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"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..."
To learn more about the Exciting CD recording of some of J.L. Comeau's best stories, Click Here!
(Clicking on the covers gives you more information and prices from Amazon.com and other outlets.)
It's summertime here in the Western Hemisphere, and readers are wondering which books to take with them when they head out on vacation. Myself, I'll be hunkered down here in the cool, damp funk of the Tomb, but I've picked a couple of titles that you vacationers--and stay-at-homers, too!--will enjoy no matter where you read them!
WONDERFUL WORLD by Javier Calvo
This is a big, juicy, crazy, clever, amazing, mind-blowing, weird, scary, sexy, funny, violent, mysterious, kick-ass romp of a novel that I could not put down once I read the first page. Written at a frantic pace, Mr. Calvo has crafted a marvel of narrative switchbacks set in present-day Barcelona, Spain. The story concerns a young man, Lucas Giraut, who comes into a large inheritance from his mysterious and inattentive father, Lorenzo, whom Lucas has spent his life trying to impress, eventually becoming an antiques and arts thief. Trying to wrest away Lucas's inheritance is his Mother, Fanny, whose many surgical enhancements have turned her into a creature whose face has become as monstrous as her soul. Also involved in Lucas's life is his friend and neighbor, Valentina, an oddly precocious twelve-year-old girl whose Stephen King mania borders on pathology. Considering herself to be Europe's foremost Stephen King expert, Valentina is jubilantly awaiting Stephen King's next novel, WONDERFUL WORLD. Lucas spends hours listening to Valentina's violent fantasies of revenge against her teachers and classmates, and delighting in her obsession with Stephen King. Fixated on his father's downfall, Lucas begins to discern clues from excerpts from the new Stephen King novel, from his dreams and other fantastical sources. Soon Lucas finds himself embroiled in a noirish nightmare collection of underground thugs, and planning a major art heist while hot on the trail of his father's betrayers. An outlandish assortment of mobsters, strippers and netherworld types drive the plot forward in completely unpredictable directions. Wildly entertaining and breathlessly inventive, Spanish writer Javier Calvo's first novel translated to English is sure to click with fans of Pynchon, Vonnegut, Palahniuk, and Philip K. Dick. 
EX-KOP by Warren Hammond
If you're looking for a grab-you-by-the-throat, heart-pounding reading experience, you will love the science fiction mystery and shoot-em-up thrill ride within the covers of EX-KOP. Roaring back from the debut novel KOP, this sequel finds former cop Juno Mozambe in forced early retirement on his poverty-stricken home planet, Lagarto, where corruption is king and criminal enterprise rules. Juno is a drunken wreck of a has-been drowning in a sea of hospital bills engendered by his wife's suicide attempt. The year is 2788 and the town of Koba is a gritty backwater Earth colony controlled by crime lords. Juno, having been fired by the Koba Office of Police and trying to make ends meet as a tabloid photographer, is hired as a private investigator by his former police partner, Maggie Orzo, to check out the circumstances of a young woman convicted of the murders of her parents and condemned to execution. Maggie believes the girl is innocent and prods her reluctant former police partner into an investigation that will lead the two of them into the dirty back alleys of Koba's nefarious underworld. Juno has misgivings about Maggie's new partner, Ian, and when the clues Juno picks up all lead in Ian's direction, all hell begins to break loose. Old enemies materialize from the past and threaten not only Juno's investigation, but his life. This is satisfying hardboiled science fiction noir that drags the reader deep into the swirling darkness of Koba's seething criminal culture. Stylishly violent and techno savvy, EX-KOP is a fine stand-alone sequel that will appeal to fans of SF, noir and mystery.
Horror comes in many flavors, TombRats! Tonight we're sampling a pair of sumptuously horrific novels of psychological terror about people on the edge of madness. Yummy!
PRESSURE by Jeff Strand
Magnificently twisted Florida writer Jeff Strand has penned a jaw-dropping page-turner of manic psycho-horror that will make you think twice before making friends with that odd but strangely attractive stranger you met recently… When young Alex Fletcher allows friends to goad him into stealing a pack of condoms, he gets caught and is subsequently whisked off to boarding school by his dismayed parents. Little do they know that sending Alex off to Branford Academy will put their son on a collision course with a strange young fellow named Darren Rust who will change Alex's life forever--and not for the better, that's for sure. Alex, being a shy guy in a new school, is a perfect target for weirdo Darren, whose weirdness doesn't fully bloom until he and Alex enter college. By that time, Darren has become a full fledged homicidal maniac who insists that Alex join in the wetwork. When Alex falls in love with a young woman, Darren is not pleased with the relationship and ratchets up his friendship with Alex to a bloody murder freakout. Somehow, Jeff Strand manages to make this graphic rampage somehow fun. Think I'm kidding? Sample grab: "Choppie, choppie, choppie… And the head goes ploppie". Excellent. Pop this bad boy into your backpack or beach bag when you head out for vacation this year and, no matter how hot the locale, PRESSURE will put some ice on your spine. How cool is that? For more about Jeff Strand, head over to his Gleefully Macabre website at www.JeffStrand.com.
COVER by Jack Ketchum
Writer Jack Ketchum conjures gripping dark tales of psychological horror that strike the reader dead-bang in the ultimate terror zone where our most instinctive and subconscious fears reside. He scores a bull's eye with Leisure's reissue of his classic, COVER, a hold-your-breath page-flipper about a haunted man who becomes the ultimate hunter. Lee Moravian is a Viet Nam vet who has been psychologically devastated by his wartime experiences. Lee returns from the war a haunted and scarred survivor whose life has become an inescapable vortex of anxiety that poisons everything he touches. When his wife leaves him, taking their son, Lee retreats to the deep woods where his handle on reality begins to slip, plunging him into spiral of escalating madness and paranoia. He becomes the quintessential loner, losing all contact with society and civilization. Highly trained in survival and combat and immersed in wartime delusions, Lee becomes the consummate human killing machine. It's a very bad day for everyone involved when a group of campers unknowingly encroach upon his wilderness solitude, because Lee sees the intruders as the enemy--and the enemy must be eliminated. And the war is on. With inimitable verve and brio, Mr. Ketchum narrates in understated, elegant prose a graphically horrific tale of utter madness and claustrophobic terror. In a word, masterful. You may visit Mr. Ketchum at his online incarnation, www.JackKetchum.com.
The Bram Stoker Awards for 2008's Best Horror have been presented, and we at Creature Feature extend our heartiest congratulations to the winners! We know how hard you worked for those little haunted houses, and we all enjoyed your work down here in the Tomb. Lurch upstairs to the Library for a listing of the winners and purchase links to the winning books! And now we move on to this year's potential Stoker winners. Ready for some small town horror, TombRats? Here we go:
CRIMSON by Gord Rollo
Gord Rollo's debut novel, THE JIGSAW MAN, received rave reviews here and elsewhere, and his second novel, CRIMSON, proves that this new horror author can deliver a crowd-pleasing slice of the dark stuff more than once. CRIMSON opens in the year 1967 in a small Canadian town, Dunnville, where a young boy and his mom move into a notorious neighborhood house where a brutal murder occurred in the mid-1950s. The story is that in 1955 a man named Jacob Harrison killed his entire family and was subsequently arrested after killing a co-worker, but the local kids know that there is much more to that story. Befriending Johnny despite their fear of the house where he lives, three local boys agree to stay over at Johnny's for a sleep-over, and unwittingly awaken a slumbering creature, a creature whose relentless evil will follow them into adulthood. But only three of the four boys will survive the creature's onslaught of terror. When a maelstrom of murder most heinous strikes the town of Dunnville, Johnny is arrested and sent to prison where he is actually relieved to be finally out of the clutch of the monster. Not so fast, Johnny, your story isn't over yet--not by a long-shot. If you enjoyed Stephen King's IT and Dan Simmons's SUMMER OF NIGHT, you will certainly enjoy this coming-of-age supernatural horror tale from the fiendishly talented Mr. Rollo. For more about the author, please visit his website at www.gordqrollo.com.
THE BONE FACTORY by Nate Kenyon
Here's another great novel of supernatural terror set in a small Canadian town. As a new hydropower plant gears up for its maiden run in Jackson, Quebec, David Pierce moves his family to Jackson to take a job at the plant. Jackson has always been a sleepy little burg, but soon after the Pierces arrive, a series of hideous and very mysterious deaths begin to occur. A farmer is found ripped to shreds in his field. A little girl goes missing. A veritable chamber of death is discovered out in the woods. David Pierce and his family have not been involved in any it, but their little girl has been plagued by horrible nightmares and visions of a "blue man", a homicidal maniac who does terrible, terrible things. Something quite odd is going on at the hydropower plant, and the owners are keeping it quiet. David and Helen Pierce find themselves in the center of whirling storm of horror, blood and death. And the terror is coming for them. Wonderfully paced and written, Mr. Kenyon has penned another graphic and chilling novel that will keep readers up late into the night. This novel has not yet been published, but you can get in on the horror early by clicking on the cover to pre-order your copy. For more about Nate Kenyon, head over to his online home at www.natekenyon.com.
This week, your funky and fractious old TombKeeper has selected a pair of SF novels whose plots hinge on dazzling, scientifically sound extrapolations of current tech: A.I. and nanotechnology. Get ready for some mind-blowing fiction, TombCadets. Ready? Three…two…one… 
SATURN'S CHILDREN by Charles Stross
Charles Stross's fiction marries a first class scientific mind with a ferocious writing talent that produces some of the most absorbing and mind-bending science fiction being published today. In his new novel, SATURN'S CHILDREN, he honors his literary heroes--Clarke, Asimov and Heinlein--with grand space opera for science-savvy readers. Prefacing SATURN'S CHILDREN with Isaac Asimov's venerable Three Laws of Robotics, Mr. Stross launches the reader into the 23rd century when humankind's dream of space exploration and colonization has been realized. Alas, the explorers and colonists are entirely robotic because humans have long been extinct. In our absence, the robots we originally conceived and built have developed self-awareness, and their consciousness has brought them all the glories and, indeed, drawbacks of human emotion and intellect. Driving the plot of SATURN'S CHILDREN is an empathic sexbot named Freya, whose enslavement and low ranking places her in a state of constant persecution by her higher ranking cousins and their chibi minions. Freya is desperate to escape her miserable existence on Venus, and when a stranger offers her a getaway plan by which she will transport an insignificant-looking small package from Mercury to Mars, she jumps at the offer. There is a problem with the plan, however; the package might contain elements which could reconstitute and restore the human race, a restoration that many of Freya's brethren will do anything to prevent. Spectacularly imagined and compellingly written, SATURN'S CHILDREN successfully and entertainingly explores intelligence, consciousness and what makes a being human. For more about the brilliant Mr. Stross , you'll find him online at http://www.antipope.org/charlie. 
WATERMIND by M. M. Bruckner
Philip K. Dick Award winning author M. M. Buckner has penned a thrilling tale near-future novel of eco-terror that pivots on the illegal dumping of tech and bio refuse that ends up in the Mississippi River. Enter M.I.T. graduate school dropout C. J. Reilly, currently trying to out-distance her problems by running south, where she and her zydeco musician boyfriend, Max, find work helping to clean up a toxic spill near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. C. J. knows something is definitely wrong when she encounters a strange expanse of ice covering Devil's Pond. After analyzing a sample, she finds that the substance comprising the ice has the mysterious ability to purify water, even the horribly polluted water of Devil's Pond. And not only that, the sample responds to music as if it is somehow alive. And sentient! Little does C. J. know (but is about to find out) all of the nanotech/drug/bio/tech refuse dumped into the river has coalesced into a living liquid creature that has developed a form of consciousness. When the creature kills a human, the owner of the pond is determined to destroy the creature, but C. J. is determined to save it. WATERMIND is a suspenseful and action-packed sf/horror monster tale with heart and intelligence. Skillfully written and paced, this character-driven story breathes new life into the concept that we humans are generally the architects of our own worst nightmares. Not yet published, you may pre-order your copy from Amazon.com by clicking on the cover graphic. For more about this new and exciting author, please visit www.mmbuckner.com.
This week, TombRats, we're tripping the dark fantastic with a grand fantasy fiction from two inimitable masters of the genre, Gene Wolfe and Charles De Lint! 
THE BEST OF GENE WOLFE by Gene Wolfe
Subtitled "A Definitive Retrospective of His Finest Short Fiction ", this monumental collection of stories from the legendary winner of just about every science fiction and fantasy award that exists is an amazing portal into the fictional worlds of a brilliant mind. It's not often that the scifi/fantasy reader finds stunning prose wedded to such mind-bending concepts. The tales included in THE BEST OF GENE WOLFE were selected by the author himself and collects forty years of staggering short fiction in 31 tales that have appeared in genre publications all over the world. Perhaps most famous for his "Sun" novels, fans of Mr. Wolfe's full-length fiction will be delighted with his short stories, which always strikes me as novel-length fiction compressed into short form, so packed are they with ideas and characterization. "The Island of Dr. Death and Other Stories" is fantasy fiction on the edge of reality, a tale of a young boy whose mother is a drug addict and the terrible price he pays for her addiction. "The Fifth Head of Cerberus" tells the tale of guardianship of a very personal hell, the claustrophobic, Kafkaesque "Forlesen" captures the seeming eternity of the office-worker milieu, and "The Eyeflash Miracles" is the unsettling tale of a blind man who can see…certain things in a certain way. Also included are a host of powerful, significant stories that have influenced fiction: "Petting Zoo", The Detective of Dreams", "A Cabin on the Coast", and to name a few. The tone and style of these stories are as astonishing as the dazzling concepts, ranging from noirish detective to the borderlands of horror to edgy urban fantasy. THE BEST OF GENE WOLFE is an astounding collection from an author who never fails to engage the mind and satisfy the soul. 
THE MYSTERY OF GRACE by Charles De Lint
Considered by many to be the originator of the genre now called "urban fantasy", Charles De Lint's delightful, heartfelt and engrossing novels are set in mythic cities that somehow function on the supernatural plane. THE MYSTERY OF GRACE is set in the American Southwest where Altagracia (Grace) Quintero, a young working-class woman who customizes classic hot rods for a living, is randomly murdered during a bodega robbery while on a trip to buy a pack of cigarettes. Grace awakens in her apartment, but she is now trapped in a strange afterlife. Existence on any plane being a perverse thing, it is ironic when Grace finally meets her soul mate, artist John Burns--a living man, just two weeks after death. And Grace is not the only one with otherworldly issues; John is haunted by the death of a family member for which he feels responsible. When Grace suddenly disappears from his life as suddenly she appeared, John makes inquiries and discovers that Grace is recently deceased. There are certain magical nights when the dead appear on the mortal plane--The Day of the Dead and All Hallow's Eve--and John decides to wait for Grace's reappearance on the night of Samhain. Is it possible for their love to transcend time and dimensions? Mr. De Lint explores the many dimensions of love and the importance of knowing when to hold on for dear life and when to let go. Beautifully wrought with humor and heart, THE MYSTERY OF GRACE is a magical tale of love and mystery set in an entirely believable world of urban fantasy that only Charles De Lint is capable of creating. For more about the author, please visit www.charlesdelint.com.
Tonight I present two volumes from one of my all-time favorite writers of dark fantasy thrillers and straight-up horror, F. Paul Wilson, who also created my very favorite serial fiction character, Repairman Jack. Are you looking for an aerobic workout without leaving your reading chair? Strap yourselves in, TombRats, here it comes!
GROUND ZERO by F. Paul Wilson
Good news and bad news, Repairman Jack fans. Good news is that GROUND ZERO, the 13th Repairman Jack novel is another brilliantly conceived and written rock-your-socks-off thrill ride that brings the reader closer to a resolution of the cosmic mysteries that have been swirling around Jack. Bad news is that the series is drawing to a close. NOOOOOO! Only two more RJ novel after this one, TombRats, and I am crushed. However, as Mr. Wilson tells us in his introduction, he has a story to tell and the telling is almost finished. GROUND ZERO opens on that most notorious day in American History, 9/11/01. As raging fires engulf the twin towers, a man in a small boat floating past the scene removes a box from his pocket and presses a button, secure in the knowledge that no one will ever be able to figure out what really happened to the towers. Years after the tower attacks, someone has figured it out and has been anonymously posting her theories on the Internet. But not for long. Her identity has been cracked and assassins are on the way. Enter New York's quintessential shadow fix-it man, Jack, who quickly finds himself embroiled in the manifold conspiracy theories surrounding the events of 9/11. With the help of childhood friends and Jack insiders Eddie and Weezy, Jack protects the girl with the answers to the 9/11 tragedy, and traces the events of that day to a larger and more ominous series of events that will tip the balance of the planet and, indeed, the cosmos. GROUND ZERO is a breathlessly paced whirlwind of suspense that drives the Repairman Jack story relentlessly forward toward the mother of all cataclysms. This novel is due to be published very soon by Gauntlet Press, I urge you to click the cover and pre-order copy of this novel while they're still available. Be warned that these novels always sell out prior to publication, so don't drag your feet, okay? You've been warned. For more about the author and his fabulously entertaining and addicting fiction, head on over to www.RepairmanJack.com. 
AFTERSHOCK & OTHERS: 19 ODDITIES by F. Paul Wilson
In this, his third--and quite possibly last (oh, no!)--short story collection, F. Paul Wilson pulls together a stunning array of his fiction arranged along the timeline they were written, dating between 1990 and 2005. The collection opens with "Dream", in which a nightmare sufferer discovers that he is someone quite remarkable. "The November Game" is a Bradbury tribute story that, if anything, trumps the master. "When He Was Fab" is a straight-out B-movie horror tale involving a feckless disco dork, and "Foet" is a quiet screamer about the nature of fashion. Mr. Wilson tells a truly scary tale of Germany's tumultuous Weimar period in "Aryans and Absinthe", and imagines a dismal future healthcare system in "Offshore". A tale of insidious terror, "Lysing Toward Bethlehem", penned in 1997 and written from the point of view of a fatal, sentient virus, is even scarier now in 2009. Two stories I had not previously read, "Sex Slaves of the Dragon Tong" and "Part of the Game", are thrilling noir-style pulp fiction reminiscent of 1950s film serials and full-on action stories. The title story, "Aftershock", which won a well-deserved Bram Stoker Award, chronicles the diaphanous nature of time and the solid authenticity of dread. My favorite story in this dazzling collection has to be "Interlude at Duane's", starring my favorite serial fiction character and long-standing lust object, Repairman Jack! Our man Jack finds himself trapped in a drug store with four stone-cold killers--and he's without his usual weapons! Jack's gonna have to McGyver himself out of an insanely tight situation, believe me, and you will forget to breathe while you're reading this story, whew. AFTERSHOCK & OTHERS is a veritable book of wonders that showcases F. Paul Wilson's inimitable gifts for characterization and storytelling. Although I generally dislike this overworked, undervalued word, it's the only word that fits: Awesome. You can keep up with the author by accessing his Twitter account at http://twitter.com/fpaulwilson. Seems he's been experiencing a pesky triffid invasion at his property on the Jersey shore lately. Good luck with that, dude.
The TombKeeper has a story in this
anthology that's to benefit the "Scares That Care" Charity. For more details, just click on the cover!
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.
Become the Tomb Keeper's Apprentice!
The Tomb Keeper could use some help, and you could become her apprentice by recommending--in 25 words or less--your favorite horror, fantasy, or science fiction book currently in print. If chosen, you will be named The Tomb Keeper's Apprentice and your name and recommendation will appear on The Tomb WebPage for a period not to exceed one month. In addition, I will sneak out to you an autographed photo of Count Gore De Vol!
EMAIL YOUR RECOMMENDATION TO THE TOMBKEEPER
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.
You are invited to visit the Tomb Keeper's very own website, by clicking on the eyes below!
To learn more about the Horror Writer's Association, just click on their logo!
J.
L. Comeau has enlisted actress Leanna Chamish to record several of her horrific stories on CD.To here a Real Audio sample of this exciting new release, click on the cover image below!
For more information on how to purchase this CD, Click Here!
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