Shadows Over Main Street Volume 2

by Doug Murano (Editor), D. Alexander Ward (Editor), Gary A. Braunbeck

You know this place. Seems normal enough. But you know better, don’t you? You’ve heard rumors of strange histories. You’ve seen hints of dark deeds.

Turns out you *can* go home again, and the shadows will be waiting for you. Bram Stoker Award® nominated editors Doug Murano and D. Alexander Ward bring you the next installment of their best selling, critically acclaimed small-town Lovecraftian anthology series: Shadows Over Main Street, Volume 2. Within these pages, you’ll discover:

• America’s pastime awakening dark secrets buried deep within the earth.
• Vietnam War heroes who glimpse something worse than war and return home to discover a new kind of hell waiting for them.
• The music of a generation—of many generations—revealed as something older, hungrier and more insidious than a bad acid trip.
• A war-widow who rediscovers love and passion… only to cultivate the world’s end.

Featuring stories by: Joyce Carol Oates, Joe R. Lansdale, Gary A. Braunbeck, John F.D. Taff, Lucy A. Snyder, William Meikle, Ronald Malfi, Damien Angelica Walters, and others. With a foreword by Laird Barron and stunning illustrations by Luke Spooner.

Every turn you take leads back to Main Street. We’ve been waiting. Welcome home.

Genres: Horror, Anthologies

228 pages, Paperback

First published October 13, 2017

Reviews

[Mommacat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Advance Review Copy

Some of the best authors in the business contribute to this collection of dark horror that is sure to give you the shivers. Check 'em out: Gary Braunbeck, Willie Meikle, Joe Lansdale, Max Booth III, and the names go on and on. Joe and Max's stories were very dark - and very enjoyable. I'm used to them writing more humorous stories. Lucy Snyder's story was so good, such a great way to start the collection. John F.D. Taff is in there as well. I don't think he can tell a bad story.

Don't miss the foreword by Laird Barron! I tend to just skim forewords, but hey, it's Laird Barron. You'll want to read this one.

Yeah, there were a couple of stories that were just ok. That's the way it falls. But the great stories more than make up for that. Don't miss out on this one. It's awesome.

[LIsa Noell "Rocking the chutzpah!" · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know it says 200 and some odd page's, but this thing took me over a year to read. For me, it felt huge and unwieldy. I often breeze through shorties. The authors that I expected to love? They mostly just phoned it in! Newer author's? Well, they were the only saving grace in this bloated thing. I should have kept track of those newer authors, but over a year later?

[Icy-Cobwebs-Crossing-SpaceTime · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review: SHADOWS OVER MAIN STREET VOLUME 2 (Various Authors. Editors, Doug Murano and D. Alexander Ward)

This extraordinary anthology series continues, with this new volume. It's readily understandable that the Editors, Doug Murano and D. Alexander Ward, are Bram Stoker Award nominees. Their ability to identify and collate excellence is definitely gifted.

Often when reading a collection or anthology, I keep a mental running total of my personal favorites, but for SHADOWS OF MAIN STREET VOLUME 2, I would have to list every single entry. Here we have horror: subtle, scary, all-consuming. We have Lovecraftian overtones, of Elder Gods, of cosmic horrors inconceivable, worshipped by incalculable monsters, holding the universe hostage. If your spine doesn't chill, if your hair doesn't stand vertical, if your skin isn't 100% goosebumps_then you must not have read this anthology.

[Sheldon Wiebe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full disclosure: I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway.

Anthologies are, almost always, fun. They usually operate around a specific theme/or themes and the variety of writers can provide wildly disparate types of stories around them.

Shadows Over Main Street Vol. 2 is the second anthology on the theme small towns/cosmic horror. It's a volume of eighteen stories by a wide range of authors (including two reprints, Joyce Carol Oates' chilling The Omen; Joe R. Lansdale's Duck Hunt) and, unlike most anthologies (which frequently have at least one dud in the lot no matter how stellar the collection of authors), it is pretty much brilliant from beginning to end.

There are stories that embrace the horror from word one (The Omen is good example) and stories that feel like mundane, slice-of-life stories until well along (Damien Angelica Walters' 1570 KHZ) - and all the variations between.

Sometimes the story ends with an ironic, Twilight Zone-ish twist that amplifies the horror (Eden Royce's Shine Blackberry Wine) or plays with America tropes in a new way (like Jay Wilburn's Homeowners Association of Unfathomable Horrors Beyond the Stars), or kicks the legs out from under that old clichéd tale of the baseball prodigy from nowhere (C.W. LaSart's The Boy with the Golden Arm).

There's even a powerful coming of age story - Joe R. Lansdale's Duck Hunt.

The thing about a good short story is that every word counts. Nothing is wasted.

The stories in Shadows Over Main Street Vol. 2 are all examples of great craftmanship - every word does, indeed, count.

I have, previously, won a Goodreads Giveaway that was almost painful to finish, so I'm glad that I got this one. It balances out that previous read with what, to me, is a real rarity - an anthology that has no week links.

Quick note: the 'Date Finished' box wouldn't let me enter the date I finshed the book, so here it is: November 27, 2017.

[Sue Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shadows Over Main Street, Volume 2 by Joe R. Lansdale, Joyce Carol Oates, Gary A. Braunbeck, Lucy A. Snyder, John F.D. Taff, Ronald Malfi, James Chambers, William Meikle, Erinn L. Kemper, Damien Angelica Walters, Michael Wehunt, Suzanne Madron, Max Booth III, C.W. LaSart, Eden Royce, Jay Wilburn, Douglas Wynne; Editors: Doug Murano, D. Alexander Ward.
You know this place. Seems normal enough. But you know better, don't you? You've heard rumors of strange histories. You've seen hints of dark deeds. Turns out, you can go home again...and the shadows will be waiting for you.
A good collection of stories. Some I liked. I liked some more than others. 3*.

[Trina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this arc from Netgalley.


Pretty good read. This collection has more good stories than bad. There are a couple of duds but for the most part an enjoyable read.

[Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite stories were by Lucy A. Snyder, John F.D. Taff, Eden Royce, and Joyce Carol Oates

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had some good stories and some not so good stories. It was a short read. I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway.

[steven duane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a bad follow up

After reading both entries in this series, I have to say not great but also it was free. plus it was peppered with some real gems. I recommend.

[Kate Wolstenholme · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michael Wehunt is a standout here, though there are other great stories. The tone ranges from the enigmatic to the grisly.