Castle of Horror Anthology Volume 6: Femme Fatales

Castle Bridge Media, 2021

ISBN: 9781736472682

Available : Paperback, Kindle edition ( Bookshop.org | Amazon.com )

This is the sixth installment in a series of horror anthologies which, somehow, sadly had escaped my radar. Too bad, because if the previous five volumes are as good as this one I missed a lot of good dark fiction.

The present book assembles sixteen short stories, none of which is a misfire. Some tales are excellent, some are good, and a few just fairly good. All the authors are women as are the main characters involved in the narratives.

I will focus on the best (to me) of the lot.

“The Hunt” by PJ Hoover is a superb, tense, piece of graphic horror with a nice little twist in the tail, while “Poker” by S. de Freitas is a great tale describing a tantalizing poker game between two dangerous predators.

SN Rodriguez contributes “ The Carpenter”, a dark fable about unrequited love, and Jess Hagemann provides “Comfort Woman”, a perceptive, well-told story about women taking care of lonely and/or suicidal men.

In the enticing “Maidel” by Beth Kander, a disembodied female spirit makes an unusual proposal to a living woman.

My favorites are the splendid “Lovesome” by Katya de Becerra, a tale featuring a young, sensitive witch dealing with magic, power and love, and “ Do You Want to Live Forever?” by Christina Berry, an outstanding  story with a distinct vampiresque flavor and a slightly melancholy undercurrent.

While you’re enjoying volume six, I’m going to secure a copy of the previous five….

Reviewed by Mario Guslandi