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W. Scott Poole: The author wants to tell you about the monsters of history

Scott Poole is a historian, author, and a professor at College of Charleston.  And he’s also a monster lover.  But unlike most of us who simply dabble on the outskirts of the horror genre, Poole is immersed…

Heaven and Hell should never be this enjoyable

Tony Iommi is a little nonchalant about being the father of metal.  So much so that he reiterates not once, but twice that it’s “too bloody much” to pin him with that title: They credit the loss…

Stay away from Rick Florino’s Dolor…please

Much of Rick Florino’s Dolor Saga is poorly conceived, executed, and written.  But before I address that, let’s start with the positive.  The Dolor Saga is a relatively intriguing, albeit worn-out, concept for a horror series.  Place…

Tim Kinsella's new novel is as carefully crafted as his music

Tim Kinsella could have just continued making music at the phenomenal rate he’s accustomed to.  But then we wouldn’t have gotten The Karaoke Singer’s Guide to Self-Defense, his first novel.  Written after a time where he was…

A richly detailed journey through the horrors of American history

All the proof you need that monsters exist is found in Scott Poole’s new book, Monsters In America. It’s easy to dismiss our monsters as amusing outposts of contemporary society, fictionalized versions of morality tales, or, worse…

Authors and SSv staff pick their favorite horror books.

When I was young and in the third grade, my elementary school library had these burgundy, faux leather-bound books in our library, each one retelling the story of classic monster movies, complete with stills from the original…

Alan Moore to avoid

I adore Alan Moore. Watchmen places in my top five books, and most everything else I’ve read that he’s written, from Swamp Thing to Batman: The Killing Joke to V for Vendetta, are books I would consider…

An in-depth look at marriage that holds a little known fascinating history.

True or false? About 50% of marriages end in divorce. Although uncommon to popular belief, this is actually false, as both Americans and Canadians have a 30 percent chance of divorce when marrying for the first time.…

David Browne’s star studded journey into the year the sixties died

Do the sixties really need more coverage? Before I get too far, I feel I should warn the reader early in this review that I have a knee-jerk dislike of cultural nostalgia in all its insidious forms.…

Dean Budnick and Josh Baron's book is a superior look at greed in the music industry

In addition to being a brief history of the modern concert era, Ticket Masters: The Rise of the Concert Industry and How the Public Got Scalped is also a microscopic look at (mainly) American greed in action.…