Home » Posts tagged "horror anthologies" (Page 11)

Book Review: Miscreations: Gods, Monstrosities, and Other Horrors edited by Doug Murano and Michael Bailey

cover art for Miscreations edited by Doug Murano and Michael Bailey

( Bookshop.org |  Amazon.com )

Miscreations: Gods, Monstrosities, and Other Horrors edited by Doug Murano and Michael Bailey

Written Backwards, 2020

ISBN-13 : 978-1732724464

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition

 

 

In the foreword to Miscreations, Alma Katsu writes that “we’re told from childhood that monsters exist… we don’t need anyone to tell us they’re real”. Collected within the pages are 23 tales of monsters of all kinds, from the traditional to the unconventional, from the literary to the personal.  Interspersed is artwork from HagCult, who also did the cover art for the book.

Josh Malerman gives us a werewolf tale in “One Last Transformation” with an engaging, murderous narrator addicted to the change, and a number of writers approach the Frankenstein story in different ways. My favorites of these tales were Stephanie M. Wytovich’s poem “A Benediction of Corpses”  in which the Creature addresses his creator directly, and “Frankenstein’s Daughter”, by Theodora Goss, with its surprising and satisfying ending. Christina Sng takes an unconventional approach to an evil Russian water spirit in “Vodoyanoy”.

More personal monsters also appeared.  Michael Wehunt’s “A Heart Arrhythmia Creeping Into A Dark Room” was an effective and creepy tale about the anxiety and dread that accompany someone living in the shadow of a potential heart attack. The story was flawed by the author’s insertion of a fictionalized monster and victim in a story that was far too realistic. Victor Lavalle’s “Spectral Evidence” touched on the way grief lives on, and Scott Edelman’s “Only Bruises Are Permanent” tells the story of a woman who has the bruises left from an incident of domestic violence tattooed on her body.

Monstrous mothers also appear, in Joanna Parypinski’s brutal “Matryoshka”, in which a family tradition of giving each mother and daughter a matryoshka doll goes dramatically wrong, and Mercedes M. Yardley’s ironic “The Making of Asylum Ophelia”, in which a mother raises her daughter to resemble Hamlet’s Ophelia with plans to also replicate her fate.

Other strong stories I especially enjoyed include Nadia Bulkin’s “Operations Other Than War”, Usman T. Malik’s “Resurrection Points”,  Lisa Morton’s “Imperfect Clay”, and the disturbing “My Knowing Glance” by Lucy A. Snyder, which went in a much different direction than I expected it to.

Miscreations is overall a strong collection. The authors have come up with imaginative creatures using a variety of creative approaches, and readers will find sitting down with it well worth their time. Highly recommended.

Contains: murder, torture, violence, gore, body horror

 

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

 

Editor’s note: Miscreations: Gods, Monsters, and Other Horrors is a nominee on the final ballot for the 2020 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in an Anthology. 

Posted on March 5, 2021 by , Reply

Women in Horror Month: Book Review: Wicked Women: An Anthology by the New England Horror Writers edited by Trisha J. Wooldridge & Scott E. Goudsward

Wicked Women: An Anthology of the New England Horror Writers by [Trisha J. Wooldridge, Jane Yolen, Hillary Monahan, Lynne Hansen, Scott T. Goudsward]

( Bookshop.org | Amazon.com )

Wicked Women: An Anthology by the New England Horror Writers, edited by Trisha J. Wooldridge and Scott E. Goudsward.

NEHW Press, 2020

ISBN-13 : 978-0998185446

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

 

February is Women in Horror Month, a time to celebrate both those who have altered the dark landscape and pioneered the path forward into nightmares anew, and who are blazing fresh trails into the abyss. Note: this should not just be relegated to one month– it’s tough to highlight all the new stars in the genre while looking back to those who paved the way.

Writing groups these days are a mixed bag, with many floundering with jealousy and stale efforts,  without the passion that should drive each member forward into the realms of publication and stellar storytelling. The New England Horror Writers are the only group I have witnessed firsthand to be that dark fire that consistently raises the bar for both newbies and veteran authors. Of course, it’s New England, so they have a leg up on the shadowy inspiration.

Wicked Women is a brilliant showcase of the group, many of whom should be and likely will be better known in the days to come. There is not a weak entry in this collection, which make highlighting a select few excruciatingly difficult. Between the covers, there is something for everyone, from the classic to the experimental, the subtle to brutal.

Favorite tales vary by the day and mood so I will focus on what resonated on the second read-through.

“Milk Time” by Elaine Pascale recalls classic Shirley Jackson in a story about a school that handles its students in a manner thatwill leave the reader with chills.

“Bad Trip Highway” by Renee DeCamillis harkens back to the best of wicked, sharp, classic horror of the eighties in the vein of Elizabeth Massie, a story about a woman and a strange hitchhiker that veers off the path of the well-trodden into something special.

“Souls Of The Wicked Like Crumbs In Her Hand” by Suzanne Reynolds-Alpert focuses on a woman who discovers there is another in a cafe that only she can see. What ensues twists into something evil and Twilight-Zone-ish, like the best of Yvonne Navarro.

“Arbor Day” by Kristi Peterson-Schoonover begins with the line “On Linden Island, kids are never told someone has died.” There’s a good reason for this, and the family tree that the community focuses upon holds secrets that outsiders should never discover. This story reminded me of the best of Tamara Thorne.  Again, choosing a favorite from this collection depends on the reader, and was a tough task when just about any could rise to the top. I expect several of the lesser-known authors to become much better-known in the days to come. Highly recommended, especially for fans of short stories.

 

Reviewed by David Simms

 

 

Posted on February 17, 2021 by , Reply

Book Review: The Best Horror of the Year, Volume 12, edited by Ellen Datlow

cover art for Best Horror of the Year, Volume 12 edited by Ellen Datlow   (   Bookshop.org | Amazon.com )

The Best Horror of the Year, Volume 12, edited by Ellen Datlow

Night Shade Books, 2020

ISBN: 9781597809733

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

 

The Best Horror of the Year anthologizes short stories by a variety of writers, previously published during 2019, chosen by well-known editor Ellen Datlow. It is an almost even mix of excellent, decent, and forgettable stories: out of the 22 stories, seven are outstanding, seven are skippable, and the other eight are satisfactory, middle-of-the-road stories.

The majority of the stories are written from a first person point of view.  Of the stories written in the third person, many of them are written in the present tense.  This book is best suited for those who like variety, both in story ideas and writing style.  Readers who prefer third person narratives in the past tense may not find what they’re looking for, but everyone else will probably find something here to enjoy.  Let’s take a look at some of the best ones:

Scariest: “The Hope Chest” by Sarah Read and “The Puppet Motel” by Gemma Files are both winners that get genuinely creepy right towards the end.  The first one is a bizarre story of a dead grandmother returning (sort of) through a dress form.  The second is a wonderfully chilling story of a rental room that may have access to another dimension.  Like “The Hope Chest”, it piles on the scare factor at the end.  The best in the book for true fear is “My Name is Ellie” by Sam Rebelein.  It has the classic cabin in the woods, but this is beyond any other one you have read.  Little people, human sacrifices, body parts… they all contribute to the terror. This is the one to keep you awake at night when you hear the house creak.

Most Unusual: “I Say (I Say I Say)”  by Robert Shearman. Remember all the jokes you heard growing up concerning an Englishman, a Scotsman, and an Irishman?  This turns those joke personalities into actual people who live on a different plane of existence, and get summoned from time to time to perform the jokes we all know.   It’s not scary, but it’s very original, and very good.

Best Thrill Rides: “The Senior Girls Bayonet Drill Team” by Joe R. Lansdale and “The Butcher’s Table” by Nathan Ballingrud.  The first one makes a story out of the girls’ team’s bus ride to their next match, where the object is to kill the opposing team members with bayonets.  This is a nice portrayal of psychology where each game played may be the last, and puts a twist on the craziness of high school sports.  “The Butcher’s Table” is the longest story, and possibly the most overall fun.  Set in the 1800s, it concerns pirates escorting Satan worshippers across the Caribbean to the shores of Hell, where they plan to dine with Satan.  So silly that it’s great fun, and it’s nice to finally have a horror story with pirates, as they are a character type that is rarely used anymore.

Best Thriller and Chiller:  “Below” by Simon Bestwick.  This story about two young English lads who fall into a pseudo-town below the Earth’s crust brings out the claustrophobic feelings that films like The Descent tapped into so well.  The scare factor is there, but it’s also just flat-out exciting as the two boys race through the underground trying desperately to find an escape. This is possibly the most well-rounded story out of the collection.

The stories above probably make the book worth the price of admission, and there are still the eight perfectly reasonable stories not covered here to go with it.  It’s enough to overlook the seven stories that simply don’t cut it.  Editor Ellen Datlow also provides a detailed summary of the horror fiction genre and awards winners of 2019. The Best Horror of the Year, Volume 12 will be a good addition for most horror readers to add to their collection, and a good purchase for libraries wanting to keep current on the trends and authors at the top or rising to the top of the horror genre.

 

Contains:  violence, profanity

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

Posted on January 9, 2021 by , Reply
First « 910111213 » Last