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jiggityjog's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? No
2.0
This was a poorly executed horror anthology that highlights the skill that is required to write good short horror. There were definitely some standout good stories in here but there are a number written by folks need to work on their short horror writing a lot more to be worthy of being anthologized. I read a good deal of horror anthologies so I know that I am not going to be wowed by every story in an anthology but, damn, this book just made me angry with how haphazardly good quality work was thrown in with utter garbage. Maybe after I calm down a bit, I’ll highlight the ones that I thought were worthy of acclaim but, for now, I’m just glad to be done with this book.
socratariat's review
dark
mysterious
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? No
3.0
snood's review
3.0
This collection is all over the place in terms of quality, especially towards the end.
After some good but not spectacular stories, we’re hit with Dreamland, an incredibly interesting and creepy story that was my favorite in the whole book.
This is immediately followed up by Meat Maker, an incomprehensible slog of a story about a cop running people over while vaguely referring to something he’s trying to remember. The nonstop senseless slaughter of characters given two-sentence introductions before being reduced to gore sails over the realm of the distasteful or shocking and lands squarely in tedious and annoying. There’s no climactic reveal of what any of it means, it just ends with the protagonist being hit by a train and derailing it, killing even more people as if the reader even cares at that point.
Overall, a pretty good collection of horror stories. I’d recommend checking it out. Skip out on Meat Maker though.
After some good but not spectacular stories, we’re hit with Dreamland, an incredibly interesting and creepy story that was my favorite in the whole book.
This is immediately followed up by Meat Maker, an incomprehensible slog of a story about a cop running people over while vaguely referring to something he’s trying to remember. The nonstop senseless slaughter of characters given two-sentence introductions before being reduced to gore sails over the realm of the distasteful or shocking and lands squarely in tedious and annoying. There’s no climactic reveal of what any of it means, it just ends with the protagonist being hit by a train and derailing it, killing even more people as if the reader even cares at that point.
Overall, a pretty good collection of horror stories. I’d recommend checking it out. Skip out on Meat Maker though.
lindseyfoltyn's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
woowottreads's review
4.0
A surprisingly solid anthology. Not every story is perfect; there are a couple of lackluster ones. But on the whole, some nice creeps, some lovely writing, some pleasant disturbances. Particularly of note are the tales by Dana Stevens, Steve Faber, Ethan Hawke (my first exposure to his writing), and--one of my favourites--Sarah Langan, whom I always love. Since I've watchedplenty of Blumhouse flims, I figured I should look at the anthology. And the anthology was a delight.
thegreatergatsby's review
1.0
Most of these stories made little to no sense and instead of the promise of some good spooky tales I basically wasted my time with the lamest try-hard scary stories I've ever come across. SOOOO disappointed.
juliacg7's review
4.0
Some of these short stories were kind of boring , but others grabbed on to me with such intrigue I had to finish them. Good collection of works
mar_reads's review
so i technically only read about 5 pages of this because i solely got it out from the library to read ethan hawkes short story and um.. wow