Martyrs & Monsters by Robert Dunbar

Come close, Wild Things – not too close, the Dragon has been known to bite – but do venture in, because she has a treat for you today. The Dragon never would have found this exquisite collection of Robert Dunbar’s short stories had this book not been recommended to her. Now the Dragon recommends [...]

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Twelve by Jasper Kent

Voordalak, voordalak, voordalak . . . ah, yes! Vampire. Hmm, even the Dragon is getting a little burned out on the vampire spin, but at least Kent does vampires right in his debut novel, Twelve.
The Grande Armée of Napoleon Bonaparte is poised on Moscow’s doorstep in the autumn of 1812. In a desperate bid [...]

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The Gentling Box by Lisa Mannetti

Oh my Wild Things, come close, come close; the Dragon has a treasure for you.  I remember now what it is to be afraid . . .
It is the mid-nineteenth century, but the Age of Enlightenment has bypassed Hungary and Romania’s itinerant gypsy population.  Imre is a half-gypsy horse trader who lives with his wife [...]

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Coraline by Neil Gaiman

“Coraline discovered the door a little after they moved into the house.”  Thus begins the creepy adventures of a little girl who discovers an alternate world in her own house.  The world beyond the door is similar to her own world.  There is even an identical set of parents…but wait!  Are those big black buttons [...]

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We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

To read a Shirley Jackson novel is to enter a world where the ordinary is entwined with evil and the mundane is tangled up with madness.  Sisters Constance and Mary Catherine (Merricat) Blackwood live in a beautiful house, surrounded by beautiful things brought there by generations of Blackwood women before them.  Constance tends the garden and [...]

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The Penguin Book of Vampire Stories [edited] by Alan Ryan

Ahh, it’s that magical time of year again, the spectral month of October when the world wastes away and horrors stalk the night (hehe); ‘tis the Dragon’s favorite time of year, my Wild Things
The Penguin Book of Vampire Stories, edited by Alan Ryan, is the title that should be in the library of every serious [...]

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Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

I’m late to the party with this series.  I had not heard of the Southern Vampire Series until recently, and decided to give the first book, originally published in 2001, a try (I believe there are 8 Sookie Stackhouse books).  I was about a third of the way through it when I found out that [...]

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The Thief of Always by Clive Barker

Before I even begin this review, I want to thank Lenny [see the comments section of Mister B. Gone] for recommending this title. I thought I would never read another Clive Barker title again, but I was greatly rewarded by taking the Clive Barker Challenge.
“The great gray beast February had eaten Harvey Swick alive.” And [...]

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Okko: the Cycle of Water by Hub

Another in the “James Library Gets Graphic” series is Okko: the Cycle of Water a delightfully drawn tale well told. When the Inn at Kappa is raided by pirates and the geisha, Little Carp is abducted, her young brother Tikku enlists the aid of the Ronin (masterless Samurai) Master Okko and his companions, Noburo, and [...]

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City of Others by Steve Niles, Bernie Wrightson, José Villarrubia

Blud has a problem. Well, Blud has many unresolved issues; one of which is his lack of empathy toward others, which probably stems from the fact that his parents christened him Stosh Bludowski. Of course, “Blud” is somewhat better than having to bear the moniker Chunx, which is the name of the antagonist is this [...]

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