Wedding Planning on the Dark Web

 

BRUTE by Eric LaRocca (to be published 3/23/27 by Saga Press / 288 pages)

Ephraim Mayerling is a wedding planner with a dark past, and a current obsession with the dark web. And as he begins planning the wedding of Nicholas and Sebastian, his past comes back to haunt him in ways that may twist even his own warped mind.

LaRocca once again delivers a disturbing tale that at times may gross-out some, but even non-adventurous readers are advised to hold on as a couple of wicked reveals and twists come into play during the second half, which leads to a terrifying finale.

Yet another solid read from one of horror’s finest.

A Demented Dozen

 

THIS IS THE TABLE WHERE WE WASH OUR DEAD by K.H. Vaughan (2026 Corax House / 246 pages)

Here are 12 short stories that each have something different to offer. This single author showcase of weird fiction brings the strange but never loses the reader.

Among my favorites are ‘Unheimlich’, an account of Sigmund Freud’s daughter Anna, who takes care of him and then after his death, his unusual doppleganger. A wonderfully weird alt-history mind-melter. ‘This is What We Get’ is a different take on the police procedural thing, while ‘The Opacity of Saints’ looks at classic horror creatures through a very fresh lens.

‘It’s a Long Walk to the Sea’ features a truly horrifying apocalyptic scenario, and my favorite of the lot is ‘The Projectionist,’ about a cinema veteran who is either seeing ghosts in old film prints or perhaps mentally slipping away. A short but powerful piece.

These stories display Vaughan’s range, as most of the entries stand on their own. If variety is your thing, you can’t go wrong with Vaughan’s demented dozen.