October Reading!

During October I usually restrict my reading to horror novels but this year I have spent the month plowing through several collections of horror short stories instead. Two different collections I was anxious to read because each has a contribution from a friend. New Fears 2 was published last year and is the second in what I hope will be an ongoing series of non-themed terror tales. Editor Mark Morris reveals in his introduction that he built this collection and its predecessor because he missed the older style of horror collections that contained many different kinds of stories. He feels that the desire to release themed anthologies often hampered the release of great work and I have to say, with the evidence in this book’s pages, that I agree with him. The fun of the wholly unpredictable nature of what kind of story I would be reading next gave me more motivation to rush on to the next one. Of course, if the stories were not very good, I might have stepped away regardless but I liked every single story presented here. I haven’t been able to say that about a horror story collection for years. Such good creepy fun! My friend Tim Lucas’ unsettling little tale was marred only by me not being able to stop picturing him as the main character. But that shouldn’t bother most readers and I recommend this book highly. 

The second collection was almost as excellent but comes from a much smaller press. In Darkness, Delight: Creatures of the Night is also the second in a series of short story collections but the first I’ve read. The very loose theme of creatures is adhered to by the various authors with much fun coming from the different forms and attitudes taken by these beings. The tales range from humorous to cruel with some new variations on old ideas and a few fresh concepts as well. Overall, I enjoyed the book with only one story really falling flat in a way that feels as if a piece of the narrative was missing. My old college buddy Frank Oreto’s odd monster tale is fantastic and IS the reason I purchased this book but there are several stories that I liked just as much – if for very different reasons! It was great to see him writing from a woman’s perspective and seeming to have a perceptive feel for that character’s life. Frank’s story serves as an amusing palate cleanser before the final trio of dark efforts reach out their tentacles to grab the reader. This is a great collection of tales and I think horror fans will enjoy it. I should try the other volume.