I haven’t mentioned it here previously, but I’ve agreed to take on the role of book reviewer for Phantasmagorium magazine.

It’s actually been in the works for a while, and I’ve received a handful of actual printed books and another virtual handful of PDFs. I’ve read them and made notes and finished my first review column, which should appear in Phantasmagorium Issue 5, which I would guess should come out some time in the next 4-6 weeks.

The first column is just short of 3,000 words and covers the following books:

Best Horror of the Year, v.4, edited by Ellen Datlow (Night Shade Books)

Hitchers by Will McIntosh (Night Shade Books)

Urn and Willow by Scott Thomas (Dark Regions Press)

A Pretty Mouth by Molly Tanzer (Lazy Fascist Press)

A Season in Carcosa, edited by Joseph S. Pulver Sr. (Miskatonic River Press)

So far, I’ve been able to cover only about half the material I’ve been sent for review purposes. I imagine once word gets out that Phantasmagorium is printing reviews, I’ll start to receive even more materials than I can possibly cope with, and it’ll be a great disappointment to everyone! Believe me, as a record label owner who sends out promo CDs to reviewers and DJs, I know what it’s like to send stuff into the void and never hear back. So then, I’ll just have to read faster, I guess. There’s a limited amount of word space in the magazine, but if I receive a review copy and it’s something I want to read and spread the word about, I can always review stuff that doesn’t make it into Phanta the way I’ve been reviewing all along: in this blog, plus Amazon and Goodreads.