ŷ������

“Aegean’s full of the restless dead,�� she said and made the sign of the cross. Her husband laughed. “You sound like an old woman.�� He held her head between his hands. “The dead are dead.”
She twisted from his hold. “It isn’t safe.�� - from The Sea Cemetery

Chase shot his wife, Rebecca, a sarcastic grimace. “I don’t see how anyone could miss that monstrosity.�� He motioned to the large, yellow and white confection with its ornate tower. It dripped gingerbread and confused the eye with its many gables and dormers. - from Sandcastles

I felt an unexplained, strange vibe about this place, but couldn’t understand why. - from The Stumpville Affair

Out in time for the holidays, Exhumed offers a baker’s dozen short stories of the horror persuasion, introduced by GR Hall-of-Famer, Jeffrey Keeten, at long last bringing in a few shekels for his top-tier writing skills. I included a link in EXTRA STUFF to a video of JK reading his intro.

The stories range from scary monsters to scary humans, from ghosts to werewolves, covering many subjects familiar in horror; revenge, guilt, comeuppance, dark prophecy, inexplicable imprisonment by a faceless jailer, madness, magical objects, magical power, and possession.

It all begins with a Yuletide tale. Christmas has always been my favorite holiday, well, until, that is, the persistent whisperings began echoing down the flue every year, only to vanish on the 26th. I still enjoy reading The Polar Express to my kids cats every year and watching It’s a Wonderful Life, although it seems to get harder and harder as the years go by to hear it over that bloody yammering from the chimney. Nevertheless, it could be worse, and in …And All the Trimmings it very definitely is, for Professor Norman Tack, a nobody destined to become a very definite somebody, for a while anyway. This one might prompt you to look into the history of the holiday, then throw away everything you have read, and maybe take some extra security precautions as the season approaches.


David Yurkovish - editor of the collection, looking like he just got away with something awful

The collection features a handful of stories having to do with the beach, or aqueous locales, which summons to mind a bit of scariness of my own. When I found a body on the beach, while out walking my golden retriever, Bloch, just this summer past, there was a moment when I was uncertain. Did we just find him there, or had I put him there? That cut across the neck certainly did look like one of mine, although I do not usually engage in such antics so close to home. I will definitely have to check the cutlery at home, make sure everything is clean. One of the downsides of getting older. Some things just slip past, ya know? The sea certainly offers up some terrors of its own, like encroaching surf, restless dead, or relentless reminders of things we’d rather forget. For example, In Darkness, Lost brings us two brothers who are trapped by a seemingly seamless vessel on the beach, but have no idea what it is or how to get out. The Sandcastle offers a look at what can remain and who what might succumb to the incoming tides. Waves, like years of relentless remorse, can erode a person’s as well as a building’s foundation. The Aegean provides a spooky passage to a family in peril in The Sea Cemetery, one with much contemporary relevance. A young girl experiences a trauma at the gravel edge of a river, in The Dark Augur, that portends ill for her as an adult. The beach can be a scary place, even without a giant shark, or a serial killer.

A lifetime ago, I used to ride the PATH train between Manhattan and Newark, passing factories of unknown sort in the unpopulated marshland between. One factory, when all lit up, particularly at night, seemed to me a fascinating image of a post-apocalyptic hell. I can’t be sure what I saw--because, ya know, me a bit sleepy heading home from work, darkness, moving train, with a bit of bouncing, interior light reflecting off the windows--but I could have sworn at least one of the flames arcing out of that place took on a human form, and headed toward the tracks. It was only the one time. I never saw it again. I only worked in Newark for a year, so did not have much opportunity for a repeat. I’m sure it was nothing. I am sure you have had the experience of falling asleep on a bus, a train, or even as a passenger in a car, and waking up to find yourself seeing a strange sight, or maybe being in a strange place. In Violet’s Blossoms, Jessica emerges from an unpleasant dream on a bus to debark in Shadow Hills. The name of the town says it all. Yea, though I walk through the Valley of Shadow Hills, I will fear no evil. Well, maybe you should, and thanks for the flowers. I loved how the author used scent to convey the range of emotional content.

Small towns and/or suburbs site several of the tales. Well, The Doggone Ghost, set in a department store, could be in a city, I suppose, but I picture it more in an older suburb. In addition to Violet’s Blossoms, noted above, The Stumpville Affair takes place in upstate New York. The locale in Teacher’s Pets seemed small townish and Mirror, Mirror takes place 30 miles outside Austin. The Seamstress is set in a “grimy mill town in western Pennsylvania.�� No manifestations of urbophobia or polisophobia here. We all know small towns are much more terrifying than big cities.

The only real touch of city is in The Stumpville Affair, in which the occult PIs are based in 1930s Manhattan, although the action takes place elsewhere. But that is not why this one is my favorite in the collection. I love the two lead characters, who are both special in different ways. They have class, style, and toss in cultural and historical references that give the story not only a temporal anchor but racial piquance. My first thought on finishing this one, just a few days past the Harvest Moon, was that it had the heft and the bones to be a fabulous series, when lo and behold, a quick google search revealed plenty more tales with these two. Toss in some physical mayhem of the ripped-to-bits sort, and some hostile locals, including a young thing with a wicked heater, and keep an eye out, particularly during that special time of month. You never know what might be staring at you with red eyes from the cover of darkness. You can find the author, James Goodridge, at on Facebook. But forget sneaking up on him. I am sure his senses are much too sensitive to allow that.

One nice touch in Exhumed is that all the authors are at least 40 years old, or as I might call them, whipper-snappers.

Sorry, I did not get many chills, well, ok, maybe a few. That is par for the course for me. It is the rare piece of horror writing that can make the gray hairs on my arms, and far too many other places on my chia-pet body, stand and salute. Things political, and maybe involving ex-wives, are likelier to give me serious shivers. There were stories that were uplifting, that left me eager to read more from that author. Some made me smile. Is it ok for horror stories to do that, or does it say something about me? But really, who doesn’t enjoy some high-octane well-deserved come-uppance? Some offer excellent atmospherics and there are enough surprises to keep you reading. So, even if you do not leave the lights on after reading Exhumed, it remains an engaging, fun read, and, since you are not me, it might just scare the bejesus out of you.

Exhumed is the first horror collection published by Gravelight Press, a new imprint of indie publisher Devil’s Party Press, based in Delaware. It was definitely a fun, season-appropriate read, and a quick one, too, at 154 pages. I hope they can dig up some more material and give it a jolt, with someone providing the mandatory scream of “It’s Alive!��

Gravelight Press provided a review copy in return for a post mortem that did not assail them while they were sleeping.

============================THE STORIES

…And All the Trimmings by J.C. Raye
An everyman is remade into a stand-in for the big guy, and learns some things about Christmas he had never suspected.

Violet’s Blossoms by
Definitely not Zuzu’s petals. A young woman gets off the bus at the wrong stop and finds herself in a mostly boarded up town, with one shop in particular that draws her in, and finds there unwanted reminders of a pain-filled past.

The Doggone Ghost by
Payback’s a ghostly bitch for a suit salesman in a department store. Cleanup in Men’s clothing.

The Stumpville Affair by
Occult PIs on the job in upstate New York after one of the residents is ripped to bits by a werewolf. Howlingly good.

Teacher’s Pets by
A dull-as-dishwater teacher is pursued by a divorcee who interests him not at all. He has a large secret, and prefers his privacy.

In Darkness, Lost by Bayne Northern
Reminiscent of Andy Weir’s Annie’s Day, two brothers, mysteriously trapped inside a large, seamless vessel while at the beach, try to find their way to freedom.

Mirror, Mirror by Ellie Cooper
A magic mirror found at an auction house outside Austin shows more than mere reflection.

The Dark Augur by Elizabeth Vegvary
A woman recalls a traumatic incident from her youth, one that included a dire prophecy.

The Sandcastle by
A troubled family finds that even the most well-off lives can turn to sand.

Waves by
Guilt over losing a child generates a lifetime of dark visions.

Mr. Gibb’s Banner Year by
A nebbishy teacher is tasked with stepping in to coach the boys�� football team, but is haunted by the team’s erstwhile, and late, championship coach.

The Sea Cemetery by
A desperate refugee family face a hauntingly roiling sea as they struggle to reach Greece.

The Seamstress by
An abusive husband finds himself at the mercy of the woman he’d mistreated for decades. I was reminded of Olivia de Haviland in The Heiress, having learned so well from her afflicters.


Review posted �� October 9, 2020

Publication date �� August 11, 2020

=============================EXTRA STUFF

Items of Interest
-----Jeff Keeten
-----Gravelight Press is an imprint of