Title: Conan: The Halls of Immortal Darkness

Author: Laird Barron

Release date: August 20th, 2024

After reading Shaun Hamill’s ‘Conan’ entry into Titans The Heroic Legends Series, I saw Laird had one as well and knew I absolutely had to read it. So, I snagged it, loaded it onto my Kindle and devoured it last night in one frantic, Basil Poledouris fueled session.

Laird and Shaun have very different writing styles and storytelling styles, so it was interesting to see how Shaun wrote more of a comic book entry, while Laird’s was a full throwback to the days or yore with even the language and words used dripping with Cimmerian influence.

What I liked: In this one, Conan is older than in the previous entry I read, but still seeking adventure and employment. The book picks up just as Conan kills his current employer and takes his wages and heads to a bar to drink and ponder his next steps.

Along the way, he’s bitten by a venomous snake, which puts him at death’s doorstep. While in the throes of agony, he’s visited by an old crone, one who isn’t exactly as she seems.

Conan comes through, aided by a wandering merchant, who was sent by the crone. Conan rides with this man to the next town, at which time he heads to the nearest tavern. After spending a week there, he’s out of coin and moves on, only to discover a priestess being attacked in an alleyway. After killing her attackers, she thanks him and offers him a job, to act as her security. Wanting new adventure, more coin and a way out of the town, he agrees and they head out, flanked by her assistant, an older man whom Conan distrusts.

Barron easily slides from page to page, showcasing Conan as the introspective brute we all know and love. The barbarian grows more and more untrusting of the man, more so after the priestess takes him to a secluded grassy area and seduces him, all the while whispering an odd thing into Conan’s ear.

Once they arrive at the mysterious Halls of Immortal Darkness, the truth is revealed and Conan must fight for his life – and the priestess’ – and somehow find his way back out. Barron writes this final quarter with gusto, and again, Poledouris’ soundtrack rumbled throughout my brain as I read, flipping every page faster than the last.

This was all flexing muscles, spraying blood and swords clanging, making for yet another amazing visit into Conan’s world.

What I didn’t like: For me personally, I was a bit confused by the crone’s visit at first, as well as the priestess’ assistant. I was trying to figure out if they were the same person or not and it made for some confusion on my end, but that purely might’ve been me mis-reading some of the descriptions when they arrived. As well, I wished we learned more about the Halls of Immortal Darkness. The myth/lore behind the place wasn’t explored near enough for what I wanted.

Why you should buy this: Conan fans have surely already read this, but I’ve not seen many people posting about this who I usually see post about Laird’s stuff frequently, so if you’re a Laird fan and haven’t read this yet, get on it, even if you’re not a Conan fan. Laird handles the barbarian with ease and makes him come alive on the page.

This one was another really fun Conan story, but also a really engaging sword and sorcery story, which I’m always down for!

Title: Conan: Lethal Consignment

Author: Shaun Hamill

Release date: April 30th, 2024

Earlier this week, I wrapped up reading ‘Prisoner of the Horned Helmet’ by James Silke, one of the first sword and sorcery novels I’ve read in probably a decade – excluding anything Gwynne/Rothfuss/Martin related. I did read one from S.H. Cooper that falls into the fantasy realm, but I wouldn’t classify it as S&S.

While reading it, David Sodergren had messaged me about a Conan novel he was reading and once I was done, I knew I needed to check out something Conan related, after David was raving about his read. Looking, I saw that I’d previously purchased a huge Conan compendium eBook, but then I also saw that Titan has been releasing a bunch of Conan related short stories, written by some wonderful current authors, so I decided to take a chance on one of those. The first one that caught my eye was this one from Shaun Hamill. I loved his novel ‘A Cosmology of Monsters,’ so I was really excited to dive into this one.

What I liked: The story follows a young Conan, having arrived at a port town in search of work or adventure, but finding neither. While drinking in a tavern, a man approaches him and suggests Conan’s just the guy he’s looking for – someone to sail on the ship he’s on, acting as security while they head up river.

With the promise of a good payday and the prospect of adventure, Conan agrees and soon they’ve left on the ship called Fortune’s Dawn.

Hamill sets the stage nicely, showing Conan to be gruff but also introspective. A layered barbarian if you will.

Not long onboard the ship, Conan realizes things are off. There’s not as many crew members as he’d think for a ship this size and the captain never makes an appearance – day or night. After one crew member is found dead, his throat ripped out, Conan knows there’s more going on than even he can imagine.

Then one night, another sellsword decides to come clean to Conan and answer the questions Conan’s been asking, which leads to the discover of what’s onboard and a fight to the death takes place.

It’s this final quarter that Hamill really shines, giving us a huge cinematic moment, with swords swinging, blood flying and Conan and the other sellsword battling this thing until the bitter end.

I was grinning like a maniac throughout this quick read, loving every minute of what Hamill created.

What I didn’t like: The most obvious thing here is the length – but come on, even I’ll give my head a shake, knowing full well there are parameters in place for this short stories. But what did become evident with the length aspect, was the lack of character depth of the secondary characters. I wished we learned a bit more about the ship, the part where they pick up what wrecks havoc was longer and more detailed and with that, this thing would’ve been even more terrifying than it already was.

Why you should buy this: At only roughly 40 pages, this was a really quick, snappy read that made me so, so happy. Conan is a fantastic character that encounters every level of danger and Hamill used that to his advantage, giving us a story with an isolated, confined setting and a thing that had an insatiable lust for blood.

Overall, a wonderful modern update to a character that’s been bringing readers (and movie goers) so much joy for almost one hundred years!

Title: Prisoner of the Horned Helmet (Frank Frazetta’s Death Dealer #1)

Author: James Silke

Release date: February 1st, 1988

Are you familiar with Frank Frazetta’s 1973 fantasy painting ‘Death Dealer’? You most likely are, even if it doesn’t pop into your brain. In fact, you’ve probably seen it a few times before and never really attributed it to anything other than an intense, menacing image.

For those who’ve not seen it – I’m included it here on my review post (though it won’t appear on GR);

This painting by Frazetta just might be my favorite piece of art.

A menacing figure perched upon a massive black horse, with a shield, a curved axe and a horned helmet, with buzzards flying in the background, this image has inspired thousands of people. Between music, art, writing and film – and beyond – this image is quintessential Frazetta and sword and sorcery.

Now, I was never aware that a novel (a series in fact) had been commissioned to tell the story of the ‘Death Dealer,’ until a few years ago. While researching a different image that Frazetta had created for a project of mine, I was reminded about the books and lo and behold, I had a digital copy of this book on my Kindle already. I can’t actually remember where I got it from, but I’m thinking it was in a sword and sorcery Kickstarter I backed probably about fifteen years ago.

Finding that I had the book and feeling in the mood for a classic sword and sorcery novel, I decided to give it a go, hoping to discover that this was as fantastic as the image that inspired it.

What I liked: The novel is a classic throwback to 80’s sword and sorcery where we follow Gath of Baal, a barbarian warrior who becomes the ‘Death Dealer.’

A horde of Kitzaak warriors is on the rampage, destroying and conquering every village they come across as they travel throughout the land. The common people need a champion. Brown John is an actor, poet, meek magician and barterer. After seeing what Gath does to a small group of Kitzaak scout warriors, Brown John decides Gath is the champion they need and puts a plan in place.

At the same time, the sorceress/goddess Cobra, a snake that can take the form of a gorgeous woman, realizes that Gath just might be the key to unlocking her God from its imprisonment and she puts a plan in place – to seduce and get what she needs to have Gath unwittingly accept the horned helmet, which she believes will eat him from the inside and unleash her God upon the land.

Silke writes with gusto, and throughout I was reminded of the movies I loved growing up. ‘Wizards,’ ‘Fire and Ice,’ ‘Heavy Metal,’ ‘Conan,’ ‘Willow,’ ‘Deathstalker,’ and ‘Dragonslayer,’ just to name a few. Behind every tree lies danger and we never know if it’ll be man or beast or something in between.

The action scenes are fantastic, but also the downtime moments are great, really moving the personal side of the story along. Most of these involve Robin Lakehair. A young woman tasked by Brown John to heal Gath and somehow convince him to come and help the common people, instead of wandering the forests seemingly aimlessly.

The ending is a great bit of wrap up and Silke does a great job of showing the aftermath of Gath’s stand against the horde and what comes of those who survive. While there are three more novels after this one, the book ends as a singular read, which was nice.

What I didn’t like: Though the book is mostly action packed, there are some significant moments where this one plods along and loses its steam. It always comes back and always picks up, but it’s easy to see what would get chopped were this ever to be turned into a script to be filmed.

Why you should buy this: If you’re a huge fan of Frazetta’s, the painting itself or simply sword and sorcery/fantasy novels, then this is definitely a must read. A bit harder to find, I think if you went on an instore or online journey to track it down, you’ll be richly rewarded for the story you discover within. This was a nostalgic throwback to my youth and it brought me back to those weekend evenings when I’d be binge watching movies just like this book.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1813172.Prisoner_of_the_Horned_Helmet

Title: The Star of the Show: A Milestone Novella

Author: Kealan Patrick Burke

Release date: October 13th, 2025

Have you read Kealan Patrick Burke?

I think most of you reading this will have read at least something from him, and KPB – for me, absolutely – is on my short list of MUST read authors. He’s long been one of my favorites and one of the things I’ll always cherish is the fact that he was kind enough to blurb one of my books.

Saying that – I’m a few KPB releases behind AND even worse, I’ve still never managed to find the time to read ‘Currency of Souls,’ Kealan’s his 2007 novel. Why does that matter? Well, when Subterranean Press announced this novella, it was shared that this story takes place in Milestone, a town introduced to us in that novel.

I didn’t care. PLUS – this novella was free, which meant I was absolutely grabbing it (I’m a moron, but not a total moron. Well…). Even then, I still wasn’t sure when I’d get to reading it. That was until this past Friday night, when I decided to dive in. I’ve got two other books on the go, but I decided to start this, wanting something as a light reading finish for the night after reading a bunch of chapters in the novels.

Well, that plan went out the window as soon as I started this one, soon rampaging through and finish it in two sittings.

What I liked: Granted, having not read ‘Currency of Souls,’ I’ll have missed some of the reoccurring characters and Easter Eggs, but it didn’t dampen my reading experience, so, if you’re like me and haven’t read it yet, don’t let that deter you.

The story follows Judd, an outlaw who has just killed and buried a man on the outskirts of a small town. Wanting to find a place to sleep for the night and have a few adult beverages, he rides his trusty horse into the town, where quickly he discovers that the small town is also an ‘odd’ town.

The idea of people not being able to leave a town at sundown has been around for centuries and told in various forms throughout written history. Kealan takes that story idea and gives it depth and layers. Judd meets a strange woman, has a run in with the local law who fills him in with why his killing of that particular man has thrown him into something he never asked for and it forces Judd to begrudgingly accept his fate and place.

The town came to life through Kealan’s steady and wonderfully descriptive prose. The people became people you knew and either liked or loathed and even characters that at first glance seemed to be throwaway characters – Cadaver, I’m looking at you – played a larger role than you’ll expect.

The ending was great. Straddling the line between western horror and 80’s fantasy film and the connections revealed to the present day were great.

What I didn’t like: I 100% believe my initial issue with this novella is because I’ve not read ‘Currency…’ yet, so take this with a grain of salt, but I found the opening dozen pages or so to feel very repetitive in terms of it feeling like every other western book I’ve ever read. Stranger arrives, townsfolk don’t like his face, people are rude and the barkeeper is sassy. Textbook western opening. Saying that, once things get rolling it really takes off, so don’t let that initial setup be a deterrent to continuing on.

Why you should buy this: Well, as I said – it’s free, so technically you don’t need to buy it, but if you’ve never read Kealan’s work before, this would be a really solid entry point which will then make you want to go out and buy more of his work. If you’re a longtime fan of KPB’s, then this is another exciting release from one of the best writer’s out there. Kealan’s walking that line that many of us dream about. A modern master who keeps getting better and better.

This was a really fun – and dusty – western horror that will have you wiping your face clean while complaining about how warm the drinks are.

Now, I’m off to track down a copy of ‘Currency of Souls.’

Grab the eBook for free at the link below:

https://subterraneanpress.com/newsannouning-the-star-of-the-show-a-free-ebook-novella-by-kealan-patrick-burke/

Title: I Will Wander On: Terrifying Tales of Life, Love, & Death

Author: Ron Prasad

Release date: September 3rd, 2024

*Huge thanks to Ron for sending me a digital copy of this one!*

In July of this year – 2025 – I spent the month dedicating my social media pages to Canadian Horror. You might’ve even seen that! I posted hundreds and hundreds of books, movies, publishers and cover artists and during that time, I had a few folks ask if I’d read every book I’d posted.

Nope. I wish I had, but there were a lot on the list I simply hadn’t read yet.

One such author that I featured in a post – Ron Prasad – reached out to me and thanked me for featuring his book and asked if I’d read it yet. I hadn’t, and though it was on my very long list of books I still need to purchase, he kindly offered to send me a digital copy for me to read when I had a chance.

If you’ve been following my reviews for the last five years or so, you’ll know I’ve been complaining about my burn out on short story collections and anthologies. Because of that burn out – which honestly, I think is just a thing now that I have to live with! – I tend to steer clear of collections/anthologies, even if they’re offered to me, but in this case, I accepted, as I was curious to see what Ron was creating and it would tick off one of the books on my list I hadn’t read yet!

I dove in, totally blind, and boy, was I richly rewarded for what was within these pages.

What I liked: To be straight up with you – there isn’t a let down or a short story that didn’t cut it within these fifteen stories. I was actually really surprised, because often there’s a story within each collection I read where it feels kind of forced in (I know I’ve done it before), where the author REALLLLLLY loves a specific story, even though it doesn’t flow well or fit thematically within the group of stories selected.

Not here.

Every story is a home run, which made it really difficult for me to narrow down my favorites. Ron’s writing is easily digestible but also layered and complex. There’s a lot going on in each story, though never did I feel dumb reading the stories or lost.

One of the highlights of the collection is the very first story.

‘The Spinal Girl’ was a huge surprise for me, mainly because I’ve gravitated away from zombie fiction over the last half decade. This one was different. This one was gripping, nuanced and the titular character was a really fun twist within the story. This is one where Ron could easily expand upon the events and the world and give us a really engaging three book series of pre/during/post and see where things started, what’s happening and where things went and I’d be all over reading those!

The next story that really grabbed me was ‘Leftovers.’ On the surface, this seemed to be a simple story about a prison guard having to deal with a crazy killer on death row, but we soon see a cosmic shift and the ending will have you revisiting the opening paragraphs. Just a great story.

‘Destroyer of Worlds’ was another phenomenal story that had me thinking back to the crazy movies in the late 80s and early 90s I loved to watch. After moving into a new apartment, a hole is accidently created in the wall, except behind it the residents find a ladder that seems to go down forever. Another cosmic/portal story that was just top notch enjoyable.

‘Find My Phone’ might be one of the shortest stories within the collection, but it was also perhaps the most heart wrenching. Carl is on a trip to honor a friend who died. While there he loses his cellphone. After talking to his son, his son says to use the find my phone app, which he does and that’s where this story takes a huge turn and punches you in the stomach unexpectedly. I won’t go further into this one, but this was just perfect.

‘The Misshapen’ begins simple enough, but Ron wasn’t content with simple. This one follows Tony and his wife Mei, who’ve moved into a new place with Mei’s mom, after they lost their young son. Tony experiences something odd one night, while taking the dog out, and from there everything gets thrown into chaos. This story was a novel’s worth of craziness within twenty pages or so, but it was essentially like an X-Files episode written by Adam Nevill. This would’ve been my favorite story within the collection, but there was one other that really nailed it for me. And that was…

‘Paint the Forest.’

Look, there’s very few things that could top ‘X-Files by way of Adam Nevill’ for me, but the one thing that can is Bigfoot. And that’s what ‘Paint the Forest’ focuses on.

The story follows an older woman, being interviewed, who is sharing what happened many years ago when she was hired as a surveyor for a logging company. While there, creatures attack and she learns of them and what she must do to ensure their safety. This was a cryptid love story with environmental themes and the role mankind has in the destruction of our forests. This was fantastic and much like ‘The Spinal Girl,’ I’d love to see this expanded into a long form release.

What I didn’t like: This was one of those rare collections, like I mentioned earlier, where every story really worked for me. The only thing that stood out for me that I wasn’t too sure about, was there was a few stories that seemed to maybe be related to something else. Either that or I was just reading into that too far. Saying that, maybe there’s more planned in some of those worlds and it’s in the works etc. etc. But either way, it didn’t distract or hinder my reading experience.

Why you should buy this: This was an absolute unexpected gem. Going in, I was thinking there’d be one or two stories that really worked for me, but going through the notes I made about each story, only two stories I rated as four star, while the rest were five. This collection is STRONG and flows fantastically. Ron bounces from strength to strength and whether you want a collection with a lot of creatures or one with a lot of heart, Ron gives us both in spades, which absolutely elevated this one.

What a fantastic collection and one I hope a lot more readers begin to rave about.

Title: Song Dogs

Author: Brenna LaFaro

Release date: December 2nd, 2025

*Huge thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and author for a digital ARC of this one!*

Here we go! Book four!

‘Song Dogs’ arrives as the fourth book in LaFaro’s ‘Buzzard’s Edge Saga,’ though technically it’s the third long read – book three is made up of short stories. I’ve read the first two books, though haven’t gotten around to book three yet – purely because I’ve been limiting how many short story collections I’ve been reading.

Books one and two introduced us to Rory and Alice (and judging from the synopsis of book three, I’ll assume they appear within some of the stories), but book three introduces us to a Rory and Alice we’ve not yet seen much of. They’re now ‘settled,’ and folks in the area know who they are. But being settled hasn’t made them complacent and with how things are in Buzzard’s Edge, it doesn’t take long until something nefarious arrives.

What I liked: With Rory and Alice now living there, they’ve gained a small degree of notoriety, almost bordering on celebrity, having made a name for themselves with the events in the previous two books. Alice stays more to the side, mute and gun ready.

Things really ramp up when creatures begin to appear and wreck havoc, first with a chimera-like animal. It becomes Rory and Alice’s job to figure out the what and why. The investigation into the what and the why allows us readers to see how close-knit these two are and how they work off each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Together, they are the whole pie. Individually, they’re not as steady as they could be.

LaFaro has done a wonderful job of developing these characters over the course of their adventures together and throughout this one, they’re easily the stars of the show, firmly the two that the readers cheer for.

As the craziness picks up, we know we can count on these two to band together, overcome the insanity and ultimately come out on top. Which we see with an action-packed final quarter.

What I didn’t like: I’m not 100% sure of the word I’m looking for here, so I’m going to go with this – wholesome. This book – and series – has fallen into a ‘wholesome’ groove and in this case, I think the issue will be if that avenue makes it predictable. While the book and series have been fantastic, there’s only been one kind of ‘tug-at-the-heart’ death/character ending that threatened to upend the flow of the narrative and at this point, I think in order for the series to remain fresh going forward, there’s going to have to be some wickedness that ruins the readers day to keep things marching on.

That’s just my opinion, granted, but after seeing how things have gone in these three books, I now worry for a predictable future which might turn folks away.

What I liked: So, you can also ignore that previous section because I also want to use ‘wholesome’ for one of the strengths of this book and the series. It’s been great seeing Rory and Alice come together, grow together and work together to take down whatever gets thrown at them.

The ‘Buzzard’s Edge’ series has been a great exercise in blending the fantastical with western horror and LaFaro is clearly having a blast writing these books.

If you’re looking for a world filled with characters and craziness, look no further, ‘Song Dogs’ is another great entry into a series that’s really entertained me. These are always a lot of fun!