A streetwise getaway driver… A drug raid that ends in bloodshed… A violent criminal hell-bent on revenge… A secret order of occultists… And something summoned from the darkest depths of nightmare. Who will survive this long, dark night, and how will it change them? And what kind of horror will be born from the chaos left behind? If the old adage is true and we reap what we sow, then only evil can be unleashed by Reaping the Dark. In a complete change of pace from my more recent reading, especially after the vast sci-fi steampunk epic that was In Dark Service, we have a short sharp shock of a horror novella from Gary McMahon. Clarke, our eponymous hero and getaway driver, owes more than a little to the likes of Ryan Gosling in Drive and the mighty Jason Statham in The Transporter. Like his celluloid forebears, he’s the consummate professional, all about getting the job done at any cost. He’s never let himself be bogged down by any sort of obligation or familial ties. Tough as old boots and always ready for action, he could easily be dismissed as a bit of a two-dimensional action hero, but Clarke is…

When an unknown virus is unleashed on London, it turns everyone in its path into violent, zombie-like killing machines, leaving their souls separated and floating away to form a giant halo above the capital. Flesh and spirit, dead and alive, they are both. They are severed. As a beleaguered government brings in scientists to work on an antidote, the problems become even more complex. The virus spreads. The mayhem grows. There’s no solution in sight and time is running out. Enter Stephen Hobbs, a hard-drinking, womanizing academic with a violent past of his own. Due to his special skill set and experience, he is enlisted to figure out what the virus is and how to stop it. Despite his own demons, Hobbs may very well be humanity’s last chance to survive becoming…SEVERED. Apocalyptic fiction can be a pretty divisive sub-genre. There are those that just can’t get enough of this kind of fiction while there are others who loathe it with a passion. I’m pleased to say I fall squarely into the first category. I could happily read apocalyptic fiction all day every day. Every book that appears on my personal top five fits into this category in some form…

When a new cave is discovered in the Rocky Mountains, no one considered the terrible consequences that would follow. A volunteer mountain rescuer dealing with the loss of a child, the break-up of a relationship and the grief of a rescue gone wrong, Carise Culey isn’t sure she’s the right person for the job when she receives an emergency call. A climber is missing, presumed dead, and his girlfriend is found bloodied, beaten and catatonic with fear. Carise soon realizes the discovery of the cave is worse than anyone could have imagined and learns of another group of teenagers already on their way there. With the onset of harsh winter weather, and the threat of an unknown evil, she reaches out to her ex-boyfriend and fellow rescue volunteer, Marcel, for help. The two must travel to the cave to save the kids, themselves, and perhaps all of humanity…  I recently read Colin Barnes latest novella, Dead Five’s Pass, and it’s a checklist of everything that gives me a bad case of the heebie-jeebies and the screaming habdabs. It’s got a bit of just about everything that makes my flesh crawl – ancient many-tentacled evil, primal darkness, moments of unexpected violence,…

On Pine Street, the houses begin to shake. The earth begins to move. The streets crack open and yards split asunder…and rising from subterranean depths far below, a viscid black muck bubbles up and floods the neighborhood.  In it are a ravenous army of gigantic worms seeking human flesh. They wash into houses, they come up through the sewers, through plumbing, filling toilets and tubs, seeking human prey.  Cut off from the rest of the town, the people of Pine Street must wage a war of survival or they’ll never see morning. As bad as the worms are, there’s something worse—and far larger—waiting to emerge. Do you remember the movie Tremors? It’s a bit of a classic isn’t it? The only issue I ever had with it was I always thought that the Graboids were nowhere near terrifying enough. Tim Curran appears to feel the same way and attempts to redress the balance with his latest novella, Worm. The good news is that he does a damn good job of it. The residents of Pine Street are just an ordinary bunch of folks and this particular night isn’t going to end well for some of them. I do love that moment in…

Keep repeating, it’s only a story, it’s only a story, it’s only a story… Welcome to Number One Oval Lane, the last house at the top of the hill. Robert Mitchell thought he lived there with his wife and children, but he doesn’t. Not anymore. A new family—the Corbeaus—has taken up residence, and they are on a deadly mission for mischief. Soon Robert will understand the true nature of ownership, and he will discover that real life is nothing more than a story…a horror story. We’re playing games now. We’re just beginning. Robert Mitchell is an everyman character; he could quite easily be you or me. I’m sure anyone could empathise with the situation he finds himself in. You get the feeling that he’s almost ill-suited to modern life. He has been ground down at every turn and has nearly reached his breaking point. He just wants to be left alone to live his life in peace, but the world wants to intrude and deny him that simple pleasure at every turn. Each time he thinks that things are taking a turn for the better something always manages to come along and ruin that feeling of calm. Then on the other…