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nerdontheloose's review against another edition
4.0
This is an anthology of 20 horror shorts, including some famous names too. I’m a sucker for short stories and this one lived quite up to the expectations. What I really liked was how out of the box some of these ideas were, very original and a treat to read, but most of them dealing with the ideas of the end of the world and apocalypse, making it a perfect read for this year, lol.
Some of these were really great, others not so much and I kinda struggled with them, but that said, every story tops the crazy, out of the box ideas. Among others, my absolute favorites were Swanskin by Allison Littewood, It doesn’t feel right by Michael Marshall Smith, Gave by Michael Bailey, Research by Tim Lebbon, and Branch line by Paul Finch.
Totally recommended if you like crazy, and mind bending horror short stories.
Some of these were really great, others not so much and I kinda struggled with them, but that said, every story tops the crazy, out of the box ideas. Among others, my absolute favorites were Swanskin by Allison Littewood, It doesn’t feel right by Michael Marshall Smith, Gave by Michael Bailey, Research by Tim Lebbon, and Branch line by Paul Finch.
Totally recommended if you like crazy, and mind bending horror short stories.
almo's review against another edition
4.0
Solid anthology of 20 horror stories. All kinds of subgenres are represented, so there's something in it for everyone. The average of all my individual ratings is 3.05 stars, but I'm adding half a bonus star because some of the stories in this collection will really stick with me. I love discovering new authors throughout anthologies. Catriona Ward, Elana Gomel and Robert Shearman are now high on my list of authors to try out.
My individual ratings and scribblings:
Butterfly Island by C.J. Tudor
3.5 stars. Good atmosphere/suspense. Curious about the rest of the story. Abrupt ending, but fitting. Genuine horror elements.
Research by Tim Lebbon
3 stars. Psychological horror. Weird and creepy people. Never fully trust your neighbours/aquantainces.
Swanskin by Alison Littlewood
3 stars. Like a creepy fairytale. Trigger warning: animal cruelty.
That's The Spirit by Sarah Lotz
2 stars. Wtf is up with the open ending? Could've just been a regular and boring story. Makes you guess but i don't like having to guess.
Gave by Michael Bailey
2 stars. An idea and something with counting things like an autistic rapstar. The concept of depopulation was interesting but not enough to make this one shine for me
Wherever you look by Ramsey Campbell
2 stars. Thought this was going to be a 1 Star rating. I couldn't get into the story due to the writing style of which the use of present tense was my main annoyance.. One bonus star for the ending.
Same Time Next Year by Angela Slatter
2.5 stars. Ghost story. Ended too quick to really leave an impression.
Mine Seven by Elana Gomel
4 stars. Nordic darkness combined with supernatural gore. Reminded me of 30 days Of Night, a movie I thoroughly enjoyed back in the day. This story makes me want to watch it again.
It Doesn't Feel Right by Michael Marshall Smith
3 stars. Kids from hell. Being a mother of a 3-year old with regular temper tantrums, I GET the horror of this story.
Creeping Ivy by Laura Purcell
3.5 stars. Madman or haunted? Loving the gothic atmosphere the manor brings. The first couple of pages were hard for me to get into, but it paid off nicely in the end.
Last Rights For The Fourth World by Rick Cross
1 star. I really could not connect with this story. The writing style, with all its technical and military terms, was a chore to get through. The use of 'foreign' language overdone. I didn't even understand the plot due to this white noise.
We All Come Home by Simon Bestwick
4 stars. Even though it's nothing new/lacks originality, I enjoyed this one.Creeptastic.
The Importance Of Oral Hygene by Robert Shearman
4 stars. The first 2 pages started out crappy with me thinking where the hell the editor had been at that point. After that, shit got awesome and wtf just happened?!
Bokeh by Thana Niveau
3 stars. Creepy girl story. Entertaining enough and will definitely make me look differently at Bokeh filters from now on.
Murder Board by Grady Hendrix
4 stars. At first, I got distracted by some typos. But this is an ARC, so I shouldn't complain too much. The story unfolded from a sigh to a whirlwind. Awesome.
Alice's Rebellion by John Langan
1.5/2 stars. The umpteenth reimagining of Alice in Wonderland. There's 'inspired by' and just copying shit and calling it your own. This was too much copying for me. Not a nice and fresh story. 0.5 bonus stars for the bloody parts.
The Mirror House by Jonathan Robbins Leon
3.5 stars. In the beginning, it gave me flashbacks to the first season of Stranger things and the Silent Hill movie. Rich storytelling that could've gone anywhere. But I meh-ed at how the ending turned out.
The Naughty Step by Stephen Volk
2.5 stars. Im not even entirely sure what happened here. The end made me feel like shit.
A Hotel In Germany by Catriona Ward
5 stars. I want more of this world. Totally unexpected pleasure treasure.
Branch Line by Paul Finch
3 stars. Good suspense. Open mystery which isnt bad but doesn't work well for me personally. There's already too much in life we dont know shit about. I like it when my stories are clean cut, leaving no guessing around. Still enjoyed it, though.
Thank you FLAME TREE PRESS for providing me with an ARC via Netgalley
My individual ratings and scribblings:
Butterfly Island by C.J. Tudor
3.5 stars. Good atmosphere/suspense. Curious about the rest of the story. Abrupt ending, but fitting. Genuine horror elements.
Research by Tim Lebbon
3 stars. Psychological horror. Weird and creepy people. Never fully trust your neighbours/aquantainces.
Swanskin by Alison Littlewood
3 stars. Like a creepy fairytale. Trigger warning: animal cruelty.
That's The Spirit by Sarah Lotz
2 stars. Wtf is up with the open ending? Could've just been a regular and boring story. Makes you guess but i don't like having to guess.
Gave by Michael Bailey
2 stars. An idea and something with counting things like an autistic rapstar. The concept of depopulation was interesting but not enough to make this one shine for me
Wherever you look by Ramsey Campbell
2 stars. Thought this was going to be a 1 Star rating. I couldn't get into the story due to the writing style of which the use of present tense was my main annoyance.. One bonus star for the ending.
Same Time Next Year by Angela Slatter
2.5 stars. Ghost story. Ended too quick to really leave an impression.
Mine Seven by Elana Gomel
4 stars. Nordic darkness combined with supernatural gore. Reminded me of 30 days Of Night, a movie I thoroughly enjoyed back in the day. This story makes me want to watch it again.
It Doesn't Feel Right by Michael Marshall Smith
3 stars. Kids from hell. Being a mother of a 3-year old with regular temper tantrums, I GET the horror of this story.
Creeping Ivy by Laura Purcell
3.5 stars. Madman or haunted? Loving the gothic atmosphere the manor brings. The first couple of pages were hard for me to get into, but it paid off nicely in the end.
Last Rights For The Fourth World by Rick Cross
1 star. I really could not connect with this story. The writing style, with all its technical and military terms, was a chore to get through. The use of 'foreign' language overdone. I didn't even understand the plot due to this white noise.
We All Come Home by Simon Bestwick
4 stars. Even though it's nothing new/lacks originality, I enjoyed this one.Creeptastic.
The Importance Of Oral Hygene by Robert Shearman
4 stars. The first 2 pages started out crappy with me thinking where the hell the editor had been at that point. After that, shit got awesome and wtf just happened?!
Bokeh by Thana Niveau
3 stars. Creepy girl story. Entertaining enough and will definitely make me look differently at Bokeh filters from now on.
Murder Board by Grady Hendrix
4 stars. At first, I got distracted by some typos. But this is an ARC, so I shouldn't complain too much. The story unfolded from a sigh to a whirlwind. Awesome.
Alice's Rebellion by John Langan
1.5/2 stars. The umpteenth reimagining of Alice in Wonderland. There's 'inspired by' and just copying shit and calling it your own. This was too much copying for me. Not a nice and fresh story. 0.5 bonus stars for the bloody parts.
The Mirror House by Jonathan Robbins Leon
3.5 stars. In the beginning, it gave me flashbacks to the first season of Stranger things and the Silent Hill movie. Rich storytelling that could've gone anywhere. But I meh-ed at how the ending turned out.
The Naughty Step by Stephen Volk
2.5 stars. Im not even entirely sure what happened here. The end made me feel like shit.
A Hotel In Germany by Catriona Ward
5 stars. I want more of this world. Totally unexpected pleasure treasure.
Branch Line by Paul Finch
3 stars. Good suspense. Open mystery which isnt bad but doesn't work well for me personally. There's already too much in life we dont know shit about. I like it when my stories are clean cut, leaving no guessing around. Still enjoyed it, though.
Thank you FLAME TREE PRESS for providing me with an ARC via Netgalley
neha_s's review against another edition
3.0
A collection of 20 short horror stories - After Sundown, is written by some of the great names in the horror genres! As is the case with most of anthologies, it was all over the place for me. None of the story was mind blowing, but I did like few of them. Few of my favourites were Creeping Ivy, It doesn't feel right, The Importance of Oral Hygiene & Murder Box. The rest were ether underdeveloped or not good at all.
Overall, It was underwhelming but there were few hidden gems and few I would prefer to be written as full book rather than a short story.
2.75 (round off 3 Stars)
***Got the e-arc from Netgalley for an honest review***
Overall, It was underwhelming but there were few hidden gems and few I would prefer to be written as full book rather than a short story.
2.75 (round off 3 Stars)
***Got the e-arc from Netgalley for an honest review***
undertheradarbooks_'s review against another edition
3.0
In this horror anthology, collected by Mark Morris, the stories range from ok to great!
Some of the standouts were:
THE IMPORTANCE OF ORAL HYGIENE
RESEARCH
&
GAVE
I would read a full length novel of RESEARCH and thought the other two were perfectly constructed as short stories.
There were more than a few letdowns including BUTTERFLY ISLAND, which I expected more of and I didn’t really care for a lot of the sci fi blends.
Overall, a great collection to add to your shelf. Enough for everyone to go around.
Thanks to Netgalley and Flame Tree Press for this advanced copy!
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Some of the standouts were:
THE IMPORTANCE OF ORAL HYGIENE
RESEARCH
&
GAVE
I would read a full length novel of RESEARCH and thought the other two were perfectly constructed as short stories.
There were more than a few letdowns including BUTTERFLY ISLAND, which I expected more of and I didn’t really care for a lot of the sci fi blends.
Overall, a great collection to add to your shelf. Enough for everyone to go around.
Thanks to Netgalley and Flame Tree Press for this advanced copy!
⭐️⭐️⭐️
barb4ry1's review against another edition
4.0
With this anthology, Morris proves he has an eye for quality and his finger on the pulse of the horror genre. He has assembled a stellar line-up of some of the top names in the genre, as well as four new authors. After Sundown contains 20 original horror stories. While, officially, there's no common theme to the stories, I've found one. Most of them are gripping from the get-go.
I especially liked the opening story Butterfly Island by C.J. Tudor – it's fast, furious, and uncompromising. Set in the near future, it follows a rag-tag group of survivors looking for a haven on a seemingly deserted island. It's a horror anthology so it won't come as a surprise that things go wrong and people end up being blown up, sacrificed, and eaten. All in 19 pages! I loved the idea and the execution. And I want more.
Most of the stories are good reads in a disturbing way. Some dive deep into terror, some contain the supernatural and uncanny to further raise the stakes. Take Grady Hendrix, for example. In Murder Board, he plays with the Ouija Board theme. What if the board messes with people sitting over it and trying to send a subconscious message to the other? Expect unexpected.
Other standouts for me included Sarah Lotz’s That's The Spirit about a fake psychic who may not be so fake after all, and Ramsey Campbell’s creepy Wherever You Look that defies categorization.
After Sundown is a fine horror anthology. Filled with spine-chilling stories, it'll make your heart race nonstop. It proves horror has no boundaries. You can find it in both supernatural and non-supernatural stories. Highly recommended.
ARC through NetGalley
I especially liked the opening story Butterfly Island by C.J. Tudor – it's fast, furious, and uncompromising. Set in the near future, it follows a rag-tag group of survivors looking for a haven on a seemingly deserted island. It's a horror anthology so it won't come as a surprise that things go wrong and people end up being blown up, sacrificed, and eaten. All in 19 pages! I loved the idea and the execution. And I want more.
Most of the stories are good reads in a disturbing way. Some dive deep into terror, some contain the supernatural and uncanny to further raise the stakes. Take Grady Hendrix, for example. In Murder Board, he plays with the Ouija Board theme. What if the board messes with people sitting over it and trying to send a subconscious message to the other? Expect unexpected.
Other standouts for me included Sarah Lotz’s That's The Spirit about a fake psychic who may not be so fake after all, and Ramsey Campbell’s creepy Wherever You Look that defies categorization.
After Sundown is a fine horror anthology. Filled with spine-chilling stories, it'll make your heart race nonstop. It proves horror has no boundaries. You can find it in both supernatural and non-supernatural stories. Highly recommended.
ARC through NetGalley
emilykate89's review against another edition
4.0
This was such an engaging collection of short stories! There was so much originality and talent on display, but I think my two favourite stories of all were "It Doesn't Feel Right" by Michael Marshall Smith and "Branch Line" by Paul Finch. "It Doesn't Feel Right" had such a wonderful way of mining the monotony of raising small children for horror, and "Branch Line" was so evocative of its time and place (specifically, the time and place my parents would have been young in). Highly recommended - I can't wait for the next collection to be released.
curiosityboughtthebook's review
3.0
2.5 stars (rounded up for Goodreads)
I have to start out by saying that I usually have no problem with anthologies. I know that the point of them is that all stories are unique and have nothing in common with each other. And I’m usually fine with that, but in this case it just didn’t work for me.
I did like some of the stories and I will point them out in a minute, but I felt myself skimming through a lot of the shorts and just couldn’t stay interested. My favorite story out of them all was Swanskin (Alison Littlewood), closely followed by Butterfly Island (CJ Tudor), and finally The Importance of Oral Hygiene (Robert Shearman). The rest of them just didn’t impress me very much to be honest.
I have to start out by saying that I usually have no problem with anthologies. I know that the point of them is that all stories are unique and have nothing in common with each other. And I’m usually fine with that, but in this case it just didn’t work for me.
I did like some of the stories and I will point them out in a minute, but I felt myself skimming through a lot of the shorts and just couldn’t stay interested. My favorite story out of them all was Swanskin (Alison Littlewood), closely followed by Butterfly Island (CJ Tudor), and finally The Importance of Oral Hygiene (Robert Shearman). The rest of them just didn’t impress me very much to be honest.
teaandtales1's review against another edition
5.0
This was a fantastic horror anthology that I happened to get for my Nook because it went on sale for a dollar. I knew nothing about it beforehand, figured if it was bad I'd only be out a buck, and had read a few of the authors before. It was such a pleasant surprise!
Despite having many different authors and styles, Mark Morris assembled a great anthology. I enjoyed pretty much every story and some have definitely led me to search out more works by their authors.
My favorites were:
Butterfly Island by CJ Tudor
Taking place in a post apocalyptic world, a small group sets out to an island they hope is uninhabited and encounter all sorts of things, including killer butterflies.
Mine Seven by Elana Gomel
A young couple travel to see the Northern Lights and discover that melting icebergs isn't just a sign of global warming, but also unleashes a long-frozen horror.
The Importance of Oral Hygiene by Robert Shearman
A woman tries to write a letter to her husband's mistress to warn her about impending danger.
The Mirror House by Jonathan Robbins Leon
A woman discovers an alternate mirror universe inside her pantry one night.
Research by Tim Lebbon
A horror author is kidnapped and locked in a basement as an "experiment" by neighbors to see if the darkness in his stories lives in the man.
It Doesn't Feel Right by Michael Marshall Smith
Probably the creepiest of these stories - told from the perspective of a father who starts to realize he might not be the only one in the neighborhood dealing with a child who's socks bring upon a frantic tantrum of 'it doesn't feel right!'
There were so many good ones in here it was difficult to pick my favorites. Ironically the only story I didn't really take to was by John Langan, who I normally love reading.
Despite having many different authors and styles, Mark Morris assembled a great anthology. I enjoyed pretty much every story and some have definitely led me to search out more works by their authors.
My favorites were:
Butterfly Island by CJ Tudor
Taking place in a post apocalyptic world, a small group sets out to an island they hope is uninhabited and encounter all sorts of things, including killer butterflies.
Mine Seven by Elana Gomel
A young couple travel to see the Northern Lights and discover that melting icebergs isn't just a sign of global warming, but also unleashes a long-frozen horror.
The Importance of Oral Hygiene by Robert Shearman
A woman tries to write a letter to her husband's mistress to warn her about impending danger.
The Mirror House by Jonathan Robbins Leon
A woman discovers an alternate mirror universe inside her pantry one night.
Research by Tim Lebbon
A horror author is kidnapped and locked in a basement as an "experiment" by neighbors to see if the darkness in his stories lives in the man.
It Doesn't Feel Right by Michael Marshall Smith
Probably the creepiest of these stories - told from the perspective of a father who starts to realize he might not be the only one in the neighborhood dealing with a child who's socks bring upon a frantic tantrum of 'it doesn't feel right!'
There were so many good ones in here it was difficult to pick my favorites. Ironically the only story I didn't really take to was by John Langan, who I normally love reading.
elles_shelves's review against another edition
4.0
Many thanks to NetGalley and Flame Tree Press for allowing me to read this advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased review. After Sundown is a collection of short stories published by Flame Tree Press, which happens to be one of my favorite publishers to find excellent new horror novels. This is an anthology that features 20 horror short stories -- 16 are from established authors and 4 are the result of a call for open submissions to find new talent. Among those 20 authors are some superstars including a couple of personal favorites -- Ramsey Campbell and Grady Hendrix. Overall,m I enjoyed this collection. Some of the stories were excellent and felt very fleshed out and complete. A few felt like they began as an idea for a full length novel that ultimately didn't go anywhere, so those stories felt very incomplete and left me wanting more. I did like variety of stories representing different sub-genres in the horror world. The best stories were Swanskin by Alison Littlewood, We All Come Home by Simon Bestwick, Bokeh by Thana Niveau, Murder Board by Grady Hendrix, Alice's Rebellion by John Langan, The Mirror House by Jonathan Robbins Leon, and Branch Line by Paul Finch. A couple of the stories were good, but just didn't feel complete -- more like a first chapter to a full length novel than a short story. Overall, I felt it was a solid and entertaining collection that I devoured in one evening. I rate the collection as a whole 4 stars.
jayrothermel's review against another edition
3.0
One of the better recent original fiction anthologies.
http://jayrothermel.blogspot.com/2021/11/a-review-of-after-sundown-edited-by.html
http://jayrothermel.blogspot.com/2021/11/a-review-of-after-sundown-edited-by.html