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The Horror Collection #25
The Horror Collection: Green Diamond Edition
Step inside the shadows of Kevin J. Kennedy’s landmark 25th instalment in The Horror Collection series—an anthology that proves horror never rests, it only evolves.
Within these pages, madness lurks in the echoing halls of forgotten asylums, where sanity is nothing more than a memory. You’ll wander through haunted farms where the land itself breeds terror, and come face to face with cryptids that were never meant to be seen. The mythos of Cthulhu rises again, reaching into the deepest corners of cosmic dread. From some of horror’s most imaginative voices, this collection delivers everything from creeping unease to all-out nightmare fuel. Whether your fear lies in the supernatural, the monstrous, or the unknown lurking inside yourself, you’ll find it here.
The Horror Collection continues its reign as one of indie horror’s darkest treasures. And in this milestone volume, Kevin J. Kennedy proves once the only limit to fear… is how deep you’re willing to go.
Within these pages, madness lurks in the echoing halls of forgotten asylums, where sanity is nothing more than a memory. You’ll wander through haunted farms where the land itself breeds terror, and come face to face with cryptids that were never meant to be seen. The mythos of Cthulhu rises again, reaching into the deepest corners of cosmic dread. From some of horror’s most imaginative voices, this collection delivers everything from creeping unease to all-out nightmare fuel. Whether your fear lies in the supernatural, the monstrous, or the unknown lurking inside yourself, you’ll find it here.
The Horror Collection continues its reign as one of indie horror’s darkest treasures. And in this milestone volume, Kevin J. Kennedy proves once the only limit to fear… is how deep you’re willing to go.
- GenresHorror
434 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 4, 2025
About the author
Kevin J. Kennedy
151 books335 followersKevin J. Kennedy is a Scottish horror author known for his fast-paced storytelling, dark humor, and unforgettable characters. He is also the curator of the bestselling The Horror Collection and Classic Monsters anthology series.
When he’s not writing tales of blood-soaked chaos, Kevin champions indie horror, supports fellow authors, and dreams up new ways to keep readers sleeping with the lights on.
When he’s not writing tales of blood-soaked chaos, Kevin champions indie horror, supports fellow authors, and dreams up new ways to keep readers sleeping with the lights on.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 20, 2025
What a massive tome with 23 stories by different authors inside. Okay, some few of the stories were a bit too long and harmless for my liking but the rest. Absolutely fantastic. Nice who is who of all major indie horror authors. Scarecrow (Brad Rick), Refuge (Hunter Shea), Other Gods (Richard Clive), Barefoot Mary (S.E. Howard), Herders (William Meikle) and A Proper British Jelly (Viggy Parr Hampton) were among my top favorites. You can't do wrong picking up this great anthology. This is modern horror at its very best. Page turning fun and scare. Highly recommended!
September 14, 2025
Kevin Kennedy's Horror Collection series has reached its 25th volume, and it's becoming more and more difficult for reviewers (OK, for me at least) to say anything original about these awesome books: High-quality writing? Check. Wide-ranging variety? Check. Even more horror stories in this volume, almost a thrid more than the usual size? Check. Super-talented authors? Omg, Elizabeth Massie, Hunter Shea, William Meikle, Brian Moreland? Or what about Jeff Strand, Mark Towse, S.E. Howard, Viggy Parr Hampton, Devin Cabrera...? Check, check, check! And if that's not enough, what about the stories themselves? Well, honestly, there are SO MANY good tales here, it's impossible to summarize them all. I'll go for something different this time.
The story I found the scariest: Devin Cabrera's "Skeleton Crew," a claustrophobic tale of maritime horror! The story I found the creepiest: Elizabeth Massie's "Miss Dowdy," about an old lady living in a house devouring lost pets literally out of existence! The story I found the funniest: Jeff Strand's "Avert Thine Eyes" - noone does horror comedy better than Strand and this short tale of eldritch horror had me laughing my head off (pun intended)! The story I found the most unsettling: Brian Moreland's "Fireworks," a cop father of three trying to save his family from a mass attack by people with AI-implants in the brain! The most disturbing: "Predator" by Ryan Colley, a detailed first-personal narrative of a guy who preys on women, until he stumbles upon the wrong person. The most suspenseful: S.E. Howard's "Barefoot Mary," about a girl taking urban legends too seriously, and paying a horrible price. The best folk horror story: William Meikle's "Herders," a horrifying tale of riddles and pagan rituals, revolving around mysterious etchings on walls. The best sci-fi horror story: "Live From Our Studios" by Susan E. Rogers, about clones and television ratings. The best creature feature: Harrison Phillips' "Beastly," because of the horrific ending! The sweetest story: Bryan Alaspa's "Moonblood and Cattle Bones," a Dogman story with a bite LOL! And the best ghost story: "The Farm" by Lex H Jones, a spectacular take on the haunted house trope, with some striking scenes of hair-raising terror!
And that's hardly all: if you liked Jeepers Creepers, check out the opening story, "Scarecrow" by Brad Ricks; if you liked Get Out, check out Timothy King's "Turkeybone"; if gore doesn't dampen your enthusiasm for horror, the closing story, "The Quality Control" by Milan Kovačević will be right up your alley! Special mention: "Spoons" by Mark Towse: a (autistic?) boy on a treasure hunt with spoons, or Indiana Jones like you've never seen him before!
In sum, an anthology packed with chills and kills, nonstop fun by the some of the best writers in the business! Highly, very highly recommend!
The story I found the scariest: Devin Cabrera's "Skeleton Crew," a claustrophobic tale of maritime horror! The story I found the creepiest: Elizabeth Massie's "Miss Dowdy," about an old lady living in a house devouring lost pets literally out of existence! The story I found the funniest: Jeff Strand's "Avert Thine Eyes" - noone does horror comedy better than Strand and this short tale of eldritch horror had me laughing my head off (pun intended)! The story I found the most unsettling: Brian Moreland's "Fireworks," a cop father of three trying to save his family from a mass attack by people with AI-implants in the brain! The most disturbing: "Predator" by Ryan Colley, a detailed first-personal narrative of a guy who preys on women, until he stumbles upon the wrong person. The most suspenseful: S.E. Howard's "Barefoot Mary," about a girl taking urban legends too seriously, and paying a horrible price. The best folk horror story: William Meikle's "Herders," a horrifying tale of riddles and pagan rituals, revolving around mysterious etchings on walls. The best sci-fi horror story: "Live From Our Studios" by Susan E. Rogers, about clones and television ratings. The best creature feature: Harrison Phillips' "Beastly," because of the horrific ending! The sweetest story: Bryan Alaspa's "Moonblood and Cattle Bones," a Dogman story with a bite LOL! And the best ghost story: "The Farm" by Lex H Jones, a spectacular take on the haunted house trope, with some striking scenes of hair-raising terror!
And that's hardly all: if you liked Jeepers Creepers, check out the opening story, "Scarecrow" by Brad Ricks; if you liked Get Out, check out Timothy King's "Turkeybone"; if gore doesn't dampen your enthusiasm for horror, the closing story, "The Quality Control" by Milan Kovačević will be right up your alley! Special mention: "Spoons" by Mark Towse: a (autistic?) boy on a treasure hunt with spoons, or Indiana Jones like you've never seen him before!
In sum, an anthology packed with chills and kills, nonstop fun by the some of the best writers in the business! Highly, very highly recommend!
September 9, 2025
Welcome to the Horror Collection book 25, which is quite a milestone. How is this book different from the previous books on the series? It has more horrifying stories to chill your blood to ice as the terror seeps into your mind with every fear filled page.
Scarecrow - Brad Ricks
This certainly isn't the Wizard of Oz. I find it amazing how when nature runs afoul, we invent remedies to balance it out.
Mimicking an ancient Inca ritual, when the ground goes sour and rain is needed, a sacrifice had to be made. Apparently a simple rain dance won't be sufficient, so a more gruesome method is chosen.
Refuge - Hunter Shea
A mother escaping an abusive husband, holding her daughter in the pouring rain, enters a house rumored to be haunted. Is the house truly haunted? If it is, are the spirits friendly or malevolent? Will the human monster in the shape of her husband find her and administer the brutality that he longed for?
Other Gods - Richard Clive
A Lovecraftian tale where a mortal man discovers that blood sacrifices need to be made to enter the realm of the Other Gods in the outer voids.
Middle- Class Life - Michael S.A. Graziano
Down the rabbit hole where a young boy discovers that his deepest wishes could become reality while traveling through a fantasy realm where the surreal no longer exists, however nothing comes without a price to pay.
Live From Our Studios - Susan E. Rogers
In a world practically run by AI, it isn't too hard to believe in cloning in the entertainment industry. If a clone's performance is not up to par, liquidate and replace it with another. What happens when the clones lose control and the blood starts to flow?
Beastly- Harrison Philips
When searching for a legendary monster, sometimes the horrors of reality have a more vicious bite.
Moonblood and cattlebones - Bryan Alaspa
Can anything stop the bloodthirsty Dogman? Is this creature going to continue to ravage the countryside or can a single farmer defeat this monstrosity from the infernal abyss of Hell?
Barefoot Mary - S.E. Howard
Using Urban legends as a backdrop creates a psychological horror tale where twisted mind leads to monstrous outcomes.
Skeleton Crew - Devin Cabrera
Treasure hunters find horror in the depths of the ocean. A being bent on protecting its treasure while feasting on its victims.
Turkey Bone - Timothy King
As a person who reads stories with a fine tuned comb, one detail in the middle was a clue as to what this story was about. I wasn't wrong. I've read more Cannibalism horror tales than I can remember and even wrote a few myself. The story started out great and I was excited to see how the author was going to play this out. Unfortunately, I expected a bit more from the ending. Perhaps I raised my hopes too high?
The Quality Control - Milan Kovacevic
The narrator's promotion from a Slaughter House leads him to a Meat Processing Facility where a ritual of horror is being performed. One could say he is a glutton for punishment where new meanings are given for obesity and transformations that will raise the bile in your throat.
Herders -William Meikle
This isn't the Sherlock Holmes story. Adventure of the Dancing Men, but something much darker.
Nobody knows how many pagan rituals exist in modern times, but this macabre tale leaves you with the message that some things should be left alone or there will be deadly consequences. Some riddles shouldn't be solved and what is buried, should stay buried.
Keep Smut Out of Horror - John Ward
A violent tale of revenge where a horror author puts her morals aside to teach her cheating husband and his editor the true meaning of romantic horror. Depicting the horror genre as being subordinate to romance left a pang in my chest since I'm a horror author as well. I liked how Stephen King's novel Misery was made a comparison to.
Fireworks - Brian Moreland
An A.I. apocalypse where individuals enhanced with A.I. technology, Gleamed, waged a bloody war against the Bovines, everyone else. There is enough carnage and mutilation to satisfy the most die-hard gore hound.
Though this story is fiction, the way A.I. is transforming our society today, one never knows or wants to know the outcome. Can humans be merged with A.I.? Only the future knows and might be a dark, dismal one.
Eventually I Will Hold Hands With The Man Behind The Wall - Bill Davidson.
Two old men, one with dementia, the other in a wheelchair, conclude a grudge from their younger days. Though there is some gore, stabbing with a fork, and gorging out an eye, it fails to strike me as horror. Maybe I am missing something and another reader can clarify it.
Putting memories behind a mental wall to protect them, just doesn't seep into the realm of horror for this reader.
A Proper British Jelly - Viggy Par Hampton
Taking personal items from your victims to create a jelly that kills, is a wonderful idea. However, being the reader that I am, when a certain event happened during the making of this jelly, I knew the ending immediately and I wasn't wrong. It was too easy to figure out and the author could have been a little more creative in masking the end.
Predator - Ryan Colley
A predator who drugs women to have sex discovers that not all women are prey, when the tables turn and the apex predator now becomes a whimpering pawn in the face of true evil.
Avert Thine Eyes - Jeff Strand
A comic tale about a giant evil alien octopus creature with a taste for human flesh and a group of boys staring up at it, deciding what to do. It's a refreshing break from the horrors in this volume, similar to an intermission.
The Farm - Lex H. Jones
A desolate farmhouse with only one cow and lots of black mold. A warning from the village barman not to go near the place because there is evil. A stubborn young woman who disobeys and is confronted by a creature with a malevolent agenda of its own.
End of the Line - James Jobling
A mysterious Chinese woman who appears to always be smiling. Is she a demon bent on destruction or an angel with a message? Either way, time is running out and the consequences could be dire.
Miss Dowdy - Elizabeth Massie
If you think Miss Dowdy is a witch, you aren't mistaken. If you think she is good, ask her victims.
Spoons - Mark Touse
A young boy digs in his garden every day for a treasure. He uses spoons and is guided by voices. Is there a treasure or Sam falling into a trap set by the spirits of witches or even demons?
Scarecrow - Brad Ricks
This certainly isn't the Wizard of Oz. I find it amazing how when nature runs afoul, we invent remedies to balance it out.
Mimicking an ancient Inca ritual, when the ground goes sour and rain is needed, a sacrifice had to be made. Apparently a simple rain dance won't be sufficient, so a more gruesome method is chosen.
Refuge - Hunter Shea
A mother escaping an abusive husband, holding her daughter in the pouring rain, enters a house rumored to be haunted. Is the house truly haunted? If it is, are the spirits friendly or malevolent? Will the human monster in the shape of her husband find her and administer the brutality that he longed for?
Other Gods - Richard Clive
A Lovecraftian tale where a mortal man discovers that blood sacrifices need to be made to enter the realm of the Other Gods in the outer voids.
Middle- Class Life - Michael S.A. Graziano
Down the rabbit hole where a young boy discovers that his deepest wishes could become reality while traveling through a fantasy realm where the surreal no longer exists, however nothing comes without a price to pay.
Live From Our Studios - Susan E. Rogers
In a world practically run by AI, it isn't too hard to believe in cloning in the entertainment industry. If a clone's performance is not up to par, liquidate and replace it with another. What happens when the clones lose control and the blood starts to flow?
Beastly- Harrison Philips
When searching for a legendary monster, sometimes the horrors of reality have a more vicious bite.
Moonblood and cattlebones - Bryan Alaspa
Can anything stop the bloodthirsty Dogman? Is this creature going to continue to ravage the countryside or can a single farmer defeat this monstrosity from the infernal abyss of Hell?
Barefoot Mary - S.E. Howard
Using Urban legends as a backdrop creates a psychological horror tale where twisted mind leads to monstrous outcomes.
Skeleton Crew - Devin Cabrera
Treasure hunters find horror in the depths of the ocean. A being bent on protecting its treasure while feasting on its victims.
Turkey Bone - Timothy King
As a person who reads stories with a fine tuned comb, one detail in the middle was a clue as to what this story was about. I wasn't wrong. I've read more Cannibalism horror tales than I can remember and even wrote a few myself. The story started out great and I was excited to see how the author was going to play this out. Unfortunately, I expected a bit more from the ending. Perhaps I raised my hopes too high?
The Quality Control - Milan Kovacevic
The narrator's promotion from a Slaughter House leads him to a Meat Processing Facility where a ritual of horror is being performed. One could say he is a glutton for punishment where new meanings are given for obesity and transformations that will raise the bile in your throat.
Herders -William Meikle
This isn't the Sherlock Holmes story. Adventure of the Dancing Men, but something much darker.
Nobody knows how many pagan rituals exist in modern times, but this macabre tale leaves you with the message that some things should be left alone or there will be deadly consequences. Some riddles shouldn't be solved and what is buried, should stay buried.
Keep Smut Out of Horror - John Ward
A violent tale of revenge where a horror author puts her morals aside to teach her cheating husband and his editor the true meaning of romantic horror. Depicting the horror genre as being subordinate to romance left a pang in my chest since I'm a horror author as well. I liked how Stephen King's novel Misery was made a comparison to.
Fireworks - Brian Moreland
An A.I. apocalypse where individuals enhanced with A.I. technology, Gleamed, waged a bloody war against the Bovines, everyone else. There is enough carnage and mutilation to satisfy the most die-hard gore hound.
Though this story is fiction, the way A.I. is transforming our society today, one never knows or wants to know the outcome. Can humans be merged with A.I.? Only the future knows and might be a dark, dismal one.
Eventually I Will Hold Hands With The Man Behind The Wall - Bill Davidson.
Two old men, one with dementia, the other in a wheelchair, conclude a grudge from their younger days. Though there is some gore, stabbing with a fork, and gorging out an eye, it fails to strike me as horror. Maybe I am missing something and another reader can clarify it.
Putting memories behind a mental wall to protect them, just doesn't seep into the realm of horror for this reader.
A Proper British Jelly - Viggy Par Hampton
Taking personal items from your victims to create a jelly that kills, is a wonderful idea. However, being the reader that I am, when a certain event happened during the making of this jelly, I knew the ending immediately and I wasn't wrong. It was too easy to figure out and the author could have been a little more creative in masking the end.
Predator - Ryan Colley
A predator who drugs women to have sex discovers that not all women are prey, when the tables turn and the apex predator now becomes a whimpering pawn in the face of true evil.
Avert Thine Eyes - Jeff Strand
A comic tale about a giant evil alien octopus creature with a taste for human flesh and a group of boys staring up at it, deciding what to do. It's a refreshing break from the horrors in this volume, similar to an intermission.
The Farm - Lex H. Jones
A desolate farmhouse with only one cow and lots of black mold. A warning from the village barman not to go near the place because there is evil. A stubborn young woman who disobeys and is confronted by a creature with a malevolent agenda of its own.
End of the Line - James Jobling
A mysterious Chinese woman who appears to always be smiling. Is she a demon bent on destruction or an angel with a message? Either way, time is running out and the consequences could be dire.
Miss Dowdy - Elizabeth Massie
If you think Miss Dowdy is a witch, you aren't mistaken. If you think she is good, ask her victims.
Spoons - Mark Touse
A young boy digs in his garden every day for a treasure. He uses spoons and is guided by voices. Is there a treasure or Sam falling into a trap set by the spirits of witches or even demons?
September 16, 2025
I keep telling myself, there is no way this one can be as good as the last but again I am wrong.
I have been reading these forever and seriously the stories, the themes and the authors are just getting better and better.
How do I tell you how good this was with out not only spoiling the whole thing but sitting here for 434543 days as I keep on and on haha.
So I am going to take one for the team and just tell you about a few of my top picks.
First, Devin Cabrea’s Skeleton Crew.
I know, I am so original but I am a sucker for anything he writes, and this was good and fucked up.
Spoiler alert, it made me forget how to breathe properly a few times.
Jeff Strand’s story Avert Thine Eyes, had been cackling but horrified at the same time, oh my Eldritch!
As usual, you can laugh all you want at Jeff’s story but the horror really creeps up and gets you, if you aren’t careful, you could really loose your head.
Live From Our Studios by Susan Roger’s had my so excited, I am a sucker for well done sci-fi horror and dont get nearly enough.. but this story scratched that itch and also wow, uh thinking about TV ratings ahaha…ha..
A Proper British Jelly by Viggy Par Hampton.
I was horrified but good lord was I intrigued by the uh..jelly situation. I am familiar with her work, so this story wasn’t anything unexpected but I really enjoyed it, Viggy knows how to craft a story that leaves you horrified but you can’t stop reading it.
I swear I am almost done but I have to talk about Spoons by Mark Towse, this was so wild and I needed to know, were those voices bad or something trying to help…
It had me so tensed up, following along with spoons and wondering, what will happen next..
Over all another amazing add to the THC line up, and I can’t wait for more, literally already haha.
I have been reading these forever and seriously the stories, the themes and the authors are just getting better and better.
How do I tell you how good this was with out not only spoiling the whole thing but sitting here for 434543 days as I keep on and on haha.
So I am going to take one for the team and just tell you about a few of my top picks.
First, Devin Cabrea’s Skeleton Crew.
I know, I am so original but I am a sucker for anything he writes, and this was good and fucked up.
Spoiler alert, it made me forget how to breathe properly a few times.
Jeff Strand’s story Avert Thine Eyes, had been cackling but horrified at the same time, oh my Eldritch!
As usual, you can laugh all you want at Jeff’s story but the horror really creeps up and gets you, if you aren’t careful, you could really loose your head.
Live From Our Studios by Susan Roger’s had my so excited, I am a sucker for well done sci-fi horror and dont get nearly enough.. but this story scratched that itch and also wow, uh thinking about TV ratings ahaha…ha..
A Proper British Jelly by Viggy Par Hampton.
I was horrified but good lord was I intrigued by the uh..jelly situation. I am familiar with her work, so this story wasn’t anything unexpected but I really enjoyed it, Viggy knows how to craft a story that leaves you horrified but you can’t stop reading it.
I swear I am almost done but I have to talk about Spoons by Mark Towse, this was so wild and I needed to know, were those voices bad or something trying to help…
It had me so tensed up, following along with spoons and wondering, what will happen next..
Over all another amazing add to the THC line up, and I can’t wait for more, literally already haha.
September 27, 2025
The Horror Collection: Green Diamond Edition may be the best anthology from Kevin J. Kennedy yet. Coming in at over 400 pages, it packs in 22 stories from highly talented authors. There’s no theme for this one, so you’ll find cosmic, folk horror, sci-fi, horror comedy, and more.
It was hard to choose favorites this time, but here are my standouts:
Scarecrow by Brad Ricks
Refuge by Hunter Shea
Other Gods by Richard Clive
Live From Our Studios by Susan E. Rogers
Barefoot Mary by S.E. Howard
Herders by William Meikle
Miss Dowdy by Elizabeth Massie
If you’re a fan of short stories I highly recommend this antho!
It was hard to choose favorites this time, but here are my standouts:
Scarecrow by Brad Ricks
Refuge by Hunter Shea
Other Gods by Richard Clive
Live From Our Studios by Susan E. Rogers
Barefoot Mary by S.E. Howard
Herders by William Meikle
Miss Dowdy by Elizabeth Massie
If you’re a fan of short stories I highly recommend this antho!
September 16, 2025
Another collection by Kevin Kennedy? Yes and just as the ones before it, all these stories are just as good!! Three of my favorite authors were in this one: Mark Towse, Devin Cabrera and Timothy King! Great job on another collection of some great horror short stories
September 25, 2025
These collections are so much fun! These book is filled with the wacky and weird, and some of the stories have been favourites from all the books. Another excellent book from Kevin.
October 1, 2025
25th Book in and it keeps getting better and better. Awesome Book
May 6, 2026
Great book with one of the greatest stories I've read in a while
I historically have not been a short story person but this book was exceptional. Found a few authors I want to explore further which is always fun. I'm here to talk about one of the stories in this book. It's called Predator by Ryan Colley. So unbelievably good, I feel like everyone should get this book for that story alone. There are many great stories though. It's definitely worth your time and money.
I historically have not been a short story person but this book was exceptional. Found a few authors I want to explore further which is always fun. I'm here to talk about one of the stories in this book. It's called Predator by Ryan Colley. So unbelievably good, I feel like everyone should get this book for that story alone. There are many great stories though. It's definitely worth your time and money.
September 16, 2025
The 25th installment of horror! And it's still going and going and going! Kevin puts together a phenomenal collection of authors and stories. From Hunter Shea's Refuge--where a runaway mother and daughter hide in a haunted house, Devin Caberra's ocean horrors in Skeleton Crew, jelly that kills in Viggy Par Hampton's A Proper British Jelly, Humor with a giant octopus in Jeff Strand's Avert Thine Eyes, A boy digs for treasure in Mark Towse's Spoons, and even a world that is controlled by AI in Susan Roger's Live From Our Studio. There wasn't a single miss in this whole collection. Superb from the very first page.
September 25, 2025
Such an amazing collection, which reminds me pf Joy's collection with The Black Phone in it.
Amazing stories, great unity of divers authors and definitely chilling vibes, gripping tales and creepy endings.
Full-stop recommended!
Amazing stories, great unity of divers authors and definitely chilling vibes, gripping tales and creepy endings.
Full-stop recommended!
January 24, 2026
Meh!
Didn't hold my attention very well. Took me weeks to finish but I was determined to make it through this
Didn't hold my attention very well. Took me weeks to finish but I was determined to make it through this
February 23, 2026
Meh!
Mostly skimmed the stories. Not one of them grabbed my attention enough to actually read the entire story. Just okay
Mostly skimmed the stories. Not one of them grabbed my attention enough to actually read the entire story. Just okay
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews