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Weirdscapes: An Otherworldly Anthology
269 pages, Paperback
Published June 28, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 1, 2026
Anthologies (insert sigh). You know the drill: Some I liked, some I didn't. Who would have thought that this would be my verdict? Me. Because that's always the verdict with anthologies. So why did you read it if you knew you'd be upset about what this book is at its core? This is a collection by local to me authors (full disclosure: I play board games with the editor & contributor of one of the stories) and once in a blue moon I like to show some support. Make no mistake though: I review for myself and other readers and not to butter up authors. And despite my dislike for reading anthologies, it actually is a great format to scout the local scene and experience new voices. I also got his copy for free so there's that...
First things first: Ink Alchemy puts out some awesome covers. Lix North did a wonderfully weird job here which is what you want for a book titled "Weirdscapes". Hellscapes, Mirror Worlds, Parallel Worlds; that's the vibe here. I am reading more Fantasy and SciFi/ Speculative this year, so the timing finally give this a try (it had been sitting on my shelf for a few months) seemed just right. I wish I could rock and rave about this but it was the expected result: It's mixed. What I cannot fault is the variety and creativity, these authors approached the topic from all angles and none of these read the same. With that I can almost guarantee this will have one that you could love vs one that you can't get along with. At least.
My standout was "Chrysalis" by Leah Erickson. It reminded me of something Karen Russell would put out and that's a huge compliment because Russell is my queen of dark Magical Realism. This is a bit genre breaking: It is Horror, is it Fantasy, is it Magical Realism? I love stories that do that! A sad story about self transformation, and there's silk worms!
Most of these I'd put into the 3* category: they are solid, well composed, with really interesting concepts but for one reason or another they didn't quite hit it out of the park for me. Some of these 3* simply had tropes and/ or concepts that weren't truly for my personal wheelhouse. I definitely connected more with those that had darker sides to them, a bit of Horror sprinkled in is always good this reader here. Some started off intriguing but resulted in too predictable outcomes. I also found a few overstaying their welcome, some of these are surprisingly long without quite needing to be and they lost some of their steam for me with that.
And then there were my 2 dnfs. I'm gonna be harsh here but those were incredibly overwritten to the point of being unreadable. The kind where you wonder if the writers had a thesaurus sitting next to them. The kind where I truly hope they would take a step back, look at it from a readers point of view and then dial it back a bit so the interesting plot has a chance to shine through.
Personally, I'd rank this more on the lower end of 3* but by no means do I regret the read. First of all, finding a standout story is always a win and I found the creative variety actually inspiring (for the record, that's not something I often say!).
The 3 I'd recommend: "Chrysalis"/ "Overlapping"/ "Old Light and Other Lies"
The 3 I'd skip: "Now Here We See a Wretched Thing"/ "Rabbit Flesh"/ "The Family on the Steps"
First things first: Ink Alchemy puts out some awesome covers. Lix North did a wonderfully weird job here which is what you want for a book titled "Weirdscapes". Hellscapes, Mirror Worlds, Parallel Worlds; that's the vibe here. I am reading more Fantasy and SciFi/ Speculative this year, so the timing finally give this a try (it had been sitting on my shelf for a few months) seemed just right. I wish I could rock and rave about this but it was the expected result: It's mixed. What I cannot fault is the variety and creativity, these authors approached the topic from all angles and none of these read the same. With that I can almost guarantee this will have one that you could love vs one that you can't get along with. At least.
My standout was "Chrysalis" by Leah Erickson. It reminded me of something Karen Russell would put out and that's a huge compliment because Russell is my queen of dark Magical Realism. This is a bit genre breaking: It is Horror, is it Fantasy, is it Magical Realism? I love stories that do that! A sad story about self transformation, and there's silk worms!
Most of these I'd put into the 3* category: they are solid, well composed, with really interesting concepts but for one reason or another they didn't quite hit it out of the park for me. Some of these 3* simply had tropes and/ or concepts that weren't truly for my personal wheelhouse. I definitely connected more with those that had darker sides to them, a bit of Horror sprinkled in is always good this reader here. Some started off intriguing but resulted in too predictable outcomes. I also found a few overstaying their welcome, some of these are surprisingly long without quite needing to be and they lost some of their steam for me with that.
And then there were my 2 dnfs. I'm gonna be harsh here but those were incredibly overwritten to the point of being unreadable. The kind where you wonder if the writers had a thesaurus sitting next to them. The kind where I truly hope they would take a step back, look at it from a readers point of view and then dial it back a bit so the interesting plot has a chance to shine through.
Personally, I'd rank this more on the lower end of 3* but by no means do I regret the read. First of all, finding a standout story is always a win and I found the creative variety actually inspiring (for the record, that's not something I often say!).
The 3 I'd recommend: "Chrysalis"/ "Overlapping"/ "Old Light and Other Lies"
The 3 I'd skip: "Now Here We See a Wretched Thing"/ "Rabbit Flesh"/ "The Family on the Steps"
August 10, 2025
Very thought provoking fantasies ranging from cozy adjacent to dark. Pay attention to the trigger warnings for each. Personally, the first and third stories (especially the third) were hard for me to read (due to the specific types of violence involved), while Family On The Steps was my favorite. A bit outside my normal reads, I still found them all to leave me ruminating on humanity, life, and choices we make to survive.
April 7, 2026
I enjoyed this short story collection quite a lot. My personal favorite stories were; E.N. Welsh - 'Now here we see a wretched thing', Odin Meadows - 'Overlapping,' Tom Ray - 'The Family on the steps,' Kyle Thompson - 'Old light and other lies' and Bendix Ross - 'Gorse 206'.
Naomi Artemi's 'The Immortal Monk' was the stand out story for me, I found it very compelling. The main characters in it have an arc I rarely see in fiction, that I deeply enjoyed. Sorry there's not more detail, I hate spoilers.
Overall recommended to those who like weird fiction/science fiction.
Naomi Artemi's 'The Immortal Monk' was the stand out story for me, I found it very compelling. The main characters in it have an arc I rarely see in fiction, that I deeply enjoyed. Sorry there's not more detail, I hate spoilers.
Overall recommended to those who like weird fiction/science fiction.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews