Nasty and Brutish Shorts: Reading & Writing Short Horror Fiction

                                                                                                         Being a critic of horror anthologies in a world where Ellen Datlow is as active as she is...well, it's a curse, and a blessing.  A curse, because no sooner have you tackled one of her books than another one hits your shelves, leaving you in the literary equivalent of the situation in "Something to Tide You Over." A blessing, because Datlow consistently assembles, whether in reprints or originals, some of the highest caliber writing in the dark fantastic.  This time it's Halloween, although there's a slight twist: As Lisa Morton points out in her foreword, while Hal...

                                                                                                      I've been excited about this one for a while, in no small part based on that cover. It looks exactly like I love about the Ramsey Campbell school of British horror, so when I saw Frank was giving out review ARCs, I snatched one up. I'm glad I did, because this is an entertaining and spooky collection.  Also, do yourself a favor, and read my last review somewhere in the middle. I'm saying that for a specific reason. I really don't like the last story here at all, but I also really liked this book and I feel bad about ending on a down note. I mean it. Don't read it first, either--it'l...