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bruxifixion's review against another edition
(stopped at: Esmeralda, 109)
reason: had a hard time vibing with the stories and that made me run out of time with my library loan. not a negative review of them necessarily, might return to it at another point in time.
reason: had a hard time vibing with the stories and that made me run out of time with my library loan. not a negative review of them necessarily, might return to it at another point in time.
adbond's review against another edition
2.0
I got this book at the library to check out Laird Barron. And while Barron's story was good, it was far outclassed by several other entries.
“When the Gentlemen Go By” by Margaret Ronald was probably my favorite. Just a gripping short story.
"Beach Head" by Daniel Lemoal was a fun read that went differently than I expected.
“Harry and the Monkey” by Euan Harvey is a fell-good story if that can really be applied to horror. Had some King-ish elements for sure, which I say as a compliment.
Datlow did a good job of selecting a wide range of stories, from monster stories to pshycological suspense stories to good old fashion ghost stories.
“When the Gentlemen Go By” by Margaret Ronald was probably my favorite. Just a gripping short story.
"Beach Head" by Daniel Lemoal was a fun read that went differently than I expected.
“Harry and the Monkey” by Euan Harvey is a fell-good story if that can really be applied to horror. Had some King-ish elements for sure, which I say as a compliment.
Datlow did a good job of selecting a wide range of stories, from monster stories to pshycological suspense stories to good old fashion ghost stories.
sarahdenn27's review against another edition
2.0
Ehhhh. Not scary, most of these were just whatever.
exeidur's review against another edition
3.0
2,9* out of 5 if we average out all of the separate scores here. So it wasn't great overall. I did not enjoy most stories, and would not recommend this bundle, were it not for the absolute last story in here, The Narrows which gave me the shivers.
The anthology starts with 50 pages of pretty much everything that appeared in 2008 when it comes to horror. Needless to say, I didn't read any of this.
On to the stories (with spoilers in most reviews):
2*
Not a great start to the anthology, in my opinion. An airplane is filled with coffins containing the bodies of men, women and children who killed themselves/were killed in the Jonestown Massacre, and the protagonist and others have to accompany them on the flight.
A bit boring, not a lot of tension, flat characters.
2. If Angels Fight - by Richard Bowes
1,5*
Some guy has a guardian angel and his family is big into politics, then he dies.
Honestly this was so incredibly boring, very American-centric. I didn't like the writing style, it's quite choppy, and the story jumps back and forth along a timeline, so it's difficult to follow. I really wanted to give up halfway through, but I stuck through and it didn't get much better. It did make more sense at the end, but I was actively disliking this and I do not see how this can be called a horror story.
3. The Clay Party - by Steve Duffy
3,5*
Yeah, this one was pretty horrific. A party of about 50 settlers sets off on a long journey towards California and encounters plenty of difficulties along the way. This is written as a set of diary entries, interspersed with newspaper articles about the event. I didn't like the voice in the diary entries much, and it takes a turn towards a more abstract/bizarre voice towards the end, but it was pretty exciting to have it told this way. It definitely made me more invested. The plot was a bit predictable - I even felt like I read this before (though I don't think I have) in parts - but that definitely didn't take away from the overall story.
4. Penguins of the Apocalypse - by William Browning Spencer
2,5*
Alcoholism does strange things to your mind, but can it bend time and space as well?
Didn't much like this one, though I do think it was written well enough. It just made me anxious, mostly for the child that was endangered in the story.
5. Esmeralda: The First Book Depository Story - by Glen Hirshberg
1*
Boring. Books are put into depositories because physical books aren't used anymore. You get to read about the entire history of these depositories coming into existence, because they're the main setting. But the setting could've just as easily been already existing warehouses or storage units or whatever. No need for the lengthy explanation, and the main story/plot was boring as well. I'd be hard pressed to call this "horror".
6. The Hodag - by Trent Hergenrader
2*
Not too scary. Some people are killed in a strange way near a small town, it turns out to be a creature called a "hodag" - which, from its description, seems no scarier than the Pokémon Salazzle - which is chased off while men half-drown in a frozen pond. No more murders, protagonist ages 70 years within two pages, happens to read about the creature, and almost - but not completely - dies of a heart attack.
7. Very Low-Flying Aircraft - by Nicholas Royle
1,5*
Already the title set me up for mediocrity. A man is decapitated by an aircraft which flies really low. Didn't see that one coming. The characters were uninteresting, the story predictable, and the writing style unclear. Boring, next.
8. When the Gentlemen Go By - by Margaret Ronald
4*
Quite creepy, and Ronald manages to build a believable character in only a few pages.
In the Hollow, children are sometimes taken. In return, crops always grow, women have no miscarriages, etc.. It doesn't seem like such a good deal to the protagonist though, so she ends up breaking it. Sadly, this cannot be done without dire consequences.
9. The Lagerstätte - by Laird Barron
3,5*
This one's written in a very descriptive style, which can get a bit tiresome. And it is one if the longer stories in this anthology as well, which made it difficult to get through in one sitting (for me). The plot: woman loses husband and young child and proceeds to attempt suicide quite frequently over the following few years. She might also have found a magical way to travel to "The Lagerstätte", a sort if place between life and death, I believe? She either manages it, or has gone completely insane in her grief. My money is on the latter.
10. Harry and the Monkey - by Euan Harvey
3,75*
Started out strong, but I didn't like the ending at all. The build-up was creepy, and Harvey has a very accessible writing style, but I hoped for more than a half-baked urban legend.
Summary: Father makes up an imaginary monkey for boisterous son. Monkey may or may not have manifested itself a few years later to scare off some would-be kidnappers.
11. Dress Circle - by Miranda Siemienowicz
2,5*
This one reads like a nightmare. Strange, incomprehensible, the kind of scary you're sure to wake up from any moment. And because it's quite short, it doesn't really pack a punch. Not enough build-up to really get into it, and not enough at the ending to make it stick. I'll probably have forgotten about this one before the end of the anthology.
12. The Rising River - by Daniel Kaysen
2,5*
A woman claims she sees ghosts, but she may simply suffer from a mental disorder. A bit boring, not much of a twist to the story, but the writing style is nice.
13. Sweeney Among the Straight Razors - by JoSelle Vanderhooft
3*
A short poem about Sweeney Todd. It was alright.
14. Loup-Garou - by R. B. Russell
3,25*
A man watches a film in which he recognises both himself and his wife when they were younger. When he wants to show it to his wifez it is nowhere to be found, until, years later, he finds a copy through the internet. He watches it again and notices big differences, which afterwards manifest in real life. No idea why; they just do.
15. Girl in Pieces - by Graham Edwards
3,5*
A murder has been committed and a golem is being blamed. Mr. detective protagonist will try to help him out in this town where apparently lots of dimensions come together and you can therefore fold garbage cans into scarves and fold yourself in half with no repercussions. Right. Interdimensional travel hijinks aside, it's a short whodunit with a bit of horror injected into it. Only it's treated so lightly that it doesn't leave an impact at all, and it just becomes a fun read.
16. It Washed Up - by Joe R. Lansdale
2,5*
A thing from the sea lures people to their deaths in the deep in a manner akin to the pied piper. The only ones safe from this fate are those unable to move: the deaf, the terminally ill, and the newborn, and two out of those three die from starvation after all the town has been lured away. A horrific idea indeed, but not one to inspire too much fear or lingering horror in me.
17. The Thirteenth Hell - by Mike Allen
3*
A short poem which I didn't mind.
18. The Goosle - by Margo Lanagan
2*
Hansel and Gretel but Gretel is named Kirtle, the house is made of mud, not candy, and Hansel has to stick his "peepette" through the bars, instead of his finger. And he escaped only to be regularly sexually abused by an older man, Grinnan, who then takes him back to the "witch" (called "mudwife" here) so he can bang her. What even.
So yeah, when the witch ends up eating her way through the abuser's manbits, it's honestly not that shocking or surprising, therefore not horrifying. I feel like the author just piled all sorts of horror elements on top of each other to make the story more horrific, but the lack of contrast has the exact opposite effect: the worst of horrors now seem mundane.
19. Beach Head - by Daniel LeMoal
3,5*
Something a lot of these stories have in common, is the lack of a proper explanation or foundation. There is simply an unexplained (horrific) event going on, which stays a mystery. In some cases, this would work. But I think it brings this story from a 4,5 to a 3,5. The protagonist finds himself stuck in the sand on an island, with a friend and an enemy. Exciting, scary, will he get out? A twelve year old boy then murders both enemy and friend, even though they would have died of dehydration soon anyway. Will the protagonist get out or will he die as well?
Spoiler: He gets out! But why was he trapped? Does he survive the open sea on a small lifeboat? Why exactly can the twelve year old suddenly fly? Not a clue.
20. The Man from the Peak - by Adam Golaski
4*
No need to use a comparison when just the regular description will do:
"With a sound like marbles clicking, or teeth, the wine bottle and whiskey bottle on the passenger seat bumped against each other."
I understand you're going for a horror vibe, hence the "teeth clicking", but bottles clinking together makes a distinctly different sound. So this just seems really forced to me. Moreover, it was completely unnecessary, as the story was scary enough. It was a quick read, with an easy to understand plot and a slightly predictable but fitting end.
21. The Narrows - by Simon Bestwick
5*
Leave the best for last, eh? This one is atmospheric, it's scary, there's character development, I actually felt really invested! After an atomic bomb is dropped on Manchester, three teachers and their students escape underground to avoid radiation poisoning. They make a home around an underground lake, but are forced to head into the narrow passages leading further inward when radiation starts leaking in. I won't spoil this one, because if you are going to read this anthology, this is the story you're doing it for.
The anthology starts with 50 pages of pretty much everything that appeared in 2008 when it comes to horror. Needless to say, I didn't read any of this.
On to the stories (with spoilers in most reviews):
Spoiler
1. Cargo - by E. Michael Lewis2*
Not a great start to the anthology, in my opinion. An airplane is filled with coffins containing the bodies of men, women and children who killed themselves/were killed in the Jonestown Massacre, and the protagonist and others have to accompany them on the flight.
A bit boring, not a lot of tension, flat characters.
2. If Angels Fight - by Richard Bowes
1,5*
Some guy has a guardian angel and his family is big into politics, then he dies.
Honestly this was so incredibly boring, very American-centric. I didn't like the writing style, it's quite choppy, and the story jumps back and forth along a timeline, so it's difficult to follow. I really wanted to give up halfway through, but I stuck through and it didn't get much better. It did make more sense at the end, but I was actively disliking this and I do not see how this can be called a horror story.
3. The Clay Party - by Steve Duffy
3,5*
Yeah, this one was pretty horrific. A party of about 50 settlers sets off on a long journey towards California and encounters plenty of difficulties along the way. This is written as a set of diary entries, interspersed with newspaper articles about the event. I didn't like the voice in the diary entries much, and it takes a turn towards a more abstract/bizarre voice towards the end, but it was pretty exciting to have it told this way. It definitely made me more invested. The plot was a bit predictable - I even felt like I read this before (though I don't think I have) in parts - but that definitely didn't take away from the overall story.
4. Penguins of the Apocalypse - by William Browning Spencer
2,5*
Alcoholism does strange things to your mind, but can it bend time and space as well?
Didn't much like this one, though I do think it was written well enough. It just made me anxious, mostly for the child that was endangered in the story.
5. Esmeralda: The First Book Depository Story - by Glen Hirshberg
1*
Boring. Books are put into depositories because physical books aren't used anymore. You get to read about the entire history of these depositories coming into existence, because they're the main setting. But the setting could've just as easily been already existing warehouses or storage units or whatever. No need for the lengthy explanation, and the main story/plot was boring as well. I'd be hard pressed to call this "horror".
6. The Hodag - by Trent Hergenrader
2*
Not too scary. Some people are killed in a strange way near a small town, it turns out to be a creature called a "hodag" - which, from its description, seems no scarier than the Pokémon Salazzle - which is chased off while men half-drown in a frozen pond. No more murders, protagonist ages 70 years within two pages, happens to read about the creature, and almost - but not completely - dies of a heart attack.
7. Very Low-Flying Aircraft - by Nicholas Royle
1,5*
Already the title set me up for mediocrity. A man is decapitated by an aircraft which flies really low. Didn't see that one coming. The characters were uninteresting, the story predictable, and the writing style unclear. Boring, next.
8. When the Gentlemen Go By - by Margaret Ronald
4*
Quite creepy, and Ronald manages to build a believable character in only a few pages.
In the Hollow, children are sometimes taken. In return, crops always grow, women have no miscarriages, etc.. It doesn't seem like such a good deal to the protagonist though, so she ends up breaking it. Sadly, this cannot be done without dire consequences.
9. The Lagerstätte - by Laird Barron
3,5*
This one's written in a very descriptive style, which can get a bit tiresome. And it is one if the longer stories in this anthology as well, which made it difficult to get through in one sitting (for me). The plot: woman loses husband and young child and proceeds to attempt suicide quite frequently over the following few years. She might also have found a magical way to travel to "The Lagerstätte", a sort if place between life and death, I believe? She either manages it, or has gone completely insane in her grief. My money is on the latter.
10. Harry and the Monkey - by Euan Harvey
3,75*
Started out strong, but I didn't like the ending at all. The build-up was creepy, and Harvey has a very accessible writing style, but I hoped for more than a half-baked urban legend.
Summary: Father makes up an imaginary monkey for boisterous son. Monkey may or may not have manifested itself a few years later to scare off some would-be kidnappers.
11. Dress Circle - by Miranda Siemienowicz
2,5*
This one reads like a nightmare. Strange, incomprehensible, the kind of scary you're sure to wake up from any moment. And because it's quite short, it doesn't really pack a punch. Not enough build-up to really get into it, and not enough at the ending to make it stick. I'll probably have forgotten about this one before the end of the anthology.
12. The Rising River - by Daniel Kaysen
2,5*
A woman claims she sees ghosts, but she may simply suffer from a mental disorder. A bit boring, not much of a twist to the story, but the writing style is nice.
13. Sweeney Among the Straight Razors - by JoSelle Vanderhooft
3*
A short poem about Sweeney Todd. It was alright.
14. Loup-Garou - by R. B. Russell
3,25*
A man watches a film in which he recognises both himself and his wife when they were younger. When he wants to show it to his wifez it is nowhere to be found, until, years later, he finds a copy through the internet. He watches it again and notices big differences, which afterwards manifest in real life. No idea why; they just do.
15. Girl in Pieces - by Graham Edwards
3,5*
A murder has been committed and a golem is being blamed. Mr. detective protagonist will try to help him out in this town where apparently lots of dimensions come together and you can therefore fold garbage cans into scarves and fold yourself in half with no repercussions. Right. Interdimensional travel hijinks aside, it's a short whodunit with a bit of horror injected into it. Only it's treated so lightly that it doesn't leave an impact at all, and it just becomes a fun read.
16. It Washed Up - by Joe R. Lansdale
2,5*
A thing from the sea lures people to their deaths in the deep in a manner akin to the pied piper. The only ones safe from this fate are those unable to move: the deaf, the terminally ill, and the newborn, and two out of those three die from starvation after all the town has been lured away. A horrific idea indeed, but not one to inspire too much fear or lingering horror in me.
17. The Thirteenth Hell - by Mike Allen
3*
A short poem which I didn't mind.
18. The Goosle - by Margo Lanagan
2*
Hansel and Gretel but Gretel is named Kirtle, the house is made of mud, not candy, and Hansel has to stick his "peepette" through the bars, instead of his finger. And he escaped only to be regularly sexually abused by an older man, Grinnan, who then takes him back to the "witch" (called "mudwife" here) so he can bang her. What even.
So yeah, when the witch ends up eating her way through the abuser's manbits, it's honestly not that shocking or surprising, therefore not horrifying. I feel like the author just piled all sorts of horror elements on top of each other to make the story more horrific, but the lack of contrast has the exact opposite effect: the worst of horrors now seem mundane.
19. Beach Head - by Daniel LeMoal
3,5*
Something a lot of these stories have in common, is the lack of a proper explanation or foundation. There is simply an unexplained (horrific) event going on, which stays a mystery. In some cases, this would work. But I think it brings this story from a 4,5 to a 3,5. The protagonist finds himself stuck in the sand on an island, with a friend and an enemy. Exciting, scary, will he get out? A twelve year old boy then murders both enemy and friend, even though they would have died of dehydration soon anyway. Will the protagonist get out or will he die as well?
Spoiler: He gets out! But why was he trapped? Does he survive the open sea on a small lifeboat? Why exactly can the twelve year old suddenly fly? Not a clue.
20. The Man from the Peak - by Adam Golaski
4*
No need to use a comparison when just the regular description will do:
"With a sound like marbles clicking, or teeth, the wine bottle and whiskey bottle on the passenger seat bumped against each other."
I understand you're going for a horror vibe, hence the "teeth clicking", but bottles clinking together makes a distinctly different sound. So this just seems really forced to me. Moreover, it was completely unnecessary, as the story was scary enough. It was a quick read, with an easy to understand plot and a slightly predictable but fitting end.
21. The Narrows - by Simon Bestwick
5*
Leave the best for last, eh? This one is atmospheric, it's scary, there's character development, I actually felt really invested! After an atomic bomb is dropped on Manchester, three teachers and their students escape underground to avoid radiation poisoning. They make a home around an underground lake, but are forced to head into the narrow passages leading further inward when radiation starts leaking in. I won't spoil this one, because if you are going to read this anthology, this is the story you're doing it for.
throatsprockets's review against another edition
3.0
Mildly disappointing anthology from Ellen Datlow. There are some good stories and no really bad ones, but nothing really outstanding and a little too much ho-hum. I hope later volumes in this series are better.
pamwinkler's review against another edition
4.0
This was a good collection. A lot of good pieces and a few fantastic ones.
Cargo by E. Michael Lewis was good.
If Angels Fight by Richard Bowes was interesting and good.
The Clay Party by Steve Duffy was one I read earlier, it's a very good story.
Penguins of the Apocalypse by William Browning Spencer was outstandingly creepy.
Esmeralda: the First Book Depository Story by Glen Hirshberg was good.
The Hodag by Trent Hergenrader was also good.
Very Low-Flying Aircraft by Nicholas Royle is one I've read before. It didn't do much for me the first time.
When the Gentlemen Go By by Margaret Ronald was absolutely beautiful.
The Lagerstätte by Laird Barron didn't really stick with me.
Harry and the Monkey by Euan Harvey was beautifully shivery and wonderful.
Dress Circle by Miranda Siemienowicz was ok? I don't think I got it.
The Rising River by Daniel Kaysen was good.
Sweeney Among the Straight Razors by JoSelle Vanderhooft was a poem and I guess it's ok?
Loup-Garou by R.B. Russell was good.
Girl in Pieces by Graham Edwards was not what I expected at all, and I won't call it horror. It was urban fantasy. It was good though.
It Washed Up by Joe R. Lansdale was very short.
The Thirteenth Hell by Mike Allen was another poem. It was good.
The Goosle by Margo Lanagan was probably good but I didn't like it.
Beach Head by Daniel LeMoal was good and brutal.
The Man from the Peak by Adam Golaski was good.
The Narrows by Simon Bestwick was good, although I didn't like the ending too much.
Cargo by E. Michael Lewis was good.
If Angels Fight by Richard Bowes was interesting and good.
The Clay Party by Steve Duffy was one I read earlier, it's a very good story.
Penguins of the Apocalypse by William Browning Spencer was outstandingly creepy.
Esmeralda: the First Book Depository Story by Glen Hirshberg was good.
The Hodag by Trent Hergenrader was also good.
Very Low-Flying Aircraft by Nicholas Royle is one I've read before. It didn't do much for me the first time.
When the Gentlemen Go By by Margaret Ronald was absolutely beautiful.
The Lagerstätte by Laird Barron didn't really stick with me.
Harry and the Monkey by Euan Harvey was beautifully shivery and wonderful.
Dress Circle by Miranda Siemienowicz was ok? I don't think I got it.
The Rising River by Daniel Kaysen was good.
Sweeney Among the Straight Razors by JoSelle Vanderhooft was a poem and I guess it's ok?
Loup-Garou by R.B. Russell was good.
Girl in Pieces by Graham Edwards was not what I expected at all, and I won't call it horror. It was urban fantasy. It was good though.
It Washed Up by Joe R. Lansdale was very short.
The Thirteenth Hell by Mike Allen was another poem. It was good.
The Goosle by Margo Lanagan was probably good but I didn't like it.
Beach Head by Daniel LeMoal was good and brutal.
The Man from the Peak by Adam Golaski was good.
The Narrows by Simon Bestwick was good, although I didn't like the ending too much.
sleepyboi2988's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this collection. This was my first introduction to Ellen Datlow's editing and I must say I am impressed. This compilation was incredibly solid, dark, and quite a few were unsettlingly grotesque and arousing.
There was only one title that fell completely flat for me and very few that were merely 'ok' to my palate.
Excited to read the others in the series, glad I own them if they are this well curated. I also appreciated the start of the book, it includes a list of the various novels/stories that won horror awards around the world. This serves as an excellent primer for someone such as myself who is only recently rediscovering fiction and catching up on what I've missed.
There was only one title that fell completely flat for me and very few that were merely 'ok' to my palate.
Excited to read the others in the series, glad I own them if they are this well curated. I also appreciated the start of the book, it includes a list of the various novels/stories that won horror awards around the world. This serves as an excellent primer for someone such as myself who is only recently rediscovering fiction and catching up on what I've missed.
sortabadass's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
squirrelz's review against another edition
A lot of these straight up aren't horror.
emilyyjjean's review against another edition
1.0
DNF- 25%
I'm giving this book only a 1/2 star. This is not horror to me, I don't know, maybe it's because these stories were picked in 2008? I do know that they were super boring, and I will not be reading the other volumes of this "best" horror of the year volumes.
I'm giving this book only a 1/2 star. This is not horror to me, I don't know, maybe it's because these stories were picked in 2008? I do know that they were super boring, and I will not be reading the other volumes of this "best" horror of the year volumes.