Tag Archives: Stephen Gallagher

Misadventure by Stephen Gallagher

Book Review, , ,
Overview

Title: Misadventure
Author: Stephen Gallagher
In: Inferno (Ellen Datlow)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Ghosts, Horror
Pace: Slow
Format: eBook, Short story
Year: 2007

Thoughts

This was actually a surprisingly sweet short story, even if it was also horrible. I mean, it had this kind of nice quality about it that somehow softened the edges of the horror. I mean, it’s still slightly horrible, just less so than originally expected.

There are two parallel stories within this tale – both about children whose lives were put at risk because their friends just didn’t want to call for help. I hate that this is not a surprising bent in a horror – it just makes it all that much more depressing that for one of these stories, the outcome was not a positive one. This is probably where the greatest horror of the story comes from – that realistic aspect.

Alongside all of the different creepy parts of this story, I love how there are a lot of ghosts and their lingering. That they continuously linger all around us, trying to get their final bit of peace.

<- Riding BitchThe Forest ->

Image source: Goodreads

Hauntings edited by Ellen Datlow

Book Review, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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, Horror, Short 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

The Horn by Stephen Gallagher

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

Title: The Horn
Author: Stephen Gallagher
In: Hauntings (Ellen Datlow)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Horror
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Tachyon
Year: 2013

Thoughts

From the very beginning of this short story, and the tone that is powerful within this, it was very obvious that everyone was probably going to di3 in this short story. But, me being the ghoul that I am, I really wanted to see how they all died… I mean, who wouldn’t?

To be fair, I did think that the narrator or one of the men he was stranded with was going to be the killer. There was just that whole, lo ked in with a serial killer tone to this tale. But, the reality of this story was a whole lot more sinister. And creepy.

Normally I love tales that feature a snowstorm. Probably because I often read romances and fantasies and there is always a very powerful feeling to that. However, this short story worked as a great reminder that the isolation that works so well in romances and fantasies, can also be deadly. The kind of isolation where secrets grow.

This is definitely a horrible and creepy haunting. One that I feel like will keep coming back, through many snow storms to come.

<- Distress CallEverybody Goes ->

Image source: Amazon