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Chill Out! Cold Shocks (ed. Tim Sullivan)

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                                                                                                                Here's another early-90s obscurity I've been curious about--Tim Sullivan's Cold Shocks . This is the companion volume to his Tropical Chills , which interests me less as it has 1) an ugly cover and 2) a lot of reprints that seem more like pulp SF than proper horror. These are all new stories, though, and it has an exciting lineup. And, while the moon on the cover looks more distressed than either scared or scary, I really like it. Each story has a bonus ranking by how cold it makes you feel; this isn't necessarily an indicator of quality one way or...
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Hotel Doom Service: The SeaHarp Hotel (ed. Charles L. Grant)

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                                                                                                                Back for another visit to Greystone Bay, and this time we're staying in the swanky accommodations of the SeaHarp Hotel. This is the best of the books so far--you can read my reviews of volume 1 here and here , and of volume 2 here .  Introduction by Charles L. Grant Synopsis : A series of letters, following the SeaHarp Hotel through its changes of ownership. And what's with that mysterious room? Thoughts : Grant's "introductions" to the series aren't the usual forewords; instead, they're appetizers which get you in the mood for the quiet, mood...
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The Darkest Side of the Night: The Darker Side: Generations of Horror (ed. John Pelan): Part 2

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                                                                                                 We're back on the Darker Side today with the back half of John Pelan's second "Darkside" anthology. This is a low floor, high ceiling situation, with some masterpieces and some gravely flawed trifles, and everything in between. I like these Pelan books , and I'm going to keep reviewing them, but the quality is really all over the place. That's exacerbated by the fact that the first half of the book is the stronger half by far, although we have some heavy hitters here who bring up the average.  Also--it's been a while since I've added one of these content warnings (and overall this book is much tamer th...
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Lights Out: The Darker Side: Generations of Horror (ed. John Pelan) Part I

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                                                                                                           It's been feeling a little. . . respectable. . .around here lately. We've been on a diet of Ellen Datlow anthologies and Charlie Grant quiet horrors , and while there's been more than a little evisceration and exsanguination, let's switch it up. Let's flick that selector switch all the way to full-auto. Let's rock and roll with another John Pelan Darkside anthology! The late John Pelan edited a bunch of anthologies, including five that, while not a formal series to my knowledge, all contain some variation of the phrase "Darkside" or "Dark Side", and were all publishe...
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All Alone, On The Edge Of (Best Horror of the Year) 17: The Best Horror of the Year, Vol. 17 (ed. Ellen Datlow)

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                                                                                                      Let's do this. Spoiler alert: These stories are all good.  Blessed Mary by Stephen Volk Synopsis : An expectant mother brings her husband to her Welsh hometown for Christmas, but the tradition of the Mari Lwyd, together with a secret from her past, may spoil everything. Thoughts : It would suck to be a Stephen Volk story set at Christmas because you're always going to be compared to your successful big brother Ghostwatch . Volk gave us one of the greatest bits of British Christmas horror several decades ago with that terrifying, reality-warping BBC special; if you haven't seen it, y...
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