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A review by leootherland
Nightmare Sky: Stories of Astronomical Horror by Red Lagoe
5.0
I had the great joy of beta reading one of the stories in this book while a friend told me where they were submitting the piece. Given that, I have been following this publication through a lot of its stages. I waited for submissions to close, bounced up and down as my friend watched his email for an expected rejection, and got to shriek with him when it was the acceptance I expected all along he'd get. From there, I waited for edits to run their course formatting to get done. And when I could finally buy a copy of this my fingers went clicky, click, give me a book!!
And after all of that, I have to say this book was worth all that waiting and expecting. I started reading back in November and despite myself, had a hard time not just reading this book through in one sitting. I wanted to take my time and enjoy the experience and too has been worth the wait. I sat and read this book a couple stories at a time on my lunch breaks and let the horror and the tingles in my spine sink in while I digested each piece and they lingered in my mind. The book as a whole is a beautiful tapestry woven of art, prose, and poetry that explores our ancient fear of the dark and the night and all the things that might exist in those enigmatic, empty spaces. Having spent the first years of my childhood in a haunted house where all the things that went bump in the night liked to terrify, I don't scare easily these days, but this book left me pondering, shaking of shivers, and experiencing awe by turns.
As with every anthology, there were a few pieces that stood out to me and still linger in my mind all the way into December after finally finishing up my read. By order of appearance in the book, here are my favorites:
Infinite Focus. This tale of a ghost in the machine, or of living machine trying to understand its existence, was the most spine tingling and haunting piece I found in this book. The emptiness and yet ghostly sensation of a presence constantly there over your shoulder comes through in amazing ways in here.
Light Echoes. The idea of losing your sight, of not being able to see reality, in this way is chilling and utterly perfect.
The Ravenous Empyrean. When we look at the stars, do they look back? And what happens when they decide to devour the small observers? The unavoidable finiteness of life watching its end approach is so beautiful in here.
By The Hand of Sorayya. This one hardly felt like astronomical horror at all, and yet of all the stories contained in this book it lingers because of its shear humanness. By our own hands we paint our destinies.
Moth To A Flame. Insanity. Loneliness. The comfort of those who accept us as who we are. Fabulous.
Her Sisters, The Stars. We make our own prejudices and carry them with us even into the stars, but even in silence the oppressed do not lose memory. As a pagan who feels an affinity for Wicca, I felt this story deeply.
The One Who Rides The Comet. This one is terrifying and made my skin crawl in all the right ways, most of which had nothing to do with the cosmic and everything to do with the human. Those who are meant to love us willing to destroy us for their own twisted desires is all too human and all too real and this tale of choices is one I'll remember for a long time.
Into The Great Wide Open. Sometimes the simple search for understanding can lead to horror for those we don't mean to hurt.
Ya-Yai Makes the Baby Mobiles Spin. If something can be a mixture of horrible and soft, this story is it. To me it felt comforting, to others most likely not, but it is amazing in all cases.
The Rite of the Milk of the Stars. Sometimes the true horror is needing to live with the one you love but can't forgive. The tale will haunt you in all the right ways.
Star of San Luis. Some prophecies are not about salvation. And sometimes that's meant to be.
Gazing. I have a hard time with poetry, but many of the poems in this book resonated with me, and none more than this. What would we give up to view the magnificent?
In the Moment. Do you see the world through the lens of technology to the detriment of sight? Given how much of my own life I spend writing about other people who never existed and hunting for the like and share in the hope people will read what I write, this story hit home.
Don't Look Up. Beta read this story in its infancy and was haunted by it. Now everyone else can be haunted by it too.
Nox Invictus. We will always struggle against the unconquerable night, even to our last ashen moments of fire. This story brought the sting of tears to my eyes and was the perfect way to end this book.
Much love to all the authors and the amazing editor and artist who brought this book to life. It is an amazing ride.
And after all of that, I have to say this book was worth all that waiting and expecting. I started reading back in November and despite myself, had a hard time not just reading this book through in one sitting. I wanted to take my time and enjoy the experience and too has been worth the wait. I sat and read this book a couple stories at a time on my lunch breaks and let the horror and the tingles in my spine sink in while I digested each piece and they lingered in my mind. The book as a whole is a beautiful tapestry woven of art, prose, and poetry that explores our ancient fear of the dark and the night and all the things that might exist in those enigmatic, empty spaces. Having spent the first years of my childhood in a haunted house where all the things that went bump in the night liked to terrify, I don't scare easily these days, but this book left me pondering, shaking of shivers, and experiencing awe by turns.
As with every anthology, there were a few pieces that stood out to me and still linger in my mind all the way into December after finally finishing up my read. By order of appearance in the book, here are my favorites:
Infinite Focus. This tale of a ghost in the machine, or of living machine trying to understand its existence, was the most spine tingling and haunting piece I found in this book. The emptiness and yet ghostly sensation of a presence constantly there over your shoulder comes through in amazing ways in here.
Light Echoes. The idea of losing your sight, of not being able to see reality, in this way is chilling and utterly perfect.
The Ravenous Empyrean. When we look at the stars, do they look back? And what happens when they decide to devour the small observers? The unavoidable finiteness of life watching its end approach is so beautiful in here.
By The Hand of Sorayya. This one hardly felt like astronomical horror at all, and yet of all the stories contained in this book it lingers because of its shear humanness. By our own hands we paint our destinies.
Moth To A Flame. Insanity. Loneliness. The comfort of those who accept us as who we are. Fabulous.
Her Sisters, The Stars. We make our own prejudices and carry them with us even into the stars, but even in silence the oppressed do not lose memory. As a pagan who feels an affinity for Wicca, I felt this story deeply.
The One Who Rides The Comet. This one is terrifying and made my skin crawl in all the right ways, most of which had nothing to do with the cosmic and everything to do with the human. Those who are meant to love us willing to destroy us for their own twisted desires is all too human and all too real and this tale of choices is one I'll remember for a long time.
Into The Great Wide Open. Sometimes the simple search for understanding can lead to horror for those we don't mean to hurt.
Ya-Yai Makes the Baby Mobiles Spin. If something can be a mixture of horrible and soft, this story is it. To me it felt comforting, to others most likely not, but it is amazing in all cases.
The Rite of the Milk of the Stars. Sometimes the true horror is needing to live with the one you love but can't forgive. The tale will haunt you in all the right ways.
Star of San Luis. Some prophecies are not about salvation. And sometimes that's meant to be.
Gazing. I have a hard time with poetry, but many of the poems in this book resonated with me, and none more than this. What would we give up to view the magnificent?
In the Moment. Do you see the world through the lens of technology to the detriment of sight? Given how much of my own life I spend writing about other people who never existed and hunting for the like and share in the hope people will read what I write, this story hit home.
Don't Look Up. Beta read this story in its infancy and was haunted by it. Now everyone else can be haunted by it too.
Nox Invictus. We will always struggle against the unconquerable night, even to our last ashen moments of fire. This story brought the sting of tears to my eyes and was the perfect way to end this book.
Much love to all the authors and the amazing editor and artist who brought this book to life. It is an amazing ride.