Darkened by Bryan Smith

Darkened is Bryan Smith’s truly unique look at the apocalypse. The fabric of reality is beginning to disintegrate. As black slits begin to form in our world’s existence hordes of winged beasts slip through creating complete chaos and unthinkable destruction. There are only a few lone survivors and just as these lucky souls think they have weathered the storm- they realize that there is an evil lurking that is far worse than anything any of them could have imagined.

Darkened is everything I want in a post-apocalyptic story and then some. Smith heaps on the carnage and terror while keeping the story moving with characters that are genuinely engaging. The thing really chugged along at a brisk pace- inviting you to keep reading until you’ve hit the last page. Darkened never got distracted from its main purpose which was to tell one wild story. We weren’t subjected to long winded descriptions of the destruction and there were no extraneous internal monologues that left the reader yawning. Smith started the action early, delivered some skull crushing blows and got out before the reader knew what hit them. It was a total blast!

Darkened only confirms what I have known for some time now which is Bryan Smith is a brilliant force to be reckoned with. I’ve heard this tossed around from time to time but Darkened really cemented it for me- Bryan Smith is the heir apparent to the thrown of Laymon.

Recommended for some good ol’ fashioned end of the world brutality!

Pick it up here ! Go enter the contest here.

Johnny Gruesome by Greg Lamberson

Johnny Gruesome a novel that EVERY horror fan should read. Greg Lamberson has crafted a fast paced revenge tale that borrows from some of the genres most timeless conventions and creates a novel that is filled with tons of original adrenaline driven energy.

Johnny Grissom -Johnny Gruesome to most- is your typical heavy metal high school kid. He drives fast, parties hard and fights often. He likes to drink, get high and he adores Romero’s “Holy Trinity”. Basically, he is the cool kid that everyone loves to hate. All of that changes when Johnny’s car is discovered in Willow Creek with Johnny’s lifeless body inside. Then strange things start to happen- members of the quiet town of Red Hill are showing up dead and it appears that the town’s undead outcast may be involved.

Johnny Gruesome is the literary equivalent of an all-out air guitar session of unearthly proportions. It is pure rock and roll excess laced with the hardcore gore of 80’s horror. Johnny is violent, reckless and extremely funny. At his funniest he is reminiscent of Freddy Kruger and at his most brutal he seems more like the soulless Leatherface. In short, he is an amalgamation of all of those horror icons that haunted our youth while still retaining his own identity.

The book is an extremely easy read because it grabs you by the throat and throws you right into the action and keeps you pinned down until the final page. Lamberson knows how to keep the pacing tight without sacrificing the story. He can graphically describe the beheading of a young boy and then delicately delve into the inner emotional turmoil of teenagers. These two extremes take place in the span of about 20 pages with a very fluid and smooth style that really makes Lamberson’s style unique and approachable. Despite the length, Johnny Gruesome is easily “one sitting” material.

It comes as no surprise that Greg Lamberson is also an accomplished film director. His writing has a distinct cinematic quality to it- paying attention to the little details. Instead of simply mentioning a gym light, Lamberson describes the shape of the light fixture and the sound the halogen makes as it sparks to life. He doesn’t simply tell the story; he brings you into it by painting such a vivid picture. This makes the humor and the horror all the better!

Greg Lamberson has given us something truly special with Johnny Gruesome. He created an extremely likeable and funny villain in Johnny and told his story with a remarkable attention to detail. Lamberson is certainly an author to keep an eye out for.

Highly recommended!

Go pick it up here!

The Resurrectionist by Wrath James White

The Resurrectionist is a truly original novel by Wrath James White. The story unfolds around Dale- a scrawny serial killer who has the uncanny ability to bring people back from the dead. In the process of resurrecting the dead he wipes out the moments leading up to their death. The plot plays out like a tightly woven super hero story- there is a well crafted origin story, some amazing super powers and a lowly schlub that no one would ever think of as extraordinary. The difference here is that the super hero also happens to be the villain who uses his God-given super powers to commit unspeakable acts of violence. This is where the whole moral dilemma lies. Who would give a despicable human being this miraculous power? White does a remarkable job exploring the implications of that question without ever coming across as preachy or condescending. He addresses religion with enough reverence that the reader is able explore the question within the confines of their own faith without feeling pressured into coming up with a concrete answer. It takes a truly unique writer to create these feelings within a reader.

Wrath James White is a talent unlike any other. I’ve read plenty of hardcore horror but rarely has it challenged me in the way that The Resurrectionist has. The story dissects the impulses and reasons for our own personal impulses and addictions. I think we can all see a bit of ourselves in Dale’s unsettling preoccupation with his “beloved”. We all have cast aside the concepts of responsibility and consequence when we become truly obsessed with something. Sure, it may pale in comparison to Dale’s obsessions but it is a mysterious human emotion we can all relate to and Wrath brings that to light in a very delicate and interesting way.

The Resurrectionist is not for everyone. It is graphic, bloody and ultra-violent but it is also challenging and graceful in its brutality. Wrath has successfully crafted an extreme tale of horror that should be accessible to most fans of the genre. He has done such a wonderful job with this title that there is little doubt in my mind that Wrath James White is the new king of hardcore horror!

Highly recommended!

Check out Wrath over at The Keenedom and Words of Wrath. Pick up The Resurrectionist
here.