Title: Spectral Evidence Author: Gemma Files In: Hauntings (Ellen Datlow) Rating Out of 5: 3 (On the fence about this one) My Bookshelves:Crime, Horror Pace: Slow Format: Short story Publisher: Tachyon Year: 2013
I’m not entirely sure that I followed this short story. Yet, even with all of my not sure I followed it, I still enjoyed this. There was something dark and twisty about it. And all of those bits that made me not entirely certain that I followed it – they kind of added to the haunting and eerie aspect of the story. It’s incredibly hard to write a review on something that I didn’t quite follow, but still enjoyed…
The dossier feeling to this tale made it feel all that much more eerie. It’s the tale of three people all ending up dead or incarcerated, but through the lens of official documentation. It gives the whole tale a more removed, freaky feeling. Again, Files’ use of the unknown makes it that much more uncomfortable.
All in all, I loved the vibe of this story. It was creepy and eerie. There’s also the feeling that I could reread this and get all that much more out of the story…
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.
Horror’s most acclaimed editor reveals twenty riveting tales of the Other gone wrong. Monsters who suffer from heartbreak, betrayal, ungrateful kids, and unpaid overtime. Creatures of darkness that struggle to adapt to modern living. Ordinary folks who find themselves inexplicably transformed. 88 But if you dare, come a bit closer and discover the most terrifying of beings – those who are living under your own skin and peering out from behind your eyes.
This collection is brilliant. It is dark, creepy and intense. It is fun. It gave me goose bumps. And it is filled with monsters who come in ALL shapes and sizes. And I mean ALL. A wonderful, fantastic and seriously enjoyable collection filled with the things that go bump in the night. The things that you really hope aren’t hiding under your bed.
Although this anthology sits in my horror shelf, it isn’t really all that scary. Sure, there are multiple moments of discomfort throughout. But they’re that, you have to think a little too much, or consider the many moments of confusion throughout this story that you really don’t necessarily want to think too much about. And, honestly, it’s not the things that jump out and yell BOO that make me love horror. It’s that underlying discomfort that makes you look at your own life that I am quickly becoming obsessed with.
I absolutely adored this collection. It was filled with some familiar names and new ones. Each and every story made me stop and really think about what the storyline was saying. And even now, when I have still finished the whole collection… I am still thinking about some of the stories that I read.
Title: A Wish from a Bone Author: Gemma Files In: The Monstrous (Ellen Datlow) & Fearful Symmetries (Ellen Datlow) Rating Out of 5: 3.5 (Liked this) My Bookshelves:Dark fantasy, Gods Dates read: 8th March 2020 Pace: Slow Format: Short story Publisher: Tachyon Year: 2015 5th sentence, 74th page: Reluctantly: “The last couple times I did this, there was a physical copy of the Liber Carne in play, so getting rid of that helped – but there’s no copy here, which makes us the Liber Carne, the human pages being Inscribed.”
They just wanted to discover something new and exciting. And catch it all on film of course. And they did… sort of. Just not the kind of excitement they really wanted.
This short story seriously reminds me of another story that I’ve read. Something about the nine pre-gods of ancient times. But I can’t quite pinpoint which story it was… I did love that feeling of aching familiarity that I felt though. It was kind of fun, definitely intriguing. And something that I will continue to think about, long after I’ve turned the final page of this story.
It did take me a little while to get into this story. Hence the lower rating… if it takes me a little bit to get into a short story, then I don’t tend to love it as much. There just isn’t enough time otherwise. But it was still enjoyable. I especially liked the slightly jumpy way in which the story leapt forward in snatches.
Most of all I liked the ending of this story. There was something about that statement that we are never truly alone that was far more creepy than comforting. Which, really, is exactly how it should be.
New Vampires have evolved, and they are coming for you! Kelly Armstrong, Tanya Huff and twenty-two other dark fantasy and horror writers come together to re-imagine the future of vampires in this new collection of all-original short fiction – one of the most unusual and original vampire anthologies ever assembled.
This wasn’t my favourite collection of short stories. Maybe I’m not all that much into vampire stories, maybe because these are just the type of vampire stories that I really love. The only two tales I really loved in this were by Kelley Armstrong and Tanya Huff. They weren’t necessarily bad tales, just not ones that I was completely enthralled by.
If you like the more traditional and darker aspect of
vampires, I think that this is for you. Some of the stories were a little
contemporary, but they weren’t that romanticised, humanised version that we all
know and love in modern literature. Maybe if I had have read some of the
vampire classics such as Dracula before this, I would have been a little more
intently interested. But as things stand, I found this collection quite… meh. Not
bad, not great. Definitely worth reading, but not one I’ll be rushing to reread
anytime soon.
Earth and Skye 