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Doors of Darkness #1
Doors of Darkness
Take a stroll down FERN STREET
Where things lurk beneath the gardens, blind and hungry
Where a priest finds a direct line to the wrong God
Where a baby screams, hungry and alone, for the cooling corpse of her mother
Where the kitchens have teeth…
Yes, don’t be shy—go ahead and knock on the
DOORS OF DARKNESS
Includes:
An Introduction by Cameron Chaney of Library Macabre
"Time in My Wake" by E. P. Clement
"The Rabbit's Foot Inn" by Laura E. Mangi
"On the Dotted Line" by Caleb J. Pecue
"What Lies Behind the Fence" by A. L. Davidson
"People to Deal with Such Things" by Jackson Robinson
"Giving Up the Ghost" by Tobin Elliott
"Know Thyself" by Lennox Rex
"There's Something Wrong with Barbara" by Reece G. Donnell
"Totally Ruined the Evening" by Mallory
"Gilded Reflections" by Danielle Robertson
"The Cult from Down the Road" by Emily Holman
"This Could Be Your Home, You Know" by C. Mae Thomas
"Destroy Me" by Kaos Emslie
"The Red Lady" by Jason A. Jones
"Told You So" by Torrence Bryan
"Diminishing Returns" by Derek Heath
"The Missing Gold Ribbon" by Nadine Stewart
"Invert House" by Louie Sullivan
"Mounds" by Dr. Stuart Knott
"They Come When You Sleep" by Jack Finn
"Bump" by Billie Karras
"Dinner on Fern Street" by Julie Aaron
"Fun and Games" by Alex James Donne
"The Grande Dame Still Lives Here" by Sirius
"Old Dead-Eyed John" by Todd Condit
"The Friend" by Loki DeWitt
"The Bones of Mildred Mellows" by Jennifer Montgomery
Where things lurk beneath the gardens, blind and hungry
Where a priest finds a direct line to the wrong God
Where a baby screams, hungry and alone, for the cooling corpse of her mother
Where the kitchens have teeth…
Yes, don’t be shy—go ahead and knock on the
DOORS OF DARKNESS
Includes:
An Introduction by Cameron Chaney of Library Macabre
"Time in My Wake" by E. P. Clement
"The Rabbit's Foot Inn" by Laura E. Mangi
"On the Dotted Line" by Caleb J. Pecue
"What Lies Behind the Fence" by A. L. Davidson
"People to Deal with Such Things" by Jackson Robinson
"Giving Up the Ghost" by Tobin Elliott
"Know Thyself" by Lennox Rex
"There's Something Wrong with Barbara" by Reece G. Donnell
"Totally Ruined the Evening" by Mallory
"Gilded Reflections" by Danielle Robertson
"The Cult from Down the Road" by Emily Holman
"This Could Be Your Home, You Know" by C. Mae Thomas
"Destroy Me" by Kaos Emslie
"The Red Lady" by Jason A. Jones
"Told You So" by Torrence Bryan
"Diminishing Returns" by Derek Heath
"The Missing Gold Ribbon" by Nadine Stewart
"Invert House" by Louie Sullivan
"Mounds" by Dr. Stuart Knott
"They Come When You Sleep" by Jack Finn
"Bump" by Billie Karras
"Dinner on Fern Street" by Julie Aaron
"Fun and Games" by Alex James Donne
"The Grande Dame Still Lives Here" by Sirius
"Old Dead-Eyed John" by Todd Condit
"The Friend" by Loki DeWitt
"The Bones of Mildred Mellows" by Jennifer Montgomery
320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Published December 5, 2023
5 people are currently reading
182 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
December 12, 2023
It was a pleasure to be among this group of talented writers. I have some serious "imposters syndrome" after completing their stories.
I think you'll enjoy this if you like a creepy street filled with homes from different eras, with different types of people, that do terrible things. From ghosts, slashers (mine Old Dead-Eyed John), houses that are just wrong, grieving people, and much more. All told by authors from different walks of life with different views on what makes horror...well horror. This is a solid anthology with some fantastic short horror stories.
I read the stories twice, in their original format before edits were made to include slight nods to the other stories and then again once the paperback dropped. I'm onto the audio book next!
I think you'll enjoy this if you like a creepy street filled with homes from different eras, with different types of people, that do terrible things. From ghosts, slashers (mine Old Dead-Eyed John), houses that are just wrong, grieving people, and much more. All told by authors from different walks of life with different views on what makes horror...well horror. This is a solid anthology with some fantastic short horror stories.
I read the stories twice, in their original format before edits were made to include slight nods to the other stories and then again once the paperback dropped. I'm onto the audio book next!
January 3, 2024
“Doors of Darkness” is a horror anthology comprised of 27 short stories from some incredible indie writers. I saw Caleb’s call for submissions on Instagram and instantly saw it as a great excuse to dream up my short story, “Mounds”, a creature-feature about an old man terrorised by vengeful moles. I was super happy to be one of the first picked to be included in the anthology, and with how Caleb put the whole thing together; he communicated to us consistently and in detail and we all had a hand in bringing the project together, making for an incredible first experience as a contributor to an anthology project I wasn’t spearheading. Naturally, this means my opinion of “Doors of Darkness” is more than a little biased; I’m very proud of my story, love the cover art and presentation of the book, and am happy to include it in my list of published works.
Still, “Doors of Darkness” is a great recommendation for horror fans everywhere, or fans of pocket paperbacks and anthologies in general, as there’s a little something for everyone included. The concept is very simple: Fern Street is haunted, cursed, and all kinds of awful things happen there. Many of these range on the supernatural, including ghosts, possessions, vengeful spirits, and poor souls cursed to relive their violent deaths over and over. Some of these are more psychology, such as E. P. Clement’s “Time in My Wake” (which is the aforementioned spirit forced to relive their death) and Caleb J. Pecue’s “On the Dotted Line” (which revolves around a dastardly femme fatale). Others are more graphic; “Bump” by Billie Karras is the perfect example of this, being a harrowing story of a dead prostitute so desperate to get back to her screaming baby that she possesses her killer in the most ungodly way. Then there’s stories like “The Missing Gold Ribbon” by Nadine Stewart, which reads almost like poetry, “Totally Ruined the Evening” by Mallory, which does a fantastic job nailing character dialogue, and “Giving Up the Ghost” by Tobin Elliott, which tackles themes of familial distance and loss with a supernatural bent.
One aspect of “Doors of Darkness” I really enjoyed was its interconnectivity; each story or various events on Fern Street are referenced throughout the text, which really brings a sense of foreboding and tangibility to this cursed street, where houses come alive, cult lurk across the road, and children go missing in shockingly high numbers. There are many skeletons in the closet and bodies buried in the back yard down Fern Street, and it’s a joy to see them come to creepy, shocking, or bloody un-life. Houses are turned inside out, killers lurk around every corner, and unquiet spirits haunt dilapidated locales on Fern Street, meaning there’s a lot to like here for fans of horror. One of the best elements of an anthology such as this is that it’s perfect for those wishing to dip their toe into the genre but aren’t sure where to start, but Caleb has raised the bar by including some fantastic indie talent to give them a platform to be showcased. Remember these names, and watch out for future works from them (or go check out their existing works), as there’s a lot of talent here.
Still, “Doors of Darkness” is a great recommendation for horror fans everywhere, or fans of pocket paperbacks and anthologies in general, as there’s a little something for everyone included. The concept is very simple: Fern Street is haunted, cursed, and all kinds of awful things happen there. Many of these range on the supernatural, including ghosts, possessions, vengeful spirits, and poor souls cursed to relive their violent deaths over and over. Some of these are more psychology, such as E. P. Clement’s “Time in My Wake” (which is the aforementioned spirit forced to relive their death) and Caleb J. Pecue’s “On the Dotted Line” (which revolves around a dastardly femme fatale). Others are more graphic; “Bump” by Billie Karras is the perfect example of this, being a harrowing story of a dead prostitute so desperate to get back to her screaming baby that she possesses her killer in the most ungodly way. Then there’s stories like “The Missing Gold Ribbon” by Nadine Stewart, which reads almost like poetry, “Totally Ruined the Evening” by Mallory, which does a fantastic job nailing character dialogue, and “Giving Up the Ghost” by Tobin Elliott, which tackles themes of familial distance and loss with a supernatural bent.
One aspect of “Doors of Darkness” I really enjoyed was its interconnectivity; each story or various events on Fern Street are referenced throughout the text, which really brings a sense of foreboding and tangibility to this cursed street, where houses come alive, cult lurk across the road, and children go missing in shockingly high numbers. There are many skeletons in the closet and bodies buried in the back yard down Fern Street, and it’s a joy to see them come to creepy, shocking, or bloody un-life. Houses are turned inside out, killers lurk around every corner, and unquiet spirits haunt dilapidated locales on Fern Street, meaning there’s a lot to like here for fans of horror. One of the best elements of an anthology such as this is that it’s perfect for those wishing to dip their toe into the genre but aren’t sure where to start, but Caleb has raised the bar by including some fantastic indie talent to give them a platform to be showcased. Remember these names, and watch out for future works from them (or go check out their existing works), as there’s a lot of talent here.
August 28, 2025
From start to finish, this was a really well written book! I loved the idea of each story being a different house on Fern street. Very creative, so many different types of horror behind each door on this street! It was super fun to see some of the characters kinda cross paths with other characters from different stories. A great start to the series!
December 27, 2023
DOORS OF DARKNESS is the first anthology from Terrorcore Publishing, and the premise is an intriguing one: each of the stories takes place in a house on the same street, called Fern Street. Each story stands alone, but if you read carefully you may just see a small nod or two to another story in the anthology. While the stories vary in tone, subject, and gross-out and scare factors -- the anthology feels very balanced. It's an awesome, chilling homage to pulpy 80s horror anthologies, and I'm honored to have a story, "Gilded Reflections," set at 110 Fern Street. :)
January 12, 2024
Okay kids, let's get the disclaimer out right up front, shall we? Yes, I have a story in this collection. I am (counting the intro) 1/28th of the book.
Now for my review of everything I didn't write...
You'll likely read this in every review, but what's cool about this anthology is that there's more than just a central theme. Instead, it's a collection of stories that all take place on a single street in an unnamed town. Fern Street is not a place you want to visit, but it's a fun visit.
I started reading the hard copy of this collection, but switched over to the audiobook version more for the novelty of hearing someone else read the story I'd written. Gotta give it to the narrator, Michael T. Bradley, he did an excellent job throughout (including my story).
As for the stories, I will admit I was a little worried after the first three or four as they all seemed to come down to someone getting someone else with a knife. And, it's just a personal preference, but I'm not a fan of slasher stuff. Not in movies, not in my horror fiction. So, while the stories weren't bad, they weren't necessarily my cup of tea.
However, as the stories progressed, they also became much more varied. So, as I worked my way farther down the Fern Street neighbourhood, I found myself drawn more and more by the stories. For me, the collection really seemed to hit its stride around addresses 115 to 120, though there were other good ones spread out through the collection.
The writing was uniformly good which, quite frankly, is a shock, as usually anthologies tend to have their really well written stories and some that are not so much. Not this one. All well done.
If there was any disappointment for me, it came right up front with the introduction by Cameron Chaney who I'd never heard of prior to being in this collection. Apparently he's a horror YouTube personality. Anyway, while I know a lot of my peers were excited that he was writing an introduction, the one thing I really expect is for that person elected to introduce the book...to have at least read the book. To me, at least, its very obvious that Chaney didn't. His intro seems to have very little to do with anything other than Cameron Chaney up until the last couple of paragraphs.
Regardless, that's a minor niggling concern, as it's not one of the stories, nor does it impact what's to come. This collection works to harken back to the 70s/80s horror paperbacks that proliferated in the wake of Stephen King and his more successful peers, such as Koontz and Masterton and Herbert and, most especially the underappreciated Charles L. Grant.
And I think Pecue did a great job of making that happen. This is a really good collection.
Now for my review of everything I didn't write...
You'll likely read this in every review, but what's cool about this anthology is that there's more than just a central theme. Instead, it's a collection of stories that all take place on a single street in an unnamed town. Fern Street is not a place you want to visit, but it's a fun visit.
I started reading the hard copy of this collection, but switched over to the audiobook version more for the novelty of hearing someone else read the story I'd written. Gotta give it to the narrator, Michael T. Bradley, he did an excellent job throughout (including my story).
As for the stories, I will admit I was a little worried after the first three or four as they all seemed to come down to someone getting someone else with a knife. And, it's just a personal preference, but I'm not a fan of slasher stuff. Not in movies, not in my horror fiction. So, while the stories weren't bad, they weren't necessarily my cup of tea.
However, as the stories progressed, they also became much more varied. So, as I worked my way farther down the Fern Street neighbourhood, I found myself drawn more and more by the stories. For me, the collection really seemed to hit its stride around addresses 115 to 120, though there were other good ones spread out through the collection.
The writing was uniformly good which, quite frankly, is a shock, as usually anthologies tend to have their really well written stories and some that are not so much. Not this one. All well done.
If there was any disappointment for me, it came right up front with the introduction by Cameron Chaney who I'd never heard of prior to being in this collection. Apparently he's a horror YouTube personality. Anyway, while I know a lot of my peers were excited that he was writing an introduction, the one thing I really expect is for that person elected to introduce the book...to have at least read the book. To me, at least, its very obvious that Chaney didn't. His intro seems to have very little to do with anything other than Cameron Chaney up until the last couple of paragraphs.
Regardless, that's a minor niggling concern, as it's not one of the stories, nor does it impact what's to come. This collection works to harken back to the 70s/80s horror paperbacks that proliferated in the wake of Stephen King and his more successful peers, such as Koontz and Masterton and Herbert and, most especially the underappreciated Charles L. Grant.
And I think Pecue did a great job of making that happen. This is a really good collection.
March 4, 2024
3.5 /5
When Caleb announced this collection, I was more than excited to see what he was going to put out and who was going to all be involved. There is a nice mixture of authors in here with their own unique style and flair going into this specific anthology. With most anthologies, some pieces are better than others, but they all were worthy of being here. Some of my favorites (in no particular order) include:
'On The Dotted Line' - Caleb Pecue
'Giving Up the Ghost' - Tobin Elliott
'Gilded Reflections' - Danielle Robertson
'Destroy Me' - Kaos Emslie
'Bump' - Billie Karras
I heard through the grapevine Caleb is doing a second call for this theme and can't wait to read this one! I recommend this one for old school horror fans!
When Caleb announced this collection, I was more than excited to see what he was going to put out and who was going to all be involved. There is a nice mixture of authors in here with their own unique style and flair going into this specific anthology. With most anthologies, some pieces are better than others, but they all were worthy of being here. Some of my favorites (in no particular order) include:
'On The Dotted Line' - Caleb Pecue
'Giving Up the Ghost' - Tobin Elliott
'Gilded Reflections' - Danielle Robertson
'Destroy Me' - Kaos Emslie
'Bump' - Billie Karras
I heard through the grapevine Caleb is doing a second call for this theme and can't wait to read this one! I recommend this one for old school horror fans!
January 23, 2024
Finally read through all 27 houses! One of the best parts of anthologies is the ability to put it down and pick it up without the guilt of feeling lost in between reads. Each story and house had its own unique style and horror to showcase. There's truly something for everyone within the vast breadth of slashers, psychological thrillers, monsters, mysteries, supernatural mythos, cults, etc. Very enjoyable for horror lovers who appreciate short form writing 💕
March 31, 2024
so many unique and creative horror stories !!! some of these genuinely creeped me out
February 19, 2024
What the hell did I just read?
Just like the webs lurking within, this story is beautifully woven, inducing just the perfect mix of disgust and devastation. I love grief horror - it’s such a powerful emotion and works so well in this genre. I feel like everytime I read something by @and it becomes my new favourite of his but this one really did hit different. I love to see how he progresses as an author and the different styles he is capable of.
It’s a short tale, you will read this in one sitting. The only time you will want to put this down is to just take a wee moment to recalibrate lol!
3.5 stars 🌟
Just like the webs lurking within, this story is beautifully woven, inducing just the perfect mix of disgust and devastation. I love grief horror - it’s such a powerful emotion and works so well in this genre. I feel like everytime I read something by @and it becomes my new favourite of his but this one really did hit different. I love to see how he progresses as an author and the different styles he is capable of.
It’s a short tale, you will read this in one sitting. The only time you will want to put this down is to just take a wee moment to recalibrate lol!
3.5 stars 🌟
February 11, 2024
This anthology was sooo good! I found all the authors to be so talented- Fern Street is a creepy place!
I recommend this to anyone who likes horror or who is a fan of old-school 1980’s horror.
I recommend this to anyone who likes horror or who is a fan of old-school 1980’s horror.
November 2, 2024
This book was such a great time! First, in the interest of full disclosure, the editor, Caleb, is my coworker and friend. So I may be a little biased. That said, I am NOT usually a horror fan AT ALL, whether that be with books or movies or shows. I picked up Doors of Darkness to support him and take an opportunity to try something out of my comfort zone, and I’m so glad I did! It was really cool to see how diverse and varied the authors’ voices are, but all of the stories are very strong and so atmospheric. Some are more gore-y, some are more suspenseful, some are just plain wild. But the vibes all around are *chef’s kiss*, perfect for spooky season. And the device of setting all of the stories in a different house on the same spooky street really added something extra to the experience, especially as some of the stories reference others as you go through. Just a really impressive effort by Caleb and all the authors and I can’t wait to pick up Volume 2!
October 7, 2025
What a TREAT for spooky season! This anthology has it all. We have reflective, symbolic horror, as well as some stories that lean more towards the gore side of the spectrum; any horror-lover is sure to find something that will suit their style. I love the concept of celebrating the battered (and perhaps haunted) paperbacks from decades past. The ones we see at thrift stores and garage sales... The ones with the deliciously campy covers... Millennials who binged R.L. Stine, you'll devour this collection.
A standout story was "Gilded Reflection" by Danielle Robertson. This story was giving "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in the BEST way. Roberston is a master at stirring emotions and making deliberate use of every word, phrase, and sentence. The ending is college-level lit and crit class discussion-worthy. I finished that story days ago, and its creepy vibes and overall message still linger.
Bravo to all the authors who participated in this anthology! I look forward to checking out more from TerrorCore!
A standout story was "Gilded Reflection" by Danielle Robertson. This story was giving "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in the BEST way. Roberston is a master at stirring emotions and making deliberate use of every word, phrase, and sentence. The ending is college-level lit and crit class discussion-worthy. I finished that story days ago, and its creepy vibes and overall message still linger.
Bravo to all the authors who participated in this anthology! I look forward to checking out more from TerrorCore!
October 12, 2023
But I am a wee bit biased...
July 8, 2024
*review to come*
July 15, 2025
Review to come.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews