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A review by thomaswjoyce
Wrestle Maniacs by Eryk Pruitt, Mike Tenebrae, Hector Acosta, Joseph Hirsch, Jeff Strand, Gabino Iglesias, James Newman, David James Keaton, Ed Kurtz, Patrick Lacey, Duncan P. Bradshaw, Adam Howe, Tom Leins, Jason Parent
5.0
An anthology of speculative fiction all sharing one thing in common, the central theme of this themed anthology; wrestling. It could only be the brainchild of the guy behind Die Dog or Eat the Hatchet (Comet Press, 2015) and Tijuana Donkey Showdown (Comet Press 2016), award-winning author Adam Howe. The flagship release from his new publishing endeavour, Honey Badger Press, it is a collection of twelve stories from some of the best authors in speculative fiction.
Some readers may be put off by the idea of a wrestling-themed anthology. To those people we can only say: look at the names of the authors, and check out the stories. First and foremost, these are storytellers. Mostly the wrestling plays a small role in the stories, the authors instead delivering stories of noir, familial drama, laugh-out-loud action-comedy and even some science fiction. The wrestling merely adds some colour to the proceedings. It would have been nice to see some stories from female authors (which was the original intention before Howe had to release the book through his own small press – a point that he addresses in ‘A Word From Your Editor’ at the rear of the book). Hopefully we will see a Diva Edition of Wrestle Maniacs in the not-too-distant future. For now, we have this wonderful anthology upon which to feast our eyes. There is something for everyone in this impressive and thoroughly entertaining collection from some of the best names writing speculative fiction today.
To read the full review, including detailed reviews of each story, please visit This Is Horror.
Some readers may be put off by the idea of a wrestling-themed anthology. To those people we can only say: look at the names of the authors, and check out the stories. First and foremost, these are storytellers. Mostly the wrestling plays a small role in the stories, the authors instead delivering stories of noir, familial drama, laugh-out-loud action-comedy and even some science fiction. The wrestling merely adds some colour to the proceedings. It would have been nice to see some stories from female authors (which was the original intention before Howe had to release the book through his own small press – a point that he addresses in ‘A Word From Your Editor’ at the rear of the book). Hopefully we will see a Diva Edition of Wrestle Maniacs in the not-too-distant future. For now, we have this wonderful anthology upon which to feast our eyes. There is something for everyone in this impressive and thoroughly entertaining collection from some of the best names writing speculative fiction today.
To read the full review, including detailed reviews of each story, please visit This Is Horror.