The Seven Deadliest, and My Novelette, “Ring of Fire” Get High Praise at Cemetery Dance
Honored to have some very kind words from Kevin Lucia over at Cemetery Dance, about my novelette in The Seven Deadliest:
“Ring of Fire” by Richard Thomas—which tackles ‘lust’—is by far my favorite story in this collection and, in my opinion, the most skillfully rendered. First of all, like all the other stories, Thomas doesn’t give us a clichéd horror story about someone’s sexual urges leading them to a grisly death. However, this is Richard Thomas we’re talking about. I knew he wouldn’t lean on cliches going in.
Instead, he tackles the intersection of loneliness, guilt, shame, grief, the desire for companionship, and, yes—sexuality. But sexuality through the lens of longing for companionship, for physical comfort and belonging, for intimate connection. I’m not going to say anything else about this story, except that lots of folks claim to write “science fiction/horror” blends, but few get it right. Thomas gets it extremely right in this.
OUT NOW.
Review: The Seven Deadliest edited by Patrick Beltran and D. Alexander Ward
- Richard Thomas - 
was a very bad man who commits some heinous and horrific acts throughout the book, yet all the same, I loved the hell out of him. I think that was because of Richard’s authorial voice and his alacrity with backstory, but I don’t know. Read it and see for yourself. And when I think of magical realism and the movement we call neo-noir, his is a name that pops instantly, unbidden, into my mind. The man has a marvelous eye for curating such material and a fucking exemplary ability to write it. So yes. If you aren’t yet excited about Richard’s inclusion in a book about the Seven Deadly Sins, get that way. When Mr. Thomas is in the mix, it’s always a good indicator that you’re in for one hell of an unexpected venture of discovery.”
Thanks for the kind words! Really appreciate it.
Dude, outstanding! Some of your finest work. Now gonna go read it again and try to make sure I know what happened 🙂
Thanks! It was a very challenging story to write, but I was very happy with how it turned out. Much appreciation. Means a lot. Glad you enjoyed it.