JG Faherty

There is so much going on in this novella. I read it once for the story. You have to do that because this one is going to rip you apart as you follow Fist from the shattering opening scene through one harrowing pivotal scene after another. I then read it again for all of the rest of the story. The symbolism. The literary references. The structure. The landscape as we progress becomes more surreal, the characters more symbolic and archetypal, as we drop from one level to the next and finally show more into the fire created by his own regret.

Choices. It is all about choices. How some choices, once made, can't be undone. We follow Fist as he carries his dead (both figuratively and literally like Faulkner's characters in As I Lay Dying) to their final resting place and himself to his revenge and, he hopes, redemption. Along the way he meets people that are not necessarily bad, just conflicted like himself. He also meets monsters, some human some not, a fascinating character ("The Artist") that I think of as a reflection of the novelist himself, and in the end, his own personal demon.

Emotionally wringing, this book will take its toll on you. From its devastating first few pages to what is the most gut wrenching final sentence that I have read in a long time. It will leave you shaken and numb. This novella is what dark fiction is all about. show less

If you like cheesy horror movies, this is the novel for you. Two strangers arrive in a small town more or less at the same time, and between them they turn it completely upside down. One worships Lovecraftian gods like Cthulu, while the other has spent his life fighting against them. As the Bad Guy's influence grows, the temperature rises and the townspeople get violent all over the place. If you like senseless gore - sometimes humorous, sometimes just disturbing - well, this book certainly show more has plenty of it. The plot itself doesn't go anywhere new, and the love interest bit feels completely forced, but all in all it's a decent little horror tale. show less

If you happen to have read his book Carnival Of Fear, then you may want to consider giving JG Faherty's short story collection a try too. This is a collection of bone chilling stories (and a few macabre poems thrown in too) with everything after the horror fan's own heart. My personal favorites were the zombie stories like "Home on the range" and "It fell off the back of the truck" though I also enjoyed pretty much the rest of the book as well. I guess with compilations like this you will show more always end up finding great stories alongside average ones, but all in all it was a scarily good read full of unique and well implemented creepy crawly ideas. Personally I could have done without the poems, but this is juts a matter of taste, I guess.
Last but not least, I liked how there is always a short intro on how stories came to be, often giving you an idea of the author's inner workings too.
In short: A great read for fans of the horror genre! show less

Rocky Point, NY has quite a history – first a local preacher burned down a house of ill repute – with all the ladies and customers still inside. One of his descendants was involved with burning down a leper colony. And the local sanitarium has more than its fair share of atrocities, including human drug testing and disposal of the corpses in order to hide that fact. In the 1970s, four high school kids – loners and misfits – joined forces and spent time partying in the cemetery, show more calling themselves the Cemetery Club. One night, one of them brought out a Ouija board and they ended up waking up something… Tony Randolph was blamed for the murders and spent 20 years in an institution. Just a few days later… it all starts to happen again. The deaths, the disappearances… He stopped it once – can he do it again with the help of John Boyd, Marisol Flores and Corey Miles – the original Cemetery Club?

Let me make one thing clear – this is a horror novel. There is gore and violence and demonic-seeming entities and zombies (of a sort); and a twist at the very end that will leave you breathless. I loved it! Faherty has a great grip on characterization and plot flow, keeping the tension high while simultaneously letting us get to know the characters and some of their back story. Wonderfully well written, I can highly recommend this book for the fans of serious horror. Folks who want happily ever after need not apply… show less