This week we’re going to be examining a few horror book clubs. The clubs I’m presenting are ones that I’ve had experience with either currently or in the past. All of them have advantages and disadvantages. All of them deliver on their promises and have very good to excellent customer service.

The Horror Book Clubs are:

1. The Dorchester/Leisure Horror Book Club
2. The Delirium Books Horror Paperback Book Club
3. The 2008 Cemetery Dance Book Club
4. The Stephen King/Doubleday Book Club

By detailing the clubs over the course of the week, I hope to give you enough information to help you decide which, if any, you want to sign up for. Essentially I want to take the fear out of enrollment.

Each time I joined a book club, I had a sickening mixture of fear and excitement. I wanted what I thought they were offering but I was afraid it wouldn’t be as great as the promise — or that I’d find some way to mess it up. Indeed I tested the patience of a couple of them and found them very understanding and helpful.

One book club changed the method of billing and payment to better accommodate my needs.

Another has easy access help through the Internet and responded to my problems with in hours in the evening.

A third suffered several problems with the printer service they used but kept the customer apprised of the situation throughout the delay. I never once worried that I’d lost my money with them and they made good on their promise.

So, what horror book clubs are out there? What deals do they offer? What kind of books can you get and how much are they going to cost? I’ll be answering these questions and more over the couse of the week.

Advantages of Joining a Book Club

All of the book clubs offer a substantial savings for the books you purchase over the store bought cost — both bricks and mortar and on line stores.

One of the biggest advantages — and the reason I joined The Dorchester/Leisure Horror Book Club was so I could be sure of getting some of my favorite authors — Gary Braunbeck, Brian Keene, Mary SanGiovanni, Edward Lee, Jack Ketchum to name a few — before they disappeared from my local bookstores.

Some of the most impressive horror is being published by small presses which seem to get no time at any bookstore around me. Delirium Books and Cemetery Dance both fall in that category. Many of their books have won awards and yet I’d never heard of the titles or authors because I couldn’t find them in bookstores or libraries.

Joining the Dorchester/Leisure, the Delirium Books and the Cemetery Dance book clubs put new authors into my hands that I might never have read otherwise — authors like Jeff Strand, Brian Knight, J. F. Gonzalez, John Everson, Wrath James White, Sandy DeLuca, Greg F. Gifune, Ray Garton, to mention but a few.

My library has grown by leaps and bounds. I get hardcover, trade paperback and mass market paperback books from the clubs.

Finally, several book clubs have adjacent purchase offers you can only get by being a member. For instance, each month Dorchester/Leisure sends a flier allowing me to purchase older titles, sometimes at a huge discount. And for every 5 books you purchase outside of the monthly offering, you get an additional book for free.

Disadvantages of Joining a Book Club

The monthly cost, or in the case of the 2008 Cemetery Dance Book Club, an up-front cost that pays for an entire year’s worth of books. With the economy spinning down the proverbial toilet, spare change can be hard to come by on a consistent basis. The rewards, however, if you can make it, are well worth it.

Every so often, you get a book that really doesn’t speak to you. It could happen. It hasn’t happened to me yet but I tend to read and enjoy a wide range of horror. If it happens to you, most book clubs have a return policy within a set number of days. Otherwise, they make great gifts . . . or donations to your local library.

In Summary

Horror Book Clubs offer a lot of advantages to the horror reader. They offer variety you can’t get in most bookstores and the comfort of the certainty that a book or author you dearly love, will be in your collection and often well in advance of bookstores. It also helps support the publishers that cater to your reading needs.

I’ll keep this brief.

For over a year now, the blog aspect of this website has been functioning as a reading journal with a little bit of news thrown in. I generally publish three items a week. My audience has grown from less than 10 people per day to an average of 40 people per day.

This is nice and I really appreciate the audience who returns to read my blog.

But I want to make a bigger impact promoting my favorite genre and helping people find a good scary book to read.

To do this I’m going to change the format a bit. And by change I really mean add. I’ll still publish book, graphic novel, ebook and movie summaries. But I want to add more value to your reading experience.

I’m going to try posting at least once a day during the week. The additional posts will be informational features such as introducing you to the major forums for people who love to read horror. I’m planning on multi-post introductions to some of the up and coming horror and dark fantasy authors today. I want to introduce you to the idea of keeping a reading journal, review horror book clubs and much, much more.

Over the next year I’ll be adding features to the blog. I’ll keep what works and toss out the things that don’t. I have plans to add more multimedia features and more interactive events. I am developing plans to add a monthly newsletter that you can subscribe to for free.

It’s going to be a great experiment.

But it won’t work without you.

You have an open invitation to “talk” to me in the comments section below each post or you can use the Contact Page to communicate with me directly. You can even e-mail me directly at greg AT theundeadrat DOT com (replace AT with @ and DOT with . to get the correct address).

Tell me what I’m doing right. Tell me what I’m doing wrong. Tell me what you’d love to see in this blog. I will listen. Promise.

Now let me ask you a question:

What would you like to see here at …With Intent to Commit Horror?

You can answer using the comments below, click on the Contect Me tab above or use my e-mail address.

Thank you.

Recently Brian Clark in an article posted at Copyblogger informed me of the Federal Trade Commission’s view on failure to “disclose compensation for reviews and endorsements” on people’s blogs. In a nutshell, they don’t like it. And since it is a form of advertising, they get to have a powerful say about it.

That’s okay. I’ll gladly come clean.

The Affiliates

I have standing affiliate relationships with three online book stores: Barnes and Noble (they were here first), Amazon and Horror Mall. Each image of a book cover links to one of these companies — assuming they have a copy or a page with links to secondary booksellers offering the book. Sometimes I also add colorful stones with the book seller’s name inscribed on them to allow for easy selection.

I started these affiliate relationships because I wanted to use the book covers in my book lists and book summaries. I also wanted the reader to be able to acquire the book easily if they decide they wanted to purchase it. Money is nice but in the first four or five years of using Barnes and Noble and Amazon, I didn’t earn enough to get paid. In the last 12 months I have received payment from an affiliate, but all totaled it’s still only in the low double digits.

I am not about to quite my library job.

The Gifts

I have accepted a free copy of a book in exchange for a summary on my blog — but only for a horror book and only one I intended to read anyway. Afraid by Jack Kilborn was the first. I have book copies for a couple of future summaries and I’ll mention it at the bottom of the post. Otherwise they came from my own bookshelf or the library.

I have turned down several offers because they were not horror books or something I wanted to read.

I have twice been given copies of books to give away on this blog: Apparitions by Raven Bower and Afraid by Jack Kilborn.

Drolleris Press

Drollerie Press is a micro-indie press. I’m married to the publisher, Deena Fisher. Drollerie Press sponsors this blog (it exists on the Drollerie server). I do promote some Drollerie books from time to time — but only horror and only if I enjoyed them. For instance I loved Revenant Road by Michael Boatman and I happily talk about it on this blog.

Drollerie Press supplied the e-books I gave away during the Read an E-Book Week.

It’s not an affiliate relationship but every Drollerie Press book sold helps keep the roof over our heads.

In Summary

I think that’s it — to date.

I plan to make a permanent page about my affiliate relationships and link to it from the About Me page. When things change, the affiliate page will be updated.

So i’ve come clean. What do you think? Leave me a comment below and we’ll talk.

“The dead scrabbled for an entrance to his grave. His wife was among them, as ravenous for Jim in death as she’d been in life.”

Brian Keene’s first novel, a Bram Stoker Award winner, is about zombies. But these are not your father’s zombies. They are smart and fast, vicious and . . . they are taking over animals — mammals, birds, reptiles and even fish — as well. It’s the end of the World and the leader of the Zombies, Ob, has brought marshmellows

Remember, if you are interested in this book, click the mouse on the book cover to order it from an online bookseller.

TITLE:

THE RISING

WRITER:

by Brian Keene

GENRE:

Horror Fiction, Adventure,

DESCRIPTORS:

Zombies, Religion, Christianity, Quest, End of the World,

CHARACTERS

Jim Thurmond, A father who must rescue his son
Danny Thurmond, Jim’s son
Reverend Thomas Martin, A man of God with faith even in these days
Frankie, Ex-prostitute and ex-junkie
William Baker, A scientist whose experiment may have created the zombies
Worm (Warren?), A young deaf-mute

SUMMARY:

Jim Thurmond is drawn out of the safety of his bomb shelter in a world overrun by intelligent zombies when he receives a call for help from his son, Danny, several states away on his dying cell phone.

“I’m scared Daddy. I know we shouldn’t leave the attic, but Mommy’s sick and I don’t know how to make her better.”

A trip that used to take twelve hours to drive becomes an epic journey lasting many days as zombies and deranged humans try to bring him down. Along the way, he is joined by an elderly reverend who shares his conviction that Danny is alive, a cleaned out ex-prostitute and ex-junkie named Frankie who has found incredible strength to survive and later, William Baker.

They are set upon by human zombies and also intelligent zombie animals — for instance, a flock of zombie birds that dive-bomb their vehicle mercilessly trying to force them to stop. Leading this assult is the first zombie, Ob.

And Ob’s hatred of humanity, as well as the all creation, is unparalleled. He won’t stop until every last human being has been consumed or killed.

APPEAL:

Although this is Brian Keene’s first novel, he was already a seasoned author when he began. Absent are the typical first novelist mistakes that one often sees. The Rising is a grim book. Keene does not bother to hold out false hope for humanity. We’re dead. The only difference Jim could possibly make is the find Danny — dead or undead.

Brian Keene uses a generous amount of description to set the story and give it its mood. There are images, particularly from Frankie’s story that will stick with me aleays — zombie rats swweping the sewars for kill, an infant crying it its carrage only to turn out to be a starving zombie. . . . Frankie trapped in the zoo . . . hunting deer for food in the wilderness (okay that wasn’t Frankie) and so forth.

“Your kind must learn that your time is over. You are food. Meat. Transport. Nothing more.”

Part of the attraction to this story — besides watching civilization crumble and observing humanity’s insane reactions and wanting Jim to reach his son — is that Ob has an agenda and a reason for being there. He has a story that slowly gets revealed to the reader and it is a fascinating one. Brian does not hide Ob’s agenda from the reader — by the end of the story you will know why this is happening.

If you love zombies, you owe it to yourself to check out The Rising and its sequel City of the Dead. And, although its not the same world, Dead Sea by Brian Keene as well.

NOTES:

The Rising is the Winner of the 2003 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel.

City of the Dead is the sequel to The Rising. There are several other books in The Rising Cycle, including: The Rising: Selected Scenes From The End of the World, a prequel called The Resurrection and the Life and a chapbook with several additional authors called, The Rising: Necrophobia. You can find a couple of zombie stories, including The Resurrection and the Life in the short story collection Unhappy Endings.

READALIKES:

Actually any the books from The Rising Cycle (click on the series title to see the series page), reads like this book — they’re on the same world and written by the same author. . . . but that’s cheating, isn’t it?

First I’d recommend The Earthworm Gods or its paperback incarnation The Conqueror Worm. It is Brian Keene again, destroying the world with unceasing rain.

If you’re looking for zombies, I’d like to turn your attention to the Zombies the New Vampires book lists. It rocks!

Have you ever tried Apex Magazine?

What is Apex Magazine, you ask? It’s the online magazine published by Apex Book Company — you know, the one with the website that says “Where Science Fiction and Horror Collide”. They publish some compelling SF and horror books in print and online as ebooks.

For a while Apex Magazine was a print periodical but recently Managing Editor and Publisher Jason Sizemore took the magazine to a free online format. Now you can read the recently published July issue as well as back issues.

That is a lot of stories, novellas, interviews and essays. Go there and read. It’s a great way to support a wonderful small press and try out some authors you may never have read before.

You can find Apex Magazine by clicking on this link with your mouse.

Apex Magazine: Table of Contents

(July 2009 issue)

Short Stories:
“She Called Me Sweetie” by Glenn Lewis Gillette
“…That Has Such People in It” by Jennifer Pelland

Novelette:
“The Frozen Sky” by Jeff Carlson (a Classic reprint of the Writers of the Future winning novelette)

Fiction on Audio:
“Foiled” by Alethea Kontis

Interview:
Apex Interrogation: Nate Kenyon (or at least one of his clones) by Maggie Jamison
Apex Interrogation: J.M. McDermott by Jason Sizemore

Essay:
Beauty and Dynamite: “Here Lies an Era” by Alethea Kontis

Check it out today.

Have J. C. Hutchins and Jordan Weisman revolutionized the book industry? Probably not.

But this supernatural thriller looks like it’ll be a lot of fun. Called “Transmedia Storytelling” by Gore Verbinski, this book, the attached items and the active phone number and websites allow the reader to immerse herself in Zack’s world.

Enter the world of therapist Zach Taylor: Read the novel, dial the phone numbers, find Zack’s pin number and pick up his messages, examine the documents such as a birth certificate, death certificate and psychiatric report, study the pictures, visit the websites that hide the clues the reader can tease out and follow. Check out these images of the items that come packaged with the book.

Remember, if you are interested in this book, click the mouse on the book cover to order it from an online bookseller.

	Personal Effects: Dark Art Editor: Hutchins, J.C. and Jordan Weisman Format: Hardcover Type: Novel Page Count: 320pp. Pub. Date: June 9, 2009 Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Personal Effects follows the extensive notes of therapist Zach Taylor’s investigation into the life and madness of Martin Grace, an accused serial killer who claims to have foreseen, but not caused, his victims’ deaths. Zach’s investigations start with interviews and art sessions, but then take him far from the hospital grounds — and often very far from the reality that we know. The items among Grace’s personal effects are the keys to understanding his haunted past, and finding the terrifying truth Grace hoped to keep buried: Call the phone numbers: you’ll get a character’s voicemail. Google the characters and institutions in the text: you’ll find real websites Examine the art and other printed artifacts included inside the cover: if you pay attention, you’ll find more information than the characters themselves discover. Personal Effects, the ultimate in voyeuristic storytelling, represents a revolutionary step forward in changing the way people interact with novels.

What do you think? Is this a gimmick book or the future of publishing? Are you interested in checking this book out? Leave me a comment and tell me what you think.

Thank you to Chris Brogan for bringing this book to my attention the post: Three Scary Books for Vacation Reading.

This month I list the new book lists that have been added to . . . With Intent to Commit Horror.

New Book lists for June:

Authors:
Mark Del Franco

Series:
The Connor Grey Series
The Laura Blackstone Series

Updated Book lists for June:

Authors:
Jeaniene Frost
Cameron Dean

Series:
Candace Steele Vampire Killer
The Night Huntress Series

The Future of the website:

I want to expand the role of . . . With Intent to Commit Horror.

I want add more features and give you more information about the authors of horror and their stories. I want to introduce you to new authors. I want to help you find stories you never knew existed — and get the hard to find books.

To that end I’m working on new formats, including audio and maybe by the end of the year, video formats. I’m going to have guest blogs by authors who write horror. I want to finish upgrading the current booklists and add new ones to the blog.

I want . . . With Intent to Commit Horror to become the first place you go to when you’re looking for something scary to read.

To do that I need to know: What do you want?

I can’t promise I will enact every suggestion, but I’ll certainly think long and hard about it. You can leave your suggestion in the comments below or use the Contact page by clicking on the tab marked Contact at the very top of this website.

J. F. Gonzalez brings you the end of civilization and the struggle of the Spires family as they try to escape the feral insanity of humanity turned into primitives.

This month I’m featuring the book trailer for Primitive here on …With Intent to Commit Horror. Check it out — over there, to the right, in the multimedia box — just click the arrow to run it.

To purchase a copy of the book, please click on either book cover image or the bookseller names below.

Primitive	Primitive Author: Gonzalez, J. F. Format: Digital E-Book (PDF, MOBI and EPUB) Type: Novel Pub. Date: June 2009 Publisher: Delirium Books
Primitive	Primitive Author: Gonzalez, J. F. Format: Trade Paperback Type: Novel Page Count: 310pp. Pub. Date: July 14, 2009 Publisher: Delirium Books
It began as just another day for David Spires and his wife Tracy: coffee, breakfast, and getting the kids ready for school. Then the bottom dropped out of civilization. The world ends not with a bang or a whimper, but with a dizzying downward spiral. Instead of the rat race of commuters scurrying to beat the clock, humans are now packs of animals reduced to snarling primitives. David, Tracy and their daughter Emily, along with fellow survivors, leave Los Angeles for the safety of the country where fewer people means fewer primitives. But as they venture farther away from the city, they realize an unnatural force is at work. Civilization didn’t just fall apart . . . it was overtaken by an ancient evil that was present before the first cave paintings. Human history has no formal record of it, but the dark presence that’s fueled nightmares since time began has crept out of the shadows . . . and its influence is growing.

Woodland Press is publishing Writers Workshop of Horror, a new collection of essays by horror writers about writing horror coming your way in August. You can click on the book cover to put in an advanced order in case you want to make absolutely positively sure you get a copy.

	Writers Workshop of Horror Editor: Knost, Michael Format: Trade Paperback Type: Novel Page Count: 258pp. Pub. Date: August 2009 Publisher: Woodland Press
Writers Workshop of Horror is a collection of articles/interviews by/with some of the biggest names in the horror and dark fiction genres, focusing on improving specific elements of writing. It focuses solely on honing the craft of writing. You won’t find anything in these pages on marketing, promotions, or submission tips. That’s another book for another time. What you will find is solid advice — from professionals of every publishing level — on how to improve your writing. Although this project is centered on writing horror and/or dark fiction, the principles and advice inside this book will transcend all genres and all forms of writing. It doesn’t matter if you write romance, science fiction, western, mysteries, fantasy, or memoirs, you will benefit from the information, ultimately improving your craft by bringing polished elements of horror, fear, anxiety, or dread to your work when needed. Here’s to creating better nightmares. Table of Contents: Once Upon a Scary Time: Creating Effective Beginnings by Elizabeth Massie Middles: The Meat of the Matter by Michael Laimo The Grand Finale by J.G. Gonzalez Connecting the DOTS by Gary A. Braunbeck And Horror the Soul of the Plot by Tim Waggoner What’s The Point and Who’s On First: Character POV by Scott Nicholson “We don’t get too many strangers around here . . . .” Or: Using Dialogue to Tell Your Story by Thomas F. Monteleone A Claustrophobic Locked in an Isolated Room: The Power of Setting and Description in Horror Fiction by G. Cameron Fuller “The Hardest Three” Tone, Style, and Voice by Rick Hautala Stripping Away the Mask: Scene and Structure in Horror Fiction by Michael A. Arnzen Fight And Action Scenes In Horror by Jonathan Maberry Exploring Personal Themes by Tom Piccirilli New Fiction Blend: History, Fantasy, Horror by Mort Castle Adding Humor to Your Horror by Jeff Strand Cross Reading by Joe R. Lansdale Time, and How to Make It by Brian Keene A Face by Any Other Name by Deborah LeBlanc The Height of Fear by Ramsey Campbell The Aha! Moment by Michael Knost Be a Conformist: A Guide to Manuscript Formatting by Jason Sizemore CUT! Or, Why Writing Horror Screenplays is REALLY Scary by Lisa Morton It’s All About the Series: An Interview with F. Paul Wilson by Gary Frank It’s All About the Work: An Interview with Tom Piccirilli by Tim Deal It’s All About the Craft: An Interview with Ramsey Campbell by Michael Knost It’s All Part of the Fun: An Interview with Clive Barker by Lucy A. Snyder The Agnotology of Horror; or, Lies the Internet Told You by Jack M. Haringa How Stephen King’s Writing Advice Broke My Heart and Smashed My Dreams by Robert N. Lee Top Ten Things an Editor/Publisher Hates To See by Brian Yount

“We’re trusting you, Eddie,” Said Christopher. “If anything scurries towards us, shoot it.”
Eddie nodded. “No problem. What percentage of your body do you want to be eaten away before I deliver the mercy shot?”
“You’re a very grim man.”

A new tour path through the center of the monster filled Haunted Forest goes wrong when the tram inexplicibly loses power and the forest inhabitants — who never seemed interested in the tram before — suddenly decide to approach and see what’s for dinner.

Remember, if you are interested in this book, click the mouse on the book cover to order it from an online bookseller.

TITLE:

THE HAUNTED FOREST TOUR

WRITER:

by James A. Moore and Jeff Strand

ARTIST:

by Glenn Chadbourne

GENRE:

Horror Fiction, Humor,

DESCRIPTORS:

Violence, Monsters, Demons, Pine Forest, Desert, Sacrifice, Scientists, Tourists,

CHARACTERS

Christopher Brummit, He may not have a life but his mother got him a ticket for the tour.
Mindy Brummit, Christopher’s mother who won tickets to the tour.
Tommy Walker, Brought by Aunt Jean and Uncle Perry, he’s going to get an experience to last a lifetime.
Lou Burgundy, Professional monster debunker who finally meets something he can’t debunk.
Barbara, The tour guide for Chris’ tram.
Eddie, The driver of the tram.
Martin Booth, Owner of H. F. Enterprises — just call him Booth.
Hannah Chambers, One of the scientists studying the monsters in the Haunted Forest.
Mark Harper, One of the scientists studying the monsters in the Haunted Forest.

SUMMARY:

When a Pine Forest filled with monster suddenly errupted out of the ground destroying a small desert town, H. F. Enterprises took over, setting up a bunker to study the monsters and selling tickets for a tram tour that circled around the edges of the forest, dipping in and out of it. Wildly popular, the tour had been a success for years. Now H. F. Enterprises is going to have the Haunted Forest Tour on a tram line that runs through the center of the the forest.

“Cut, cut, cut, slice, slice, slice. Do I sound like I’ve gone insane? I feel like I sound like I’ve gone insane. Stop me if I sound that way.”

Christopher Brummit and his mother are taking the tour. After a recent divorce and now possibly losing his job, Chris is eager for a diversion and the Haunted Forest Tour is something he’s always wanted to go on. Lou wants to see the monsters and prove to himself that they exist or debunk them. Tommy wants a Haunted Forest T-Shirt after they’re done with the ride.

The tram pulls out and for a while, heading straight into the forest, the ride goes smoothly and the passgengers get their share of grotesque monsters — until the tram loses power and stops. Nervousness mounts until the tram behind them runs up and plows into them. Panicked because now the monsters are getting into the damaged tram, Eddie manages get the tram running only to find a gigantic decapitated ogre head grinning at them as they hit.

Eddie, Chris and half the tram passengers leave and try to find a way out of the forest before they get eaten. The other half hold down the tram, shooting anything that climbs in. Stunned, completely disoriented, nearly weaponless with a rush of hungry, sharp clawed and sharp toothed things chasing them down, the passengers are going to need a miracle if they’re going to make it out of the forest alive.

Too bad none is forthcoming . . .

APPEAL:

The Haunted Forest Tour is a novel of horror with a good dose of humor. James A. Moore and Jeff Strand makes the combination of humor and horror seem effortless, and, despite the fact that two people are writing this — seamless. I couldn’t tell I was reading James and when I was reading Jeff. It was all delightfully sick, demented humor and horror.

The story is told in third person past tense limited omniscence, through shifting view points. Christopher Brummit’s point of view, however, is the most dominent.

“Did that hurt? I hope it hurt. I do so enjoy causing pain and suffering”

There are a lot of ways to die in the Haunted Forest and the team of Moore and Strand are determined to show you some of the bloodiest ways within the story. You’ll also get a look at some of the most imaginative monsters I’ve come across since I last played Dungeons and Dragons. Glenn Chadbourne provied cover art (all the monsters on the cover appear in the story) and interior art as well. My favorite is the giant ogre head smiling as it blocks the tram tracks.

A few characters are well thought out and fully realized including Christopher Brummit and his mother Mindy. In fact I thought Mindy was the most delightful of the initial survivors. Then Chris and Lou. Eddie was alternately helpful and compassionate and then a real heel. Barbara has some nice moments too.

The story takes off at a rapid pace and never lets up until the end. It was easy to read in the same way that Stephen King and Douglas Clegg are easy to read — clear, crisp prose that sends you to the end.

The Haunted Forest Tour may not scare you but it has genuine moments of suspense — particularly after the giant bird captures Christopher and flies him into harm’s way. It also has moments of laught outloud humor.

READALIKES:

Benjamin’s Parasite by Jeff Strand (Yes, the same Jeff Strand who co-wrote this novel) reads like The Haunted Forest Tour. Both easy to read, both grab you and catapult you towards the end with humor, monsters, thrills and suspense.