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melsage1823's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
A very physiological, spooky, thrilling and tense YA short stories. It's also aslow paced collection that dives into the wackier side of the FNAF universe.
Whilst I preferred the first collection I do think this second collection has greatly improved on some of the flaws in the first collection whilst also having glaring flaws of its own. I still enjoyed it though as a fan of the sci-fi genre I found these stories very mysterious and fun. Fetch has to be my favourite of the bunch, it reminded me a bit of Megan and The Childs Play reboot.
I'll go onto my negatives before my positives. My first negative is that I felt like the concepts were there but they should have been novellas rather than short stories. Out Of Stock and Lonley Freddy could have done with a lot more set up as everything was really ambiguous and I felt like both stories didn't have enough time to flesh out our main characters and their morals where as To Be Beautiful gave us enough time with Sarah so we could understand her low self esteem. Lonley Freddy especially suffers from this as because Alec isn't fleshed out enough it allows the resder to be less empathetic of his struggles. Like I said concepts were there but they were way to bold to fit into a three short story collection.
Secondly the pacing was way to slow for me. Compared to the last one the pacing was even worse here. Out Of Stock and Lonley Freddy only had major horror and high stakes during the last thirty pages of the story. I was honestly getting bored a quater way through both stories as we had so much set up and exposition to get through. I feel like all the authors wanted to tell a longer story they just didn't have enough time. A good example would be why Alec is so horrible to everyone and how he got to that point. It would have made him being trapped in the Lonley Freddy more impactful.
Finally, the ambiguousness. Although I mentioned some issues have been improved upon from the first collection this is not one of those things. There's so many plot points in these short stories that I don't think should have been left ambiguous. Lonley Freddy's ambiguity makes sense as it adds to the horror but in Fetch and Out Of Stock the ambiguity is just downright frustrating. There's so many lose plot threads ignored or shrugged of you can only make your own theories and with a short story that's not gonna get a Sequel, it just makes me as a reader feel empty you know.
With that out of the way onto the positives. I loved the fact how all the authors manage to pay respect to other franchises through the stories. Fetch as I mentioned pays perfect tribute to Megan and The Childs Play reboot with it's own unique twist, despite this coming three years before Megan. Lonley Freddy perfectly pays tribute to The Twilight Zone and feels like Rod Sterling's take on FNAF with an important lesson to teach the reader. Out Of Stock pays perfect tribute to FNAF 4 with the Plush Trap chase scenes as well as Doctor Who and Little Nightmares. These tributes as a result create atmospheric and fun spooky stories to read. I think the sci-fi in Out Of Stock and Fetch worked very well. Lonley Freddys ending was generally as Haunting as a Twilight Zone ending twist.
Secondly the fact that the whole collection technically has a running theme. I loved the messaging and themes throughout all of the short stories. Media even Horror can be used to warn society and teach us important lessons. This collection here does that even before than the first one. It makes me giddy and excited. The clear theme of this collection is that actions have consequences. In his own horrific way Scott and the other authors are trying to warn the reader what happens if we think before we act. Wether it's Greg breaking into to an abandoned Pizzeria, Alec wanting to try "expose" his sister or Oscar wanting something for once in his life and being stupid as a result. This kind of themeing tied all the short stories in a way that I found things perfectly entertaining.
Finally I have to give credit to all the supporting cast. I much preferred the side characters in this second installment than I did in the first one. It was truly a relief to have side characters in these stories that played off the main characters really well. Hazel's dynamic with Alec was very interesting and well built up. It reminded me of the fandoms headcannon dynamic for Michael and The Crying Child. I also loved Gregs friends as although his friends are here for him, some of them *cough, cough* Cyril are seemingly aware there in a horror short story and know the right time to quit. I loved Cyril, mainly for being the smartest character in Fetch. If I was to give an award to best supporting cast I'd have to give it to Oscar's friends in Out Of Stock. I like how they didn't judge Oscar and even when in danger they still tried to stay strong and support eachother. I hope the side characters are as good in future installments.
Overall another pretty solid set of short stories that link together thematically perfectly. The crossover with the second Stitchwraith epilogue was fascinating. I just wish Margies story was in this book as it confused me. Still had a fun time with this one, I definitely want read the third and fourth one as well as some of the Pizza Plex series.
My overall rating for this anthology would be 3.5 Stars. My individual rating would go as followed
Fetch: 4 Stars (Slow-burn but when Fetch came into play it was super anxiety inducing)
Lonley Freddy: 3.5 Stars (Unlikeable protagonist but ending had me truamatised)
Out Of Stock: 3.5 Stars (Way too slow-burn but loved the incorporated FNAF 4 game play)
Stitch Wraith Epilogue 2: 4 Stars (Entertaining but it felt very random and out of place building on from the first one)
Whilst I preferred the first collection I do think this second collection has greatly improved on some of the flaws in the first collection whilst also having glaring flaws of its own. I still enjoyed it though as a fan of the sci-fi genre I found these stories very mysterious and fun. Fetch has to be my favourite of the bunch, it reminded me a bit of Megan and The Childs Play reboot.
I'll go onto my negatives before my positives. My first negative is that I felt like the concepts were there but they should have been novellas rather than short stories. Out Of Stock and Lonley Freddy could have done with a lot more set up as everything was really ambiguous and I felt like both stories didn't have enough time to flesh out our main characters and their morals where as To Be Beautiful gave us enough time with Sarah so we could understand her low self esteem. Lonley Freddy especially suffers from this as because Alec isn't fleshed out enough it allows the resder to be less empathetic of his struggles. Like I said concepts were there but they were way to bold to fit into a three short story collection.
Secondly the pacing was way to slow for me. Compared to the last one the pacing was even worse here. Out Of Stock and Lonley Freddy only had major horror and high stakes during the last thirty pages of the story. I was honestly getting bored a quater way through both stories as we had so much set up and exposition to get through. I feel like all the authors wanted to tell a longer story they just didn't have enough time.
Finally, the ambiguousness. Although I mentioned some issues have been improved upon from the first collection this is not one of those things. There's so many plot points in these short stories that I don't think should have been left ambiguous. Lonley Freddy's ambiguity makes sense as it adds to the horror but in Fetch and Out Of Stock the ambiguity is just downright frustrating. There's so many lose plot threads ignored or shrugged of you can only make your own theories and with a short story that's not gonna get a Sequel, it just makes me as a reader feel empty you know.
With that out of the way onto the positives. I loved the fact how all the authors manage to pay respect to other franchises through the stories. Fetch as I mentioned pays perfect tribute to Megan and The Childs Play reboot with it's own unique twist, despite this coming three years before Megan. Lonley Freddy perfectly pays tribute to The Twilight Zone and feels like Rod Sterling's take on FNAF with an important lesson to teach the reader. Out Of Stock pays perfect tribute to FNAF 4 with the Plush Trap chase scenes as well as Doctor Who and Little Nightmares. These tributes as a result create atmospheric and fun spooky stories to read. I think the sci-fi in Out Of Stock and Fetch worked very well. Lonley Freddys ending was generally as Haunting as a Twilight Zone ending twist.
Secondly the fact that the whole collection technically has a running theme. I loved the messaging and themes throughout all of the short stories. Media even Horror can be used to warn society and teach us important lessons. This collection here does that even before than the first one. It makes me giddy and excited. The clear theme of this collection is that actions have consequences. In his own horrific way Scott and the other authors are trying to warn the reader what happens if we think before we act. Wether it's Greg breaking into to an abandoned Pizzeria, Alec wanting to try "expose" his sister or Oscar wanting something for once in his life and being stupid as a result. This kind of themeing tied all the short stories in a way that I found things perfectly entertaining.
Finally I have to give credit to all the supporting cast. I much preferred the side characters in this second installment than I did in the first one. It was truly a relief to have side characters in these stories that played off the main characters really well. Hazel's dynamic with Alec was very interesting and well built up. It reminded me of the fandoms headcannon dynamic for Michael and The Crying Child. I also loved Gregs friends as although his friends are here for him, some of them *cough, cough* Cyril are seemingly aware there in a horror short story and know the right time to quit. I loved Cyril, mainly for being the smartest character in Fetch. If I was to give an award to best supporting cast I'd have to give it to Oscar's friends in Out Of Stock. I like how they didn't judge Oscar and even when in danger they still tried to stay strong and support eachother. I hope the side characters are as good in future installments.
Overall another pretty solid set of short stories that link together thematically perfectly. The crossover with the second Stitchwraith epilogue was fascinating. I just wish Margies story was in this book as it confused me. Still had a fun time with this one, I definitely want read the third and fourth one as well as some of the Pizza Plex series.
My overall rating for this anthology would be 3.5 Stars. My individual rating would go as followed
Fetch: 4 Stars (Slow-burn but when Fetch came into play it was super anxiety inducing)
Lonley Freddy: 3.5 Stars (Unlikeable protagonist but ending had me truamatised)
Out Of Stock: 3.5 Stars (Way too slow-burn but loved the incorporated FNAF 4 game play)
Stitch Wraith Epilogue 2: 4 Stars (Entertaining but it felt very random and out of place building on from the first one)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism, Blood, and Death of parent