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A review by drskspawn
HorrorScope: A Zodiac Anthology by Taylor Pawley, Alex Tilley, Nico Bell, Jessica Huntley, Nina Tolstoy, H. Everend, Loki Dewitt, Greta T. Bates, Kassidy VanGundy, Eric M. Woods, Rachel Shannon, Anthony Taylor, Samuel M. Hallam, Damien Casey, Scott McGregor, Amanda Jaeger, Brooklynn Dean, Aiden E. Messer, Delliom Ellidom, Samantha Arthurs, Kirsten Aucoin, L. Pine, Kay Hanifen, Arabella K. Federico, Ryan Meyer, Byron Griffin, Dan B. Fierce, Sherry Shearhart, Angel Krause, Natalie Hannah, Sabrina Voerman, Brianna Malotke, Alana K. Drex, Elias Chase, Nadine Stewart, Kyra R. Torres, A.W. Mason
4.0
First of all, this is quite the impressive feat and collection of indie talent. “Horrorscope” brings together 36 indie authors and poets and offers three pieces for each sign of the zodiac, and also stands as the debut for some of the contributors so it’s a great way to showcase new and established indie talent. I think it’s important to also not that I’m not a zodiac/horoscope guy; I’m not really into it or clued up on it beyond the basics so, if this is the case for you, some of the writing on offer here may get a little repetitive as there’s a lot of similar themes, such as witches, tarot readings, and bizarre anthropomorphic embodiments of the zodiac. At the same time, though, there’s still a lot of variety on offer here, from malevolent shadows coming to life, to cosmic adventures, almost biblical allegories, and curses aplenty.
I’m familiar with some of those involved with this book; others were new to me and I’ve had the pleasure of watching their writing journey unfold. In either case, I was excited to see them being showcased in such a collection. While I’m not really into poetry (I can’t really write it and I only understand it at a basic level), the poetry pieces included are very evocative; I’ll give a shout-out to Loki J. Dewitt’s “Lionheart”, Nadine Stewart’s “Love and War”, and Byron Griffin’s “Via Combusta” as pieces that had me re-reading a few times to let their imagery but I think the one I enjoyed the most was Elias Chase’s “The Rage of Aquarius: A Ballade of Sorts”. I liked the rhyming scheme, which had me thinking of the works of Edgar Allen Poe, and the disturbing visuals definitely stood out for me.
This is what I read horror for: the visuals and the gore and to see how horror writers push the boundaries, and there is some of that to be found in “Horrorscope”. Scott McGregor’s “A Kiss from the Stars” and Jessica Huntley’s “You Die…I Die” both contain disturbing scenes of torture, there’s a fair amount of gorging and visceral bloodletting (all three of the “Taurus” tales feature a vicious bull-like creature), and there’s even a kaiju-sized crab featured in Dan B. Fierce’s “El Gangrejo”! Other stories take a more supernatural or psychological bent, such as Anthony Taylor’s “December 17, 1982”, Amanda Jager’s chilling “Shadow Goat”, and Sabrina Voerman’s quasi-Greek tragedy “The Lovers”. Other standouts for me were R. Shannon’s haunting tale “A Shadow in Jackson Square”, S.L. Shearhart’s disturbing tale of abuse “I See You: The Hunt of the Capricorn Witch”, and Aana K. Drex’s “Portent of Pisces”, all of which could easily be expanded on into longer novellas.
For me, the most memorable pieces were those that didn’t take the concept so literally or put a fantastical spin on it; Natalie Hannah’s opening tale “Goddess of Vengeance” and Damien Casey’s bizarre cosmic short “Starship Sagittarius” were good examples of this, and big zodiac fans will appreciate, I’m sure, the depths some of the pieces go into the various characteristics and natures of the various signs. Overall, it’s a great showcase of indie talent; while I didn’t connect with every piece and some were obviously stronger than others, the contributors deserve all the praise in the world for putting themselves out there and, for me, the best of the collection was seeing these indie creators having a platform to shine on.
I’m familiar with some of those involved with this book; others were new to me and I’ve had the pleasure of watching their writing journey unfold. In either case, I was excited to see them being showcased in such a collection. While I’m not really into poetry (I can’t really write it and I only understand it at a basic level), the poetry pieces included are very evocative; I’ll give a shout-out to Loki J. Dewitt’s “Lionheart”, Nadine Stewart’s “Love and War”, and Byron Griffin’s “Via Combusta” as pieces that had me re-reading a few times to let their imagery but I think the one I enjoyed the most was Elias Chase’s “The Rage of Aquarius: A Ballade of Sorts”. I liked the rhyming scheme, which had me thinking of the works of Edgar Allen Poe, and the disturbing visuals definitely stood out for me.
This is what I read horror for: the visuals and the gore and to see how horror writers push the boundaries, and there is some of that to be found in “Horrorscope”. Scott McGregor’s “A Kiss from the Stars” and Jessica Huntley’s “You Die…I Die” both contain disturbing scenes of torture, there’s a fair amount of gorging and visceral bloodletting (all three of the “Taurus” tales feature a vicious bull-like creature), and there’s even a kaiju-sized crab featured in Dan B. Fierce’s “El Gangrejo”! Other stories take a more supernatural or psychological bent, such as Anthony Taylor’s “December 17, 1982”, Amanda Jager’s chilling “Shadow Goat”, and Sabrina Voerman’s quasi-Greek tragedy “The Lovers”. Other standouts for me were R. Shannon’s haunting tale “A Shadow in Jackson Square”, S.L. Shearhart’s disturbing tale of abuse “I See You: The Hunt of the Capricorn Witch”, and Aana K. Drex’s “Portent of Pisces”, all of which could easily be expanded on into longer novellas.
For me, the most memorable pieces were those that didn’t take the concept so literally or put a fantastical spin on it; Natalie Hannah’s opening tale “Goddess of Vengeance” and Damien Casey’s bizarre cosmic short “Starship Sagittarius” were good examples of this, and big zodiac fans will appreciate, I’m sure, the depths some of the pieces go into the various characteristics and natures of the various signs. Overall, it’s a great showcase of indie talent; while I didn’t connect with every piece and some were obviously stronger than others, the contributors deserve all the praise in the world for putting themselves out there and, for me, the best of the collection was seeing these indie creators having a platform to shine on.