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mulkurul's review
3.0
Invitation to the Game by Kelley Armstrong ☆☆☆☆
Summer of '77 by Stewart O'Nan ☆☆☆☆
The Dead Years by Taylor Grant ☆☆
The Blackout by Jonathan Moore ☆
Variations on a Theme from Senfield by Peter Straub ☆☆
Torn by Lee Thomas ☆☆
Summer of '77 by Stewart O'Nan ☆☆☆☆
The Dead Years by Taylor Grant ☆☆
The Blackout by Jonathan Moore ☆
Variations on a Theme from Senfield by Peter Straub ☆☆
Torn by Lee Thomas ☆☆
dnemec's review
4.0
Another great iteration of the Dark Screams anthologies. This lot has a great mix of stories, and all were rather dark and disturbing. I loved it!
Kelley Armstrong's Invitation to the Game: Vivienne gets an invitation to play a game, and it's an offer she can not - and will not - refuse.
Summer of ‘77 by Stewart O’Nan is short, but effective. All I could think the whole time was that this was very Bundy-esque.
The Dead Years by Taylor Grant makes you rethink scientific breakthroughs - and wish the scientists would consider them as well. That story definitely did not end where I thought it would.
Jonathan Moore's The Blackout was also full of loads of twists and turns.
Torn by Lee Thomas was so very dark. Weird werewolf like creatures come to a small town...but why? It was good, but extremely bleak.
Variations on a Theme from Seinfeld by Peter Straub was the only one that I was just meh about. But I am not a big Straub fan either.
All in all, another great anthology from Freeman and Chizmar!
Kelley Armstrong's Invitation to the Game: Vivienne gets an invitation to play a game, and it's an offer she can not - and will not - refuse.
Summer of ‘77 by Stewart O’Nan is short, but effective. All I could think the whole time was that this was very Bundy-esque.
The Dead Years by Taylor Grant makes you rethink scientific breakthroughs - and wish the scientists would consider them as well. That story definitely did not end where I thought it would.
Jonathan Moore's The Blackout was also full of loads of twists and turns.
Torn by Lee Thomas was so very dark. Weird werewolf like creatures come to a small town...but why? It was good, but extremely bleak.
Variations on a Theme from Seinfeld by Peter Straub was the only one that I was just meh about. But I am not a big Straub fan either.
All in all, another great anthology from Freeman and Chizmar!
jenaje's review
3.0
Liked:
THE BLACKOUT by Jonathan Moore
TORN by Lee Thomas
THE DEAD YEARS by Taylor Grant
Was OK:
INVITATION TO THE GAME by Kelley Armstrong
Was fine:
SUMMER OF ’77 by Stewart O’Nan
Was bad:
VARIATIONS ON A THEME FROM SEINFELD by Peter Straub
THE BLACKOUT by Jonathan Moore
TORN by Lee Thomas
THE DEAD YEARS by Taylor Grant
Was OK:
INVITATION TO THE GAME by Kelley Armstrong
Was fine:
SUMMER OF ’77 by Stewart O’Nan
Was bad:
VARIATIONS ON A THEME FROM SEINFELD by Peter Straub
ceeemvee's review
2.0
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.
There isn't much I can say about this one, since it was perhaps a bit out of my genre and comfort zone. There were a few good stories, but then one story takes half the book, and it is gory. Didn't much care for the writing or the storyline, even without the blood and guts. If you like this type of book, it might be for you.
https://candysplanet.wordpress.com
There isn't much I can say about this one, since it was perhaps a bit out of my genre and comfort zone. There were a few good stories, but then one story takes half the book, and it is gory. Didn't much care for the writing or the storyline, even without the blood and guts. If you like this type of book, it might be for you.
https://candysplanet.wordpress.com
wellwortharead's review
4.0
Another great collection of short stories that will be published shortly after the new year. For me the shining stars of this anthology are Kelly Armstrong and Lee Thomas. In "Invitation To the Game" Vivienne is up for a promotion at work. Normally that would be a good thing, but this company is anything but normal.
In "Torn" Eleven year old Maggie didn't come home when she was meant to and the sheriff finds more than he is looking for when he sets out into the woods to find her. Luther's Bend is full of secrets. The sheriff may have a few of his own. This was the longest and creepiest of all the stories.
I received an advance copy for review.
In "Torn" Eleven year old Maggie didn't come home when she was meant to and the sheriff finds more than he is looking for when he sets out into the woods to find her. Luther's Bend is full of secrets. The sheriff may have a few of his own. This was the longest and creepiest of all the stories.
I received an advance copy for review.
charshorrorcorner's review
4.0
DARK SCREAMS: VOLUME NINE was a ton of fun! I was most especially impressed with the last entry TORN by Lee Thomas.
I'm not even going to get into what TORN was about because I think it should be related exactly as the author intended. I will say that even though this is a longer story than I usually care for in an anthology, it kept me riveted, it was original and I LOVED it!
THE DEAD YEARS by Taylor Grant was another original entry and this one had a science fiction bent to it that I enjoyed. I would love to see this idea expanded to a full length novel.
SUMMER OF 07 by Stewart O'Nan. A super short story that reminded me of Ted Bundy.
THE BLACKOUT by Jonathan Moore was an unsettling tale set at the morgue.
INVITATION TO THE GAME by Kelly Armstrong. This was another tale that had a science fiction bent to it, in my view. It's about a corporation that controls, (or attempts to control?) all aspects of its employees lives. When they send you an invitation, it is unwise to decline.
Lastly, there was a story from Peter Straub: VARIATIONS ON A THEME FROM SEINFELD. I admit that the reason I requested an ARC of this book was due to Straub. I have such love for him and for Seinfeld, for that matter, but this story didn't do much for me.
Overall, I had fun with this volume, (most especially the story TORN!), and I recommend it to dark fiction and science fiction lovers everywhere!
*Thanks to NetGalley and to Hydra for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. This is it!*
I'm not even going to get into what TORN was about because I think it should be related exactly as the author intended. I will say that even though this is a longer story than I usually care for in an anthology, it kept me riveted, it was original and I LOVED it!
THE DEAD YEARS by Taylor Grant was another original entry and this one had a science fiction bent to it that I enjoyed. I would love to see this idea expanded to a full length novel.
SUMMER OF 07 by Stewart O'Nan. A super short story that reminded me of Ted Bundy.
THE BLACKOUT by Jonathan Moore was an unsettling tale set at the morgue.
INVITATION TO THE GAME by Kelly Armstrong. This was another tale that had a science fiction bent to it, in my view. It's about a corporation that controls, (or attempts to control?) all aspects of its employees lives. When they send you an invitation, it is unwise to decline.
Lastly, there was a story from Peter Straub: VARIATIONS ON A THEME FROM SEINFELD. I admit that the reason I requested an ARC of this book was due to Straub. I have such love for him and for Seinfeld, for that matter, but this story didn't do much for me.
Overall, I had fun with this volume, (most especially the story TORN!), and I recommend it to dark fiction and science fiction lovers everywhere!
*Thanks to NetGalley and to Hydra for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. This is it!*
onewingedpsycho's review
4.0
I find it harder and harder to find a decent horror novel that doesn't rely on gore to scare the reader and is at that genuinely scary but some of the stories in this novel certainly went a good way to filling that horror void inside me.
INVITATION TO THE GAME by Kelley Armstrong
Of course I love Kelley Armstrong she is one of my absolute favourite authors so it was no surprise that I was won over by this short story, I suspected foul play at the beginning but what I expected was completely different from the reality and this was probably my favourite story in the book. It was horrifying without needing to use gore or really any form of supernatural spooks.
SUMMER OF ’77 by Stewart O’Nan
This was very short, and not one of my favourites it rather rambled on a bit and just was too disjointed for me to fully enjoy it.
THE DEAD YEARS by Taylor Grant
I really enjoyed this one! The ending came out of nowhere and although it took a while to build it was well worthwhile.
THE BLACKOUT by Jonathan Moore
This vied with Invitation to be my favourite story in the book and would make an excellent horror movie. I can't say much about it without spoiling it but I'm certainly looking forward to reading more of the authors works in the future.
VARIATIONS ON A THEME FROM SEINFELD by Peter Straub
Peter Straub is a master of his genre and this was no exception to that rule.
TORN by Lee Thomas
Another one I enjoyed quite a lot but it could have rambled a little less, certainly worth the time it takes to read it though. Also the longest story in the book and more a novella than short story.
INVITATION TO THE GAME by Kelley Armstrong
Of course I love Kelley Armstrong she is one of my absolute favourite authors so it was no surprise that I was won over by this short story, I suspected foul play at the beginning but what I expected was completely different from the reality and this was probably my favourite story in the book. It was horrifying without needing to use gore or really any form of supernatural spooks.
SUMMER OF ’77 by Stewart O’Nan
This was very short, and not one of my favourites it rather rambled on a bit and just was too disjointed for me to fully enjoy it.
THE DEAD YEARS by Taylor Grant
I really enjoyed this one! The ending came out of nowhere and although it took a while to build it was well worthwhile.
THE BLACKOUT by Jonathan Moore
This vied with Invitation to be my favourite story in the book and would make an excellent horror movie. I can't say much about it without spoiling it but I'm certainly looking forward to reading more of the authors works in the future.
VARIATIONS ON A THEME FROM SEINFELD by Peter Straub
Peter Straub is a master of his genre and this was no exception to that rule.
TORN by Lee Thomas
Another one I enjoyed quite a lot but it could have rambled a little less, certainly worth the time it takes to read it though. Also the longest story in the book and more a novella than short story.
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