Reviews

I wrote a detailed review of this book: a paragraph for each of the thirteen short stories and then a wrap-up for the whole book. Then I accidentally deleted it. So here is a much shorter review instead.

This is a typical Warhammer horror anthology - some stories are better than others, but all have a nice base level of creepiness.

Collapse, The Stacks and King of Pigs depict your average 40k inhabitants going about their job, until some unfortunate and nicely creepy event befalls them. The Stacks was the best of these for me and gave a great look at the library. While King of Pigs gave me the same sort of vibes as Tender is the Flesh; set in an abattoir where the one of the workers gets a bit too attached to the meat.

I wasn't too sold on Pharisene Paradox until I reached the interesting little twist at the end that made it quite enjoyable. I have enjoyed all of the Sylvaneth horror stories I've read so far and The Gnarled Bough was no exception. This was a fun little creepy tale.

Pain Engine was the story that I really wanted to read, and was very tempted to buy separately before this anthology was released, as I like anything that features the Drukhari. The story was pretty average, but it gave a really good insight to the world of the haemonculi.

Old Soldiers was a very military story and needn't have been set in the Warhammer universe, but I liked it. Aberration was very atmospheric, although slow and not particularly horrific, it had a nice feeling to the story. Bird of Change was kinda cool and creepy with an interesting ending.

Overall, I had a good time reading this anthology and am looking forward to seeing what comes to the Warhammer horror collection next.

katie_konneker's review

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

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