I was contacted by Shane Diablo (aka “Meatwhistle”) of the shock rock metal band DieMonsterDie and asked if I would like to do a review of their latest album, “Fall to Your Knees.” I’d never heard of them before so I took a look at their website and MySpace pages and saw the stage makeup and costumes and listened to the songs and was instantly thinking: “Hell Yeah!” I quickly replied and asked them to send the material over so I could check it out.

Man was I impressed. These guys are good. Not only are they talented musician who produce high quality tunes, but also they put on a bloody and shocking horror show to rival the best in the business. Their costumes are morbid, Gothic, sinister, and downright bloody and that was a plus right off the bat. I love the theatrics of shock rock. The music is the real meat for the grinder here though. If you’ve never heard of this band and you like metal and horror then you should head right over to their website and take a look and listen. You will be pleasantly surprised and horrified at the same time.

Lady Parasyte has gone through some changes since the last time she graced the pages of Macabre Cadaver. Not only has she added new members to the band (Mark Black, guitarist/programmer, and Miss Angela S., vocals), she has also been signed to machineKUNT Records. Her new album, Abandoned Places, is due out in late 2010. We have once again had the chance to chat with LP.

1. We see that Lady Parasyte has gone through some changes since the last time we spoke.....

Lady Parasyte- Definitely. Since the last time we spoke there has been a major change in the bands lineup and sound. We have also since signed with the indie label Machinekunt Records. We’ve also somewhat changed the look and feel of the band with our website and photos. Most importantly we are working on our first full length album “Abandoned Places”.

The other day, on top of my Caesar's The Gallic Wars, I found a book my teenage daughter had borrowed from her highschool classroom: Acceleration by Graham McNamee. I'm not a huge fan of young adult horror or mystery, especially since the popularity of Twilight (and my very long,drawn out opinion of that series, which I'd rather keep to myself) had drawn hundreds of young adult authors out of the woodwork, trying to jump on the "vampire gravytrain". With a sigh, and some extra "bathroom reading" time on my hands, I picked up the book, and quickly skimmed the first few pages. "Ok", I told myself. "So far so good, no vamps or wolf-boys running around trying to protect a skinny young teenage female from the forces of evil". As I delved further, the pages began to quickly turn, as Acceleration began to ever increasingly peak my interest.

Alright werewolf fans, here’s an oldie but a definite goody! A group of old high school friends are invited to a remote mountain cabin to reunite and, for kicks, to pan for gold. Leaving their vehicles behind they pack necessities, including an insane amount of guns, and travel by horse the rest of the way up the mountain.

 UPDATE: 2009 Award Finalists Anounced.

Each year, the Horror Writers Association presents the Bram Stoker Awards for Superior Achievement in the field of horror writing, named in honor of Bram Stoker, author of the seminal horror work Dracula. Since 1987, the approximately 500 members of the HWA have recommended, nominated and voted on the greatest works of horror and dark fantasy of the previous calendar year, making the Stokers the most prestigious award in the field of horror literature.
 
Currently the awards are presented in eight categories: Novel, First Novel, Long Fiction, Short Fiction, Fiction Collection, Anthology, Non-fiction, and Poetry Collection. The organization's Active members will select the winners from this ballot; voting will close on March 3rd, and the awards will be presented this year at a gala banquet on Saturday evening, March 27, at the World Horror Convention in Brighton, UK.

29^th January, 2010

Oxford, UK

 TODAY: Rebellion is proud to announce the launch of The Abaddon & Solaris Books Podcast. The podcast is available free from iTunes and is posted on both the Solaris and Abaddon blogs. The podcast will be available at the end of each month, check out the blogs for updates.

After a much needed break in the fall of 2009, Macabre Cadaver is now open to submissions for the new year. We would like to extend a warm welcome to all prospective authors of horror, science fiction, and dark fantasy. We are particularly interested in fiction that is well-written and defies classification, breaks the rules, sets new standards, knows no boundaries, and doesn’t fit nicely into any particular nook or cranny. We are not averse to any topics or subject matter as long as it is well written, unique, and distinctive.

This year we hope to gather together the best stories by new and established authors and publish our first anthology. We will also begin publishing PDF issues of MC again on a quarterly basis, with the first issue available in the spring of 2010.

Talking With The Dead: 15 Questions With Scarlet Salem

Shane Ryan is a self taught dark horror artist's who has been creating imagery from the darker side of the art world ever since he was old enough to pick up a pencil and put it to paper, having drawn horror art even before being introduced to the world of horror it would seem that Shane's love for horror was as natural as his artistic talent.

Stephen King has published a fifth collection of short stories, Just After Sunset, the youngest sibling to Night Shift, Skeleton Crew, Nightmares & Dreamscapes, and Everything’s Eventual. With the most recent collection, Just After Sunset, King has reignited his passion for the short story.  After sitting in as guest editor for The Best American Short Stories 2007, King stated that “I got excited all over again, and I started writing stories again in the old way. I had hoped for that, but had hardly dared believe it would happen.” ^[1] Each of the stories in Just After Sunset showcases King at his most potent storytelling ability to date.