Thursday 28 October 2010

Great review for Eye Witness:Zombie


Below is a great review on Amazon for the book including a run down on every story. Its probably the most detailed review for an anthology I've seen, and thankfully she seems to like my story:-)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly Good Stories, October 16, 2010
By
Ursula K. Raphael "Eclectic Homeschool Mom" (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE) (TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Eye Witness: Zombie (Paperback)
First of all, I am always wary of anthologies; for example, I am concerned with the number of great stories vs. lame stories. I've also been such a big fan of Permuted Press that I have ridiculously high standards for my zombie horror, and May December Publications is one of those newbies, only recently gaining some recognition as a literary contender in the horror genre. Despite my reservations, this anthology rocked! Out of fifteen short stories, only one was not-so-good, but even the one I disliked was worth reading once.

Here's a brief run-down of each story:

Doomsday Ramblings by Tonia Brown
A redneck's wife crawls out of the grave, and does something much worse than bite him; not much action or gore, until the ending.

A Soldier's Lament by Patrick D'Orazio
Some National Guardsmen on a rescue mission into a hot zone full of DICs (Disease Infected Civilian or Deteriorating Infected Corpse); packed with bloody action, complete with wicked ending.

Childish Things by William Wood
Hilarious story about a guy stuck in an orca costume during a zombie outbreak.

Dead of Old by Lyle Perez-Tinics
Takes place one year after outbreak; leftover zombies escape research facility. In just a few pages, Lyle has managed to expand zombie lore with some new tidbits.

Mere Symptoms of Living by Kris Ashton
A guy is trapped in his bathroom, writes his story on the walls; surprising amount of survival struggle in such a confined space.

Hunt Thru the Night by Brad Zipprich
Radio show host takes calls about reports of walking dead after space anomaly takes place; not unlike World War Z, with numerous callers sharing different perspectives.

All in Your Head by Stephanie Kincaid
A patient who hallucinates is instructed by her therapist/doctor to keep a journal, so she writes about seeing a zombie. Her doctor has her convinced the encounter was just another hallucination. Loved the ending!

The Nightmare by William Lederman
Very brief, very sad. It was like reading about a mere moment in an outbreak.

Run Through the Jungle by Tony Monchinski
A small group of survivors trying to flee city limits; just one more fantastic story for Tony to add to his list.

Dredge by Nikki Sedlock
A guy hiding out in a Wal-Mart basement reminisces on his time there; one of my favorites in the anthology.

One Nation Undead by Brian Harrison
Soldiers attack a man's family; with help from another survivor, he tries to rescue his wife & daughter. It was a good story about revenge, and I'm not one to focus on typos, but there appeared to be a deliberate use of italics which actually disrupted the flow of the story for me.

Eye in the Sky by John McCuaig
Takes place six years after initial outbreak; a zombie-traffic reporter (his reports help survivors know when it's safe to scavenge) gets stranded in the middle of a huge horde after his helicopter crashes. One of the best of the anthology! It also takes place in the UK.

Embedded by Andrew Black
A journalist trapped in a flipped over armored transport writes about his experience with the religious zealots at the "Rapture Centers."

Dead Man's Hand or Reviva Las Vegas by Sean Hoade
A man travelling throughout the post-apocalypse, plays poker for his survival and the entertainment of others; too much dialogue (just kidding - private joke). This was a refreshing change of pace for the zombie genre, instead of the usual survival trek to safety. It is definitely one of the top stories in the anthology.

Baby Killer by Ron Harris
A guy specializes in killing baby and child zombies. It is one of the most tragic stories that I've ever read in any genre.

Another nice touch in the anthology was the fragmented news ticker that runs across the first page of each short story.

If May December Publications can keep producing quality books like this one, they should be able to make a name for themselves as one of the big horror publishers.

Tuesday 5 October 2010

First look at the cover for The Church


Here is the first peek at the cover for my debut novel- The Church. I may be a bit biased here but I think it looks fantastic! It still needs the blurbs ect putting on but I'm really happy with how its turned out. Almost there now!

Monday 4 October 2010

The Pyramid of the Dead to be published!


I've just got the wonderful news that the Library of the Living Dead have accepted this novel for publication. It's been sent off to the editor who hopefully will be contacting me very soon. This is just fantastic and I'll keep you all posted of how things are progressing. I also need to start thinking about cover design and again this will be done by Deedee Davies.