Horrors! 365 Scary Stories – A Full Year of Horror
03/18/2017 – 03/24/2017
The horror short-short isn’t easy to master, but more than 100 of the genre’s critically acclaimed authors & hottest up-&-comers have taken a stab at it in Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, an anthology that contains a short tale for every day of the year. Steve Rasnic Tem, Wm F. Nolan, Tom Piccirilli, Yvonne Navarro, Peter Atkins, Brian Hodge, Martin Mundt & 166 others give you short, sharp shocks.
If you missed the first post you can find it here
So don your Hazmat suit, gas mask and Neosporin-flamethrower (thank you D2D) and let’s wade in.
Desert Shoreline – Brian Hodge
Synopsis:
A man and his friend are lured out into the desert and the shifting, live sands.
Review:
Not too bad. Short and sweet.
Dining Made Simple – Allison Stein Best
Synopsis:
A vampire uses his night-job as a call-in radio host to ‘shop’ for his evening meal.
Review:
Pretty good. At first I was wondering about the title what with the call-in radio theme, but by the end it all made sense.
The Distances of Hell – John Maclay
Synopsis:
A man trying to escape a panic attack with a retreat at an ocean resort finds there are worse things.
Review:
This one was, to put it bluntly, a dud. It’s boring and just so blah. It was hardly even horror. The title is great though.
The Dogcatcher – Thomas S. Roche
Synopsis:
A man gets his supper in unusual ways, including the local dogcatcher.
Review:
Not really sure what was going on in this one. Apparently the guy likes his meat the same way Gollum does: “Raw and wriggling.” But it doesn’t say why exactly. Man? Monster? Not really sure.
A Donation to the Homeless – Mark Bloodstone
Synopsis:
After trading coats with a homeless man, a reporter finds out that he’s traded more than just his coat.
Review:
A very good story that makes a very good point about the news. It’s all in a rush to get the headlines but once the story cools off there’s hardly ever any follow-up. I was more interested in the case they were referring to than the story.
Don’s Last Minute – Wayne Allen Sallee
Synopsis:
Seeing a woman fall onto the train tracks, Don makes his way over to help. Not knowing (or really caring) that the train is bearing down on them.
Review:
I really liked it but I hate the end! It doesn’t say what happens! I can guess Don’s fate from the title but what about the girl.
Double Crossing – Lawrence Schimel
Synopsis:
Karen ferries the living and the dead. Whichever way they’re going, it matters not to her. As long as they pay the fare.
Review:
Easily the best story this week. I’ve always loved Charon and the river Styx. That’s what got me reading Greek mythology in the first place.
Favorite of the Week:
Definitely Double Crossing by Lawrence Schimel. It was a fairly blah week for the stories this week but Double Crossing would have stood out nonetheless. Don’s Last Minute by Wayne Allen Sallee was very good as well.
This week was a little light on the stories so hopefully next week will be a little better. Join me again next week for a frightfully good time! Heh heh.
Horrors! is available for purchase on Kobo | Thriftbooks | Barnes & Noble | Amazon
GracieKat was the first co-host of Sci-Fi & Scary, Lilyn’s partner-in-crime, and sub-head of the Coolthulhu Crew. She reviews horror books, movies, and games for the site. She also does a weekly Focus on the Frightful feature, and is the site list-maker. She is also in control of the Sci-Fi & Scary podcast which will relaunch soon.
Gracie is also a member of the Ladies of Horror Fiction crew.
Most of these sound pretty good. I do enjoy short stories and collections.