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A review by trike
SNAFU: An Anthology of Military Horror by W.D. Gagliani, Greig Beck, Steve Ruthenbeck, Eric S. Brown, Wayland Smith, Christine Morgan, Jonathan Maberry, Weston Ochse, Geoff Brown, Amanda J. Spedding, Jeff Hewitt, Neal Litherland, Brian W. Taylor, David W. Amendola, James A. Moore, Kirsten Cross, Curtis C. Chen, David Benton, Tyson Mauermann
4.0
Little Johnny Jump-Up by Christine Morgan
4 stars Fantasy
Excellent beginning for this collection, featuring a canon unit during the US Civil War. This is a terrific ghost story that zips right along. The only thing that keeps it from being a 5 star story is that it was pretty much on rails without surprises. The writing is excellent, however.
Covert Genesis by Brian W. Taylor
3 stars Fantasy
This is a decent “first encounter” story, but it doesn’t provide any answers or a real ending. The open-endedness of it doesn’t bother me as much, but it just feels weird for weirdness’ sake.
Bug Hunt by Jonathan Maberry
5 stars Science Fiction
This is a Joe Ledger story, where Ledger and his team from the Department of Military Sciences are tasked to recover a very bad weapon from some Russian mercenaries in the Pacific Northwest. Then things get crazy when they all encounter giant spiders from outer space. As with his other books I’ve read, this is a solid adventure story with a couple neat wrinkles. It’s not dissimilar to the movie Predator without being derivative.
Special Operations Interview PTO-14 by Wayland Smith
3 stars Fantasy
This is in the form of a transcript of an OSS interview of a US Marine during WWII in the Pacific. He witnessed a Japanese soldier battling a big blue demon. It’s an okay story.
Cold War Gothic by Weston Ochse
4 stars Fantasy
Set in 1969 San Francisco, this one is about an undercover government bureau that specializes in occult creepies. In this instance it’s vampire geishas. So that was fun.
Making Waves by Curtis C. Chen
5 stars Fantasy
A WWII story set aboard the submarine USS Bowfin. This is a world where magic is an everyday thing, as it begins with a spell to allow a specialist to teleport aboard. I quite liked how Chen integrated magic into the world, as well as how he makes you think this will involve Godzilla-like kaiju but pivots instead. This was my second favorite tale in this collection.
The Fossil by Grieg Beck
4 stars Science Fiction
Little people, parallel universes, cavemen, secret government organizations... lots of stuff going on in this story. I don’t know that I would necessarily classify it as horror, but scary stuff does happen and no one wears plot armor.
A Tide of Flesh by Jeff Hewitt
3 stars Fantasy
A British garrison in colonial India faces a ravening horde of zombies, including zombie monkeys and zombie elephants, which are scarier than regular human zombies.
Death at 900 Meters by Tyson Mauermann
3 stars Fantasy
Vampires, this time in Iraq during the Gulf War, from the POV of a sniper team. (Hence the 900 meters.) Modern vamps have been done to undeath, but this is a solid example.
Holding the Line by Eric S. Brown
2 stars Science Fiction
This is the weakest entry, not because it’s bad per se but because it’s really just a short scene, not a story. A 3-man National Guard unit against rampaging Bigfoots. Bigfeet? Whatever.
Thela Hun Gingeet by David Benton and W.D. Gagliani
3 stars Fantasy
Weird spooky shit going down during the Vietnam War. It’s in the vein of H.P. Lovecraft or Vandermeer’s Southern Reach trilogy.
The Shrine by David W. Amendola
3 stars Fantasy
Maybe this is Science Fiction. Hard to tell from the vague clues given. Early WWII
(1941) story about Nazis who investigate a Russian church steeped in mystery. Maybe it hides an alien or a Lovecraftian creature, but either way it’s a monster story.
Ptearing All Before Us by Steve Ruthenbeck
2 stars Science Fiction
Normally this would be exactly the kind of story I like, as it features a US Cavalry scouting party encountering the mythical Native American thunderbird. But the creature is somehow sneaky enough to snatch people without anyone noticing. The thing is the size of a small airplane, so they’d have to be especially inattentive not to see it. I didn’t buy it for a second.
A Time of Blood by Kirsten Cross
2 stars Fantasy
A contemporary story of British army unit on a training exercise next to Stonehenge. The characters are incompetent and the story is dumbly implausible, which is saying something for Fantasy.
Blank White Page by James A. Moore
5 stars Fantasy
Strong Finish with the best story of the bunch. Set in the late 1800s after the US Civil War in the frontier town of Silver Springs, Colorado, two traveling companions ride into town. One is the former undertaker Lucas Slate who is undergoing some mysterious transformation. The other is the sorcerer Jonathan Crowley. There is increasing conflict between the US Cavalry and indigenous Apache, with Silver Springs as their latest battleground. If that’s not bad enough, there is dark magic afoot, as well as ghosts, monsters and skinwalkers. It is extraordinarily dangerous, but Slate and Crowley are the possibly most dangerous creatures around. Even they might not be equal to what they find.
Although the longest story here, this flew by. It is lean and propulsive. Moore doesn’t over-explain things and the tale has a nice ebb and flow. It has the feel of a modern version of Solomon Kane, which I didn’t realize I needed in my life. I don’t think I’ve read anything by him before, but I’m excited to learn that he has a collection of short stories featuring Crowley titled One Bad Week.
4 stars Fantasy
Excellent beginning for this collection, featuring a canon unit during the US Civil War. This is a terrific ghost story that zips right along. The only thing that keeps it from being a 5 star story is that it was pretty much on rails without surprises. The writing is excellent, however.
Covert Genesis by Brian W. Taylor
3 stars Fantasy
This is a decent “first encounter” story, but it doesn’t provide any answers or a real ending. The open-endedness of it doesn’t bother me as much, but it just feels weird for weirdness’ sake.
Bug Hunt by Jonathan Maberry
5 stars Science Fiction
This is a Joe Ledger story, where Ledger and his team from the Department of Military Sciences are tasked to recover a very bad weapon from some Russian mercenaries in the Pacific Northwest. Then things get crazy when they all encounter giant spiders from outer space. As with his other books I’ve read, this is a solid adventure story with a couple neat wrinkles. It’s not dissimilar to the movie Predator without being derivative.
Special Operations Interview PTO-14 by Wayland Smith
3 stars Fantasy
This is in the form of a transcript of an OSS interview of a US Marine during WWII in the Pacific. He witnessed a Japanese soldier battling a big blue demon. It’s an okay story.
Cold War Gothic by Weston Ochse
4 stars Fantasy
Set in 1969 San Francisco, this one is about an undercover government bureau that specializes in occult creepies. In this instance it’s vampire geishas. So that was fun.
Making Waves by Curtis C. Chen
5 stars Fantasy
A WWII story set aboard the submarine USS Bowfin. This is a world where magic is an everyday thing, as it begins with a spell to allow a specialist to teleport aboard. I quite liked how Chen integrated magic into the world, as well as how he makes you think this will involve Godzilla-like kaiju but pivots instead.
Spoiler
It’s actually Cthulhu-esque Elder Gods.The Fossil by Grieg Beck
4 stars Science Fiction
Little people, parallel universes, cavemen, secret government organizations... lots of stuff going on in this story. I don’t know that I would necessarily classify it as horror, but scary stuff does happen and no one wears plot armor.
A Tide of Flesh by Jeff Hewitt
3 stars Fantasy
A British garrison in colonial India faces a ravening horde of zombies, including zombie monkeys and zombie elephants, which are scarier than regular human zombies.
Death at 900 Meters by Tyson Mauermann
3 stars Fantasy
Vampires, this time in Iraq during the Gulf War, from the POV of a sniper team. (Hence the 900 meters.) Modern vamps have been done to undeath, but this is a solid example.
Holding the Line by Eric S. Brown
2 stars Science Fiction
This is the weakest entry, not because it’s bad per se but because it’s really just a short scene, not a story. A 3-man National Guard unit against rampaging Bigfoots. Bigfeet? Whatever.
Thela Hun Gingeet by David Benton and W.D. Gagliani
3 stars Fantasy
Weird spooky shit going down during the Vietnam War. It’s in the vein of H.P. Lovecraft or Vandermeer’s Southern Reach trilogy.
The Shrine by David W. Amendola
3 stars Fantasy
Maybe this is Science Fiction. Hard to tell from the vague clues given. Early WWII
(1941) story about Nazis who investigate a Russian church steeped in mystery. Maybe it hides an alien or a Lovecraftian creature, but either way it’s a monster story.
Ptearing All Before Us by Steve Ruthenbeck
2 stars Science Fiction
Normally this would be exactly the kind of story I like, as it features a US Cavalry scouting party encountering the mythical Native American thunderbird.
Spoiler
It’s a pteranodon.A Time of Blood by Kirsten Cross
2 stars Fantasy
A contemporary story of British army unit on a training exercise next to Stonehenge. The characters are incompetent and the story is dumbly implausible, which is saying something for Fantasy.
Blank White Page by James A. Moore
5 stars Fantasy
Strong Finish with the best story of the bunch. Set in the late 1800s after the US Civil War in the frontier town of Silver Springs, Colorado, two traveling companions ride into town. One is the former undertaker Lucas Slate who is undergoing some mysterious transformation. The other is the sorcerer Jonathan Crowley. There is increasing conflict between the US Cavalry and indigenous Apache, with Silver Springs as their latest battleground. If that’s not bad enough, there is dark magic afoot, as well as ghosts, monsters and skinwalkers. It is extraordinarily dangerous, but Slate and Crowley are the possibly most dangerous creatures around. Even they might not be equal to what they find.
Although the longest story here, this flew by. It is lean and propulsive. Moore doesn’t over-explain things and the tale has a nice ebb and flow. It has the feel of a modern version of Solomon Kane, which I didn’t realize I needed in my life. I don’t think I’ve read anything by him before, but I’m excited to learn that he has a collection of short stories featuring Crowley titled One Bad Week.