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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
All the stories in this anthology share one thing in common, isolation, in its different forms.
There are a number of eerie stories, some creating scenes of horror, some filling the reader with melancholy, and others, with beautiful imagery (The Snow Child). Some were short of the mark and bit “meh”, but to each, their own.
Favourite stories:
The Snow Child: a daughter’s visit to her mother doesn’t end well. Picturing the statues, feeling the cold as I read (Canadian here!), I was immersed in the story and was devastated by the ending.
Solivagant: women band together to destroy a malignant man. This should be a full length story in my opinion. I loved the characters and would love to learn more about Cinna’s origin, Kitty’s initial meeting with him, and what the two women do after the end of the story.
None of the other stories held me in thrall like these two, but definitely give them a read and decide which story of isolation is YOUR favourite.
There are a number of eerie stories, some creating scenes of horror, some filling the reader with melancholy, and others, with beautiful imagery (The Snow Child). Some were short of the mark and bit “meh”, but to each, their own.
Favourite stories:
The Snow Child: a daughter’s visit to her mother doesn’t end well. Picturing the statues, feeling the cold as I read (Canadian here!), I was immersed in the story and was devastated by the ending.
Solivagant: women band together to destroy a malignant man. This should be a full length story in my opinion. I loved the characters and would love to learn more about Cinna’s origin, Kitty’s initial meeting with him, and what the two women do after the end of the story.
None of the other stories held me in thrall like these two, but definitely give them a read and decide which story of isolation is YOUR favourite.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A gorgeous cover of a remote mountain top and a person standing alone. Unfortunately, these stories don’t really align with that type of physical and literal isolation. I went into this expecting something other than it was, which definitely shaped my reading experience. This book would have been better served with a title and cover indicating that these stories were birthed during the pandemic and are almost all allegories for COVID-19.
Like the majority of anthologies, there were stories that were five stars for me and stories that were total duds (or worse), so an overall review of 3 stars.
Some of my favorites:
Alison Littlewood - The Snow Child
A.G. Slatter – Solivagant
Owl Goingback – Full Blood
Ramsey Campbell – The Blind House
Lisa Tuttle – Fire Above, Fire Below
The remaining stories were a mixed bag. Some were good, but not great. Others struggled to put together a cohesive ending or otherwise didn’t break any new ground. There were two stories that drove me up a wall in the worst way. I know folks LOVE these authors, so this is definitely a Your Mileage May Vary thing, but Paul Tremblay’s story was so disjointed, pointless, and uninteresting to me. And Laird Barron… oof. I know he’s known for poetry and prose, but this doesn’t read like that. There is no Ligotti, Bradbury, or Khaw in this prose. This reads like a first time writer discovering a thesaurus and then throwing as many multisyllabic words into a sentence as possible, regardless of whether they actually make any sense together. The most frustrating part is that the actual plot is great but the language usage is about as digestible as drywall.
Also, M.R. Carey, this is only the second of his stories I have read and both have just happened to graphically mention a woman pissing. No kink shame, but definitely not kink same, my dude.
Overall, I really loved some of these stories, but I don’t know that I’d recommend the anthology in its entirety.
Like the majority of anthologies, there were stories that were five stars for me and stories that were total duds (or worse), so an overall review of 3 stars.
Some of my favorites:
Alison Littlewood - The Snow Child
A.G. Slatter – Solivagant
Owl Goingback – Full Blood
Ramsey Campbell – The Blind House
Lisa Tuttle – Fire Above, Fire Below
The remaining stories were a mixed bag. Some were good, but not great. Others struggled to put together a cohesive ending or otherwise didn’t break any new ground. There were two stories that drove me up a wall in the worst way. I know folks LOVE these authors, so this is definitely a Your Mileage May Vary thing, but Paul Tremblay’s story was so disjointed, pointless, and uninteresting to me. And Laird Barron… oof. I know he’s known for poetry and prose, but this doesn’t read like that. There is no Ligotti, Bradbury, or Khaw in this prose. This reads like a first time writer discovering a thesaurus and then throwing as many multisyllabic words into a sentence as possible, regardless of whether they actually make any sense together. The most frustrating part is that the actual plot is great but the language usage is about as digestible as drywall.
Also, M.R. Carey, this is only the second of his stories I have read and both have just happened to graphically mention a woman pissing. No kink shame, but definitely not kink same, my dude.
Overall, I really loved some of these stories, but I don’t know that I’d recommend the anthology in its entirety.
This anthology is based on Isolation. Vampires, monsters, apocalyptic scenarios, and sci-fi. A decent collection, but some were terrible.
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
I really enjoy a collection for short stories, however, I really hate when a majority of them are so bleh that I don't get how they even made the cut.
“Seems like everyone but me is dead. Seems like I am the only person left alive.”
How long can you live in an empty room? An empty country? A dead world? A violent universe of your own making? Excellent compiling by Coxon, I picked this up purely because of the handful of names I recognized on the cover and am walking away with several authors rocketed to the top of my search list. Good book to grab to highlight how the pandemic will affect horror literature in the decades to come. Stand out stories were “The Blind House” by Ramsey Campbell, “How We Are” by Chikodili Emelumadu, “Across the Bridge” by Tim Lebbon, and ending with Lisa Tuttle’s “Fire Above, Fire Below” was a stroke of literary genius.
Not every story held a candle to the shining stars in the list. If I have to read another “boo hoo for the family annihilator who miraculously doesn’t have enough courage to do himself during the ‘apocalypse’” my head will explode, unlike his, with misogyny.
3.5/5 Good odds you’ll find something in here for you.
How long can you live in an empty room? An empty country? A dead world? A violent universe of your own making? Excellent compiling by Coxon, I picked this up purely because of the handful of names I recognized on the cover and am walking away with several authors rocketed to the top of my search list. Good book to grab to highlight how the pandemic will affect horror literature in the decades to come. Stand out stories were “The Blind House” by Ramsey Campbell, “How We Are” by Chikodili Emelumadu, “Across the Bridge” by Tim Lebbon, and ending with Lisa Tuttle’s “Fire Above, Fire Below” was a stroke of literary genius.
Not every story held a candle to the shining stars in the list. If I have to read another “boo hoo for the family annihilator who miraculously doesn’t have enough courage to do himself during the ‘apocalypse’” my head will explode, unlike his, with misogyny.
3.5/5 Good odds you’ll find something in here for you.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A horror anthology inspired by the covid-19 pandemic. A diverse assortment of short stories about human isolation, ranging from your classic zombie apocalypses and worst-case pandemic scenarios to psychological isolation and the loneliness cause by abuse. Mostly solid quality, though a few of the stories are forgettable.
A good collection of short fiction. The title is a great spoiler.