Review: Great anthology.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 7, 2013
There were two reasons I downloaded this book. One, because the cover is creepy as all hell. Two, because after I clicked on the cover and read what the stories were about, it sounded right up my alley. I am a huge fan of horror; in fact, I'm a writer myself. I got to admit, I'm not one for werewolves or vampires, so on, so on. I want ideas that are fresh, new, original. This book seemed like that, and it did fit the bill.I will agree with the one reviewer, there's not a lot of blood and violence. It relies on creepiness in suspense and atmosphere. But who needs blood or violence to write a scary story? Answer: you don't need either.The only real complaint I had with this book was some of the endings to the stories. They ended abruptly and I felt he could have gone on just a little further, maybe tighten the endings a tad more. For instance, the first story had me intrigued. It explained a lot about the town's "secrets" being covered up. But he never got into what those secrets were or what the monster could be.Vintage Record, The Dark, and Swim will leave you shuddering in your bed at night. I did love the ending to Feeding the Flames. It will make you smile evilly.Desperate Times and the Dead City are part action and horror, both fused well together.Puddles, Prize, Dirt Don't Hurt and Throwing Stones were among my least favorite, as they had a silly side to them, and although that's okay, I just didn't get into them as much.Granny somehow reminded me of a mixture of The Green Mile and Pumpkinhead. It was pretty good.This guy's going places. He writes very well, weaves good stories together, and has an imagination few people have today. Aren't we all getting sick of vampires, werewolves, ghosts and the like? Come on, authors, create something new, something different. The world needs a change, even in literature. Especially horror lit.