Finally, a collection of Felix Renn adventures! These stories are so much fun. Renn, a wisecracking Toronto P.I. who keeps getting dragged into cases involving supernatural creatures and the mysterious, encroaching dimension known as the Black Lands, is a character I've enjoyed following for a few years now, and look forward to following for many more. Word has it there's a Felix Renn novel in the works. Consider me first in line when it comes out.

Well, that was vaguely terrifying. I had to stop during "The Brick" story and remind myself that my house is not haunted.Now, this collection started off a little weaker than it ended. I do like some of the things that Rogers did with vampires and werewolves in the first story but I think it's when he strays from the overused supernatural creatures into more creative uses, then the book really picks up. (That said, I loved the last story! Saw the ending coming but it was still awesome.)I had to

I picked up SuperNOIRtural Tales after hearing Ian read at the Ottawa ChiSeries from his work in progress novel set in the same world and with the same characters. The reading was brilliant. Ian had the audience in stitches and then hanging off the edge of our seats when things turned dark. The reading was recorded and well worth the watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NR1l...I loved this collection. A witty and dark world of the noir PI mixed with even darker supernatural world where vamps

Recommended by a friend and it was a very solid read, merging two of my favourite genres: horror and detective. Felix Renn is the kind of protagonist you want to keep reading about and the final short story is much too short. I want more.

I've been meaning to write this up for a while now. Let me begin by saying this collection is absolutely fantastic and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys both noir and supernatural lit. The fact that these stories combine the two in a richly imagined and well fleshed out alternate reality should not deter readers who prefer one or the other (or none of the above for that matter).The content has been summarized beautifully else where (especially in the story notes included for each story, writte...

This review has been a long time coming, so here it is. What Terry Pratchett did for fantasy with his Diskworld series, and Douglas Adams did for science fiction with the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Ian Rogers has done for horror with his novel SuperNOIRtural Tales. Fusing the sardonic humour of the epic noir tales of Raymond Chandler and the gothic horrors of H.P. Lovecraft, Rogers has created a compelling mythos full of bloody good gore, mystery and biting wit that makes this novel hard t...

Ian Rogers twists and warps the natural world in his Black Lands stories, taking normal experience, normal reactions, and normal people and placing them into contexts where they are forced to face trickles of the weird drifting in from otherworldly portals from the monstrous Black Lands. This is a world where children, for generations told that the monsters that they imagined under their beds are now real and are taught how to cope with the monstrous in their school. A world with governments lik...

So I should start this off by saying that Ian and I have been online pen pals of sorts, ever since we were both published in the same magazine many years ago. But as my recent Laird Barron debacle shows, I am an honest reviewer and if I don’t like something, I say so.I might also be partial to these stories because I’m partial to the genre itself. Maybe I’m the ideal audience – someone who is interested in dipping his toes into reading “urban fantasy” or “supernatural noir” or whatever the genre...

if you like the lightly hard-boiled UF horror of Sandman Slim, then this is probably a 4 star book for you. the subgenre is just not my jam, which is not a reflection on the author's skills or the book itself. the central concept of "The Black Lands" was fun and full of potential: since the end of WWII, portals have been opening up across the world leading into and out of a dimension of Always Dark, complete with giant moon, unusually colored grass, bloodthirsty trees, and various fan favorites

Some things just go together. Peanut butter and chocolate. Lowell and Hardy. Salt and vinegar. Noir and the Supernatural.As for the latter, I mean, why not? Noir often (mostly?) centers on investigations of something unexplained, something dark and deadly. These are the exact same concepts which anchor Supernatural Fiction. As such, "Paranormal Investigators" have proliferated for years in various media, from television, film, to dozens and dozens of books. What sets Ian Rogers' collection Super...

This is an utterly absorbing collection of stories following private investigator Felix Renn in a world where the barrier between the normal and paranormal is pretty flimsy. The mythos of this world is fascinating and seamlessly integrated into the stories, as I read I was eager to learn more and more. I think that the main thing I’d like to say about this collection is that it’s fun, great pacing; witty (and often funny) dialog and a perfect balance between noir and horror made this such an enj...

"This wasn't like walking into a horror movie, I decided. Horror movies weren't real. This was like walking into a nightmare. Nightmares weren't real either, but they felt real when you were in them."Supernatural Noir is now apparently a genre I love. SuperNOIRtural Tales by Ian Rogers is now one of my favorite books. I had previously read his short story collection, Every House is Haunted, and was mesmerized by its darkness, sometimes bleakness, yet unrivaled beauty in the writing and the stori...

SuperNOIRtural Tales is a series of short stories about Felix Renn, a private detective in Toronto. The stories take place in an alternative universe, where another dimension called The Black Lands was discovered at the end of WWII. The Black Lands is home to the monsters that find their way to our dimension through portals that are popping up around the world. Felix may not want anything to do with The Black Lands, but the creatures from The Black Lands always find their way to Felix.I don't us...

Every House Is Haunted, Ian Rogers’ ReLit award-winning debut collection, is a recent favorite of mine. It was a wonderful read, yet left me craving more. What better book to read next than this follow-up collection?The aptly titled SuperNOIRtural Tales is a collection of five previously published short works that fuse noir with horror to create something refreshingly unique. Each story is told from the perspective of Felix Renn, a private investigator with a tendency to attract the supernatural...

Funny and scary and interesting to ruminate over. I heard Ian read from this and promptly bought it.

Felix Renn is a private detective in a world where monsters are real. Now, that little sentence doesn't really set Felix Renn apart from other characters in the urban fantasy genre, but the world Ian Rogers has created with his Black Lands mythology does.I became aware of Ian Rogers' work a couple years ago, thanks to the Man Eating Bookworm, back when the first three stories in this collection only existed as chapbooks. It's heartening to see them brought together for convenience and a chance a...

Ian Rogers knows how to write a Private Investigator. I’ve read a lot of “Supernatural PI” fiction (both long and short) over the years (from Steve Niles’ Criminal Macabre to Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files and short stories in collections such as Weird Noir) and what struck me about Roger’s novellas is his ability to wrap the mundane PI work around the supernatural. “Real World” PIs work insurance fraud, messy divorces, missing people… did I mention insurance fraud? It’s not the most exciting stuff...

Felix Renn is my new favorite detective. He's moody, a bit of a wise ass and a total lone wolf. This collection of short stories follows our protagonist as he works some very unusual cases dealing with a dark dimension called, The Black Lands.The first story, Temporary Monsters, indicated that I would enjoy the rest of the collection--the dialog is so perfect, witty, dry, full of sarcasm--what every good noir needs!These stories sort of reminded me of like a very noir style of X-Files. I particu...

I won a signed copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway. I was intrigued by the concept of a short fiction collection of a private investigator dealing with the supernatural. I'm a fan of all of these elements and Supernoirtural Tales didn't disappoint in its execution. There are four novelette/novella length stories and one short story. I liked the author's notes after each story detailing his inspiration behind each piece. At the end there is a short history of the Blacklands. I like the sens...