"Welcome to Count Gore De Vol's Tomb of Dark Delights. I'm J. L. Comeau, horror writer and resident Tomb Keeper. I have been charged with the daunting task of sorting and cataloging the Count's vast library of horror, science fiction and fantasy. Take a torch from the wall and follow me down the stone stairway into the darkness deep beneath the Dungeon. It's cold and damp down here--perfect for the kind of reading we're going to do. Never mind the shambling figures in the shadows, they're probably just some friends of ours looking for a good book. If you click on the cover, you'll be taken to a wonderful place where you can buy the book.
Now, let's reach into the musty stacks and see what we can find..."
(Clicking on the covers gives you more information and prices from Amazon.com and other outlets.)
NAUGHTY
LADIES poetry by Marge Simon, art by Sandy DeLuca
VAMPIRES
ZOMBIES & WANTON SOULS by Marge Simon and Sandy DeLuca
Simon and Deluca have teamed up again, and when these two
authors/poets/artists collaborate on a project, expect no less than a
supernova of words and imagery! Empowered, fully formed women of
supernatural origins stalk the pages of this high-octane collection of
Marge Simon’s incendiary poems and Sandy DeLuca’s mind-blowing artwork.
The women who stalk these pages are dangerous and beautiful--vamps,
Goths, ghosts, zombies, mythical monsters, ferocious lovers. Each poem
by Marge Simon is faced on the opposite page by a vibrant accompanying
illustration by Sandy DeLuca in such a way that both words and imagery
enhance each other in remarkable harmony. This is a brilliant tour de
force in which each flip of the page creates and explosion of wordplay
and artistry. Visionary poems and vivid illustrations come together for
intensely pleasurable reading. And hey, that’s not all! The lucky reader
will find two short stories at the end of book: Sandy DeLuca’s “Tricks
of Light” and Marge Simon’s “Confessions of a Visually Challenged
Vampire”, both wonderful tales. If you are a fan of grand dark poetry
and amazing art, this is a collection you will return to again and
again.
THE
MAD HATTERY by Marge Simon and Sandy DeLuca
Two of dark fantasy’s finest practitioners have collaborated to produce
a trippy, funny, spooky, subversive, uplifting and thoroughly
entertaining illustrated poetry collection all about…hats! In this wild
and free volume about women’s chapeaus, you’ll find black hats, red
hats, old hats, new hats, fantasy hats, gardener’s hats, spiritual hats,
witch’s hats, voodoo hats and more! Marge Simon’s sublime poetry is
accented to perfection by Sandy Deluca’s brilliantly-hued illustrations
that dig deep into the heart of what it is to be a woman. Free-spirited,
beautiful, transcendent and invigorating, Simon and DeLuca break into
the fantasy realms of female life and sisterhood that make us sing and
laugh with joy. In a compelling introduction, the author and artist
discuss the genesis of this volume, which alerts the reader to the heady
wildness within. Rejoice in THE MAD HATTERY, as I did. Men: you will
better understand the female heart. Women: you will want to rediscover
your favorite hat and dance, dance, dance!
Horror and dark fantasy are often categorized into a ghetto of non-literary authorship. Balderdash! Here are a couple of wonderfully literary horror novels that everyone will enjoy, from young adults to creaky old Tombkeepers. Look!
CHALLENGER
DEEP by Neal Shusterman
This novel is marketed toward young adults, however, this is a
broad-ranging novel about one young man’s battle with mental illness
that will resonate with readers of all ages. Partially based on the
author’s experiences with his own son, this novel chronicles the
metaphorical and phantasmagorical journey of 14-year-old Caden Bosh as
he descends into a nightmarish schizophrenia. Caden’s story is an
inner-fantasy quest to reach the bottom of Challenger Deep, an abyss
that the bottom of the sea. As Caden’s mental health deteriorates and he
is hospitalized, his inner journey takes on epic proportions, taking him
deeper and deeper into his mind, searching for the magical destination
that is his way out, his salvation. Caden becomes the artist on the ship
of his soul, and the novel is filled with imagery created by the author
that depicts Caden’s voyage. Caden comes to a crossroads in his fantasy
and reality when his allegiance to the captain of the ship in which he
travels becomes a desire for mutiny. Captivating and beautiful, this is
a fantasy for everyone reminiscent of THE LIFE OF PI.
THE
UNNOTICEABLES by Robert Brockway
Anyone who has been online for any amount of time is familiar with
Cracked.com, am I right? Here is a novel from the senior editor of that
venerable and utterly readable website, Robert Brockway, and, and you
might have expected, this novel is hip, hilarious, scary,
up-to-the-second, irreverent, and compulsively readable. Carey is a
punker located in 1977 New York City. As you might imagine, he is a
sardonic little bastard who enjoys crappy beer and brawling. Through a
haze of booze and drugs, he begins to recognize that some kids on the
street are not entirely recognizable, and those kids are called “tar
monsters”, and the tar monsters are killing off his friends. Fast
forward to 2013: Kaitlyn is a stuntwoman who is not entirely pleased
with the way her life is progressing, particularly when a washed-out
teen idol tried to cannibalize her during a sexual encounter. What? Now
her best friend is missing and there’s an angel hanging around her
apartment entrance. So it seems that angels and demons are locked in a
deadly battle and only she and punk kid Carey can forestall the end of
the world. Good luck to all of us. Crazy funny and filled with
laugh-out-loud moments, this is a horror novel for Cracked.com fans of
all ages.
To
get even more information about these titles, including some of the best prices
on the Internet, just click on each of the book covers and you'll be connected
to
To visit the individual writer's website, just click on any underlined name.
About the Tomb Keeper (Or, who is this person of mystery)
J. L. (Judy) Comeau is an award winning short story writer whose work has appeared internationally in major horror and dark fantasy anthologies such as the Borderlands series, Best New Horror, The Years' Best Horror, the Hot Blood series, and the Dark Voices series in the UK. She is an active member of the Horror Writer's Association, and she lives in the Washington, DC area where she also teaches short story writing. Click on FIREBIRD to read one of her most anthologized stories.
To learn more about the Horror Writer's Association, just click on their logo!
