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talkscaredpod's review
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
darkpsychereads's review
5.0
4.8 Stars - Excellent horror short stories, some content hit uncomfortably hard.
16 stories, varying sub-genres, with an underlying theme which slowly evolves into a conceptual monstrosity. I want to commend this author as a new favourite in the realm of horror.
Great for testing out different flavours of horror to see which suits!
(Netgalley advanced readers copy review)
The chapters are broken into 3 sections (i.e. "Cold"/ "Black"/ "Infinite") and you can infer the content from these headings as somewhere on the spectrum of Bad, F***ed up, and all the way into you'll want to hold yourself so tightly so your hyper-awareness of self and existence doesn't disintegrate into one unbearable hellscape.
I highly recommend looking at the content warning at the back to dissect any relevant trigger warnings first, as it gets heavy. And I am super appreciative of authors providing this thoughtful section. I would suggest the publishers put the content warnings at the start!
However! I was blown away by the broad reach of each horror story. 16 stories, and each packs a punch of a unique kind. This will tickle horror fans of any kind, and perhaps introduce new and curious readers to the genre. Also, the intensity of the horror builds slowly, allowing you to acclimatise to each new and gruesome concept.
I personally loved some of the earlier chapters, as they were more on the side of eerie/ liminal space horror & philosophical contemplation. Where things weren't quite right, but reality was blending, and characters seemed ever so slightly off, and my imagination was able to desperately chase these unknowns. I even thrust the most impactful short story into my partners face ("2:45 to New Mexico") as it reminded me of the movie Lost Highway.
My other favourites were: Midnight in the Southland, The Happytown Yuletide Massacre, Y2K, Annie's heart is a haunted house, Afterbirth, We've all gone to crooked town, Solve for X.
Downright disturbing: The smile factory (think existential/alien body horror/ capitalism's prison. I had to skip parts of the text because it was like staring into an abyss of inverted flesh and moral decay - I'm sure that was entirely the point but yeah I reached my limit! This helped me identify the horrors I like and which I don't like.)
Nope: The gods of our fathers (tw: child abuse & rape- these themes were not handled as tactfully IMO, or perhaps I was unsatisfied with the ridiculous ending, and didn't feel the other character got what they deserved. This kid went through hell and she still felt helpless to me, but maybe that was the point. I know I'm a sucker for revenge stories).
I am so excited to see more from this author!
Thank you to Netgalley, Todd Kiesling, and Cemetery Dance Publications for this advanced readers copy.
16 stories, varying sub-genres, with an underlying theme which slowly evolves into a conceptual monstrosity. I want to commend this author as a new favourite in the realm of horror.
Great for testing out different flavours of horror to see which suits!
(Netgalley advanced readers copy review)
The chapters are broken into 3 sections (i.e. "Cold"/ "Black"/ "Infinite") and you can infer the content from these headings as somewhere on the spectrum of Bad, F***ed up, and all the way into you'll want to hold yourself so tightly so your hyper-awareness of self and existence doesn't disintegrate into one unbearable hellscape.
I highly recommend looking at the content warning at the back to dissect any relevant trigger warnings first, as it gets heavy. And I am super appreciative of authors providing this thoughtful section. I would suggest the publishers put the content warnings at the start!
However! I was blown away by the broad reach of each horror story. 16 stories, and each packs a punch of a unique kind. This will tickle horror fans of any kind, and perhaps introduce new and curious readers to the genre. Also, the intensity of the horror builds slowly, allowing you to acclimatise to each new and gruesome concept.
I personally loved some of the earlier chapters, as they were more on the side of eerie/ liminal space horror & philosophical contemplation. Where things weren't quite right, but reality was blending, and characters seemed ever so slightly off, and my imagination was able to desperately chase these unknowns. I even thrust the most impactful short story into my partners face ("2:45 to New Mexico") as it reminded me of the movie Lost Highway.
My other favourites were: Midnight in the Southland, The Happytown Yuletide Massacre, Y2K, Annie's heart is a haunted house, Afterbirth, We've all gone to crooked town, Solve for X.
Downright disturbing: The smile factory (think existential/alien body horror/ capitalism's prison. I had to skip parts of the text because it was like staring into an abyss of inverted flesh and moral decay - I'm sure that was entirely the point but yeah I reached my limit! This helped me identify the horrors I like and which I don't like.)
Nope: The gods of our fathers (tw: child abuse & rape- these themes were not handled as tactfully IMO, or perhaps I was unsatisfied with the ridiculous ending, and didn't feel the other character got what they deserved. This kid went through hell and she still felt helpless to me, but maybe that was the point. I know I'm a sucker for revenge stories).
I am so excited to see more from this author!
Thank you to Netgalley, Todd Kiesling, and Cemetery Dance Publications for this advanced readers copy.
hauntedvictoria24's review
5.0
This is a great collection of horror stories. They are gruesome and disturbing but very entertaining. My favorites were 'Afterbirth' due to its unique premise, 'The Gods Of Our Fathers' due to how creepy and disturbing it is and how it will stick with me for awhile, and 'Solve For X' due to how unique it is and how it has some genuinely creepy moments. I would recommend this to those who enjoy horror. Special Thank You to Todd Keisling, Kevin Lucia (Cemetery Dance Productions) and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy prior to publication in exchange for an honest review.
bemandy's review
4.0
Todd Keisling is an auto buy for me!
I don’t always love short stories. For me, they either leave me hanging or don’t have enough detail to keep me engaged.
Keisling’s collection sucked me in and never let up. The stories are wildly different but interesting.
I won’t go through each one but the standouts-
Midnights in the Southland - so moody and the perfect story to kick off spooky season reading.
Annie’s Heart is a Haunted House - I had some of the worst nightmares of my adult life. This one really hit me.
The Happytown Yuletide Massacre - this is a fun one!
Overall, a solid collection that left me spooked and satisfied!
I don’t always love short stories. For me, they either leave me hanging or don’t have enough detail to keep me engaged.
Keisling’s collection sucked me in and never let up. The stories are wildly different but interesting.
I won’t go through each one but the standouts-
Midnights in the Southland - so moody and the perfect story to kick off spooky season reading.
Annie’s Heart is a Haunted House - I had some of the worst nightmares of my adult life. This one really hit me.
The Happytown Yuletide Massacre - this is a fun one!
Overall, a solid collection that left me spooked and satisfied!
topher804's review
dark
emotional
medium-paced
4.25
This is one of my first reads of Keislings. I received it as an early release from NetGalley. Unfortunately due to some other reasons I wasn’t able to dig in deep to Todd’s stories. After hearing him read one of the stories at an Halloween Hangover book con I knew I needed to get back into finishing the book. Highly enjoyed the different sections of the book with Midnight in Southland, The Gods of our Fathers, and GETHSEMANE being my favorite from each section.
stitching_ghost's review
5.0
Release day edit: Cold, Black & Infinite is now available! A few months and many many books later there's still a few stories from this collection that will randomly pop up in my head and I've purchased a couple more of the author's books so I'd say this would be a fab place to start if you're curious about Keisling's work but buyer beware it's kind of addictive!
4.5 rounded up.
This collection was my first Keisling and from the first page I knew I had found a literary voice that I would enjoy, some authors are very upfront about what you're getting into with their book, Keisling is one of them.
A few of the stories came across as "the capitalist deity will eat your soul" kind of tales, The Smile Factory chief among them, to my great delight. Speaking of Smile Factory, that story contained some absolutely magnificent lines for the office worker soul such as and . That being said, it's not an aggressively in your face thing so if that kind of criticism isn't your jam you'll still be able to enjoy the stories.
There's a couple revenge fantasies and a couple of stories that confront religious trauma and religiosity in general.
A few of the stories felt very familiar to the point where I wondered where I might have read them before and in one instance, I was absolutely certain that the story was in another anthology, by a different author. In my reading notes I also marked 2 of the stories as "I'm sure this one was an SCP story at some point" (the strange radio station one and the magic show one). Considering that I've encountered Keisling's name in author notes/dedications I think that this sense of familiarity is proof that I have seen his shadow and influence in other people's work.
The variety of themes made for a consistently engaging read and while some stories seemed to be part of a larger narrative every story came across as a completed work.
I received an eARC of this book from Cemetery Dance Publications through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
4.5 rounded up.
This collection was my first Keisling and from the first page I knew I had found a literary voice that I would enjoy, some authors are very upfront about what you're getting into with their book, Keisling is one of them.
A few of the stories came across as "the capitalist deity will eat your soul" kind of tales, The Smile Factory chief among them, to my great delight. Speaking of Smile Factory, that story contained some absolutely magnificent lines for the office worker soul such as
Spoiler
"Don't look an HR rep in the eye"Spoiler
"don't call them the eldritch gestapo"There's a couple revenge fantasies and a couple of stories that confront religious trauma and religiosity in general.
A few of the stories felt very familiar to the point where I wondered where I might have read them before and in one instance, I was absolutely certain that the story was in another anthology, by a different author. In my reading notes I also marked 2 of the stories as "I'm sure this one was an SCP story at some point" (the strange radio station one and the magic show one). Considering that I've encountered Keisling's name in author notes/dedications I think that this sense of familiarity is proof that I have seen his shadow and influence in other people's work.
The variety of themes made for a consistently engaging read and while some stories seemed to be part of a larger narrative every story came across as a completed work.
I received an eARC of this book from Cemetery Dance Publications through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
mindysbookjourney's review
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
4.5
I received a copy for review through NetGalley.
Cold, Black, & infinite is a collection of sixteen short stories including three stories that were never previously published. The stories were all very well written and compulsively readable.The stories are separated into three sections Cold, Black, and Infinite.
The Cold section includes five stories that take place in cold settings including The Happytown Yuletide Massacre a Christmas slasher story and Black Friday which is a brilliant zombie story.
The Black section includes five stories that are very dark or deal with black magic. These are the stories that will really make your skin crawl.
In the Infinite section there are six stories that are on the strange side and most are cosmic horror. The story Holes in the Fabric was based in the same town as Keisling's novel Devil's Creek. It occurs after the events of the novel so it may be advisable to read it before the short story. I had no problem understanding without reading Devil's Creek, but I am not sure the extent of the spoilers.
The collection was really great overall. I would recommend the short story collection to seasoned fans of horror who are not easily offended. The author has included content warnings in the back of the book for each story and they are plentiful. You have been warned.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Child death, Mental illness, and Child abuse
aratecla_the_bookrat's review
5.0
Once again I've found an author that I'm going to look out for from now on as this collection of short horror stories was a fantastic journey into a weird and wonderful mind!
The collection is divided in three parts reflected by the title: Cold, Black and Infinite. Each of the 19 stories gave me very strong feelings, either chills, a sense of real dread and discomfort, despair or horror. It struck me that there isn't gore or lots of blood but I'd label some of the scenes pretty horrific in terms of the emotions evoked. There are zombies, eldritch creatures, cosmic horror, slasher, revenge, mental health.. Everything but with a unique perspective!
Todd Keisling's writing style is one that I really liked, straightforward and searched at the same time, but I can't stress enough the ability to really make you feel inside the stories. In addition, although rationally fictitious, when transported solely by the writing, I could honestly believe those worlds could exist and that I could wake up in one of them and it would feel absolutely normal, albeit terrifying!
I loved that some of the stories are connected and either depict the before or after, without feeling repetitive or without boring the reader, actually always surprising!
This is another great example of how short stories can really show the skills of a writer, being able to create something special in a handful of pages!
Thank you to Todd Keisling and Netgalley for the opportunity to read it and this is my honest review.
The collection is divided in three parts reflected by the title: Cold, Black and Infinite. Each of the 19 stories gave me very strong feelings, either chills, a sense of real dread and discomfort, despair or horror. It struck me that there isn't gore or lots of blood but I'd label some of the scenes pretty horrific in terms of the emotions evoked. There are zombies, eldritch creatures, cosmic horror, slasher, revenge, mental health.. Everything but with a unique perspective!
Todd Keisling's writing style is one that I really liked, straightforward and searched at the same time, but I can't stress enough the ability to really make you feel inside the stories. In addition, although rationally fictitious, when transported solely by the writing, I could honestly believe those worlds could exist and that I could wake up in one of them and it would feel absolutely normal, albeit terrifying!
I loved that some of the stories are connected and either depict the before or after, without feeling repetitive or without boring the reader, actually always surprising!
This is another great example of how short stories can really show the skills of a writer, being able to create something special in a handful of pages!
Thank you to Todd Keisling and Netgalley for the opportunity to read it and this is my honest review.
brianbbaker's review
I've attempted this review three times. I get distracted by what I read in this collection. I've thought about it for the last week.
First, I've read Todd's book, Devil's Creek and Scanlines, and loved them. I was happy to see one story tied into Devil's and another with the same theme. As someone who dealt with suicidal ideation, Scanlines was difficult, but I was better for reading it.
So, let's get into it.
Midnight in the Southland is one of my favorite stories in this collection. I listened to Art Bell driving home from work when I lived in Las Vegas. It was late at night, and I worked graveyards and swings. I loved Art Bell. The people who came on that show were off the wall sometimes, but they believed their stories, and Art believed them.
This story reminded me of those nights. I would have known who it was for if Todd hadn't put that dedication to Art Bell at the beginning. All those late nights driving home from work made me and my girlfriend(now wife) go out to Rachel, NV. We have our own stories about those trips.
2:45 to Mexico had Outer Limits, Twilight Zone, and Tales from the Darkside feels, and it was a fantastic story. I've traveled by bus a couple of times. There are those people in stops that you're not sure about. You keep your distance from them. There's something off, even if you can't grasp it.
HappyTown, man, this story was a lot of fun to read. It was a change from the other stories but fit into the collection.
Y2K: I remember the stress of working the night of Y2K. I was bartending on the Las Vegas strip. We were told to prepare for our computers to go down. For hysteria to eclipse the festivities of New Year's Eve, but none of that happened. I've come up with a story idea after reading this one. I'll have to spend some time with it, but this could have happened anywhere.
Black Friday: What's better than zombies? A black Friday with zombies. I've worked retail a lot in my life. I worked at Blockbuster in the late 90s. We had some crazy nights, but our store had haunting issues, not zombies. I think about that store a lot. It's where I met my future wife.
Tommy: This was one of those stories that felt out of place from the others. It feels that way with some collections. I'm sure it was added for levity. Who hasn't wanted to get rid of their bullies? I had a couple in junior high that I would have done anything to eliminate.
Afterbirth: This was a story that struck a nerve with me. Having fertility issues early on, my wife and I considered many things, but this was not one of them. I liked this story and the tragedy of the MC, who only wants to have a child, but goes about it in a way that no one should ever do.
Annie's Heart Is A Haunted House: Feels of Poe, Beast House By Richard Laymon, Sleeping Beauty, and Urban Gothic by Brian Keene. I liked this story a lot. The way the house takes its victims and moves them into the house was genius, and I loved watching them fall. Brian Keene's Urban Gothic was my introduction to Extreme Horror and holds a special place. I saw instances of that book in this story.
The Gods Of Ours Fathers: Todd says this story was challenging to write. I understand the reasons. The brutality of the father and Mary's brother overtakes my stomach. The writing brings it together in a way that could have faltered had it not been for Todd's writing. The imagery within the story of Mary at the stones, of her asking for help from the Gods of her grandfather, of the blood on the rocks, and Mary's blood from what her brother did, gave the story a resolution I hadn't expected.
Solve For X: The black-eyed children have come for your kids. The imagery of this story and the ending with the eyeless child was great. While this is the shortest in the collection, it hangs in the air, and I would have liked it to be longer.
We've All Gone to Crooked Town: If you've ever been to a town on life support or lived in one of them, this story will hit home. I've done both. The little town of Granger, WY, where I lived during my Junior and Senior year of high school, is only a dot on the map, but I always wondered if the Green River that flowed through it would take the town one day, or the winter storms would. Neither happened, and the town is still there.
Granger was smaller than that town. Full of oil riggers and people working during the summer months, then returning to their families. I know what it feels like to wake up and hope the town you were in would vanish. I liked this story for those reasons.
Smile Factory: The Eldritch have you. They're making you smile for what they want. This was an exciting story that left me guessing what was happening. It felt like a descent into madness at times. Having dealt with depression and those conditions myself, having to put on a smile to make my way through life is constant. This is what that felt like. Wearing a smile so no one thinks something is wrong is what you do when you're depressed. It keeps the questions away.
Holes in the Fabric: Devil's Creek is a favorite novel of mine. Seeing into the past of one of that novel's characters was a great escape. I wondered about how she got where she was in Devil's Creek. It was a fleshing-out of the character's story that I enjoyed.
Happy Pills: We've all wanted that pill to make us feel normal. If you've dealt with depression, you have. I wouldn't want to go as far as this story, though it does have its rewards.
Gethsemane: I read the title for this story and wondered how that could be turned into a horror story. It's done well. I won't give anything away with this one. You have to read it with an open mind. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
We've All Gone To The Magic House: It felt like a Twilight Zone episode or an episode of Doctor Who. I wasn't sure where it would end, but it tied everything together. I remember a place like the Magic House in my hometown. People remembered it being open, but no one could say what lay inside. Even now, I forget what the place was called.
I hope you enjoyed this review. I enjoyed reading the collection. It comes out on September 1, 2023. I will buy a copy of it and put it next to Scanlines.
On a side note, the choice of title and how each section was broken up was great. I am a huge Nine Inch Nails fan and have seen them 10 times. I knew I'd like this collection from the title.
First, I've read Todd's book, Devil's Creek and Scanlines, and loved them. I was happy to see one story tied into Devil's and another with the same theme. As someone who dealt with suicidal ideation, Scanlines was difficult, but I was better for reading it.
So, let's get into it.
Midnight in the Southland is one of my favorite stories in this collection. I listened to Art Bell driving home from work when I lived in Las Vegas. It was late at night, and I worked graveyards and swings. I loved Art Bell. The people who came on that show were off the wall sometimes, but they believed their stories, and Art believed them.
This story reminded me of those nights. I would have known who it was for if Todd hadn't put that dedication to Art Bell at the beginning. All those late nights driving home from work made me and my girlfriend(now wife) go out to Rachel, NV. We have our own stories about those trips.
2:45 to Mexico had Outer Limits, Twilight Zone, and Tales from the Darkside feels, and it was a fantastic story. I've traveled by bus a couple of times. There are those people in stops that you're not sure about. You keep your distance from them. There's something off, even if you can't grasp it.
HappyTown, man, this story was a lot of fun to read. It was a change from the other stories but fit into the collection.
Y2K: I remember the stress of working the night of Y2K. I was bartending on the Las Vegas strip. We were told to prepare for our computers to go down. For hysteria to eclipse the festivities of New Year's Eve, but none of that happened. I've come up with a story idea after reading this one. I'll have to spend some time with it, but this could have happened anywhere.
Black Friday: What's better than zombies? A black Friday with zombies. I've worked retail a lot in my life. I worked at Blockbuster in the late 90s. We had some crazy nights, but our store had haunting issues, not zombies. I think about that store a lot. It's where I met my future wife.
Tommy: This was one of those stories that felt out of place from the others. It feels that way with some collections. I'm sure it was added for levity. Who hasn't wanted to get rid of their bullies? I had a couple in junior high that I would have done anything to eliminate.
Afterbirth: This was a story that struck a nerve with me. Having fertility issues early on, my wife and I considered many things, but this was not one of them. I liked this story and the tragedy of the MC, who only wants to have a child, but goes about it in a way that no one should ever do.
Annie's Heart Is A Haunted House: Feels of Poe, Beast House By Richard Laymon, Sleeping Beauty, and Urban Gothic by Brian Keene. I liked this story a lot. The way the house takes its victims and moves them into the house was genius, and I loved watching them fall. Brian Keene's Urban Gothic was my introduction to Extreme Horror and holds a special place. I saw instances of that book in this story.
The Gods Of Ours Fathers: Todd says this story was challenging to write. I understand the reasons. The brutality of the father and Mary's brother overtakes my stomach. The writing brings it together in a way that could have faltered had it not been for Todd's writing. The imagery within the story of Mary at the stones, of her asking for help from the Gods of her grandfather, of the blood on the rocks, and Mary's blood from what her brother did, gave the story a resolution I hadn't expected.
Solve For X: The black-eyed children have come for your kids. The imagery of this story and the ending with the eyeless child was great. While this is the shortest in the collection, it hangs in the air, and I would have liked it to be longer.
We've All Gone to Crooked Town: If you've ever been to a town on life support or lived in one of them, this story will hit home. I've done both. The little town of Granger, WY, where I lived during my Junior and Senior year of high school, is only a dot on the map, but I always wondered if the Green River that flowed through it would take the town one day, or the winter storms would. Neither happened, and the town is still there.
Granger was smaller than that town. Full of oil riggers and people working during the summer months, then returning to their families. I know what it feels like to wake up and hope the town you were in would vanish. I liked this story for those reasons.
Smile Factory: The Eldritch have you. They're making you smile for what they want. This was an exciting story that left me guessing what was happening. It felt like a descent into madness at times. Having dealt with depression and those conditions myself, having to put on a smile to make my way through life is constant. This is what that felt like. Wearing a smile so no one thinks something is wrong is what you do when you're depressed. It keeps the questions away.
Holes in the Fabric: Devil's Creek is a favorite novel of mine. Seeing into the past of one of that novel's characters was a great escape. I wondered about how she got where she was in Devil's Creek. It was a fleshing-out of the character's story that I enjoyed.
Happy Pills: We've all wanted that pill to make us feel normal. If you've dealt with depression, you have. I wouldn't want to go as far as this story, though it does have its rewards.
Gethsemane: I read the title for this story and wondered how that could be turned into a horror story. It's done well. I won't give anything away with this one. You have to read it with an open mind. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
We've All Gone To The Magic House: It felt like a Twilight Zone episode or an episode of Doctor Who. I wasn't sure where it would end, but it tied everything together. I remember a place like the Magic House in my hometown. People remembered it being open, but no one could say what lay inside. Even now, I forget what the place was called.
I hope you enjoyed this review. I enjoyed reading the collection. It comes out on September 1, 2023. I will buy a copy of it and put it next to Scanlines.
On a side note, the choice of title and how each section was broken up was great. I am a huge Nine Inch Nails fan and have seen them 10 times. I knew I'd like this collection from the title.