Night-Gaunts takes its name from a H. P. Lovecraft poem of the same name. “Night-Gaunts” tells the atmospheric story of a young boy who is abused by his father. When his father dies, the young boy is threatened by creatures–the Night-Gaunts–that only he can see. The Necronomicon makes an appearance. In The Woman in the Window a young woman waits for her lover in the nude, except for her spiky pair of shoes. An unstable wife of a college professor suspects her husband of having an affair with “The Long-Legged Girl” and takes action. “Sign of the Beast” shows what happens when a college student becomes the focus of an unethical science experiment. A young man battling cancer starts stalking a woman in “Walking Wounded.” As you can see, these stories are firmly planted in Joyce Carol Oates country. Oates knows how to modulate the tone of these stories from sinister to creepy to horrific. The ever generous Beth Fedyn sent me this Advanced Reading Copy (Night-Gaunts and Other Tales of Suspense will be published on June 5, 2018). Thanks, Beth! GRADE: B
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
The Woman in the Window 1
The Long-Legged Girl 31
Sign of the Beast 73
The Experimental Subject 121
Walking Wounded 223
Night-Gaunts 277

Steve Martin, Martin Short, and The Steep Canyon Rangers rolled into Buffalo for an evening of comedy and music at Shea’s Performing Arts Center. There was an “audience participation” skit based on The Three Amigos. The Steep Canyon Rangers played a song from their new Blue Grass album. My favorite part of the performance was Steve Martin’s “ventriloquist” bit where Martin Short appears as the “dummy.” Very funny. To jog memories, an overhead video showed some of the highlights of both Steve Martin and Martin Short on Saturday Night Live and scenes from their movies, too. If you’re in the mood for a couple hours of laughs, I’d recommend the Martin & Short comedy evening (aka, “Glad We Saw Them Before They’re Dead”). MARTIN SHORT: GRADE: A
STEVE MARTIN: GRADE: C

A Quiet Place starts with the words “DAY 89” flashed on the screen. A family is rummaging around in a looted pharmacy in a deserted town. They are all being very very quiet. They communicate with hand signals. It doesn’t take long before you find out why they’re being so quiet. Emily Blunt is fabulous in this movie. Her birthing scene–with an alien monster lurking in the background–is classic! I also admire the performance of Millicent Simmonds (a deaf actress) as teenage daughter, Regan, who wears a cochlear implant that provides minimal hearing. John Krasinski directs A Quiet Place and stars as the father of the embattled family surrounded by ravenous aliens who attack at the slightest sound. This is the quietest movie since The Artist. My only quibble is too much “shhhhhing” in the movie. Everyone knows the dangers of sound. GRADE: B

Henry Kane is best known for his private eye series (1947-1972) featuring Peter Chambers in 19 novels. But Henry Kane was a versatile writer. He wrote scripts for NBC’s Peter Gunn and 60 novels. Frenzy of Evil (1963) is one of Henry Kane’s stand-alone novels. The plot revolves around a group of friends who all harbor secrets. Successful lawyer Jonathan Joseph Carson hides the biggest secret: he abuses women. Carson’s new wife is in her 20s–40 years younger than he is. And, of course, secrets have a way of leaking out. Someone in Carson’s group decides that murder might be the best solution to Carson’s spousal abuse. If you’re looking for a psychological thriller with plenty of twists and turns, check out Frenzy of Evil–another classic STARK HOUSE BLACK GAT book! GRADE: B+

I’d like to thank https://marzaat.wordpress.com/ for recommending this book. The Elder Ice is a 74-page tale of what Ernest Shackleton really found on his Antarctic explorations is narrated by ex-boxer Harry Stubbs. Stubbs works for a legal firm and finds himself involved in the famous polar explorer’s legacy which is full of Lovecraftian secrets. David Hambling has really done his homework on Shackleton. I learned a lot about Antarctic exploration with a Mythos twist. I enjoyed this unusual story and I’m eager to read more of David Hambling’s work! GRADE: A-
DAVID HAMBLING BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Novels
The Elder Ice (2014)
Broken Meats (2015)
Alien Stars (2017)
Collections
Shadows from Norwood (2013)
The Dulwich Horror & Others (2015)
Short Fiction
A Question of Blood (2016)
The Mystery of the Cursed Cottage (2017)

The story that affected me most in Carmen Maria Machado’s collection, Her Body And Other Parties (2017), was “Inventory.” A woman takes inventory of her life by making an annotated list of all the men and women she’s had sex with. There’s a compelling story why she’s doing this, but I felt a bit manipulated as a reader following the arc of this story. Most of these stories are fueled by sex. In “The Husband Stitch,” a woman marries a man and promises him she will do anything for him…with one restriction. After two pages, I figured out what the conclusion would be. It’s a variation on the classic story, “The Green Ribbon” and Alvin Schwartz’s In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories. None of the women in the eight stories in Her Body And Other Parties seem very happy with their decisions, sexual and otherwise. The only dud is “Especially Heinous” (subtitled “272 Views of Law & Order: SVU”) where Machado provides episode synopses (some are snarky) poking fun at cop TV shows. The “joke” goes on too long. Although Her Body And Other Parties has garnered good reviews, it’s getting a very lukewarm rating from me. GRADE: C
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
The husband stitch 3
Inventory 33
Mothers 45
Especially heinous 65
Real women have bodies 125
Eight bites 149
The resident 169
Difficult at parties 219

I loved the 2003 movie version of School of Rock so I was really looking forward to this musical version since it was announced last year as part of our package at Shea’s Performing Arts Center. An aspiring rock musician, Dewey, gets kicked out of his group. His roommate is pressured by his girl friend to kick Dewey out of their house if Dewey doesn’t pay his overdue rent. In desperation, Dewey pretends to be a substitute teacher at an exclusive private academy in order to earn enough money to pay his rent. This cynical strategy changes when Dewey discovers the young kids in his class are musically gifted. He trains them to compete in “The Battle of the Bands” in order to get revenge on the band that ousted him. But, of course, things change. Yes, the talented young kids actually play their instruments.

In this touring company, Rob Colletti played “Dewey,” a demanding role that keeps Dewey on the stage for almost every scene. I loved Lexie Dorsett Sharp as Dewey’s Principal, Rosalie Mullins, and my favorite song was Rosalie belting out “Where Did the Rock Go?” If you liked Jack Black in School of Rock, you’ll like this musical version of his story. And, of course, the kids are terrific! GRADE: A
SONG LIST:
Act I
“I’m Too Hot for You” – No Vacancy and Dewey
“When I Climb to the Top of Mount Rock” – Dewey
“Horace Green Alma Mater” – Rosalie, Students and Teachers
“Here at Horace Green” – Rosalie
“Variation 7” – Dewey and Ned
“Children of Rock” – Dewey and Ned
“Mount Rock (Reprise)” – Patty
“Queen of the Night” – Rosalie, Dewey and Gabe
“You’re in the Band” – Dewey and Students
“You’re in the Band (Reprise)” – Dewey and Students
“If Only You Would Listen” – Students
“In the End of Time (A Cappella Version)” – Dewey
“Faculty Quadrille” – Teachers
“In the End of Time (Band Practice)” – Dewey and Students
“Stick It to the Man” – Dewey and Students
“In the End of Time (The Audition)” – Dewey and Students
“Stick It to the Man (Reprise)” – Dewey and Students
Act II
“Time to Play” – Summer and Students
“Amazing Grace” – Tomika
“Math Is a Wonderful Thing” – Dewey and Students
“Where Did the Rock Go?” – Rosalie
“School of Rock (Band Practice)” – Dewey and Students
“Dewey’s Confession” – Dewey, Rosalie, Patty, Ned and Parents
“If Only You Would Listen (Reprise)” – Tomika and Other Students
“I’m Too Hot for You (Reprise)” – No Vacancy
“School of Rock” – Dewey and Students
“Stick It to the Man (Encore)” – Dewey and Students
“Finale” – Full Company

Haffner Press just shipped this wonderful volume of Paul Pine mysteries edited by Stephen Haffner himself. In his brilliant “Introduction,” Richard A. Lupoff explains why the Paul Pine mysteries should rank with Hammett and Chandler’s private eye fiction. In her “Afterward,” Melissa Flagstad (Howard Browne’s daughter) provides some information about her father and the Paul Pine series that I didn’t know. Trond Flagstad is the model for Paul Pine for Laurel Blechman’s evocative cover for Halo For Hire. If you’re a fan of Private Eye fiction, Halo For Hire is a must-buy. But, don’t delay! The print-run is only a 1,000 copies. The prices for this book will double in a year! GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Halo in Blood
Halo for Satan
Halo in Brass
“So Dark for April”
The Taste of Ashes
“The Paper Gun”
Laurel Blechman (cover artist), Stephen Haffner (editor), Richard A. Lupoff (introduction), Melissa Flagstad (afterword & Howard Browne’s daughter), Trond Flagstad (the face of the face of Paul Pine)

James Lovegrove’s THE CTHULHU CASEBOOKS: SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE SHADWELL SHADOWS (2016) tells a very different story of Holmes and Watson than The Canon presents. Holmes takes a dream-quest and discovers the Great Old Ones, the Outer Gods, and of course Cthulhu. Meanwhile, Watson reveals the real story of his military service injury from an attack in a terrifying cavern in Afghanistan where ancient creatures lurk.

Holmes and Watson investigate a series of murders where the victims are found drained and wasted as if their life forces had been sucked out of them. Their search takes them to the Dark Side of reality that H. P. Lovecraft presented in his classic works. Lovegrove has written a handful of conventional Sherlock Holmes pastiches-The Stuff of Nightmares (Titan Books 2013, ISBN 978-1781165416), Gods of War, (Titan Books 2014, ISBN 978-1781165430), The Thinking Engine, (Titan Books 2015, ISBN 978-1783295036)–and another book in this series, Sherlock Holmes and the Miskatonic Monstrosities (Titan Books 2017, ISBN 978-1783295951). If you’re a fan of Holmes/Lovecraft mashups (and I am!) you’ll have fun reading James Lovegrove’s series. GRADE: B+

Hope you enjoyed Sherlock Holmes Week! Normal posting resumes tomorrow.

Diane and I enjoyed Gnomeo and Juliet back in 2011 (my review is here) so we were looking forward to its sequel, SHERLOCK GNOMES. Gnomeo and Juliet and the rest of the garden gnomes now reside in London. But gnomes all over London are disappearing. Sherlock Gnomes (voiced by Johnny Depp) and Watson (Chiwetel Ejiofor) scurry through the London shrubbery investigating these kidnappings. Jamie Demetriou steals the movie as his key character. Emily Blunt and James McAvoy return as the voices of Juliet and Gnomeo. Mary J. Blige voices a provocative Irene Adler doll. There are plenty of puns and silliness in Sherlock Gnomes, but the plot involves the audience in a clever mystery. Children will enjoy the action and adventure and humor while adults will appreciate the entertaining characters. There’s a lot of Elton John music in this film. GRADE: B+