Reviews

Ape in the Ring: & Other Tales of the Macabre and Uncanny by Douglas Ford

tokujoe's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.25

lanternsjourney's review against another edition

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4.0

Ape in the Ring is a collection of 17 unsettling, often graphic, horror stories. I rated each story individually out of 5 and it came out to about 88%, the stories were that good! Of course there's always stories in a collection that aren't for me, or I dont quite "get", but so many of these stories are STILL with me as an uncomfortable feeling tingling in my gut.

I love when the first and last stories are my favorites too, which happened in this case. It makes the whole collection that much more memorable. If I had to generally categorize these stories, I would say weird horror, but there were also one or two gothic feeling stories, vampires and werewolves, and freaks. A great variety!

Some of my favorites that I rated 5 stars are: Wasps, The Watcher, The Hanged Man, Dial-A-Dad, The Devil's Arithmatic (which vaguely reminded me of Basketcase and totally tickled me), Count Von Cosel's Great Love, The Middle Child, Invitation to a Burial, Peter Stubbe's Belt, Undertaken, and the title story, Ape in the Ring.

That's a lot of great stories guys! I highly recommend this collection.
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