of movement and incredibly strong practical effects department, especially for low budget fare.  The few horrible CG shots are really the only weakness.

This is not a film that will convert someone to a genre fan, but there is much to appreciate in this little gem.  It held my attention and was not soon forgot.  Click any of the images to watch the film online for free.  Those of you with netflix can also stream it.