Full disclosure: Carnell, author of the rollicking new zombies-meet-Ultimate Fighting novel, NO FLESH SHALL BE SPARED (now available from ZED Presents… Publishing), is a longtime contributor to FANGORIA magazine. Please don’t let notions of nepotism dissuade you from taking this review seriously, thus depriving yourself of a brawny, bloody slice of escapism that will launch your inner fourteen-year-old boy into paroxysms of glee.

Scott M. Baker’s THE VAMPIRE HUNTERS is a gut-wrenching, fast paced horror thriller that takes you from the back streets of Washington to the rat infested sewer systems below.

Kids, come and take Fango’s hand as we step back in time and remember days dark with the absence of computer screens’ perma-glow. Today we enjoy a democratized publishing landscape thanks to almost total Internet saturation, but with the limited access of 20 years ago, constructing an outlet for one’s voice was a little more labor-intensive than simply registering a username with Wordpress.com.

The trade paperback of THE LIGHT (Image Comics) collects the widely acclaimed five issue horror series, which can only be described as a masterpiece. A father single-handedly protects his teenage daughter, while the world around them crumbles into a blazing hellhole. In this apocalyptic inferno, anything with electrical light can automatically kill you.

Boasting a killer title, CLASSICS MUTILATED (IDW Publishing; available now) is a brilliant concept about combining public domain chestnuts with the horror and sci-fi genre. Imagine Captain Ahab in a battle to the death with a Wendigo creature or Huckleberry Finn being chased by a Lovecraftian monster? Editor Jeff Conner offers a list of superb storytellers (Lezli Robyn, Chris Ryall, THE CROW’s John Shirley and THE DRIVE-IN’s Joe R. Lansdale) contributing to 13 original and highly entertaining stories.

With the holidays upon us, one may get the urge to read a few stories around the old Yule log. If you’re like me, the urge may be to read something a tad bit sinister. And if you’re like me, you’re going to enjoy SLAY BELLS RINGING, a new anthology of holiday horror edited by Jeff Chitty (pictured).

“You think this is a f**kin’ costume? This is a way of life.”
—Suicide, RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD

The morning after another Christmas party, I’m hung over, irritable and sleep-deprived. Every waking second is full of regret over an uncountable number of Irish car bombs that all seemed like a good idea at the time. However, this post-celebratory haze seems like the perfect mindset for reviewing DESTROY ALL MOVIES!!!: THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO PUNKS ON FILMS (Fantagraphics Books), an in-depth account of flicks that have either featured or were heavily influenced by the punk movement.