I am all fired up this morning! Bringing in the Creeps has been awarded a Five Star Review from Reader Views. Anytime your work gets mentioned in the same breath as the Master, Stephen King, is a “Squeeeee!” moment. Thank you with all my heart to Tammy Ruggles. Check it out:

“Bringing in the Creeps by Ray Van Horn, Jr., is the answer to a classic horror lover’s dream. If you miss the days of unabashed horror, then you will love this collection of short stories, which is a follow-up to his first anthology. Each story has something different and ghoulish to offer, so if you’re squeamish or not a horror fan, this isn’t the book for you.

Van Horn has an infectious love for horror, which you can tell as you read. He has his finger on the pulse of what makes horror tick. The topic of murder is just the beginning. The characters and plots are unique and compelling in a delightfully horrific way, but all faithfully horror. By now, the undead in horror has been done to death, but Van Horn gives zombies new life, pun intended. The 1980s vibe of the arcade takes you back to all those B and C horror slasher movies on VHS.

I like the style of Van Horn’s writing–to the point and horror-focused, and I like how he uses interesting settings, like a punk rock show, a reservoir, and an old arcade, just to name a few. Van Horn never lets you forget what horror used to be, and still is today, in the right hands. These are more than throw-back stories. They are true entertainment for horror fans longing to sink their teeth into the meat and potatoes of classic horror. With writers like Van Horn, werewolves, monsters, and the macabre will never go out of style. Now horror fans will have another name to turn to when they want a good scare or gross-out. This collection proves that there is more to horror than haunted houses and possessed children.

The cover alone pulls you in, but once you’re inside the stories, you discover a writer who truly is talented and committed to telling these tried-and-true tales of terror. One of my favorite stories is the first one, “‘End of the Midway,” simply because it introduces you to the quality of writing to come. The writer takes something as familiar and everyday as a midway and gradually but graphically shows you the horror inside it.

The dialogue between the characters can sound almost boring and too everyday, but that’s intentional, as it helps ground you in the real world. There is something oddly lyrical and poetic in the phrasing Van Horn uses, and that may surprise you if you think there can’t be rhythm in horror writing. Van Horn, like Stephen King, writes with a certain ebb and flow that sometimes feels like a nursery rhyme, but with teeth. The vivid imagery puts you right into the time and place he’s writing about, and the characters are fleshed out, though some more well-drawn than others. “Age of Quarrel,” the one about xenophobia and a persecuted teen, is another of my favorites.

Whether you’re a casual horror fan or one who just can’t get enough, Bringing in the Creeps by Ray Van Horn, Jr., won’t disappoint.”

Bringing in the Creeps, from Anuci Press. Now available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble.com and numerous online retail outlets!

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.