STORY REVIEWS IN ANTHOLOGIES

FROM CROSSROADS IN THE DARK

My review of “crossroads in the dark” an anthology
This anthology focused on moral dilemmas and the horror associated with acting out without being concerned about morality or a code of ethics. This anthology was pure horror and achieved what the writers involved set out to do. Each story was thought provoking, realistic to a certain degree and had engaging characters that were supported by flowing story lines. Most every aspect of life was focused on that involve moral dilemmas examples would be genetic tampering, killing anyone in order to survive, drug use and revenge. Every story was fast, brutal, visceral and imaginative. I was starting to feel uneasy after halfway into the book because the writers were successful in making me question my morality and what I would do or not do if laws weren’t in place or if I didn’t care either way.
“Because I Can” written by A.J. Brown
In short as possible the bad guy did things because he could and not whether they were right or wrong and the family member of a victim of the bad guy through careful planning taught the perpetrator that he wasn’t the only person who could do things because he could. Revenge served colder than the iceberg that down the titanic. Blood, violence, a lesson to be taught and a realization that every character in this story developed before the end. This is horrifying and poignant with a huge taste of what’s real in life.
“Black Widow” written by Samantha Alexandra
A story that was well written and so easily relatable for me that I read it twice. Drug use, Control and the lies people can tell their loved ones and the lies we tell ourselves that can reach out and touch family as well as strangers. Yeah this story was violent and had a message, this story made me realize that we are all broken in some way, shape or form. This story made me reinforce my belief that it’s not what you survived but that you did survive that is the true horror. Lots of violence here and lots of morality that was questioned and broken what a messed up story that fit this goal of the anthology. Bravo too the writer.
“Byron’s Bug” written by Peter Oliver Wonder
A lonely man. A brilliant man. The main character is flawed on many levels but has a scientise and a genius. The main character is an outcast and an introvert who is living but only just living. I loved the main character and how he used his resources and the lack of attention he gets at his work that enabled him to tamper with or improve upon the entotic or crossbreeding of different living cells from a variety of species. This was a tale of morality that made me question if genetic tampering is something that has benifits that are worth the risks. The main character had many reasons for doing what he did and I accept that but morally no this was horror at its best. Some really horrifying and disgusting scenes in such a short story that made it fit perfectly into the theme of this anthology. Excellent work too the writer and I hope I read more from you in the future.

That Hoodoo, Voodoo That You Do: A Dark Rituals Anthology

Afflicted by A.J. Brown is one of the highlights of the anthology and a definite favourite of mine. It introduces us to Pryor Lee, a man whose spirit has been broken after a car accident left him crippled. Everything changes, however, when he meets a mysterious elderly man in the hospital and grudgingly accepts a piece of paper from him. What’s written on the paper? A name and an address. And a promise of a miraculous cure.

A.J. Brown’s Afflicted is a story that has just enough of everything: a reluctant hero, some humorous and some genuinely scary moments, a sense of foreboding, haunting writing and memorable dialogue. One killer of an ending. I read it twice and will definitely do again in the near future.

That Hoodoo, Voodoo That You Do: A Dark Rituals Anthology

Ritualism is an important part of the occult. We've all seen genre movies or television shows where robes cultists are going to summon the whatever or offer a human sacrifice to something or other. It's an important part of real-life, too, with almost everyone having some form of routine which they slavishly adhere to. The television show Dexter had an important subplot about how it was less important that the titular serial killer murder people than do it in a very specific way.

THVTYD is a somewhat misnamed title since it probably should have been called Rituals, Occultism, and Magic or something a bit more indicative of the contents. There are a couple of Voodoo-related stories in the anthology, including the opening one, but the religion doesn't play a role in most. On the other hand, I will say the cover is absolutely to die for. You can't go wrong with a Voodoo-themed Zatanna.

The stories are relatively short and follow the theme of ordinary human beings attempting to meddle with forces beyond their reality. In some stories, the individuals known what they're doing like "Sa fe Iontan" by Sarah Hans. There, a Voodoo priestess is attempting to save a girl from a dreadful condition and relies on her canny mind to appease powerful gods.

In others, like "Late Payment", the ritual performers have no idea what the hell they're doing or who they're dealing with. I'm especially fond of the latter story because that deals with a pair of teenaged Satanists who the Devil is absolutely sick of but is bound to answer.

Eventually.

Sometimes, the ritual is performed by accident rather than design like in "Gingerbread Man" by Rose Trickman. I think that story could have used some fine-tuning due to the presence of the name Tomald Trump but deals with a rather cute tale of a woman scorned. Not to put too fine a point, but quite of the few protagonists in this anthology are complete jerks. They're psychopaths or maladjusted losers who think magic is the key to turning around their painfully awkward lives. My favorite of these stories is Thy "Just Punishments" by Edward M. Erdelac, which details a fallen Catholic priest who has turned to the Tuatha De Daanan in order to cover up his larcenous habits.

It's one of the rare cases where the supernatural proves to be a benevolent force or, in this case, is less than pleased when you use their church to work black magic. AJ. Brown also deserves credit for an updating of the classic "Ragman" story to modern days. Another stand-out story is "The Seeds" by N.X. Sharps. This deals with a Scientology-esque cult which has stumbled on the ancient rites of Moloch. Its protagonist is, in simple words, a monster who was fine with sacrificing children right up until the point it was his going to the altar.

Do I have any complaints? Eh, not really. There's a strong undercurrent of the fact many of the rituals come from older cultures and deal with evil forces but in the majority of cases, it's clear it's because the people using them are bad rather than the forces themselves. Another objection I have is an annoying number of these stories involve some jackass attempting to kill prostitutes. They're extremely vulnerable in real-life to serial killers due to the fact prostitutes are willing to go some place isolated with their attackers but I wish the book didn't have quite so many stories which dealt with them.

In conclusion, this is a great occult horror anthology. There's no bad stories in the bunch and while there's a few middling-to-average ones, the quality is far higher here than usual. I would definitely recommend this to horror aficionados.

8/10

RUTHLESS ANTHOLOGY

The premise is simple. Every story herein is hardcore in some way. They aren't all gory gross outs, some are just plain disturbing. On the gory side of things Pumpkin Soup by Jessy Marie Roberts had me gagging and laughing at the same time. Crankin' by John "Jam" Arthur Miller was a blood pumping gory action fun fest about an illegal death match fighting ring and True Love by the editor Shane McKenzie was also a piece of gross out grue about a couple being tortured to tell the truth about each other. Rise Up Nanking by AJ Brown about a Japanese soldier punished for his war crimes in China was a great ghost story of sorts that was chilling. Little Blenny Bunting by Airika Sneve about a many with Down Syndrome and his terrible journey through a strange city was the most bizarre (bizarro?) of the bunch and also the most frightening in the collection. Strength by Alec Cizak, a story about a sociopathic child well on his way to becoming a serial killer was by far the hardest for me to read. Truly disturbing, disgusting and frightening, this one takes the cake for the most "ruthless," story in the bunch.

Not all the stories are winners but none are losers (with the exception of the two pro-abortion stories but that's my own political/social opinion). My chief complaint is that many of the stories are simply too short. They're well written and engaging but they end too soon, and as far as complaints go, that's not a bad one in my book. Throw in an awesome introduction by Bentley Little and you've got a great collection of memorable hardcore literature that will keep you up at night.

NIGHT TERRORS II: AN ANTHOLOGY OF HORROR

A collection of stories to keep you creeper out. Relying less on Gore, and more on atmosphere, this collection has a lot of stand outs,but I have to give the award for best story to A.J Brown In The Shadows They Hide. I recommend to all fans of modern horror.