Tag: Short stories

Kate’s Review: “Hark the Herald Angels Scream”

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Book: “Hark the Herald Angels Scream” by Christopher Golden (Ed.)

Publishing Info: Anchor, October 2018

Where Did I Get This Book: The library!

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon| Indiebound

Book Description: That there is darkness at the heart of the Yuletide season should not surprise. Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is filled with scenes that are unsettling. Marley untying the bandage that holds his jaws together. The hideous children–Want and Ignorance–beneath the robe of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. The heavy ledgers Marley drags by his chains. In the finest versions of this story, the best parts are the terrifying parts.
Bestselling author and editor Christopher Golden shares his love for Christmas horror stories with this anthology of all-new short fiction from some of the most talented and original writers of horror today.

Review: I have sort of made it a tradition to try and read and review some kind of holiday horror in the days leading up to the Solstice/Christmas here on the blog, and I actually had a harder time finding something this year. Unlike the previous two years we didn’t have a brand new collection of holiday horror tales (at least none I could find), so I went back to 2018 with the anthology “Hark the Herald Angels Scream”, edited by Christopher Golden. I do like Golden’s books for the most part, and the collection does boast a good deal of pretty fun horror authors. I settled into it, getting into the Christmas spirit in a spooky kind of way! And it was a pretty okay read, all things considered. One that definitely got me in the spirit.

Footage of me getting into said spirit. (source)

You guys no doubt know the drill, but here it is again. I will review in detail my three favorite stories in the collection, and then review the collection as a whole.

“Absinthe and Angels” by Kelley Armstrong: I love it when a short stories collection starts off with a bang, and did it ever with this first tale in the anthology. Michael and Ava are spending a solitary Christmas Eve in an isolated cabin, miles from any other person, hoping to have peace and quiet and to read Dickens over drinks. But then a group of mummers knock on the door, singing carols and demanding food and wine. And they aren’t so willing to leave without getting what they want. The building dread and uncanny weirdness of the Christmas Eve visitors was deeply unsettling, feeling like we were on the brink of an home invasion or something worse, and I really liked the creepiness. It’s a great way to start us off!

“It’s A Wonderful Knife” by Christopher Golden: Christopher Golden contributed a story to the collection and it was definitely a fun one that didn’t HAVE to be Christmas-y, but benefited from it because of a puntastic title. A young woman named Cassie has the opportunity to not only attend an elite Hollywood Christmas party, she also has the chance to tour a strange collection of Hollywood artifacts owned by a powerful (and predatory) producer. In this collection is a strange knife… This was a cathartic and satisfying read, with scummy Hollywood predators getting some comeuppance along with some nostalgic Hollywood factoids. Not super scary, but definitely very wicked and gratifying.

“Hiking Through” by Michael Koryta: This was probably my favorite story of the lot, because man oh man does it hit so many sub-genres and tropes that I love. A young man hiking the Appalachian trail in Maine during the winter hears story around the campfire with fellow hikers of a strange woman who may be a witch. I mean come on. I love a witch story, I really like wilderness horror, and the winter setting in Appalachia made it all the more weird and eerie. I also loved the way that it flowed, feeling both incredibly tense but also somewhat lackadaisical. And the final line? WOW.

There were a couple other stand outs (I was laughing out loud repeatedly at the story “Good Deeds” by Jeff Strand because it just EVISCERATES that stupid “Christmas Shoes” song, which I have hated forever), but there were also a few that really didn’t work for me. I also kind of found a repetitive theme of children coming to harm, which just felt a bit repetitive as time went on. This whole ‘it’s the most wonderful time of year that children look forward to, so let’s make children suffer’ vibe just kind of felt unoriginal every time it happened, and I feel like you can do more to subvert a favorite children’s holiday than by just doing child death and injury.

But that said, if you are looking for some Christmas horror tales as we inch closer and closer to the big day, “Hark the Herald Angels Scream” is a pretty good place to start! The ones I liked I really liked.

Rating 7: There are some really fun holiday horror tales here, as well as some middling ones, but there is almost certainly something for every kind of horror fan in these pages.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Hark the Herald Angels Scream” is included on the Goodreads lists “Creepy Christmas”, and “Holiday Horror Books”.

Kate’s Review: “Midnight Somewhere”

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Book: “Midnight Somewhere: A Short Story Collection

Publishing Info: Blackstone Publishing, December 2025

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC from the publisher

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: From Bram Stoker Award–nominated author Johnny Compton, Midnight Somewhere is a frightening collection of thought-provoking stories perfect for fans of Stephen King’s Night Shift , Tananarive Due’s The Wishing Pool , and the work of Junji Ito.

A man gets into a car that can take him anywhere he can imagine—including the past, into the worst mistake of his life, a memory he does not want to relive, cannot escape, and is even more afraid to alter …

A seemingly harmless, forgettable film about “alien hand syndrome” inspires a wave of self-harm among viewers—and even stranger things among those who become obsessed with it …

A woman tries to bring her dead lover to life through a macabre ritual that requires attacking his corpse. Is it because she longs to be with him again … or because the two of them have unfinished business?

The assorted characters in this thrilling collection encounter horrors that range from mysterious to murderous, discovering that darkness can find anyone, anywhere, at any hour of the day. After all, it’s always Midnight Somewhere …

Review: Thank you to Blackstone Publishing for sending me an eARC of this book!

I may just have to refer to 2025 as the Year I Read ALL The Short Story Collections”, because it was a LOT this year. Even though I had great luck with all of the anthologies and collections I read this year, I was always kind of waiting for the bubble to pop, wondering if THIS one would be the one that reinforced my general wariness of the format. When Blackstone Publishing reached out with Johnny Compton’s new horror collection “Midnight Somewhere”, I was interested, but in the back of my mind I was wondering if this was when the other shoe was going to drop. After all, I read his book “The Spite House” and it didn’t really click with me. But I decided to go for it, and am I ever glad I did! Because “Midnight Somewhere” was a great short stories collection!

As I usually do for short stories collections, I will review my three favorite stories, then I will review the collection as a whole.

“The Death Grip Challenge”: This was one of the first stories in the collection and it was the one that made me really settle in with excitement about what I was reading. A girl has been noticing that her father has been starting to act strangely after he started getting really into a viral video trend involving a B-horror film with a possessed hand. This one has a slow burn build up where you just know that something is creeping up on the characters (AND the reader), and I was so tense by the time we got to the climax I was totally wrung out. It’s weird and unexplained and also taps into very real anxieties about viral trends and everyone needing to get in on the action, no matter how harmful.

“Monster Bites”: As someone who loves her three cats to death (as well as all cats I’ve owned throughout my life), I was obviously going to have a special place in my heart for the scary story with the pet. Elisa hasn’t really connected with her girlfriend Grace’s dog Dandy after moving in, keeping her at arm’s length except for their evening walks. But when Elisa and Dandy run afoul something one evening, their true colors come out. This one is one of the less scary tales just because of how damn wholesome it is, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have scary bits! Some of the descriptions of the threat really, really set me on edge, and one is ALWAYS nervous when animals as involved in a horror story. But not to fret: no trigger warnings for animal harm in this one, and that’s all I will say.

“He Used to Scare Me By Accident”: This was probably my favorite story in the collection, and man does it kind of just kick you in the gut with creepiness and a quiet sadness to boot. Olivia and Stephen are a happy couple, though Olivia’s jumpiness manages to lead to Stephen scaring her by accident more often than not. Still, their marriage is solid and he is more than happy to try and warn her whenever he is coming just in case. Except the one time he doesn’t…. I can’t talk about this one TOO much without spoiling it, but I will say that I found myself deeply saddened by a few of the turns it took, if only because so much of what this story is about is regret, loss, and the things that we have done that continue to haunt us. I actually said ‘wow’ when I turned the last page.

And really, this is a very strong collection as a whole! Compton has a lot of different tones and ideas here, some of them deeply scary, others a little sweet, and even others incredibly witty and sometimes laugh out loud funny. And some of them are just so out there in the best ways (a rollercoaster coming to life and running off into the wilderness, what on EARTH?!). I don’t think that any were true clunkers, and the ones that didn’t hit as much were more about personal preference than anything the stories themselves did. It’s been a huge year of short story collections in my reading, and it’s collections like this that made me really pleased to give the format so many chances for the past year.

“Midnight Somewhere” is a lot of fun! I’m so glad that I decided to check it out, and horror fans really should too. Guess I have to go back and read Compton’s “Devils Kill Devils”!

Rating 8: A varied and incredibly entertaining collection of short horror stories with lots of different tones, vibes, and scares.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Midnight Somewhere” isn’t included on many Goodreads lists as of now, but it would absolutely fit in on “Horror: Short Stories”.

Serena’s Review: “Tailored Realities”

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Book: “Tailored Realities” by Brandon Sanderson

Publishing Info: Tor Books, December 2025

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: Spanning the genres of fantasy and science fiction, this collection features stories from beyond the bounds of Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere universe. Along with the never-before-seen novella “Moment Zero,” Tailored Realities will include “Snapshot,” “Perfect State,” “Defending Elysium” (a novella set within the world of Skyward), and five other stories that were originally published individually elsewhere-never before collected into one volume, and many never before available in print.

Review: I’ve known that Brandon Sanderson has published a number of short stories and novellas over his career (because writing a bunch of hundreds-of-pages-long novels simply isn’t enough!), but I haven’t managed to check many of them out myself. That being the case, while this book also includes a new novella, all the stories here were new to me!

While I tend to prefer fantasy over science fiction, and this holds true for my taste in Sanderson’s collections of work as well, this book was a great reminder of how the genre can sing in the hands of a talented author! I’m not going to cover them all here, but I will say there is a good mix on offer, with some stories more strongly focused on action while others are clearly examples of Sanderson testing the boundaries of genre writing. I’m not sure all of these experiments were clearly successful, but I loved the included notes that gave readers further insight into the ideas behind each story and how they came to be. These postscripts on their own made the book well worth reading for any Sanderson fan out there!

I’m sure many reviewers will also note this fact, but it’s pretty amusing that Sanderson, an author known for producing brick-like tomes, has included a “novella” in this story that is close to 200 pages long, the same length as many other authors’ typical novel. However, as I don’t often love short stories, this fact worked out perfectly for me, as I got to read a short story collection while also sinking into what felt like a fully realized novel all on its own as well.

Beyond this lengthy one, “Moment Zero,” there were a few others I enjoyed as well. The first story in the collection, “Snapshot,” was one of my favorites. The story felt very Inception-like, with two detectives traveling back through a crime scene photo to investigate a serial killer. The entire concept was interesting, and I would absolutely gobble up a full-length novel of this story. I also really enjoyed “Defending Elysium,” even though I haven’t read the Skyward books that it is connected to. That said, I’m always going to enjoy a great “first contact” story, and this one definitely lived up to my expectations for that sort of tale.

I don’t think any of the stories here were bad, though there were a few that were a bit weaker, in my opinion. For example, “Probability Approaching Zero” is a flash fiction story, meaning it was incredibly short. Too short for me to really get much out of it, honestly. The story “I Hate Dragons” was one of those odd experiences where I really appreciated the creativity of the story (a character who can hear spelling and grammar), but the actual execution left something to be desired.

In the end, I enjoyed the majority of the stories here, and even the ones that didn’t perfectly land were still very interesting, especially when adding in the postscript explanations for how the story was conceptualized. I do think that this is the sort of collection that will best be appreciated by current Sanderson fans and perhaps a bit less approachable by readers who have never read any of his books before. But you also don’t need to be fully up to date with his entire massive catalog to appreciate it either!

Rating 8: Everything that I’ve come to expect from Brandon Sanderson: adventurous, creative, and never lacking in heart!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Tailored Realities” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Short Story Collections – Single Author.

Kate’s Review: “Shadow Lab, Volume Two”

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Book: “Shadow Lab, Volume Two” by Brendan Deneen (Ed.)

Publishing Info: Blackstone Publishing Inc., September 2025

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an eARC from the publisher

Where You Can Get This Book: Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: Just in time for Halloween 2025, it’s Shadow Lab, Volume Two!

In Gibbett Hill by Faith Merino, Virginia has moved with her husband to the town of Gibbet Hill, where they plan to raise their three-month-old daughter. But as a Gold Rush reenactment festival begins to blur the line between real and imaginary, Virginia finds herself the target of the town’s strange hanging ritual.

In Forty Weeks by Adam Godfrey, Sarah is transformed into a vampire after her husband’s research team finds a dormant virus buried in the arctic permafrost. When her husband is killed by his employers, Sarah flees in search of someone else who’s infected, operating on the rumor that their death would trigger an antibody surge that could save not only her, but her unborn child …

In The Retreat by Gemma Amor, a troubled military veteran tries to get her life back in order by taking an office job, and soon finds herself on the fast track to success. But when she’s invited to a corporate retreat in the middle of the wilderness, she encounters dark and mysterious forces at work, and she must use all of her skills to survive.

Find these and more horrifying tales in the second Shadow Lab anthology from Blackstone Publishing.

Review: Thank you to Blackstone Publishing for providing me with an eARC of this anthology!

I was looking back at my reviews this past year as I start thinking about what titles are going to make my Top 10 of the year (look for that reveal in December!), I noticed that I reviewed and read almost all of my short stories collections reads of 2025 in the last two months. Clearly I’ve been following a bit of a theme these past couple of months. And let’s just add another title to the mix! I was asked to check out “Shadow Lab, Volume Two”, a collection of horror stories from Blackstone Publishing that was edited by Brendan Deneen. It sounded intriguing enough, so I decided to give it a go!

Like I always do, I will first talk about my favorite three stories in the collection and then talk about the collection as a whole.

“Insatiable” by Diana Olney: This was one of the earlier stories in the collection and it helped set the stage, and really stood out. A girl has perhaps inherited something strange from her long absent mother, and as she finds more and more disconcerting changes in and behaviors in her day to day life, she has to learn to control it. Or.. not. I love a story about a girl coming into her own power, just as I like a story about not only women’s rights but also women’s wrongs, and this one was deeply satisfying.

“Hachishakusama” by Kylee Shimomura: If you throw me a horror story based on an urban legend or a creepypasta I’m almost assuredly going to want to get my hands on it, and it’s not shocking that “Hachishakusama” is probably my favorite story in this collection. A woman has to return to Japan after being away for a long time after her mother has died. But everywhere she goes she sees an impossibly tall woman with sharp teeth, getting closer and closer, until people around her start being torn to shreds. This one freaked me out but left me wanting more, and it was definitely the scariest.

“The Retreat” by Gemma Amor: This seems to be a favorite for a lot of people, at least in the reviews I found after I had finished, and I definitely see why being a solid scary story along with some fun corporate satire. A veteran is trying to fit back into everyday life, and is trying to get used to her new seemingly boring corporate job. When she stops a gunman in the office, her boss invites her on a highly coveted company retreat reserved only for the most elite, which can set its most promising attendees on a higher rung of the corporate ladder. But at what price? I liked the wild places this one went to, as well as the biting send up of toxic work environments that try to play up a familial vibe while actually exploiting its workers.

As a collection, I thought that it was a pretty strong one. All of these authors were new to me, and outside of a couple of exceptions I felt like I enjoyed at least something about almost all of them. It’s especially cool because none of these stories have any themed connections, it’s just a group to show off their ideas of horror and it really runs a gamut.

“Shadow Lab, Volume 2” was an enjoyable horror short story collection with some promising rising voices in the genre. If you like horror short stories, give it a go!

Rating 7: A solid collection of horror short stories that had mostly well done tales of terror.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Shadow Lab, Volume Two” isn’t on any Goodreads lists as of now, but it would fit in on “Best Horror Anthologies”.

Kate’s Review: “Man, F*ck This House (And Other Disasters)”

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Book: “Man, F*ck This House (And Other Disasters)” by Brian Asman

Publishing Info: Blackstone Publishing, October 2025

Where Did I Get This Book: I received a finished copy from the publicist

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: In the titular “Man, F*ck This House,” Sabrina Haskins and her family have just moved into their dream home. At first glance, the house is perfect. But things aren’t what they seem. Sabrina is hearing odd noises, seeing strange visions. Their neighbors are odd or absent. And Sabrina’s already-fraught relationship with her son is about to be tested in a way no parent could ever imagine. Because while the Haskins family might be the newest owners of this house, they’re far from its only residents …

In “The Hurlyburly,” a troubled teen loses his grip on reality after checking out the wrong internet meme …

In “In the Rushes,” a coastal cycling trip turns terrifying for a feuding mother and daughter …

Malevolent doppelgangers, bizarre murders, ancient evils, Western ghosts, mirror monsters, poisonous playthings, and more populate the pages of this brilliant—and petrifying—collection of stories.

Review: Thank you to Kaye Publicity for sending me a finished copy of this novel!

I never stay away from horror stories for too long after a brief lull post Horrorpalooza, and I’m back into the genre with a short stories collection that is by an author that is new to me! “Man, F*ck This House” by Brian Asman had a interesting title which hooked me in, as well as a promise of a couple more short stories beyond the titular novella. I’ve been having more luck with short stories collections as of late, after all!

There were definitely some standout stories in this collection, which has fewer stories than I am used to when it comes to short story anthologies (that’s neither here nor there, just an observation). I especially loved “In The Rushes”, a story about a mother and her teenage daughter on a cycling trip that has been rife with tension and animosity that eventually becomes a story of terror. I thought that the relationship between mother Carol and daughter Becca was poignant and realistic, with a harried divorcée mother and her surly teenage daughter butting heads in ways that feel true to life. Carol hates feeling like she’s the bad guy when she has to put her foot down, Becca craves for independence and her own choices, and I really liked how Asman gave us a superb backstory that makes the tension when they encounter something supernatural all the more palpable. I’m obviously biased when it comes to mother and daughter stories but this one just worked for me on every level, especially when the horror elements shifted into gear. I also liked the story “The Hurlyburly”, as urban legend/creepypasta meme horror tales are lots of fun and a favorite of mine when it comes to tropes.

I think that my biggest hang up was more to do with the titular story, the novella “Man, F*ck This House”. I had really high hopes for it, as I do love a haunted house story, especially if a dysfunctional family is involved at the heart of it. But I think that this one had a strange tone to it (the title makes it sound a little tongue in cheek but it isn’t really), and had very few people to root for. I felt like Sabrina, the harried Mom, was probably the most fleshed out, but on the flip side we had an incredibly precocious and psychopathic for no reason son named Damien who felt like Stewie Griffin come to life as he tries to plan his mother’s downfall. His reasons were difficult to parse through, and he was SO precocious and vicious that I just couldn’t quite suspend my disbelief for him. And if I can’t suspend my disbelief in a story about a literal haunted house, that says something. The rest of the stories were fine!

So it’s a mixed back of a collection. If you like horror short story collections you could check it out for sure. It was a bit middle of the road for me. But if you like to have stories to work through at your own pace it could be a good pick.

Rating 6: There were a couple of stand out stories (I really loved “In the Rushes”), but I found it to be a bit of a mixed bag overall, with the title story feeling all over the place.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Man, F*ck This House” isn’t on any Goodreads lists as of now, but it would fit in on “Horror Short Stories”.

Book Club Review: “Someplace Generous”

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We are part of a group of librarian friends who have had an ongoing book club running for the last several years. Each “season” (we’re nerds) we pick a theme and each of us chooses a book within that theme for us all to read. Re-visiting some of our past themes, we’re once again pulling genres from a hatch and matching them together in one book. For this blog, we will post a joint review of each book we read for book club. We’ll also post the next book coming up in book club. So feel free to read along with us or use our book selections and questions in your own book club!

Book: “Someplace Generous: A Romance Anthology” edited by Elaina Ellis and Amber Flame

Publishing Info: Generous Press, May 2024

Where Did We Get This Book: the library!

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Mix-and-Match Genres: Romance and Short Stories

Book Description: In these pages, desire is centered and explored through queer, trans, Black, AAPI, Latinx, Jewish, disabled, and neurodivergent lenses, and the ages of authors and characters span generations.

The brilliant authors herein have spun lush, poetic tales featuring characters and perspectives historically excluded from romance narratives. Through a variety of styles, lengths, and subgenres–ranging from flash-fiction to short stories, speculative to satire to romcom–there is something here for every kind of reader.

Two Modern Orthodox Jewish women cross a magical threshold on the holiday of Shavuot. A Chinese American grandmother in a nursing home plays matchmaker, just in time for the Lunar New Year. A nonbinary sexworker with psychic abilities helps an older woman connect with her long-lost lover. Two disabled young adults find new levels of intimacy as they work to overcome shame. An enslaved couple jumps the broom and can see the future, which is freedom.

The lovers in Someplace Generous–whether they are sapphic vampires or undercover super-heroes, teenagers, or middle-aged mamas–choose each other, and along the way, they choose themselves, too.

Featuring twenty-two stories by twenty-two authors, Someplace Generous presents voices largely new to the genre of romance-fiction, each bringing a fresh take on what it means to tell a love story.

Kate’s Thoughts

I’ve had a generally okay run of short stories and anthology collections in recent years, so much so that I am not nearly as hesitant to pick them up as I had been in the past. And when book club picked “Someplace Generous” for a romance short stories collection I was actually kind of optimistic. I really liked the idea of a romance short stories collection that had a focus on diverse and own voices reads, as for so long romance was a genre that could have fairly narrow focuses when it came to story and characters (many genres really). So I was hopeful! Unfortunately, this one was disappointing.

There were a couple stories that I did like! I especially liked “How To Open A Door” by Sammy Taub, which centers on a gamer dealing with PTSD after a not so specified ‘incident’ who finds connections online through RPGs. She eventually connects with Hax, a fellow gamer, and they start to build a romantic bond. This one was sweet and I liked the progression of their relationship. Another standout was “Runner” by Rachel McKibbons, in which a woman obsessed and hyperfocused on true crime (specifically women disappearing) starts up an interaction with a stranger. There was just something really intimate to me about this story, and I found it to be soft and quietly bittersweet. There were a couple others that worked for me too, like a story about a seance with a psychic sex worker and a grieving widow, and a forbidden romance between two Orthodox Jewish women.

But there are a LOT of stories in this collection, and a lot of them didn’t connect with me at all. I think that one problem was that there were a lot of entries of ‘flash fiction’, which makes for VERY short stories with little time with the characters. This can be done successfully for sure, but it’s hard to pull off and in many cases the authors didn’t pull it off here. And even some of the longer stories felt half thought out and not really well explored, and I found my thoughts wandering while I was listening more than I was hoping for.

It’s a really good concept and an important imprint to be sure, but “Someplace Generous” was overall a miss of a short stories collection in my opinion.

Serena’s Thoughts

I second everything Kate said. Similar to her experience, I’ve had some recent successes with short story collections, which have shifted my generally pessimistic views more toward the positive. Plus, who doesn’t want more romance in the world? But this was a definite example of ambition outpacing talent, perhaps both on the editing and the writing side.

Like Kate said, there were certainly some standout pieces that I did enjoy (often these ended up being the longer ones, which speaks to an important point about the balancing act that must be struck in word count when writing a short story). The handful that I enjoyed were better able to capture a true sense of character—a necessity, particularly in the romance genre, as the characters and the relationships between them usually make up the majority of whatever plot there is.

However, the vast majority of these simply didn’t work for me. Many of them felt like ideas instead of actual stories. Kate mentioned the “flash fiction” entries, and these ones were true sticking points for me as well. I’ve only ever seen “flash fiction” work in fanfiction, and that comes down to the crucial point that readers go into the story already knowing everything there is to know about the world, characters, and their relationships. Here, we were given single-page-length stories where I was left feeling as if I’d read the writing prompt handed out to students at a college writing seminar instead of an actual story.

Beyond that, several of the stories simply didn’t have anything to say and weren’t very well written. I understand that the editors set out a bit of a tightrope before themselves: with a title like Something Generous, the concept of telling prospective authors to go back to the drawing board or simply, “No, we won’t be including that story,” has to be incredibly difficult. But, as they say, that’s why the editors get paid the big bucks (I know they don’t! And editors are criminally underpaid, but my point stands that the role comes with a lot of responsibility, and some of that is making the tough choices and having to deliver unwelcome news). All in all, this collection would have been better served had the number of stories been substantially cut down, allowing the gems to truly shine.

Kate’s Rating 5 : I love the concept and a couple of the stories did work for me, but too much flash fiction, and too many half baked stories made for an overall weaker collection.

Serena’s Rating 5: The only thing I really liked about this was the idea behind it, unfortunately, and the collection as a whole would have been better served with more judicious selection.

Book Club Questions

  1. What was your favorite story in this collection?
  2. What other kinds of themed story collections have you read over the years? Do you prefer a theme, or do you like a collection by a single author more?
  3. Are you familiar with the story telling structure of flash fiction, which is used a fair amount in this novel? What were your thoughts on it in this collection of short stories?
  4. Were you familiar with any of the authors in this book? Do you think you would read more stories by any of them?
  5. Who would you recommend this book to?

Reader’s Advisory

“Someplace Generous” isn’t on any Goodreads lists yet, but it should be on Romance Anthologies/Collections.

Next Book Club Pick: “My Best Friend’s Exorcism” by Grady Hendrix

Kate’s Review: “Acquired Taste”

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “Acquired Taste” by Clay McLeod Chapman

Publishing Info: Titan Books, September 2025

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC from the publisher at ALAAC25

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: They’re feeding on you too.

A father returns from serving in Vietnam with a strange and terrifying addiction; a man removes something horrifying from his fireplace, and becomes desperate to return it; and a right-wing news channel has its hooks in people in more ways than one. 

From department store Santas to ghost boyfriends and salamander-worshipping nuns; from the claustrophobia of the Covid-19 pandemic to small-town Chesapeake USA, Clay McLeod Chapman takes universal fears of parenthood, addiction and political divisions and makes them uniquely his own. 

Packed full of humanity, humour and above all, relentless creeping dread, Acquired Taste is a timely descent into the mind of one of modern horror’s finest authors.

Review: Thank you to Titan Books for giving me an ARC of this book and to Clay McLeod Chapman for signing it (and the delightful conversation)!

Happy October, readers!!! It’s my first post in the new month, and that month is October, and you all know what that means!! It’s time for Horrorpalooza 2025!!!

It’s the mooooost wonderfuuul tiiiiiiime of the yeaaaaaar! (source)

Horrorpalooza is my favorite time on the blog, when I devote all of my reviews to horror stories, sometimes delaying my reviews of books that came out earlier so that they can come out during this celebrated blogging time (celebrated by ME, anyway). And it made perfect sense to devote the first of those reviews to Clay McLeod Chapman’s new collection of short stories, “Acquired Taste”. I had the opportunity to attend a panel with Chapman during ALAAC25 where he talked about horror in general and this book, and had an even cooler opportunity to chat with him for awhile between panels, which only solidified how cool he is as a person in spite of the fact he concocts some of the most fucked up horror that I read these days. So I eagerly dove in recently, ready to be wholly disturbed. And I was.

As I am wont to do with short story collections, I will highlight the three stories that stood out the most, then talk about the collection as a whole.

“Stowaway”: Ah the horrors of being a teenage girl in a world where there could be predators at any turn. A girl and her family are on a family roadtrip, but whenever they stop at a motel, the same mysterious man is there, waiting for her to talk to him. While it’s implied that there is something supernatural potentially going on in this one, the way that it made me SO uncomfortable because of the very real implications of what this guy wants with her just had me on the edge of my seat.

“Psychic Santa”: I think this was POSSIBLY my favorite story in the collection (though the next one gives it a run for its money)? But there’s just something about a Christmas ghost story that really gets me. A department store Santa haunted by some parts of his past can see the ghosts of dead children, who come to ask him for what they really want for Christmas in hopes he can help them. So when I talk about Chapman being so good with the emotional beats of a grief horror story, this is the kind of story I’m talking about. I was so, so saddened by the thought of dead children, but then heartened at the idea of a man looking to repent being able to help them with their unfinished business so they can move on. Get the tissues for this one, it’s less scary and more bittersweet.

“Stay on the Line”: This is the one that may beat out “Psychic Santa”, and big surprise! It’s grief horror again! But with a little more dread. After her husband dies during a hurricane, a widow finds out that the old pay phone in her small town by the sea can actually make calls to dead loved ones. As she and the townsfolk try to make connections with those they lost, she starts to think that maybe it isn’t her husband she’s speaking with after all. The raw sadness of this story was palpable, and I wholly understood the reasoning as to why our protagonist with cling to the hope that she is actually speaking to her husband, even as terrible tragedies start to occur. This one is incredibly sad and also terrifying as the unease builds and builds.

And as a whole, it’s pretty much exactly what I would expect from Chapman, in that it’s outlandish, out there, supremely gross at times, incredibly upsetting, but also so incredibly emotional. And sometimes quite funny. The thing about his stories is that I almost can’t look away from how WILD they get, even when they make me supremely uncomfortable, as there is just something about this way with words, his imagination, and his uniqueness in the stories he tells. He’s definitely not for everyone and I can see how some people would be repulsed, but his stories almost always work for me. And the ones that don’t (there were a few here, but that can be said of basically any short story collection) would very easily work for others who like the more gross out and extreme stuff.

“Acquired Taste” is a fun and unhinged (in a good way) collection of short stories from Clay McLeod Chapman. I’m glad I saved it for the kick off of Horrorpalooza 2025!

Rating 8: A totally outlandish, nasty, and at times bittersweet collection of short stories from a horror author I have come to really appreciate.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Acquired Taste” is included on the Goodreads list “All the New Horror, Romantasy, and Other SFF Crossover Books Arriving in September 2025”.

Kate’s Review: “Strange New Moons”

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Book: “Strange New Moons” by Stephen Kozeniewski (Ed.) & Kayleigh Dobbs (Ed.)

Publishing Info: French Press Publishing, January 2025

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an eARC from the publisher.

Where You Can Get This Book: Amazon

Book Description: You can hardly swing a dismembered deer carcass these days without hitting a “No vampires, no zombies, and no werewolves” sign on an anthology.

Well, to that we say “Pshaw!” And also, “Awooo!”

Because what readers really don’t like are dull werewolf stories. So, we tasked the horror community with writing the weirdest, wildest, most creative, utterly bonkers tails (ha!) of lycanthropic lunacy possible.

– a brutal, boneshattering peek at the kind of “dogfights” the super-wealthy watch to amuse themselves

– a story of two inquisitive city employees trying to find out who (or what!) keeps pooping on a local landmark

– a ride along with a delusional cop trying to prevent the total werewolf apocalypse. Werepocalypse!

Plus werewolf Frankenstein! And werewolves in space! This book is all gore and no bore. With a lineup running the gamut from brand, spanking new cubs to heavyweight timber alphas, you’d have to be the weakest elk in the herd not to slobber all over…

Review: Thank you to French Press Publishing for sending me an eARC of this novel!

I’m still a little bit shocked that werewolves haven’t had a huge horror moment lately the way that vampires and zombies have. And I fully admit that I am kind of a part of that lack of werewolf moment, as I’ve never really been huge into that sub-genre of horror (though lately I’ve enjoyed books like “Such Sharp Teeth” by Rachel Harrison, and “Bride” by Ali Hazelwood, which do have werewolves and some horror elements). Hell, I didn’t even get my butt to the movie theater to see the new “Wolf Man” even though it looked pretty decent. So when I was offered the anthology “Strange New Moons”, edited by authors Kayleigh Dobbs and Stephen Kozeniewski, I was game. Bring on the lycanthropes, I said!

Like most other short story collections, I am going to showcase my favorite three stories, and then review the collection as a whole.

“Vargsången” by Mary SanGiovanni: This was the first story in the collection, and it made it so that it started with a serious bang. A woman in an isolated cabin knows that there is some kind of predator outside her door on a snowy night. She wants to keep her sleeping children safe, but doesn’t know if she should confront the beast, or just hope that it goes away. I love the Scandinavian setting and mythology choices, and thought that it was suspenseful and relatable as a mother has to decide if she should risk drawing attention to a predator outside the door. This may have been my favorite story in the collection, as a matter of fact!

“That Time of the Month” by Kayleigh Dobbs: I’ve read Kayleigh Dobbs before and have always enjoyed her stories, and this one was one of the more humorous contributions to the collection, with a wry commentary to go with the lycanthropy. Every month in a community the men lock themselves up, tucked away from the full moon lest they find themselves in a dangerous situation. But one hapless husband has found himself out on the streets on the night that he is supposed to be safely tucked away… Dobbs sets up one scenario based on what we’ve expected from werewolf tropes in past stories, but subverts it in a clever and often quite humorous way. I found myself cackling a fair amount as I read this story. Horror humor done right!

“It’s All For The Best, Sweetie” by Rose Strickman: I’m a true sucker for any kind of fairy tale retelling, especially if it’s a bit dark, so “It’s All For The Best, Sweetie” was the other story that really stood out to me. Through letters from a grandmother to a granddaughter, we find the story of a woman who has trapped her granddaughter in her home, believing her to be a dangerous animal at heart. The epistolary format was really great, and it made for a very unreliable grandmother narrator as she writes her letters to Roja, becoming more unhinged by the minute. Or is it just clarity? Such a creepy and twisted “Red Riding Hood” reimagining.

As a collection I thought that it had a lot of variety across sub-genres, which is always nice to see, with a nice mix of traditionally scary, to surrealistic, to tongue in cheek humorous. The only author I had read in this group (at least I’m fairly certain of) is Kayleigh Dobbs, and I truly enjoyed reading so many of the works in this collection from authors I was unfamiliar with. And any stories that didn’t work as well for me were more due to the sub-genres themselves (like leaning more heavily Sci-Fi, for example), and that is more a reflection on my tastes as I could see fans of said sub-genres being very happy with what they find.

So overall I’m pleased that I read “Strange New Moons”. It’s always nice to see more werewolf fiction since it hasn’t had it’s moment in the moon as much as other monster horror has, and if you do like werewolves this collection will surely satisfy!

Rating 8: A fun and varied collection of werewolf stories crossing tone and genre!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Strange New Moons” isn’t on any Goodreads lists as of now, but would fit in on “Werewolf Books”.

Kate’s Review: “The Darkest Night”

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Book: “The Darkest Night: 22 Winter Horror Stories” by Lindy Ryan (ed.)

Publishing Info: Crooked Lane Books, September 2024

Where Did I Get This Book: The library!

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: From some of the biggest names in horror comes an Advent calendar of short stories perfect for the darkest nights of the year. Edited by award-winning author and anthologist Lindy Ryan, this horrific anthology will chill you to the bone.

From New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box Josh Malerman, a story of a dark Christmas past in “Children Aren’t The Only Ones Who Know Where the Presents Are Hidden.” From national bestselling author Rachel Harrison, “Thaw,” in which a couple spends their first Christmas together in a cabin—but are they alone, or does something else watch them from the tree line? New York Times bestselling authors, Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon’s “Wintry Blue” sets an innocent child on the road with a strange and monstrous creature. Bram Stoker Award®-winning screenwriter of Netflix’s Haunting of Bly Manor and The Fall of the House of Usher, in Jamie Flanagan’s “Bruiser,” something sinister stalks the chilling hallways of a nursing home at night. Author of Such a Pretty Smile, Kristi DeMeester, tells a tale of “Eggnog” a Christmas party, an over-friendly female coworker, and an angry wife are the recipe for a deadly cocktail party. Plus stories by Nat Cassidy, Darcy Coates, Clay McLeod Chapman, Tim Waggoner, and many more, with an introduction by George C. Romero and art by renowned British horror artist Mister Sam Shearon.

Review: I am the weirdo during the winter who absolutely LOVES the darkness that comes with the season. It’s probably because I adore the Winter Solistice, as it always feels so eerie and peaceful and filled with wonder, the shortest light day of the year creeping up and enveloping me in the darkness that I so love. I also really love horror stories that match up with a holiday theme, whether it’s Christmas or Hanukkah or Solstice or what have you, so “The Darkest Night” by Lindy Ryan has been on my radar for awhile now. And with Christmas, Hanukkah, and the Winter Solstice upon us in the next week, I thought this would be a great horror anthology to really get into the spirit of the season.

As usual I will highlight my three favorite stories, and then showcase the collection as a whole.

“Children Aren’t the Only Ones Who Know Where the Presents Are” by Josh Malerman : I really need to read more Josh Malerman, because whenever I read anything by him I am almost immediately blown away, and “Children Aren’t the Only Ones Who Know Where the Presents Are” was no exception. This one REALLY freaked me out, and it’s because Malerman knows how to build up a scare. A woman who hates every holiday is driving through the desert, only to find a door that leads to a closet and a horrific memory from her childhood she had long suppressed. Said memory involves what her mother had thought was a mistress skulking through the house, but was something else…. There was just something so unsettling about Malerman’s device as well as the descriptions of the supposed ‘mistress’ that was found inside a closet long ago. It really freaked me out.

“The Warmth of Snow” by Cynthia Pelayo: We all know that I really enjoy Cynthia Pelayo and her talent to bring out the eerie and the beautiful in her writing, and this story really reflected that. A woman lives fairly isolated in a home with her mother, rarely going outside due to a skin condition and fully immersing herself in Shakespeare. With a lot of obsessive tendencies towards “Hamlet”. This one was so strange and felt almost dreamy, with Pelayo’s slow build to a fairy tale that feels like it’s from the darkest of forests and nights. I was just struck by this one and the ending.

“Thaw” by Rachel Harrison: And I also really love Rachel Harrison, and I was most looking forward to her story because of a promise of an isolated cabin in the woods and something skulking in the trees! I mean, YES PLEASE! A couple has taken a vacation to a romantic cabin based AirBnB for Christmas, but the woman can’t stop thinking about certain things he does that may be a little untoward. Oh, and the fact that there is a snowman outside that seems to be moving. Harrison is a guarantee to bring in some feminist themes to her stories, and this one is about red flags in relationships, gaslighting, and also perhaps a killer snowman lurking outside that only the woman is taking seriously. It’s exactly what I would expect from Harrison and it hit on every level.

As a whole, there were a few other stories that really stood out to me, including “The Ladies’ Society for the Dead” by Darcy Coates, “The Body of Leonora James” by Stephanie M. Wytovich, “Eggnog” by Kristi deMeester, and “Being Nice” by Jeff Strand (which was a black comedy for sure and had me cackling AND cringing). The rest of them were a pretty mixed bag, from ones that I thought were fine to ones that really didn’t work for me. I did like seeing how all these authors approached the theme of ‘winter holiday horror’ and came up with some really varied and unique tales for the season.

“The Darkest Night” had some really high ups as well as some downs, but I think this collection has something for everyone. Don’t sleep on this one if you want winter solstice horror reading!

Rating 7: The stories that worked REALLY worked, while there were a few clunkers to make it a bit uneven. That said, it’s great horror reading for the darkest night of the year.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Darkest Night” is included on the Goodreads list “HO HO HOrror”.

Kate’s Review: “Manmade Monsters”

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Book: “Manmade Monsters” by Andrea L. Rogers

Publishing Info: Levine Querido, October 2022

Where Did I Get This Book: The library!

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: Tsalagi should never have to live on human blood, but sometimes things just happen to sixteen-year-old girls.

Following one extended Cherokee family across the centuries, from the tribe’s homelands in Georgia in the 1830s to World War I, the Vietnam War, our own present, and well into the future, each story delivers a slice of a particular time period.

Alongside each story, Cherokee artist and language technologist Jeff Edwards delivers illustrations that incorporate Cherokee syllabary.

Review: A couple years ago I saw the short story collection “Manmade Monsters” by Andrea L. Rogers on my social media feed. It definitely caught my eye, but for whatever reason I never made the move to request it or pick it up. And I don’t even remember why I decided to pick it up recently, I just saw it was available at the library and thought to myself “Oh, I’ve been meaning to read this!” So I grabbed it on a whim (and it actually ended up working out timing wise as I do like to showcase Indigenous authors and novels on Thanksgiving). And I’m happy to say that it was a whim that worked out!

As per usual for a short story collection, I will first review my three favorite stories, and then I will review the collection as a whole.

“Ama’s Boys”: Still love me a feminine rage story, and this story about an immortal predator really understood that particular assignment. A girl who has been a vampire like creature has been wandering in and out of Oklahoma for one hundred and fifty years, targeting young pliable men as her prey, though never wanting to kill, merely feed. But she meets a boy that may have a predatory nature of his own. This was a creepy vampire-y tale that had a bit of a feminist twist, and our narrator Ama is calculating and as ethical as she can be, while slowly realizing that her newest companion is a bit more of a threat than she is used to. I really liked the ending of this one, and also liked the implications of what Ama had been through when she was still human during the times of Manifest Destiny and the genocide that came with it.

“Deer Woman”: I have loved the various Deer Woman mythologies for awhile now, and I’m always excited to see a new interpretation of it, and this one was stellar. Sali, Quanah, and Lisa are best friends and working on an art project at their high school about Deer Woman. When Lisa goes missing, much like Quanah’s cousin Lilli a few years prior, Sali and Quanah try to figure out what happened to her. Bringing in themes such as Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, misogyny, colonialist attitudes in a more modern era, and some more feminine rage (I clearly am still in a holding pattern with my feelings as of late), this one is eerie and dark, as well as unwavering in its message of pushing back against gender based violence, especially towards Indigenous girls and women.

“I Come From the Water”: This may have been my favorite story in the collection because I found it so hauntingly beautiful on so many levels. A teenage girl still feeling from her father’s death is trying to keep her family from falling apart, when a mysterious alien creature suddenly finds itself trapped in her pool, desperate to find a way home. When these two connect, a journey of salvation, identity, and hope commences. As someone who is a huge sucker for stories that involve humans connecting on a deep level with otherworldly beings (I will once again sing the praises of “Starman”! SEE “STARMAN”!), and the bittersweet dichotomy between teenager Walela and mysterious Sakonige, one a mourning child trying to keep her mother and sister afloat (whilst also grappling with questions about her own sexuality) and the other a lost alien trying to find its way home, really moved me. I am amused that once again my favorite story in a horror collection is probably the one that feels the least like a horror tale. But man. I just loved this one.

As a whole, I think that there were some hits and misses. Definitely more hits than misses, but I do kind of wish that the familial line connection had been a little more apparent outside of some references here and there. But what I did find really impressive was how the stories, though all written by one author, had such different unique voices and approaches that it could have easily been multiple authors in my mind had I now known the contents. I also want to shout out the really lovely artwork by Jeff Edwards, with images accompanying each short story.

I’m glad that I finally picked up “Manmade Monsters”! Sometimes it is worth going back and picking up a book that fell by the wayside for whatever reason.

Rating 8: A well crafted collection of stories passing through a family of Cherokee, “Manmade Monsters” is a subtle Indigenous horror collection that delves into multiple sub-genres and has a very specific perspective that I enjoyed.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Manmade Monsters” is included on the Goodreads lists “Indigenous Voices”, and “Native American Female Authors”.