Anthologies tend to be a mixed bag. Sometimes you get more stories that suit your taste, sometimes you don’t. Because there’s a chance I’m going to find a new favourite author amongst them, I tend to read more anthologies than I plan to. There’s always a draw card, the author who sucks me into the experience when my TBR pile is shouting at me to look away. Here, that was Stephen Graham Jones.
They’re about serial killers, hunters of murderers and the blowback this can cause in the hunter, about cruel traditions, horrific appetites, toxic friendships, dysfunctional intimate relationships, revenge for real and imagined slights.
Although I love most sub-genres of horror, psychological horror is one of my favourites because, let’s face it, humans are the real horror story. While there were quite a few stories here that I could take or leave, there were also some standouts.
A Sunny Disposition by Josh Malerman
Grandpa Ray wanted to see the world like Grandma Meryl did.
“You ever feel haunted, Benji?”
Singing My Sister Down by Margo Lanagan
Today is Ik’s day.
“I’m stuck now”
Souvenirs by Sharon Gosling
Reg only wants to take one thing with him to Wisteria Lodge.
“Your daughter’s told us all about you – we’re all excited to hear your stories about travelling.”
Teeth by Stephen Graham Jones
Naturally. This story was the reason I was here.
“And then, one day, one day you … you see it.”
All of the stories included were reprints, originally published between 1964 and 2022.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Tachyon Publications for the opportunity to read this anthology.
Once Upon a Blurb
Your grandfather confesses his heinous crime to you alone. You try to save a young girl from sexual assault, but she’s not really a victim. Your child is sacrificed in compensation for your social misstep. You compete in a sick game to save your loved ones. Your mum is insane, your dad is dying, your brother is not your brother, and you’re stuck in the same house until one or all of you are dead.
Far below the unlikeliness of the supernatural lives something worse: the depths of human depravity. We live in fear of the cruelties of respected leaders and of the despicable crimes of neighbours who seem normal. We live with anxiety about our innermost desires and the unforgivable things we might do in a moment of passion. Or, if we fail to curb our urges, we live with the terrible secrets of our unfettered resentments.
In this uniquely unsettling anthology, editor Ellen Datlow has unearthed twenty-one exemplary tales of what humanity fears most: People.
Schizanthus Nerd 