Michael Laimo

*shudder, shudder, shudder*
7:05 pm 14 October 2016
Splatterlands: Reawakening the Splatterpunk Revolution - A.A. Garrison, Michele Garber, Michael Laimo
This collection reminds me why I read horror: I want to be freaked out, even squeaked out, to explore the kinds of violence that I can't contemplate. I can't deal with it in real life, so it's something I deal with through fiction.

Still, I can't remember reading anything quite this disturbing. I probably have in the past, but not lately. It hit upon visceral fears and runs with them.

It's bloody and gory, or quiet and chilling, but all these stories are horrific. The more I looked at the art versus the stories, the more conflicted I felt: the art was sketchy, raw, and didn't feel quite up to the stories in quality. But there was something almost, sickeningly charming about the art that paired up to each story: they held a ragged, uneven quality that mimicked the violence lurking in the stories themselves.

I still don't know how I feel. Flipping through the book at first look, I was more pleased with the art than I was reading the stories. However, this wouldn't have even made me drop half a star: the art was decent, and as I said, I felt it fit the stories in many ways. I did knock half a star off in conjunction with the slight unevenness of the stories. The majority were merely brilliant, leaving me shocked at the content and in awe at the audacity of the authors combined with their skills.

Horrible things happen, sometimes in graphic detail, sometimes to children. Sometimes things are about to happen but don't quite in the timeline of the story, but these could be the most chilling. Some had loud, flashy endings, and some were left with a sense of quiet disturbance.

All were excellent - or nearly so. I found one story near the end to be a bit bloated, the purple prose at times convoluted enough that I found it distracting. The last story started out with what I felt were too many details that could have easily be edited out, but ended up being my favorite because of the character interactions and the ending, which I found interesting even though I suspected it might come to that ending. There were enough small surprises to leave me satisfied, and to tell the truth, it was the way the characters worked together and the main characters determination that got to me. I really liked the secondary character as well, despite not knowing him quite as well.

I haven't read horror, much less splatterpunk in a while. This was an excellent reintroduction: it was a kick in the pants. I will be reading more soon. But if I read it right now, I'll need brain bleach, for real. And I've never met a book that made me want brain bleach (that wasn't full of typos and grammatical errors.) Impressive on multiple levels!

Despite the shudders, and yeah, I'm still shuddering a little, I loved this. I need some comics to keep me grounded, though. Comics, now, please.

Thank you to my bookish box buddy who picked out this perfect book for me!
Horror read in 2016… (más)

The Demonologist does not thrive on original material. Instead, it chooses to bring forth an old, familiar tale and breathe new life into it. It's not often you see the Devil working against Evil, and I have to admit I'm a sucker for black magic and cult details. Must be the dark side of me, I dunno. Either way, this isn't exactly a been there, done that before kind of deal. While some of the details aren't anything fresh, I didn't even notice as I absorbed the violent new additions.

On the down side of the plot, at times it was a little cheesy. The ending, especially, was a pisser the last few pages were a mistake from Laimo. It left me with a depressed and stunned feeling, but regrettably not in the good depressed, sucker punched way.

Now, to recount for all that - It begins fairly quickly and doesn't take too much sweet time to pick up the pace. The scenes are full of action, mystery and suspense are present, and the atmosphere is thick with dread, confusion, and delirium. The climax is tight, strong, and suspenseful.

Thankfully the pages practically drip blood. Laimoisn't a party pooper who keeps all the goodies locked away. Instead he displays them and even hands them out we have deaths galore, wicked masturbation/fellatio scenes, oozing fluids, gushing nasties, and all the extra good stuff that makes a person with a queasy stomach wish he/she hadn't read past the first page.

One complaint I do hold is some of the characters are a bit weak. Bev is the rock n roll star that's burnt out, grieving over his wife, and determined to save his sanity. His daughter isn't as well sketched out but doesn't come off as unlikable. Laimo did an admirable job with the preacher, but overall in the character department he could use some practice.

The writing style is short and strong. Laimo doesn't numb the novel with useless words that serve no purpose. Because of this, his style greatly compliments the suspense scenes. The book is written in third person, mainly told through the eyes of Bev.

Overall The Demonologist is an enjoyable book but by far not a perfect one. The plot is creepy and holds mucho potential; however, some of the scenes wound up being too cheesy for their own good. The characters were all likable and easy to follow, yet none of them were sketched out to be as believable as they could have been. The pacing and atmosphere are right on, though, and gore fans have reason to celebrate. Whip out that wallet if you're in the mood for some super cool demon battle scenes.… (más)

Dr. Michael Cayle moves from the city with his wife and young daughter to set up a private practice in the small town of Ashborough, New Hampshire. His new home is a half mile away from his nearest neighbor and the woods beyond his house seem to stretch on forever. He thinks his biggest problem will be trying to adjust to a new, quieter, slower pace of life, after always living in the city. Little does he know that he has bigger problems awaiting him beyond in those deep woods, where glowing golden eyes seem to be looking out at him and his family from the darkness of the woods.

This was a very enjoyable horror story that would make almost anyone afraid to live near the woods. I liked the main character Michael, and the story is written in his 1st person POV. It was interesting getting into his head and living out his terror and worst nightmares with him. The Isolates that lived out in the woods were horrifying little creatures. Very entertaining, disturbing, creepy, bloody and gruesome story. I never knew what to expect next.… (más)