Search Results for: chizine

In 500 Words or Less: Graveyard Mind by Chadwick Ginther

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Graveyard Mind By Chadwick Ginther ChiZine Publications (300 pages, $17.99 paperback, $10.99 eBook, July 2018) I love a book set in a Canadian city… other than Toronto. Sorry, T-dot; you get a lot of attention in the mainstream, but we have a big-ass country for SFF authors to play with, and as Bobby Singer once said to the Winchesters, “You ain’t the center of the universe.” Sorry, that probably seemed aggressive. But it’s justified, since one of the things worth celebrating about…

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In 500 Words or Less: Kate Heartfield’s Debut Novel Armed in Her Fashion

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Armed in Her Fashion By Kate Heartfield ChiZine Publications (350 pages, $17.99 paperback, $10.99 eBook, April 2018) Fantasy is a tough industry. You can a) stick to tried-and-true tropes and structures and hope to stand out in subtler ways or b) come up with something truly outside-the-box and hope that it still appeals to the traditional fantasy audience. Neither of these options is a sure thing (is anything?). But it seems like every month, reviewers point out authors who are doing one…

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New Treasures: Spectral Evidence by Gemma Files

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There’s no pleasure quite like a top-notch collection of horror stories, and I’m always on the lookout for one. Gemma Files’ latest collection Spectral Evidence, released in February from Trepidatio, sounds like a great candidate. Just check out these story descriptions. An embittered blood-servant plots revenge against the vampires who own him; a little girl’s best friend seeks to draw her into an ancient, forbidden realm; two monster-hunting sisters cross paths with an amoral holler-witch again and again, battling both…

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New Treasures: The Bone Mother by David Demchuk

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I haven’t paid enough attention to Canadian publisher ChiZine recently. A significant oversight, as they do superb work. They focus on “Dark Genre Fiction,” both novels and collections, which they produce in exquisitely designed trade paperbacks. A fine recent example is David Demchuk’s debut The Bone Mother, the first horror novel to be nominated for one of Canada’s most prestigious literary prizes, the Scotiabank Giller Award. Publishers Weekly said “Demchuk gracefully pieces together a dark and shining mosaic of a story with unforgettable…

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Readings Right, and Readings Wrong

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Like most other writers, I’ve given all kinds of readings, from story books to pre-schoolers (supporting early literacy) to academic papers on 18th-century pastoral poetry (supporting my academic career). I’ve had everything from great experiences (the kids really liked the animal noises) to eye-rolling ones (someone should have told the hotel hosting the NEASECS Conference that we would need lecterns) to amazing ones (people turned out at 8:30 on a Saturday morning to hear about the georgic). I’ve had a…

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John DeNardo on August’s Must-Read Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Books

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Summer is drawing to a close and, as always, my ambitious summer reading plan is in tatters. The problem isn’t so much lack of disciple (I mean, any more than usual) as it is that great new books keep showing up every week. What’s the point of a meticulously organized plan when I end up behaving like a kid in a candy store every damn summer? Well, the good news is that great new books keep showing up every week….

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The Rationality of the Monstrous: Fourscore Phantasmagores

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There’s a paradox in the nature of a dictionary of monsters. The medieval bestiaries at least claimed to be compendia of actual knowledge. But books like Jorge Luis Borges and Margarita Guerrero’s Book of Imaginary Beings (Manual de zoología fantástica) and perhaps even Katharine Briggs’ Dictionary of Fairies are only superficially rational collections of information. Though alphabetised and cross-referenced, the logical framework’s a way of presenting wild fantasy and dream: basilisks and baldanders, brownies and banshees, sylphs and sphinxes. The…

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Wordsmiths: An Interview with Jerome Stueart

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Last post, I had the pleasure of reviewing Jerome Stueart’s short story collection The Angels of Our Better Beasts, which is one of my favorite collections to date and something you all need to go read. (Seriously, here’s the link; I know you have money kicking around somewhere.) Jerome also did me the pleasure of an interview to discuss his writing practice, his previous projects, and some of the stories in his collection. I hope you enjoy as we ramble…

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In 500 Words or Less: Angels of Our Better Beasts by Jerome Stueart

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Angels of Our Better Beasts By Jerome Stueart ChiZine Publications (300 pages, $16.99 paperback/$9.99 digital, December 2016) As part of my Short Fiction Spotlight for 2016, I discussed the collection Angels of Our Better Beasts by author Jerome Stueart – specifically his short story “Why the Poets Were Banned from the City,” which focuses on the emotional turmoil of a father who has lost his daughter, and blames the writers who have been exiled for the safety of everyone else…

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Future Treasures: A Perfect Machine by Brett Savory

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Brett Savory is co-Publisher (with Sandra Kasturi) of the World Fantasy and British Fantasy Award-winning ChiZine Publications, one of the finest small press publishers out there. He’s also an accomplished writer, with over 50 short stories two novels (In and Down and The Distance Travelled) to his credit. His newest novel is set in a future city where Runners and Hunters carry out a sacred ritual chase every night. Runners survive being shot and grow more and more metallic. But…

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