The Parasitorium: Parasitic Sands

by James Ossuary (Editor / Contributor), A.P. Fuchs (Contributor), Scott Hancock (Contributor)

A collection of short, beach-themed horror stories, chock-full of beach-blanket bloodiness.

292 pages, ebook. with print option

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Mackenzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this in a used bookstore; they wanted $50 for it and I haggled down to $20... thankfully. As other reviews mention, a handful of these short stories are fantastic, while others miss the mark, and a few fall completely short of being anything worth publication. There are editing errors throughout the book (missing punctuation being the most common) that drive home the amateur nature of the collection.

[Elizabeth Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection from a group of largely unknown authors was far better than what I'd expected at first, and I am not just saying that because I had a story in it. I reviewed one of the stories here, called INSTINCT by Mark Anderson. Human lemmings. ;-) There is another story in it, wickedly funny, called AZRAEL’S COVE
by Paul Harris, which is set during WWII and involves the undead. I recommend this entertaining read. At some point I plan to get the first anthology, which does not have a story by me in it *smile*, based on the entertainment value of this second anthology, produced by the Yahoo group The Parasitorium, founded by Del Stone JR.

Planning for the third anthology has already begun, with the deadline being 01 January 2008 for submissions from the group's membership.

[Sirdarksol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite only giving the book three stars, I suggest that any fan of the horror genre check the book out.
This is a collection of short stories, and the stories are very much hit-or-miss. Given that the book was written as an experiment in writing/editing, this is to be expected. The stories that are well-done are really well done, and make up for those with a few too many typos or non-interesting ideas.