Garden of Eldritch Delights | Musings of the Monster Librarian

Book Links: Stoker Awards 2018 Final Ballot for Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection

Well, we didn’t get all reviews for every category in before the Stoker Awards were actually announced, but I finally can provide you with links to reviews to all the books nominated for the category of Superior Achievment in a Fiction Collection. The award went to Eric J. Guignard for That Which Grows Wild on Saturday, and you can check out our review of his book, as well as those of the other nominees, by clicking on the links below. Congratulations to all the nominees, and well done, Eric!

That Which Grows Wild by Eric J. Guignard

Garden of Eldritch Delights by Lucy A. Snyder

Coyote Songs by Gabino Iglesias

Spectral Evidence by Gemma Files

Dark and Distant Voices by Tim Waggoner

We still have one more review of a Stoker nominee (in the Long Fiction category) to publish, so keep your eyes peeled for that and for the links to all the reviews for the nominated titles in the category of Superior Achievement in Long Fiction.

Enjoy!

Book Review: Garden of Eldritch Delights by Lucy Snyder

Garden of Eldritch Delights by Lucy A. Snyder

Raw Dog Screaming Press, 2018

ISBN: 9781947879089

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

Once again Lucy Snyder offers up a delightfully dark, fantastic collection of fiction morsels. Garden of Eldritch Delights has a Lovecraftian slant, pitting a number of interpretations of human against nameless, Otherland invaders. However, readers don’t need to be Lovecraft fans to find much to enjoy here. Snyder takes the themes through many interpretations, from classic horror, to science fiction and historical magical fantasy. There’s a lot to enjoy. If anything, the biggest downside is the fact that the tales within this collection are interesting and engaging enough to have spawned longer stories.

Standouts include “Fraeternal”, “Blossoms Blackened Like Dead Stars”, “A Hero of Grunjord”, and “The Warlady’s Daughter”. It’s not surprising that this collection is up for a Stoker. It engages the imagination, and language, in fascinating ways. Highly recommended, particularly for readers looking for stories outside of well-loved tropes, that will hold their fascination.

Contains: Language, violence, gore, sexual talk and situations

Reviewed by Michele Lee

Editor’s note: Garden of Eldritch Delights is a nominee on the final ballot for the 2018 Stoker Awards in the category Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection.