Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsAn Outstanding Anthology
Reviewed in the United States on October 15, 2019
This is one of the best anthologies of horror stories I've ever read. The 25 stories herein are a well-rounded group of tales that should please every fan of horror. You'll find everything from the hauntingly sad to the downright tragic, and a little spooky to the downright terrifying. There's a bit of the grotesque, a little mystery, and a good heaping of bad people getting their just rewards.
Here's some of the standouts:
"Tug O'War" by Chad Lutzke. This is one of two tales that after reading them, I had to put the book down for a while. Lutzke's story is heartbreakingly sad, and the climax left me stunned. Absolutely stunned.
The other one that hit me really hard was the final story of the volume, "Portrait" by Kealan Patrick Burke. When I finished his tale, I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me and I just sat there in silence. Kenneth W. Cain, the editor, was smart in making this the last story of the anthology. It's a very fitting end to a great collection of tales, and I do recommend saving it for last. You'll see when you read it.
"The Glimmer Girls" by Kenneth McKinley reminded me of the old show, "Tales From the Crypt." When I got to the climax of that tale, I could almost hear the Cryptkeeper laughing in fiendish glee. Read it and you'll see what I mean.
If you like some real scares, "Russian Dollhouse" by Jason Parent will be right up your alley. In my opinion, it's the scariest in the book.
"New Blood, Old Skin" by Glenn Rolfe, oddly enough, might be my favorite of the collection. It's not the most powerful or the scariest tale here, not the hardest hitting at all, but it really resonated with me. I don't want to say anything else here, as I hate to give away anything from a story thereby lessening the experience; personally, it really spoke to me.
Those are just a few of what's great about this anthology. I can honestly say I enjoyed reading all the stories. I'm sure everyone who reads it will have their favorites, of course, but there wasn't a single bad or weak story here. I felt like I got my money's worth and then some. I recommend this volume to all horror fans.
Disclaimer: I purchased this book for my Kindle, but I also received an electronic advance release copy of the anthology, courtesy of Silver Shamrock Press, in exchange for an honest review. They gave me no monies or any other form of compensation for my review, and the opinions stated herein are my own.
