Infected 2: Tales to Read Alone

by Steve Dillon (Editor), John Palisano, Mark Towse

Our second collection of terrifying tales set in the very near future... or perhaps it's already here? It's an infected apocalypse and we're all (alone) in it together! 100% of proceeds will go to the Save the Children Response.

Features short stories by: F. Paul Wilson, John Palisano, Mark Towse, R.J. Meldrum, Rebecca Fraser, Tabby Stirling, Pochassi, Patrick J. Gallagher, Claire Fitzpatrick, Tom Prince, Brianna Courtney Bullen, T.C. Phillips, Edward Ahern, Calvin Demmer, Chris Mason, Catherine McCarthy, Brian Bowyer, Louise Zedda-Sampson, Eugene Johnson, Shaun Taylor, Noel Osualdini, Irene Punti, Gerri Leen, Tracy Fahey, Eric J. Guignard, Yash Seyedbagheri, Steve Dillon.

241 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 26, 2020

About the author

Librarian’s note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Steve Dillon living now in Melbourne, Australia is the visionary behind the Refuge Collection. Steve is series editor, sponsor, publisher and a contributor as both a writer and artist.

Reviews

[Demi-Louise Blackburn]

I picked this up after noticing ‘Plague’ by Catherine McCarthy was in it - because I knew I loved that short story already. I’ve flown through this collection despite thinking it wouldn’t be cathartic at the current time, and enjoyed pretty much every second.

As with all anthologies, there’s always a couple that aren’t quite my cup of tea, or break the flow for me, but there’s definitely someone out there who’d definitely enjoy the ones that didn’t quite strike a chord for me.

I have to give a huge mention to ‘The AVM Initiative’ by Rebecca Fraser, and ‘Stuck’ by Tabby Stirling. A strong opening is putting it mildly. I absolutely swoon over flash pieces, and these pack huge amounts of personality in very little space.

Following on from that, ‘The Itch’ by Mark Towse was a great example of knowing the inevitable is coming, but still wanting to watch every grotesque second of it.

‘The Plague Doctor’ by T.C. Phillips has a conclusion that’s so simple but so clever I distinctly remember smirking to myself at the final few lines.

‘Numb’ by John Palisano is beautifully done, powerful imagery and emotional without being dramatic.

‘Plague’ by Catherine McCarthy I’ve swooned over before, again, beautifully played out, somber but not overbearing.

And, finally, ‘Vivienne and Agnes’ by Chris Mason - my heart bled! Adored these characters so much and felt my stomach drop as the story concluded.

Brilliant anthology.

[Louise Zedda-Sampson · Rating 5 out of 5]

With the speed of knots Steve Dillon put this together, I didn't know what to expect! HOWEVER. It was a brilliant collection full of really strong stories. My absolute favourite in here was The Cure, by Tracy Fahey - what a creeping tale of dread - followed by a few others that haunted me after I'd put the book down: The AVM Initiative by Rebecca Fraser, Vivienne and Agnes by Chris Mason and Lysing Towards Bethlehem by F. Paul Wilson. There are other fabulous stories as well; these are just the ones that stayed in my mind. It was hard to not feel a sense of impending doom while reading so I suggest reading in several sittings. Now I have to read Infected 1!
Disclaimer: I do have a story in here so this review is based on the other stories in the collection.

[Maren · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are some excellent stories in here by 'dark fiction writers', though some of them are a bit too gruesome for me (that's why the 4 stars). My favourite was Life Without Crows by Gerri Leen, which I found very fresh and compelling due to the world view and distinctive voice of the main character. Another story I enjoyed was The Rivers Listen to the Mountains by Shaun Taylor. It has references to many of the events and lifestyle changes that have occurred since 1986. As the editor, Steve Dillon, comments, these stories are "based on fears that have long been brewing, reflecting how deeply the fear of infection runs among our tribes".

[Catherine McCarthy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since I was one of the contributors to this anthology, my review is based only on the other stories and poems within. As with most anthologies or collections, I had my favorites. Having said that, not one of the stories was weak.
My personal favorites were, The Music From the Rue de l'Eglise since I loved the time period in which the story was set, The Rivers Listen to the Mountains, Life Without Crows with its original voice, Lysing Toward Bethlehem for its P.O.V. and original layout, and the poem Judges and Juries.
Highly recommended!

[Steph Warren · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I was contacted by Steve Dillon, of Things in the Well, with the request to review these two horror anthologies, and advised that all proceeds from purchases will go to charity to help those affected by Coronavirus. As always, the decision to review and my opinions are my own.*

I’m reviewing both anthologies at the same time, simply because they have similar themes and content – in so far as they are both short story anthologies featuring horror, darkness, and… rather obviously… infection!

Here you will find poems and stories from various authors that feature plague, epidemic, pandemic, apocalypse, death, fear and zombies. People fall asleep, turn into zombies, bleed from every orifice. Societies shut down and/or turn feral. Horror stalks us: manmade, natural and supernatural. We suffer and die in a multitude of imaginative ways.

These stories are for the kind of horror fans who like to flirt with danger, wallow in darkness and scream defiantly into the abyss. They play on the fears we all have of the silent, invisible death creeping through the population, while we cower helpless to resist. So, at the risk of stating the obvious (again!), you should probably think of giving these anthologies a miss if you are anxious about the current world situation. Anyone already feeling nervous about coronavirus and quarantine is going to probably find this collection pretty unnerving, to put it mildly.

That said, the money from purchasing these anthologies is going to a very good cause and the stories are varied, well-written and disturbing (in a good way), so you could always buy them anyway and then keep them to read with retrospective relief once this is all over and we emerge blinking from our bunkers to repopulate the planet!





We live in a time when isolation seems to be the only way to protect ourselves from another infectious plague. Loneliness has become the new norm, it seems, yet we still find ways to pull together in an ever increasingly world of virtuality.
This anthology was born of a desire to face up to the beast that is covid-19, aka coronavirus, aka the 2020 plague; to look in its slavering maw and say ‘fuck you because life goes on, and when you’re gone from this place, the world and its people will be stronger.
The other driver, for myself and all the wonderful contributors who’ve shared these stories with us, is to see if we can make a difference where we can. In this case to raise funds for the Save the Children Coronavirus Response.

– Steve Dillon, from the Introduction to Infected


Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog