Scan barcode
dani_thebookdragon's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
3.0
triptych_turning's review
dark
tense
medium-paced
4.0
This was a fun collection. I enjoyed a lot of the stories, and would recommend this book to any fan of modern horror.
stevemozza's review
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
1.0
livcoyy's review
4.0
Trying out a new system of ratings this year! Boiling books overall down to 1-5 stars always felt hard and not right to me, so I’ll be using this new system to hopefully create more nuanced ratings:
Characters 1-5
(Are they multifaceted and complex? Compelling? Do I enjoy reading through their view? Do they inspire reactions in me?)
Plot 1-5
(Exciting? Does it make me want to keep reading? Is it structured well? Does it flow logically? Does it seem inventive?)
Prose 1-5
(Beautiful? Skillful? Distinct voice?)
Impact 1-5
(Does this make me think about the world? Does this make me want to do something/change something? Am I thinking about it days after reading it? )
Originality 1-5
(Pretty self explanatory, applies to all the above categories! I realized as I was creating this system that originality has a big impact on my enjoyment of a book.)
.. and then I’ll convert those scores to this star rating! This is definitely subject to change as the year goes on but I’m excited to use it and force myself to rate books thoughtfully.
Using this rating system on a collection of stories by different authors is actually a little tough haha but I did my best.
Characters:3.5/5
Plot: 4.5/5
Prose: 4/5
Impact: 3/5
Originality:4/5
So that adds up to 3.8/5 stars!
Characters 1-5
(Are they multifaceted and complex? Compelling? Do I enjoy reading through their view? Do they inspire reactions in me?)
Plot 1-5
(Exciting? Does it make me want to keep reading? Is it structured well? Does it flow logically? Does it seem inventive?)
Prose 1-5
(Beautiful? Skillful? Distinct voice?)
Impact 1-5
(Does this make me think about the world? Does this make me want to do something/change something? Am I thinking about it days after reading it? )
Originality 1-5
(Pretty self explanatory, applies to all the above categories! I realized as I was creating this system that originality has a big impact on my enjoyment of a book.)
.. and then I’ll convert those scores to this star rating! This is definitely subject to change as the year goes on but I’m excited to use it and force myself to rate books thoughtfully.
Using this rating system on a collection of stories by different authors is actually a little tough haha but I did my best.
Characters:3.5/5
Plot: 4.5/5
Prose: 4/5
Impact: 3/5
Originality:4/5
So that adds up to 3.8/5 stars!
brennanlafaro's review
3.0
I picked this collection up at the beginning of this summer, looking to read a few stories from modern horror voices I knew and hoping to discover some new authors. Like a lot of collections this size and this diverse, there are stories that stand out and stay with you, stories that are fine but you likely won’t revisit, and stories that don’t quite hold your attention. The good ones, and the big names, are spread out enough to carry a reader through the entire book.
I’d like to start by highlighting a few authors I wasn’t familiar with before. The opening story, The Boggle Hole by Alison Littlewood was one of my favorites in the book. It’s a spin-on a creature story that features significantly more characterization than creature and put Littlewood on my radar. Departures by A.K. Benedict was another terrific read, and mixes horror with something like fantasy. It’s much easier to recommend than to describe. The Embarrassment of Dead Grandmothers by Sarah Lotz offers us something different, an excellent black humor story. The Abduction Door by Christopher Golden is one of those stories that gives us some new every day object to fear, elevators here, and a surprisingly poignant ending.
The big names also have some excellent stories sprinkled throughout. Josh Malerman’s House of the Head, which is now getting rave reviews on the return of creepshow, was originally written for this anthology and is every bit as good as you hope. It’s a great spin on haunted house fiction. Brian Keene delivers Sheltered in Place, a pretty engaging story with a fantastic ending. Adam Nevill’s Eumenides (The Benevolent Ladies) goes to the kind of deep, dark place we might expect from this author, but we’re here for the ride as per usual.
Being relatively new to the not-featured-at-Barnes & Noble horror community, this collection served as a nice introduction to some of these authors. If it peaks your interest, Mark Morris has also edited and released a second volume. It currently resides on my bookshelf and is waiting to introduce me to some new voices.
I’d like to start by highlighting a few authors I wasn’t familiar with before. The opening story, The Boggle Hole by Alison Littlewood was one of my favorites in the book. It’s a spin-on a creature story that features significantly more characterization than creature and put Littlewood on my radar. Departures by A.K. Benedict was another terrific read, and mixes horror with something like fantasy. It’s much easier to recommend than to describe. The Embarrassment of Dead Grandmothers by Sarah Lotz offers us something different, an excellent black humor story. The Abduction Door by Christopher Golden is one of those stories that gives us some new every day object to fear, elevators here, and a surprisingly poignant ending.
The big names also have some excellent stories sprinkled throughout. Josh Malerman’s House of the Head, which is now getting rave reviews on the return of creepshow, was originally written for this anthology and is every bit as good as you hope. It’s a great spin on haunted house fiction. Brian Keene delivers Sheltered in Place, a pretty engaging story with a fantastic ending. Adam Nevill’s Eumenides (The Benevolent Ladies) goes to the kind of deep, dark place we might expect from this author, but we’re here for the ride as per usual.
Being relatively new to the not-featured-at-Barnes & Noble horror community, this collection served as a nice introduction to some of these authors. If it peaks your interest, Mark Morris has also edited and released a second volume. It currently resides on my bookshelf and is waiting to introduce me to some new voices.
camerontrost's review
3.0
"New Fears" is a big anthology, clocking in at exactly four hundred pages, and it claims to feature "new horror stories by masters of the genre". These two points considered, I expected at least one or two stories to be real corkers, but none of the tales in the anthology impressed me greatly. Let's focus on the positives though. There were enough decent stories to warrant a three-star rating...but only just. My favourites were "The Boogle Hole" for the sentimentality of it, "Eumenides" for the dystopian atmosphere and creepiness, "The Embarrassment of Dead Grandmothers" because it's realistic horror, "Shepherds' Business" and "Dollies" for the ending, perhaps the only truly shocking endings of the anthology. "Four Abstracts" is also worth a quick mention, because it's original, well-written, and a bit weird.
More...