A review by snappydog
Chimera by Ashley Hutchison
5.0
I've loved seeing each person's take on things, especially learning about myths I didn't even know before, in this creature-combining anthology extraordinaire.
'Loomis Creek' is a really authentic-feeling campfire scary story, y'know? Not just because that's the framing device, but in the way it's told; there's a slight endearing campness to it all that I just find really fun.
'Color Unknown' is stunning, heartbreaking, everything I never knew I wanted to read and everything my poor soul can't take the prospect of ever going through again. Just gorgeous.
'The Waterwisps' is a peculiar blend of beauty and a sort of natural, amoral callousness. It's both personal and alien, universal in its emotions but unfamiliar in its bizarreness. The world can be both wonderful and terrifying, and this captures that wonderfully.
'The Real Treasure' is by some person called Chris and I guess it's kinda funny. Author seems like they must be a right weird one.
'My Mother's Daughter' is another great example of an individual, personal arc wrapped up in a much larger narrative. Both come across really strongly, with the emotional payoff feeling both inevitable and satisfyingly earned.
'The Nights I Die' is a really great twist on classic horror tropes. This feels like the archetype of Chimera's mission statement: take familiar monsters and make them feel fresh and new and interesting.
'Banshee Song' is another heartbreaking one. It's beautiful, intimate, and also a really nice level of, like, small-scale (but no less great) rich worldbuilding in only a small number of words.
I had to reread 'Swamplights' at least twice before I worked out what had happened, and I'm still not sure I'm totally clear, but that's not a criticism: it feels like getting lost in a very relevant and effective way.
'When the Basilisk Wakes' spends its entire length building emotion towards a payoff that I thought was fairly inevitable, but that made it even more effective for me. I knew it couldn't end well, so the bonding between man and animal was gorgeously soul-shredding.
And finally, 'Children of Blood' is another superbly kitschy B-movie-ish throwback, gory and over the top and icky and fun.
Each story is great on its own, but it's fun reading them together in the knowledge of the anthology's premise. It might have been even more fun if the contents hadn't revealed what the creatures were, so that the reader could try to work it out for themselves ('I know there are going to be at least two creatures in here - I'll hunt for clues as to what they are!'), but I didn't think it took away from the ride too much.
It's a frequently dark, often emotive, and just generally really enjoyable book.
'Loomis Creek' is a really authentic-feeling campfire scary story, y'know? Not just because that's the framing device, but in the way it's told; there's a slight endearing campness to it all that I just find really fun.
'Color Unknown' is stunning, heartbreaking, everything I never knew I wanted to read and everything my poor soul can't take the prospect of ever going through again. Just gorgeous.
'The Waterwisps' is a peculiar blend of beauty and a sort of natural, amoral callousness. It's both personal and alien, universal in its emotions but unfamiliar in its bizarreness. The world can be both wonderful and terrifying, and this captures that wonderfully.
'The Real Treasure' is by some person called Chris and I guess it's kinda funny. Author seems like they must be a right weird one.
'My Mother's Daughter' is another great example of an individual, personal arc wrapped up in a much larger narrative. Both come across really strongly, with the emotional payoff feeling both inevitable and satisfyingly earned.
'The Nights I Die' is a really great twist on classic horror tropes. This feels like the archetype of Chimera's mission statement: take familiar monsters and make them feel fresh and new and interesting.
'Banshee Song' is another heartbreaking one. It's beautiful, intimate, and also a really nice level of, like, small-scale (but no less great) rich worldbuilding in only a small number of words.
I had to reread 'Swamplights' at least twice before I worked out what had happened, and I'm still not sure I'm totally clear, but that's not a criticism: it feels like getting lost in a very relevant and effective way.
'When the Basilisk Wakes' spends its entire length building emotion towards a payoff that I thought was fairly inevitable, but that made it even more effective for me. I knew it couldn't end well, so the bonding between man and animal was gorgeously soul-shredding.
And finally, 'Children of Blood' is another superbly kitschy B-movie-ish throwback, gory and over the top and icky and fun.
Each story is great on its own, but it's fun reading them together in the knowledge of the anthology's premise. It might have been even more fun if the contents hadn't revealed what the creatures were, so that the reader could try to work it out for themselves ('I know there are going to be at least two creatures in here - I'll hunt for clues as to what they are!'), but I didn't think it took away from the ride too much.
It's a frequently dark, often emotive, and just generally really enjoyable book.