Friday Links: A Week of Horrors

Here are links to some stories you might have missed over the busy week.  The brief excerpts posted don't do justice to the full stories, so please give these sites a visit.

• Horror author John F.D. Taff talks about the passing of Horror Writers Association president Rocky Wood.  "A few years ago, when I got serious about the whole horror writing thing again, Deb suggested that I approach the HWA and see if it was worthwhile.  So, I wrote an email to Rocky, the new president, inquiring about membership, telling him of my concerns of yesteryear and asking, point blank, if it was worth the money and effort to rejoin.  I didn’t expect much of anything."
• Theresa Derwin has a round-up of great horror video games.  "Mind you, horror games have always had their place in the industry. But as gaming expands—online and on mobile devices and advanced consoles—scary games are more prominent than ever. So here are a few of the best examples out there on various systems."
• At Ginger Nuts of Horror, Jim talks about the state of the horror community. "Things have changed over the past few years, for a start there are hell of lot of you out there writing, and making films.  And you are all chasing the magical golden pie, you want your slice, some of want the slice with that extra bit of frosting on top. Fair play to you all, I'm sure being a full time successful writer is your dream job.  And therein lies the problem it's a dream job, one that doesn't really exist anymore.  You have more chance of winning the lottery than become rich and successful from writing."
• Terrorphoria starts its Book Club with Slade Grayson's Autumn Moon.  "We selected Autumn Moon as this month's novel because it brings back werewolves. Not the lame Twlight ones either. The kind that Gary Busey fought, and that got all raunchy in The Howling."
• The always erudite R'lyeh Tribune offers up a timely analysis of Robert E. Howard's Black Canaan.  "Robert E. Howard’s nightmare about a black uprising in the deep south is unpleasant reading not so much for the horrible and violent events it depicts—which are typical of a “shudder pulp” circa the mid-1930s—as for the racist attitudes everywhere on display, and the realization that such attitudes are still ours today."
• Author Catherine Cavendish writes about black-and-white and witches.  "Is it me, or are there just too many sparkly witches, demons, vampires and various manifestations of the undead out there? All wrapped up neatly in glorious vivid colour, setting out on missions to save the world when really they should be scaring us behind our sofas?"
• Open Book Society reviewed The Blessed Man and the Witch.  "I enjoyed the quick, witty prose and found myself turning the pages just to see the stories played [o]ut. I found that each of the myriad protagonists were well thought out and spoke in their own quirky, distinct manners. Each had a voice that spoke to me and gave me reason to like the characters, despite their moral ethics and they whet my curiosity on how these pawns, or pieces of the puzzle, would fit into place. The ending left me shocked, a rare occasion these days. Although it seems incomplete on first reading, after reflecting on what happens, it makes perfect sense."
• On this site, I provided a review of Graham Masterton's Ghost Music and wrapped up my short story A Pennsylvania Haunting.

There's lots to look at, so get clicking!