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Book Review: The Rack: Stories Inspired by Vintage Horror Paperbacks edited by Tom Deady

Cover art for The Rack edited by Tom Deady

The Rack: Stories Inspired by Vintage Horror Paperbacks, by various authors

Greymore Publishing, 2024

ISBN: 9780990632771

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

Buy: Bookshop.org | Amazon.com

 

The Rack is a mixed bag.  That’s surprising, considering the pedigree of the authors involved, many whom I’ve read before.  There are some really good ones, but when the best one is a Stephen King one borrowed from his ’80s collection Skeleton Crew, that tells you something.  If you really want good ’80s style horror stories, track down the original ones from that era on Ebay,

 

The reason it’s a bit of a disappointment is that for the five or six really good ones, there are an equal number of clunkers.  The rest are somewhere in the middle: they provide some entertainment, but nothing you are likely to read again. The writing and ideas are fine, but most of them just don’t have any real “grab” to them.  Still, there are some that have plenty of zip,

 

“White Pages” is one of the best and most creative stories, illustrating how prank calling could go horribly wrong in the old days of rotary phones.  “Fuzzy Slippers” is straight, messy, ’80s-inspired lunacy, with yes, killer slippers, and a great twist at the end.  This one really captures the feel of the gory, free-for-all stories that marked some of the best ’80s horror.  “Blood of my Blood” may be the most unusual, with its blood-drinking health zealots.  Mixi them into a marriage ceremony with a groom who has no idea what type of family he’s marrying into, and you have a wonderfully dark humored story.  “The Keeper of Taswomet” and “Lips Like a Scythe” are solid, vintage-inspired monster mashups, with enough character interactions to keep the story humming. They’re not just focused on the monsters and carnage, although there is plenty of that too!  The best story, King’s “The Raft”, is one that doesn’t need to be mentioned; you already know how good it is.

 

As for the rest…again, this is strictly opinion.  There’s nothing lacking in how the stories are written, they just really aren’t page turners, which is my main requirement for a good short story.  Other readers may feel differently..

 

Bottom line?  If you want to read the best ’80s shorts, go back to the originals: they truly hit the mark.  King’s Night Shift or Skeleton Crew, Robert McCammon’s Blue World, or Clive Barker’s Books of Blood are all prime examples of what made the ’80s such a fertile period for creativity in the horror field.

 

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

 

Posted on January 13, 2025 by , Reply

Book Review: Uncertainties 7 edited by Carly Holmes

Cover art for Uncertainties 7 edited by Carly Holmes

Uncertainties 7 edited by Carly Holmes

Swan River Press 2024

ISBN: 0781783800506

Available: Hardcover

Buy: Swan River Press

 

This is the seventh volume in the ongoing anthology series published by the excellent Irish imprint Swan River Press, collecting “strange”, unsettling stories penned by writers from the UK, Europe and USA.

 

The first, successful, six volumes have assembled a number of noteworthy authors and editors, trying their hand at every possible subgenre of speculative fiction: ghost stories, horror tales, science fiction, fantasy and more.

 

And since it’s normal that not everything pleases everybody, I will point out the stories which, in my opinion,are the best in the present volume.

 

In the intriguing and sinister “Pond Scum” by Tyler Keevil, two brothers vacationing in Tuscany are involved in a scary paranormal experience revolving around an unusual pond. This is one of the very few cases of fiction in English  where sentences in Italian are reproduced  and spelled correctly…

 

“Sad Face”, by the prolific Mark Morris, is a disturbing, atmospheric piece where a widower searching for peace in a wild and secluded resort place ends up being literally engulfed in an unwanted embrace.

 

“The Winding of the Willows” by Steve Toase is an effective mix of horror and SF, depicting how the water of a stream brings about disease and death in a small village.

 

“The Good Old Days” by Craig Rosenberg is a kind of neat “ Twilight Zone” story, in which an Aussie man relocated to the USA has to face the past while taking a vacation back in his hometown.

 

I am looking forward to volume number 8.

 

 

Reviewed by Mario Guslandi

 

 

 

 

Posted on January 11, 2025 by , Reply

Book Review: Family Pack by Kali Metis

Cover art for Family Pack by Kali Metis

Family Pack by Kali Metis

Running Wild Press, 2024

ISBN: 9781960018878

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

Buy:  Bookshop.org | Amazon.com

 

Family Pack is the second novel in this werewolf series, the first being Cure, previously reviewed here.  This is one sequel that matches up to the original and actually improves on it..

 

This time, the story runs three plotlines concurrently, with each chapter changing to a different thread.  The main thread still concerns Luna, the baker who happens to be a werewolf.  Her story involves her training to harness her powers, as well as working with members of the TLG (a werewolf advocacy group) to ensure that werewolves treat others as they would like to be treated, and find a place for themselves among humankind without bloodshed.  Of the other two plotlines, one is a straight history that explains how the werewolves came to be in their present situation, and the other is similar, but told from one person’s perspective, adding more of a personal element.  Surprisingly, in the story context the different plots and perspective changes are not confusing. One reason might be that, unlike in the last book, many of the chapters are longer, making the timeline shifts much less annoying.  The chapters in the previous book were all very short, only a couple pages or so.  Here, they are usually at least five pages or more, and it makes the shifts of perspective between chapters much less jarring.  You have time to get interested and involved in a section before moving onto another one.  Of the three plotlines, the overall history one might be the best, with Luna’s thread running a close second.  The third one, the personal history one, doesn’t match up quite as well, but it’s still decent.

 

The biggest change from book one to book two is that the first one was written in the third person perspective, while here, two of the plotlines (Luna’s and the personal history one) are written in the first person.  For some reason, it works MUCH better for the story.  Allowing the reader access to Luna’s thoughts and feelings makes her a much more interesting and readable character, and fits better with the overall tale.  It also helps explain some of her questionable decisions in a way the first book failed to do.  It feels like the author really hit her stride on this one.

 

I would have liked to see more dialogue to flesh out some of the lesser characters.  As noted in the prior review, this is a bit of a political book, with the two factions maneuvering back and forth for power.  But, on the TLG side, the reader mainly gets conversations between Luna and Birger, her instructor, while the members of the TLG council get shortchanged in dialogue and character development.  Much of the dialogue is reported secondhand, written along the lines of “I spoke to them, and they said that they…”  Considering how important this part is to the story, it would be great to have the other council members actually voice their opinions, as opposed to being told what they said in a synopsis.  The reader knows that there is dissent among the council members: we need to have them voice, in their own words, why they think the way they do.

 

Bottom line: a nice improvement on a story that was already pretty good to begin with.  Recommended.

 

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

 

Posted on December 31, 2024 by , Reply
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