Category: Horror

“SHOW ME WHERE IT HURTS” BY ROBERT E. STAHL IS A MUST READ COLLECTION OF SHORT HORROR STORIES THAT IS JAM PACKED WITH SURPRISES

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SHOW ME WHERE IT HURTS
Robert E. Stahl
JournalStone (2025)
Reviewed by Brian “Skull” Lewis

Hello Horror Fans! I hope you’re all in the mood for some good news, because all I have is praise for Robert E. Stahl’s debut collection of short horror and dark poetry, Show Me Where It Hurts. If you’re in a hurry and want to save time then just bop on over to your favorite bookseller and order a copy of this book, pronto! If you’ve got a few minutes and want to get a better idea of what’s inside that terrifying cover, please continue reading. Most of these stories are brief and read fast but deliver a punch harder than Mike Tyson in his prime. The damage lingering in your brain long after you’ve been rocked. Kind of like a crazy ex or that creepy person at work who is always in the bathroom no matter what time it is. What the hell is that about anyway? Let’s get out there and into Show Me Where It Hurts.

Ghosts On Drugs is an interesting and terrifying ride where the reader becomes the protagonist in a twisted ether dream. The damn ghosts in your apartment keep trashing the place and your life! Unable to sleep, life becomes a surreal fog where everything loses importance. Job? Gone. Love? We used to have a thing. There’s a crossroads ahead and decisions to make. Will you choose wisely?

Speaking of work, Evil Inc. is about a guy who works in middle management for a huge company. Lately work has been even more sucky than usual with his highly eccentric bosses demeaning him and forcing him to do nonexecutive jobs like plunging out a clogged toilet. There’s also a secret door that they often disappear behind for long periods of time, having fun while Brian runs the company in their absence. He becomes an exhausted shell with zero self-esteem until an unexpected event triggers some changes in him. Big, scary changes…

While many of the characters in Stahl’s stories undergo a lot of changes, the “main brain” in A Very Stable Zombie does not. However, that seems to be what his fans like about him. Loud, wrong, inappropriate to the max, and somehow…president. I dug this clever piece of writing about a zombie who most readers with brains will recognize as a person whose last name rhymes with grump. There are definitely chuckles to be had, but they’re tempered by the cold chills of reality and the complete lack of humanity that no one seems to be willing or able to stop.

One of my favorite stories in this collection is The Last Night at The Black Boar Tavern. What a total wow! A mythic and terrifying tale of what could have been a boring snooze of a job morphing into something bigger and way cooler than its narrator ever imagined. When Jack Rollins zooms up to The Black Boar Tavern on his Harley to fill an open bartender position, he does so in a tight black t-shirt with his chest out and a pair of muscular arms popping with tattoos. The dusty old bar turns into a pot of gold overnight. Jack’s powerful charisma and deep knowledge of bartending impress 22-year-old Peter Ennis who is a self-described failure at life. Suddenly he goes from barback to a bartender struggling to keep up with Jack who nicknames him “Slim”. Coolness has arrived! Except there are a few conditions to the bargain including being sworn into Satan’s service. But hell, the money’s good and life is amazing! So amazing that it’s impossible to see how close the end of the road is. Arriving in a ball of fire, The Last Night At The Black Boar Tavern is one that nobody is likely to forget.

So, what’s the rating for this crazy cool short story collection? Show Me Where It Hurts by Robert E. Stahl gets a hearty 5 STARS from Damaged Skull Writer and Reviewer and a place of honor on the Skull Cave’s “Wall of Fame! Stahl’s fantastic writing pulls you deep into his stories, the variety of which is amazingly wide. The quick pace keeps you engaged and turning pages to read “just one more”. Highly recommended. Buy it, you won’t be disappointed.

While this is Stahl’s debut short horror collection, he’s a seasoned novelist with quite a few titles to his name. To find out more about this awesome author and his other works, head on over to: www.robertestahl.com You can also check in with Robert on “all the socials” as he puts it.  

JournalStone Press is an established independent press with many excellent titles available for your reading pleasure. Be sure to check them out at: www.journalstone.com

Thanks for visiting your old pal Skull again! I hope you enjoyed today’s review subject. If so, please share and give these independent writers and presses a hand. See you soon!

About your reviewer

Brian James Lewis/Your old pal Skull is a disabled writer, poet, and book reviewer with PTSD whose work has appeared in Trajectory Journal, Mythic Picnic, The Awakenings Review, and multiple horror anthologies. Please visit him at: www.damagedskullwriterandreviewer.com, X/Twitter @skullsnflames76, or https://facebook.com/DamagedSkullWriterandReviewer

GOOD NEWS EVERYONE! I’VE RETURNED TO HELLNOTES AND HERE’S MY LATEST REVIEW WITH THEM!

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Book Review: THE ZAPHNURR PHASE

by Brian James Lewis | Nov 17, 2025 | Book Reviews, Hellnotes Reviews, Horror Authors / Books, Horror News | 0 comments

The Zaphnurr Phase
Brick Marlin
Seventh Star Press (July 1, 2025)
Reviewed by Brian James Lewis

 Hey there, fans of horror and science fiction! It’s been a while, but I’m glad to be back on your screen giving you the scoop on new books and some classics too. Today’s exciting new read is The Zaphnurr Phase by HWA member Brick Marlin. This novel is a great mix of dystopian worlds with both psychological horror and some truly terrifying scenes. Let’s take a quick peek inside!

The world as we currently know it has ceased to exist, but there is still life in the colonies, city-sized worlds that seem to float above the desolate earth. Sarah is tired of the increasingly dangerous and restrictive colony that she and her boyfriend, Kentil, exist in. But before they can escape, he disappears, leaving her alone and pregnant in a place that is governed by a corporate entity called M-Corp that enforces its laws through the Nazi-like Demi agents who are as evil as they look. Sarah goes through a major shitstorm of bad events until she finally gets a chance to leave Perrill with her baby. Once the Demi realize what’s going on, they do everything in their power to put the blocks to her. Lethal force is authorized, but Sarah is a strong woman who fights until she loses consciousness.

After a pretty entertaining interaction with an alien transport vehicle, Sarah makes it to another colony called Gorph, where everything seems to be much better than it was in her old life. Whew! Now if she can only find Kentil and start fresh… But it’s no small task to find her boyfriend in the huge city where there is just as much virtual reality as there is concrete. Plus, despite the good pay and nice living space, her job is kind of funky. She’s also never truly alone, because a microprocessor has been installed into her brain as part of this “new and improved” world. Nothing seems permanent except her AI assistant, Vodburrk, whom she doesn’t entirely trust. Will Sarah find her missing boyfriend? Will she finally settle in Gorph? Will she ever feel safe in this new colony or go on the run again? I could tell you, but where’s the fun in that? Gleemer says that your best course of action is to get a copy of The Zaphnurr Phase and enjoy all the thrills and chills firsthand. You’ll also find out who or what Gleemer is. It’s currently available in both digital and paper formats from your favorite bookseller today.

I rate The Zaphnurr Phase by Brick Marlin a hearty 5 STARS! It’s a great mix of horror, science fiction, and Marlin’s unique sense of humor which provides some much-needed bright spots in a dark world. All of this is wrapped in a dash of hope, along with some well executed plot twists that’ll keep you turning pages until the dynamic end. Although I have a feeling that the conclusion of The Zaphnurr Phase might just be delivering us to the beginning of Marlin’s next novel, which is currently in progress.

One of the easiest ways to find out more about Brick Marlin is to head on over the Seventh Star Press website at: www.seventhstarpress.com/books/brick-marlin There you’ll find links to Marlin’s Facebook, Instagram, Goodreads, and Patreon accounts, as well as what other titles are currently available.

Brian James Lewis is a disabled writer and poet with PTSD whose work has recently appeared in Mythic Picnic, The Awakenings Review, and in multiple horror anthologies. Please visit him at: www.damagedskullwriterandreviewer.com, X/Twitter @skullsnflames76, or https://facebook.com/DamagedSkullWriterandReviewer  He has been reviewing books since 2016

HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY TO DANIEL BRAUM AND HIS NEW RELEASE “PHANTOM CONSTELLATIONS” NOW AVAILABLE FROM CEMETERY DANCE!

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Hey guys and gals! It’s your old pal Skull sharing the good news of Daniel Braum’s new release Strange Constellations! Published by Cemetery Dance, this great collection of stories is already making waves in the Amazon book category rankings and getting positive reviews. The stories I’ve read so far are amazing and I’ll have a review up soon on Damaged Skull Writer and Reviewer, Hellnotes, Goodreads, Twitter, and Facebook. Until then, stay cool and keep reading independent horror!

WHAT’S EVERYBODY READING THIS WEEK? YOUR OLD PAL SKULL IS TUCKING INTO SOME GOOD STUFF (AND CATCHING UP ON REVIEWS)

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Hiya Gang! It’s your old pal Skull, freshly resurrected, yanked from the grave if you will, by my mortal host Brian James Lewis in the magical time that straddles Halloween and Dios Los Muertos. After I got done cursing him out in as many languages as I could come up with, he sat me down in the reviewer’s chair and set me loose on his TBR pile. Let me tell ya, it looks like your old pal Skull has plenty of job security in this joint!

Anyway, on to the good stuff. James Carlson’s Gloom House Press has returned with a THIRD annual LGBTQ+ charity anthology featuring many awesome writers including Rebecca Rowland, James Carlson, Leo X Robertson, and…that’s all I can tell you right now because Axle the dog ate our copy of this book. No BS, the damn dog really ate the book! This has never happened before at the Damaged Skull Writer and Reviewer office, but we will purchase a fresh copy when we can to finish the actual review. Aren’t you glad I’m back? This place went right down the crapper without me!

What I can tell you is that WE’LL ALWAYS BE HERE celebrates the wonderful diversity of everyone who makes up the Horror Community by standing proud and shouting loud that we love ALL our writers and are unwilling to accept any discrimination or trash talk about these fine folks who put their hearts on the page when they create. The stories I did read were fantastic, and I look forward to reading the rest soon-thanks again, Axle! and providing a full review. But there’s no need to wait for me. you can get your own copy of WE’LL ALWAYS BE HERE from your favorite bookseller. Mine came from Amazon, but I know that Godless also carries Gloom House books and isn’t run by billionaires, so you might enjoy supporting them instead. Just be careful, because there is something about this book that’s yummy to dogs. Probably best to put it on a high shelf.

FANS OF HORROR CINEMA AND LIT WILL FIND A LOT TO LOVE IN “DEMO REELS AND ARTHOUSE MADNESS” A COLLECTION OF DARK VERSE BY AWARD-WINNING WRITER VINCE A. LIAGUNO

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DEMO REELS and ARTHOUSE MADNESS
Vince A. Liaguno
2/25/2025
Raw Dog Screaming Press
Reviewed by Brian “Skull” Lewis

Hey there horror fans, it’s your old pal Skull returning from the grave to clue you in about a most excellent collection of dark verse from Bram Stoker Award winner, Vince A. Liaguno! Just released by Raw Dog Screaming Press, Demo Reels and Arthouse Madness is a rollercoaster that’s ready to take readers on a wild ride through the dark side. So, buckle up buttercup, and hang on tight!

This a great collection of diverse dark verse that delivers a funky movie house vibe with its fan letter to horror flicks. “Summer Camp, Parts I and II” is a great example of this with playful verse about all the crazy goings on at camps we’re familiar with through the magic of cinema. “Epoch Rewound” transmits images of the 1980’s into our heads, the ones now referred to as “Pop Culture” but to those of us who were there, we were just walking though the endless malls, using lots of hair spray, and playing Trivial Pursuit. Many of the poems in Demo Reels and Arthouse Madness are about deep topics, but Liaguno presents them artfully, mixing in clips of pretty things to camouflage the horror chattering across dusty screens in musty abandoned theaters.

“Chatroom Hustler” opens the show by launching us into the dark side of online sex. “Ghosts of the Disco” transports us to the 1980’s dance clubs of NYC pumping with the sparkling, simmering, sexy intoxication of being out in a safe space. Unfortunately, the hot sweaty sex gives way to paralyzing fear and chilling terror in the 90’s. There’s a killer on the loose that’s silent and deadly. It doesn’t discriminate, but many neighbors do. This poem is followed by the sad and sweet, “Awaiting You” where a lover waits for their missing partner as the place they’re waiting is slowly revealed.

“Maternity Ward” is a poem that hit me like a well-aimed kidney punch and I’m pretty sure there are many readers like me who will read it and feel a sharp “click!” as it locks into place. Liaguno achieves the perfect blend of abstract and specific, so that he can be telling your story, too, of a parent you wanted to love and feel loved by. Instead, we ended up tossed along the wayside, only to be greedily snatched back up again by someone who refused to let us go and be ourselves. They often said, “I’m only trying to help/protect you!” but didn’t know how or were twisted by previous life experiences and maimed us instead.

Did you ever play the license plate game as a kid? Your family’s on a road trip and the adults tried to keep us busy by having us look for plates from each of the 50 states. New York and Pennsylvania are pretty easy, Louisiana a lot harder, and whoever sees an Alaska plate gets a candy bar! Liaguno plays a similar but much darker game with us in his poem “Missing Adults” where every license plate is a clue along with the back of a milk carton description. Winning this game is not for the faint of heart because connecting the clues brings about a chilling conclusion you can’t unsee once it’s in your head.

So, there is your peek into the darkness, my friends! Damaged Skull Writer and Reviewer’s rating of Demo Reels and Arthouse Madness-a collection of dark verse by Vince A. Liaguno is a blazing FIVE STARS. This is a fabulously cool collection that showcases Liaguno’s ability to mix big handfuls of pop icon imagery into his work without it seeming forced. You come upon it as you’re reading along, feeling that tingle of recognition, but not seeing the whole picture yet. So, we continue walking down that dark city street until everything hits us with the fizzing pop of celluloid burning and a brilliant flash of the marquee lights, changing everything forever.

To purchase Demo Reels and Arthouse Madness, please visit Raw Dog Screaming Press at: www.RawDogScreaming.com They have a lot of excellent titles available, including: Fever Dreams of a Parasite by Pedro Iniguez, and Beyond The Bounds of Infinity a diverse Lovecraftian horror anthology edited by Vaughn A. Jackson and Stephanie Pearre, which is amazing. Check out my review!

To learn more about award-winning poet, writer, anthologist and editor Vince A. Liaguno, please check out his site: www.vinceliaguno.com and be sure to dig the mind-blowing book trailer featured there! Vince is also on Facebook: www.facebook.com/vinceliaguno , Instagram@vinceliaguno, Goodreads, and Twitter/X

About your reviewer:

When darkness falls Brian James Lewis transforms into his undead alter ego, Skull, and burns the midnight oil reading and reviewing recent arrivals to his lair, the Skullcave. You can catch up with him on social media at: https://facebook.com/DamagedSkullWriterandReviewer where he’d really appreciate some follows to get more exposure for Indy horror writers and presses!

You can also find him on: X/Twitter@skullsnflames76

And we’re also on Goodreads and leave reviews on Amazon under the mortal’s name Brian James Lewis

Until next time, be well, stay safe, and keep reading independent horror!

Vince A. Liaguno

DO YOU LIKE STORIES THAT MAKE YOU FEEL THAT CREEPING SENSE OF UNEASE YOU CAN’T QUITE PUT YOUR FINGER ON? IF SO, “MEET ME IN THE MIDDLE OF THE AIR” BY ERIC SCHALLER IS JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED

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Meet Me In The Middle of The Air
Eric Schaller
Lethe Press
7/1/2024
Reviewed by Brian “Skull” Lewis

Howdy horror fans, it’s your old pal Skull with a collection of strange miracles and dark comedies from Eric Schaller. Meet Me in The Middle of The Air is an intense book that requires readers to accept a certain level of unease to really enjoy the stories within. Things come at you hard and fast once you open the gate. Case in point, the first story Schaller presents to us, The Assistant to Doctor Jacob pulls us into a lovely hothouse full of exotic flowers curated by a young boy’s neighbor. It all seems quite innocent with the doctor’s encouragement of the boy’s interest in gardening, everything tucked away into the happy memories file of the brain, until the police come knocking on the now adult boy’s door with some very strange pictures and a lot of questions.

While The Parasite sounds like a truly terrifying title, it’s actually a pretty entertaining short story. When the snoring of a husband brings an unbidden guest into his body, not all the changes it causes are bad. Whilethat’s sort of a relief, some strange things do happen in the dark of night that will make sure that this urban neighborhood will keep on changing. Snoring sleepers beware!

What if all the angry words we said took up physical space and embodied their meanings? That’s what happens in Voices Carry where two couples argue about infidelity that has occurred between some of their members. As their angry words take on the forms of dangerous flying shapes that fill the room, it seems like it would be best if they could stop the flow, but will they? A great story to show readers the impact of bad deeds and refusal to accept blame or find a solution.

Crystal Vision is a melancholy but interesting tale about a group of addicts living solely for the crystal meth made by a fella named David. It all starts in a fun sort of party atmosphere, but things devolve rather quickly. Socially acceptable behaviors and hygiene go first. Valuable possessions follow until the few remaining people turn into a bunch of starving naked truth seekers who are ready to crack. This one hits home because so many neighborhoods are dealing with ice houses these days, ours included.

Damaged Skull Writer and Reviewer rates Meet Me in the Middle of the Air by Eric Schaller a solid 4 out of 5 stars. It is an intriguing tapestry of the uncanny and unusual that sometimes runs off the rails with a high degree of intensity. Luckily, there is a wide variety of material here that provides something for everybody to enjoy, even if the whole may be a bit too much for many readers to digest entirely. This is a collection of stories that will stick in your head whether you want it to or not and actually led to your old pal Skull having some nightmares, which is rare. Schaller’s work is based on many real places, people, and creatures which means that he is a master of the thin blurred line between worlds. So, if you’re looking for adventure, you’re in the right place. Meet Me in the Middle of the Air.

Thanks for stopping by the Skullcave and digging this week’s review! For more information about Lethe Press’ catalog of great books, artists, and the chance to save a little green, head on over to: www.lethepressbooks.com There you’ll also find more information about their authors, Eric Schaller included. To follow Damaged Skull Writer and Reviewer, please visit: www.damagedskullwriterandreviewer.com Until next time, be well and keep reading independent horror!

About your reviewer:

When darkness falls Brian James Lewis becomes his alter ego, Skull, and burns the midnight oil, reading and reviewing recent arrivals to his lair, the Skullcave! You can catch up with him on social media at: https://facebook.com/DamagedSkullWriterandReviewer where he’d really appreciate some follows to get more exposure for Indy horror writers and presses!

You can also find him on: X/Twitter@skullsnflames76

And we’re also on Goodreads and share reviews on Amazon under the mortal’s name: Brian James Lewis

IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A UNIQUE READING EXPERIENCE THAT PACKS A PUNCH, CHECK OUT REBECCA GRANSDEN’S LATEST COLLECTION OF WEIRD SHORT HORROR STORIES “HAPPY BUNNY AND OTHER MISCHIEFS”

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HAPPY BUNNY AND OTHER MISCHIEFS
Rebecca Gransden
October 30, 2024
Cardboard Wall Empire
Reviewed by Brian “Skull” Lewis

Hello again, all you horror fiends! It’s your old pal Skull with Happy Bunny and other Mischiefs, a new short story collection from Rebecca Gransden. Behind the grainy security camera footage cover readers will find themselves immersed in a Bizarro universe made up of fourteen stories that strike like an angry scorpion on LSD that’s been hiding in your sleeping bag. Gransden has the uncanny ability of turning the everyday into something terrifying in just a few short pages. So, if you’re looking for weird, follow me into the darkness…

Things kick of with, Turducken: Confirm Humanity. If you’re not familiar with what a turducken is, look it up for the best understanding of what this feisty little tale is trying to illustrate. When this multi-layered creature escapes a transport, it decides to do its best to fit in and create a delightful feast of what it finds in the wild. The guests are certainly in for a surprise!

In Canon Fodder we meet a person who enjoys inducing riots by shooting money out of a confetti canon in busy public spaces. She enjoys the injuries, violence, and deaths caused by the frantic scrabble for cash. But when a rival gang decides that she’s just a little too good at what she does, they come up with a grisly final assignment.

As a former professional driver of 18-wheelers and delivery vans, I’m not a big fan of sharing the road with self-driving cars. They may be presented to the media as the next great thing, but brothers Yuri and Dimos find out how terrifying these vehicles are (and who’s really in control) in the story Slug Slick.

Not even municipal street cleaners are safe in their noble but filthy profession. They have to be alert for the dangers of Disco Rice! Most of the workers just do their time, clock out, and leave the grossness behind. But a few twisted individuals have formed The Disco Rice Club and taken obsession to a whole new level of strange.

In Sparrow Eyes, two couples and a friend head out to a holiday camp where they plan to party hearty and maybe do a little swinging. But something in the woods is waiting for them. It has needs, too, and if the group doesn’t do what it wants, this could be their last trip.

Happy Bunny and Other Mischiefs is a unique collection of stories that refuses to be pigeon-holed into a single category, and I think that’s a good thing. Damaged Skull Writer and Reviewer rates Rebecca Gransden’s latest collection 4.5 Stars! Be prepared for sudden plunges directly into the action and some entertaining names for characters such as “Gary Hotdog”, “Tall Jim”, and “Fuck It Cat”. These stories may shock you, and some speak out against important topics like child abuse and social media overload, but you sure as hell won’t be bored. Dare to think for yourself and get yourself a copy of Happy Bunny and Other Mischiefs! You’ll be glad you did.

Cardboard Wall Empire is an independent press that has published a large amount of Rebecca Gransden’s books. My favorite so far is Creepy Sheen, which you can read my review of at www.damagedskullwriterandreviewer.com . There are also some selections from Leo X. Robertson available. You can purchase Cardboard Wall Empire books from Amazon.com or your favorite bookseller. New projects are in the works, so stay tuned!

 About your reviewer:

When darkness falls. Brian James Lewis becomes his alter ego, Skull, and burns the midnight oil reading and reviewing recent arrivals to his lair, the Skullcave! You can catch up with him on social media at: https://facebook.com/DamagedSkullWriterandReviewer where he’d really appreciate some follows to get more exposure for Indy horror writers and presses!

You can also find him on: X/Twitter@skullsnflames76

And we’re also on Goodreads and leave reviews on Amazon under the mortal’s name Brian James Lewis

To follow Damaged Skull Writer and Reviewer, please visit: www.damagedskullwriterandreviewer.com Thanks!

Until next time, be well, stay safe, and keep reading independent horror!

photo credit: “Fallout Shelter-No Days Off” Brian James Lewis