cj_jones's review

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4.0

Another well above average collection of short stories from the people who bring you the Mad Scientists' Journal, this one about what happens after the world ends. As the title evocatively suggests. It's not all Mad Max in there--the world ends in a lot of creative ways. There's a light at the end of the tunnel, but it's probably just the flash from somebody's phone cam.

edebell's review

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5.0

If you know me, and know that I can't normally read horror, you might question why I would pick up a collection of apocalypse stories. I don't know. It sounded great, and I know that this publisher tends to highlight humor, art, and wit. So I tried it. And I couldn't stop reading.

I'm so glad that I read this. Even with my extraordinary low tolerance for horror, there were only a handful of places where I was cringing. (And it does amp up a bit near the end.)

So I guess if you're like me, proceed with caution. There is a level of terror and gore. If you're not like me, it's actually very light horror.

My bottom line is - I loved how they took the common theme of "end of world short fiction" and...celebrated the world out of it. The stories are quality throughout the whole book. They are creative. They are trippy and creepy and amazing. It was...satisfying.

If this theme appeals to you and you've like to see really creative takes on an old theme, you will not be disappointed.

(Note: I did finish reading it right before the pandemic, so I don't know how that experience would change now? I think most of us were already feeling a way even then.)

samanthabryant's review

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5.0

So proud to have my short story "Smoke Scream" included in such a great collection! Selfies from the End of the World is a diverse group of stories, narrated by characters from many walks of life, locations, situations, and ages. From the teenage narrator of Nicole Tanquary's Sounds of Silence a story about the complicated emotions of surviving when people you love don't to the old man telling Sylvia Heike's Winter in My Bones who tries to meet his end with dignity, each story elicited strong emotion in me as a reader.

"Happy at the End" by Matthew R. Davis and "The Adventures of Zombiegirl" by Garrett Croker both broke my heart for different reasons. "The Last Real Man" by Nathan Crowder was one of my favorites for the way the story changed as I read it, becoming something quite different than I thought it was going to be. For views of what humanity falls and aspires to when the world falls apart, you can't do better than this anthology.
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