Author: Daniel Haeusser

Daniel Haeusser (He/Him) is an Associate Professor of Biology who teaches microbiology and biochemistry. He researches bacterial cell shape & division, and phage (bacterial viruses) that alter either in their host during infection. His constant reading spans many genres, but SF, Fantasy, Horror, mystery, and world literature remain closest to his heart. His regular book reviews can be found at Reading 1000 Lives, and he also contributes reviews to Strange Horizons, Fantasy Book Critic, Speculative Fiction in Translation, and World Literature Today. You can connect with him on Goodreads or Bluesky.

Book Review: CRYPT OF THE MOON SPIDER by Nathan Ballingrud

Cover of Crypt of the Moon Spider by Nathan Ballingrud, featuring a woman''s face with blue eyes and wild, dark hair that kind of looks like spider legs coming out from her head.

Gothic creepiness pervades the entirety of the novella, with a self-contained story whose characters and plot perfectly fit into the strengths of that format’s length.

Paperbacks from Hell #1: THE NEST by Gregory A. Douglas

Cover of The Nest, Paperbacks from Hell #1, by Gregory A. Douglas, featuring a cockroach sitting atop a mound in a dark forest, with a full moon above.

Through this series, Valancourt has been reissuing limited-edition, mass-market paperbacks of these “horror gems of the ’70s and ’80s” complete with the vintage cover art, whenever possible, and new introductions by [Grady] Hendrix or [Will] Erickson.

Book Review: FOUL DAYS by Genoveva Dimova

Cover of FOUL DAYS by Genoveva Dimova, featuring a female figure menaced by monstrous shadows at the edge of an alley, with a bright city at the top.

Dimova writes Foul Days as an amalgamation of traditional Slavic folklore, an urban fantasy style and tone, and social themes very much of the moment.

Book Review: HOLLOW TONGUE by Eden Royce

Cover of Hollow Tongue by Eden Royce, featuring bout two dozen butterflies lined up in rows on a board or paper.

… Known for her Southern Gothic horror writing, Royce writes with the same genre vibes in Hollow Tongue, but approaches the field in unexpected ways that emphasize the psychological horror of trauma and symbolism…

Book Review: THE DAUGHTERS’ WAR by Christopher Buehlman

Cover of The Daughters' War by Christopher Buehlman, featuring a red and black battlefield.

If you don’t already know, The Daughters’ War is a follow-up that is not a sequel, but a prequel. Book 0 in the Blacktongue series, Buehlman’s new novel tells the backstory of Galva, as if she were relating it to Kinch.

Into the Wardrobe: 2095 by Jon Scieszka (1995)

Cover of The Time Warp Trio: 2095 by Jon Scieszka, featuring a floating robot with insets of three boys.

As with other books I’ve been finding at thrift shops and using for Into the Wardrobe, the Time Warp Trio series is one I was too old for when it was originally published, so I’m completely new to it. According to Goodreads, the series went on for 16 volumes, and it spawned a television show adaptation.