21 new tales of fear from modern masters of the genrE  Mark Morris returns with his highly anticipated sequel to last year’s superb multi-author anthology “New Fears” with, wait for it, “New Fears 2”. It was also particularly nice to see a line from my Ginger Nuts of Horror review quoted in the introduction “oozes quality from an eclectic range of leading writers from the world of horror and dark fiction”. In fact, I loved “New Fears” so much it also shot into my top ten releases of 2017 over at HorrorTalk.Com where I also review. This time out 21 stories are featured, few of which are longer than 20 pages, featuring a completely different set of authors. The editor took the brave decision not to include any contributors from volume one, this means no Adam Nevill, Josh Malerman or Ramsey Campbell, all geniuses of the horror short story, but you cannot fault Mark Morris for wanting to spread the fear around. If you know nothing of volume one there is nothing stopping you jumping straight in with this new book, the only connection is the editor and publisher, Titan Books. Morris reiterates in his introduction his hope of recreating the great horror anthologies he remembered so fondly from his childhood with modern equivalents. In recent years themed anthologies have been very trendy, on everything from vampires to zombies or Halloween, so “New Fears 2” returns to the roots of horror with a wide-ranging collection of tales which are only interlinked by the fact that they ignore many staples of the horror diet; vampires, werewolves, zombies and only a couple of ghosts. The million-dollar question is how does “New Fears 2” compare to its predecessor? Although there are some excellent stories ultimately it falls well short, and in the cold light of day many of the better-known authors provide the inferior entries. I felt around eight of the 21 stories were fairly pedestrian, of course this may well come down to taste, so instead I’m going to focus on the seven I thought were excellent and the other batch which I also enjoyed. First up, the biggest shout-out goes to the legend that is Tim Lucas for “The Migrants” a quirky story about a man asked by a neighbour he does not know to accompany a third very strange guy out on an evening stroll. I’ve never read fiction by Lucas before, but this cool guy holds a very cool place in my heart for being one of the founders/editors of the cult film magazine “Video Watchdog”. Before the internet, (yes, before!) there was Video Watchdog which I subscribed to in the early 1990s and might even have had a letter or two published. This was a film magazine Bible for me. The gorier end of the horror market always had plenty of publications, but Video Watchdog brought a higher level of sophistication, detail, and analysis to cult movies which was second to none. I loved it. Cheers Tim! I was delighted to see long-term contributor to Ginger Nuts of Horror Kit Power shine brightly in this anthology and even more stoked by the fact that his unsettling little story “Fish Hooks” smashes it out of the park. Sarah is on her way to work, buying a coffee, before getting the train when she suddenly sees blood on the face of the guy making the coffee. After a closer look she sees fish hooks jutting out of the side of his cheeks, this escalates quickly and she sees these fish hooks everywhere and on everyone. Nobody else seems to notice, including those with the hooks. Thinking she is going crazy Sarah runs home and this queer story escalates nicely. Sometimes short stories built upon a single weird happening are let down by their ending, but Kit keeps us on the hook right until the fishy ending. Robert Shearman’s “Thumbsucker” matches Kit Power for strangeness and if Roald Dahl had written this story forty years ago it would very likely have featured in his TV show “Tales of the Unexpected”. A man (no names are used) is out with his elderly father for dinner when out of the blue his father starts sucking his thumb. The son thinks this is strange, but says nothing, then their waiter approaches them and asks the father if he would please refrain from doing so. After this strange dinner the two don’t see each other for a while until his father invites him to the most unique of social clubs. This was a highly original story which will have you thinking about when you last sucked your thumb (or the thumb of anyone else). I’ve read Alison Moore before, who was shortlisted for the Booker Prize with “The Lighthouse” and although I never pegged her as a horror writer, the superb “The Sketch” soon changed my tune and after a closer look at her back-catalogue bought and added her most recent novel “Missing” to my large TBR list. Ailsa, Peter and their small baby have recently downsized to a pokey flat and whilst going through her old junk she discovers her old sketchbook from when she dreamed of going to art school. Whilst nostalgically going through the portfolio she stumbles across an unsettling sketch she swears she never drew or ever seen before, but suddenly which brings back unhappy memories. She then begins to obsess about it. This great story expertly treads the line of suggestion, paranoia, post-natal depression, fear and a marriage in crisis. When the dirty smudges appear around the flat, obsession begins, and you really don’t know which direction this beauty of a story is heading into. Very cool. Another truly original, unsettling and subdued little beauty was VH Leslie’s “Almost Aureate” which opens with a couple of holidaymakers Sherry, Eamon and toddler twins arrive for their package break in Spain. Almost instantly Eamon spots a man standing on the higher reaches of the complex who is only ever referred to as “the bronze man” and as the holiday develops begins to be weirdly obsessed by this guy leaning against the balcony wearing only his swimming trunks and seems to be watching him. Seen entirely from Eamon’s point of view, this obsession begins to deepen and his family are sucked into a life-changing circumstance. Odd, but strangely compelling. “The Typewriter” by Rio Youers was an entertaining old-fashioned horror story featuring a guy why gets obsessed about an old typewriter he buys and restores, as it “smells like dead puppies” his wife does not allow him to bring it into the house. But the pull of the contraption is strong and the story escalates into a top-notch fright-fest. Brian Everson has written probably the only conventional ghost story with “Leaking Out” about a luckless homeless man who breaks into the wrong house for the night and has a really unpleasant time of it. “Pack Your Coat” by Aliya Whiteley was another clever tale of an orange coat which becomes the obsession of a young woman which plagues her down the years. Five other stories have honourable mentions, firstly Stephen Volk’s “The Airport Gorilla” a delightfully wicked tale in which a stuffed toy brings a traveller exceptionally bad luck and Tim Lebbon’s “Emergence” a queer tale of time-travel after a countryside walk takes a funny turn which would have been at home in an episode of the cult TV show “The Twilight Zone”. “Bulb” by Gemma Files focuses on a woman who drops out of society and the usage of technology which is cleverly told via a podcast transcript. Laura Mauro also contributes to the Ginger Nuts of Horror and I enjoyed her intense tale of female obsession in “Letters From Elodie” and finally there can be very few darker places than inside the head of Steve Rasnic Tem with his tale of personal disintegration “Thanatrauma”. All five are top notch stories. Although “New Fears 2” does not reach the heights of predecessor there are plenty of great stories on offer and I’m sure the few I did not mention by name will get top will get top recommendations from other reviewers. The term ‘New Fears’ can encompass horror and all types of dark fiction however, I did find that ‘fear’ itself was in short-supply. Sure, the element of fear is both cerebral and abstract in some of the entries, but I do like an old-fashioned scare, and in that aspect “New Fears 2” failed to deliver the killer punch. Tony Jones   ALICE COOPER IN SUMMERLAND: SGT PEPPER’S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND BY DUANE PESICEComments are closed.
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