Sunday, December 28, 2014

Hard and Heavy 2014

When I'm not reading or writing, I'm usually listening to tons of music, and a good amount of that music for the past decade or so has been hard rock and metal--with special attention given to the latest releases. Of course no one can hear all of it--although some brave souls certainly do seem to try--but I hear a good amount, enough to arrive at a "best of" list for 2014. (Yes another list--I have a thing for them, I reckon.) Now, when I say "metal" I usually mean heavy metal (you know, the stuff that Judas Priest and Black Sabbath invented) but I do enjoy other types as well so some of the more extreme bands do sneak through when they're of what I consider to be outstanding quality. Below, I list the bands in alphabetical order along with album title and genre. Links are provided as well. Enjoy! And let me know your thoughts, or if you have any questions.

Accept - Blind Rage (heavy metal)
Ambush - Firestorm (heavy metal)
Black Magic - Wizard's Spell (heavy metal)
Cloven Hoof - Resist or Serve (heavy metal)
The Dagger - The Dagger (hard rock)
*Elvenking - The Pagan Manifesto (folk/power metal)

Falconer - Black Moon Rising (power metal)
Grand Magus - Triumph and Power (heavy metal)
Lonewolf - Cult of Steel (power/heavy metal)
Noble Beast - Noble Beast (power metal)
*The Oath - The Oath (heavy/doom metal)



Opium Warlords - Taste My Sword of Understanding (doom metal)
Portrait - Crossroads - (heavy metal)
Queen - Live at the Rainbow '74 (hard rock)
The Skull - For Those Which Are Asleep (doom metal)
Slough Feg - Digital Resistance (heavy metal)
Slugdge - Gastronomicon (death metal)
Stallion - Rise and Ride (heavy metal)
Triptykon - Melana Chasmata (doom metal)
Viathyn - Cynosure (power metal)

* image included



Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Rios' List of Horror

We all win because I have so many friends who know so much about horror! Here's a little information about my writer buddy Chuck, followed by his top 20 horror fiction list, including notes by the author.

Chuck Rios is lover of all things dark, strange and twisted. A diehard metalhead since he was a kid, he knew straightaway that horror and heavy metal went hand in hand, all of which has had a huge impact on his work. He is a Southern Californian for life, a musician and a beer enthusiast. In his spare time he writes music for his band, Decimation. Follow him on twitter @chuckrios.

The Hellbound Heart, by Clive Barker
Beware, by Richard Laymon (Actually, anything from him. I’m a huge fan.)
I am Legend, by Richard Matheson
Pet Sematary, by Stephen King
Frankenstein, by Mary Shelly
City Infernal, by Edward Lee
The Rising, by Brian Keene
Ancient Images, by Ramsey Campbell
The White Room, by Rick Hautala
Dread in the Beast, by Charlee Jacob 

Fear, by Ronald Kelly 
The Hour of the Oxrun Dead, by Charles L. Grant
The Complete Fiction, by H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe (I list this as one entry because Lovecraft and Poe primarily wrote short stories. Among my most treasured of these stories are "Cool Air" and "The Tell-Tale Heart," respectively.)
Ghost Story, by Peter Straub
Swan Song, by Robert R. McCammon
Mirror, by Graham Masterton
The Collected Ghost Stories of M.R. James, by M.R. James (Read ‘Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad’ late at night with a flashlight, I dare ya.)
Off Season, by Jack Ketchum
The Nightrunners, By Joe R. Lansdale
Live Girls, by Ray Garton

Saturday, December 6, 2014

RANDY CHANDLER interviewed by David Wilbanks (2005)

Randy Chandler is the author of HELLz BELLz, BAD JUJU and coauthor (with t. Winter-Damon) of DUET FOR THE DEVIL. He is currently working on two detective novels featuring Joe Dall and Valentine Cooper.

HELLNOTES: What were you like as a child?

RANDY CHANDLER: I was a sickly little kid the first six years of my life. They figured out later I was allergic to a whole list of things, things like dust. So before the allergy shots took care of that, I had to spend a lot of time indoors; I missed a lot of school and learned to entertain myself. In other words, I developed a rich fantasy life. The high fevers probably helped. I was a trippy little tyke. I believed Frankenstein's monster was hiding in my closet.
    
My older brother and his pal scarred me for life when they told me my Teddy bear was sick and needed an operation. I watched as they cut Teddy open with a scalpel and did a lousy job of sewing him up. I used to use Teddy as King Kong, stomping on my toy soldiers, but he wasn't very scary post-op.  They also like to do things like stick pine cones down my pants and tell me I'd made poo-poo. What else could I grow up to be but a horror writer?

Once my allergies were gone, I became a rowdy outdoorsy kid, but I managed to stay out of serious trouble and avoided killing myself with reckless stunts.

HN: So I assume this rich fantasy life led to an interest in horror.

RC: Honestly, I can't say for certain. I grew up loving horror movies, science fiction and horror comics. Those things had a powerful effect on my imagination. Nothing stimulated me more than horror. I wrote my first horror tale when I was eleven. It was a one-page story about a werewolf. I think I was meant to be a writer, and horror happened to be what I loved best.

HN: Did you look up to any particular writers as you refined your own style?

RC: The first writer I idolized was Mickey Spillane. In high school I wrote bad imitations of Mike Hammer. Then I discovered the Beat writers and Henry Miller. The good news was, I didn't try to imitate Miller's sex scenes.

The writers I look up to now are Don DeLillo, Cormac McCarthy and Larry McMurtry. McMurtry for his storytelling ability and humor, and DeLillo and McCarthy for the sheer potency of their prose and their thematic depth. I can't read their works without getting the urge to go write something. They prime my word pump. There are others, including Walter Mosley, but those three are The Big Three for me.

HN: When did you start submitting your horror stories.  How did that go?

RC: In 1986 I submitted a couple of stories to small-press pubs. My first published horror tale, "Fungoid," appeared in Doppelganger. Then "Kitchen Witch" appeared in Grue. I struck out at Twilight Zone Magazine and Night Cry. Then in '94 I sold a story to Bizarre Bazaar for actual money. During that same period I did freelance book reviews for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and interviewed author Robert Stone for the same newspaper. Around that time I wrote two horror novels and a detective novel. They weren't good enough to be published, but the experience gave me confidence that I did have what it takes to  write a novel.

HN: How did you meet t. Winter-Damon and what made you two decide to write DUET FOR THE DEVIL together?

RC: In 1990 I decided to put out my own little horror rag, Bone-chilling Tales, and I bought one of Damon's stories. We stayed in touch via U.S. mail and decided our styles were compatible enough to try a collaboration. This was at the tail-end of the splatterpunk thing, so we thought there might be a market for an "underground" balls-to-the-wall duet. The result was DUET FOR THE DEVIL. It took ten years to find a publisher. Dave Barnett at Necro was the man.

HN: Was it a conscious decision to make it so intensely violent?  Were you two competing to see who could be the most extreme?

RC: We wanted it to live up to its title, wanted it to be something the Devil would be proud of--if Old Scratch really existed. I don't think we were competing. Damon lives in Arizona, and I live in Georgia. We've never met in the flesh. We talked on the phone some, and those were the days before e-mail, so I would write a segment and mail it to Damon, he would take it from there and send me back what he'd added. Back and forth. Round and round. If we had been competing, he would've easily beat me into the ground.

HN: On your next two novels you went solo.  BAD JUJU is sort of a Southern marriage of Ed Lee and Dean Koontz.  And HELLz BELLz is Laymonesque.  Do you consider these books successful in what you were trying to achieve as a horror writer?

RC: I think so. I wanted to write entertaining horror stories a little different from the run-of-the-mill horror novels. I think I did that with BAD JUJU. The jury's still out on BELLz.

HN: What are you planning next?  Can you give us any details?

RC: I'm finishing a sword-and-sorcery novella called "Angel Blade" for HellBound's BLADESPELL, which will also include novellas by three other authors--as you know, Dave, since you're one of the three. And I'm nearing the end of a detective novel featuring my private dick Joe Dall. I'm halfway through a new horror novel, as yet untitled. And I've got a few other ideas simmering on the back burner.

HN: What’s your opinion on the current state of horror fiction?

RC: I'm the wrong person to answer that. I confess that I haven't read a lot of contemporary horror. But my sense is, there's a lot of talent out there. A lot of writers working on their chops and getting ready to take the genre to a new level. I hope so. As long as T.M. Wright and Peter Straub are working, the genre will remain strong. When it's time to pass the torch, I believe the next generation will be ready to give it a good run.

HN: Thanks for the interview, Randy.


RC: It was fun. Thanks for interviewing me.

This interview was originally published in Hellnotes (2005)

Friday, December 5, 2014

McBean's List of Horror

Hold on to your hellhounds, kiddies! It's time for another list of HORROR!  

Okay, I'm no Cryptkeeper, so let's just introduce today's horror expert:

Our next book list comes from horror author Brett McBean who has been nominated for the Aurealis, Ditmar, and Ned Kelly awards and has won the 2011 Australian Shadows Award for best collection (Tales of Sin and Madness). He also happens to be a big Beatles and Beethoven fan--in other words, he's a man of refined and outstanding taste. 

But what you're here to see is his impressive list of top horror fiction, so without further ado...

The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe
Dracula, by Bram Stoker 
The Purple Cloud, by M.P. Shiel 
The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury 
I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson 
Wake in Fright, by Kenneth Cook 
We Have Always Lived in the Castle, by Shirley Jackson 
Concrete Island, by J.G. Ballard 
High Rise, by J.G. Ballard 
The Shining, by Stephen King 

Ghost Story, by Peter Straub 
Pet Sematary, by Stephen King 
Books of Blood, by Clive Barker 
Song of Kali, by Dan Simmons 
Live Girls, by Ray Garton 
Swan Song, by Robert McCammon 
The Girl Next Door, by Jack Ketchum 
Lovedeath, by Dan Simmons 
Savage, by Richard Laymon 
Blood Crazy, by Simon Clark

Sunday, November 30, 2014

West's List of Horror

Today we have UK writer Mark West’s top-twenty book-list of horror fiction. Mark has had dozens of works published over the years and is definitely an author whom readers of quality fiction should seek out (link below). His latest release is the novella Drive from Pendragon Press which has been receiving great reviews.

And now, his fine list:

Boy’s Life, by Robert McCammon
IT, by Stephen King
Falling Angel, by William Hjortsberg
The End, by Gary McMahon
Last Days, by Adam Nevill
Whitstable, by Stephen Volk
I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson
The House Next Door, by Anne Rivers Siddons
Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury
Psycho, by Robert Bloch

The Happy Man, by Eric C. Higgs
The Stepford Wives, by Ira Levin
Throat Sprockets, by Tim Lucas
The Dead Zone, by Stephen King
Cutting Edge, edited by Dennis Etchison
Dark Forces, edited by Kirby Macauley
Skeleton Crew, by Stephen King
Shatterday, by Harlan Ellison
The Dark Country, by Dennis Etchison

The Books Of Blood (pick any one of the six), by Clive Barker

Thursday, November 27, 2014

DEAD EARTH: THE GREEN DAWN REVIEW

Hi,

Matt Cowan of Horror Delve has reviewed Dead Earth: The Green Dawn.

"This is a fast-paced read filled with great characters, eerie dreams, zombies, aliens, action and the occasional touch of humor as well. Give DEAD EARTH: THE GREEN DAWN a read even if, like me, you aren’t a big fan of zombies. I think you’ll find yourself swept along to the very end."

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Bagley's List of Horror

It's all lowercase today on the blog, and that's because today's guest is none other than s.j. bagley: artist, musician and horror scholar extraordinaire. I've been friends with him for at least a decade and can honestly say I've met no one else like him and, as you'll soon see, he's come up with quite a unique and amazing list for this series. 

but enough from me; i'll let him make his own list introduction. --DTW

as a critic, reader, and critical reader i strongly loathe the culturally hegemonic position that the novel holds, being popularly (and incorrectly) considered the only truly valid literary form. in fact, my dislike of the novel as cultural construction is one of the first things most readers discover about me and i thought it would interesting to upend that particular personal narrative, momentarily, and give our illustrious host mssr. wilbanks a list of twenty horror novels of the twenty-first century that i highly recommend.

i have resisted the nigh overwhelming urge to editorialise or evangelise and have decided to let the list stand, alone. please bear in mind that this is not a list of twenty 'favourite' novels and they are listed in alphabetical order, not by order of importance or personal taste.

laird barron- 'the croning.'
jesse bullington- 'the sad tale of the brothers grossbart.'
ramsey campbell- 'the darkest part of the woods.'
michael cisco- 'the tyrant.'
elizabeth hand- 'generation loss.'
caitlin r. kiernan- 'the drowning girl.'
victor lavalle- 'big machine.'
alain mabankou- 'african psycho.'
john mantooth- 'the year of the storm.'
daniel mills- 'revenants.'
s.p. miskowski- 'knock knock.'

adam neville- 'ritual.'
david nickle- 'eutopia.'
joyce carol oates- 'daddy love.'
tom piccirilli- 'a choir of ill children.'
david searcey- 'ordinary horror.'
jeffrey thomas- 'boneland.'
lee thomas- 'the german.'
kaaron warren- 'slights.'
conrad williams- 'the unblemished.'

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Kelly's List of Horror

It is quite remarkable that esteemed horror editor and author Michael Kelly found time to make a list for this series; even though I didn't pressure him, he was kind enough to send me something. It's an amazing list and now that I've seen it, I feel I could have used a couple of his selections in place of some of those on my own. But that is the way with lists, I reckon; they can change from day to day.

A note from Mr. Kelly: "I [...] decided that no author would be represented more than once. I could have easily added more Aickman, Machen, Ligotti, etc."


The Howling Man, by Charles Beaumont
The Dark Descent, edited by David G. Hartwell
The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson
Haunted: Tales of the Grotesque, by Joyce Carol Oates
The Cipher by Kathe Koja
The Dark Country, by Dennis Etchison
Shadowland, by Peter Straub
The Great God Pan, by Arthur Machen
Sub Rosa, by Robert Aickman
The Willows, by Algernon Blackwood



Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury
Hauntings, by Vernon Lee
Collected Works of Edgar Allan Poe
The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
The Nightmare Factory, by Thomas Ligotti
Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
The Wasp Factory, by Iain Banks
The Trial, by Franz Kafka
Carrion Comfort, by Dan Simmons

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Cowan's List of Horror

Another day, another list of scrumptious horror fiction, this time served up by that writer of ghost stories, that master of the Horror Delve blog, that lover of all things Ramsey Campbell, Mr. Matt Cowan. (And if you remember, he also wrote reviews for ye olde Page Horrific.)

So here we go...

Alone With The Horrors (collection) - Ramsey Campbell
Ghost Stories Of An Antiquary (collection) - M.R. James
Night Things - Michael Talbot
The Mammoth Book of Haunted House Stories (anthology) edited by Peter Haining
Summer of Night - Dan Simmons
Incarnate - Ramsey Campbell
Night Stone - Rick Hautala
Haunted - James Herbert
The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton (collection) - Edith Wharton
The Penguin Book of Horror Stories (collection) edited by John Anthony Cuddon



Ancient Images - Ramsey Campbell
Ghost Stories for Christmas (anthology) edited by Richard Dalby
Prey - Graham Masterton
A Winter Haunting - Dan Simmons
The Grin of the Dark - Ramsey Campbell
House of Fear (anthology) edited by Jonathan Olive
Midnight Sun - Ramsey Campbell
Out of the Night - Patrick Whalen
100 Wild Little Weird Tales (anthology) edited by Robert Weinberg, Stefan R. Dziemanowicz and Martin H. Greenberg
Haunted by Al Sarrantonio

Friday, November 14, 2014

Raisor's List of Horror

I'm lucky enough to have a list submitted by veteran horror author Gary Raisor, and he has such fine taste too (but he has me curious about that Farmer novel, which I'd never heard of.)


From Wikipedia: Gary Raisor is an American horror author best known for the novels Less Than Human, Graven Images, Sinister Purposes, and his extensive short fiction work. [...] He was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel for Less Than Human in 1992.
He also edited the anthology Obsessions with stories from Dean Koontz, Kevin J. Anderson, F. Paul Wilson, Dan Simmons, Joe R. Lansdale, and featured the story Lady Madonna by Nancy Holder, which won the Bram Stoker Award for Short Fiction in 1991.

Raisor has written numerous short stories, beginning in the 1980s in Night Cry Magazine and The Horror Show, working his way into a lot of "Best Of" anthologies. Today, Raisor concentrates primarily on screenplays and comics.

The Haunting of Hill House - Shirley Jackson
The Shining - Stephen King
I am Legend - Richard Matheson
The Island of Dr. Moreau - H.G. Wells
The Long Loud Silence - Wilson A. Tucker
The Drive-in - Joe R. Lansdale
The Dead Zone - Stephen King
Drood - Dan Simmons
Dracula - Bram Stoker
The Invisible Man - H.G. Wells




American Gods - Neil Gaiman
Ghost Story - Peter Straub
Christine - Stephen King
Rosemary's Baby - Ira Levin
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – Robert Louis Stevenson
Swan Song - Robert McCammon
The Mist - Stephen King
The Phantom of the Opera - Gaston Leroux
Image of the Beast/Blown - Philip Jose Farmer


Gary Raisor at Crossroad Press