Cthulhu's Reign by Darrell Schweitzer - An Admirable Lovecraft Recall Anthology

Cthulhu’s Reign is a collection of amazing horror short stories. The editor of the anthology was World Fantasy Award winner Darrell Schweitzer (his short fiction is there in the book, too), and its inspiration, of course, H. P. Lovecraft, mostly known from Cthulhu mythos which is based on ancient legends and the author’s twisted fantasy.



Cthulhu’s Reign consists of fifteen short stories by American and English writers (Ian Watson, Laird Barron, Brian Stableford included), all of them are masters of horror and dark fantasy in their own right, and their present stories are tributes to Lovecraft. In their fictitious world Lovecraft’s worst nightmare has already come real and the vile Great Old Ones has occupied Earth again. I must admit I do prefer Lovecraft’s scary horror over his cosmic horror – in Cthulhu Reigns one can find both, and the result is a dark, gloomy, very enjoyable collection. All the stories recalls the brooding, uneasy atmosphere of Lovecraft’s weird tales.

Haunted Vagina by Carlton Mellick, A Bizarre Sexual Fantasy Mixed With Horror

Carlton Mellick is known for horror stories and his graphic and bizarre sexual fantasy – the two is always a volatile combination.



Steve loves his girl, Stacy – however, he has a problem with the lady: he discovers that her most intimate part is a gate into a morbid and fearsome dimension. A skeleton crawls out of her vagina – and Steve decides to discover the mystery of the orifice. The book would have been a gemstone to Freud, to point out the atavistic, innermost fears and desires that men associate with that certain hole.

Blackest Night by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis, A Great Comic Book

The War of Light and the Blackest Night threatens the world of DCU. The seven coloured Latern Corps are in a desperate fight, and the Black Lantern Corps (mainly zombies) turn more and more violent.

Several deceased superheroes, for instance Aquaman and Martian Manhunter, reappear in Blackest Night: they turned into malignant zombies, obeying Nekron, someone who wish to extirpate everyone in the world. Flash and Green Lantern are ready to stand up against them…





Death in superhero comics is notoriously impermanent—characters ranging from world-beaters like Superman to minor bit-players are killed off only to be resurrected later—but never more so than in this miniseries, in which dozens of fallen heroes and villains, including Aquaman, the Martian Manhunter, and Elongated Man, are reanimated as evil, zombielike forces under the command of Nekron, the embodiment of death, who wants to kill all living entities. As always, it’s up to the stalwart superheroes—most notably the original Flash and Green Lantern, both recently returned from the grave themselves—to set things right. Like all such companywide crossover events, the story line was integrated into nearly all of DC’s many titles, but the major events occur in the nine issues collected here. Even so, the absence of the supplemental stories makes Johns’ thorny narrative even more abstruse, especially for casual readers. Reis’ art perfectly matches the script: ostentatiously flashy at the expense of coherence. But for die-hard fans, Blackest Night, which sets in motion monumental changes that will be felt throughout the DC Universe, is a must-read.

Whiplash by Catherine Coulter, an FBI Thriller Novel

Catherine Coulter is a New York Times best-selling author, she is known for her historical suspense crime novels. Whiplash, a supernatural thriller full of tension, is the fourteenth instalment of Coulter’s FBI series.



Erin Pulaski, a private investigator, is hired by a Yale professor whose father suffers from cancer to have a close look at a murky business of Germany’s Schiffer Hartwin Pharmaceutical. The company presumably holds back a cheap yet effective cancer medicine so that ill people buy a much more expensive one. Erin breaks into the office of the company’s CEO and hacks his computer, she prints the data she finds, she is almost caught red handed but she flees in the last moment, unseen.
Lacey Sherlock and Dillon Savich, a married couple and FBI special agents also investigate this crime, the two team up with Erin.
In the meanwhile Senator David Hoffmann is visited by his deceased wife in his bedroom; the two special agents work on the case, too. They find out that the apparition wants to warn her once husband of a threatening danger…
Fortunately, fortunately, hardly some traces and hints of romance can be found in this book – I am grateful for that. Catherine Coulter blessedly sticks with an intriguing, fast-paced, brilliant plot and suspense.

Description and Summary of Whiplash:
In Coulter's fab 14th FBI paranormal romantic thriller (after KnockOut), FBI special agents Dillon Savich and his wife, Lacey Sherlock, look into the possible haunting of a U.S. senator by his dead wife as well as a more earthly crime: Germany's Schiffer Hartwin Pharmaceutical, which has its U.S. headquarters in Connecticut, might be deliberately withholding an inexpensive cancer fighting drug, Culovort, to force cancer patients to require the far more expensive Eloxium, in short supply. The FBI probe dovetails with one by PI and part-time ballet teacher Erin Pulaski, who's hired by a Yale professor worried about his cancer-stricken father being affected by the shortage. In a wild coincidence, Bowie Richards, the FBI special agent in charge of the New Haven field office, also hires Erin—to babysit his daughter, a ballet student of hers. The attraction between Bowie and Erin grows as they help Dillon and Lacey crack a complicated double case. Coulter fans will want to see more of this new crime-fighting duo. (June)

Hell's Corner by David Baldacci, a Camel Club Series Novel

Hell's Corner is a riveting suspense thriller novel by the best-selling American writer David Baldacci, another instalment of the Camel Club Series.

Oliver Stone (John Carr), once a CIA assassin and a founding member of the infamous Camel Club, has a secret meeting with the President of the United States. He gets a new task: unveiling the hidden ways of Russian drug cartels that presumably have straight connections with the Kremlin. However, it turns out that the life of British Prime Minister is also at stake…

George R. R. Martin: A Dance With Dragons, A Song of Ice And Fire Series

A Dance With Dragons is the fifth instalment of the world-famous fantasy series A Song of Ice And Fire written by American author George R. R. Martin. Like its precedessors A Game of Thrones and A Clash of Kings, A Dance With Dragons landed on international best-seller lists, amongst others, New York Times Best-Seller List and Amazon's Best Sellers in Books.



The setting is a fictitious continent in medieval times, a land of sorcerers, kings, and noblemen who all crave for might and power. A Dance With Dragons starts where A Feast for Crows has ended: the War of the Five Kings seem to be over at last. The dwarf Tyrion Lannister is sentenced to death for killing his nephew King Joffrey Baratheon – however, he is kidnapped by Jorah Mormont who wants to hand him to Daenerys. They fell into the hands of slavers…
Daenerys herself now rules the city of Meereen and marries a nobleman, Hizdahr zo Loraq who soon tries to poison her.
In the North, Stannis Baratheon declared himself a King – he still claims the Iron Throne and wants the support of Northern people and wildlings. However, the Lannisters have already set Lord Paramounts of the North: House Bolton. The up-and-coming Jon Snow is elected a Lord Commander of the Night Watch. The Red Priestess Melisandre sees bad omens for him – and a sinister and gory attack against Jon proves her right.
The plot is just as intricate as we expect it to be, Martin being Martin; characters are still colourful, however, I have a big, big complaint: I did miss Queen Cersei who is right now in a tower cell, waiting for her trial. She is my absolute favourite of A Song of Ice And Fire.

Skin Medicine by Tim Curran, A Bloody, Disturbing Horror Novel

Skin Medicine, written by Tim Curran, is a great gothic horror fiction: a wide range of horror elements can be found in the novel, from Lovecraftian atmosphere and plot to blood-soaked, disturbing graphic violence that recalls Edward Lee – readers even get a glimpse of the Civil War times and a gory wild West.



At the beginning of the story two men transport a coffin of a dead man in a wagon to Whisper Lake; the year is 1882. During their journey in the night, they experience something strange and frightening with the body. When the coffin at last reaches its destination, a local man tries to enbalm the corpse – and the next day he is found dead, whilst the dead man is not found at all.
Seven months later Tyler Cabe, once a Confederation soldier, came to the said town to find a serial killer the Sin City Strangler who murders prostitutes (and indulges in atrocities like dismembering them and eating their flesh). The sheriff of the town, Dirker, is a former Union soldier; he and Cabe has already met before, and their memories are bitter. Other townspeople are not much nicer: the brother of the murdered undertaker wants to lead a vigilante group against a Mormon community; whilst a trouble-making denizen Virgil Clay attacks Cabe – he defends himself, but the enraged father of Clay wants to avenge his son’s death…
In the meanwhile, the passenger of the coffin, James Lee Cobb, murders the residents of a nearby mining town Sunrise. Now is the time for Dirker and Cabe to ally in order to save the inhabitants of Deliverance – those few who are still alive.