Tag Archives: E. Michael Lewis

Hauntings edited by Ellen Datlow

Overview
Hauntings: Datlow, Ellen: 9781616960889: Amazon.com: Books

Title: Hauntings
Author: Ellen Datlow, Pat Cadigan, Dale Bailey, E. Michael Lewis, Lucius Shepard, David Morrell, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Joyce Carol Oates, Elizabeth Hand, Neil Gaiman, F. Paul Wilson, Jonathan Carroll, Terry Dowling, Paul Walther, Simon Kurt Unsworth, Connie Willis, Stephen Gallagher, Michael Marshall Smith, Richard Bowes, James P. Blaylock, Jeffrey Ford, Gemma Files, Kelly Link, Adam L.G. Nevill & Peter Straub
In: Hauntings (Ellen Datlow)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Ghosts, HorrorShort story collections
Pace: Slow
Format: Anthology
Publisher: Tachyon
Year: 2013

Thoughts

This is, as with all Ellen Datlow collections, seriously fun and enjoyable. The fact that this fantastic collection is full of seriously creepy stories made it that much more enjoyable. Mostly because it’s out of my usual genre of choice. Horror and ghost stories might not be quite my usual speed, but that didn’t mean that I didn’t love reading this collection!

Although I really enjoyed reading all of these short stories, I did find that this was not an anthology I should be reading late at night. Or when I was home alone. Whilst some of the stories were kind of mild and not too terrifying, some made it really difficult to sleep after turning the final page. Or just made it difficult to turn off the lights. Which is why this took me a little bit longer to read than I had anticipated.

Hauntings runs the gambit of horror and ghost stories, from horrible hauntings to stories that had a little bit more hope at the end. They made me feel all of the feelings, and I would most definitely read this collection again in the future.

<- The First Lunar HalloweenEenie, Meenie, Ipsateenie ->

Image source: Amazon

Cargo by E. Michael Lewis

Overview
Hauntings: Datlow, Ellen: 9781616960889: Amazon.com: Books

Title: Cargo
Author: E. Michael Lewis
In: Hauntings (Ellen Datlow)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Horror
Dates read: 31st March 2021
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Tachyon
Year: 2013
5th sentence, 74th page: There was none.

Synopsis

Their job is to ship cargo. They don’t get to know what or why. But this lot of cargo has a much darker secret.

Thoughts

This story seriously and deeply hurt my poor heart. There is nothing more tragic in war than the loss of innocent children’s lives. And I seem to be coming up against this theme quite a bit at the moment. So reading a seriously creepy horror story about this theme… yeah, my heart bled a little. Particularly since I read this so soon after finishing Zlata’s Diary.

War is one of the more horrifying aspects of human nature in my opinion. Reading about it was harsh and kind of sucked. But it most definitely drove home the fact that it’s the innocents that really suffer. And that children, the world over just want to play.

In this story, the fact that children just want to play is kind of creepy. I mean, it’s a great notion. But the actual moments in this story? Yup. Seriously terrifying.

<- Hunger: A ConfessionDelta Sly Honey ->

Image source: Amazon