Eugene Johnson

In the 80s, horror reigned supreme, and this anthology takes us back to those glorious days of spiral perms, leg warmers, and needing to stop at a pay phone if you had to call for help because who ever heard of a phone that fits in your pocket? Some of these stories have tickled my funny bone, others made me squirm with repulsion while others did a great job of raising some goosebumps.

This book recreates the fear of razor blades in your Halloween goodies, curses, Satanists and all the other spooktacular fun from back in the day. Whether you long to return to the 80s or whether you were too young and missed out on that decade there is lots of creepy fun to be had.

Some of my many favorites were Snapshot in which a couple of burglars try to do the right thing for a change but no good deed goes unpunished. Your Picture Here, about an unusual date night at the movies. Permanent Damage about friends (or frenemies) preparing for a wedding. Slashbacks about a very unique video store. and Ghetto Blaster, about a cursed boom box and Stranger Danger, which concerns the aforementioned razor blades on Halloween.


My thanks to Cemetery Dance Publications for the review copy.

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Crystal Lake Publishing puts out a lot of good nonfiction books, but this just might be my favorite one yet. This book is loaded with interviews and articles from some of the biggest and most successful names in horror fiction: Clive Barker, Joe Landsdale, Ramsey Campbell, Richard Thomas, Stephanie Wytovich, Lisa Morton, Christopher Golden, Jonathan Maberry, Stephen King, and plenty others. The wisdom within is like a treasure chest full of gold for writers, with some fascinating insights into the processes of established professionals. Some of it consists of practical tips, some is more abstract and philosophical. Definitely helpful for writers, but I also think a peek into the minds of the masters would be interesting to many fans and readers as well. Overall, a great collection of advice and anecdotes from those that have been there, done that, and brought us some of our favorite tales of terror for many decades.… (more)