Bare Bone is fantastic short horror story anthology published bi-annually by Raw Dog Screaming Press. Volume five collects 19 short stories along with 14 poems by a host of talented writers. The eclectic collection hits on numerous horror themes including psychological, supernatural, and brutal reality. This is a guttural, grasping collection that takes hold of the reader on the first story and doesn’t let go until long after the book is closed.
In “Kitchen Creek Court” by Michael Hemmingson, we see the pure hell of living in a suburban cul-de-sac and the depraved, seemingly normal residents who live there.
“Against the Sun” is a Lovecraft-esque tale; particularly in its bizarre, darkly cosmic imagery if not the tone itself as three young men perform a strange, heroin-induced ceremony in an abandoned asylum. Written by Jeffrey A Stadt.
Tim Johnson’s “A Lavish Lawn” is a quickie but roaring good fun in the best tradition of EC comics as we learn the secret of why the family funeral home’s lawn is always so lush and green.
“Pit Crew” by Tim Curran, tells the tale of a man named Rivas sentenced to a work farm for drug possession. When Rivas volunteered to join the pit crew work team, he never dreamed of what they would be filling those pits with!
Perhaps my favorite story in Bare Bone #5 was “Searching for Signal…Please Stand By”. This was certainly the most purely chilling story in the collection. When Gary’s satellite TV goes out in the middle of a thunderstorm, the only channel he can get is an old UHF broadcast. The fuzzy picture shows a plain white wall while an arm tapes a picture on the wall, a picture that looks like Gary’s wife Debbie. A bucket of blood is tossed over the picture forming the words, “Murder”. A horrifically unsettling story courtesy of Bob Schmalfeldt.
James S. Dorr serves up, “The Festering”, a story reminiscent of those old tales by Robert E. Howard or Arthur Machen that tell of people…and things…long forgotten that lived in the intestines of the earth. Poor Charlie thinks that stuff bubbling up from his basement drain is just sewage.
Other writers in this collection include Donald Burleson, Gary Fry, Don Webb, Steve Rasnic Tem, and Cindy Main. This is a wildly diverse grouping of nightmares that share a common bond of inspired dreadfulness. While I am not a huge poetry fan, what I do like is poetry with a weird theme and Bare Bone #5 did not disappoint. Kudos to Editor Kevin L. Donihe for pulling it all together!
– TIm Janson
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
