DBH Book Review:Carrion Comfort(1989)

By Eric Polk-
"'Carrion Comfort' is one of three greatest horror novels of the twentieth century. Simple as that."- Stephen King.

Dollar Bin Book Review:The Wind Through the Keyhole(2012)

By Eric Polk-
Without any doubt,The Dark Tower series is by far the jewel of the written works of my favorite and most influential writer, Mr. Stephen King.  Throughout his seven-novel saga, he turned the fantasy genre practically around on its own definition. He combined a western novel arch type with medieval-style imagery, meta fiction, our own reality, and a LOTR quest into perhaps one of the finest works of late 20th century/early 21st century fiction.

Dollar Bin Horror Book Review:Now and Forever(2007)

By Eric Polk-
Haven't done one of these in awhile.As you may or may not know, I love Ray Bradbury. I feel Something Wicked This Way Comes is one of the best horror novels to have come out in the pre-Stephen King era. Plus, who can forget The Jar? Which leads me to review this book though actually it is two novellas.

Dollar Bin Book: Horrorscopes: A Little Book of Misfortunes by Lucien Edwards

There comes a point in every life when clouds gather, the path grows dark and you find yourself surrounded by devilish ghouls, dashing vampires and an unsettling number of decapitated zombies. Never fear – this little book will prepare you for whatever horrors lurk just around the corner. Simply find the entry that corresponds with your birthday and learn what chilling fate the stars have planned for you. Of course, it also doesn’t hurt to keep a wooden stake handy…

Dollar Bin Horror Book Review:11/22/63

By Eric Polk-
When your biggest writing influence puts out a novel, you drop whatever it is your reading and turn to your master, regardless of what kind of story it is. With Stephen King's latest, 11/22/63, it is beyond the phrase 'worth the effort and time.'

Dollar Bin Book Review:The October Country(1955)

By Eric Polk(Yes Reaplings, I'm Back!)

One of the greatest pieces of advice I have ever been given as an artist was to study the influences of your influences. Without them, your favorite(insert author, musician, painter, etc.) probably would have chosen a different life path.

Dollar Bin Book Review:Silence of the Lambs(1988)

By Eric Polk-
<What? Two book reviews in two weeks? What's wrong with me, lol?>
Rare is the time I can say that the movie the book it's based on is better. With this novel by Thomas Harris, today is one of those rare times.

Dollar Bin Book Review:Ghost Story

By Eric Polk-
I tend to believe that if there is a #2 writer in the world of horror fiction, it is Peter Straub. This man loves to serve his horror heavy on the old-fashion elegant side. If Stephen King hits you with a sledgehammer, Peter Straub hits you with shards of glass, both of which are still painful. Nowhere was Straub's use of subtle scares more evident then in his classic 1979 novel, Ghost Story.

Dollar Bin Horror Spotlight:Full Dark, No Stars

By Eric Polk, host of The Audio Descent podcast-
THE master of literary horror, Stephen King, returns with his latest offering. A four-story tale, each centered on the theme of the retribution. For your convenience, I will review and grade each story separately.

1922-
Told from the point of view of a Nebraska farmer, 1922 begins as a simple argument between husband and wife over selling acreage on their  eighty-acre farm. With the help of his son, the farmer takes care of his problem by throwing Mrs. Farmer down a well. But it's only the beginning. What happens next is a typical King theme of descent of a genuinely good person into insanity.

All the great elements of a King tale are here:blood, humor, realism, etc. A very good read...8/10

Dollar Bin Book Review:Something Wicked This Way Comes

By Eric Polk of anotherdescentinto.blogspot.com

"By The Turn of the Thumbs, Something Wicked This Way Comes."
Not only is this a quote from Shakespeare's MacBeth, but is partially used as the title of this 1962 novel from the great Ray Bradbury. When a hellish carnival comes to a small midwestern town, two boys, Jim Nightshade and William Holloway are thrown into a world where fantasies are paid with a price.

It begins with an encounter with an odd lightning rod salesman(on a personal note, another lightning rod salesman turns up in Stephen King's The Dead Zone) claiming a storm is coming.  Throughout that same night, Will and Jim meet up with townsfolk who also sense something in the air including  Will's father, Charles.

Dollar Bin Horror Spotlight:The Regulators

By Eric Polk of http://anotherdescentinto.blogspot.com

Ahh, Wentworth,Ohio. A picture-perfect suburb. It is the middle of July and the suburbanites are doing what the suburbanites do as they live the fading American dream. Unfortunately, their dream will die(literally for a few) as an idling red van around the corner on Poplar Street begins to change everything.

It turns out an entity known as Tak is controlling a young autistic boy named Seth who begins transforming Poplar Street into a scene from a Western movie entitled The Regulators. Meanwhile, the red van is joined by several more vehicles, life-sized versions taken from a sci-fi cartoon show, and the carnage begins in earnest.

Eventually, neighbors band together in hopes of stopping this menace to their society. As this is going, we learn that Seth is in constant war with Tak and his aunt Audrey, who is his caretaker, a times escapes into her own little world that Seth has created for her. Tak, on the other hand, wishes to bed down with her and as a result, attempted to take over Seth's Uncle Herb's body. When that fails, he forces Herb to kill himself.

In a letter written from a mine engineer in Desperation, Nevada, we learn that Seth's initial encounter was done in a mine. As the western-theme world comes to fruition, Audrey devises a plan to rid Seth of Tak once and for all.

The Regulators is a mirror novel to Stephen King's 1996 Desperation. It features all the same-named characters as in that story, through a few are completely different as far as their behaviors go. The Regulators I feel, is the straight piece of horror fiction. It is certainly a tad more scary than King's counterpart, if not a bit more hokey. The ending is rather outlandish.

If Seth weren't autistic, I'd feel this tale would have been ridiculous and rather hard to swallow, but it's not. It's certainly not the best from Bachman's(King's) lot, but it's a good read, nevertheless. 7.5/10

Dollar Bin Book - "Amityville: The Final Chapter" by John G. Jones

After the exorcism of "Amityville II," the horror pursues the Lutzes and their children all over the world until the final confrontation between George, Kathy, and the enemy is played out

The first Amityville book was a masterpiece because it really felt real and terrified the reader. This third book in the series was enjoyable to read, but wasn't very believable in the realm of "based on a true story" books. It lacks the believable narrative the first novel had, or any proof at all it happened. It reminded me of the Blair Witch films. The first film had a narrative that felt real, unscripted, and unrehearsed (much like the first Amityville book). The second one, though it has some good moments, felt untrue, scripted, and fell flat on most levels, similar to this book, although this book is still entertaining from a completely fictitious perspective, whereas the second Blair Witch film just sucked. If you ignore the fact that this book is supposed to be based on true events, it's actually an enjoyable read, not great but enjoyable. It has some good scary moments and is easy to read. But if your expecting the realism and terror of the original, look elsewhere.

Dollar Bin Book - "Goosbumps: Monster Edition #1" by R. L. Stine

A collection of 3 of the very first Goosebumps books: Welcome to Deadhouse, Stay Out of the Basement, and Say Cheese and Die!
R. L. Stine is the Stephen King of elementary school. Not a third grader? Who cares! I still fucking LOVE reading Goosebumps. These are the books that got most of us into horror in the first place! I mean who hasn't read (or at least seen the episode) of Stay out of the Basement? I swear that was the first full book I ever read. I picked this book up at a library book sale for a quarter, and it made me wanna collect these books all over again! So go on, take a time warp back to third grade and read a Goosebumps book today.
Sending Deadly Kisses,
Rhonny Reaper

Dollar Bin Book - "Gerald's Game" by Stephen King

A woman accidentally kills her husband while she is handcuffed to the bed as part of a bondage game, and, following the realization that she is trapped with little hope of rescue, begins to let the voices inside her head take over.
I got this book for a quarter at a garage sale and it has become my favorite Stephen King book of all time. If you don't like graphic images, don't read this book; It will disturb the shit outta you! The situation the main character is in is bad enough, then when you learn about what happened to her in her past...yeah you just gotta read this book, end of story.
Sending Deadly Kisses,
Rhonny Reaper

Dollar Bin Book - "Dead & Buried?" by Jim Somerville

The remnats of a battle in space lands on Earth and re-animates the dead. It is not long before the living dead overrun the unsuspecting populace. Now, a ragtag band of survivors are striking back and taking back their planet.

This graphic novel is just that, graphic! Blood, check. Gore, yup got. Rapping Zombie, chec...wait what? Well hell it got that too! The book has three stories about the Zombie take over, 2 short ones ad the main story. All of which are great. The artwork is detailed and definitely NOT for the little ones (unless you wanna corrupt and scar your kids for life, then by all means let em read!) I LOVE a good Zombie story. And believe me, this ones good. Oh and did I mention one of the zombies can rap!?!

Proof of Rapping Zombie (I've got this at a yard sale over a year ago and STILL can't get over this!)

Sending Deadly Kisses,
Rhonny Reaper

Dollar Bin Book - "The Vampire Tapes" by Arabella Randolphe

For centuries, she had seduced her victims - and then destroyed them. Now she was poised for the ultimate revenge ...
Let me warn you now, this ain't no Twilight bullshit. This is what a vampire book should be! Sex, violence, revenge, gore, and even a little lesbian action! I literally loved this book so much, I read it in an hour! I can't say enough about it. You can find it used on Amazon for like a couple of bucks or less (I got mine from a thrift store for a quarter). But this is a must read for vampire fans who love when vampires are actually vampires, and NOT a sparkling pussy.
Sending Deadly Kisses,
Rhonny Reaper