 Stephanie Ellis reviewed THE PLACE OF BROKEN THINGS dark poetry collection, written in collaboration with Linda D. Addison, released in July 2019 by Crystal Lake Publishing, available at Amazon.
Here's the review, added at Goodreads: The Place of Broken Things is a collection of dark poetry from Linda D Addison and Alessandro Manzetti, both Bram Stoker Award winners. I have read Manzetti before, in his No Mercy Collection (also from Crystal Lake Publishing) and was looking forward to his latest offering as he has become a favourite ‘new discovery’ to me. I have not read any of Addison’s work so was curious as to how this collaboration would pan out; as it turned out, the poets complement each other very well. The first poem, The Dead Dancer, is the standout piece. Written by both it chronicles the life of a dancer, who, though once free, has become no more than a puppet, dancing to a tune over which she has no control. Her surroundings decay over time, become a death house and the dancer is trapped on ‘the wheel going nowhere’, is like the moth trapped in a jar. The weaving in and out of musical notation and funereal metaphors ties the reader to the page, traps them in this bleak world as much as the dancer. Another favourite is A Clockwork Lemon Resucked in which the death of creativity and thereby the removal of the possibility of the contamination of others with ideas, is explored. Destroying the poets, those who dream, leaves the world cold, unfeeling and grey. It is a warning. I couldn’t read Mardi Gras without thinking of Siouxsie and the Banshees’ song She’s a Carnival. And even if the poet didn’t have this track in mind, music weaves its way through the lines of many of the poems, whether in imagery or by explicit reference. There are 35 poems in this collection, tales of the homeless, of despair, loss and suffering, of fallen angels and distorted religions. These are poems which demand your attention, will not be satisfied with one reading but insist they be devoured. These are words to be savoured.
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 Doris V. Sutherland reviewed for Horror After Dark, the contenders for Best Antho at this year's Splatterpunk Awards, including MONSTERS OF ANY KIND, edited by me and Daniele Bonfanti (Independent Legions), containing works by David J. Schow, Jonathan Maberry, Ramsey Campbell, Edward Lee, Lucy Taylor, Owl Goingback, Cody Goodfellow, Monica J. O'Rourke, Damien Angelica Walters, Michael Bailey, Jess Landry, Bruce Boston, Greg Sisco and many others.
Here's the review of Monsters of Any Kind: As its title suggests, Monsters of Any Kind is an anthology of stories about monsters. Some of these are traditional varieties of creature, albeit not necessarily portrayed in traditional ways. “We All Make Sacrifices” by Jonathan Maberry is a werewolf story set in the criminal underworld, with a mob performing a human sacrifice in an attempt to raise Fenrir. “Sealed with a Kiss” by Owl Goingback uses the Devil himself as its monster, as a lost motorist and a sex worker encounter an apocalyptic storm where Satan manifests as a gigantic face formed from blood and guts. “The Other Side of Semicolons” by Michael Bailey is an unusual variation on the doppelganger theme, in which an adolescent girl with self-harming tendencies and abusive foster parents sees alternate versions of her bedroom – and herself – through holes in a wall. Other writers in the anthology opt to create their own monsters, sometimes through the tried-and-true method of combining the human and the nonhuman. “Silt & Bone” by Jess Landry depicts two mounties trying to evacuate a flooded area, only to find that one resident has been turned into some sort of plant-woman hybrid through a parasitic infection. In “Sucklings” by Lucy Taylor, a young New Mexican mother runs into a race of Thing-like creatures that take people’s faces; a vivid portrayal of broken family sits alongside such grotesque images as disembodied human faces suckling a monster’s teats. In “Brodkin’s Demise” by Michael Gray Baughan a woman working from home is forced to deal with both her husband (an underachieving musician) and a plague of cicadas, the two annoyances eventually merging together into something infinitely worse. Not all of the stories are out-and-out horror, as a number of the authors play their monsters for laughs. “Bad Hair Day” by Greg Sisco, which has a comedic sci-fi setting where humans share Earth with various aliens, sees a man insecure about his baldness purchase an extraterrestrial organism to replace his lost hair – only to doom humanity. “The Dive” by Mark Alan Miller is a long, character-based story where a man tires of his humdrum life (he believes himself destined for greatness) and visits a weird bar for monsters, where he meets an uncouth centaur and inscrutable robot – who agree to mete out punishment on his boss. In “Old Sly” by Gregory L. Norris, a man inherits a sizeable estate from his estranged uncle, but finds that it comes at a price: he is forced to follow a harsh diet; he has no television or wi-fi; and he is made to take care of his uncle’s hideous parrot. “The City of Sixes” by Edward Lee is a gross-out comedy typical of the author, following a rapist as he is sent to a sector of hell where men and women alike are forced to give Birth. How, exactly, do we define a monster? This is a question mulled over by some of the more thoughtful tales in the anthology. “Perpetual Antimony” by Cody Goodfellow, set in a post-apocalyptic world that the main character has survived with the aid of an old antimony pill, contains a lot of rumination about mutation and beauty. “The Thing Too Hideous to Describe…” by David J. Schow is about a tentacled monster who resents being feared and hated by humanity, and blames horror writers for this state of affairs. “Midnight Hobo” is a typically intelligent and tightly-constructed tale by Ramsey Campbell, in which a radio host sees weird things on the way from home at night – and finds that these embodiments of his fears and anxieties have followed him back to the studio the next day. “Noverim Te” by Santiago Eximeno (translated by Daniele Bonfanti) is a magical realist story about commodification, set in a village where an eldritch deity sleeps – making the location a hotspot for souvenir-hunting tourists. A recurring approach to the monstrous in the anthology is to cast the supernatural beings as agents of punishment, allowing issues of morality to be probed. In “Mammy and the Flies” by Bruce Boston a neglectful mother sends her son to the cellar whenever she has a romantic partner around; the boy, who has supernatural abilities (he is the son of a “mojo man”) eventually gets his revenge. “The Last Wintergirl” by Damien Angelica Walters is an adult fairy tale where a town is visited by mysterious ice-maidens; wen the local boys molest the newcomers, and are defended by their parents, the wintergirls have no choice but to strike back. “Crisis of Faith” by Monica J. O’Rourke is a story of religious angst, in which a man whose religious beliefs has been troubled ever since a teenage bereavement meets an incarnate nephlim; as the being subjects him to torment, he is forced to confront his shaky faith. Capping off the anthology is Erinn L. Kemper’s “Cracker Creek”, a well-textured weird western where the women of a town give birth to a spate of monstrous, flesh-eating babies. Each of the stories is accompanied by an illustration courtesy of Stefano Cardoselli, visualising the narrative’s monstrous star. It is safe to say that most – if not all – horror fans have an abiding love of monsters in one form or another. Monsters of Any Kind fulfills its titular promise with an irresistible gallery of fiends both old and new. Buy the book at Amazon (printed and digital edition) Read the full review  Disponibile da oggi su Amazon, per Independent Legions, l'edizione digitale (Kindle) del mio breve romanzo dark thriller IL CUSTODE DI CHERNOBYL, pubblicato in cartaceo a Novembre 2018 dall'editore Cut Up Publishing.
Acquista la tua copia digitale su Amazon "Un dark thriller d'atmosfera che ti porta nella testa del protagonista, e non ti lascia sfuggire!." Glenn Cooper, autore del bestseller La Biblioteca dei Morti. "Un equilibrio perfetto tra intreccio narrativo e scienza della fantascienza." Marcello Simoni, autore del bestseller Il Mercante di Libri Maledetti. "Un così intenso dark thriller, ricco di suspense, che vorrei subito leggerne un altro!." Sebastian Fitzek, autore del bestseller La Terapia Sinossi dell'opera: Poligono di Semipalatinsk, 1965. I sovietici avviano il Test Chagan, primo esperimento di esplosioni nucleari sotterranee. Ma è solo una copertura, nelle gallerie di un bunker si sta tentando di creare soldati capaci di adattarsi alle condizioni estreme di una guerra termonucleare. Ben presto, però, alcuni soggetti sfuggono al controllo, rendendo necessario il trasferimento in una nuova base segreta nascosta sotto la futura centrale di Chernobyl. Mentre il professor Petrov, scienziato segnato dagli orrori vissuti e ossessionato da Boni, la sua pericolosa musa creata in laboratorio, ormai perduta, scivola nel baratro dell'alcolismo e della follia, efferati omicidi e strani avvistamenti nei pressi di Chernobyl seminano il terrore, alimentando una caccia all'uomo che porterà, a distanza di vent'anni, dopo l'esplosione del reattore numero 4 della centrale nucleare V.I. Lenin, a una sorprendente e drammatica resa dei conti. Gli amici di Age of Chronicles Music Productions stanno realizzando la colonna sonora del mio romanzo IL CUSTODE DI CHERNOBYL. il progetto sarà da loro lanciato su Kickstarter, e prevede un CD con dieci tracce.
Nel frattempo, in questo video potete ascoltare una preview del 'Main Theme' Il CUSTODE DI CHERNOBYL, breve romanzo edito da Cut Up Publishing, che quest'anno sarà pubblicato anche in lingua inglese (col titolo 'The Keeper of Chernobyl') dalla casa editrice statunitense Omnium Gatherum, potete acquistarlo in libreria (distribuzione Messaggerie), su Amazon e sui principali booksellers online. Main Theme Preview of the forthcoming soundtrack of my novel in Italian IL CUSTODE DI CHERNOBYL Music by Age of Chronicles Music Productions The English Edition of the book (titled THE KEEPER OF CHERNOBYL) will be released in 2019 by Omnium Gatherum.  Crystal Lake Publishing released today THE PLACE OF BROKEN THINGS, my new dark poetry collection written in collaboration with Linda D. Addison. The book is for sale at Amazon (printed and digital edition). Cover art by Adrian Borda, interior illustrations by Luke Spooner. Symopsis: Bram Stoker Award® winners Linda D. Addison and Alessandro Manzetti use their unique voices to create a dark, surrealistic poetry collection exploring the many ways shattered bodies, minds, and souls endure. They created poems of visionary imagery encompassing death, gods, goddesses and shadowy, Kafkaesque futures by inspiring each other, along with inspiration from others (Allen Ginsberg, Pablo Neruda, Phillis Wheatley, etc.). Construction of The Place started with the first bitten apple dropped in the Garden. The foundation defined by the crushed, forgotten, and rejected. Filled with timeless space, its walls weep with the blood of brutality, the tears of the innocent, and predatory desire. Enter and let it whisper dark secrets to you.  "Addison and Manzetti appear, here, as a songwriting team, certain tunes attributed to one, then the other, but regularly meeting, so that not only do we get to know where each great poet is coming from, but their electric union to boot. At turns gritty and aqueous, this book is totally alive. Addison and Manzetti have written a volume in which literally every line is worthy of being that book's title." -- Josh Malerman, bestselling author of BIRD BOX "There is no book of poetry quite like THE PLACE OF BROKEN THINGS! Linda Addison and Alessandro Manzetti spin dark magic! Highly recommended!" --Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author of V-WARS and GLIMPSE "Addison and Manzetti have teamed up to create a dazzling array of images, ideas, and emotions. When flying solo through the pages, their voices are distinct, knee deep in bravura and style. And yet, their collaborations are seamless. Powerful stuff, indeed. You will find yourself re-visiting the pieces in this book, each time discovering something new." --Thomas Monteleone, awarded author of FEARFUL SYMMETRIES  Omnium Gatherum announced the publication (in 2019) of my new novel THE KEEPER OF CHERNOBYL7/5/2019  Omnium Gatherum announced the publication (in 2019) of my new dark Sci-Fi novel 'THE KEEPER OF CHERNOBYL', translated into English by Daniele Bonfanti.
Read the Publisher's Announcement.  Excerpts from my novel SHANTI - THE SADIST HEAVEN (Necro Publications) are live on Splatterpunk Zine.
Read the excerpts.  Charlotte Hollingsworth reviewed for Horror Bound my latest novel in English, SHANTI - THE SADIST HEAVEN (Necro Publications, April 2019). Also, she asked me some questions about the book.
From the review: (…) "The writing is amazing. I can see how Manzetti won a Stoker on top of his numerous nominations. He opens the book with a clear setting: bleak and broken; oozing with desperation and depravity. This holds throughout the setting of a city ravaged by catastrophe. Manzetti uses colors in stark contrast to such a dark, dank, and dangerous world (the red coat girl from Schindler’s List and for some reason Frank Miller’s Sin City came to mind). He also blends his horror with Sci-Fi elements that make for some interesting encounters and scenes." (…) Read the review (and interview) @ Horror Bound Buy the book @ Amazon |
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