 In Darkness, Delight is an original anthology series revealing the many facets of modern horror—shocking and quiet, pulp and literary, cold-hearted and heart-felt, weird tales of spiraling madness alongside full-throttle thrillers. You know I love short story anthologies, so I had a great time reading In Darkness, Delight: Masters of Midnight. Comprised of 17 short stories, this book had a nice array of different topics and themes. Some of the authors were familiar to me, but I discovered a few new authors which is always fun. It would be hard for me to pick a favorite in this anthology but I do have a list of top three. Violet by Jason Parent is one of the shorter stories, but one that tugged at my heart the most. Ed is an older man who lives alone with his dog, Violet. Violet is an old dog who had been his friend for many years, easing the loneliness that crept in after his wife and his daughter died. Jason does a phenomenal job of bringing the reader into Ed’s home and into his mind. There is a great attention to detail and all characters are very real. This story had an incredible ending that made me laugh...not so much like a “funny, ha ha” kind of way, but more like a “yeah, take that!” kind of way. The Pipe by Israel Finn was one that stunned me with its originality and its gruesomeness. It was one that was so gruesome, I wanted to take a break from it but it was so suspenseful I think I read it in one sitting. Derek goes to his girlfriend’s dad’s house to meet him for the first time. The dad does not like the idea of Derek and Sara dating. So he gives Derek a choice. He can either be mauled by the guy’s huge German Shepherd, or head underground and travel through a narrow city pipe out to the river. Neither choice is a good one, and makes for a deliciously engrossing story. One Million Hits by Evans Light is another one of my favorites. The tale follows a group of high school boys determined to make the very most out of Halloween night. After innocent trick-or-treat antics, they decide to pull some more elaborate pranks to record them and put on YouTube. One of the victims is a cranky, old man in the neighborhood. The prank ends up being much more complicated than the boys bargain for. I absolutely love the web of twists and turns of this story. And I really like Evans’ writing style. A few others worth mentioning are Who Are You? by Ryan C. Thomas and Letters by Michael Bray. There were a few stories in the collection that I didn’t enjoy as much or really just didn’t understand. Kruze Nite by Lisa Lepovetsky was well-written and had some creepiness to it, but just didn’t have the element of suspense or scare I was looking for. And I had a very hard time getting into Every Lucky Penny is Another Drop of Blood by Joanna Koch. The concept of deformity becoming the new beauty is very much appreciated by me, but the writing style was a little too disjointed for me so I had a hard time understanding it. And One Thousand Words on a Tombstone by Josh Malerman was a great concept about a girl who died after witnessing a witch in the sky. But it was written in short paragraphs in tombstone epithet style, and I just didn’t like the style. So props for such a unique writing style, but it kept me from fully enjoying the full story. All in all, this is a great and well-rounded anthology. A solid 4 out of 5 stars. In Darkness, Delight Midnight strikes like an invocation, clock hands joining in prayer to the darkness. After the twelfth chime, there’s no escaping the nightmare.Fear reigns supreme. In Darkness, Delight is an original anthology series revealing the many faces of modern horror— shocking and quiet, pulp and literary, cold-hearted and heart-felt, weird tales of spiraling madness alongside full-throttle thrillers. Open these pages and unleash all-new terrors that consume from without and within. Midnight is here. It’s now time to find . . . In Darkness, Delight. Featuring: Josh Malerman: One Thousand Words on a Tombstone - Delores Ray William Meikle: Refuge Jason Parent: Violet Ryan C. Thomas: Who Are You? Mark Matthews: Tattooed All in Black Evans Light: One Million Hits Lisa Lepovetsky: Kruze Nite Israel Finn: The Pipe Patrick Lacey: In the Ground John McNee: Dogsh*t Gauntlet Michael Bray: Letters Monique Youzwa: Rules of Leap Year Billy Chizmar: Mirrors Espi Kvlt: Pulsate Andrew Lennon: Run Rabbit Run Joanna Koch: Every Lucky Penny is Another Drop of Blood   Comments are closed.
|
Archives
May 2023
|
RSS Feed
|
|