This is another collection of power poetry from Tom Piccirilli (the first being the Stoker Award-winning A STUDENT OF HELL). If anything, this one is even better. As you can guess from the title, there is a lot of raw emotion to be found in the book. The themes of the verse are mature and cover a lot of ground. Unlike a lot of modern poetry, Mr. Piccirilli writes with a clear and concise voice, using a great many concrete images to ground his narrative voice. This isn't clouds and rivers and birds here, and each poem reads like a short, muscular story concerning pain, anger, broken-hearts, failures, and tragedy. And yet, don't be mistaken that the work is all downbeat, because even in his darkest moment, Piccirilli writes with a suave blackly humorous voice.

This was pretty creepy, but the author's way of intertwining mystery in it doesn't do much at all. Tom Picirilli should write 100% horror. Forget the mystery because obviously he's trying to write in a genre he's no good at.

DARK FATHER by Tom Piccirilli: A very angry novel that has one scene that takes place in a church that is one of the most powerful things I'v read.. Highly Recommended--Paul J. Legerski

Tom Piccirilli has long been a master of outstanding horror and mystery and as in all his previous novels, the case remains the same for his first book DARK FATHER. This is an all-out chill-fest about two brothers engulfed in a heritage of evil. You've got it all here from eerie scenes that will spin you off your seat to a first rate, moving love affair to a powerful climax that beggars description unless you read the novel first. Look for his new novel HEXES in January '99, I'm sure it will be just as great, if not even better.

Piccirilli gives us an exciting, gripping, dark but often humorous novel that makes extremely good use of the "amateur sleuth" team of Jon Kendrick and his grandmother Anna. A unique, believable, and wonderfully well-done mystery!

As always, Tom Piccirilli capably brings his characters to life thorugh the use of the secrets in their pasts, their complex emotional make-ups, and moral integrity. This story speeds along giving us an intensely personal view of the protagonists and some amazing action scenes. Definitely pick it up.

TDP is a mystery that I couldn't put down, it has rich, vibrant characters and funny dialogue and nuances that most novels can't touch. TDP opens with a 4 am phone call to Jon Kendrick from his grandmother. She tells him she found a body in her trash can. Jon then goes home to Felicity Grove to help solve the crime. See, Jon and his grandmother are a tag team of amateur sleuths who have solved a few of the crimes that have occurred in the small town of Felicity Grove. Suffice to say, I read this one in one 3 hour sitting. The characters are so flamboyant and unique that I enjoyed finding out what happened next. The dialogue pops and snaps so crisply, I found myself yelling and/or laughing out loud. And the plot is so full of surprises and twists that I didn't figure out what was really going on until the very end...and then I couldn't believe it. Highly Recommended.

In 2000 Gerard Houarner and artist GAK published a small chapbook called Dead Cat Bounce. It was the story of, well, a dead cat. It went on to become a finalist for Bram Stoker award.

Two years later, out comes this book, Dead Cats Bouncing, from Bedlam Press, an anthology edited by the creators, Gerard Houarner and GAK.

With a contents pages that reads like a who's who of the small press horror scene, we're treated to 15 new Dead Cat stories, plus the original, by authors like Jack Ketchum, Ed Lee, Charlee Jacob, Yvonne Navarro, and Brian Keene. The styles of the stories range wildly from the original short-burst sentence style of the first Dead Cat, to more traditional flowing prose, all the way to sing-songy rhythms like John Skipp's contribution "Soul Maggot Jamboree".

And accompanying the great stories are the pencilled drawings of GAK, an artist with a definite Gahan Wilson influence, with a terrific eye for the smaller details--and he draws a hell of a dead cat.

Dead Cats Bouncing is one surprise after another. For example, I did something I don't normally do when reading an Ed Lee story: I laughed.

Or there's the entertaining way Paul Di Filippo wrote his story, "Mehitabel in Hell".

This is a book for the kid in every adult, for the person who's seen what else is on the shelves and just wants something unexpected.

Call it a book of bedtime stories for the already-damaged child.

Call it whatever you want, just grab it quick before Gerard and GAK do it again with another Dead Cat book, or better yet, Dead Cat the Animated Series. And then it'll be Dead Cat stuffed toys for everyone.

When I purchased Dead Cats Bouncing, I wasn't sure what to expect from the onslaught of talented, if somewhat depraved, mentalities communing inside this work. I somewhat expected a book of horrific tale exclaiming the high points of depravity, reflecting what I had tasted before from the likes of Edward Lee and Jack Ketchum in the past. So, it came as quite a surprise to find that this weren't horror stories at all but were instead demented children's tales about a cat that had returned to the land of the living with a belly full of love/or hate-depending on whose recount of the experience you read. Better yet, all of these are numbered and signed by all the contributing authors, something I missed out on when reading the books description, including the likes of: Gerard Houarner, Charlee Jacob, Jack Ketchum, Edward Lee, Tom Piccirilli, Linda Addison, John Skipp, Yvonne Navarro, Terry McGarry, Paul Di Filippo, Charlee Jacob, David Niall Wilson, Gene O'Neil, Brain Keene, Mick Farren, and Gak.

The premise of these tale, forged by Gak and Houarner as they sought and almost captured a Stoker Award, focuses on the exploits of Dead Cat, who was a sacrifice to the goddess Bastet and finds that being in the land of the dead is quite boring. There are no happy hunting grounds filled with birds or mice, no naps and dreams of bliss, or any of the other things that a cat needs to enjoy themselves when finding oneself outside the land of the livelihood. In fact, all Bastet tells him to do is, "eat sand." So, what's a cat to do when confronted with a dilemma like this? Why, return to the land of the living without becoming alive, of course! Most of these portraits of the Dead Cat's "life" are written in choppy sentences, focusing themselves from the thoughts of Dead Cat himself and not in the narration aspect of storytelling, with a few of the writers deviating from that course. At first I found this practice somewhat questionable, but I soon overcame this initial hesitation and found the style enjoyable and, in many instances, funny. This came as quite a surprise, too, because I never thought of many of these writers in the comedic sense before reading DCB.

This isn't to say that the book is a challenging read, because that is far from the case. I found myself finishing it within an hour, covering the two-hundred plus pages of large print in what amounted to no time at all and longing for more. Still, the captivating prospects of a cat that evades death for no other reason than boredom is something worthwhile and deserving of a look, especially if you want to see writers in a different light. Recommended for the oddities, young and old (with attention paid to the profane, of course)!

I first read Piccirrilli's "Self" stories back when they appeared in small press magazines in the horror genre. I was always enthralled with how he managed to blend so many elements together and yet still offer up a remarkably smooth story. In A Lower Deep, the author takes three novellas with one overall arcing story line and gives a rip-snorting dark fantasy tale of a modern day warlock driven by a vague morality to try to save the world. The warlock (or "Necromancer", as he's known here) is trapped between a world of black magic, his own demonic "Self's" constant urgings for him to give in to lust and murder, his love for his dead girlfriend, and his struggle with understanding God's greater plan. A wonderfully ambitious, unsettling, and moving book.

Rarely have I read a novel so packed with bizarre characters and situations. The story follows a modern day warlock and his demon sidekick named "Self" (what a trip) as they struggle with their old coven master who has started a series of supernatural events that will culminate in Armageddon. Our hero must battle a new coven, fight a half-angelic mutant being in the bowels of a haunted abbey, and hunt through Jerusalem where the God's power seems to be boiling over. There are also demons, djinn, evil monks, ghosts, and the walking dead along for the ride. Piccirilli uses and comments on faith, history, theology, folklore, prophecy and other so-called "large spiritual matters" but does it in such a way that the story rolls along at a rip-roaring pace. The writing is solid, poetic, and completely gripping. The author's imagination is fiery and wild, but his skills as a writer hold everything in balance. There's humor here, relationships, love, vengeance and heartbreak. One of the best horror novels I've ever read. More Self!

A LOWER DEEP is a wonderful occult horror novel where research into mythology, religion, the black arts and history has paid off in a fine way. This book reads with a particular sense of realism no matter how bizarre the situation. We follow a nameless man known only as the Necromancer as he and his demonic and sarcastic companion "Self" travel across the world battling evil abroad and the evil within themselves. From an unholy mansion where a witches' coven attempts the premature resurrection of the messiah, to a haunted monestary where insane monks roam, to the city of Jerusalem itself where the protagonist must fight the ghosts of his past as Armageddon approaches. This is top-notch horror fantasy that brings the concepts of belief, sacrifice, faith and antiquity to a unique life. Highly recommended.

Tom Piccirilli has never been one to pull his punches, whether writing in the horror genre or in the mystery field. SHARDS is no exception: the characters are awash in their own humanity, whether noble or savage. Nathaniel Follows, who lives up to his name by following through the twisted wreckage of a woman's life, delves into her past until he finally confronts the forces behind her death. Piccirilli breathes a breath of fresh air into a genre too often full of quaint cozy characters and crime-solving cats.

SHARDS starts out with a writer, Nathaniel Follows, going on a binge after the breakup with his girlfriend. He meets with a mysterious, rich girl Susan Hartford. She invites him to her B-day party the next day and that's when the* hits the fan. Something surprising happens at the party and Nathaniel must pick up the shards (get it?) of pieces to solve the puzzle. Along the way we follow Nathaniel trying to get at the bottom of it all and when we all realize what's going on, I was shocked, mad and spellbound. High energy, hilarious dialogue and true motivations behind the characters actions. Highly Recommended.

SHARDS is an outstanding novel that has an atmosphere like no other book I've ever read. Like its title, the protagonist of SHARDS has been shattered by trauma as a child and rebuilt himself into a hero. The balance between horror, humor, crime, and humanity works to perfection. Definitely check it out!

Seldom have I read a novel that packed so much into such a relatively short amount of space. This book is horror, crime, noir, and full-out literature in the finest sense of the word. Thrills and chills spill out of Piccirilli's pen to enwrap you in a tale bizarre and yet so familiar. What college student hasn't felt like a complete outsider at one point or another? Who hasn't felt haunted during the gloom of deepest winter? Piccirilli offers us this solid mystery of a man hunting a killer and yet provides so much more: touches of the supernatural, satirical commentary on the nature of higher education, and an absolutely heartbreaking finale. Take this night class and prepare to learn!

If you're searching for a powerful novel to read, then let me suggest Tom Piccirilli's THE NIGHT CLASS. Tom's been steadily working in the horror field for several years now, offering up his offbeat, bizarre, and yet literary works of dark fantasy and dark crime. TNC is a mixture of both. A mystery story with elements of the supernatural tossed in.

Our setting is a snow-covered campus during winter. Our protagonist, Cal Prentiss, is coming apart at the seams as his alcoholism takes greater hold. He's haunted by the images of his sister committing suicide in front of him as a child, and as he approaches the end of his final semester at college, he fears what lays in wait for him outside these hallowed halls.

But what stalks him on campus may be even more terrifying. Cal suffers from stigmata and his hands bleed whenever someone close to him dies. The more he bleeds the more he realizes that someone...or something...is hunting him across campus, killing those he cares about.

Piccirilli writes to tell an evocative and exciting story. He doesn't pad out the novel or stuff it full of unnecessary situations. This is a short, brilliant, unique piece of fiction, and Piccirilli never compromises his story, voice, style, or his vision to play to the most common denominator. THE NIGHT CLASS is well-paced and perfectly executed from start to finish.

Sit and join the class.

Tom Piccirilli is one of the most consistently innovative horror writers currently working in the industry. All of his novels manage to raise the bar another notch and each one is completely unique and wholly different from the next. The Night Class has touches of the supernatural that are perfectly intertwined with a story that is, at its core, a mystery that leads the hero through his own dark night of the soul. The fact that the entire book takes place in a single night proves how well Piccirilli manages to frame his story within the context of his own subtle symbolism. This is a thriller that takes place on a university campus where a murder has occurred, but really it's the tale of one man's journey through a night of madness where everything he's come to believe is shaken and corrupted. A brilliant literary event.

I'll break it down by author:

Little **
Golden ***
Piccirilli *****
Clegg ***

Piccirilli, as usual, makes it worth the price of admission - a classic. The other stories are pretty much been-there-done-that. Doesn't Christopher Golden know that Vikings didn't have horns on their helmets? Oh well, 'Jonah Arose' makes it worth it.

Bentley Little, perhaps the best and most underrated author working in horror today, here gives us "The Circle," an amazing bit of writing with a circular conception of time and storytelling. Ostensibly the tale of what happens on a suburban cul de sac one night, it addresses the conformity of suburban life and many of Little's pet thematic concerns. Truly original.
The Clegg novella is also quite good, although Golden's and Piccirilli's contributions are not quite up to par.

This short novella is about 90 pages long. And believe you me and in can be read by just one sit down. He grabs you from the very beginning of the story.
Mark and Dash are the two main characters and these two boys travel into the darkness of life. And 'THE WORDS' are magic as to entrance you into another world or realm of life.
Classic Clegg!!

This isn't your run-of-the mill horror novel; it doesn't employ a simple plot or try merely to unnerve you with atrocious acts and agents. There is gore to be found in Hexes, to be sure, but it almost came as a surprise to me each time. As I read the tale, I found myself enveloped in a murky, fog-enshrouded atmosphere, moving back and forth across time viewing events and people I struggled to understand and come to terms with. If you do not commit yourself to reading the entire book, you may bow out early because it does not really reach out and grab you. Matthew Galen comes back home when he learns his old friend A.G. is suspected of murder and is being detained at the mental institution that Galen's own father once oversaw. As Galen and A.G. converse (telepathically), we begin to get bits and pieces of the history of the town. Increasing references to the seemingly living scars on Galen's chest and to "the Goat" offer murky clues as to the diabolical forces at work here. As Galen seeks out the evil in his home town, the author serves up a series of flashbacks to Galen's strange history--what happened to his friends, how he learned the arcane arts (hexes, sigils, etc.) he uses to protect himself, and just what the Goat really represents. It is not until the conclusion that we find out the biggest pieces of the puzzle, and even then I never felt comfortably sure of my knowledge of the whole business. While the ending does offer up one important surprise, I found it somewhat disappointing and, in one particular detail, a little too convenient.

I think the complexity of the novel, in addition to the author's decision to withhold the most crucial bits of information until the very end, is a weakness of sorts. It is hard to immerse yourself in, and it becomes rather confusing at points. For those with little knowledge of this type of horror, hinging on arcane magic, ancient grimoires, and demonic manifestations, the book may prove daunting. For those with a passion for horror, you will find that the story is not at all Lovecraftian, despite the similarities in theme, so you can be assured that the plot and finale will not reveal themselves to you through the seemingly familiar signs you will meet upon different occasions. Piccirilli definitely has his own style, and different readers will react to it differently. I enjoyed his writing, but I never found myself swept away by it. This is the kind of horror fiction that tries to lull you to sleep and then suddenly lurch upon you when you least expect it--the atrocities witnessed by the reader are described deftly, even poetically, but every last detail is included for the reader's repulsion and/or glee. I just can't help but feel that the author held back a little at the end, that he decided not to tell me something important that would help me truly understand the book. By and large, though, Piccirilli is a talented, refreshingly unique type of horror writer, and that makes him a rare commodity in the horror field.

HEXES returns Tom Piccirilli to the top ranks of horror writers. HEXES takes place in Summerfell, under Summerfell and around Summerfell's asylum, Panecraft. Matthew Galen's father created and ran Panecraft...he killed himself and maybe his wife. Matthew leaves, but after 5 years, returns to Summerfell to right some wrongs that happened during his high school years. In between, Piccirilli dreams up some of the most vile, hateful and vivid scenes of horror I've ever read. Think his DARK FATHER was intense? Check out HEXES! Characters that are all too-real, scenarios that are out of whack but realistically rendered and a climax to end all climaxes.. Researched in occultism well, HEXES succeeds on all levels. Highly Recommended.

I've just finished both of Piccirilli's most recent horror efforts, The Deceased and Hexes. Piccirilli's brand of horror is a heady brew of style, the occult, and the surreal. He offers up levels of hell for the reader to traverse: the hell of the mind, of the soul, and the fiery place itself. He writes with a real passion, the heartache coming through as his characters battle their own weaknesses as well as the evil that's been loosed. This again shows why Tom Piccirilli is one of the best in the business: he doesn't simply tell a story of murder and mayhem and monsters chewing on livers. He writes of people forced to face the demons in themselves first before battling anything else. A creepy winner here, folks, full of some of the best atmospheric horror you've ever read.

This book disturbed me. It was very creepy and unpredictable. The storyline was kind of hard to follow but eventually the writing made me forget what a storyline was! With ghoulish, incestruous siblings creeping around the corner (of the house at the protagonist of the story returns) and a lake outside with strange creatures lurking in the woods trying to mate with humans, Piccirilli twisted my mind pretty well. (And that damn turtle!) But what was really bothersome to me was the shifting between reality and fantasy and the living and dead.

I will definitely look for Piccirilli again in the future. I must say that if it is a traditional horror story you're looking for, then only half of that is here. But if you'd like a swirling ride into madness and horror, then look no further.

I picked this one up because it was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for best novel of the year. It sure is a freaky book! You can never be sure when the characters are living or dead, whether in the past or the present, as reality warps on a strange secluded island where a young man has the power to resurrect the dead and change beasts into human-like beings. Piccirilli plays with the idea of a story within a story as the protagonist must face the creations of his dead father's writing, which has come to life and continues to evolve in its own fashion. Although the story is perhaps a bit too difficult to understand in places, the author's style and skill carries the complexities through to a chilling finish.

A creamy read that is fast-paced but deeply provocative. This is heady stuff that Piccirilli writes about. You won't just find the usual running from the serial killer fare, but a dark fantasy that's bent on bursting free from the envelope. A young man returns home to the mansion where his sister murdered the entire family and herself, leaving him the only survivor. In a series of flashbacks that play out side by side with the present situation, the main character Jacob Maelstrom is something like Kurt Vonnegut's Billy Pilgrim from Slaughter-House Five. he moves back and forth, talking with the living and the dead, existing in the past and the present, and dealing with a little girl who might have been murdered or might not exist at all. Try it out, it'll give you something to think about.