caramel_peaches's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
drewcox's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
toastgrl's review
2.0
okay y'all, bear with me on this one.
Short-story compilations by multiple different authors are hard to rate of course, how can you rate an entire novel if you kinda liked one story but not the next? I had high hopes for this one as it was recommended by a horror artist I really love, calling it some of the 'scariest stories he's ever read' but it was just really hard for me to get that same feeling of fear from this one. There was a small handful of stories I REALLY enjoyed and I am excited to continue reading other books written by those authors, but there are some stories in here where I couldn't even tell you what they were about - not only because some of the writing felt disjointed or confusing, but also because they weren't good or creepy enough for my brain to retain them:
The Attentionist was okay, written kinda weird, but I enjoyed the premise and the two sisters and I felt that it ended on a creepy note.
I genuinely couldn't even tell you what A Life in Nightmares or All The Things He Called Memories was about, I've read Stephen Graham Jones before too and though I liked the way the story was written I couldn't figure out what the hell was going on and I also hate when they throw reality into the novels that I read (AKA - COVID-19)
Papa Eye - wtf? It was an okay story I guess but I'm still trying to figure out how this falls under horror at all
Volcano, I found out this one really resonated with the writer, she mentions at the end of the book that the story will most likely resonate with people in different ways - she knows herself how it resonated with her but she doesn't need to explain that, and I'm like, well maybe you should start explaining because idk what this story was about and I didn't like the main protagonist.
Swim In The Blood of a Curious Dream was interesting to say the least, though I'm not the biggest fan of ghost stories so maybe that's what dampened my spirit a bit. It just felt kinda random idk, didn't hook me.
Trinity River Blues was better than most but it still didn't stick out to me like crazy, I really enjoyed the characters in this one though. The Jazz Player ghost bestie was probably one of my favorite written characters out of this whole thing, I want him as my tagalong best friend!
The Sanguintalist, I never DNF anything but I literally couldn't finish this one. The writing was confusing as hell, I had to re-read the first couple of pages because I couldn't figure out what it was all about. There are some writers who can paint a perfect picture in your head, sadly this wasn't one of them!
My favorites from this series were:
The Familiars Assistant by Alma Katsu - this was was soooo dark and harrowing, had me wanting to read more the entire time, a great story about discovering who the 'real' monsters are in society. I wish this one was more than a short story.
Mrs Addison's Nest by Josh Malerman - Ahhhh this one was SO FUN!! And the premise is actually pretty out-there; four guys come back as adults to kill the Witch that royally fucked them up in grade school and though you were of course rooting for these guys, the ending was deliciously chilling and sort of sad. I added all of Malerman’s books to my TBR hahaha
and Challawa by Usman T. Malik - I loved loved loved all the history in this one, and he writes it in a way that doesn't keep it boring like you're reading a textbook. I definitely didn't know where this story was going when it started but I definitely loved where it ended. I loved all three of these equally but this one may have had the biggest impact and I already want to read it again!
It took me so long to get through this one and I'm not even going to lie I haven't read the last story yet - Enough For Hunger and Enough For Hate - when I get to it I'll come back to this review
Short-story compilations by multiple different authors are hard to rate of course, how can you rate an entire novel if you kinda liked one story but not the next? I had high hopes for this one as it was recommended by a horror artist I really love, calling it some of the 'scariest stories he's ever read' but it was just really hard for me to get that same feeling of fear from this one. There was a small handful of stories I REALLY enjoyed and I am excited to continue reading other books written by those authors, but there are some stories in here where I couldn't even tell you what they were about - not only because some of the writing felt disjointed or confusing, but also because they weren't good or creepy enough for my brain to retain them:
The Attentionist was okay, written kinda weird, but I enjoyed the premise and the two sisters and I felt that it ended on a creepy note.
I genuinely couldn't even tell you what A Life in Nightmares or All The Things He Called Memories was about, I've read Stephen Graham Jones before too and though I liked the way the story was written I couldn't figure out what the hell was going on and I also hate when they throw reality into the novels that I read (AKA - COVID-19)
Papa Eye - wtf? It was an okay story I guess but I'm still trying to figure out how this falls under horror at all
Volcano, I found out this one really resonated with the writer, she mentions at the end of the book that the story will most likely resonate with people in different ways - she knows herself how it resonated with her but she doesn't need to explain that, and I'm like, well maybe you should start explaining because idk what this story was about and I didn't like the main protagonist.
Swim In The Blood of a Curious Dream was interesting to say the least, though I'm not the biggest fan of ghost stories so maybe that's what dampened my spirit a bit. It just felt kinda random idk, didn't hook me.
Trinity River Blues was better than most but it still didn't stick out to me like crazy, I really enjoyed the characters in this one though. The Jazz Player ghost bestie was probably one of my favorite written characters out of this whole thing, I want him as my tagalong best friend!
The Sanguintalist, I never DNF anything but I literally couldn't finish this one. The writing was confusing as hell, I had to re-read the first couple of pages because I couldn't figure out what it was all about. There are some writers who can paint a perfect picture in your head, sadly this wasn't one of them!
My favorites from this series were:
The Familiars Assistant by Alma Katsu - this was was soooo dark and harrowing, had me wanting to read more the entire time, a great story about discovering who the 'real' monsters are in society. I wish this one was more than a short story.
Mrs Addison's Nest by Josh Malerman - Ahhhh this one was SO FUN!! And the premise is actually pretty out-there; four guys come back as adults to kill the Witch that royally fucked them up in grade school and though you were of course rooting for these guys, the ending was deliciously chilling and sort of sad. I added all of Malerman’s books to my TBR hahaha
and Challawa by Usman T. Malik - I loved loved loved all the history in this one, and he writes it in a way that doesn't keep it boring like you're reading a textbook. I definitely didn't know where this story was going when it started but I definitely loved where it ended. I loved all three of these equally but this one may have had the biggest impact and I already want to read it again!
It took me so long to get through this one and I'm not even going to lie I haven't read the last story yet - Enough For Hunger and Enough For Hate - when I get to it I'll come back to this review
emperorcupcake's review
I think I might prefer single-author short story books, like Autumncrow or Ghost Lake or Stephen King's collections, to this more potluck style. As such I'm not rating this, because how can you give a rating if some stories are 5 stars and some are 3 and some are DNFs? So, I'm gonna focus on the ones I really liked.
The first and last stories, "The Attentionist" by Caroline Kepnes and "Enough for Hunger and Enough for Hate" by John Langan are not only 5 stars, but two of my favourite short stories I've ever read. It's difficult to create a whole world in 30-50 pages like one would in a novel, or in an anthology like Ghost Lake. These stories both achieved that. They felt complete. That's what's often lacking in short stories for me, there's usually that "yeah, and?" But the worlds that both Kepnes and Langan painted in these short pages felt vibrant and whole. The characters felt real and fleshed out, even in these snapshots of their lives. I haven't read Kepnes before, but I think fans of The Fisherman will really enjoy Langan's story (especially if you liked the storyteling-within-a-story part, which I really did!) Will definitely seek out more from these authors.
"Swim in the Blood of a Curious Dream" by the book's editor, John F.D. Taff, is a 4.5. Take No Exit and add in the custody battle from Hell and you've got a unique and super creepy story. Another author I will check out more from.
"Trinity River's Blues" by Chesya Burke is 4 stars. I liked this a lot, but this is one I'd love to read a whole novel of, or at least something longer by this author. The hoodoo, smoky jazz club, southern gothic vibe is something I'm definitely here for and this was such an intriguing world. I'd read a whole book about just the grandmother!
3.5 each for the two other authors I've read before (besides John Langan), Josh Malerman and Stephen Graham Jones. I picked this up primarily to read Jones' story for the Indigenous readathon I'm participating in, and while it was good it was not my favourite from him. I really liked Malerman's story but I thought it ended kind of abruptly. Still, always great writing from both of these authors.
3 stars for "Volcano" and "Familiar's Assistant." These were pretty good, just not anything I'll remember for too long. I especially liked the basement-door-cosmic-horror of Volcano - who hasn't passed by a creepy ass basement and wondered if it might be a portal to some hell realm?? - but I guess it didn't fully hit for me in execution.
The remaining stories were either skims or DNFs, I just didn't find myself interested in them.
All in all, I'm glad I picked this up for the standout stories that will always stay with me. I guess that's par for the course with collections like these!
The first and last stories, "The Attentionist" by Caroline Kepnes and "Enough for Hunger and Enough for Hate" by John Langan are not only 5 stars, but two of my favourite short stories I've ever read. It's difficult to create a whole world in 30-50 pages like one would in a novel, or in an anthology like Ghost Lake. These stories both achieved that. They felt complete. That's what's often lacking in short stories for me, there's usually that "yeah, and?" But the worlds that both Kepnes and Langan painted in these short pages felt vibrant and whole. The characters felt real and fleshed out, even in these snapshots of their lives. I haven't read Kepnes before, but I think fans of The Fisherman will really enjoy Langan's story (especially if you liked the storyteling-within-a-story part, which I really did!) Will definitely seek out more from these authors.
"Swim in the Blood of a Curious Dream" by the book's editor, John F.D. Taff, is a 4.5. Take No Exit and add in the custody battle from Hell and you've got a unique and super creepy story. Another author I will check out more from.
"Trinity River's Blues" by Chesya Burke is 4 stars. I liked this a lot, but this is one I'd love to read a whole novel of, or at least something longer by this author. The hoodoo, smoky jazz club, southern gothic vibe is something I'm definitely here for and this was such an intriguing world. I'd read a whole book about just the grandmother!
3.5 each for the two other authors I've read before (besides John Langan), Josh Malerman and Stephen Graham Jones. I picked this up primarily to read Jones' story for the Indigenous readathon I'm participating in, and while it was good it was not my favourite from him. I really liked Malerman's story but I thought it ended kind of abruptly. Still, always great writing from both of these authors.
3 stars for "Volcano" and "Familiar's Assistant." These were pretty good, just not anything I'll remember for too long. I especially liked the basement-door-cosmic-horror of Volcano - who hasn't passed by a creepy ass basement and wondered if it might be a portal to some hell realm?? - but I guess it didn't fully hit for me in execution.
The remaining stories were either skims or DNFs, I just didn't find myself interested in them.
All in all, I'm glad I picked this up for the standout stories that will always stay with me. I guess that's par for the course with collections like these!
chuckstafer's review against another edition
I DNFd 2 stories and ranked the other 3 that I did read a 2-2-1 so after 5 VERY lackluster stories, I'm moving on.
spacebee's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
raforall's review against another edition
4.0
Review in October 2021 Library Journal: https://www.libraryjournal.com/?reviewDetail=dark-stars-new-tales-of-darkest-horror-1781783
Three Words That Describe This Book: Epic, Genre Expanding, Imaginative
In this genre expanding anthology, featuring a forward by Horror superstar Josh Malerman and a thoughtful afterword by legend Ramsey Campbell, Taff features 12 of the most imaginative authors in Horror today, giving them a long leash to dive into terror. The result, each story is like a mini novel, while taken as a whole, the anthology will be held up as a “snapshot” of this moment in Horror for years to come. A clear choice for fans of the bigger names like Katsu, Kepnes, and Jones, but don’t sleep on the stellar tales by Chesya Burke, Priya Sharma, and Usman Malik. This volume is a beast, the stories take brilliant chances that will be worth the time investment; expect many to be up for major genre awards.
Verdict: While most of your readers will focus on the epic table of contents, ardent Horror fans will appreciate its ode to the seminal (and out of print) Dark Forces anthology, edited by Kirby McCauley which similarly strove to bring Horror to a wider audience in the 1980s and featured both a story by a young Campbell and what many consider Stephen King’s best novella, The Mist.
Three Words That Describe This Book: Epic, Genre Expanding, Imaginative
In this genre expanding anthology, featuring a forward by Horror superstar Josh Malerman and a thoughtful afterword by legend Ramsey Campbell, Taff features 12 of the most imaginative authors in Horror today, giving them a long leash to dive into terror. The result, each story is like a mini novel, while taken as a whole, the anthology will be held up as a “snapshot” of this moment in Horror for years to come. A clear choice for fans of the bigger names like Katsu, Kepnes, and Jones, but don’t sleep on the stellar tales by Chesya Burke, Priya Sharma, and Usman Malik. This volume is a beast, the stories take brilliant chances that will be worth the time investment; expect many to be up for major genre awards.
Verdict: While most of your readers will focus on the epic table of contents, ardent Horror fans will appreciate its ode to the seminal (and out of print) Dark Forces anthology, edited by Kirby McCauley which similarly strove to bring Horror to a wider audience in the 1980s and featured both a story by a young Campbell and what many consider Stephen King’s best novella, The Mist.