Scan barcode
A review by thomaswjoyce
Tales from the Crust: An Anthology of Pizza Horror by T. Fox Dunham, Pearse Anderson, Michael Paul Gonzalez, Craig Wallwork, Jessica McHugh, Amanda Hard, Brian Evenson, Tony McMillen, Rob Hart, Izzy Lee, Nancy Brewka-Clark, Emma Alice Johnson, Tim Lieder, Matthew M. Bartlett, Nick Kolakowski, Steve Gillies, James Newman, Cody Goodfellow, Sheri White, Betty Rocksteady, Matthew King, Nathan Rabin, David James Keaton, Evan Dicken, Desmond Reddick, Michael Allen Rose, Max Booth III, Joshua Chaplinsky, Wallace Williamson, Andrew Hilbert
5.0
If you follow either of the co-editors on social media, or are yourself a budding short story author, you may well have seen the origin of this seemingly-absurd concept play out online. Max Booth III and Lori Michelle are no strangers to publishing anthologies consisting of a strong line-up of contributors (see 2016’s Lost Signals and 2018’s Lost Films). They are also no strangers to taking on a challenging concept. So, it came as no surprise when they announced an open call for submissions for a new anthology, the only caveat being that the subject had to be ‘pizza horror’. To say editors Keaton and Booth’s unique concept had an effect on small press short story magazines and anthologies would be an understatement; it was suddenly not uncommon to see open calls include the statement ‘NO PIZZA STORIES!’. The real question was: could they successfully deliver an anthology containing stories exclusively about pizza?
To answer the question, Keaton and Booth absolutely delivered an anthology about pizza horror. And it is an overwhelming success. There are stories of cosmic horror, body horror, action, humour, bizarro, surrealism, science-fiction, stories masquerading as non-fiction, and even a menu straight from the number one pizzeria in hell. Therein lies one of the strengths of the anthology; variety. There are so many different flavours of horror available that it will be nigh on impossible for a reader not to find something to enjoy. And the strong line-up of storytellers not only guarantees the quality of the work within, but also demonstrates the ability of the editors and publishers to appeal to the very best, even with an idea as seemingly absurd as ‘pizza horror’. Pull up a stool, grab a delicious slice of pizza horror, and enjoy the ride.
To answer the question, Keaton and Booth absolutely delivered an anthology about pizza horror. And it is an overwhelming success. There are stories of cosmic horror, body horror, action, humour, bizarro, surrealism, science-fiction, stories masquerading as non-fiction, and even a menu straight from the number one pizzeria in hell. Therein lies one of the strengths of the anthology; variety. There are so many different flavours of horror available that it will be nigh on impossible for a reader not to find something to enjoy. And the strong line-up of storytellers not only guarantees the quality of the work within, but also demonstrates the ability of the editors and publishers to appeal to the very best, even with an idea as seemingly absurd as ‘pizza horror’. Pull up a stool, grab a delicious slice of pizza horror, and enjoy the ride.