A Lot of Catching Up to Do

I know I have a lot of catching up to do in terms of recent reviews, so to help save time for the time being, here's a quick run down of a few books and movies that I have recently read or seen, in no particular order:

Books

First, I'm completely hooked on Shana Hammaker's short story series, Twelve Terrifying Tales for 2011. There's not a month that goes by that I'm not waiting patiently for her next tale. Here's where we're at thus far with Shana's work:

Charlie - *****
Border Crossing - *****
North of Forks - *****
Metamorphosis - *****
Souls, Inc. - *****
Teeth: A Fable - *****

Next, here are a few other novels I've recently read:

Dark Fiction by David Kempf - ** - Kempf has a really good premise in this book but the sheer number of seven word sentences tends to make this a laborious read that make sit feel like he's dictating the story rather than letting it flow smoothly.

Ancient Awakening and Ancient Enemies (Volume 2) by Matthew Bryan Laube - ***1/2 and ***1/2 - I love Laube's Ancient series. His stories are fast paced, fun and exciting. They each could have easily gotten four stars if they had been edited a little better. Even still, I can't wait for the next chapter in this exciting tale.

Dead Sea by Brian Keene - **** - What more can I say about Brian Keene? He's awesome and Dead Sea doesn't disappoint on its promise of nasty zombie action.

Abominable by William Meikle - **1/2 - I loved the thought behind Meikle's short story, Abominable, but I really didn't like the narrator of this yarn.

Mister Slaughter by Robert McCammon - ***** - Another brilliant book from Mr. McCammon! In my opinion, one of the best writers working today.

Serial by Jack Kilborn and Jake Crouch - ****1/2 - What a fun, nasty little tale this one is!

Monster by A. Lee Martinez - ***1/2 - This was one of the funniest books I've read since Good Omens. The ending left me a little wanting but it was one heck of a fun ride getting there.

Star Wars: Death Troopers by Joe Schreiber - **** - Zombies in outer space, in the Star Wars universe... what else could an 80s-era teen ask for?

Movies

True Grit (2010) - ****
Paranormal Entity - **
House of Fears - ***
8213: Gacy House - **
Night of the Demons - ***
Suspect Zero - ***
Deadfall Trail - *
Blood Creek - *
Crimson Rivers - ****
Drive Angry - ****
Black Death - ****
Skyline - ***
Prowl - **
Monsters - ****
Pandorum - ***

CD Review: Sins of the Past by The Young Werewolves

First, I want to apologize to The Young Werewolves because they sent me this CD for review a while ago but due to some issues in my life I wasn't able to get the review up until now. Sins of the Past is the third album by the Philadelphia trio and like their previous effort, Cheat the Devil, they have churned out another excellent disc filled with rock-n-rollicking tunes.

To put it simply, Sins of the Past is fast, fun and the ideal CD for any horror-themed party. With songs like Zombie Prom, Twelve Steps to Rock N Roll, Midnight Monster Hop and their own rendition of Rock Lobster, there's no way to stop yourself from hitting the dance floor. They also stay true to their 50's rock inspiration on this album, especially in tunes like In the Shadows, The Dreamtime, Damned if You Dare and Hot Rod Burnin'. But without a doubt, their song Generation Breakdown is the star of this disc.


Sins of the Past sees The Young Werewolves musically maturing and evolving naturally into their prime. The disc is expertly produced, the songs are well written and brilliantly performed. Wolfman Nick Falcon, Jonny Wolf and the lovely Shewolf Dana Kain have produced one fine sounding CD and one of the best rockabilly records in the past year and a half. Great job guys!

Sins of the Past gets the full complement -- ***** out of *****. I just love this record! Pick up a copy and start dancing to the ghoulishly groovy sounds of THE YOUNG WEREWOLVES! AAAROOOOOOOOO!