Scan barcode
A review by aaronj21
Cold, Black, and Infinite by Todd Keisling
5.0
Cold, Black, & Infinite was a terrifying, mesmerizing assortment bite sized terrors without a single dud in the line up.
Short story collections, especially in the horror genre, are something of a favorite of mine at this point, I've read several such collections but this one had a little something extra that set it apart. I was continually impressed with just how good these stories were; the ideas were extremely clever, the execution was adept, and the writing style was equal parts evocative and chilling. Usually in short story collections I'll find there are one or two tales I don't really connect with or flat out don't like. However, this was not the case here. Sure, I had favorites, (Y2K, The Happytown Yuletide Massacre, and Annie's Heart is a Haunted House) but every single story was a pleasure to read, a twisted, chilling little tale to enjoy, oozing with style and atmosphere. This book reminded me of being a kid and coming across my first Goosebumps, or Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark in the school library, each story was that good and that frightening.
I'd recommend this to just about anyone who likes horror fiction or short stories, it's an exemplary model of both. There are some pretty heavy topics and themes however, but the author has kindly added a list of content warnings in the back of the book for readers who may want to use it.
Short story collections, especially in the horror genre, are something of a favorite of mine at this point, I've read several such collections but this one had a little something extra that set it apart. I was continually impressed with just how good these stories were; the ideas were extremely clever, the execution was adept, and the writing style was equal parts evocative and chilling. Usually in short story collections I'll find there are one or two tales I don't really connect with or flat out don't like. However, this was not the case here. Sure, I had favorites, (Y2K, The Happytown Yuletide Massacre, and Annie's Heart is a Haunted House) but every single story was a pleasure to read, a twisted, chilling little tale to enjoy, oozing with style and atmosphere. This book reminded me of being a kid and coming across my first Goosebumps, or Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark in the school library, each story was that good and that frightening.
I'd recommend this to just about anyone who likes horror fiction or short stories, it's an exemplary model of both. There are some pretty heavy topics and themes however, but the author has kindly added a list of content warnings in the back of the book for readers who may want to use it.