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ryonbot's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
3.5
Favorite Stories: “The Fruit”, “The Jaws of Ouroboros”, “The First Order of Whaleyville’s Divine Basilisk Handlers”
goblintrash's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
It’s a collection of short folk horror stories
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
exorcismemily's review against another edition
4.0
"No one ever leaves. Harvesting is terrible. Not harvesting would be worse." - Lindsay King-Miller
The Fiends in the Furrows is a folk horror anthology from Nosetouch Press. There were 9 stories in here, and I had so much fun reading them!
Yesterday I was listening to the Ladies of Horror Fiction Podcast, and Gwendolyn Kiste was on as a special guest to talk about women horror authors and folk horror with the host, Toni from Misadventures of a Reader. They were talking about how folk horror is unique because the storylines tend to be religion-focused, but the religions are a wide range - they tend to either be intensely rule-based Protestant, charismatic, or pagan. This variety was present within this anthology, and I think it's interesting that many different religions can be involved in horror stories. I really enjoyed reading stories from different authors.
I had not read anything from these authors before, and I appreciate that I was introduced to so many I hadn't read. My top 3 stories were The Fruit by Lindsay King-Miller, The Jaws of Ouroboros by Steve Toase, and The First Order of Whaleyville's Divine Basilisk Handlers by Eric J. Guignard. These three were were very entertaining and unique, and I could have read full novels of any of them. I liked that the anthology was a good mix of women and men writers.
This book was full of unsettling and detailed stories, and I'm so glad I had the chance to read it. Thank you so much to Nosetouch Press for sending this one!
The Fiends in the Furrows is a folk horror anthology from Nosetouch Press. There were 9 stories in here, and I had so much fun reading them!
Yesterday I was listening to the Ladies of Horror Fiction Podcast, and Gwendolyn Kiste was on as a special guest to talk about women horror authors and folk horror with the host, Toni from Misadventures of a Reader. They were talking about how folk horror is unique because the storylines tend to be religion-focused, but the religions are a wide range - they tend to either be intensely rule-based Protestant, charismatic, or pagan. This variety was present within this anthology, and I think it's interesting that many different religions can be involved in horror stories. I really enjoyed reading stories from different authors.
I had not read anything from these authors before, and I appreciate that I was introduced to so many I hadn't read. My top 3 stories were The Fruit by Lindsay King-Miller, The Jaws of Ouroboros by Steve Toase, and The First Order of Whaleyville's Divine Basilisk Handlers by Eric J. Guignard. These three were were very entertaining and unique, and I could have read full novels of any of them. I liked that the anthology was a good mix of women and men writers.
This book was full of unsettling and detailed stories, and I'm so glad I had the chance to read it. Thank you so much to Nosetouch Press for sending this one!
tommy_boi's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
shippycantread's review
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
victoria80's review against another edition
2.0
This wasn’t exactly what I expected. I only really liked two of the short stories. There seemed to be snakes in every story! Which got a bit tedious. I was expecting some better folklore. What also brought my star rating down was the need for better proof reading. This is one of my pet hates and there were a lot of errors throughout. One story in particular was very flawed grammatically.
beefmaster's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars overall.
Coy Hall | "Sire of the Hatchet" - solid first story for an anthology of folk horror: mounds, dirt, religious ceremony. A strong authorial voice, but the story overall is a bit misty
Sam Hicks | "Back Along the Old Track" - a throwback style story, very old school horror, but again, a bit thin. There doesn't seem to be any danger or horror. Just kind of a travelogue about a weird family.
Lindsay King-Miller | "The Fruit" - the absolute best story in the collection and based on other GR reviews, I'm not alone in thinking so. Weird with a capital W and terrifying. Does an incredible job introducing the world, the stakes, the characters, and then has a blast undoing everything.
Steve Toase | "The Jaws of Ourobouros" - stupendous idea for a story, but maybe a bit too enamoured of the sibling genre that's folded into the story.
Eric J. Guignard | "The First Order of Whaleyville's Divine Basilisk Handlers" - terrible title, but good story that manages to convey a whole world within a few pages. The author conveys an incredible sense of place efficiently and quickly.
Romey Petite | "Pumpkin, Dear" - the second best story in the collection. The fable like quality to the story is perfectly sustained even as the story introduces complications past the usual parameters of a fable.
Stephanie Ellis | "The Way of the Mother" - I wish this story had been the other way around. The halfway point features the most terrifying thing in this whole anthology but once that's sorted out, the story peters out and coasts to an ending that isn't very interesting. Also, if the whole story is about a mother, why are men the only characters?
Zachary Von Houser | "Leave the Night" - some of the best prose in the whole collection, even if most would argue it's overwritten. I'd rather a writer swing for the fences, if you ask me, prose-wise. The story itself is pretty by the numbers, especially for folk horror, but that scratches the itch and I'm happy for it. This is what I came for.
S.T. Gibson | "Revival" - thin and cliched. Not the best.
Coy Hall | "Sire of the Hatchet" - solid first story for an anthology of folk horror: mounds, dirt, religious ceremony. A strong authorial voice, but the story overall is a bit misty
Sam Hicks | "Back Along the Old Track" - a throwback style story, very old school horror, but again, a bit thin. There doesn't seem to be any danger or horror. Just kind of a travelogue about a weird family.
Lindsay King-Miller | "The Fruit" - the absolute best story in the collection and based on other GR reviews, I'm not alone in thinking so. Weird with a capital W and terrifying. Does an incredible job introducing the world, the stakes, the characters, and then has a blast undoing everything.
Steve Toase | "The Jaws of Ourobouros" - stupendous idea for a story, but maybe a bit too enamoured of the sibling genre that's folded into the story.
Eric J. Guignard | "The First Order of Whaleyville's Divine Basilisk Handlers" - terrible title, but good story that manages to convey a whole world within a few pages. The author conveys an incredible sense of place efficiently and quickly.
Romey Petite | "Pumpkin, Dear" - the second best story in the collection. The fable like quality to the story is perfectly sustained even as the story introduces complications past the usual parameters of a fable.
Stephanie Ellis | "The Way of the Mother" - I wish this story had been the other way around. The halfway point features the most terrifying thing in this whole anthology but once that's sorted out, the story peters out and coasts to an ending that isn't very interesting. Also, if the whole story is about a mother, why are men the only characters?
Zachary Von Houser | "Leave the Night" - some of the best prose in the whole collection, even if most would argue it's overwritten. I'd rather a writer swing for the fences, if you ask me, prose-wise. The story itself is pretty by the numbers, especially for folk horror, but that scratches the itch and I'm happy for it. This is what I came for.
S.T. Gibson | "Revival" - thin and cliched. Not the best.