Midnight Grinding and Other Twilight Terrors / Ronald Kelly Cemetery Dance / February 2009 Reviewed by: Famous Monsters of Filmland
As
many of you have read in some of my previous posts,
Ronald
Kelly,after
a ten year hiatus has returned to the world of horror fiction.
Cemetery
Dance has released Mr. Kelly’s
first short story collection. It contains stories from throughout Mr.
Kelly’s career.
There is much to like about this anthology, it is dark, it is fun and it
is entertaining. Mr. Kelly infuses each story with his unique voice and
storytelling ability. The frights are plentiful, and the characters are
varied and believable. As with most anthologies, some stories are
stronger than others, but overall Mr. Kelly hit the mark and I highly
recommend this anthology. Though I must note, there are a few stories
that contain more explicit sexual content than I like in my horror
stories.
Ravenous spiders, man-eating caterpillars, a giant alligator, long dead
evil rising from beneath a porch to continue their reign of terror, a
car accident that is a little something more, a serial killer gets a
breakfast surprise and many others populate these dark tales of
Southern-Fried Horror.
As is usual with most anthologies I read, there a few stories that end
up being my favorites. The first being Breakfast Serial with
was published by Terror Time Again in 1988 and just happens to
by Mr. Kelly’s first published work. The Web of La
Sanguinaire which was published by Deathrealm in 1988 is a
great spider story. If you have a fear of spiders you should probably
not read this one. Beneath Black Bayou was published by
Dark At Heart in 1992 is a genuinely creepy tale of what can
happen when you are put in an extreme situation with no possible means
of escape.
If you have not yet been able to read any of Mr. Kelly’s
back catalog, this is a good place to start. Also check out the
Cemetery Dance website for news of Ronald
Kelly’s …Hell
Hollow
Forward Breakfast
Serial Miss Abigail’s Delicate
Condition Forever Angels Yea,
Though I Drive The Web of La Sanguinaire The
Cistern Papa’s Exile The
Hatchling Black Harvest Dead
Skin Consumption Dust
Devils The Boxcar The Dark
Tribe Old Hacker The Winds
Within Oh, Sordid Shame The
Cerebral Passion Thinning The Herd Blood
Suede Shoes Tyrophex-Fourteen Scream
Queen Devil’s Creek Impressions
In Oak Bookmarks Romicide Whorehouse
Hollow Depravity Road Beneath
Black Bayou Exit 85 Grandma’s
Favorite Recipe Midnight Grinding Afterword
