Shivers III

Shivers #3

by Richard Chizmar (Editor), Kealan Patrick Burke, Brian Keene

Cemetery Dance Publications is proud to announce the third entry in this award nominated and bestselling anthology series! SHIVERS III contains almost twenty short stories from today's hottest writers, including Douglas Clegg, Thomas F. Monteleone, Tom Piccirilli, F. Paul Wilson, Al Sarrantonio, and many others! Featuring original dark fiction with a handful of rare reprints, SHIVERS III is available only as a beautiful perfect-bound trade paperback!

Table of Contents:
"Underneath" by Kealan Patrick Burke
"Horn of Plenty" by Thomas F. Monteleone
"Becoming Men" by Douglas Clegg
"Flip Flap" by Elizabeth Massie
"Itsy Bitsy Spider" by Meggan C. Wilson & F. Paul Wilson
"The Questions of Doves: A Brackard's Point Story" by Geoff Cooper
"Hedges" by Al Sarrantonio
"This, And That's The End of It" by Tom Piccirilli
"Pantheon Version 2.0" by Brian Keene & Michael T. Huyck, Jr.
"Celebrate With Us" by Paul Melniczek
"The Lingering Scent of Brimstone" by J.F. Gonzalez
"Run Away" by Wrath James White
"Initiation" by David G. Barnett
"End of The Line" by Michael Laimo
"Please Let Me Out" by Edward Lee
"What They Left Behind" by Brian Freeman
"The Hole" by John Maclay
"This House Is Not My Home" by Robert Morrish

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Anthologies

235 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2004

About the author

Richard Chizmar is a New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Amazon, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author.

He is the co-author (with Stephen King) of the bestselling novella, Gwendy’s Button Box and the founder/publisher of Cemetery Dance magazine and the Cemetery Dance Publications book imprint. He has edited more than 35 anthologies and his short fiction has appeared in dozens of publications, including multiple editions of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and The Year’s 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories. He has won two World Fantasy awards, four International Horror Guild awards, and the HWA’s Board of Trustee’s award.

Chizmar (in collaboration with Johnathon Schaech) has also written screenplays and teleplays for United Artists, Sony Screen Gems, Lions Gate, Showtime, NBC, and many other companies. He has adapted the works of many bestselling authors including Stephen King, Peter Straub, and Bentley Little.

Chizmar is also the creator/writer of the online website, Stephen King Revisited. His fourth short story collection, The Long Way Home, was published in 2019. With Brian Freeman, Chizmar is co-editor of the acclaimed Dark Screams horror anthology series published by Random House imprint, Hydra.

His latest book, The Girl on the Porch, was released in hardcover by Subterranean Press, and Widow’s Point, a chilling novella about a haunted lighthouse written with his son, Billy Chizmar, was recently adapted into a feature film.

Chizmar’s work has been translated into more than fifteen languages throughout the world, and he has appeared at numerous conferences as a writing instructor, guest speaker, panelist, and guest of honor.

Reviews

[Jonathan Echevarria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shivers is an anthology released by Cemetery Dance publishing, that collects various short stories from upcoming promising horror writers. Authors like Geoff Cooper, Mike Oliveri, J.F. Gonzalez, and Wrath James White have some really interesting pieces in these books. If you are the type who really enjoys horror anthologies you can not go wrong with any of the Shivers collections. I picked up the third one because of Brian Keene's Pantheon Version 2.0 written with his close friend Michael T. Huyck Jr. aka Mikey. The collaboration is a interesting piece on the power of worship and how it effects the world around us. I really enjoyed the overall message and tone of the short story, I honestly wouldn't mind seeing a follow up to this one in the future.



Pantheon Version 2.0 is about the resurrection of former worshiped deceased idols who take over the world through idolization. Among the resurrected are famous dead celebrities, musicians, politicians, murderers, dictators, and various other respected icons. Instead of coming back as decaying zombies these idols are instead revived with their healthy appearances and personality intact. Their purpose and intent is to compete over who is the most worshiped among the living, because it is mankind's belief in them that keeps the celebrity alive. If a idol isn't celebrated any longer, they cease to exist and fade away into nothingness. So these famous icons start forming pacts, clans, and partnerships in the attempt to organize and beat out other icons which leads into a few amusing assassination scenes.

By the end of the story it becomes increasingly dark in a very appropriate way that left me feeling impressed and wanting more. Using Elvis Presley, Kurt Cobain, John Lennon, and other deceased musicians was a brilliant touch. I think if you are a big music fan or just someone who likes a good story in general you can't go wrong with Pantheon Version 2.0. While I didn't recognize all of the celebrities, I never once felt lost or unable to keep up with the pace of the storytelling. I can get behind any piece of horror fiction that challenges me to think outside the box, which is what exactly these two authors did for me.



Humanity's tendency to worship, fantasize, and becoming completely engrossed in another human being has always been a sensitive subject for me. I think being inspired by someone else is perfectly safe and empowering. Just like every other emotion it becomes dark when it falls into the obsessive and compulsive territory. The human race can become easily brainwashed when love and admiration is transformed into blind mindless obedience. I think that is why it's important to remember trying to be someone else is a waste of who you already are. If life has taught me one thing, it is that you have to love yourself before you can truly love someone else. I can get behind the overall message in Pantheon Version 2.0 and I am thankful for being introduced toward Michael T. Huyck Jr..



I give Pantheon Version 2.0 a five out of five stars! You can find this book for about fifteen dollars on the secondary market on Amazon and eBay! It's worth tracking down if you are a collector or if you are patient you'll find this story pop up in the third or fourth volume of Blood on the Page: The Complete Short Fiction of Brian Keene, Volume 1.

[[on hiatus, probably forever] The rockabilly werewolf from Mars · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were a few good stories, but ultimately, most of these weren't to my taste. I'm mostly interested in supernatural horror, which eliminated about half the stories from this book. As for the other half, I just didn't find most of them very interesting.

[Jeannie Sloan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book.The stories were up to date and very entertaining.It really deserves 41/2 stars but you know we can't do that here.