Revamping the Vampire | AstraDaemon

WITH TEETH by Brian Keene also includes two short stories, The Last Supper and Down Under. All three are great vampire stories. The author continues to display his talent for twisting a common horror theme into brutal and bloody ordeals for his characters.

WITH TEETH is making my Best Fiction 2021 list, and I'm recommending this one to all horror fans.

As always,

AstraDaemon

Monsters Above and Below

There is something in the local cemetery that comes out at night. Something that is unearthing corpses and killing people. It’s the summer of 1984 and Timmy and his friends are looking forward to no school, comic books, and adventure. But instead they will be fighting for their lives. The ghoul has smelled their blood and it is after them.

GHOUL by Brian Keene centers on three boys at the beginning of their summer break: Timmy, Doug and Barry. People are going missing, the cemetery is falling apart, and summer is becoming one long nightmare. Timmy makes several horrific discoveries, and he thinks something evil living underneath the graveyard. Unfortunately, the adults won't listen to a twelve year old kid, and the other two boys have their own monsters to deal with.

The author delivers more than one monster in this novel, and the creature devouring corpses is not the most sinister threat. For a kid, being violated by the people you are supposed to be able to trust is worse than a demon from folklore. Keene uses suspense and family drama to bury readers in hopeless terror.

This is a great story to get in the mood for Halloween, and the perfect gift for a horror fan.

As always,
AstraDaemon

Savage Survival

One morning the residents of Walden, Virginia, woke up to find the rest of the world gone. Just . . . gone. Surrounding their town was a wall of inky darkness, plummeting Walden into permanent night. Nothing can get in - not light, not people, not even electricity, radio, TV, internet, food, or water. And nothing can get out. No one who dared to penetrate the mysterious barrier has ever been seen again. Only their screams were heard. But for some, the darkness is not the worst of their fears. Driven mad by thirst, hunger, and perpetual night, the residents of Walden are ready to explode. The last few sane prisoners of this small town must prepare a final stand against their neighbors, themselves, and something even worse . . . something out there . . . in the darkness.

DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN by Brian Keene is one of the most depressing novels I've ever read, mostly because the darkness is the only fictional aspect. People losing their minds, throwing laws and morals out the window, and rampaging around town like a bunch of savages is not only believable, but a recurring theme in human history. In fact, you could probably find something similar happening in the news right now.

I don't choose stories like this for the violence, and Keene doesn't get very graphic with his descriptions in this story, in any case. However, I love how thought-provoking horror can be, particularly when it comes to survival themes, and the author provides a banquet within this book. I wish I could be as proactive as Robbie. Unfortunately, I'd likely off myself like so many of the residents. I think about the way my neighbors attack each other on our local Facebook page over dog poop and lawn mowing, and I know my town would be totally screwed in Walden's situation.

If you enjoy horror with evil taking the form of a familiar face, or if you're entertained by characters attempting to problem-solve in the middle of a waking nightmare, this is a story you need to read. The ending might frustrate many people, but such is the author's style. Keene doesn't wrap things up neatly, he leaves the story soaking in a puddle of blood and ash.

As always,
AstraDaemon

Ran Away Crawling

Discover the secret origins of the "drink of the gods" in this dark fantasy fable by best-selling author Brian Keene. Chalco, a young Aztec boy, feels helpless as conquering Spanish forces near his village. But when a messenger of the gods hands him a key to unlock the doors of human perception and visit unseen worlds, Chalco journeys into the mystical Labyrinth, searching for a way to defeat the invaders. He will face gods, devils, and things that are neither. But he will also learn that some doorways should never be opened and not all entrances have exits... Tequila's Sunrise. Take the shot and open the door... if you dare. Deadite Press is proud to present this author's preferred edition of Brian Keene's long out-of-print novella, which contains material not included in previously published editions. Also included in this edition are seven bonus short stories: Dust, Burying Betsy, Fade To Null, Golden Boy, Two-Headed Alien Love Child, That Which Lingers, and Bunnies In August.

TEQUILA'S SUNRISE by Brian Keene is a story of opportunity. While mostly a slow setup, this tale has an ending best appreciated by hardcore Keene fans. I strongly recommend reading the author's previous work, before attempting this story.

BURYING BETSY is a flash fiction piece about a family trying to keep a little girl safe in a very extreme way.

DUST is a post 9/11 story.

FADE TO NULL uses flash fiction to describe the deterioration of an elderly woman's mind.

BUNNIES IN AUGUST is a soul-crusher...I struggled with this one...we always have baby bunnies in our yard.

THAT WHICH LINGERS is the creepiest haunting story I've ever read.

TWO-HEADED ALIEN LOVE CHILD...I can't stop laughing...

GOLDEN BOY is a modern, albeit twisted, version of King Midas.

Overall, this is an interesting mix of stories, proving Keene is more than just a basic horror author, but I think readers will have to familiarize themselves with his novels, before reading any of his shorts.

As always,
AstraDaemon

Burden My Soul

The year is 2009, and the world’s financial and publishing sectors are in chaos. In the midst of this disarray, a burned-out horror writer finds himself haunted by a variety of ghosts, both real and metaphorical. And as the ghosts increase their attacks, his struggle to make a living quickly becomes a fight to hold on to his family – and his very sanity.

THE GIRL ON THE GLIDER by Brian Keene is nothing like any of his work I've read previously. On a related note, readers should probably read all of the Keene stories published before this one, in order to truly appreciate the personal POV.

The setup is painfully slow, not unlike watching an artist create a landscape and waiting for all the strokes to form something recognizable. The details are obviously necessary, but the pace is similar to watching paint dry.

While a few parts freaked me out enough that I jumped when my 13 yr old walked into the room (dressed in black), I didn't really feel much of anything for this story. Simply isn't my flavor of Keene.

I'm still recommending this one to fans of the author...there is some terrific literary insight to be had.

As always,
AstraDaemon

12 Days of Keene: Day 12

In the long-awaited follow up to DEAD SEA, it has been several months since the disease known as Hamelin's Revenge decimated the world. Civilization has collapsed and the dead far outnumber the living. The survivors seek refuge from the roaming zombie hordes, but one-by-one, those shelters are falling.

Twenty-five survivors barricade themselves inside a former military bunker buried deep beneath a luxury hotel. They are safe from the zombies... but are they safe from one another? As supplies run low and despair sets in, each of them will find out just how far they're willing to go to survive.

ENTOMBED by Brian Keene is a bloodbath, and the undead are just a background detail. Basically, the bunker survivors turn on the one guy, Peter, who saved them all, at the beginning of the story. He is also the one who wanted to bring food supplies with them, before sealing the blast doors. Not only did everyone rag on him to seal the doors without grabbing the supply cart, but they also refused to fight a few undead between the supplies and the group. As far as I'm concerned, they all got what they deserved.

This is not a sequel to DEAD SEA, but a separate story which takes place during the same outbreak in the same Keene world. You don't have to read the first novel to appreciate Entombed, but it does offer an explanation of why there is never any hope for the survivors. There is a lot of action, and no one dies the same way.

Who will you root for?

As always,
AstraDaemon

12 Days of Keene: Day 11

In 2003, Brian Keene's The Rising revived horror literature's dormant obsession with zombies. In 2007, Brian Keene's Dead Sea knocked that obsession on its ass... The city streets are no longer safe. They are filled instead with the living dead, rotting predators driven only by a need to kill and eat. Some of the living still struggle to survive, but with each passing day, their odds grow worse. Some survivors have fled, frantically searching for a place to escape, even briefly, the slaughter around them. For Lamar Reed and a handful of others, that safe haven is an old Coast Guard ship out at sea, with plenty of water between them and the zombies. These desperate survivors are completely isolated from the dangers of the mainland. But their haven will soon become a deathtrap, and they'll learn that isolation can also mean no escape! Deadite Press is proud to present this Author's Preferred version of Keene's over-the-top cult classic, which includes never-before-published material!

DEAD SEA by horror author Brian Keene has always been one of my all-time favorite zombie novels. This book is the reason I became a fan of Keene in the first place. The author has quite a talent for taking a hopeless situation and twisting the waking nightmare into something much worse than hopeless. I thought I had become desensitized, until I read Dead Sea.

The main character is a young gay Black man named Lamar, and the story is centered on his POV. Throughout the book, he often wonders why anyone bothers to keep fighting when they are very likely to die a gruesome death...and then come back as the undead. I love the thought process of this character. Unlike many of the other characters, Lamar is always trying to think ahead, instead of just reacting to the danger around his group.

Dead Sea is one of the horror novels I recommend as a general go-to horror novel, but this is also the Keene story I recommend to introduce new readers to the author.

As always,
AstraDaemon