Horror Library, Volume 6 edited by Eric J. Guignard

Farolight Publishing, 2017

ISBN: 9780996115988

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

“The Librarian will be looking for YOU.” With a tagline like that, I knew I immediately had to check out this book. Each story was selected by a former Stoker award winner, Eric J. Guignard, and he did not disappoint with what he included in the fantastic anthology. Horror Library, Volume 6 showcases twenty-seven new horror short stories—twenty-seven!—by new or under-published authors in the genre.

There are too many incredible stories in this anthology. Each one has a distinct feel, and a distinct way of lingering in the back of your mind. A son attempts to come to terms with his mother’s death, the horror that was visited upon him as a child, and finds out it really happened. When people go missing in the little town of Ophir, Eudora and Poppy, try to puzzle out what could be happening: Mountain lions? Sinkholes? A giant snake snatching them up? They find the answer in the ruins of the old Cartagena Hotel. Marta, a divorcée coming to terms with her situation, is disturbed at night by every noise in her old house. Her grandmother’s superstitions find a way to lurk in the back of her mind, emerging at night in the darkness of her old house. Marta also fears the old lumber truck that slows as it passes her residence. Who is behind the wheel, and what does it want, especially on Halloween night? Ethan and Earl, friends since childhood, are backpacking across Italy when the meet Il Mostro.  A man endlessly searching for his missing brother finds he may be looking for the woman with the red hands instead. Will he find either one? Andy and Julie need a plumber, but they get more than they bargain for when they call Bud. Gray attends some high school friends’ wedding, reminiscing about his lost love. An old man tells him Harlan Hall is angry. Gary resolves his feelings for his former love and appeases the Hall at the same time, whether he likes it or not. An elderly man loses an expensive package in an airplane restroom to an unknown creature hiding in the toilet, and the only one who can help him is a member of the American Neo-Nazi Strike Force. Which represents more evil: the Neo-Nazi, or the monster lurking in the loo?

I think one of the best things about this book is that the tales have a range of gore, naughtiness, and even some humor. Normally, I like visceral and brutal stories, but the authors selected for Horror Library Volume 6 have ways of communicating horror with the minimum of disturbing imagery, but the content…oh, the content of each expertly crafted tale is phenomenal.  This is the first Horror Library volume I have read. It makes me want to pick up the first five to see what they have to offer. Run out to get this immediately. Highly recommended.

Contains: gory bits, a little bit of sexual content, brief but spooky stalking

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker