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A review by beefmaster
The Fiends in the Furrows: An Anthology of Folk Horror by Christine M. Scott, David T. Neal
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.