What I'm Reading: Cold, Black, and Infinite

Today I am going to give you  a peek behind the trade magazine review curtain because the size of my queue of finished reviews waiting to be published and the reality of what is publishing in September made me giggle.

When reviews are written vs when they publish and in which magazine is so interesting. Case in point the September issue of Booklist has only 1 review by me but the October issue will have 4 while the LJ October issue will also have my column with 8 reviews. So it appears that I wrote 12 reviews at once. But in reality, they were staggered a bit because Booklist has a 1 month turn around from submission to publication, while my LJ column is 2 months. That difference is because the Booklist reviews are published individually but because LJ is a column and it is paired with an interview, they need more time.

Maybe this is much information, but since all of you use Booklist and Library Journal to craft your collections and help readers, I figured you'd be interested.

Well onto my draft review of an excellent collection, put out by a reliable and trusted small press, which you need to add to your collections. Lots of extra info as to why this book is an important add to your collections and a plea to buy his novel as well, all of hat is below.

Cold, Black, and Infinite: Stories of the Horrific & Strange

By Todd Keisling 

Sept. 2023. 350p. Cemetery Dance, paper, $19.99  (9781587678950). 
First published September 1, 2023 (Booklist).

Keisling’s stories have appeared in critically acclaimed anthologies* alongside such established names as Josh Malerman, Gabino Iglesias, and Linda Addison, but this time, he shines on his own with 16 stories, 3 original to this volume. Utilizing well-trod Horror tropes like liminal spaces, haunted house, slashers, and body horror, he probes seriously scary topics like insatiable corporate greed, bullying, and mental health struggles in refreshing ways. Keisling is also a sought after artist, and his skill creating visual unease bleeds into his prose with stories that effortlessly immerse the reader into each story. Standouts include “Midnight in the Southland,” featuring an otherworldly radio show, “Annie’s Heart is a Haunted House," a teenage revenge slasher like you’ve never read, and “We’ve All Gone to Crooked Town, a nightmare on the page. The result, a collection of meaty, thought provoking, and terrifying tales that readers will happily sink their teeth into. For fans of stories by Sarah Read and RJ Joseph as well as anthologies edited by Doug Murano and John FD Taff.

*The Hideous Book of Hidden Horrors edited by Doug Murano just won the Shirley Jackson Award and Under Twin Suns: Alternate Histories of the Yellow Sign edited by James Chambers was nominated for the Bram Stoker.

Further Appeal: I want to stress how Keisling's excellence as a visual artist bleeds into his prose. It makes for a reading experience that includes sight without pictures. 

This book will have a forward by John Langan, who is one of the best horror short story authors of our time, but full disclosure, my PDF ARC did not include it. 

The most important thing I want to include here on the blog (which I could not fit in the review) is that many of these stories are a part of his Devil's Creek universe. What is Devil's Creek, you are probably asking? Well, it is important that you know the answer to that question.

Take a look at the nominees for the 2020 Bram Stoker Awards: 

The 2020 Bram Stoker Awards® Final Ballot
Superior Achievement in a Novel
Jones, Stephen Graham – The Only Good Indians (Gallery/Saga Press) – WINNER
Katsu, Alma – The Deep (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
Keisling, Todd – Devil’s Creek (Silver Shamrock Publishing)
Malerman, Josh – Malorie (Del Rey)
Moreno-Garcia, Silvia – Mexican Gothic (Del Rey)

Look at that list of novels! I know you own all of them except Devil's Creek and why you don't own it isn't completely your fault for missing it. That is because when Devil's Creek first came out, it was with the very small press listed above AND they went out of business soon after. By the time you went to buy it, there is a good chance it was not available easily.

But thankfully, that has been fixed, and earlier this year, Cemetery Dance, who also is publishing this collection and is a trusted and easy to order Horror small press, re-released Devil's Creek.

As a result, today I am suggesting you order Devil's Creek to  add  to  your collections right now and preorder Cold, Black, and Infinite: Stories of the Horrific & Strange (out 9/26).

Three Words That Describe This Book: immersive, nightmarish, thought provoking

Readalikes: I have plenty of suggestions above. Anyone who appears in those anthologies

is a good choice. Another Cemetery Dance author I think is a good realize as well is Alan Baxter. The two authors have appeared in anthologies together and I reviewed Baxter's novel Sallow Bend last year in Booklist.