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psalmcat's review
4.0
There are some really excellent stories in here. None of them particularly terrified me, but there's definitely some ooshy stuff as well as some generally creepy and totally weird stuff. The novella at the end by the author of [b:The Exorcist|179780|The Exorcist|William Peter Blatty|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1375168676s/179780.jpg|1945267] was interesting. I mean, I got the point right away, but it was interesting to see it all come together.
Despite it taking OVER TWO MONTHS to finish--it wasn't all that deep, but it's been a nutso two months!--I can totally recommend this.
Despite it taking OVER TWO MONTHS to finish--it wasn't all that deep, but it's been a nutso two months!--I can totally recommend this.
mpod's review
3.0
It's very hard to rate this. Some stories were 5-star quality, some I didn't like much at all. Also, having several stories that pushed the 50 page mark (the last is actually 100 pages), makes this book an occasional slog. I will say, if you find yourself disliking any of the stories after the first five pages, you can safely skip them and not feel like you've lost out on something - your opinion likely wouldn't have changed by the end.
The stand-out stories (ones I would read again):
Amerikanski Dead at the Moscow Morgue (Kim Newman): A good opener. Atmospheric, well-written with a few touches of dark humor that work so well in horror.
The Owl and the Pussycat (Thomas M. Disch): Great length for the concept. Gets the job done and doesn't drag anything out.
Itinerary (Tim Powers): A bit confusing, but intriguing and unsettling and worth reading twice.
The Entertainment (Ramsey Campbell): Sometimes Campbell loses me and I have no idea what is going on or how to visualize it. This, though, was so wonderfully creepy and the confusion/"what the hell" aspect added to my unease instead of distracting.
ICU (Edward Lee): Wicked and nasty and unapologetic; very Tales From the Crypt.
Rio Grande Gothic (David Morrell): Of the longer stories in the book, this was by far my favorite. Engaging and very clearly written. That may sound like an odd compliment, but the other longer stories were heavy on psychological aspects (is it real? is it a dream? have they been dead the whole time? etc etc) and it was a relief to get a straightforward plot.
Angie (Ed Gorman): I did not see where the author was going with this until he wanted me to know. My favorite story of the book. Hilarious and dark.
The Book of Irrational Numbers (Michael Marshall Smith): A few parts of this took me entirely off guard. The voice of the narrator was well-done. Not a knock-out as far as plot goes, but I really liked the execution.
The stand-out stories (ones I would read again):
Amerikanski Dead at the Moscow Morgue (Kim Newman): A good opener. Atmospheric, well-written with a few touches of dark humor that work so well in horror.
The Owl and the Pussycat (Thomas M. Disch): Great length for the concept. Gets the job done and doesn't drag anything out.
Itinerary (Tim Powers): A bit confusing, but intriguing and unsettling and worth reading twice.
The Entertainment (Ramsey Campbell): Sometimes Campbell loses me and I have no idea what is going on or how to visualize it. This, though, was so wonderfully creepy and the confusion/"what the hell" aspect added to my unease instead of distracting.
ICU (Edward Lee): Wicked and nasty and unapologetic; very Tales From the Crypt.
Rio Grande Gothic (David Morrell): Of the longer stories in the book, this was by far my favorite. Engaging and very clearly written. That may sound like an odd compliment, but the other longer stories were heavy on psychological aspects (is it real? is it a dream? have they been dead the whole time? etc etc) and it was a relief to get a straightforward plot.
Angie (Ed Gorman): I did not see where the author was going with this until he wanted me to know. My favorite story of the book. Hilarious and dark.
The Book of Irrational Numbers (Michael Marshall Smith): A few parts of this took me entirely off guard. The voice of the narrator was well-done. Not a knock-out as far as plot goes, but I really liked the execution.
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