Kennedy once again assembles an unparalleled lineup of today’s finest horror authors for the legendary The Horror Collection series. Within these pages lurk chilling explorations of addiction, nightmarish visions of AI gone wrong, and encounters with ghosts and demons that refuse to stay buried. From sinister carnivals and cursed houses to worlds unraveling in post-apocalyptic chaos, each story delivers a fresh descent into fear. Prepare for a collection that unsettles, thrills, and delights—often all at once.
Kevin J. Kennedy is a horror author, editor, and anthologist. He is the owner of KJK Publishing and runs the bestselling 'The Horror Collection' series. He is the author of Halloween Land, The Clown and Nothing is Real.
He lives in the heart of Scotland with his beautiful wife, three cats, Carlito, Ariel and Luna, and a Pomchi called Orko. He can be found on Facebook if you want to chat with him.
The Horror Collection: Onyx Edition is book 29 in Kevin J Kennedy’s acclaimed The Horror Collection series, and it has a generous 21 stories for your dark reading pleasure. These stories range from dark fiction to full-blown horror tales, with an incredible diversity of themes and styles.
There are too many for me to extol the virtues of each and every one, but among those that stood out for me is the compelling and chilling “Sawmill Road” by the legendary Ronald Kelly, and the nail-biting horror story “Not at Night” by Stephen Barnard. Of particular mention is “Viewer Discretion” by Ryan Colley, a well-written, intensely riveting tale with an ending so unnerving I wanted to old-school slap the author. There’s also the impactful “Ghost in the AI Machine” by Viggy Parr Hampton, the haunting Gothic tale “Devlin’s Manse” by Daemon Manx, the absolutely horrifying “Twenty Bucks Each or Fifty for Three” by Veronica Smith, and the terror-laden story of “The Donkey Lady” by C.W. Stevenson.
And there is much more, stories of creatures, of the demonic, and of the supernatural. There’s body horror, cosmic horror, and post-apocalyptic terror. An incredibly diverse selection to stimulate your mind and twist your gut awaits herein.
Feeling like I just ran the marathon, I have to stop for air. Welcome to the Horror Collection book 29 by Kevin J. Kennedy, the biggest book in the series with 21 tales of tantalizing terror.
Bear in mind that this review is based solely on my opinions of the stories. Congratulations to all the authors who were accepted.
Creatures of Habit By Brian Moreland
Are you a habitual smoker? Do you relish those soothing fumes flowing through your nostrils and mouth? Do cigarettes consume the majority of your paycheck? Do you want to quit, but don't know how? Well, Alfred P. Huxley has the solution, hypnosis. Take my word for it, when you discover the monstrosity feeding off the smoke, you will never pick up another cigarette again or even look at one without the bile rising in your throat.
Sawmill Road By Ronald Kelly
What's a horror collection without a good ghost story? How about the spirit of the owner of the town's only saw mill who was hacked to pieces one night when in an inebriated state he operated the machinery?
When I read a ghost story, I prefer a vengeful spirit. I'm not interested in Casper, the friendly ghost, or one that apologizes for its actions after realizing it is dead and asks questions about the life that was left behind.
Donald Meets Arnold By Elizabeth Massie
Meet Donald, an overly obese person who discovers that the cells in his body are repulsed by all the fat and rebels.
I picture a Looney Tunes cartoon where one of the character's body parts has a conversation.
Not at Night By Stephen Barnard
Thoughts of Stephen King's The Dark Half run through my mind in this tale of twins. One is born naturally and the other….
The ending was ominous, just my cup of tea.
Viewer Discretion By Ryan Colley
Following a mysterious link to a horror site isn't such a good idea. Forget about getting a computer virus, a worse fate awaits you.
This story makes you look over your shoulder and leaves you with an eerie feeling of being watched.
Mile Marker 66.6 By William F. Gray
A tale of demonic possession. I enjoyed the story up to the point where the demon was exercised. The ending didn't satisfy me, I wanted more.
The Juggling Jester’s Final Appearance By Michael Laimo
Myron, the Juggling Jester, performs one final act, and it is the bloodiest yet.
I for one and glad the character got his just desserts. When we attempt to do things that we are no longer capable of, the consequences are ours alone.
In the Age of Reptiles By Matthew Aaron Gorman
Thinking back to a comic book with the same title, I thought this was going to be a dinosaur story.
I was mistaken. It is a tale of the undead.
I was a tad disappointed in Stanley. From the build up, I expected a much more horrific creature. I'm positive that Ichabod Crane would have had a different opinion than me. Lol.
Just Outside Our Windows, Deep Inside Our Walls By Brian Hodge
In this Twilight Zone like story, whatever this boy draws materializes in reality. It reminds me of the TZ episode where the typewriters' stories occur in reality. I didn't see the ending coming. Wow!
The Ghost in the AI Machine By Viggy Parr Hampton
AI and writing is like mixing oil
and water. Using a Chatbox, an author gets more than she bargained for when her characters chat back.
A bit silly how the fictitious characters are demanding how the story should be written.
Firebug By Michael McBride
In the style of Thomas Harris's Lector novels, an FBI agent tracks a serial killer whose modus operandi is the firefly. I loved it.
He Caught Things By Colin Leonard
This story about a captured alien actually held my interest, until the end. I'm including this ending in my pile of the most disappointing endings in the history of horror stories. Perhaps I'm mistaken, but I had the sensation that the author didn't want to continue.
Devlin’s Manse By Daemon Manx
I loved the Ojanox series, however, this gothic haunted house story was putting me to sleep. The Manor reminded me of Hill House, but it was very slow moving to me.
Twenty Bucks Each or Fifty for Three By Veronica Smith
Revenge at its finest. This is more than an eye for an eye, it is an eye for the rest of your body. Being trapped under a Big Rig as your flesh peels off while scraping against the pavement is a well deserved fate for the deeds committed.
Golden Child By Mark Towse
As a child I enjoyed collecting baseball cards and know the frustration when you are in search of a certain one and can't find it.
In this story, Charlie was to complete his sticker album, missing only three stickers, but is unaware that a creature is collecting as well, and not cards.
The Donkey Lady By C. W. Stevenson
An urban legend brought to life about a woman and her family who were burned to death and now come back as spirits to enact revenge among the living. Well done.
The Coming of the Storm By Jeffrey Thomas
A lightning storm transforms people into murderous light beings in a tale that could have had a better ending. I'm not a fan of stories, Stephen King's Cell comes to mind, where the character's fate is left to the imagination.
Packages From India By R.J. Ren
Another tale about the quest for eternal life, with some large dogs added in the mix. Though there was a surprise twist, the story was nothing to write home about.
Sacrifice the Night By Theresa Jacobs
Other portals where devil worshipers attempt to conjure the Devil, where nightmares are more than they seem to be. Great job.
Gods and Monsters By C L Raven
A lengthy story about a woman who enjoys being possessed by a demon, who in turn assists her with exorcism. Egyptian mythology was definitely the icing on the cake.
The Swarm By David Watkins
Looking at the title I was torn between Michael Crichton's Prey and Arthur Herzog's Swarm. Was it nanobots or killer bees? Actually, it is worse than both or those combined and will definitely get under your skin. Lol.
This large tome of Kennedy's Horror Collection anthology series (happily at volume 29, with 21 stories!) reaches new heights of quality and excellence in the selection and variety of horror stories, with fascinating premises and (for most of them) creepy dark endings! The authors range from Ronald Kelly, Brian Hodge, and Elizabeth Massie to William Gray, Viggy Parr Hampton and Daemon Manx, with many, many well-known names inbetween - but what makes this an anthology worth having on your shelf is the solid horror fiction you'll find inside: honestly, the stories are really, really good. The ones I enjoyed most were:
- "Just Outside Our Windows, Deep Inside Our Walls" by Brian Hodge, a tale full of WTF moments, absolutely brilliant, figuring a boy always kept in his room by his parents, after three persons in the nearby park mysteriously lost their heads (literally!) - then a girl moves next door, and bit by bit the story turns into magnificent, weird horror, with a haunting resolution!
- "Not at Night" by Stephen Barnard, a truly disturbing story of a dinner going awry when a guest discovers the hosts' strange rules in the house (don't use the bathroom upstairs; keep all windows closed; don't leave any doors open) - the big reveal made me wonder what might happen if a baby got demonically possessed while in the womb, and now I have to find a story of this type!
- "Devlin’s Manse" by Daemon Manx: the writing in this one is simply superb, the gothic atmosphere exemplary, the tale full of emotion, nostalgia, lyricism, and raw sadness; a unconventional ghost story, told with great ingenuity.
- "The Ghost in the AI Machine" by Viggy Parr Hampton takes on the issue of AI-generated text passing as original fiction; fortunately the tale never veers into horror comedy, though it does have its moments. Hampton intriguingly mixes the familiar horror trope of fictional characters coming alive with their being produced by an AI app.
- "Mile Marker 66.6" by William F. Gray - religious horror with a twist; a hitchhiker makes the mistake of accepting a ride, finding out that even priests require a good exorcism sometimes!
- "Firebug" By Michael McBride - WOW, what a well-paced story! "The Silence of the Lambs" in miniature, lots of mystery and suspense, though more thriller than horror.
- "Twenty Bucks Each or Fifty for Three" by Veronica Smith, a revenge tale that really disturbed me; a guy wakes up tied up in a very strange place, having difficulty remembering what happened to him - when he finally realizes what's going on and, more importantly, why, well, it may be a tad too late.
- "Golden Child" by Mark Towse, another tale with superb writing, never allowing the reader to look away even for one moment! A kid collecting stickers for his album, failing to obtain one of the coveted ones from a classmate, stumbles upon the objects of his desire - but he's not the only one collecting!
The Onyx Edition of the Horror Collection series confirms once again that Kevin Kennedy knows his stuff. These are stories meant for readers, no gimmicks, just good horror tales! Highly recommended!
Book 29 of the series, and completely unputdownable. This is one of my favourite books in one of my favourite series, and the stories cover a whole range of different horror genres, so there's literally something for everyone, whether you have a preference for ghosts, demons, monsters, evil humans, insects or more. I love that I'm still discovering new to me authors in every book, while getting to enjoy stories from already loved authors. Cannot recommend enough.
Yet another stellar addition to the Horror Collection, the Onyx Edition is a dense book full of longer length tales and offers a lot of variety. From ghost tales, body horror, creature features to technological menace, there's something here to satisfy anyone's taste.
My personal favourites were:
View Discretion by Ryan Colley
This story takes the concept of phishing to a new horrific level when a link that is clicked on takes the viewer to a place they never could've expected and that they may or may not live to regret.
The Ghost in the AI Machine by Viggy Parr Hampton
Usage of AI for the creative arts are a hot topic and this story takes the consequences of using it and twists it to make it a deadly proposition.
The Coming of the Storm by Jeffrey Thomas
A cleaner witnesses the beginning of either an invasion or a strange phenomenon where light beings invade and begin to take humans as hosts. It's a well done tale that builds up the dread nicely.
Gods and Monsters by C L Raven
An imaginative tale where the host of a possession retains control and works hand in hand with the demon which is on a quest to find an artifact that will enable it to become vastly more powerful.
Packages from India by R.J. Ren
A story of eternal life and the price that has to be paid to attain it, this tale weaves in the complication of family and a rare dog breed that is wild by nature so when things inevitably go wrong, they go wrong in a big way.
As always, when you read a horror collection book, you know you are in for an entertaining time with quality stories and the Onyx Edition is no exception. A worthy addition to the series and to the bookshelf.
I think this is my favourite book in this collection so far. I don't know where this guy finds these authors but keep doing it. I enjoyed all of the stories in this collection. It was very hard to find a favourite but im really enjoying anything that feels gothic so I had to go with Devlin Manse by Daemon Manx.
What a collection of stories. Creepy and again an amusing (or is that just me) twist to maybe one or two. Extremely good stories by talented writers. I’m enjoying making my way through these.
Onyx is a rare gemstone. This title is perfect, for these stories are gems!
Although I have a story in this anthology I am only reviewing the other stories, not my own.
This was a beast of a book, with over 20 stories. This one wasn't themed to any holiday, but just horror itself. And it was great! I loved all the stories, some more than others. I had a very hard time narrowing it down to my favorites. I got my ultimate favorites down to six.
Creatures of Habit by Brian Moreland Viewer Discretion by Ryan Colley Just Outside Our Windows, Deep Inside Our Walls by Brian Hodge Packages From India By R.J. Ren The Swarm By David Watkins Sacrifice the Night by Theresa Jacobs
Some of these I thought I knew how the stories would end, but I really didn't. Whether I guessed the ending or not, all these stories were so well written.
Some stayed with me to the point they interupped my dreams at night. That's how you know a story really sticks in your guts (figuratively and literally). Every time a new edition of The Horror Collection comes out I think, "Wow, this one is the best!" But then the next one comes out and BAM! Kevin J. Kennedy just keeps putting out the best! Be sure to check this one out!
I can't recommend this book enough! Veronica Smith - author of Salvation in the Wasteland, Nightmare on Indigo Street, & Chalk Outline
Kevin J. Kennedy’s “Horror Collection Onyx Edition” is part of huge anthology collection that keeps growing with each new edition. This one has over 20 stories. The theme is dark horror and it was frighteningly fantastic good. I loved all the stories, they were all vastly different yet all really good, but let’s be honest here what collection has KJK release that isn’t fan-freaking-tasic, he has a knack for putting together some of the very best stories from fear invoking authors. You really can’t go wrong with any of these books but why pick one when you can read them all.