An original, satisfying thriller

 

PICTURES OF YOU by Josh Malerman (to be released 9/8/26 by Del Rey / 288 pages)

Emily wakes up one day after a great night out with her fiancé, Jack. But she’s not in their hotel room, Jack is nowhere to be found, and as she attempts to get up, a female voice commands her to remain still. At the foot of her bed is a picture frame … with no canvas. Just a frame.

Malerman’s latest is a crash course in psychosis, a tense, claustrophobic thriller centered around jealousy and creativity, complete with a nifty reveal after the halfway point. It’s a departure from his terrifying previous novel, INCIDENTS AROUND THE HOUSE, but no less satisfying in the nightmare its protagonists are put through.

This original, quick-moving tale can be binged in a sitting or two.

A Worthy Sequel…

 

AMITYVILLE AWAKENS by Robert P. Ottone (to be released 10/6/26 by Clash Books / 314 pages)

After a demolition crew tears down the infamous Amityville Horror House, not only do the workers seemingly vanish, but the evil within the house walls is now freed to spread chaos across the rest of the neighborhood and a nearby town.

There’s a lot going on here (maybe a bit too much), told from several character’s viewpoints, but the author keeps things fun and occasionally spooky, as ghosts, wisps, possessions, and anxiety take hold of the colorful cast. While a similar idea was attempted in John Jones’ forgettable AMITYVILLE: THE EVIL ESCAPES (1988 Tudor), Ottone’s take is more in line with Doug Clegg’s terrifying THE ABANDONED (2005 Leisure), as we see evil pouring out of a haunted house and into a town to run amuck. One scene dealing with a possession inside a hospital’s pediatric ward is the highlight here, and should have most readers biting their nails.

This addition to the never-ending line of Amityville film and novel sequels is a big step above most of them.

Remains Issue Four

 

REMAINS (Issue Four)

Andy Cox, editor of the excellent BLACK STATIC magazine, has returned with REMAINS, featuring 100 full colour pages of brand new fiction, with art by Richard Wagner in each issue. I missed out on the first two, found issue three excellent, and have just finished reading the latest, which you can get at Remains 4. For those not in the know, BLACK STATIC was a top notch UK-based magazine for short horror fiction, published from 2007-2021 (and before that, it was known as THE THIRD ALTERNATIVE, going back to 1994). I rarely missed an issue, and was among the many saddened when it ceased publication. But REMAINS is every bit as good, as evidenced by this latest issue.

Opener HEAVYNESS, a hard hitting novelette by Seán Padraic Birnie, deals with a physically disadvantaged boy and his equally as disadvantaged sister. A deep, dark study of loss and preservation.

The short stories begin with HEARSTEN LAKE by Kay Vaindal, in which three people scout out an area to be the location of their new company. Vaindal spins the “haunted grounds” trope on its head and delivers a wicked finale.

STATION TO STATION by Stephen Bacon features a man searching for his lost lover in an underground labyrinth of both physical and mental realms. One of the best of the lot.

In my favorite this issue, DEVELOPMENT CONVERSATION by Stephen Hargadon, We meet a quiet old employee, the kind you find at any office job. But Hargadon’s view on how this person comes to be is terrifying in a classic horror tale way. For some readers, this will be bone chilling.

THE BABY by Annie Neugebauer is obviously a personal story, albeit with a body-horror ending that will make you wince. The author recently released a short story collection, and if the other stories in it are even half this good, it’s sure to be a must buy.

SCISSORS, PAPER, ROCKS by Craig Bernardini is another body horror tale that brings films like AMERICAN MARY to mind. Grim but genuinely spooky.

THE BLOCK by Steve Toase is easily the weirdest of the issue, dealing with a group who create most unusual houses. The aftermath, of course, is anything but a happy home. Toase subtly gets under your skin…

THE RETURN OF BENNY STORAX by John Possidente takes place in a series I’m not familiar with, but the story is fine as a stand alone, a unique alien abduction/release tale.

LETTERS FROM NEW AMERICA: MINDING THE GARDEN by James Sallis is the second part of a four-part serial, and at this point I won’t comment. I have no idea where this is headed, but will give it the benefit of the doubt (the first two installments have been the shortest pieces in each issue).

If you are a writer of short horror fiction, this is one of the best places to find inspiration as well as see how it’s done the right way. Seasoned editor Andy Cox always delivers a scary time, and it’s so nice to have him back in action.

Suburban Grindhouse Magazine Issue Seven

 

On Friday, March 13th, the 7th issue of SUBURBAN GRINDHOUSE MAGAZINE can be ordered here. This issue includes Jamie Chimino's mammoth interview with John Spuznar, the founder of legendary bouutique video label Barrel Entertainment, Dennis Daniel looks at the women in prison films of Jess Franco, and yours truly delivers the 86th edition of Suburban Grindhouse Memories (the midnight premiere of cult classic STREET TRASH) as well as a new edition of The Midnight Grind, which examines the 1988 NYC midnight premiere of Canadian Cult hit TALES FROM THE GIMLI HOSPITAL. Plus loads of zine, book, film, and comic reviews.

All 7 issues are also available at Forbidden Planet in NYC...

ReFocusing on the Godfather of Gore

 

REFOCUS: THE FILMS OF HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS (THE AMERICAN DIRECTORS SERIES) edited by Calum Waddell) (2026 Edinburgh University Press / 232 pages)

Having already dealt with directors such as Doris Wishman, Abel Ferrara and John Waters, the latest academic exploitation film treatise in Edinburgh University Press’ ReFocus series looks at the Godfather of Gore. There are essays from ten contributing writers, while editor Waddell provides and introduction and pieces on Lewis’ hardcore feature BLACK LOVE, as well as BLOOD FEAST 2: ALL U CAN EAT.

The book is divided into three sections, covering just about every era of Lewis’ filmography. The first section deals primarily with Lewis’ Blood Trilogy, and oddly, the first chapter is a look at Carving Magic, a short Lewis shot that fans of BLOOD FEAST may have seen as an extra on DVD and Blu-ray editions. Author Jack O’Dwyer gives an interesting case of how this film may have been a precursor to the gore films that were to come. My favorite piece in section two, by David Scott Diffrient, examines how Lewis used scents in some of his features, something I don’t think many viewers ever took the time to notice, and among the third section, dedicated to Lewis’ legacies, Joseph M. Sirianni compares Lewis and John Waters’ like-minded fan bases as well as the similarities between their films.

I’m always on the fence when dealing with academic looks at exploitation and cult films: while in this case, there are some interesting ideas brought forth, you also must wonder how many of these ideas were ever Lewis’ original intention(s). If you’re a Lewis fanatic, you’ll want to add this to your collection, but mere mortals might want to wait for the softcover edition (Edinburgh released this in January of 2026 as a $125.00 hardcover, obviously as a textbook the editor will be using as part of his classes. If you told me back in 1983, when I first saw BLOOD FEAST, that there’d one day be college classes taught about it, I’d probably have laughed). I’m not sure there’s much new here for seasoned Lewis fans, but some essays offer solid insights.

Despite the book falsely accusing me of being a misogynist* (which the editor does on page 196, by quoting something I said in my book Suburban Grindhouse about actress Connie Mason—something both Lewis and producer David Friedman told me in person at two separate conventions), it’s always entertaining listening to academics try to make the films we grindhouse rats grew up on sound proper.

(*-After contacting the publisher and pleading my case, editor Waddell agreed to remove his remarks about me in future editions. That was quite cool of him.)

A Solid Collection

THE HAUNTED HOUSES SHE CALLS HER OWN by Gwendolyn Kiste (to be released 4/14/26 by Raw Dog Screaming Press / 168 pages)

Since her debut collection nearly 10 years ago (2017’s AND HER SMILE WILL UNTETHER THE UNIVERSE), Kiste has been raking in awards for her novels and novellas, and now delivers this second impressive set of 16 short stories.

Among my favorites are ‘The Eleven Films of Oona Cashford,’ which is written like a handout you’d get at a film festival, and deals with a cult film director and the people who go missing during Cashford film screenings. A fresh take on the cursed film subgenre, I wouldn’t mind the author expanding this into a novel. In ‘All the Hippies are Dying,’ a woman who attended the original Woodstock festival and continued to listen to the soundtrack album her whole life learns the music itself has led to a bizarre body horror. This one would make Cronenberg smile.

Other highlights include ‘Melting Point,’ where we find a woman caring for her mother in the shadow of a partial nuclear meltdown near Three Mile Island. Symbolism abounds as our protagonist (and a neighbor) meltdown in their own ways. Vampires are a hard sell for me, but it’s easy to see why Kiste won a Stoker Award for ‘The Eight People Who Murdered Me,’ about a woman who becomes one of the undead after a meeting with Dracula. Written in a diary-entry style, this was arguably the most satisfying read of the collection.

It doesn’t get stranger than the dark fantasy ‘Lost in Darkness and Distance,’ in which a reanimated (and still decapitated) Marie Antoinette meets up with Mary Shelley, who helps put her back together. This would make a fantastic segment in an anthology horror film.

All of these HAUNTED HOUSES feature women dealing with deep, dark, personal struggles, from parental fears in ‘A New Mother’s Guide to Raising an Abomination’ to an easy to identify with bullied runaway in ‘The Last Video Store on the Left,’ and there’s even a wicked take on the Black Dahlia.

HOUSES can easily be read in a sitting or two, and is another solid release from an author who continues to bring the goods.

Little’s Latest Delivers

CITY HALL by Bentley Little (2025 Cemetery Dance / 438 pages)

Paul is a young man living at home with his mom when he lands a job at his local city hall. His co-workers are a bit strange and while things seem oddly off, he eventually finds his place. Things get increasingly weird, and Paul discovers, along with his new co-worker girlfriend, just how bizarre city hall is.

In the same town, a school teacher named Gavin runs for a seat on the city council, wins, and learns his election had been ordained by the powers that be.

And being this is Little’s 31st novel, the powers that be, as in many of his “industrial” novels, are as off-the-wall as it gets, from menacing office bosses to brainwashed elderly employees who consider sex and murder a simple part of the job. And while some readers may feel Little has told this tale before, *somehow* things feel fresh, especially during the twisted finale, which blends demented horror with cult film-like action, with the most frightening aspect being the resolve of our protagonists.

CITY HALL delivers the goods to the author’s fans, and may lure in many new converts.

4 1/2 / 5 stars