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A review by lauriereadslohf
In Darkness, Delight: Creatures of the Night by Evans Light, Ray Garton, Andrew Lennon
4.0
Short story collections almost always contain a few duds for me. It’s not the fault of the story (usually) but often a matter of taste. When you toss this many writers together one of them is bound to leave me wishing I had spent my time trimming the cat's nails or something but surprisingly that wasn’t the case here. I didn’t despise any of them and found most of them imaginative and entertaining, a few were sad making, several were humorous, and more than a few made my skin crawl. It helps that I’m a fan of monsters, creatures and other-worldly beasties and there were all kinds of them here. Beautiful monsters, ancient monsters, human monsters, gross-nasty monsters. If you like creature features in small doses, this one is for you!
I won’t review them all because that is exhausting for everyone but here are some of my favorites:
Human Touch by Glenn Rolfe
Rosie picks up a pathetic looking strange creature and brings it home because why wouldn’t she?! I mean, have a heart, will ya? The poor thing, though scraggly and strange, was wounded and helpless. Or so she thought! Mayhem soon ensues. Beautiful, gory mayhem which is the best kind of mayhem.
White Rabbit by Tim Curran
Ella awakens to find a 2’ stuffed rabbit in her home that she doesn’t remember putting there. Things only get weirder from there. This story was unnerving and disconcerting and has a horrifying conclusion. The best kind, am I right?
Scales by Christopher Motz
I’m a fan of body horror. Don’t ask me to explain it because I cannot. Body horror is always ewww-ick but I blame my enduring love for grossness on that cursed but still kinda sexy Jeff Goldblum Brundlefly and the twisted brothers in Dead Ringers. Nothing really is too gross for me (unless it involves poo and then I’m out). Scales starts out innocently enough, like they all do, with a fellow who has a relentlessly itchy toe. But it soon takes a turn and becomes incredibly disgusting and that’s why I loved it.
River of Nine Tails by Mark Cassell
This was an adventure tale filled with some gory fun and there were even some tentacles! You can’t ever go wrong with added tentacles if you ask me.
Gertrude by Evans Light
Gertrude made me laugh and for that it gets all the points. I probably wasn’t supposed to laugh but I am who I am and the ending was freaking perfect.
A Survivor by Ray Garton
Holy hell, trust me on this, if you are ever bitten by some strange animal “creature” that walks on more than four legs do yourself a favor and hightail it to the ER. Betty’s life begins to go to absolute poo after Ed comes home with a bite on his leg. Ed is too manly-man to see a doctor and Betty must use all of her survivor instincts to keep it together. Yikes, this story looks deeply into some dark corners and it does not flinch. It’s a wee bit shocking and that’s all I’m saying.
The Ugly Tree by Gregor Xane
Xane writes the weirdest, disturbing little stories that are beautifully filled with grotesque and horrifying images that’ll linger. The Ugly Tree is no exception and was one of my favorites.
Father by Richard Chizmar is pitch dark and potent and I loved it to pieces.
The Green Man of Freetown by Curtis M. Lawson
Damn this one was horrific and sad but worth the cost of admission. You must read it.
The Worms Turn by Frank Oreto Is a heartwarming tale about a lonely lady and the creature who lives across the way. It takes away all of the sadness left lingering after reading the previous story. It’ll warm even the coldest of hearts and leave you feeling all gooey and you’ll love it, you’ve gotta trust me on this, lol.
The Last Thing You Want to Be by Jeff Strand
I love Jeff Strand’s writing. HIs unapologetic sarcasm is in fine form here and I’m here for the sarcasm, always. A guy who likes to kill women because he doesn't like them has his latest victim in the trunk. But things go awry when he discovers she has some surprises in store for his murdering ass! This was such fun and I bet you’ll think so too if you’re a weirdo like me and I know you are if you’ve managed to read this far, haha!
Okay so apparently “some of my favorites” turned out to be most of the stories in the book. Oops. Anyhow, you can’t go wrong with this collection and I think all of you horror fans should give it a read because it is well-curated and it will take your mind off of whatever ails you for a little while and that never hurts anyone.
I won’t review them all because that is exhausting for everyone but here are some of my favorites:
Human Touch by Glenn Rolfe
Rosie picks up a pathetic looking strange creature and brings it home because why wouldn’t she?! I mean, have a heart, will ya? The poor thing, though scraggly and strange, was wounded and helpless. Or so she thought! Mayhem soon ensues. Beautiful, gory mayhem which is the best kind of mayhem.
White Rabbit by Tim Curran
Ella awakens to find a 2’ stuffed rabbit in her home that she doesn’t remember putting there. Things only get weirder from there. This story was unnerving and disconcerting and has a horrifying conclusion. The best kind, am I right?
Scales by Christopher Motz
I’m a fan of body horror. Don’t ask me to explain it because I cannot. Body horror is always ewww-ick but I blame my enduring love for grossness on that cursed but still kinda sexy Jeff Goldblum Brundlefly and the twisted brothers in Dead Ringers. Nothing really is too gross for me (unless it involves poo and then I’m out). Scales starts out innocently enough, like they all do, with a fellow who has a relentlessly itchy toe. But it soon takes a turn and becomes incredibly disgusting and that’s why I loved it.
River of Nine Tails by Mark Cassell
This was an adventure tale filled with some gory fun and there were even some tentacles! You can’t ever go wrong with added tentacles if you ask me.
Gertrude by Evans Light
Gertrude made me laugh and for that it gets all the points. I probably wasn’t supposed to laugh but I am who I am and the ending was freaking perfect.
A Survivor by Ray Garton
Holy hell, trust me on this, if you are ever bitten by some strange animal “creature” that walks on more than four legs do yourself a favor and hightail it to the ER. Betty’s life begins to go to absolute poo after Ed comes home with a bite on his leg. Ed is too manly-man to see a doctor and Betty must use all of her survivor instincts to keep it together. Yikes, this story looks deeply into some dark corners and it does not flinch. It’s a wee bit shocking and that’s all I’m saying.
The Ugly Tree by Gregor Xane
Xane writes the weirdest, disturbing little stories that are beautifully filled with grotesque and horrifying images that’ll linger. The Ugly Tree is no exception and was one of my favorites.
Father by Richard Chizmar is pitch dark and potent and I loved it to pieces.
The Green Man of Freetown by Curtis M. Lawson
Damn this one was horrific and sad but worth the cost of admission. You must read it.
The Worms Turn by Frank Oreto Is a heartwarming tale about a lonely lady and the creature who lives across the way. It takes away all of the sadness left lingering after reading the previous story. It’ll warm even the coldest of hearts and leave you feeling all gooey and you’ll love it, you’ve gotta trust me on this, lol.
The Last Thing You Want to Be by Jeff Strand
I love Jeff Strand’s writing. HIs unapologetic sarcasm is in fine form here and I’m here for the sarcasm, always. A guy who likes to kill women because he doesn't like them has his latest victim in the trunk. But things go awry when he discovers she has some surprises in store for his murdering ass! This was such fun and I bet you’ll think so too if you’re a weirdo like me and I know you are if you’ve managed to read this far, haha!
Okay so apparently “some of my favorites” turned out to be most of the stories in the book. Oops. Anyhow, you can’t go wrong with this collection and I think all of you horror fans should give it a read because it is well-curated and it will take your mind off of whatever ails you for a little while and that never hurts anyone.