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Book Review: The Darkest Night: Chilling Stories from the Biggest Names in Horror edited by Lindy Ryan

cover art for The Darkest Night by Lindy Ryan

 

The Darkest Night: Chilling Stories from the Biggest Names in Horror edited by Lindy Ryan

Crooked Lane Books, 2024 (pre-order)

ISBN-13 9781639108718

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

Buy:  Bookshop.org  |  Amazon.com

 

It’s certainly a busy moment for those who ,like me, love to read (and review) horror anthologies.

 

I’m not sure why, but we, fans of  dark short stories, are enjoying ourselves because among a number of forgettable tales, there are always some which are worth the time we spend on them. not to mention the fact that there are continuously new authors to discover and to keep under observation.

 

The present anthology includes some great stories, in my opinion.

 

“Children Are Not the Only Ones Who Know Where the Presents Are Hidden “ (what a title!), penned by Josh Malerman, is a magnificent example of psychological horror, probing the secrets of a long-gone childhood haunted by unpleasant, ambiguous memories.

 

“The Body of Leonora James”, by Stephanie M Wytovich, is an outstanding tale of revenge, with a distinct supernatural taste.

 

Clay McLead Chapman contributes “Mr Butler”, a quite original, very disturbing piece revolving around a cardboard box endowed with unusual properties.

 

“Father’s Last Christmas”, by Lee Murray, is a gruesome black fable definitely not for the squeamish, while “ Bruiser”, by Jamie Flanagan, is an offbeat, excellent piece featuring a nurse getting involved with the crazy plans of an inmate.

 

Very good stuff, and obviously my favorites. Read the book and pick your own…

 

Reviewed by Mario Guslandi

Book Review: Attack From the ’80s edited by Eugene Johnson

cover art for Attack from the '80s edited by Eugene Johnson

Attack From the ’80s edited by Eugene Johnson

Raw Dog Screaming Press, 2021

ISBN-13: 978-1735664446

Available: Hardcover  Bookshop.org  |  Amazon.com )

 

Eugene Johnson brings together 22 incredible short stories and poems as a fitting tribute to the horror of the 1980s. There is something for everyone in this collection. “Top Guns of the Frontier” by Weston Ochse, a strong open to this anthology, tells the story of friends coming face to face with an ancient evil. In “Snapshot” by Joe R. Lansdale and Kasey Lansdale, Gracie and Trevor, the famous Snapshot Burglars, rob the wrong house. Jess Landry’s “Catastrophe Queens” takes place on the movie set of an ’80s SS werewolf horror film. Pink fake blood starts to take over people…and anything it touches. In “Your Picture Here” by John Skipp, a couple decides to take in a double feature of horror movies only to discover one of the films is closer to the truth. Lee Murray’s “Permanent Damage” invites us to a bridal party at a salon that turns into a bloodbath. “Munchies” by Lucy A. Snyder is a great story about a group of drag queens and the terror that was Nancy Reagan who has come to deliver a check to the local high school’s antidrug drive.

 

No ’80s horror anthology would be complete without the topic of D&D. In “Demonic Denizens” by Cullen Bunn, friends at summer camp discover a new game to play after the counselors forbid them to play any more of that “satanic” Dungeons & Dragons. “Ghetto Blaster”, by Jeff Strand, presents Clyde, who is cursed to carry a rather heavy ghetto blaster until he learns his lesson about loud music in public spaces. Everyone, check your candy before reading “Stranger Danger” by Grady Hendrix. A group of boys, hell-bent on taking revenge on the Judge, discover an army of Yoda-costumed children who have their own havoc to create, with apples containing razor blades the treat of the night. In Lisa Morton’s “The Garden of Dr. Moreau”, a biology experiment on corn plants is a success, but it could be at a deadly cost for life on Earth.

 

Other authors in the anthology include Ben Monroe, Linda Addison, Thomas F. Monteleone, Tim Waggoner, Stephen Graham Jones, Vince A. Liaguno, Rena Mason, Cindy O’Quinn, F. Paul Wilson, Christina Sng, Mort Castle, and Stephanie M. Wytovich. Pick this up if you need a good dose of 80s horror reading. Highly recommended.

 

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Book Review: Tortured Willows: Bent. Bowed. Unbroken. by Lee Murray, Geneve Flynn, Christina Sng, and Angela Yuriko Smith

cover art for Tortured Willows by Lee Murray and others

Tortured Willows: Bent. Bowed. Unbroken. by Lee Murray, Geneve Flynn, Christina Sng, and Angela Yuriko Smith

Yuriko Publishing, 2021

ISBN: 9781737208

Available: Paperback  (Amazon.com)

 

A striking, heart-wrenching masterpiece, comprised of four vital voices in verse.

 

This four-poet compilation of works extends on themes addressed in the multiple award winning anthology, Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women (Lee Murray and Geneve Flynn, editors). The individual poems are highly accessible and strike fiercely, each bringing to life “a story on skin” (Angela Yuriko Smith, “Her Hajichi”), and each written with unyielding voice and unique strength.

 

At once painful and powerful, the collection as a whole exemplifies the best of speculative poetry and is a collection that will be re-read again and again: first all at once because the poems bring you quickly into their vivid images and worlds, and then returned to over time for their courageous meanings and profound insights.

 

Highlights includes Murray’s “Defining Character,” which explores language itself and the associations inherent to female life; Flynn’s remarkable blackout poem “Abridge,” unearthing hidden realities and hopes for an end to gendered violence”; the harsh cruelties imposed by the wealthy on a young immigrant girl employed in the home in Sng’s “Phoenix.”

 

Alongside a combination of traditional forms and free verse work, the poets also offer short commentaries. This addition invites readers into deeper reflection on and conversation with the authors’ processes and purposes, an engaging and inspired aspect of the collection. Filled with diverse poems that explore complex themes like ancestral obligations, cultural appropriation and violence, intimate exotification and misogyny, the impact of the work also moves in intriguing, new directions toward empowering, reimagined histories and myths.

 

Beautifully arranged by individual author, each set of poems works on its own and contributes to the overall themes. The resulting range of voices and styles is merged into a magnificently cohesive set addressing intersecting issues of culture and gender. Potent truths, rich details, and dynamic verse, these poems bloom with taut images that slice away preconceptions and deepen attention to appropriations of heritage and impositions of restricting expectations.

 

Fans of Black Cranes looking for more work by the authors, as well as fans of modern speculative verse and horror poetry will revel in this impressive collection. From goddesses and teenagers to angry ghosts, these poems will haunt and inspire. Highly Recommend.

 

 

Reviewed by E.F. Schraeder