WELCOME TO THE SHOW is a collection of tales surrounding the fabled San Franciscan concert hall, The Shantyman. In my opinion, rock and horror go together like peas and carrots, so this should be right up my alley. Without further ado, lets jump right in –
What Sort of Rube – Alan M. Clark
Absolutely loved this one. Such a great voice and I found myself completely engrossed in it. A jealous father, island cannibals, and and old world curse? How can you not love it? This is my first time reading anything by Clark, but I’ll be seeking out more of his work.
5 out of 5 stars
Night and Day and In Between – Jonathan Janz
Raft has been tracking Clara for three months. He finds her performing at the Shantyman, but in his way is the evil proprietor, Summers. Summers has a little surprise for Raft…and Raft has one for him. A fun, twisted tale from Janz where the characters shine. I’d love to see a continuation of their story.
4 out of 5 stars
In the Winter of No Love – John Skipp
The Shantyman likes to chew them up and spit them out in the Summer of Love. I can’t decide if this is a real head trip or real head scratcher. Not really my kind of story.
2 out of 5
Wolf With Diamond Eyes – Patrick Lacey
A journalist is granted an interview with the last living member of the infamous Italian progressive rock band, Harpie. Vincenzo has been a recluse for the last twenty years, out of the public eye ever since that fateful night of their last performance at the Shantyman. That performance ended with 30 people dead, including all of the band members besides Vincenzo and he hasn’t spoke a word about what happened that night, until now. What he has to say about that night of horror, of how his lead singer got involved in black magic on a previous tour of Europe, and how he brought back something terrible for that last night at the Shantyman. Lacey does a nice job weaving a tale that uses the black magic angle that many rock bands used to stand out from the crowd of other bands, and leaves you wanting more.
3.5 out of 5 stars
Pilgrimage – Bryan Smith
Be careful of what the guy next to you passes your way to try. Because at the Shantyman, that ain’t just any ‘ol doobie. It’s some heavy shit, man. Smith builds some nice character development before he slams us over the edge in this one. What a trip.
4 out of 5 stars
A Tongue Like Fire – Rachel Autumn Deering
Freedom of speech protects our right to use our words and express ourselves, but what about when our expressions hurt other people. A thought-provoking tale.
4 out of 5 stars
Master of Beyond – Glenn Rolfe
Ouija boards and the Shantyman? Not a good combination the night before a Headbanger’s Ball concert.
4 out of 5 stars
Dark Stage – Matt Hayward
The Shantyman’s soundman, Fred, isn’t aging like a fine wine. In fact, his arthritis is so debilitating, he will have to quit his job. That is, until a stranger shows up for open mic night.
4 out of 5 stars
Open Mic Night – Kelli Owen
A noir dressed demon appears at the Shantyman for open mic night the day after a big musical star dies at the age of 27. Every time. Owen’s fantastic version of The Devil Went Down to Georgia-type story of trading your soul/life for fame.
5 out of 5 stars
Beat on the Past – Matt Serafini
Time stands still for no one. Not the punk rock band, Brainpan. Not for their fans. Not for the love between them.
2.5 out of 5 stars
True Starmen – Max Booth III
If it walks, talks and looks like a cult, it’s probably a cult.
3.5 out of 5 stars
Just to be Seen – Somer Canon
Groupies aren’t a modern thing. They’ve been around since the beginning of the Shantyman. And their ghosts are still here.
4 out of 5 stars
Parody – Jeff Strand
A Weird Al Yankovich wannabe’s debut at the Shantyman doesn’t go like he envisioned it would.
3 out of 5 stars
Ascending – Robert Ford
Do online relationships ever turn out to be as good as you expected. Not in Naz’s case and especially when he stumbles into the Shantyman.
4 out of 5 stars
The Southern Thing – Adam Cesare
Ain’t nothing like the real thing. Damn, I didn’t see that ending coming.
4.5 out of 5 stars
Running Free – Brian Keene
A wise guy with a death wish and the Shantyman as a backdrop. An engaging story with a weird ending and makes you wonder why the Shantyman was even included.
3 out of 5 stars
We Sang in Darkness – Mary SanGiovanni
A decent tale about a Lovecraftian threat to our society as we know it. Music of any kind is banned because it has the ability to open doors between our world and others and letting in an array of alien life that will destroy us.
4 out of 5 stars
Overall: 3.75 out of 5 star
A solid collection with a couple of gems in there. My two favorites are Alan Clark’s and Kelli Owen’s stories. For me, those two stood out about the rest. Adam Cesare’s was right up there too. I thought the Shantyman made for an interesting backdrop to tell haunted tales. I enjoyed seeing each author use it as a template to paint their own creation. I also liked how there were many different time periods used by the authors. That made it more interesting than everything being set in modern day. It seemed to breathe life into the Shantyman by giving it a checkered “history”. The down sides were kind of surprising. Two authors that I was really looking forward to reading actually turned in the weakest offerings – John Skipp and Brian Keene. Skipp’s was just a head trippy mess that was a chore to get through and Keene’s felt like he already had a story completed that had nothing to do with The Shantyman and then went back and cut and pasted it in so that it would fit the criteria. It was clunky and felt odd and out of focus. A couple others had that same disjointed quality, like they pulled a story out of their archives, blew the dust off it, and inserted the venue within in it, here and there, so they could use the story.
All in all, a solid offering with some quality reads. Definitely worth your time.
Into The Macabre 