Themed anthologies are all the rage at the moment and Crystal Lake Publishing usually gets it right with the ones they publish. Welcome to the Show features 17 stories about the goings on at The Shantyman – a legendary music venue. I sure had high hopes for this book being a big music fan and…
Tag: Crystal Lake Publishing
Interview: Darren Speegle
Darren Speegle has been busy of late with the release of not one but two short story collections! January saw the release of Cries From the Static and more recently, Crystal Lake Publishing released another collection of Darren’s shorter works called Varying Distances. Darren stopped by to answer a few questions. Enjoy! TGR:…
Interview: The Grim Reader talks to Mercedes Murdock Yardley
Mercedes M. Yardley is a whimsical dark fantasist who wears stilettos, red lipstick, and poisonous flowers in her hair. She is the author of many diverse works, including Beautiful Sorrows, the Stabby Award-winning Apocalyptic Montessa and Nuclear Lulu: A Tale of Atomic Love, Pretty Little Dead Girls: A Novel of Murder and Whimsy, Detritus in Love, and the BONE…
Book review: Behold! Oddities, Curiosities and Unidefinable Wonders – Anthology.
Behold! Oddities, Curiosities and Unidefinable Wonders is Crystal Lake Publishing’s BIG anthology for 2017. It features an all-star cast of writers from all over the world, including Neil Gaiman, Bentley Little, Lisa Morton, and Clive Barker to name a few. Last year saw Crystal Lake and editor Doug Murano compile Gutted: Beautiful Horror Stories; an incredibly…
Book review: No Mercy – Alessandro Manzetti
I feel a little un-equipped to truly write a good, detailed review for this collection of dark poetry from Alessandro Manzetti. I don’t read much in the way of poetry at all. In fact, this is only the second collection I have ever read. The other was Eden Underground, released by Crystal Lake Publishing and…
Book review: Embers – Kenneth W. Cain
I’ve read many, many short story collections over these past few years. Some good, some great and some that are just okay. So, where does Embers by Kenneth W. Cain sit? Well, Crystal Lake Publishing very rarely drop the ball with their releases. They are one such publisher I know I am going to get a…
Book review: Aletheia – JS Breukelaar
‘Aletheia’ is a very dense novel and a sizeable book to boot. There is a murky essence to this story of a family returning home after a lengthy absence, but does it buckle under its own weight? Certainly not. Crystal Lake Publishing doesn’t release books they don’t heartily believe in. My TBR pile meant that…
Interview: J.S. Breukelaar talks travel, writing, Lit Reactor, weird fiction and her new novel Aletheia.
07-04-17 J.S. Breukelaar is the author of ‘American Monster’ – published in 2014 by Lazy Fascist Press and more recently the supernatural thriller ‘Aletheia’ – published by the excellent Crystal Lake Publishing. Her work has been shortlisted, nominated for numerous awards including Ellen Datlow’s Best Horror List. However, fiction is only a small slice…
Words & Music with Todd Keisling
I can’t think of a better way to start this new series than by featuring Todd Keisling. The Words & Music series will feature a host of writers talking about the influence music has on their writing. Sometimes music is a catalyst for a story idea, some authors simply use it to get “in the…
Book review: Todd Keisling – The Final Reconciliation
Already I have a strong feeling that this novella from Crystal Lake Publishing and Todd Keisling will be amongst my years best. A big call, I know, but for me this story hit all the right notes (see what I did there?!). In the late 1800’s the short stories of Robert W. Chambers called ‘The…
Grim Reader Reviews 