Ooh, the next edition of SNAFU: PUNK’D is so very close to ‘sploding into the world. So, we at Cohesion Press would like to lead you down the horror-filled paths of our storytellers’ dark imaginings with a tease of their tales, a glimpse into their abyssal corners of their grey-matter, and information on their other authorly shenanigans.
Please grab a torch from the table, ensure all your valuables are secured, and for the love of all things unholy, do not pet the authors…
Next up in SNAFU: PUNK’D author spotlight is GREG CHAPMAN!
Two-time international Bram Stoker Award-nominee®*, Greg Chapman is a horror author and artist based in Queensland, Australia.
Greg is the author of several novels, novellas and short stories, including his award-nominated debut novel, Hollow House and collections, Vaudeville and Other Nightmares, and Midnight Masquerade.
He is also a horror artist and his first graphic novel, Witch Hunts: A Graphic History of the Burning Times, (McFarland & Company) written by authors Rocky Wood and Lisa Morton, won the Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel category at the Bram Stoker Awards® in 2013.
He was also the President of the Australasian Horror Writers Association from 2017-2020.
* Superior Achievement in a First Novel for Hollow House (2016) and
Superior Achievement in Short Fiction, for “The Book of Last Words” (2019)
For SNAFU: PUNK’D, Greg has sprinkled his cyberpunk tale with some biopunk to give us A GLITCH IN THE SYSTEM: When a soldier’s soul is ripped from the Afghan desert into a nightmarish hellscape to entertain a conglomerate, she sets out to tear it all down
Boom! The next edition of SNAFU: PUNK’D is very close to landing and we’re excited!. To that end, Cohesion Press is laying out the red carpet for our storytellers with an author spotlight where we lead you carefully… or carelessly (it’s a fine line) into their imaginariums (please ignore the creatures in the corners), a tease of their story, and info on their other authorly spawnings.
If you’ll come this way, we’d like to guide you into the lair of our next SNAFU: PUNK’D author: PAMELA JEFFS!
Pamela Jeffs (she/her) is an Australian speculative fiction author with a background in Interior Architecture and Design. She has published five short story collections and has 90+ short stories featured in various publications including Midnight Echo Magazine by the Australian Horror Writers Association and in two SNAFU series books by Cohesion Press. Pamela’s work has shortlisted for multiple awards including nine Aurealis Awards and three Ditmar Awards.
When it comes to SNAFU: PUNK’D, Pamela has stoked the hold with a lil steampunk tale, STOKEHOLD: A young stoker aboard a battleship tries to save his superior officer, but all is not as it seems…
For more of Pamela’s amazing work, her new book, Precarious Waters and Other Dark Tales, a collection of dark fiction short stories, is due for release early November. (No pre-orders yet)
The release of SNAFU: PUNK’D is just weeks away (I’m excited!), and we at Cohesion Press are wanting to celebrate the authors and the tales they’ve created for this edition. So, we’ll be promoting all of our storytellers with an author spotlight that gives insight into their imaginariums (take a flashlight, it’s dark in there), a tease of their story, and also promotes their other writerly works as well. Let’s go!
Huge shout-out to the fourth author in this promotional party… ZACHARY O’SHEA!
Zachary O’Shea lives sometimes in the Land of Neon Sunrises and other times in the Great White North. There’s something about the stark differences between the American Southwest and Northern Ontario that he can’t resist. Spoiler; it’s his wife. He has spent his life telling stories from absurd coloring book creations as a child to a lifelong passion for game-mastering role-playing games, and occasionally dipping a toe into short horror fiction. When he’s not writing, which is honestly rare, Zachary is spending time with his family, running a role-playing game session, or blowing off some steam in an MMO. Though, he’s usually writing something in stolen moments even in between all of this.
For this hell of a SNAFU tome, Zac has brought to life (from much death) a clockwork tale with a monster from the depths of time.
THE REFORGED MAN: Brought low by dishonor, reforged with spite and steel, Goro fights the corrupt system that ripped everything away from him. The vengeful ronin has stumbled upon the shogun’s vile plot to unleash a kaiju against his rivals, a plan already in motion. Goro, along with old allies, must stop this strange beast or die trying.
And should you want more of Zac’s work, check this out:
Grease Paint: Crimson Threads #1 is out now. Grease Paint is a modern take on the classic slasher story set in a horror, urban fantasy setting. Psychopomps: Crimson Threads 2 is coming soon. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BQH4JJVY
With SNAFU: PUNK’D just weeks away from publication, we at Cohesion Press want to rave about our authors and the tales they’ve penned. We’ll be promoting all of our storytellers with an author spotlight that gives insight into their imaginariums (be afraid), a tease of their story, and promotes their other writerly works as well.
So, without further ado, let’s roll out the red carpet for our third author in this promotional party… MYNA CHANG!
Myna Chang (she/her) is the host of Electric Sheep SF. Her work has been selected for Flash Fiction America (W.W. Norton), Best Small Fictions, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Small Wonders, Daily Science Fiction, and MicroPodcast’s special science fiction edition. Her micro collection, The Potential of Radio and Rain (CutBank Books) was published in 2023. She has won the Lascaux Prize in Creative Nonfiction and the New Millennium Writings Award in Flash Fiction.
For this editon of SNAFU, Myna has delved into the dark arts of biopunk (yay! Ahem, as you were…), with her story, SITUATION NORMAL: Neuro-linked retrieval specialist Jenna Jones and her canine partner are assigned to rescue a scientist from a secret research facility. Turns out he’s stupid and the building is covered in alien snot, so, you know, another ordinary day.
And here’s a little sumpin’-sumpin’ about Myna’s micro collection that you should definitely check out:
The Potential of Radio and Rain is an award-winning collection of micro fiction by American author Myna Chang. Set in the unforgiving landscape of the shortgrass prairie, these stories explore youth and mortality, love and yearning, through characters who are stubborn and quirky – and ultimately, filled with hope. Released in February 2023, the collection is now in its second printing. Available from CutBank Books.
With the launch of SNAFU: PUNK’D just weeks away, Cohesion Press would like to take this opportunity to not just thank our authors but to shout their names from the rooftops. As such, in the lead up to publication, we’ll be promoting our storytellers with an author spotlight that not only gives you insight into their imaginariums (brace, brace, brace!) and a tease of their story but promotes their other writerly exploits as well.
So to kick-off this promotional party… <raises bullhorn>… please welcome ALAN BAXTER to the stage!
Alan Baxter is a multi-award-winning author who This Is Horror podcast called “Australia’s master of literary darkness” and the Talking Scared podcast dubbed “The Lord of Weird Australia.” He’s also a martial artist, a whisky-soaked swear monkey, and dog lover.
He has penned many a SNAFU tale, and one of those—In Vaulted Halls Entombed—appeared in season 3 of Tim Miller’s Emmy-winning animated series Love Death + Robots. Think monsters, elder gods, and much weaponry… and horror. There is much horror.
For SNAFU: Punk’d, Alan has breached the cyberpunk network with his gritty tale, CLEAN-UP CREW: Someone’s gotta do the dirty work…
I adore shorts. It’s where I honed my skills as a storywriter, and where I continue to hone them. I’m time poor when it comes to writing, with my days filled with client editing—which I love, don’t get me wrong; but to feed that part of my creative soul, I tend to concentrate on shorts (yes, the stories, not the pants).
There’s a real challenge in creating a complete tale within a limited word count, and not just a complete tale, but an engaging one. A tale that drags the reader in and leaves an indelible mark. To have a story we’ve penned, linger, is something for which every writer strives.
That doesn’t mean writing shorts is easy. It ain’t. Especially with tales that have to fit within the teeny-tiny side of word counts. Micro-fiction is its own beast, and she’s a harsh mistress. Every word needs to fight for its place, and it was quite the brouhaha with my latest tale, Of Hawks and Sparrows, published by Nightmare Fuel Magazine where the limit was 666 words. You read that right, just 666 words. I was up for the challenge. And hoo-boy, was it a challenge.
Artwork by Andrew J McKiernan for my story Nightmare’s Cradle (it’s beautiful and fits this tale too)
The theme for this sub-call was: ‘Love Has Teeth’. Quite broad ranging but that just opens a multitude of pathways begging for exploration, especially as love comes in all forms, from romantic to familial to platonic and everything outside and in-between. For me, it was more about the ‘bite’. What are we prepared to do for those we love? How far will we go? How dark will we descend for those who hold a place in our heart?
Of Hawks and Sparrows had been niggling at me for a month or so. I had a basic premise and about eleventy-million different ways it could play out. But my mind is sometimes like a browser with all the tabs open, and I was flitting from path to path until I saw the open call. Then, like a forced reboot, it all fell into place. Kinda. See, no matter how solitary the writing process is, we don’t do this alone.
So, a vomit draft later, and well over 666 words, I gnawed this baby down to its bare bones to see if the story made any kind of sense. And with the persnickety eye of my best friend and writerly cohort, Devin Madson (check out her storytelling, it’s amazing), I hit 666 words on a tale that not only made sense, but which hit all the marks I wanted. Dark, gritty, bloody. Much bite.
Eleven stories were selected for this online showcase of Australian writers, and you can go HERE to read all the shorts (yup, stories not pants!). With each read topping-out at around a minute each, if you’re as time-poor as I am, click that link for a free dose of horror. You can stuff your face with tales or take bite-sized morsels. Each story has its own take on the theme, its own flavour, if you will. Bon appétit!
Nightmare Fuel has also opened their next sub-window with the theme: ‘Don’t Let Them In’.
And yes, that’s a 666-word limit for stories and, as I mentioned above, the magazine is wanting to showcase Aussie authors, so this call is open for Australian citizens and residents only.
As I’m wont to say: read the guidelines, BE the guidelines.
Right, that’s one story acceptance for 2023, here’s hoping for more.
Note: No shorts of the pants kind were hurt in the making of this post.
We have flung wide the window for submissions for the next in Cohesion Press’ SNAFU series (opened the shutters beforehand and everything!). The theme? PUNK’D. Yes, you read that right: PUNK’D. We are looking for all that in ‘PUNK’ in this next edition of the series. Give us your steampunk, your biopunk, cyberpunk, clockpunk, magicpunk, ecopunk, your retrofuturistic… you get the picture. (Or read here and here.)
As the editor-in-chief for Cohesion I tend to do when each sub window comes around, is write up a little sumpin’ sumpin’ regarding the guidelines and what I’m looking for and what I most definitely AM NOT looking for. These are vitally important when it comes to submitting stories to Cohesion.
As is my wont, I will also be filling this post with gifs because snark is built into my DNA, and gifs are the perfect medium for such.
Right! All aboard! Let’s get this baby chugging along!
From the above, you can rightly guess that we’ll be receiving quite a bit of steampunk, and while I do love me some horror-train goodness, the anthology won’t be filled with steampunk stories, so if that’s the way you want to roll, make sure you knock it out of the park – there can be only one (perhaps two).
While your imaginariums are firing on all cylinders, keep in mind that yes, PUNK is the theme but you must also give us ACTION and MONSTERS. The SNAFU series is military-based action-horror of the beasty kind. So give us your modded-creatures, your nano-creepy-crawlies, give us your nightmares… and have your factions fight those nasties!
ACTION. ACTION. ACTION. SNAFU tales are built on action, and it must be a major part of the tale you send us. Did I mention action? There should be action. Lots of it. And monsters.
Also, please keep in mind the anti-authoritarianism, anti-big corporate, pro-personal freedom that so often applies to the punk genre.
Hoo-boy, that’s a lot to take in! Much rules, many bits. But that’s the beauty of Punk that opens it up for such a wide-range of storytelling options. So go wild, my friends!
I would also like to point out that there’s also been slight changes to the guidelines, so have a good ol’ read of those. Seriously. Read them. Twice if you must. Score them into your grey matter and make sure to ADHERE to them – that’s really an important part of the process. Don’t hit the guidelines? Yep, you guessed it, it’s a rejection.
And speaking of rejections, it’s now time for the DO NOT WANT part of the submission process. Pay particular attention to this because holy shit, some fail the comprehension part of this section. DO NOT FAIL THE COMPREHENSION! BE THE COMPREHENSION!
Please get the following into your eyeballs:
Rape as a plot device/backstory
White saviour stories
Racism, bigotry, misogyny of any kind in the narrative voice
Child abuse/paedophilia (can’t believe we have to say this, but we do)
Rape as a plot device/backstory (yes, we have to say this twice)
Fanfiction or derivatives
Should any of the above appear in your tale, it will summarily rejected. No, you cannot argue the point. No, I don’t want to hear your ‘reasoning’ – it will be bullshit, and I don’t have the time nor the crayons to explain to you why this is so.
Something to keep in mind: SNAFU is predicated on action-based stories, active voice is your friend here. Sure, there’s a time and place for passive voice, but action/high tension scenes hit harder with active voice.
I work on a three-tier slush process:
Slush: all stories are read and either rejected or moved to the longlist
Longlist: all stories are re-read and either rejected or moved to the shortlist
Shortlist: yep, re-read and either rejected or you move to ToC.
Note: No acceptances are sent out until AFTER the sub-window closes.
This may seem a laborious process, but it works for me and allows me to curate the best anthology of the stories submitted. The most difficult part is that there are times when I have to reject excellent stories because curating an anthology is also about how well the stories work together to make a kick-arse whole.
Oh, and should you make it to the ToC, your story will be edited. We will work together to make your story the best it can be. Your story may be lightly edited or heavily edited, but it will be edited. Discourse is always encouraged. Mutual respect is a given. You want to be an asshat? We will reject a story at ToC stage if any of the following occurs:
rude and/or derogatory comments
failure to implement edits and/or rewrites in a timely manner (deadlines be real)
requesting a male editor (true and shitty story)
attempting to slyly add words/phrases to your story that hit the DO NOT WANT marks listed earlier in this post (also a true and shitty story)
I think that pretty much covers everything. And if you’ve read this far, gold star to you!
Oh, and if you were unaware, all the SNAFU series is read by Tim Miller (Blur Studios), and some of our published stories have appeared in Love, Death & Robots. If this doesn’t inspire you to send us your very best, well… I got nothin’…
And one final note:
We actively encourage submissions from all cultural backgrounds, ethnicities, and identities. Storytelling is for everyone, and we are richer for it when all voices are heard.
Let’s talk about you and me… Okay, okay, so my flashback to the ’90s is a little sad but kinda on point for this blog post. As one of the editors for the SNAFU anthologies, and with an upcoming submission window opening, Matthew Summers and I would like to talk about stories, slush, and selections.
Disclaimer time. The information provided here does not guarantee Matt and I will select your story for publication – plot, character, and voice will. But don’t send us a romance tale when it’s military monster horror we’re after. We will cut you.
Right then. Let’s kick this baby off with the guidelines for the open sub window for SNAFU: Last Stand (just click that link). While stories subbed to Cohesion Press have specific marks that need to be hit, one thing EVERYONE needs to understand when subbing a tale to ANY market is to not only READ the guidelines but ADHERE to them (the adhering is the most important part). Know your market.
Slush, we’ve all been there. Jostling for position, stuck in the hell that is the slush pile, shouting ‘look at me’ as you push toward the roped-off area that is the shortlist. So how do you get past the cordon? Look, reading is subjective – what I like someone else may not (they’re wrong), but if the past couple of SNAFUs have taught me anything, it’s that Matt and I are pretty much on the same page when it comes to story selection. Not once have we had to fight it out (I’d win because I fight dirty, just sayin’). But your opening line, your opening paragraph, has to hook us and the following paragraphs need to reel us in. Your start needs to be strong, and it needs to build from there.
Stuck in Hell by 13UG-13th
Your aim, at this point, is to get onto that shortlist, and a killer opening scene is just the way to do it. Does that mean exploding out of the gate all guns blazing? Perhaps. We love high-action tales, and that’s bound to grab our attention. But it can also be that one line that sets the tone for what’s to come. One of my favourite opening lines from a story in SNAFU: Resurrection is from Conviction by NX Sharps – ‘On the 152nd day of our posting at Fort Conviction, Private Olyver Bagwell shit himself to death.’ That certainly had us take notice.
But the follow-up has to hold water. If your story doesn’t
make good on its opening promise, then you could be in some trouble. Think about the story you’re wanting to
tell, of the character(s) leading us through. A tale well written isn’t going
to resonate as much as one that has me and Matt fate-invested.
That being said, well-written is definitely going to get you a look-in. We want narrative that moves a story forward, we want wordsmiths who know how to give us those evocative visuals that bring the horror, the fear, the dread. Active voice is your friend here. Spelling and grammar? We got that, but too many errors and we’re pulled from the story – it’s the same for all those babies sitting in slush piles.
With the theme of Last
Stand, characters will need to make their mark here. Interpret Last Stand as you will, there are an
infinite number of ways to incorporate that into your story, but make that tale
linger, make us think about it long after we’ve finished reading. And give us
action. Make our hearts beat furiously, give us those ‘oh shit’ moments, and
make your monsters fucking terrifying. Remember, this is horror, monster
horror… with guns and shit.
One of the best and hardest part of this process is the final selection from the shortlist. Matt and I have passed on some truly great stories, which is always a difficult thing to do. And we don’t take these decisions lightly – a lot of time goes into decision-making, a lot of discussion and back and forths until we have the mixture just right. We don’t make acceptances as we go; something we love early on may not make the cut because a later story in a similar vein resonates more. Our aim here is to provide our readers with a variety of kick-arse tales, where you don’t know what’s coming but you’re hanging for it just the same. The overriding theme that ties them together, obviously, is ‘last stand’. Make it count.
So while I hope this helps you to understand our process, I also hope it helps you to understand the process for any slush pile you find yourself in. Writing truly is the best gig in the world, and rejections are a part of that. We know. Matt and I both sit the other side of the table, we’ve had stories accepted and we’ve faced that sting of rejection. We understand the work, the effort, the time and the angst that goes into getting those words onto the page, of wrangling your imagination into narrative. We salute every one of you.
And for those of you who make it to that final ToC, just a note here to let you know the work has only just begun. There will be edits. We may ask for tweaks, we may ask for rewrites, we may cut a little, we may cut a lot. Thing is, we’ve been doing this a long time, we know our audience and we know what they like. Be professional, not precious. Co-operation is key here. That’s a two-way street, and we have cut stories because of bad author behaviour. Don’t be that person. Keep communication lines open and listen to us as we’ll listen to you. Our aim here is to get the most out of your story, and we will work hard to make it so.
But just before I go, as you may have seen, the introduction
for SNAFU: Last Stand will be written by Tim Miller (yes, of Deadpool and the new Terminator fame). As such, we understand
the slush pile may well be large – Tim will be reading the final tales. And if
that isn’t a reason to send us your very best, I don’t know what is.
Submission window for SNAFU: Last Stand opens April 1st,
2019. (No, that’s not a joke. Yes, we are laughing.)
It’s amazing what a good (bad?) earworm can do, and so this
morning’s Festivus Book Pimping comes to you via ‘Jolene’. Seriously, I’ll be shit-singing this for days now.
<shakes fist at Charles>
We’re side-stepping out of fantasy for a moment and diving face-first
into supernatural horror via the Griffin &
Price novels masterfully penned by two of my favourite people – James A Moore and Charles R Rutledge (yes, despite the
earworm).
The series consists of three books (so far): Blind
Shadows, Congregations
of the Dead, and A
Hell Within. Each follows the trials and tribulations of Brennert
County Sheriff Carl Price and his best friend, ex-mercenary turned PI, Wade
Griffin. Set in the town (and surrounds) of Wellman, Georgia, a lot of super
and preternatural happenings pit Griffin and Price against a host of monsters
and nasties.
I love this series, and the two main characters have a
rapport beset with humour and sarcasm that’s right up my reading alley. The
writing is slick, the monsters are quite literally killer, and the brewing
tension between Sheriff Price and the otherworldly Blackbourne clan only ups
the ante. The secondary characters add extra depth to the stories, and only
build on what is an incredible cast (I’m looking at you, Jolene).
You should be reading this series.
Blind Shadowsblurb:
When private investigator Wade
Griffin moved away from his hometown of Wellman, Georgia he didn’t think he
would be back. Too many memories and too many bridges burned. But when an old
friend is found brutally murdered and mutilated, nothing can keep Griffin from
going home. Teamed with another childhood friend, Sheriff Carl Price, Griffin
begins an investigation that will lead down darker paths than he could ever have
imagined.
Soon Griffin and Price find that there are secrets both dark and ancient
lurking in the back woods of Crawford’s Hollow. As Halloween approaches,
something evil is growing near the roots of the Georgia mountains, and the keys
to the mystery seem to be a woman of almost indescribable beauty and a dead man
who won’t stay dead.
As the body count mounts and the horrors pile up, Griffin and Price come to
realize that the menace they face extends far beyond the boundaries of Wellman
and that their opponents seem to hold all the cards. But the two lawmen have a
few secrets of their own, and one way or another there will be hell to pay.
Blurb for Congregations of the Dead:
It’s one of the hottest summers
on record and a storm is brewing over the small town of Wellman, Georgia.
Still reeling from the horrific events of the previous October, all
Sheriff Carl Price wants is to get back to a normal life. Unfortunately things
aren’t working out. He’s got the Brennert County’s DA breathing down his neck
for answers about what happened in Crawford’s Hollow. He’s been served with a
lawsuit by the Blackbourne family. And just after he witnesses a child
abduction, the one person who always puts his life into a tailspin shows up to
add to the pressure.
Meanwhile, against his better judgment, Wade Griffin agrees to look for a
teenage girl who’s gone missing. It’s not his kind of case, but he’s trying to
establish his private investigations business and perhaps abandon his past as a
mercenary. But Griffin’s luck isn’t any better than Price’s and he ends up
crossing paths with the man behind most of the organized crime north of Atlanta.
Both lawmen have their plates full, but then they learn that there is
something abroad in the night. Not the supernatural menace they dealt with
before, but something even darker. Just what is the secret of the charismatic
Reverend Lazarus Cotton and what is he hiding in his small mountain church?
Once again, Griffin and Price must call upon all their deadly skills just
to stay alive and even in the middle of a pitched battle against things that
shouldn’t exist they are reminded that sometimes the darkest evils reside
within the human heart.
And the third in the series, A
Hell Within:
Something dark is looming in
Brennert County, Georgia. Sheriff Carl Price and ex-mercenary-turned P.I. Wade
Griffin know well the other-worldly undercurrent that runs through the small
town of Wellman, but with the Blackbournes trying to rebuild their strength, it
seems they can breathe a little easier, Just a little. Griffin starts working a
case when he stumbles across a massacre at a drug lab, and when Price is called
to the scene of a brutal triple homicide, it has all the markings of
Blackbourne retribution. Before the blood is dry, two more people are torn
apart. As the body count rises, Griffin and Price find themselves in the middle
of a turn war where bullets and black magic are the weapons off choice. Caught
between the worlds of monsters and men, Griffin and Price enlist the help of
associate Carter Decamp to put an end to the brewing battle. But the gates of
Hell have been opened and the beasts won’t be denied their chance to feast.
And as a post-Festivus bonus, there’s
a Griffin & Price novella to be released in the latest SNAFU: Resurrection anthology.
Over 20,000 words of wicked horror in the form of Call up the Dead, due for release December 27 – pre-orders
available here.
Recommended for those who love
supernatural horror, horror, fantastic beasties, otherworldly monsters, crime,
urban horror, and just general top-notch writing with killer characters.
Not recommended for those who have an aversion to violence, demonic shenanigans, gore.
Next in the Festivus Pimping of the Books comes from Anthony J Melchiorri in the form of his military horror series, The Tide. If you’re looking for monsters with a voracious appetite then this is the book… books for you! Like seriously, these are some of the best developed and creepy AF monsters created.
I’ve read five in this series, with the sixth novel only just released (must get on that), and the writing is phenomenally good. Melchorri knows how to weave a tale and keep the action and the tension high pretty much throughout the books. You get small reprieves, but in this world of monsters, any reprieve is welcomed.
As there are six books in the series, I’m not going to give you a breakdown of each – that’d take too long, but here’s the back-cover blurb for the first in the series ‒ The Tide:
Captain Dominic Holland leads a crew of skilled covert operatives and talented scientific personnel. He’s taken them to all corners of the earth to protect the United States from biological and chemical warfare. When his CIA handler, Meredith Webb, gives him a mission to investigate a disturbing lead on a laboratory based out of an abandoned oil rig, they discover the most terrifying threat to mankind they’ve ever faced—a genetically engineered biological weapon called the Oni Agent.
Back in the United States, Meredith discovers a frightening connection between the CIA and the Oni Agent. But her investigations are short-lived when the Agent spreads and brings mankind to its knees. Cities burn as it turns humans into warped creatures hell-bent on destruction.
Dominic and Meredith vow to do everything they can to combat the Agent and find a cure. But will their efforts be enough to turn the tide—or is humanity’s fate already sealed?
These are some badass creatures, and it’s clear Melchiorri’s has tapped into his background in Biomedical Engineering (do not let this man loose in a lab without a serious supply of caffeine) to warp humans into what the characters affectionately call “Skulls”. I’d so love to tell you why, but I don’t want to taint the joy of that discovery for you.
There’s a lot to love about this series: the characters are flawed and believable, the fight scenes are graphically awesome, the Skulls and the way their DNA warps them is most excellent, and the writing is sharp and on point. And guns. There’s a whole bunch of firepower in these books. Oh, and Melchiorri doesn’t shy from killing off characters – that’s a definite plus for me; sometimes you gotta make the hard call.
So if you’re looking to put some horror into your Christmas (and not just the horror of venturing into the Christmas crowds), then I can’t recommend this series enough.
Recommended for lovers of horror, military horror, apocalypse tales, killer monsters, covert ops, political bastardry, puppies.
