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A review by jdhacker
The Phantasmagorical Promenade by Duane Pesice
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.25
Another fantastic collection from Planet X Pulps, this one, clearly with the theme of 'ghosts'. You'll see some familiar names with predictably strong showings; notably Mer Whinery's 'The Children of Crow Hollow Skillet' (otherwise only available in a discontinued collection), Sean M. Thompson's 'Avaunt' (which will hopefully remind you as much as I of your dad or friend telling campfire stories), and Philip Fracassi's 'Take' (a murder tale with a fun POV). There are a lot of just really solid, well, traditional (and less traditional) ghost stories. Ghosts as warnings, ghosts as messengers, ghosts trying to get revenge (Russell Smeaton's 'Purpose'
0. Jill Hand's 'Not A Ghost' was a great haunted house story, Matthew A. St. Cyr's 'All Through the House' is a little genre bending/breaking christmas scare, Sarah Walker's 'Be Careful What You Wish For' seems like a western (the culture, not the genre) weird spin on a Ring-like yarn.
Both Rob F. Martin's 'We're All Haunted Houses' and John Claude Smith's 'You Can't Live Here Forever' give us interesting takes on the 'haunted house' theme as well. James Fallweather's 'The Philip Experiment is an action packed, scifi horror, with some interesting world building.
A.P. Sessler's 'A Bitter Pill' has a great unreliable narrator, with some shades of the yellow wallpaper.
Scott J. Couturier's 'Ten Cents a Bottle' has to be mentioned as I too have spent far too much in a Meijers...
E.O. Daniels 'The War Over Walter' felt like a serious palate cleanser and better handle on the whole thing after reading Piers Anthony's 'On A Pale Horse'.
Can Wiggin's 'Haint' feels like a perfect companion piece to the aforementioned Mer Whinery story, and I wish they had been put side by side. It feels made to slot into his world.
Justin A. Burnett's 'Slave House' was a standout, playing with coming of age tropes and intergenerational traumas. In a quite different way, S.E. Casey's 'Gods Rushing Madly' is also looking at what we inherit and pass on, in a particularly touching an heart rending way.
0. Jill Hand's 'Not A Ghost' was a great haunted house story, Matthew A. St. Cyr's 'All Through the House' is a little genre bending/breaking christmas scare, Sarah Walker's 'Be Careful What You Wish For' seems like a western (the culture, not the genre) weird spin on a Ring-like yarn.
Both Rob F. Martin's 'We're All Haunted Houses' and John Claude Smith's 'You Can't Live Here Forever' give us interesting takes on the 'haunted house' theme as well. James Fallweather's 'The Philip Experiment is an action packed, scifi horror, with some interesting world building.
A.P. Sessler's 'A Bitter Pill' has a great unreliable narrator, with some shades of the yellow wallpaper.
Scott J. Couturier's 'Ten Cents a Bottle' has to be mentioned as I too have spent far too much in a Meijers...
E.O. Daniels 'The War Over Walter' felt like a serious palate cleanser and better handle on the whole thing after reading Piers Anthony's 'On A Pale Horse'.
Can Wiggin's 'Haint' feels like a perfect companion piece to the aforementioned Mer Whinery story, and I wish they had been put side by side. It feels made to slot into his world.
Justin A. Burnett's 'Slave House' was a standout, playing with coming of age tropes and intergenerational traumas. In a quite different way, S.E. Casey's 'Gods Rushing Madly' is also looking at what we inherit and pass on, in a particularly touching an heart rending way.