Todd Keisling

Cold, Black, & Infinite was a terrifying, mesmerizing assortment bite sized terrors without a single dud in the line up.

Short story collections, especially in the horror genre, are something of a favorite of mine at this point, I've read several such collections but this one had a little something extra that set it apart. I was continually impressed with just how good these stories were; the ideas were extremely clever, the execution was adept, and the writing style was equal parts evocative and chilling. Usually in short story collections I'll find there are one or two tales I don't really connect with or flat out don't like. However, this was not the case here. Sure, I had favorites, (Y2K, The Happytown Yuletide Massacre, and Annie's Heart is a Haunted House) but every single story was a pleasure to read, a twisted, chilling little tale to enjoy, oozing with style and atmosphere. This book reminded me of being a kid and coming across my first Goosebumps, or Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark in the school library, each story was that good and that frightening.

I'd recommend this to just about anyone who likes horror fiction or short stories, it's an exemplary model of both. There are some pretty heavy topics and themes however, but the author has kindly added a list of content warnings in the back of the book for readers who may want to use it.… (meer)

Jacob Masters was a child molesting cult leader who demanded human sacrifice in worship of his nameless god. Fire may be cleansing, but when the Church Of Holy Voices burned after the dramatic rescue of 6 children, the evil did not die. The 6 children grew up, and as children do, some flourished and some flailed. These days, some people think the old stories of Jacob Masters and his church are just empty tales of the boogie man to scare each other with over s'mores around the campfire. Now that Jack Tremly has come home the town is about to find out there's more truth than legend to the old stories. I love small town horror, and Devil's Creek delivers it's share of villains among the few brave heroes. It's graphic and gory with huge helpings of anxiety inducing suspense, and supernatural terror. I would recommend it to all horror fans.

I received an advance copy for review… (meer)