Nick Cato's Blog, page 14

Writing / Projects Update

It pleases me to no end when I get emails asking what's going on with my writing and other projects. Here's a list of what's been happening in Catoland:



My writing:

-My latest novella, THE LAST PORNO THEATRE, is just past the halfway mark and I'm expecting it to clock in around 20K.

-THE HOUSE OF EXORCISM, a collaborative novel I'm working on with L.L. Soares, came to a stand still around the 45K mark. We're taking a brief break from it then will be going back in fresh to finish this romp that deals with a group of exorcists from different backgrounds battling a gang of psychos bent on bringing forth the end times through demonic possession.

-I'm currently working on a short story for an erotic horror anthology (a first for me) and am busy crafting another batch of my "bizarro super shorts."

-THE DEVIL'S REIGN: A GUIDE TO OCCULT HORROR FILMS OF THE 1970's is the tentative title of a non-fiction film book I'm writing with Sheri Sebastian Gabriel. So far we have a couple of introductory chapters written and are busy compiling an exhaustive list of films to review and discuss. We're going to go year by year (from 1970-1979) and hopefully by the end we'll see just why the 70s had such a massive outbreak of occult-themed films.

-THE EQUIVALENCE PRINCIPAL, my anti-gravity scifi terror tale, appeared in FADING LIGHT: AN ANTHOLOGY OF THE MONSTROUS

-My short story, NECROCANDY, was recently featured in TALL TALES WITH SHORT COCKS volume 2 and I've been receiving some great feedback about it.

-My latest short is titled SHOP 'TILL YOU DROP and is part of a new holiday-themed horror anthology titled CHRISTMAS IN HELL, published by a new e-book company headed by Thomas Erb.

-I'm still eagerly awaiting the release of DARK FUSIONS: WHERE MONSTERS LURK, a Lovecraftian anthology edited by New York Times bestselling author Lois Gresh to be published by the amazing PS Publishing. My story, WHAT WAS CALLED, will be featured alongside some of the best writers in the business, so I'm a little anxious to hear some feedback. To date I'd rank this as my finest tale.



My Publishing Ventures:

-Novello Publishers hasn't had a lot of output lately, due in part to a switch in printers. After the semi-success of my own short story collection, ANTIBACTERIAL POPE AND OTHER INCONGRUOUS STORIES (2012), we have signed two book deals for a spring, 2013 release. First up is Peter Dudar's dark horror comedy BLOOD CULT OF THE BOOBY FARMERS, a novella-length tribute to b-movies of the past, and our first full-length novel release, HARD, by L.L. Soares, which will be under a new Novello imprint. It's a literary novel dealing with the adult film industry and is currently in the editing process. Cover art for both releases are currently in progress.

-It's been nearly 10 years since I began publishing THE HORROR FICTION REVIEW fanzine, and almost 5 since it went from a print to an e-zine. It's still being published monthly and my small staff and I are currently busy catching up on a massive influx of review copies sent to us this past spring and summer. Submissions are still closed and will be for the foreseeable future. (See blog list on this page for link).

-A few months ago I started a new blog titled THE MIDNIGHT GRIND, which deals with the recent uprising of midnight film screenings in the NYC area. Please join up right here to keep abreast of the news: THE MIDNIGHT GRIND .  The site is updated weekly and features showtimes in an organized, easy-to-navigate manner and occasional reviews.



Other News:

-For those who continue to ask about my web show LAIR OF THE YAK (that has been off the air for almost 3 years now), we're constantly receiving tips on sites similar to the (late) blogstar and operator11, but so far NONE have have been able to handle our format. LAIR OF THE YAK was an interactive show that usually had a dozen people in the studio...most video chat websites only allow for one or two people in a room at a time, with others only able to talk in an adjacent chat room. UNTIL we find something similar to our old site, the LAIR will cease to be. But I appreciate those suggestions...eventually someone will create a blogstar-ish site (I hope).


As always, thanks for your interest...

New Anthology featuring my story SHOP 'TILL YOU DROP

CHRISTMAS IN HELL is a new holiday-themed anthology edited by Thomas A. Erb. My story, SHOP 'TILL YOU DROP is featured among some other tales that promise to be wickedly fun for the holidays!

Press Release:


Ring in the holidays with this dark, chilling collection of twelve stories that will surely make you guzzle that rum-filled eggnog. Not everyone loves Christmas and all the “quality” time we get to share with those we love. And once you dig into this yule-timed anthology you will truly see the dark side of the Holiday season.

Inside Christmas in Hell you will discover zombies, ravenous reindeer, satanic Santas, psychotic spouses and much more macabre shenanigans that will make the twelve days of Christmas fly by like a reindeer hopped up on a keg of Red Bull.

Table of Contents:
“One hell of a Christmas”....................Joseph Mulak
“Reindeer Feed”...................................Darren Gallagher
“The Christmas Goblin”.......................Dean Harrison
“Shop 'till you Drop”............................Nick Cato
“Merry Christmas Bitch”......................Skip Novak
“I, Claus- A Poem”................................Ignatius O'Brien
“Lane feeds the Multitude”...................Lincoln Crisler
“Hung with Care”..................................Ty Schwamberger
“To Grandmother's house we go.”.........Gregory Hall
“Christmas Town”..................................Charles Day
“The Dollhouse”.....................................Alex Katrin
“Christmastime in Zombietown”...................Michael Boatman
Release Date: Friday, November 23rd, 2012...

The Ghastly Ones...

PENETRALIA by Jordan Krall (2012 LegumeMan Books / 104 pp / tp)

Siblings Philip and Elizabeth live in their father's large Victorian mansion, continuing the scientific work he began on unsuspecting victims. Although Philip is gay, he's involved in an incestuous relationship with his sister as she helps him with his experiments. While we're never quite told what this mysterious work is, we do learn their father was once a plague doctor who eventually took to using his plague mask for obscene practices with his daughter...and he's coming back home soon to see how their research is going.

When their father returns home a day earlier than expected, both Philip and Elizabeth are faced with past terrors and family secrets they each are now forced to deal with.

PENETRALIA is Krall's tribute to (among other things) the films of Andy Milligan (google him if you must), and the atmosphere here is dead-on perfect. The incest and torture brought several of his films to mind, but Krall throws so much more into the mix here (bicycle-riding giraffes, anyone?) that the tale goes from a b-movie homage to an all-out bizarro-feast, complete with a Jodorowsky-like interlude and heart-wrenching finale.

This novella's not for everyone: the sex scenes and violence are graphic and dark, and when Krall turns the strange on you'll be wondering if some kind of drug hasn't been introduced into your body through the pages. Fans of Milligan, Edward Lee, and the darker side of bizarro will eat this up.

Get ready to Roll...on the Floor!

ZOMBIES, WEREWOLVES, WHORES AND MORE! by Jerrod Balzer (2012 Skullvines Press / 205 pp / eBook)

This collection of mostly humorous horror stories features a lot of bonus material and other surprises...and at times things get very funny.

While I'm biased toward toward the first two stories (a novella and a short originally published by my own small press), I forgot just how funny 'Zombie Bastard' and especially 'Wolf Plugs' are. It's rare for comedic pieces to hold up to reepated readings, but these do and then some.

'More Than a Woman' is a hysterical tale about a bachelor party gone off the deep end after a hooker with Multiple Personality Disorder shows up. 'Bad Church' is a bit more serious but still brings some chuckles. 'No Returns' deals with a prostitute who unknowingly contracts a strange form of venereal disease from a customer who happens to be a zombie (Sweet Moses do I love Balzer's ideas!); arguably the funniest idea yet for an undead outbreak. 'Tom Sawyer's Lost Adventure' features Twain's classic crew battling ghoul-like creatures. It's a lot of fun but not as funny as what preceeds it.

Then we get to the bonus material: first up are the first seven chapters of Balzer's forthcoming novel FEAR THE WOODS, which is a re-vamped/updated version of his novel THE OAK CLAN. Having never read CLAN, this lengthy preview has me looking forward to the finished product. Then there's a couple more mini-previews in the second bonus, further taunting us readers.

The third bonus section (titled "Complete Silliness") begins with a riotous story of a young Antichrist facing off with a hippie (or is he?) in a fast food joint titled 'Armageddon in the Snappy Snack Shack.' Balzer then hits us with a really funny poem before launching into 'The Adventures of Sidney and Rodney,' a laugh-out-loud bizarro fantasy written while the author was on hallucinogenic mushrooms: and if he wasn't, he needs to be committed.

The collection concludes with over 40 pages of entertaining "Shroom Haiku," which range from goofy to weird to LOL to just plain head-scratchingly STRANGE.

ZOMBIES, WEREWOLVES, WHORES AND MORE! is a must read for horror fans who like the funny stuff, and the novel preview shows Balzer has some serious chops when he isn't tripping out.

The Mothman Cometh

MOTHMAN EMERGED by Gina Ranalli (2012 Coscom Entertainment / 143 pp / tp and eBook)

Although best known for her bizarro fiction, Ranalli is quickly becoming the Queen of the Insectoid Creature Features; okay, that's not really a title, but in the wake of her previous novel DARK SURGE and novella UNEARTHED, it's apparent she has a way with creepy crawlers, and although her latest, MOTHMAN EMERGED, is based on a legendary creature, it's still rich in bug-icky goodness.

This one wastes absolutely NO time getting down to business: the residents of a small Washington town (that's surrounded by forest)  begin to spot fast-moving, winged creatures, first running around their property and then flying all over the place. Over-sized cocoons are discovered in the woods and in people's attics and basements. And just when the small police department starts to get involved, an 'X-Files'-like FBI duo show up with a scientist to see what's happening.

The man-sized moth creatures seem to be made out of some kind of ash that causes people's hands to melt if they come into contact...and some who have been attacked are starting to transform. Conspiracy theories begin to spread...

MOTHMAN EMERGED is jam-packed with action, suspense, and reads like a cross between a 50s creature-feature and an 80s John Halkin novel (Google him). My only gripe is the story seems like it's just starting when it ends, so hopeflly we'll have another MOTHMAN adventure somewhere down the line.

Loads of creepy monster fun and a GREAT read for Halloween.

Gibson Blount Returns...

IF GOD DOESN'T SHOW by R. Thomas Riley and John Grover (2012 Permuted Press / 215 pp / tp and eBook)

Not so much a sequel as a "further adventures" of, Riley returns with new co-writer John Grover to spin another tale with supernatural monster-hunter Gibson Blount (last seen in the novella THE FLESH OF FALLEN ANGELS with Roy C. Booth).

This time a cult has kidnapped the daughter of Thaddeus Archer, a secret service agent assigned to protect the President of the United States. The cult is attempting to revive Cthulhu himself through a series of human sacrifices, and Archer is torn between his assignment and rescuing his daughter. The cult inadvertantly unleashes a swarm of shadow-creatures who possess the living and turn them into homicidal maniacs, and a strange island appears in the Pacific ocean, causing a tsunami to wipe out Mexico and cover most of the earth's islands. As if this wasn't enough, the tsunamis also  help to trigger off a World War 3-like international nuclear exchange. Talk about pre-armageddon madness!

Enter Gibson Blount, who lands on the mysterious island with his specially selected team. He eventually teams with Thaddeus, making for a doubly-exciting 'Cthulhu-possession-end-of-the-world' thriller that moves at an insane pace. But the pace is SO quick you might have to slow down to keep up with the ever changing cast, but that's only a small complaint. Some of the dialogue gets a bit "comic book" at times, but with everything going on I don't think too many readers will mind.

I like the "new" modern-day Gibson Blount and hope to see more of him. The authors reveal little on how he jumps from generation to generation (the FLESH/FALLEN ANGELS novella took place in the old West) but this mystery keeps his character engaging. And while I wish there was more Cthulhu here (he barely makes an appearance), the shadow creatures and cult happenings make IF GOD DOESN'T SHOW a best bet for apocalyptic fiction fans.

A Tale of Memory Loss You Won't Forget

I'M NOT SAM by Jack Ketchum and Lucky McKee (to be released 12/12 by Cemetery Dance Publications / 127 pp / hc)

Patrick has an ideal life. He's a full-time graphic novel artist married to a beautiful medical examiner named Sam. They live in a beautiful, isolated house with their rescue cat, Zoey. After eight years of marriage, the couple is still crazy over each other.

But one morning--after a particularly passionate night of sex--Patrick finds Sam cowering in the corner of their room...and she claims to be Lily. Lily is a young girl (around six years old) and Patrick does all in his power to "bring" his wife back. A visit to the doctor reveals little...all medical tests return negative. But Patrick refuses to take Lily/Sam to a therapist, hoping he can help her on his own.

I'M NOT SAM is a riveting trip dealing with selective memory loss and age regression--not so much a horror story although it manages to be horrific enough in ways the author's fans have come to expect.

Take my advice--pay attention to the author's request in his introduction; the second co-story, WHO'S LILY?, works better after letting the main tale work into your psyche for a while. This is yet another dose of real-life terror Ketchum fans will surely enjoy (and I'm assuming McKee's fans will, too).

Kaufmann's Killer Collection

STILL LIFE: NINE STORIES by Nicholas Kaufmann (2012 NECon E-Books / 185 pp / eBook)

Author James A. Moore gives one of those introductions that seems to good to be true. But by the time I finished the third of these nine tales, I was in complete agreement with him: these stories are absolutely masterful.

Collecting tales that go back eleven years, this is an excellent primer for those looking for a taste of a truly underrated writer. Opening story 'Under the Skin' is one of a couple of tales that blends the author's Jewish background with horror, this time to gruesome effect in a disturbing piece about a goth-chick and her twin sister. Kaufmann weaves a tale of kid looking for acceptance as her father attempts to hold the family together around a Seder. 'Mysteries of the Cure' centers around a man who meets a strange woman who helps him deal with his cheating wife. Picture an old EC horror comic with better story-telling.

'Street Cred' gets major kudos here, mainly because I'm beyond sick of zombie stories and this urban street-gang tale gives the subgenre a truly unique spin. The one piece that impressed me the most is 'The Beat of Her Wings,' not only due to it's intracacies, but that a tale featuring a prehistoric creature can actually be scary is nothing short of amazing. This one's worth the price of the book alone.

At first, 'Toad Lily' seems like a standard ghost story, about a mother thinking she sees her dead child everywhere she looks. But Kaufmann turns it into a parent's revenge tale that's second to none. 'The Jew of Prague' is the author's take on the noir thing, yet it still manages to get the goosebumps going as well as bring a classic Jewish folklore creature into the mix.

Former porn starlet Amber Fox is the subject of Kaufmann's erotica entry, 'Comeback,' and while I'm not a big fan of the erotica genre, this one ends on a supernatural note that gives meaning to the sex that proceeds it. Brilliant stuff.  'Go' tells the tale of an intelligent lab baboon who manages to teach the others to escape from their cages. Kaufmann brings the claustrophobic chills on and makes us cheer for the protagonist as he attempts to save his son and the other children stuck in the lab's daycare center. The author notes most of his readers hated the ending, but I thought it worked just fine.

STILL LIFE ends with a tribute to Asian horror titled '(F)earless,' about an author concerned the film version of his best-selling manga will ruin not only his book, but a historic Japanese folk tale. Fans of 'J-Horror' won't be able to get enough of this one.

Having only read Kaurmann's novella CHASING THE DRAGON, this was my first look at his short stories, and I have to say I haven't enjoyed a collection this much since Joe Hill's phenomenal 20th CENTURY GHOSTS (2005), and that, my friends, is truly saying something.

Don't miss this.

Possession Gone Haywire!

MAD MANNEQUINS FROM HELL by August V. Fahren (2012 Broken Star Books / 80 pp / eBook)

Burton's a special effects artist in Portland with his young son Max. A ritual gone out of control causes demons to inhabit mannequins. Burton--with a handy flame thrower--meets up with 3 sexy nuns (one a hermaphrodite) and together they battle possessed mannequins, sex dolls, and even a Satanic nativity set.

Like a bad b-movie, MAD MANNEQUINS FROM HELL is a lot of fun, although much of the dialogue is Saturday morning cartoon-silly and a lot of early filler (that explains scenes from Burton's videos) were unnecessary. Lots of characters show up for no other reason than to become mannequin chow, causing us not to care too much for what little we learn about the main cast.

I like Fahren's imagination and sense of cult-movie fun, and at times this is quite funny. I enjoyed this quick novella despite it being all over the place; I have my eye on Fahren in the hopes his next book is a bit more focused.

Johnson Strikes Thrice!

THE FINAL FAILURE OF A PROFESSIONAL SMALL ANIMAL INSIDE-OUTER by MP Johnson (2012 Cloud City Press / 40 pp / chapbook)

I've been enjoying Johnson's quirky tales for some time now, and his latest chapbook offers 3 more stories of darkly humorous bizarro horror.

The title tale deals with a Norman bates-like taxidermist (of sorts) who lives with his grandmother. He takes on his first willing, live human project--a flute-player named Elizabeth--to oddly funny results. This is genuinely weird fiction done right.

'Crabaroo in Lesbo Vamp Land' looks at the creator of a Spongebob-like cartoon character and how he deals with his creation being more famous than himself in the wake of a new Crabaroo film/series. Needless to say, things get way out of hand...

'Through Time, Knuckles First' is a wickedly funny and original story about Geoff Cooper, a guy who owns a talking alien head that he keeps on his turntable. To explain any more would be a disservice to the author!

Johnson's one writer I enjoy watching grow. His tales continue to get more inventive and at this point his voice is all his own. Great stuff.