THE RACK – Damaged Skull Writer

THE RACK: Stories Inspired by Vintage Horror Paperbacks
Edited by Tom Deady
9/3/2024
Greymore Publishing
Reviewed by Brian “Skull” Lewis

Hello Horror fiends, it’s your old pal Skull, with a seriously boss horror anthology put together by cool editor and all-around fine human being, Tom Deady! The Rack pays tribute to the thing that seduced many of us into reading and writing horror. We had a favorite located in a supermarket, drugstore, or newsstand that seemed to wait for us. Squeaking, wobbling, and jam packed with mass market paperbacks, The Rack drew us in with all the lurid covers and back cover hype. Seduced, we opened the books, started reading, and were hooked for life.

Tom Deady’s intention with this anthology is to bring us back to that special time in our lives when we fell in love with horror, and The Rack delivers. Not just a pale imitation, The Rack expands upon the foundations built by the likes of Richard Matheson, Anne Rice, and Stephen King, whose story The Raft is included in this awesome anthology alongside work by: Christa Carmen, Larry Hinkle, Philip Fracassi, Mercedes M. Yardley, and Richard Chizmar, just to name a few. Your old pal Skull also seriously loves that cover artwork by none other than Lynne Hansen and there is a great intro by Will Erickson of Paperbacks from Hell fame that kicks things off right. But enough of me rattling my bones, let’s take a peek inside!

Larry Hinkle takes us to a chemical wasteland in That Chemical Glow where survival seems to be coming to the unfit and their steadily growing number of teeth, while Errick Nunnally has us charging through Florida marshes after a creature that shouldn’t exist in The Keeper of Taswomet. Mercedes M. Yardley delivers ethereal, Shirley Jackson vibes with I Am a House Demanding To Be Haunted and Christa Carmen introduces us to a family with special traditions that will not be broken by an insecure groom who doesn’t get it in Blood Of My Blood. Philip Fracassi delivers a chilling thriller about a priest determined to set a house to rights despite terrible weather that would have kept most folks off the road. But good intentions or otherwise, he finds himself in a very bad spot because the Quinns already have The Visitor staying with them. Will a bible be enough protection?

For better or worse, I always run into one story in every anthology I read that hits me just right and becomes Skull’s favorite story. In The Rack that story is Mightier Than Bullets by Laurel Hightower. I didn’t know how much I needed to read this story until I read it. Many of us use Horror to escape the hard realities we all have to face, but Hightower takes on the real modern-day horror of school shootings with class and a wonderful understanding of children. Ms. Ballard is a kindergarten teacher who listens, and most importantly, lets young imaginations run free in search of a way to defend themselves in case of an attack. “Ballard’s Battalion” will take on the challenge, not just cower under their desks hoping and praying that the adults in charge will eventually fumble onto a solution. Why not annihilate out of control hatred with something even more powerful? Ms. Ballard isn’t some kind of redneck radical handing out guns and clubs to five-year-olds, that would just add to the problem. What she does is nurture something far more terrifying than an assault rifle, something most adults blocked out of their lives a long time ago. Many grown-ups feel that they’re superior to children and their silliness. The element of surprise has helped win many battles, but just wait ‘til you see the weapon little May comes up with! Be prepared that Mightier Than Bullets may cause you to cheer loudly and wake up your cats. It might even make you shed a few tears, as I did because it’s such a damn fine story.

Damaged Skull Writer and Reviewer gives The Rack a hearty 5 STAR RATING! I’d also like to apologize for not being as quick as I hoped with my review of this wonderful kickass anthology that I believe everyone should go out and buy a copy of immediately. What happened is that I got so caught up in The Rack my original drafts of the review were running into thousands of words. I wanted to share how every single story in here is a winner and how much fun it was to meet some of you online during the virtual release party and a great podcast. But I knew that nobody was going to read a 10-page book review and my wife helped by saying, “if nobody ever gets to see your review, then it really won’t matter what you think. Go get the damn thing done!” Good advice. So here we are with something that I hope whets your appetite for short horror stories that pay tribute to the past and show us that there is a lot to look forward to in the future. Now I must go, because The Rack is calling…

Want more information about Tom Deady? Then head on over to https://www.tomdeady.com/ or find him over on Facebook at https://facebook.com/tomdeady

Interested in getting some awesome artwork or a cool cover for your upcoming release? Then get in touch with Lynne Hansen at www.LynneHansenArt.com

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

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

Hello horror fans, it’s your old pal Skull with some cool news in the horror writing and reading community! I was lucky enough to be invited to the virtual release party for the new themed horror anthology, The Rack and a good time was had by all. Editor Tom Deady and Parasite Steve were the masters of ceremonies and many of the contributors spoke about their stories as well as the books that inspired them when they were spinning those creaky, squeaky wire racks at their local newsstands, drugstores, or libraries during the 1980’s. Stephen King and Ray Bradbury were frequently mentioned, but so were some less famous names. It was great to hear from the authors which included Christa Carmen, Tom Deady, Kristin Dearborn, Candace Nola, Errick Nunnally, Cynthia Pelayo, and Mercedes Yardley. While I’d love to go into serious detail about what each author had to say, this article would be very long and not ready for quite some time. The main takeaway is that The Rack is a richly diverse collection of stories both in contributing authors and the wide variety of their stories

Other features of the evening were the swag giveaway opportunities for non-authors to win nifty prizes like pens, journals, stickers, and even t-shirts with The Rack cover art on them. These mega-cool items were awarded to attendees who were able to name the author of The Rack story that Tom read aloud. The first person to do so won some great stuff! There was also a fun show and tell of favorite and unique books in the authors’ personal collections, featuring the funky, pulpy paperback covers of the 80’s along with a few books that never made it back to the library, presented by Errick Nunnally, that had a great story of their own. As the evening wound down, there were reading suggestions from many of the authors, and a discussion about who delivered and who just had nifty covers. We wrapped with a round up of what each contributing author was also doing. Overall, a great evening!

While your old pal Skull wasn’t an active participant, I truly enjoyed putting voices and faces to authors whose work I’ve read previously such Christa Carmen, Candace Nola, and Mercedes Yardley. I also dug meeting authors I wasn’t as familiar with, like Errick Nunnally. Can’t wait to read his story! Tom Deady is a very cool guy, and I’m cheered and inspired to know that he didn’t really get into writing horror until his 50’s because that’s where I am, working on making a comeback after mental health issues and disabilities crushed me like a bug in 2019. But this isn’t about me, it’s about a brand-new horror anthology with retro vibes that kicks ass. Damaged Skull Writer and Reviewer will be doing a review ASAP, but until then go get yourself a copy of THE RACK and start reading!