Review: The Ghost Club: Newly Found Tales of Victorian Terror - by Willie Meikle

5 of 5 Stars     Review Copy

I love everything about this wonderful collection from Willie Meikle.  Take the concept of Willie's Carnacki collections and replace the dinner guests with literary greats of the Victorian era, each sharing a ghost story, and you have the premise for this new work from William Meikle.

Don't get confused, these are not newly discovered works by these authors.  All fourteen stories are written by Meikle writing as these legendary authors.

Wee Davie Makes a Friend by Robert Lewis Stevenson - A wonderfully entertaining story to start the collection.  Tragic in many ways, but great none the less.

The High Bungalow by Rudyard Kipling - Another cool tale.  This one about a haunted Masonic lodge.

The Immortal Memory by Leo Tolstoy - When Empress Yekaterina Alexeyevna calls Captain John Marsh to an audience at court and commands him to find a Scotsman who is able to recite the works of the Scottish poet Robert Burns in Russian and present him at a party that very night.  The events that follow are decidedly unexpected.

In the House of the Dead by Bram Stoker - Reminiscent of one of Meikle's Carnacki stories.  If you lost the love of your life, to what lengths would you go to be with her again.

Once a Jackass by Mark Twain - I've long been a fan of Mark Twain and here Meikle has really captured the essence of a Mark Twain tale.  Set upon the majestic Mississippi River, this is one of my favorite stories in the collection.

Farside by Herbert George Wells - This entry could have easily been in one of the author's Carnacki collections.  The story of a man named Hoskin's who has invited a number of friends to dinner to display his latest invention which has a curious side effect.

To the Manor Born by Margaret Oliphant - It was hard to grow up in a small town in Scotland and not hear at least one, if not a handful, of tales of kin who came back, of lost loves pining in the afterlife, of fishermen coming home for one last kiss. Her childhood had been full of such tales, most of them more capable of frightening her than this sad, disembodied, song.

The Angry Ghost by Oscar Wilde - An absolutely delightful story with a cute kicker.

The Black Ziggurat by Henry Rider Haggard - Another impressive and imaginable tale.  This one set in Kenya.

Born of Ether by Helena P. Blavatsky - An odd yet enjoyable ghostly tale from Meikle's telling of a story in the style of an author I am totally unfamiliar with.

The Scrimshaw Set by Henry James - So cool.  An exquisitely told tale of a haunted chess set.  One of my favorite stories in a book full of such work.

At the Molenzki Junction by Anton Checkov - A Winter quest for vodka encounters both wolves and a ghostly presence.

To the Moon and Beyond by Jules Verne - A wonderful opening line..."To the Moon and Beyond Jules Verne Ever since man first looked up at the night sky, he has wondered about the moon, that great white lady who circles us constantly, like a predator circling its prey, merely waiting for a weakness so that it may pounce."  Once again Meikle manages to capture the style and feel of the author he writes as in this standout tale.

The Curious Affair On the Embankment by Arthur Conan Doyle - Surprisingly this is NOT a Sherlock Holmes story, although it takes place in that same world.  Here Scotland Yard's Detective Lestrade solves a mystery involving the disappearance of a number of successful young women.

There are a number of solid reasons to add The Ghost Club to your reading list.  For example, you love a good ghost story, or maybe you've read and enjoyed Meikle's Carnacki tales, or perhaps you're a fan of Victorian terror, or maybe you just enjoy a good read.  Whatever your reason, happy reading.

The Ghost Club: Newly Found Tales of Victorian Terror is currently available in both Kindle and paperback formats from Crystal Lake Publishing.  If you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited you can read it at no additional charge.  Also, if you are an Amazon Prime member you can read it for FREE using the Kindle Owners Lending Library.

From the author's bio - Willie Meikle is a Scottish writer, now living in Canada, with over twenty novels published in the genre press and over 300 short story credits in thirteen countries.  Willie currently lives in Newfoundland with whales, bald eagles, and icebergs for company and when he's not writing he drinks beer, plays guitar and dreams of fortune and glory.

Review: Down There & Others- by Keith Minnion

4 of 5 stars     Review copy

Keith Minnion is known mostly for his outstanding work as an illustrator, but if you've never read his fiction, you are doing yourself a disservice.  His novel, The Boneyard and his first collection of short stories, It's For You, are among my favorites over the last decade.  Now he is back with his second collection.

From the Amazon description of Down There & Others... 

"Sixteen stories, over half published here for the first time, spanning the same range of genres (horror, SF, dark suspense) as Keith's previous collection It's For You, with fourteen full-page interior illustrations drawn by the author, and an introduction by author Tony Tremblay.  Also included is the first act of Keith's upcoming new supernatural mystery novel Dog Star."

The Blue Cat - Anne Foyle loves porcelain figurines, but the new cat she just brought home seems to have a mean streak.  Fun and clever.  A nice way to open the collection.

On The Hooks - Mal, an aging hunter, who in his world is also the hunted.  One of those stories which leave the reader wanting more.  "Cat meat was no-one's first choice, but flesh was flesh, food was food."

So Many Hats - The first of a few flash fiction pieces.  A deadly tale in just a few words.

Under The Wing - Dek's parents are off to explore the vast reaches of space and Dek is sad about being left behind.

Old Bones - Wow!  A dinosaur gig, new technology, a dog, and a jackrabbit, all combine to make a wonderfully imaginative story that was over way too soon, even though it was the longest story, so far.  Definitely one of my favorites.

A Trail of Footprints - Young Andrew is late coming home and the truth of the matter is a bit of a mystery.  "The boy's footprints had stopped.  Right there before him, in mid-stride, in the middle of the field. Just stopped. "

Paterfamilias - A weird tale of a man and his estranged wife.

Runners, Running - Sue is about done with her inattentive boyfriend.

Close The Door - Author's note: This is a coda of sorts.  The chapter after the final chapter of my novel The Boneyard, which was published in 2011.  Close the Door takes place a few decades after the end of that book.

I'm a big fan of Minnion's dialog.  It's never forced, always the way people really talk.  "'All the old places around here are named after their former owners.'  Becky chuckled.  'Then I guess you should call our house the "Nobody Important Ever Lived Here House"'''

What Does It Feel Like When I Do This? B - A story about first times.

The Holes  - Thirty years is a long time, but some things you never forget.

Little Sister - This tale was first published in a college literary journal in the early seventies and was an homage of sorts to Ray Bradbury's "Mexico" stories.

Ghosts - One of my favorite tales in this collection just happens to be Keith's very first professional sale.  I found this to be a rather cool notion.  "They have succeeded in documenting certain kinds of life—specific types of intelligently controlled energies—that persist after physical, material life ends."

Moons For My Pillow, Stars For My Bed - A wonderfully charming story that just happens to be the complete manuscript for a children's picture book and just needs the picture part.

The Wampyr - More flash fiction.

Down There - The title story, and a quick foray into Lovecraftian horror.  Cyclopean mountains and stygian darkness.  Oh yeah.

Dog Star - Keith Minnion completes his second collection with part of a work in progress.  A story that brought back the best kind of memories from those college years.  So long ago for some of us.

Although I enjoyed Keith's initial collection, It's For You, more.  I'd say Down There & Others is certainly time well spent. When you read this one, take your time and enjoy the prose.

Recommended.

Down There & Others is available in both paperback from Amazon.com and digitally in a wide variety of formats from Crossroads Press.

From the author's bio - Keith Minnion sold his first short story to Asimov’s SF Adventure Magazine in 1979. (Its included in this collection).  He has sold over two-dozen stories, two novelettes, an art book of his best-published illustrations, and one novel since.  Keith has illustrated professionally since the early 1990s for such writers as William Peter Blatty, Stephen King, Gene Wolfe, and Neil Gaiman, and has also done extensive graphic design work for the Department of Defense.  He is a former schoolteacher, DOD project and program manager, and an officer in the U.S. Navy.  He currently lives in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, pursuing oil and watercolor painting, and fiction writing.

Review: Weekend Getaway - by Tom Deady

5 of 5 Stars     Review copy

Weekend Getaway is the new novella by the author of  Haven, the 2016 Bram Stoker Winner for Superior Achievement in a First Novel.  This new work is decidedly different in tone from his debut work, a lovely coming of age story.  Weekend Getaway has more in common with some of Jack Ketchum's more graphic works than his own novel.  And it's every bit as good.

In the words from the introduction by Josh Malerman "Weekend Getaway is as much a gulp of Jolt ® Cola as it is a quick snap of a rubber band on the wrist. It’s smart, small, and (undoubtedly) effective."

At its purest, Weekend Getaway is the story of how John Baxter lost his finger.  After the loss of their child, John and his wife of off for a weekend getaway to a cabin in the woods, a place John found and booked online.  Needless to say, things did not turn out as planned.

There are plenty of unexpected twists to keep the reader guessing from start to finish, making Weekend Getaway one of the best novellas I've read in 2017.

Recommended, for sure.

Weekend Getaway is available now in both paperback and e-book formats from Grinning Skull Press.  If you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited you can read it at no additional charge.  Also, if you are an Amazon Prime member you can read it for FREE using the Kindle Owners Lending Library.

From the author's bio - Tom Deady is the author of Haven, winner of the 2016 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel. His second novel, Eternal Darkness, was released in early 2017, and his writing journey has just begun. He has a Master’s Degree in English and Creative Writing from SNHU. Tom is a lifelong resident of Massachusetts, where he is hard at work on his next novel.

Review: A Warning About Your Future Enslavement That You Will Dismiss As a Collection of Short Fiction and Essays - by Kit Power

4 of 5 Stars    Review copy

Nearly two years ago, to the day, I read and reviewed Godbomb! by Kit Power.  It was one of the most amazing books I read in 2015. Now Kit has returned with a collection of short stories and essays which are hard to describe, but I'm willing to give it my best shot here.

A Warning About Your Future Enslavement That You Will Dismiss As a Collection of Short Fiction and Essays covers a lot of ground and is loosely woven together with a story set in a future where most of human history has been forgotten or purposely covered up and a mid-level government employee is doing his best to uncover the truth through a series of stories uncovered in a hidden mainframe.

Truthfully, I have no idea what I've just read, I just know that I  thoroughly enjoyed the experience.  It's true that some of the stories were better than others, but the overall effect was a win.

Temüjin - Family, half-brothers, and revenge. "Loyalty comes first.  All else is dust."

The Chicken and the Three Gods - Original and intriguing story of a henhouse and their nemesis.  Told from the third person POV of the hens. 

Conference - An actual alien invasion taking place at a con.  Who would notice?

Valentine's Day - A subtle tale of the massacre. 

Wide Load - I felt real pain reading this story.  ...in Beccy's spell book, a single-word incantation was circled in black ink, with a small neat tick next to it.  Goldbricker."

Richard Madeley Is a Fucktard and We're All Going to Hell - "There are times when my rage cannot be adequately expressed in 140 characters."

Reverse Engineering - Bruce and June want to be parents.  In the future, it's not as easy as you might think.  A thought-provoking tale with a bit of a twist.

The Film That Made Me: Robocop - I enjoyed Kit's essay on his love of Robocop so much I actually rented and watched it for the first time in thirty years.

Cold Shock - A great story.  One of the best I've read this year.  A killer opening line, too.  "It takes twenty minutes for a submerged car to fill with water.  Seth doesn't even wake up for the first four."

My Brief Career as an Eleven Year Old Slave Trader - A primary school student's assignment to provide an account of events from the point of view of a slave trader.  A very interesting exercise.

Zombie Dad - Kit excels at opening lines.  "My dad's got a pretty good left jab, especially for a guy who's been dead for two years."

Keep It Up Son, Take a Look at what You Could Have Won - A favorite band goes in a new direction. Wow.

Feed the World - I'm thinking this story may have been inspired Do They Know It's Christmas by BandAid, the 1984 recording to raise funds to help the starving children in Ethiopia. "Where the only flowing water is the bitter sting of tears."

Like a Charm - A rookie cop purchases a bullet at a gun show which turns out to be a good luck charm.

Ted - Jason just loves the ragged old teddy.  The two are inseparable despite his mother's attempts to tear them apart.   Toy bears freak me out and Ted is no exception.

Enemies - Without saying as much, this wonderful short is likely a conversation with Charon the ferryman charged with transporting souls of the newly dead across the river Styx into the Underworld.

The Hand - I've played a lot of Texas-Hold-'Em over the years and Kit has managed to capture the adrenaline rush of high stakes poker in this amazing short.

Baptism - The bathing of a child turns into a horrible nightmare.

Time Out of Mind - What would you do if time travel was a thing?

The Final Setting of the Sun - About a three trillion gigaton fusion bomb called Larry.

The Bar at the Edge of the Desert - "But here’s the good bit. When you get to the end, you go to a bar, and they give you a drink. And you drink down the distilled essence of your life experiences, and you savour it, and it becomes a part of you. Then you leave the bar, and outside is a desert, and you cross the desert, and on the other side is another life, another set of experiences and lessons and stories and love and heartache. It never ends. That’s the good news.’"

Reading Kit Power never disappoints, if for no other reason than his work is far from ordinary.  Strongly recommended.

A Warning About Your Future Enslavement That You Will Dismiss As a Collection of Short Fiction and Essays is self-published and available now for your Kindle.  If you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited you can read it at no additional charge.  Also, if you are an Amazon Prime member you can read it for FREE using the Kindle Owners Lending Library.

Review: Bloodstained Wonderland - by Christopher Golden & James A. Moore

5 of 5 Stars

Several years ago, I got wind of a Limited Edition release from Earthing Publications, called Bloodstained Oz.  I've long been a fan of all things related to The Wizard of Oz and immediately set out on a quest to read this novella.  Since the work was out of print I had to look on the secondary market and finally found a copy for $100 and plunked down the cash and got to read what would become one of my favorite novellas in the last ten years.

That same Limited Edition signed hardcover now goes for over $200, but if you have Kindle Unlimited you can read it for no additional charge or buy the e-book for $2.99.

It took a long time, six years to be exact, but Golden and Moore finally got around to writing the sequel called Bloodstained Wonderland, and I immediately bought one of the 500 Signed Harcovers available from Earthling Publications and as of the writing of this review there are still some copies available through the publisher.

It's 1940 and when the story begins we meet Gayle Franklin and her friend Elisa.  The setting is London during what would come to me know as "The Blitz."

Th authors deftly tie what happens in this story to the events in Bloodstained Oz.  The tale is both wondrous and magical, yet frightening.  Christopher Golden and James A. Moore have taken another of our childhood memories and turned it into a bloody reign of terror orchestrated by the Wizard of Oz.  

"She looked toward the shape of demons, each clothed in forms almost familiar, dressed in nightmares made flesh.  A walrus galumphed into the room wearing a vest and a cravat.  It sported a derby on its wrinkled brow and the great tusks jutting from the mouth were as bloodied as the unicorn's horn.  Beyond that blubbery mass a dormouse pranced in, dressed in tattered finery.  The oddly delicate paws held the stretched face of a woman. just the face which had been peeled from the skull."

Bloodstained Oz is filled with unexpected twists and turns, and is devilishly violent.

"Where it touched the crown of his head, little rivulets of scarlet had trickled down to streak his face and mat his hair.  Around the inner rim of the hat were tiny claws or fangs that had punctured his forehead and scalp.  Gayle stared, somehow even more hollow than before.  The madness of these animals, of the flying cards, of all the rest had been nightmare enough, but this tophat was alive and it had tasted this man's blood."

Yes, Alice is in the story, but she's not the sweet, naive little girl from the Lewis Carroll story we all remember.  All of your favorite characters make an appearance, but all through the warped minds of Golden and Moore.

I loved having these childhood memories ripped apart and reimaged and I think you'll like it, too.  Go read the Kindle version of Bloodstained Oz first and then pick up one of the remaining Limited Edition copies of Bloodstained Wonderland and then prepare for Bloodstained Neverland.  I just hope we don't have to wait six years this time.

About the authors...

Christopher Golden is the New York Times bestselling author of such novels as Ararat, Snowblind, Tin Men, and many many more.  Golden co-created (with Mike Mignola) two cult favorite comic book series, Baltimore and Joe Golem: Occult Detective.  Golden is also co-host of the podcasts Three Guys with Beards and Defenders Dialogue, and the founder of the Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival.  Golden was born and raised in Massachusetts, where he still lives with his family.

James A. Moore is the author of over forty novels, including the critically acclaimed Fireworks, Under The Overtree, Blood Red, Blood Harvest, the Serenity Falls trilogy (featuring his recurring anti-hero, Jonathan Crowley) He has twice been nominated for the Bram Stoker Award and spent three years as an officer in the Horror Writers Association, first as Secretary and later as Vice President.

Review: Lost and Lonely - by Brian James Freeman

5 of 5 Stars     Review copy

Lost and Lonely is a novella-sized collection of five short stories that can be read in a single sitting or stretched out over a  week.

Losing Everything Defines You - This short begins with a familiar trope...

"If you're listening to this, I must be dead."

After Wendy and Andrew vanished the question that must be asked is, "Did the husband do it?"  They always suspect the husband, but in this instance, he was questioned but never arrested.

I love Freeman's turn of phrase...

"Each night I cower in bed, the covers pulled up to my neck, the darkness wrapped around me like the grip of a dead lover."

Loving Roger - Starts with a riveting opening line...

"Everyone makes mistakes, a truth Patty knew all too well, which was why she believed in the power of forgiving and forgetting."

A story of mistaken identity, or is it?

How the Wind Lies - "Never speak a lie, lest thy lie becometh the truth."  

This short is set well in the past, during the time of westward expansion.  Something is killing the buffaloes.  Each found with two puncture holes and drained of all blood.  William, Sarah and their three children had left the colonies to escape this very threat that has now appeared at their doorstep.  I don't want to reveal too much, but I loved where this story went.

Perfect Little Snowflakes - Melissa was just 16.

"One day she was a teenage girl in love with her boyfriend, the next day she was a mother-to-be with no idea what to do."

True, they had options, but what happens next is not what anyone would expect.

The Plague of Sadness - A 9-1-1 call that goes awry and its aftermath.  A story that is incredibly short, but left me totally drained as a reader.

I found myself hungry for every word on the pages of Lost and Lonely.  Each story in this collection is powerful in its own unique way.  They are the kind of stories which leave you restless.  The kind that stay with you long after you put the book down.  Also, Glenn Chadbourne's illustrations throughout are magnificent.

Recommended.

Lost and Lonely is currently available as a Signed Limited Edition Hardcover from Cemetery Dance http://www.cemeterydance.com/lost-and-lonely.html

From the author's bio.  Brian James Freeman sold his first short story when he was fourteen years old and his first novel when he was twenty-four.  His novella, The Painted Darkness, took the Internet by storm as an eBook during the summer of 2010, reaching more than 30,000 readers in the first few months after publication.  The book was published in hardcover in December 2010 by Cemetery Dance Publications, with the signed editions selling out in just 24 hours.  Freeman is also the author of Blue November Storms, which was recently revised and republished, and Black Fire.

Since December 2008, Freeman has been the managing editor of Cemetery Dance magazine, where his column "The Final Question" appears.  Freeman is also the publisher of Lonely Road Books where he has worked with Stephen King, Guillermo del Toro, Chuck Hogan, Mick Garris, Stewart O'Nan, and other acclaimed authors.

He lives in Pennsylvania with his wife, two cats, and two German Shorthaired Pointers.  More books are on the way.

Review: Episodes of Violence - by David Bernstein

5 of 5 Stars     Review copy

It's been nearly six years that I've been reviewing horror books on my personal blog.  The first work I ever reviewed was the novella Torment by Greg Chapman.  14 people saw that post.  More than 700 reviews have followed and yesterday's review was seen by nearly 250 people.  I can't thank you enough for your support as we near 100,000 views over six years.

I mention this not so much to toot my own horn, but I admit It does feel good.  I say this to let you know that the book I'm reviewing today, Episodes of Violence is, by far, the most brutal, savage, murderous, and vicious novel I have read in all of that time. Yes, it's that good.  Don't even bother with the rest of the review.  Just do yourself a favor and read this before you read anything else in 2018.

And now for the review.  At the very beginning of Episodes of Violence, we meet the blood-thirsty trio responsible for most of the action, Sage, her boyfriend Daemon, and their best friend Bobby.  It all starts in the opening paragraph...

"The barn-shaped mailbox exploded as the baseball bat smashed through it.  Various-sized jagged pieces of red plastic scattered into the air, a few pinging off the hockey mask Sage was wearing."

Mailbox baseball was just the beginning...

"What (Daemon) really wanted was to do something that wouldn't be forgotten.  Something that would horrify the town and baffle the law."

Bernstein has always exercised an "in your face" writing style, but never more effectively than in his latest effort as he delivers again and again on the book's title with a vivid writing technique that's more akin to watching a movie than reading a book.

"A naked woman with tattoos covering her chest, arms and thighs lay on the stained and torn leather couch.  Her nose, eyebrows, and ears contained hoop-shaped piercings and each of her nipples had a thick bar through it.  Her legs clearly hadn't been shaved in some time, the hairs like a layer of fuzz, and her bush sprouted up like the head of a huge broccoli floret.  She looked at Sage and then at Daemon, giving them a weak smile and wave.  'Come to party?'"

And...

"He braced himself as much as possible for the ringing his ears were going to feel, knowing it wouldn't matter.  He pulled the trigger with his sweat-slicked finger.  The gun roared and jumped in his hands.  Baldie's crotch vanished in a spray of fabric, flesh, and blood that decorated the grass behind him."

And that just begins to scratch the surface of what you'll find inside Episodes of Violence.

I've never been disappointed by anything I've read by David, but truthfully, I don't believe I've ever enjoyed myself more.  There is more that just an ultra-violent dissertation here.  There's a story with depth, characters we can love and empathize with, and others we can love to hate.

As long as you don't mind sex, blood, and guts, I can all but guarantee that you'll love this book.

Episodes of Violence is available in paperback and e-book formats from Sinister Grin Press.

From the author's bio.  David Bernstein is originally from a small town in Upstate New York called Salisbury Mills.  He now resides in NYC and misses being surrounded by chainsaw-wielding maniacs and wild backwoods people that like to eat raw human flesh.  He’s grown used to the city, though hiding bodies is much harder there.  He is the author of Amongst the Dead, Damaged Souls, The Tree Man, Witch Island, Relic of Death, Apartment 7C, and now Episodes of Violence.  David writes all kinds of horror, from hair-raising ghost stories to gore-filled slashers and apocalyptic tales of terror.

Guest Post: David Bernstein and "A Little Bit About Some Shit"

A Little Bit About Some Shit

First, I'd like to thank Frank for inviting me to write something on his blog and for taking his time to read and review my newest novel, Episodes of Violence.  I come from a time when the greatest, trashiest, most gore-filled and outrageous movies were made.  I gobbled them up to no end, nothing ever too nasty.

With Episodes of Violence, I wanted to go back and relive those glory days of 80s movie magic in book form.  I made sure to push the ridiculous, but also make it believable as if it could be based on a true story.  (Hey, you never know).  Episodes of Violence is a mix of Toxic Avenger meets Justified or Hell or High Water.  In other words, it's fucked up young adults with no morals wreaking havoc in small town USA with a revenge tale looming and blooming like a building storm.

Episodes is a real-world novel.  I wouldn't exactly say it's horror, but I wouldn't say it isn't.  It's what could, and has happened, in the world we live in.  I find this kind of writing more intense and scary than vampires, demons and other such monsters.  This book is more like The Unhinged and different from my other novels because it isn't a straight to the bone horror novel.

Well, enough about that.

I have a one-year-old daughter and since she was born I haven't felt the need to write.  I haven't written in over a year and a half. (Well except for a short story for the C.H.U.D. Anthology which I certainly could not pass up).  I'm not sure if it's just me or if you have to experience having a child to know what I mean about not needing to write.  I want to spend as much time with my daughter as possible and soak it all in because everyone keeps telling me it goes so fast.  So I've put the writing aside for a bit.  It's like I don't need it.  (Not to mention the bullshit I went through and am still going through with publishers—closing down, not paying... I consider myself lucky though.  I've worked with great people and publishers and came up with some great authors who I call friends.  It was incredibly smooth sailing for a while there, but I guess like all authors sometimes shit just blows up and then you have to pull yourself together and get back on the horse).

I've recently found the inspiration to write again and bring the horror back into my words, including extreme horror.  But instead of taking time away from my family, I will simply watch less tv and stay up later to get the writing done.

So there are ups and downs in a writer's life and I went through a long stretch and I was worried I wouldn't get back into it, but alas I have.  I wrote my first short story when I was in kindergarten so I should have figured once a writer always a writer.  But it's scary when you spend so much time writing and getting books published and then it seems like its all over.  (Especially when publishers go under that you did well with).

I know this post has two completely different topics, but fuck it, it's my guest post!  Hopefully, you've enjoyed it and learned a little more about me.   

Frank here - Thanks for taking the time to put together the guest post.  I, for one, am excited to see you writing again.  Look for my review of Episodes of Violence on Saturday.  Just a suggestion, David.  Don't EVER let your baby girl read this one.  E-V-E-R!!!