Christmas Trees and Monkeys

CHRISTMAS TREES
and MONKEYS
Collected Horror Stories, Volume 1

REVIEWS

"...a stupendous collection of work from a writer with a serious future in speculative fiction. Excellent narrative skills combine with sleek dialogue and a wonderful gift for building suspense to create some of the coolest short stories I've read in a long time. Standouts for me included "Y2Kay" - one of the most unique takes on the Y2K crisis - and "Lavish" a truly great epic tale. Dan Keohane's work shines here and he will definitely be making a big mark on the genre. Don't miss this fantastic collection of stories from a serious up-and-coming author."
- Jon Merz, author of the Lawson Vampire Series, including The Fixer and The Invoker

"Christmas Trees and Monkeys proves Daniel G. Keohane to be one of the very best (perhaps the best) of the next wave of writers in this genre - and heads above many of the better-established names. His prose is clean, assured, his plots and characters intriguing, his imagination sparkling, his approach widely varied so that one doesn't know what to expect from each story - which keeps the offering fresh. "AM" is a super spooky tale that would make great reading at Halloween. Keohane steps into the realm of surreal literature with brilliant and achingly human stories like "Feed the Birds" and the gorgeous "White Wave of Mercy" (perhaps the best story in the collection)... [He] is a master in the making, and any fan of horror in its many sub-categories will find more than enough to be impressed by in this first collection from a first-rate author." (see Amazon.com for full comments from the author when they appear)
- Jeffrey Thomas, author of Letters from Hades and Punktown

"Daniel G. Keohane is not yet as well known as he's going to be. Of the fifteen stories in his first collection, five of are originals. Of these originals, he begs the reader to 'Be gentle with them, they're young.' This sampling of his wares indicates he is a serious storyteller with big ambitions. No longer an apprentice, he's become a journeyman of his craft.

The collection's first tale, "Incineration," (his first professional sale), concerns the exploits of three kids breaking into a funeral parlor. An even more horrifying take on the theme is found in the original story "Bark," concerning a bet involving the meanest dog in the neighborhood. Keohane enjoys finding new twists to familiar tropes, such as evil dolls ("The Doll Wagon"), doomsday asteroids ("Redemption"), millennial fear ("Y2 Kay"), the Great Flood ("Lavish"), alien-induced pregnancies ("The Storm of Generations") and zombies ("Two Fish to Feed the Masses").
He's also comfortable with more surreal and bizarre material, which he presents in the same straightforward, uncomplicated and reader-friendly prose his ordinary fictions employ. Examples of these more unusual tales include "AM", "The Monkey on the Towers," "Feed the Birds," "Ptolemy" and the ultra-weird Christmas tale "Tanner's Bomb".

This book reveals Keohane as a writer on the rise. He's found his individual voice and is stretching his own boundaries, as well as those of the genres he works in when he really works at it. His best tale, "White Wave of Mercy", which deals with the horrific AIDS epidemic that's creating a continent of orphans, finds him writing convincingly about an area he's never visited. He's learned to do his research, adding a whole new dimension to his work.

This book also reveals his giving nature, as he's donating all his author royalties from to the New England Multiple Sclerosis Society. In the grand tradition of the true artist, he's more concerned with his work than the financial benefits it might bring him. This is art created for the sake of art, rather than art created mostly as commodity. The purity of his motives and his growing skills make a convincing case that we've only begun to see what he's going to be capable of."
- Garrett Peck, Cemetery Dance Magazine

"He avoids splatter and relies on suspense, suggestion, and surprise to generate responses from the readers. The three best stories are "Lavish," "The Doll Wagon" and "White Wave of Mercy.""
- Don D'Ammassa, (SF) Chronicle magazine

"Dan Keohane is a fresh new talent, a guy you should keep an eye on. The sleek poetry of his descriptive language and lean dialogue make him one of horror's brightest new stars, and this collection is a delightful introduction to his work.... give "Christmas Trees and Monkeys" a try. You'll be glad you did."
- Harry Shannon, author of Night of the Beast and Bad Seed

"Keohane's collection offers crisp writing and creepy stories. It doesn't get much better than this--and you'll have an excuse for not being able to sleep."
- Valerie F DeDaulles, author of Foot Art is Good Art

"Up until the last story, I didn't think I would have a favorite, although a few will stick with me for quite a while. "Feed the Birds" will take you into the bowels of human depravity, "The Doll Wagon" outshines the old Twilight Zone story. Thanks to Keohane, I will never see GI Joe the same way again! My favorite was "Tanner's Bomb", a darkly hilarious story about a trucker, desperate to drop his load so he could get home to his family in time for Christmas. He did, but not without dire consequences. Mr. Keohane has his own unique style... I look forward to reading his next book. Highly recommended."
- Deb Woehr, a reader from from San Jose, CA (Amazon review)

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