STEVE CARROLL WRITES

Those of us of a certain age have fond memories of the   heyday of the VHS movie rental market. There was nothing like going to the   local video rental   store on a Friday night and perusing the walls and shelves   trying to decide what movies we would watch into the wee hours. For many of us,   horror   movies were at the top of that list and in the 80s and 90s there was no   shortage of them to choose from. They typically starred unknown actors and we   didn’t care. I’m pretty sure Kevin Lucia is a kindred spirit to me in this   regard. The first clue to that conclusion is found in his novella,  Joey Leonard’s Last Horror Movie Marathon , which I reviewed a few months ago. That tale revolved around the closing of a video store and the protagonist whose life is upended by watching a certain cosmically-haunted videotape. The second clue is the fact that Lucia’s first full-length novel, The Horror at Pleasan...

Lawrence Block is a true literary legend, followed by   millions of readers and the recipient of the title  Grand   Master by the  Mystery   Writers of America . He   has published over 100 books in a career that spans over   half a century. His area of expertise is crime and he is best known for his long-running   series   of books focused on recovered alcoholic private investigator Matthew   Scuddard. The Naked and the Deadly , a new compilation courtesy of Bob Deis   and   Wyatt Doyle and their Men’s Adventure Library, collects Block’s earliest work   from his days as a young contributor to the sensationalistic men’s   adventure magazine   (MAM) market of the late 50s, 60s, and early 70s. The famous author Lawrence Block is not   exactly the same Lawrence Block that is found in this robust and informative   volume. Or as the back-cover   blurb notes: “Not that Lawrence Block. Not yet...”  ...

I was fortunate to receive an advance copy of Nick Robert’s newest book, a collection of short stories entitled, It Haunts the Mind and Other Stories , published by Crystal Lake Publishing . I also recently conducted an interview with Nick which can be found here . Having read his previous novel, The Exorcist’s House , which I enjoyed (review forthcoming), I was eager to sample his short stories. In my experience some authors excel at longer prose forms and some excel at short tales. I’m happy to report that Nick Roberts deftly handles both. It Haunts the Mind and Other Stories features a total of 15 stories that run the gamut from in-your-face grisly horror to genuine chill-inducing subtle innuendo; from weird fiction to hard-boiled noir; and even a touch of Lovecraftian cosmic horror, all culminating with a possession tale set in the world of The Exorcist’s House .  In truth, all of the stories in this collection connect to each other to a certain degree on two different fronts....

Nick Roberts exploded onto the literary horror scene in 2020 with the publication of his debut horror novel, Anathema , which went on to win the 2020-2021 Horror Authors Guild Award for Debut Novel of the Year .  His second novel, The Exorcist's House, was released in 2022 by Crystal Lake Publishing to great acclaim. His newest release, a collection of short stories titled It Haunts the Mind and Other Stories was just released (also by Crystal Lake). Look for a review of that collection and The Exorcist's House on this site very soon. Now, on to my conversation with Nick Roberts, English teacher by day, horror author by night... When did you first feel the writing bug? I’ve always had this creative drive. As early as kindergarten, I started drawing vicious monsters and then progressed by giving them dialogue bubbles. I eventually abandoned the artwork in favor of the stories, and by junior high/high school, I wrote short stories, screenplays, and even filmed my own shitty...

The following column was originally printed in Justin Marriott's  Paperback Fanatic 46 , which was published in January of 2023. You can buy a copy of it  here . While   the martial arts have been a deeply ingrained part of various Asian cultures   and their literature for centuries, their influence in western culture was   a   direct result of military exposure to Eastern fighting forms during World War   II in both China and Japan and later during the Korean War. Servicemen   brought   an interest in these esoteric fighting styles back home with them and soon   their influence found its way into the collective psyche. Shortly   thereafter,   the Hong Kong movie scene exploded in the late 60s and spilled over into the   rest of the world in the early 70s. Suddenly Kung Fu was   everywhere from the suburban   neighborhood cinema to TV screens, comic books, and even Top 40 commercial pop   radio ( Everybody w...