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sharron_joy_reads's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
The ocean is a place of mystery to humanity, unexplored, unknown, what lurks under the surface? These tales of the dark depths explore what could be waiting for us below the water, grab your wetsuit and dive in.
Dark Waters
A billionaire explorer lost under the ocean and a viral tweet that causes nightmares
And then they eat your eyes
A boat trip for two college friends turns tasty.
Sand
It gets everywhere doesn’t it?!
Oceanlust
The ocean is a powerful thing, it can make a man lose his mind
Screams from the ocean floor
Do you know why sometimes there are screams from the ocean, here’s why.
Inexsub
A lesson in claustrophobia and how to handle the pressure.
Dead Man’s Cove
Shipwrecked by a Captain’s obsession
The Island of Final resting places
A group of friends annual get together with a surprise guest.
Hearing Things
A boat of friends hear the call of the sea
Beneath the Waves
A survivor of a famous shipwreck tells his story.
Into the Water
What moves in the cave?
Fool’s Gold
A treasure found on holiday brings surprising results
Only the Ship
Deep sea fishing but what is in the water?
What the Tide Rolled In
An unexplored island just appeared so of course we have to take a look!
The Wavlings
A monster from the deep needs to feed.
She and the Sea
A girl’s mission to destroy beauty
craigmatthews87's review
4.0
My biggest concern going in was that so many short stories set in and around the ocean could become somewhat repetitive, but this collection deftly avoids that. Whether submersibles, sirens, cosmic horror, history, grief, or ghosts, most authors are drawing from very different wells, making it a pleasant surprise almost every time you realise where a story is going.
I'll start by talking about a couple of writers I was already a fan of. Leigh Kenny and Gage Greenwood were behind two of my favourite recent reads, 'Cursed' and 'On A Clear Day You Can See Block Island' respectively, and neither disappoints here. Kenny delves into mythology in an interesting way, creating some nasty imagery and moments I know will stick with me for a while. Greenwood, on the other hand, uses a diary entry format that sets his story immediately apart from others in this collection. Unsurprisingly, he's created another tale that wrenches at your emotions and tugs on your heartstrings. At first, I was wondering how it would wrap up satisfyingly in such few pages, but by the end I was almost glad it was over for my own sake. There's at least one reference tying into '... Block Island' as well, which I appreciated. Both of these were easy 5* reads for me and among my favourites in the book.
One of the highlights of any new collection is being introduced to authors I previously hadn't read, and immediately connecting with their work. Screams From The Ocean Floor was certainly no exception. I'd like to single out a couple who both drew from cosmic waters, to very different effect. I found 'Into The Water' by D.W. Hitz to be a chilling, effective experience - brutal and very well written. The other is Derek Heath's 'Sand', a terrifying story from the depths of the seabed, conjuring images that reminded me of the film version of Annihilation. Angel Van Atta, Megan Stockton, Patrick McNulty and more are all now firmly on my radar as well.
There were a few stories I liked less. I will say there's nothing I thought was outright bad; it's more that they didn't appeal to me personally, were maybe too short or not fleshed out enough to sink my teeth into, or were too reminiscent of another story in the collection. I wouldn't be at all surprised to read future reviews in which people single them out as their favourites, though!
Overall, this was a highly enjoyable collection, with some truly creepy moments. The quality is high, with some very impressive peaks, and I have no doubt anyone reading will have at least one new writer they'll want to read more from immediately. This book is excellently edited on the part of Heather Ann Larson, who also contributed a great story herself. If the concept of the book is at all appealing to you, then I can't recommend getting your hands on a copy strongly enough.
I'll start by talking about a couple of writers I was already a fan of. Leigh Kenny and Gage Greenwood were behind two of my favourite recent reads, 'Cursed' and 'On A Clear Day You Can See Block Island' respectively, and neither disappoints here. Kenny delves into mythology in an interesting way, creating some nasty imagery and moments I know will stick with me for a while. Greenwood, on the other hand, uses a diary entry format that sets his story immediately apart from others in this collection. Unsurprisingly, he's created another tale that wrenches at your emotions and tugs on your heartstrings. At first, I was wondering how it would wrap up satisfyingly in such few pages, but by the end I was almost glad it was over for my own sake. There's at least one reference tying into '... Block Island' as well, which I appreciated. Both of these were easy 5* reads for me and among my favourites in the book.
One of the highlights of any new collection is being introduced to authors I previously hadn't read, and immediately connecting with their work. Screams From The Ocean Floor was certainly no exception. I'd like to single out a couple who both drew from cosmic waters, to very different effect. I found 'Into The Water' by D.W. Hitz to be a chilling, effective experience - brutal and very well written. The other is Derek Heath's 'Sand', a terrifying story from the depths of the seabed, conjuring images that reminded me of the film version of Annihilation. Angel Van Atta, Megan Stockton, Patrick McNulty and more are all now firmly on my radar as well.
There were a few stories I liked less. I will say there's nothing I thought was outright bad; it's more that they didn't appeal to me personally, were maybe too short or not fleshed out enough to sink my teeth into, or were too reminiscent of another story in the collection. I wouldn't be at all surprised to read future reviews in which people single them out as their favourites, though!
Overall, this was a highly enjoyable collection, with some truly creepy moments. The quality is high, with some very impressive peaks, and I have no doubt anyone reading will have at least one new writer they'll want to read more from immediately. This book is excellently edited on the part of Heather Ann Larson, who also contributed a great story herself. If the concept of the book is at all appealing to you, then I can't recommend getting your hands on a copy strongly enough.
bobmetal's review
challenging
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
momsterreads's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
kikis_a_book_wh0r3's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
Overall a 4.5 star read. This horror anthology has an ocean theme, appropriately picked by the authors as this project started at the time that OceanGate's submersible Titan 2 went missing / imploded. Seeing that I have thalassophobia and megalohydrothalassophobia, this book definitely had my anxiety at 1000 lol.
Dark Waters by Wil Forbis kicks off the anthology with a different spin on billionaires dying while taking an overpriced underwater excursion. I felt the story started off really good and the premise of the story was haunting, but the ending fell short for me and the "villain monologue" made it feel like the author was just over writing the story at that point. I do give this story a solid 3 stars though.
And Then They Eat Your Eyes by Leigh Kenny follows a man who is stuck on a boat by himself after his friend disappears after a night of heavy drinking and fishing in the Bermuda Triangle. He recounts the lore of sirens that lure people into the water and ....then they eat your eyes. As he contemplates his life choices and tries to find a way out of his situation many things go wrong. Just when he thinks he has it figured out..... things take a turn. I really liked this story, the feeling of solitude and despair really got my heart pumping. I give this story 4 stars.
Sand by Derek Heath is kind of a weird underwater love ish story LOL. Two deep sea divers who have been working on a project for a long time go searching the ocean floor and find something completely new. This is a horror anthology so of course the something new, is nothing good for them LOL. I seriously wanted to scream while reading this because the anxiety was overwhelming on this one, I gave this one 4.5 stars
Oceanlust by RJ Roles follows a ship and its crew with mysterious cargo that no one knows what it is. The wiind dies and the ship is stuck still in the middle of the ocean as the crew slowly starts to go a little crazy under as they hear voices of loved one's trying to lure them in to the water. I gave this story 3.5 stars as I felt this one was a bit drawn out and had some stuff that didn't add to the story at all.
Screams From the Ocean Floor by Heather Ann Larson is the book title story that is also very accurately depicted on the cover of the book. This follows a young girl who's grandfather went missing and she finds a journal with a note addressed to her explaining a find he made. She tries to befriend a sea creature named Kai, that her grandfather had journaled about and things start to unfold. The ending of this story gave me horrible anxiety....so I loved it. LOL I give this one 4 stars.
Inexsub by Megan Stockton is a different type of submersible story. I thought it was very reckless of the MC to not allow all of the system checks to complete before being released "into the wild" and for a situation that is already extremely dangerous as is, I couldn't really get in to the story that started with such recklessness. I know that this factor is how the whole story comes to fruition and the premise of the story was good. I gave this story 3.5 stars
Dead Man's Cove by Patrick McNulty is a story that follows a ship that is overtaken by a giant wave right as they spot Dead Man's Cove, a hidden island with a lot of lore to it. This story fell flat for me and dragged on in places where it could have been shorter and then lacked in the areas that I would have liked more. I gave this story 3 stars.
The Island of Final Resting Places by Gage Greenwood is in a shared journal/diary format following the entries of a group of friends who gather at a friends mansion on a private island. Wanting to document memories for the future they each write in the journal, and start talking about sightings of a strange creature. I won't put any more details here but this was a really good story and I loved the journal formatting of the story. I gave this story 4.5 stars
Hearing Things by Chad West is following two couples on a boat. One by one they start being lured by the water. Now, this is obviously a very vague synopsis as I don't want to give everything away, but it was a really good story of the lengths we go to for someone we love. I have this story 4 stars.
Beneath The Waves by Ollie Gill is a cosmic cult take on the Titanic's sinking. Uh... this story would have been a great story if it weren't the Titanic. Like, any ship other than the Titanic. I think there are just too many adaptations of stories for the ship that putting a cosmic cult spin on it just seemed TOO far fetched for me personally. I gave this story 3 stars.
Into The Water by D. W. Hitz is told from the point of view of a young boy who is sacrificed by his village to some God(s). I don't remember a reason being given for the sacrificing as far as what the village got out of the deal. But the boy finds himself in a cave that has a pool with creatures working an underwater "construction" job. He ends up meeting up with 2 other sacrifices, one that has been there for quite some time. This story was super cute, and I would love a follow up story on the older girl's backstory and survival LOL . I gave this story 4 stars.
Fool's Gold by L. M. Kaplin follows a couple on vacation trying to fix their marriage... well... one of them is trying to fix it anyways. While snorkeling at The Great Barrier Reef the husband finds a coin and takes it. Again, this is a horror anthology so there are no happy endings LOL. I did feel like the dialog between the husband and the wife was a little off... I just didn't feel like it flowed at all even if it were trying to portray the awkwardness and resentment between the two... and it is this reason I gave the story 3.75 stars. But the ending was great!!!
Only The Ship by Charlie Walls follows a husband who is on vacation with his wife and child but goes on a fishing excursion without them. Some stuff happens and he is the last one on the ship with no idea where he is or how to navigate back to land. This is kind of a Bermuda Triangle - Survivor ish type story where there is a time gap. The last paragraph left me a little confused but the story itself was decent and had a lot of potential that I think could have been met in a longer story or a stand alone novella. I gave this story 3.5 stars.
What the Tide Rolled In by Joshua MacMillan follows an older brother who is saddled with having to watch his younger brother (12 years old). A mysterious island shows up by an ocean town and the boys head to go see it while the older of the two also meets up with friends to party while the younger one finds his way onto the island to explore. The writing of the younger boy made him seem much younger than 12 but overall a cute story but nothing that gave me anxiety. I gave this one 3.25 stars.
The Wavlings by Rhonda Bobbitt has a fishing town with some mysterious screams and murders that leads to the sheriff putting a ban on fishing for awhile. A group of fisherman decide not to listen and go out to fish anyways. They encounter the reason behind the screams and killings and the story takes off.... I gave this one 3 stars because the dialog really didn't come off as natural and I personally don't like cliffhangers for short stories.
She And The Sea by Angel Van Atta was saving the best for last, in my opinion. Angel.... are you ok? LOL This story does involve the unaliving of children by a child serial unaliver ... so make sure you read this one responsibly. Angel is so good at bringing the heartbreak it's disturbing. I feel like I need a novel from the girl's point of view with more of her backstory and more in depth details of her growing up and her thoughts as she does her deeds. This story was so good. I gave this one 5 stars.
The book overall is entertaining which is why it is an overall 4.5 for me. Thank you so much LM Kaplin and Broken Brain Books for allowing me the opportunity to read this anthology before it's release!!! I will definitely be getting a physical copy of this book for my shelves!!
Dark Waters by Wil Forbis kicks off the anthology with a different spin on billionaires dying while taking an overpriced underwater excursion. I felt the story started off really good and the premise of the story was haunting, but the ending fell short for me and the "villain monologue" made it feel like the author was just over writing the story at that point. I do give this story a solid 3 stars though.
And Then They Eat Your Eyes by Leigh Kenny follows a man who is stuck on a boat by himself after his friend disappears after a night of heavy drinking and fishing in the Bermuda Triangle. He recounts the lore of sirens that lure people into the water and ....then they eat your eyes. As he contemplates his life choices and tries to find a way out of his situation many things go wrong. Just when he thinks he has it figured out..... things take a turn. I really liked this story, the feeling of solitude and despair really got my heart pumping. I give this story 4 stars.
Sand by Derek Heath is kind of a weird underwater love ish story LOL. Two deep sea divers who have been working on a project for a long time go searching the ocean floor and find something completely new. This is a horror anthology so of course the something new, is nothing good for them LOL. I seriously wanted to scream while reading this because the anxiety was overwhelming on this one, I gave this one 4.5 stars
Oceanlust by RJ Roles follows a ship and its crew with mysterious cargo that no one knows what it is. The wiind dies and the ship is stuck still in the middle of the ocean as the crew slowly starts to go a little crazy under as they hear voices of loved one's trying to lure them in to the water. I gave this story 3.5 stars as I felt this one was a bit drawn out and had some stuff that didn't add to the story at all.
Screams From the Ocean Floor by Heather Ann Larson is the book title story that is also very accurately depicted on the cover of the book. This follows a young girl who's grandfather went missing and she finds a journal with a note addressed to her explaining a find he made. She tries to befriend a sea creature named Kai, that her grandfather had journaled about and things start to unfold. The ending of this story gave me horrible anxiety....so I loved it. LOL I give this one 4 stars.
Inexsub by Megan Stockton is a different type of submersible story. I thought it was very reckless of the MC to not allow all of the system checks to complete before being released "into the wild" and for a situation that is already extremely dangerous as is, I couldn't really get in to the story that started with such recklessness. I know that this factor is how the whole story comes to fruition and the premise of the story was good. I gave this story 3.5 stars
Dead Man's Cove by Patrick McNulty is a story that follows a ship that is overtaken by a giant wave right as they spot Dead Man's Cove, a hidden island with a lot of lore to it. This story fell flat for me and dragged on in places where it could have been shorter and then lacked in the areas that I would have liked more. I gave this story 3 stars.
The Island of Final Resting Places by Gage Greenwood is in a shared journal/diary format following the entries of a group of friends who gather at a friends mansion on a private island. Wanting to document memories for the future they each write in the journal, and start talking about sightings of a strange creature. I won't put any more details here but this was a really good story and I loved the journal formatting of the story. I gave this story 4.5 stars
Hearing Things by Chad West is following two couples on a boat. One by one they start being lured by the water. Now, this is obviously a very vague synopsis as I don't want to give everything away, but it was a really good story of the lengths we go to for someone we love. I have this story 4 stars.
Beneath The Waves by Ollie Gill is a cosmic cult take on the Titanic's sinking. Uh... this story would have been a great story if it weren't the Titanic. Like, any ship other than the Titanic. I think there are just too many adaptations of stories for the ship that putting a cosmic cult spin on it just seemed TOO far fetched for me personally. I gave this story 3 stars.
Into The Water by D. W. Hitz is told from the point of view of a young boy who is sacrificed by his village to some God(s). I don't remember a reason being given for the sacrificing as far as what the village got out of the deal. But the boy finds himself in a cave that has a pool with creatures working an underwater "construction" job. He ends up meeting up with 2 other sacrifices, one that has been there for quite some time. This story was super cute, and I would love a follow up story on the older girl's backstory and survival LOL . I gave this story 4 stars.
Fool's Gold by L. M. Kaplin follows a couple on vacation trying to fix their marriage... well... one of them is trying to fix it anyways. While snorkeling at The Great Barrier Reef the husband finds a coin and takes it. Again, this is a horror anthology so there are no happy endings LOL. I did feel like the dialog between the husband and the wife was a little off... I just didn't feel like it flowed at all even if it were trying to portray the awkwardness and resentment between the two... and it is this reason I gave the story 3.75 stars. But the ending was great!!!
Only The Ship by Charlie Walls follows a husband who is on vacation with his wife and child but goes on a fishing excursion without them. Some stuff happens and he is the last one on the ship with no idea where he is or how to navigate back to land. This is kind of a Bermuda Triangle - Survivor ish type story where there is a time gap. The last paragraph left me a little confused but the story itself was decent and had a lot of potential that I think could have been met in a longer story or a stand alone novella. I gave this story 3.5 stars.
What the Tide Rolled In by Joshua MacMillan follows an older brother who is saddled with having to watch his younger brother (12 years old). A mysterious island shows up by an ocean town and the boys head to go see it while the older of the two also meets up with friends to party while the younger one finds his way onto the island to explore. The writing of the younger boy made him seem much younger than 12 but overall a cute story but nothing that gave me anxiety. I gave this one 3.25 stars.
The Wavlings by Rhonda Bobbitt has a fishing town with some mysterious screams and murders that leads to the sheriff putting a ban on fishing for awhile. A group of fisherman decide not to listen and go out to fish anyways. They encounter the reason behind the screams and killings and the story takes off.... I gave this one 3 stars because the dialog really didn't come off as natural and I personally don't like cliffhangers for short stories.
She And The Sea by Angel Van Atta was saving the best for last, in my opinion. Angel.... are you ok? LOL This story does involve the unaliving of children by a child serial unaliver ... so make sure you read this one responsibly. Angel is so good at bringing the heartbreak it's disturbing. I feel like I need a novel from the girl's point of view with more of her backstory and more in depth details of her growing up and her thoughts as she does her deeds. This story was so good. I gave this one 5 stars.
The book overall is entertaining which is why it is an overall 4.5 for me. Thank you so much LM Kaplin and Broken Brain Books for allowing me the opportunity to read this anthology before it's release!!! I will definitely be getting a physical copy of this book for my shelves!!
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