Horrors! 365 Scary Stories – A Full Year of Horror
06/17/2017 – 06/23/2017
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.
I am enjoying the warm summer evenings. So pull up a log, grab a marshmallow and let’s tell some ghost stories.
The Lamia’s Soliloquy – S. May Amarinth
Synopsis:
A lamia tells her victim three things about herself and her kind, counting on a human’s short memory. For the blood they take they give inspiration for poetry and art.
Review:
Short with beautiful description. I liked it quite a lot.
Last Fight – Peter Cannon
Synopsis:
As the widow of a famous occult writer lies dying her fans and caretakers scoop up her husband’s books. An enterprising young leech gets a bit more that he bargained for when he swipes a writing award.
Review:
I liked the story but the statuette in question just doesn’t seem to have a price tag high enough to make it worth conning for.
The Last Resort – Richard Gilliam
Synopsis:
Bobby “Music-in-the-Morning” Walters is a dj on the radio who enjoys his job. The talking part of it anyway. He’s not too fond of the notion of the new Respect Radio, radio that doesn’t talk over your music. And now he’s been taken to the Orientation Center to cure him of his nasty habit.
Review:
I loved this story. No offense to the people out there who do like the talkative dj’s but that is one of the reasons I quit listening to the radio. Too much talking and not enough music. MTV stopped playing music and now look at them.
The Last Wish – Scott Edelman
Synopsis:
A man who has trouble making up his mind about everything is on death row. He couldn’t even make up his mind about his last meal. So what does a guy who can’t make up his mind do when he gets one wish?
Review:
A dark and humorous story. I love the reason for there being only one wish (cutbacks are a bitch).
A Late Date – Tomi Lewis
Synopsis:
A woman is sitting at home, waiting for the phone to ring. Maybe this time he’ll actually talk to her.
Review:
A kind of weird story. The woman gets all snazzied up for a creep call. I’m guessing she must be a very lonely woman.
Liar’s Dice – Adam Niswander
Synopsis:
When you call someone a liar you get to play Liar’s Dice. Somehow I think Liar’s Dice is more unfair than a floating craps.
Review:
If your kid ever tells you there’s a monster in the house it’s best to give them the behefit of the doubt. Just in case.
The Light of Truth – Benjamin Adams
Synopsis:
The Cult of Inner Vision is a fast growing cult that has attracted the attention of the F.B.I. Too bad the last guy that got sent in became part of the cult. Now they have to send more in. What could possibly go wrong?
Review:
I liked it until the end. The ending doesn’t tell you what they see and frankly, I’m a bit annoyed. It’s kind of a cheat.
Favorite of the Week:
The Last Resort by Richard Gilliam caught my eye this week. Mostly for the reasons I mentioned above. Every time I actually try to listen to the radio it’s just people talking. And, worse, they’ll start talking over the song itself. If we’d had streaming services when I was growing up I would have been in heaven. and maybe not screw over some of those tape clubs (sorry Colombia).