Tales from the Lake Vol. 2

by Emma Audsley (Editor), R.J. Cavender (Editor), Lisa Morton

The new breed of legends continues…If you came here to read short stories about tranquil lakes, run to the nearest exit. Run as far away as you can from Ramsey Campbell, Jack Ketchum, Edward Lee, and our array of international voices.

Tales from The Lake volume two also includes the three winners from Crystal Lake Publishing’s Tales from The Lake Horror Writing

1 Descending by John Whalen

2 Forever Dark by Jonathan Winn

3 Ripperscape by Vincenzo Bilof

Beneath this lake you’ll find nothing but mystery and suspense, horror and dread. Not to mention death and misery – tales to share around the campfire or living room floor. Dive beneath a frozen lake with Rena Mason’s “Winter’s Dollhouse”; allow Tim Lebbon to introduce you to “The God of Rain”; don’t go into the lake when Jim Goforth takes you to the haunting sit of “Lago de los Perdidos”; and never get in an elevator again with John Whalen’s award-winning “Descending.”

So dive on in.

The water’s just…right.

Interview with the

So what makes Tales from The Lake so special?

Ben As a Legends and up-and-comers in the field of horror consistently knock each volume out of the ball park. It’s a great anthology. As a Aside from sharing the pages with some of the best writers in the biz? The open-theme affords me a broader canvas to write. And, of course, the recognition!

Raven Publisher Joe Mynhardt and his team of genre enthusiasts strive to bring the reader only the highest quality short fiction in the Tales From The Lake series. Whether the author is well established name or a bright future star, excellence and innovation is always foremost. This is a publishing house with great integrity and passion, a deep-rooted love of horror and total respect for both writer and reader. And no…I do not work for their PR department! This is my genuine experience as both contributor and reader of Crystal Lake books.

Tell us more about your story?

Lisa It was inspired by two separate 1) I enjoy weird westerns and wanted to try one; and 2) I was interested in writing something about a succubus, and I had this would a gay man be affected by a supernatural temptress who presents as an exotic woman? I started doing a little research on the Old West (train lines, towns, gunslingers, etc.), and the story started to coalesce from there.

Why should readers give this series a try?

Ben Everyone loves an end of the world story, right?

Raven The best reason of all, meticulously produced books packed with intriguing stories from an international collection of great writers. There are many horror anthologies available now, with a resurgence of enthusiasm for short fiction. Sadly not all are worth bothering with, to be brutally honest! A reader is in safe hands with a Tales from The Lake volume. Crystal Lake is fast becoming synonymous for high quality production and wonderful story telling.

Proudly brought to you by Crystal Lake Publishing - Tales from the Darkest Depths

Tales from The Lake eBook

Horror short storiesHorror anthologiesDark FictionSpeculative Fiction

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Anthologies

323 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 11, 2016

About the author

Emma Audsley was born for horror fiction. With a burning desire to help the horror genre evolve & expand, she helps in her own little ways namely reviewing, editing & mentoring.
Born in the UK in 1977 she's had a long time to study the field & adores this eerie genre of ours.
She's proud & honoured to be working alongside Joe Mynhardt as Publishing & Editing Consultant. Having already worked with many notable names in Horror, she is ready to assist Crystal Lake Publishing in their blazing trail across the plains of the genre.
Emma also has a review site over at The Horrifically Horrifying Horror Blog, she's a member of the British Fantasy Society & The Horror Writers Association where she hosted 2013's Women in Horror Month & assisted with social media in the lead up to that the Bram Stoker Awards presentation in 2014 alongside Douglas Murano. Emma is an ongoing part of the team that help keep The Horror Writers Association's publications & website full to the brim.
Emma also writes both non-fiction & fictional horror, with several works in progress.

Reviews

[Zain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh!

Some of the stories in this anthology are wonderful. Unfortunately, most of them are not.

They are dull and boring, but the story by Richard Chizmar is mind blowing. A five star story. Maybe one other. Most of the stories are two stars and one star and that drags my rating down to three stars total.

I enjoyed reading the four stars and five stars stories. Too bad there aren’t many.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great selection of stories from Crystal Lake Publishing! You can read my full review here...http://horrornovelreviews.com/2016/03...

[Belinda Lewis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really didn't like the first story in this and I think it coloured the rest of my read.

[Tamara · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazingly creep-i-licious collection! You'll love every one of these stories!

[Frances · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were a handful of chilling, beautifully written, unusual stories in this one. It's probably worth picking up for those alone.

That said, several of the others felt pretty predictable, and since there wasn't a lot to differentiate the various beautiful/mutilated/dead (pick at least two!) women that often appeared, those stories started to blur together and lost impact.

[Darrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with most anthologies, I liked some stories more than others. Your own personal tastes will likely differ from my own. For example, I'm personally not a fan of gross-out stories. I think stories that trigger disgust rather than fear shouldn't even be considered horror, but rather be their own genre.

Anyway, my favorites in this collection were "The God of Rain" by Tim Lebbon in which a recently widowed woman sees her husband's ghost and creates a god in the forest, and "Forever Dark" by Jonathan Winn, a dream-like, or rather, nightmare-like story with a confused narrator in which people are turned into trees and dissolving into ponds.

I also quite liked "Ripperscape" by Vincenzo Bilof which reads like someone's nightmare and "Winter's Dollhouse" by Renault Mason which involves creepy dolls and a couple diving underneath a frozen lake. "Bone Wary" by Jan Edwards about a killer who turns people into bone china is also worth a read.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than before

The first volume of Tales from the Lake was fine, though it had a few weak points. This volume still has comparative weak points, but the quality has improved across the board. So, in this case, the weaker stories are at least good instead of merely ok.

[Vulcan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, Vol.2 is very great to read. That's why I love this series.

[Derek Patz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you remember sitting around the campfire telling spooky stories? I bet you did it at least once in your life. On a weekend probably the fourth of July if I am not mistaken. Tales from the Lake Volume 2 is the second series in a horror anthology brought to you by Crystal Lake Publishing.

In this volume we find ourselves in a much darker place then we do in volume one. Stories of sadness, dread, and violence. Richard Chizmar's "The Lake of Life" is one of the more disturbing elements of this collection. Vincenzo Bilof's "Ripperscape" is the most surreal story as we find ourselves in Whitechapel during a time when it was terrorized by Jack The Ripper. The most violent story is Rocky Alexander's eerie take on school violence in " Like Disneyland"

Overall, there were only a few stories I could say that needed improvement or to be reworked. Tales from the Lake is a great start for new readers looking to take up horror reading instead of watching the same slasher films over and over. It is also a great place to try out new authors that maybe you haven't read before such as Tim Lebbon or Edward Lee.

Top 5 stories
1. Like Disneyland by Rocky Alexander 5 out of 5 stars
2. Love Amongst the Red Back Spiders by Aaron Dries 4 out of 5 stars
3. Ripperscape by Vicenzo Bilof 4 out of 5 stars
4. The Lake is Life by Richard Chizmar 4 out of 5 stars
5.St. Thomas of El Paso by Lisa Morton 3 out 5 stars

Derek Patz
Twitter: daplme2016

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This anthology is really good. There's no overarching theme, just really good literary horror stories. While not completely without gore, I found myself most drawn to the quieter stories in the collection. There's also one of the most unique vampire stories I've ever read. 4 stars

Lago de Los Perdidos by Jim Goforth ⭐⭐⭐.25
Out of the Woods by Ramsey Campbell ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
Winter's Dollhouse by Rena Mason ⭐⭐⭐⭐.75
The God of Rain by Tim Lebbon ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
A Grand Perversion by Ben Eads ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Bone Wary by Jan Edwards ⭐⭐⭐⭐.25
Photograph of You by Mark West ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
St. Thomas of El Paso by Lisa Morton ⭐⭐⭐⭐.25
Forever Dark by Jonathan Wynn ⭐⭐⭐
Ripperscape by Vincenzo Bilof ⭐⭐⭐.25
Descending by John Whalen ⭐⭐⭐⭐.25
Virtuoso by Hal Bodner ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Chalk Face by Raven Dane ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Like Disneyland by Rocky Alexander ⭐⭐⭐
Prime Cuts by Glen Johnson ⭐⭐⭐⭐.25
The Lake is Life by Richard Chizmar ⭐⭐⭐⭐.75
Damned if You Do by Jack Ketchum ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The First Header by Edward Lee ⭐⭐.5
Love Amongst the Redback Spiders by Aaron Dries ⭐⭐⭐.25

[Joan Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to all the authors in this collection

Some collections are harder to write a review for than others. I liked some of the stories in this collection. The beginning and anchor stories were fair. I did enjoy the anchor story better than the beginning story. This collection has something for everyone. Some stories are mild while others are kicked the Spice level up. This is for adults only.

My favorite story in this collection was Prime Cuts by Glen Johnson. It's dripping with gore.

Some authors in this collection are
Jim Goforth
Ramsey Campbell
Rena Mason
Tim Lebbon
Ben Eads
Jan Edwards
Mark West
Lisa Morton
Jonathan Winn
Vincenzo Bilof
John Whalen
Hal Bodner
Raven Dane
Rocky Alexander
Glen Johnson
Richard Chizmar
Jack Ketchum
Edward Lee
Aaron Dean

[Alan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a pretty disappointing, mediocre anthology. The stories were mostly amateurish writing, confusing and/or forgettable. The only two that really stood out as being worth reading were the ones by Richard Chizmar and Tim Lebbon. Many of the remainder felt like they were scooped up off the editing floor and crammed together just to put out a book. 2* only because of the two stories I liked.

[Shell · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. It took me forever to finish reading this for some reason, the stories were pretty consistently good but it just didn’t draw me in. On the other hand I immediately bought a book by Aaron Dries after reading his contribution.

[Lee Franklin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic set of stories

[Julie Hiner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unique collection of scary stories.

A delightful collection of unique, creative and bone chilling stories that capture raw human fear. A perfect collection for the horror lover.

[Bill Borre]

"The Lake is Life" by Richard Chizmar - Rebecca snaps when she realizes a boy at the lake she likes has only been kind to her because his mother asked him to and stabs him and his girlfriend to death.

"St. Thomas of El Paso" by Lisa Morton - Montaigne attempts to convince Thomas to track and slay a succubus since Thomas is gay and will not be tempted by its charms.

"Prime Cuts" by Glen Johnson - Clark and Jake become victims of Thailand's Long Piggy Grill.