allweatherreader's review against another edition
3.0
I love adaptations of the Lovecraftian mythos, but this was just okay. Any collection of short stories is going to be a mixed bag, and there was some really high quality writing here, but so many of them felt unfinished that I can't bring myself to give it more than three stars. Would love to see most of these developed into longer pieces (even just longer short stories!).
This fulfills the "published by a micropress" ReadHarder task.
This fulfills the "published by a micropress" ReadHarder task.
erimia's review against another edition
3.0
Disappointing. When the collection was just being advertised, it was promising stories centering around female characters from Lovecraft's stories and collaborations, but it seems that authors couldn't amass enthusiasm to write enough stories to fill the collection, so the half of the book consists of tales that are about original characters and mostly have very little to do with Mythos or Lovecraftian literature. And even most stories about Lovecraft's characters here don't engage with them deeply and often are focused on original characters too. As a result, what could have been an original and enriching concept turned into an another generic "we are going to fix Lovecraft" book.
Stories that I liked the most: "Eight Seconds", "Hairwork", "Turn Out the Light", "Violet is the Color of Your Energy", "Body to Body to Body", "Notes Found in a Decomissioned Asylum".
Stories that I liked the most: "Eight Seconds", "Hairwork", "Turn Out the Light", "Violet is the Color of Your Energy", "Body to Body to Body", "Notes Found in a Decomissioned Asylum".
literarypenguin's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-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
3.0
This was a interesting collection of short stories inspired by H.P.Lovecraft but I do wish we could have had just a little bit more than what we got. The stories themselves weren't terrible but some of the stories took too much exposition or were a bit of a let down especially coming from stories based on Lovecraft's work. The changes that were made to the stories did fit very well and even added a bit to each story. A difference in tone could have helped this book as well, it just felt like all the stories had a continuous dark tone and didn't break up the dark tone with anything else. Those are just my personal opinions though but I still really enjoyed the book regardless.
My favorite stories were: Shub-Niggurath's Witnesses, ( The dark humor was a very good choice and I loved watching the antics of these door to door cultists.) De Deabus Minoribus Exterioris Theomagicae, ( A tale of a woman slowly succumbing to madness as she studies a book that shouldn't be studied.) and the Cypress God ( A story of a young girl who is finally pushed to her limit after being ignored by others for too long.)
My favorite stories were: Shub-Niggurath's Witnesses, ( The dark humor was a very good choice and I loved watching the antics of these door to door cultists.) De Deabus Minoribus Exterioris Theomagicae, ( A tale of a woman slowly succumbing to madness as she studies a book that shouldn't be studied.) and the Cypress God ( A story of a young girl who is finally pushed to her limit after being ignored by others for too long.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, and Incest
arthurbdd's review against another edition
3.0
I applaud the concept, but the hit/miss ratio doesn't win me over. Full review:
https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/2020/11/02/from-out-of-the-shadows-a-spotlight-on-women/
juliav's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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
2.75
gotoboston's review
4.0
I was meant to read this in 2021, and I just couldn't get to it in time. But this was an excellent anthology and liked almost every story in it. Which is unusual, as usually one story in a collection stands out and the rest tend to be meh. But overall I thought all the stories were fairly well done and the art was awesome.
onceandfuturelaura's review against another edition
2.0
It was fine. Quite eldritch. I was expecting more depth.
greenbook282's review against another edition
4.0
I came to this collection from my love of SMG, and while horror is not usually a genre that I pick up, it was nonetheless enjoyable. I think it helped that each story was a very nice bite sized piece that tempted the curiosity, but didn't overwhelm. (I certainly had no troubles reading it in bed at night in an old creaky house)
On the whole this is a solid collection of interesting horror, with elements of fantasy, historical fiction, and magical realism. Some of the works were better than others, and I came across two (very small & insignificant) typos, but otherwise I enjoyed exploring the minds and creatively of a whole new batch of authors!
On the whole this is a solid collection of interesting horror, with elements of fantasy, historical fiction, and magical realism. Some of the works were better than others, and I came across two (very small & insignificant) typos, but otherwise I enjoyed exploring the minds and creatively of a whole new batch of authors!