What I'm Reading: American Vampire 2

Boy, I have been on a sequels kick recently.  Here we have another installment of what is a great vampire graphic novel series.  American Vampire Vol. 2 by Scott Snyder continues the set-up presented in the first volume.  We are dealing with new world vampires who can cavort in the daylight.  Their only weakness is still a secret to many. Click here for more on the first book.

Again we have the VERY evil Skinner, but this time we have moved forward a decade and are in Las Vegas of the Depression Era.  The men in charge of building the Hoover Dam are being killed by a vampire.  Is it Skinner? The local lawman teams up with Federal vampire killers to solve the case, but the fight becomes very personal.

The alternating story finds Pearl, Skinner's protege, living as normal a life as possible with her love Henry (a human) in rural California.  Pearl was a vicious killer, but has left that life behind.  As the novel closes, Pearl's former best friend (turned vampire) is out for revenge.

Volume three promises more of the same only this time during WWII.

While one of the obvious appeals here is the joy of a story with truly scary and evil vampires (Skinner got more evil in this book; I did not think that was possible), what I also love is how the story explores American history of the early twentieth century as it scares your pants off.

The drawings are again vivid and detailed, with brutal killings.  Black and red are the dominant colors.  The story also jumps around, with lots of foreshadowing, so you have to pay attention to the box that appears at the top of the page and identifies when you are in a new town or time period.

We barely see the old world vampires here, but I am not sure that they are gone.  Skinner, our American Vampire, is definitely doing better than his old world only out at night rivals, but as the book ends, his hold on Vegas is slipping.  But as usual with Skinner, when he is down, he is never out.  Stay on your toes.

Read this series if you like graphic horror with mean, vicious vampires.  Stay away if you like your vampires to be sweet and romantic.

Three Words That Describe This Book: evil vampires, American History, violent

Where This Book Took Me (Summer Reading Feature): The American West of the 1930s.

Readalikes: Previously I suggested these books:

If you want to read more horror graphic novels check out the Locke and Key series by Joe Hill, The Walking Dead series by Robert Kirkman, or the Hellboy series by Mike Mignola. 

I also felt that my alternating love and disgust for Skinner and Pearl reminded me of Ig in Horns by Joe Hill. 

For more scary vampires you can also try The Passage. 

For those who want to try a western, if you haven't read Louis L'Amour before, go to the library and check out Hondo.  There is a lot of similarity here.  I have had students read Hondo in the past.  Click here to see what they have had to say.

To this list of suggestions I would also add anything by Brian Keene.  He doesn't write about vampires, but he has the same level of violence as well as a similar feel to his story lines.  He writes bloody, fast-paced horror which tends to feature zombies, but not always.  He has great character development, and no one can describe a body being dismembered better.  Try Castaways.

Review: American Vampire

Before Halloween I read the first bound issue of American Vampire, the brand new graphic novel series written by Scoot Snyder and Stephen King and illustrated by Rafael Albuquereque.


There was much excitement surrounding the release of this book.  First, it is Stephen King's first origin straight to graphic novel story.  But, second, and even more important and exciting, American Vampire marks the solid return of the super evil vampire.


Can you tell I liked it?


Here is the basic plot info.  The story is told in two time periods.  The "present" of the story is 1925 Hollywood and follows a young starlet, Pearl, as she tries to make it big in the movie industry.  The flashback sections of the story happen a generation ago, in the Wild West.


What you need to know before you begin, is that the uniting force between these 2 stories is Skinner, who has become a "new world vampire," and is out to get the "old world vampires" who cannot stand sunlight and seem to control all of the money and power in the American West.


Skinner appears to have no weaknesses. He is vampire through and through, but he can be out in broad daylight.  But over the course of the book we see him learn about his own limitations. He is evil, but has a sense of justice.  As the story goes along, he turns Pearl, and the two are just beginning what I hope will be a long journey of terror and destruction, all in the name of a warped sense of justice.


In terms of appeal, this is a stunning book.  The main color scheme and style is well represented in the cover image above.  The drawings of Pearl and Skinner in full vampire mode are terrifying.  It was disconcerting how much I liked them despite how evil they look. I liked this, but those looking to totally sympathize with Skinner and Pearl may be disappointed.


This is a violent and disturbing book, where people are murdered and decapitated. Innocent people die and there is no truly good hero.  This is a true work of horror.

Interestingly, there is a huge appeal factor in the setting.  Many people like to read anything and everything about the Wild West and/or the Golden Age of Hollywood.  Obviously, some readers may need a word of warning about the violence here, but I book talked this to a reader who was only mildly interested until I mentioned the setting, and then he couldn't wait to start reading it.

Three Words That Describe This Book: vampires, western, violent

Readalikes: If you want to read more horror graphic novels check out the Locke and Key series by Joe Hill, The Walking Dead series by Robert Kirkman, or the Hellboy series by Mike Mignola.

I also felt that my alternating love and disgust for Skinner and Pearl reminded me of Ig in Horns by Joe Hill.

For more scary vampires you can also try The Passage.


For those who want to try a western, if you haven't read Louis L'Amour before, go to the library and check out Hondo.  There is a lot of similarity here.  I have had students read Hondo in the past.  Click here to see what they have had to say.

For those who liked the Golden Age of Hollywood setting and its focus on the underbelly here, try Niagara Falls All Over Again by Elizabeth McCracken.  Trust me, it might not be horror, but it is a dark look at the entertainment industry.

31 Days of Horror: Day 2-- #LovecraftFridays with Library Journal Begins

This year on 31 Days of Horror I am working in partnership with @ItsNiaMya from Library Journal as we host #LovecraftFridays on Twitter and here on the blog. This is part of the larger Library Journal #LJReads program. Every Friday in October we will be dissecting LOVECRAFT COUNTRY the novel by Matt Ruff and the hit HBO show. We have come up with 4 larger themes and will be taking a deep dive into them each week.

Each Friday in October around 5pm eastern, Nia will post a thread to start the larger discussion on the topic. To supplement the discussion, I have prepared some more reading lists and background information to help you put it into a broader context and help your library patrons.

You can engage with the conversation anytime using the #LJReads and #LovecraftFridays hashtags. Pass it on to your patrons and encourage them to participate too.

We also have a large, free, wrap up program planned for 10/30- the final Friday. Details on that next week; let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves.

Let’s get started now with our first topic-- Letitia & Dracula and the theme of the undead.

A  little background on the history of vampires in literature from Dracula paraphrased from my book, The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Horror, second edition [ALA Editions, 2012]:

The vampires of today’s fiction bear little resemblance to the frightful bloodsucking creatures found in history and folklore. In early tales of vampirism, individuals who were already of shady character or had been killed violently were seen as being more likely to return from the dead to feed on the living. These original vampires were hideous, partially decayed creatures that attacked living relatives and neighbors rather than beautiful aristocratic damsels in distress. The best film depiction of this type of vampire can be best seen in the silent film, Nosferatu (1922).  Here the vampire is more animal than human, with grotesque fangs, pointy ears, and menacing fingernails.

However, Leti, an innocent, beautiful young woman, being murdered and then brought back to life, with immortality as a consequence, is part of  the more romanticized portrayals of vampires, a change that began with Dracula by Bram Stoker and reached a tipping point with Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice. The most popular vampire ever, Dracula, first appeared  in 1897, and the novel, Dracula, has never been out of print  and has been translated into every major language in the world.  Its intimate epistolary style draws readers into the thoughts of the major players in the story.  When people all over the world think of vampires, it is Dracula who first comes to mind. This novel provides a compelling, suspenseful, and frightening reading experience regardless of the time and place in which it is read and it is exactly this immediate response that Lovecraft Country is playing off of in the episode, even without the scene where the novel itself makes an appearance.

Some more basic background about vampires in literature and popular culture that will enhance your enjoyment of the show and book:

• Stoker’s vampire was a handsome aristocrat. Women were drawn to him, yet when they succumbed to his charms, terror and mayhem ensued.

• This conflict has since been present in all vampire literature. The fear comes from both the power of the vampires and our sensual interest in them. 

• For almost 80 years, vampires did not stray much from the Dracula mold, and then Anne Rice released Interview with the Vampire in 1976. Rice’s protagonist, the vampire Louis Pointe du Lac, makes a confession to the reader. In the novel he recounts how he became a vampire, but, more interestingly, he also expresses his torment and guilt over his situation.

• This is significant because it marks the beginning of the current trend in vampire literature:  the reluctant and vulnerable vampire. This vampire wants to be human again, he or she wants to be accepted by humans, and, as this new vampire is explored by other authors, he wants to be loved.

• Leti’s situation is informed by this evolution of the vampire from Dracula to Interview with  a Vampire, as described. Interestingly, both of those stories have also been told in print and visual mediums over time to great success.

In the Tweet thread, Nia refers to a few books which I suggest delve into some of the mythology behind Stoker and his most famous work. Please click on hyperlink titles for direct access to my longer reviews of these books:

• Dracul by Dacre Stoker and J.D. Barker: The official prequel to Dracula in which the authors use research to say that Stoker, a sickly child who seemed to make a miraculous  recovery at age 7, was actually cured by the blood of his vampire nanny.

• For  the best single volume edition of Dracula you should read The New Annotated Dracula by Leslie Kilnger as it delivers the text with side-by-side commentary including a similar discussion of the “truth” behind the novel.

• Dracula’s Child by J.S. Barnes: Using Dracula as source and inspiration, this novel recounts the dark and troubling series of events that unfold during Mina and Jonathan Harker's son Quincey's 13th year, events that make it clear that the vampire they thought was killed, was actually only held at bay.

  Stoker's Wilde by Steven Hopstaken and Melissa Prusi: Using the real life complicated relationship between Oscar Wilde and Bram Stoker as inspiration, this novel launches a new series of historical supernatural adventures. The fun, action driven plot features vampires, secret societies, portals to another realm, and more. While historical details, action sequences, and supernatural monsters abound, it is the odd coupling of Wilde and Stoker that drives the story.

Here are a few other more recent vampire novels which fans of this theme in Lovecraft Country may want to read with links to my much longer reviews of them. These are the books I suggest today’s readers of vampire fiction should try first. All play off of the general pop culture knowledge of the genre as it began with Dracula, but like Lovecraft Country, takes that startng point to bring the genre, and our enjoyment of it, somewhere new :

• In the Valley of  the Sun by Andy Davidson: It is 1980 and the US is still reeling from the effects of the Vietnam War, especially in the harsh landscape of West Texas. What a great setting for a vampire tale. But this is not your typical vampire novel, rather it is actually a lyrical western, with a large dose of psychological suspense. It is a story dripping with atmosphere, a hauntingly dark, yet oddly beautiful debut, where the plot and the characters play with your mind, and the pacing is like the harsh landscape, a slow but riveting burn.

• The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix: A masterful blend of the disaffected, southern housewife story with a terrifying vampire tale. The anxiety and tension are palpable as these women not only have to battle societal stereotypes, but also an intensely evil, centuries old vampire. Who would you take in a match up between your mom's book club and a vampire?

• The Quick by Lauren Owen: I describe this as “Dickens meets Dracula.” 

• A Small Charred Face by Kazuki Sakuraba: One of my favorite takes on the Vampire story because it is from a Chinese perspective. There is plenty that American readers will recognize as well as new twists. This also serves as an example of how pervasive vampire lore is across the world.

Nia will be back next Friday to discuss a new theme in Lovecraft Country on Twitter, while I will provide more background detail to supplement the discussion. In the meantime, you or  your patrons can participate anytime with #LJReads.

New Book Bonus Annotations: Chapter 5- Vampire Menace

 When I was writing the Third Edition of the Readers' Advisory Guide to Horror, I originally had over 20 annotated choices per subgenre appearing in chapter 4-13. However, for word count sake, I had to reduce each lists to a well packaged dozen. Obviously making the cuts was hard, but I was able to include the tittles of those deleted annotations in an appendix at the end of the book with a promise that the annotations would run here on the blog.

And that promise begins today. Each list will be posted on the blog over a series of 10 weeks, every Tuesday, beginning June 1, 2021 and running through August 3, 2021. This weekly series will serve to promote the book's upcoming release in August of 2021, but I have also created an archive of all of the lists that will live here. That page is the official index of this bonus content.

In the book, my top three choices in each list are marked to denote Becky's Picks. I will also do that in these lists to give you a place to begin as you suggest. Just like the titles in the print book, every title appearing here is a great options for all public libraries. You can use these lists for collection development, displays, lists, and suggestions. Each subgenre has an essay discussing its history and appeal in the book which you can order here. 

Bonus Annotations

Chapter 5: Vampire Menace

[+] Denotes Becky’s Picks

Ajvide Lindqvist, John. Let Me In.  2004

Originally translated from the Swedish as, Let the Right One In, but changed to reflect the title of the popular film adaptation in 2010, Lindqvist’s novel is a unique, dark take on the vampire tale. Twelve-year-old Oskar is a total outcast and obsessed with serial killers. Eli is a young, pale, foul smelling girl who happens to also be a vampire.  The two develop a macabre friendship which leads to violence as Eli tries to protect Oskar from being drowned by a gang of bullies. With a frame of childhood trauma and a compelling writing style, this is a haunting tale that will stay with you long after you finish it. The story of Oskar and Eli was continued in Let the Old Dreams Die.

Barnes, J.S. Dracula’s Child. 2020.

Answering the question of what came next for Jonathan and Mina Harker after the end of Dracula, Barnes tells the story of their son, Quincey on the eve of WWI. Told through found journal entries, newspaper clippings, and letters mostly set during the events of Quincey's 13th year, it is clear that not only is Count Dracula not truly vanquished but rather, he is merely waiting for a return that involves a very steep price. This is an ominous and dark story with a pace and sense of dread that steadily and relentlessly increases and will appeal to fans of historical horror and vampires alike.

+Cronin, Justin. The  Passage Trilogy begins The Passage. 2010.

A virus which turns people into vampires has decimated North America. Fed up with living in fear, a band of survivors hook up with a mysteriously ageless young girl and attempt to regain control of the world. The Passage is an absorbing, frightening, action-packed story which ends with the mother-of-all cliff hangers and a promise of two more installments. This novel was widely acclaimed as one of the best novels of 2010, in all fiction. The trilogy continues with The Twelve and comes to a satisfying conclusion with The City of Mirrors.

+DiLouie, Craig. Suffer the Children. 2014.

Out of nowhere, every prepubescent child in the world dies, on a single day. The world is devastated and grieving, pundits and scientists struggle to find answers, and then a few days later, as quickly as they died, the children all climb out of their graves and return to their families. Relief is quickly replaced by terror as it becomes clear that these children all require human blood in order to stay alive. A killer of a setup for sure, but DiLouie manages to heighten the emotional response and ratchet up the terror even more by focusing on the personal experiences of specific families. 

+Engstrom, Elizabeth. Black Ambrosia. 2019.

Angelina Watson is a vampire trying to survive in 1980s America. It isn’t easy when you have to ignore your hunger for blood. But Angelina doesn’t refrain from draining the people she meets in her travels hitchhiking across hardscrabble, blue collar America out of guilt or even kindness. Rather, the more she feeds, the easier it will be for her ex-lover to find her, and he wants her dead. This disturbing and violent vampire pulp classic with much to say about its time and place was re-released as part of Grady Hendrix’s Paperbacks from Hell series and features an introduction by the best selling author which takes a fresh look at Engstrom’s tale from a 21st Century perspective.

Fuentes, Carlos, translated by E. Shaskan Bumas and Alejandro Branger. Vlad. 2004. 

In this Dracula update, Yves, an attorney in Mexico City, is asked to find a home for his boss’s wealthy, Eastern European friend. His wife, a realtor, takes the list of strange requirements, such as black out windows, in stride. When Yves visits his new client, he blacks out, coming back to consciousness and exploring the house only to realize that he is trapped in the home of a vampire. This short, menacing, and compelling story follows the pattern set up by Stoker, but tells its own modern version of the Count’s story including vivid descriptions of the inside of his home. The perfect suggestion for readers seeking to know “where is he now?” told by a stalwart of modern Mexican literature.

Gaiman, Neil [story] and Doran Collen [adaptor]. Snow, Glass, Apples. 2019.

Based on the Gaiman short story which completely flips the Snow White story on its head imagining that the evil stepmother is not as bad as we thought, trying to stop the seductress vampire Snow White and her evil minions, the dwarves, from destroying the kingdom. This beautiful and creepy graphic novel adaptation uses a lavish stained glass inspired style to bring the unsettling story to life. A great suggestion for fans of dark retellings of fairy tales, but beware, this is not your childhood fairy tale, there is violence and sex. Snow, Glass, Apples won the 2019 Bram Stoker Award for Best Graphic Novel.

Janz, Jonathan. Dust Devils. 2014.

Talk about the “Wild” West. New Mexico, 1885 and Cody’s wife was murdered after accepting a role with a travelling acting troupe. Cody follows the actors from a distance, meeting twelve year old Willet who is doing the same thing. But this is no innocent theater company; it is actually made up of vampires who are constantly hungry for fresh blood. Cody and Willet set off together, creating a father-son bond, out to avenge their loved one’s death, but this troupe of vampires gains strength with every stop. Can mere mortals stop them? Expect Western tropes, bloody and sexually explicit carnage, and lots of fast paced action. Janz is the leading purveyor of today’s pulp horror and this, his entry into the vampire subgenre, does not disappoint.

Klinger, Leslie S. The New Annotated Dracula. 2008.

You may have heard of Dracula, but have you ever read the book? Count Dracula hides during the day, but from dusk to dawn has the strength of twenty men, can summon armies of rats, and, oh yes, he seeks human victims from whom he can suck their blood.  Written in an epistolary style, Dracula is compelling, suspenseful, and surprising.  This is a classic novel for which you may need to keep multiple copies on the shelf.  It continues to suck in new readers over 100 years after its first publication. Library workers should seek out this edition, edited by Leslie S. Klinger with an introduction by Neil Gaiman. It contains the entire text of the novel with the inclusion of over 1,500 annotations that add historical context and interest to this classic work.

Kostova, Elizabeth. The Historian.  2005.

In this creepy, literary thriller, a young woman begins researching the provenance of a mysterious book she finds amongst her father’s belongings.  The book has an ominous note and a chilling history linking it to Vlad the Impaler.  As she dives further into her research, the story vacillates between three time periods, the atmosphere gets more and more oppressive and the bloodthirsty threat becomes terrifyingly real. Told through a mixture of narratives, flashbacks, and letters, the story moves swiftly, but yet, holds back just enough to suspensefully sustain and prolong the terror. 

Maberry, Jonathan. V Wars. 2014.

In this horror-thriller series, told in episodic bursts by a variety of authors based on the concept conceived and overseen by Maberry, a long buried disease is unknowingly released in Antarctica and infects the world. Activating long dormant “junk” DNA, this disease transforms some people into monsters, explaining why there have been centuries of folklore about creatures such as vampires and werewolves. But the ensuing conflict is much worse than those stories could have predicted. The series is presented as a chronicle of the wars, and with different authors taking turns at the helm, the overall effect is a fast paced tale which gives readers a birds eye view of the terror, dread, and action. V Wars is currently up to a four book series and is also available in comic book and Netflix television formats.

Snyder, Scott. American Vampire Series. 2010.

This graphic novel series imagines the history of the 20th century as a battle between the “Old World” vampires, who cannot go out in daylight and control all the power and wealth in America versus Skinner, the supremely evil  leader of the “New World” vampires, who can tolerate daylight but has another, secret weakness. The dual appeal for readers here is the violent, new vampire mythology paired with historical fiction featuring vampires from the Wild West to WWII and even into space. Because the first book in the series includes a story written by Stephen King, this is a series with enduring appeal.

Villareal, Raymond A. A People’s History of the Vampire Uprising. 2018.

In this political thriller told from multiple points of view and using a variety of primary “documents,” such as interviews and official CDC reports, readers sit back and watch a blood virus pandemic sweep the globe in real time. As more people, including celebrities and politicians become infected, not everyone thinks the vampire virus is a problem; in fact some are excited about the enhancements it brings and begin working to change social structure and laws to protect [and benefit] the “gloamings,” as they refer to themselves. Written before the real life pandemic of 2020, this is a prescient geo-political thriller with plenty of vampire action.

31 Days of Horror Day 3-- Revamped and More Useful Review Index

This first week of October I am focusing the blog-a-thon on how to get the most out of me and my expertise now and all the year through.

Today I am focusing on my long standing and constantly updated Review Index which I have made even more useful. Here is the direct link to the NEW AND IMPROVED Horror Review Index, but I have also attached it below.

There is nothing more important for me to do than make sure you know about as many books as possible. Over the years I have heard from library workers, readers, and authors that my professional reviews, in official library journals, have gotten those titles on library shelves. I have seen data that shows that before I reviewed a book it was in 10 libraries nationwide and then after my review.... 50 the first month after, and hundreds more a few months out.

I am not writing this to brag, not at all. In fact, I am writing this to let you know I wish I could give you more options, but I am only 1 person and reviewing horror is only part of my job. I already do 3-6 titles a month. However, I can give you more official and professional options for reviews both to develop your collections AND to give you as many suggestion options at your fingers tips as I possibly can.

That is what I have done with the Horror Review Index. Today’s post is to remind you to use it to find suggestions and to let you know I have made it even more useful by quickly routing you to many more titles by reviewers I trust. They have the Becky seal of approval.

Now get out there and start suggesting scary reads. It’s October 3rd already. I know they are just beginning to shamble in.  Soon, the hordes will be descending. I’ve got your back though.

HORROR REVIEW INDEX:

Here is an author index to all of the reviews appearing on this blog (or before this blog began on RA for All) with the links leading you to the review itself.

But, because I am only 1 person, and I cannot possibly get to every book that could be a good fit for your patrons, I also offer the following links to Becky approved horror reviews:

• This Is Horror’s review archive: This British based site is the best regular review source for horror. Sometimes their titles overlap with mine, but because all they do is horror, they are able to get to many more than I can.
• Tor.Com’s Horror coverage contains many reviews and not just about books they have published. This link will also lead you to essays about horror, essays that also will give you more titles to suggest.
• LitReactor’s Bookshots reviews are amazing, and while they are not all horror per se, they are almost all titles with an oppressive atmosphere. Most of the reviews here are horror or horror -adjacent. But these reviews are also super useful to you, the library worker because they directly address who the title is best for by using a question and answer form. You can literally read the review to your patron in 2 minutes or less and decide together if it is a good choice. Bookshots are also a great conversation starter if you don’t know how to talk to your horror patrons. Try it out for yourself.

Between this index of my reviews [below] and the links to the others [above], you have thousands of choices of excellent terrifying reads for your patrons. No more excuses that you just don’t know what to suggest. I have given you plenty of options for every type of potential reader.

And remember, it doesn’t matter how old the book is. A great title from 5 years ago is still a good read for someone. Dig through the backlist. Here’s an example.

BECKY’S REVIEWS

• Adams, John Joseph and Douglas Cohen, eds. What the #@&% is That?: The Saga Anthology of the Monstrous and the Macabre (2016)
• Anderson, Kevin J.  Death Warmed Over (2012)
• Baker, Jacqueline.  The Broken Hours: A Novel of H.P. Lovecraft (2016)
• Barker, Clive. Scarlet Gospels (2015) [guest post by Jack Phoenix]
• Barlow, Toby. Sharp Teeth (2008) ed note: scroll to middle of post for review 
• Barron, Laird. Swift to Chase (2016)
• Bell, Alden. The Reapers Are the Angels (2010) 
• Boone, Ezekiel.  Skitter (2017)
• Brogden, James.  Hekla's Children (2017)
• Browne, S. G. Breathers: A Zombie's Lament (2009) 
• Browne, S.G.  I Saw Zombies Eating Santa Claus (2012)
• Burke, Kealan Patrick.  Kin (2012)
• Chesterton, R.B.  The Darkling (2013)
• Chizmar, Richard.  A Long December (2016)
• Colon, Christopher, ed. He is Legend: An Anthology Celebrating Richard Matheson (2009)
• Cronin, Justin.  The City of Mirrors (2016)
• Cronin, Justin. The Passage (2010)
• Cutter, Nick.  Little Heaven (2016)
• Cutter, Nick.  The Troop (2014)
• Davidson, Andy.  In the Valley of the Sun (2017)
• Datlow, Ellen, ed. Black Feathers: Dark Avian Fiction (2017)
• Datlow, Ellen, ed.  Nightmares: A New Decade of Modern Horror (2016)
• Datlow, Ellen and Lisa Morton, eds. Haunted Nights (2017)
• Deady, Tom.  Haven (2016)
• Donohue, Keith.  The Motion of Puppets (2016)
• Dunbar, Robert.  Wood (2012) 
• Duncan, Glen.  The Last Werewolf (2011) 
• Ethridge, Benjamin Kane.  Bottled Abyss (2012)
• Everson, John.  NightWhere (2012)
• Faherty, JG.  Ghosts of Coronado Bay (2011)
• Farris, John. High Bloods (2009)
• Ford, Jeffrey. A Natural History of Hell (2016)
• Forry, Lauren.  Abigale Hall (2017)
• French, Aaron, ed. The Gods of HP Lovecraft (2015)
• French, Aaron.  The Time Eater (2017)
• Gaiman, Neil. The Graveyard Book (2008)
• Garza, Michelle and Melissa Lason.  Those Who Follow (2017)
• Girard, Geoffrey.  Mary Rose (2017)
• Girard, Geoffrey.  Project Cain (2013)
• Golden, Christopher.  Ararat (2017)
• Grant, Mira.  Blackout: Newsflesh Trilogy Book 3 (2012) 
• Grant, Mira.  Deadline: Newsflesh Trilogy Book 2 (2011)
• Grant, Mira. Feed: Newsflesh Trilogy Book 1 (2010) 
• Gout, Leopoldo. Ghost Radio (2008)
• Hill, Joe. Horns (2010) 
• Hill, Joe. The Fireman (2016)
• Hill, Joe. Strange Weather (2017)
• Hill Joe, and Gabriel Rodriguez. Locke and Key: Welcome to Lovecraft (2008) 
• Hill, Joe and Gabriel Rodriguez. Locke and Key: Head Games (2009)
• Hill, Joe and Gabriel Rodriguez. Locke and Key: Crown of Shadows (2010) 
• Hill, Joe and Gabriel Rodriguez.  Locke and Key: Keys to the Kingdom (2011) 
• Hill Joe and Gabriel Rodriguez.  Locke and Key: Clockworks (2012)
• Hill, Joe.  NOS4A2 (2013)
• James, Russell. Q Island (2015)
• Janz, Jonathan.  Children of the Dark (2016)
• Jodan, Lee F.  Coronation (2012)
• Keene, Brian. Castaways (2009)
• Keene, Brian.  Pressure (2016)
• Kenyon, Nate. The Bone Factory (2009) 
• Kenyon, Nate. Sparrow Rock (2010) 
• King, Stephen.  Doctor Sleep (2013)
• King, Stephen.  Full Dark, No Stars (2010) 
• King, Stephen.  Joyland (2013)
• King, Stephen and Richard Chizmar. Gwendy's Button Box (2017)
• Klinger, Leslie S. The New Annotated Frankenstein (2017)
• Kozeniewski, Stephen.  Hematophages (2017)
• Kraus, Daniel.  Rotters (2011)
• Lansdale, John L.  Zombie Gold (2016)
• Littlewood, Alison.  A Cold Season (2013)
• Limbus Inc. (2013)
• Lukavics, Amy.  The Women in the Walls (2016)
• Maberry, Jonathan.  Dead of Night (2011)
• Maberry, Jonathan. Ghost Road Blues (2006) ed note: scroll to bottom of post for review
• Maberry, Jonathan. Patient Zero (2009) ed note: scroll to bottom of post for review 
• Maberry, Jonathan.  Rot and Ruin (2010)
• Maberry, Jonathan and George A. Romero.  Nights of the Living Dead (2017)
• MacLeod, Bracken.  Come to Dust (2017)
• Malerman, Josh.  Bird Box (2014) 
• Mamatas, Nick.  I Am Providence (2016)
• Manderino, John.  But You Scared Me The Most (2016)
• Marion, Isaac. The Burning World (2016)
• Marion, Isaac.  Warm Bodies (2011)
• Masello, Robert. Blood and Ice (2009) 
• Masterton, Graham. Basilisk (2009)
• Masterton, Graham.  The Devils of D-Day (1978)
• McCammon, Robert.  The Last Train From Perdition (2016)
• Merbeth, K.S. Bite (2016)
• Mitchell, David.  Slade House (2015)
• Morris, Keith Lee.  Travelers Rest (2016)
• Morton, Lisa.  Netherworld (2014)
• Oates, Joyce Carol. The Doll-Master and Other Tales of Terror (2016)
• Ohno, Nuzo. The Sleepless (2016)
• Owen, Lauren.  The Quick (2014)
• Percy, Benjamin.  The Dark Net (2017)
• Percy, Benjamin.  Red Moon (2013)
• Pessl, Marisha.  Night Film (2013)
• Phoenix, Jack.  The Tormentors (2013)
• Rawlik, Pete.  Reanimatrix (2016)
• Rector, Jeani.  What Fears Become: An Anthology From the Horror Zine (2011)
• Roux, Madeleine.  Allison Hewitt is Trapped (2011)
• Seeley, Tim and Mike Norton. Revival Vol 1 (2013)
• Seeley, Tim and Mike Norton.  Revival Vol 2 (2013)
• Silverberg, Robert, ed. This Way to the End Times: Classic Tales of the Apocalypse (2016)
• Snyder, Scott, Stephen King and Rafael Albuquereque.  American Vampire (2010)
• Snyder, Scott.  American Vampire 2 (2011)
• Sokoloff, Alexandra. The Unseen (2009)
• Stratford, Sarah Jane. The Midnight Guardian (2009) 
• Trombetta, Jim.  The Horror! The Horror! (2010)
• Vandermeer, Jeff.  Annihilation (2014)
• Whitehead, Colson.  Zone One (2011)
• Wilson, F. Paul.  The Tomb (1998, edited reprint) 
• Wilson, Jeffrey.  The Donors (2012)
• Wilson, Jeffrey.  Fade to Black (2013)
• Wolff, Nicholas. The Binding (2016)
• Wynne, Douglas.  The Devil of Echo Lake (2012)
• Zeltserman, Dave.  The Caretaker of Lorne Field (2010)