Jason Cavallaro's The All-Horror October Disaster

Every year I read only horror books in October. (Contrary to popular knowledge, I read multiple genres.)
This is the first year that I've regretted it.

I was disliking almost everything I was reading, so about halfway through the month, I read a crime novel, which was instantly the best of the month. So, I stuck with my usual mix of genres, and everything was fine.

This was that crime novel...

BEST OF THE MONTH

Hard Mountain Clay by C.W. Blackwell

This one comes highly recommended by both Meagan Lucas and Chad Lutzke, and boy....they were right. If you're into David Joy, you're into this. These 118 pages fly by, and if Blackwell doesn't win some hardware for this one, then we'll know once-and-for-all that these damn award programs are rigged.

WORST OF THE MONTH

Rune by Christopher Fowler

I really didn't know which one to pick, but this is the one that I remember the least, so I guess it'll do. The book has a lion on the cover and I STILL hated it. Ok, I'm moving on with my life.

The rest:

The Century's Best Horror Fiction Vol 1 (anthology), edited by John Pelan. This one marks years 1901 to 1950. I'd probably enjoy volume 2 more. Grade: C
Neonomicon (graphic novel) by Moore/Burrows. There is a great monster sex scene, but the rest seemed convoluted. Grade: D
Plague of the Dead by ZA Recht. Zombies again. Maybe all of the great zombie stuff is done already. Grade: D
A Walk Through Hell (graphic novel) by Ennis/Sudzuka. The rare miss from one of my faves, Garth Ennis. Grade: D
Babyteeth (graphic novel) by Cates/Brown. The best graphic novel of the month. Darkly humorous vampire apocalypse. Grade: B
The Trickster by Muriel Gray. Booooo. Grade: D
Red Room (graphic novel) by Ed Piskor. Gnarly and gross art, but story was lacking. Grade: C
Night of the Ghoul (graphic novel) by Snyder/Francavilla. Another fave with an odd miss: Scott Snyder. Grade: C
Heartsick by Chelsea Cain. Something about her writing style made me not want to finish. Grade: D
Chasing the Dead by Joe Schreiber. Sold as a David Morrell-ish thriller, but this is no Morrell. Grade: C
The Family Plot by Cherie Priest. Slow slow slow. Grade: D
Along the River of Flesh by Kristopher Triana. Sequel to Gone to See the River Man, which is a superior book. Grade: C
The Hauntings of Hood Canal by Jack Cady. Good writing, but moved too slow. Grade: D
Skinzz by Wrath James White. One of WJW's better extreme books. Grade: B
Grim (graphic novel) by Philips/Flaviano. A lesser version of Something is Killing the Children. Grade: C
The Bleeding Season by Greg Gifune. Perhaps Gifune's most popular book, but I liked The Gypsy Moths more. Grade: C
That Night in the Woods by Kristopher Triana. First and second acts are great. Falls apart in third. Grade: C
The Merciless II,III, and IV. by Danielle Vega. The first one is the best, and can exist as a standalone, but these aren't bad either. Grade: B
The Goodbye Cat (collection) by Hiro Arikawa. From the writer of The Travelling Cat Chronicles. both are must-reads for cat people. Grade: B
A Certain Hunger by Chelsea Summers. Like a cross between Chuck Palahniuk and Bret Easton Ellis, but not as good as either. Grade: C
Fortune Smiles (collection) by Adam Johnson. So this is the book that beat Yanagihara's A Little Life for the National Book Award?! C'mon man. Grade: C

Reviews by Jason Cavallaro
jcavallaro42@gmail.com
Twitter: @pinheadspawn