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Tales of the Lost: Volume Two
Tales Of The Lost Volume A Covid-19 Charity Anthology
Edited by Bram Stoker Award Winner Eugene Johnson and Steve Dillon
We lose many things during our time in this universe. From the moment we are born we start losing time, and loss becomes a part of our life from the beginning. We lose friends (both imaginary and real), loved ones, pets, and family. We gain stuff and lose stuff, from our socks to our money. We can lose our hope, sanity, passions, our mind, and perhaps even our soul! In the end when death finds us, we end up losing everything... Don't we?
Loss is part of who we are. We can't escape it. We learn from it, grow from it, and so much more. Some of the greatest stories ever forged come from loss. Within this book is some of those stories.
Featuring stories and poetry by an amazing lineup
Tim Waggoner * Lisa Morton * Neil Gaiman * Joe Hill * Heather Graham * Christopher Golden * Tim Lebbon * Christina Sng * Vince Liaguno * John Palisano * Kaaron Warren * Chris Mason * Greg Chapman * Tracy Cross * Stephanie W. Wytovich * Alexis Kirkpatrick * Ben Monroe * Lucy A. Snyder and Matthew R. Davis.
Edited by Bram Stoker Award Winner Eugene Johnson and Shirley Jackson award nominated author Steve Dillon. Coming in 2020 from Plaid Dragon Publishing in association with Things in The Well. With cover art by the brilliant Francois Vaillancourt, and interior art by the amazing Luke Spooner.
Money raised by the anthology will go to benefit the Save the Children Coronavirus response.
Tales of the Lost 2 could be called Tales of the Dark Heart! From a coming home story that ends in a not-so-typical cemetery scene to a couple of ultimate sacrifices driven by love, this is a book filled with stories to tear at your heart while making you shiver. There are macabre jack-in-the-boxes and soul-stealing virtual reality games and an apocalypse vision of a mother's love the likes of which I've never read before. These are stories of love and longing and selfless giving and aching loss ... with frequent visits from the monstrous things that inhabit the night. This is a volume of horrific heart and chilling beauty.
- John Everson, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Covenant and Voodoo Heart
Comprising unnerving tales of loss from horror's best-loved writers, LOST 2 is haunting, uncanny, and deeply disquieting. Prepare to lose sleep while reading this one. - Lee Murray, award-winning author of INTO THE ASHES.
Copyright Plaid Dragon Publishing (c) 2020
Published by Plaid Dragon Publishing in association with Things in The Well.
Edited by Bram Stoker Award Winner Eugene Johnson and Steve Dillon
We lose many things during our time in this universe. From the moment we are born we start losing time, and loss becomes a part of our life from the beginning. We lose friends (both imaginary and real), loved ones, pets, and family. We gain stuff and lose stuff, from our socks to our money. We can lose our hope, sanity, passions, our mind, and perhaps even our soul! In the end when death finds us, we end up losing everything... Don't we?
Loss is part of who we are. We can't escape it. We learn from it, grow from it, and so much more. Some of the greatest stories ever forged come from loss. Within this book is some of those stories.
Featuring stories and poetry by an amazing lineup
Tim Waggoner * Lisa Morton * Neil Gaiman * Joe Hill * Heather Graham * Christopher Golden * Tim Lebbon * Christina Sng * Vince Liaguno * John Palisano * Kaaron Warren * Chris Mason * Greg Chapman * Tracy Cross * Stephanie W. Wytovich * Alexis Kirkpatrick * Ben Monroe * Lucy A. Snyder and Matthew R. Davis.
Edited by Bram Stoker Award Winner Eugene Johnson and Shirley Jackson award nominated author Steve Dillon. Coming in 2020 from Plaid Dragon Publishing in association with Things in The Well. With cover art by the brilliant Francois Vaillancourt, and interior art by the amazing Luke Spooner.
Money raised by the anthology will go to benefit the Save the Children Coronavirus response.
Tales of the Lost 2 could be called Tales of the Dark Heart! From a coming home story that ends in a not-so-typical cemetery scene to a couple of ultimate sacrifices driven by love, this is a book filled with stories to tear at your heart while making you shiver. There are macabre jack-in-the-boxes and soul-stealing virtual reality games and an apocalypse vision of a mother's love the likes of which I've never read before. These are stories of love and longing and selfless giving and aching loss ... with frequent visits from the monstrous things that inhabit the night. This is a volume of horrific heart and chilling beauty.
- John Everson, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Covenant and Voodoo Heart
Comprising unnerving tales of loss from horror's best-loved writers, LOST 2 is haunting, uncanny, and deeply disquieting. Prepare to lose sleep while reading this one. - Lee Murray, award-winning author of INTO THE ASHES.
Copyright Plaid Dragon Publishing (c) 2020
Published by Plaid Dragon Publishing in association with Things in The Well.
216 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 30, 2020
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28 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 5, 2021
Review is now posted on Ginger Nuts of Horror!
Tales of the Lost: Volume II is a collection of dark creative work: short fiction, poetry, and black and white artwork dedicated to the essential workers and victims of the Covid-19 pandemic. Editors Eugene Johnson (Where Nightmares Come From) and Steve Dillon (Things in the Well) set the dinner table with a potluck of eighteen entrees cooked up by established speculative genre scribes. All but four stories are original to the anthology, but the reprints include those from powerhouses Joe Hill and Neil Gaiman. Unlike some of the other Covid-linked collections released over the past year, the stories are free of even the tiniest jab of political soapboxing. There appears to be no fixed theme except that all of the pieces fall somewhere on the horror spectrum, ensuring there is something for every reader. Six of the offerings stood out for me in their originality, prose style, and impact.
Rock and metal music often hoard a lion’s share of tragic storylines in their lyrics, and the music of Our Tragic Heroine, the band on which Matthew R. Davis’ story is named, is no different. In one of the quieter horror pieces in the book, four members at the height of their band’s career gather in their guitarist’s dressing room to discuss news of a sudden tragedy, the death of their dark muse, a woman whose personal torments they used to fuel their most successful songs. In his biography, Davis reveals that he is a musician himself, and his inside knowledge works to his advantage, as the subtle details with which he imbues the tale ring true, rendering an engrossingly sad and heartfelt story of the darkness that exists behind a concert’s curtain.
Lisa Morton offers another compelling psychological portrait; “The Deals We Make” opens with “There’s a man who comes through my window at night. Sometimes he crawls into my bed. Sometimes he sleeps in a dresser drawer. I made a deal with him.” After learning of her aging, divorced mother’s medical diagnosis—vascular dementia— the unnamed narrator is instantly saddled with the weight of caring for her infirm parent until a fortuitous encounter with a mysterious figure offers her respite. Unfortunately, nothing that comes easy is ever really free. Sprinkled with Morton’s whip-smart prose, her story might be the best twist on the Faustian tale I’ve ever encountered.
Christina Sng’s poem “Little Lost Girl” is a creepily fun little ditty about a serial killer, a hostage, her daughter…and a question of which of the three is truly the most dangerous. “Lady of Styx” by Stephanie M. Wytovich is only four stanzas in length, but each of them drip with thickly dark imagery, like a hypnotist luring his patient into a trance. Perhaps the most delightfully disturbing of the eighteen pieces is John Palisano’s “The Revival of Stephen Tell,” a story akin to ingesting a powerful psychogenic drug that produces a nearly immediate effect, one that skirts the boundary of diving headlong into a bad trip in the very best way. Oscar and his wife Martha attend an unusual show: according to the latter, they have been invited to witness a magician die, then return from the dead. Oscar is dubious, but sure enough, when Stephen Tell first appears, the magician is bound to a metal frame and promises the audience “a glimpse into the great beyond.” What follows is one of the most strangely terrifying acts of body disarticulation that makes any sawing a woman in half act seem like child’s play.
Hands-down, my favorite in the collection was Tim Waggoner’s ghost story “Forever.” I returned to the tale after I finished the anthology because of its loveliness. A narrator returning to her hometown recalls a childhood friendship with an abused girl who found a way to escape her torment: she went missing and never returned. Though the narrator’s explanation to police in her youth was far from truthful, the adult she became questions the accuracy of what she actually witnessed, and it beckons her to investigate further. Waggoner’s writing is melodious; his story, haunting. “There’s a light breeze blowing, and the leaves on the trees above us rustle softly, making a sound like a rushing river. I imagine I hear voices as well, whispering words that I can’t quite make out. These voices aren’t sinister, though. Their tone is soothing, comforting, a balm for the spirit.” “Forever” is the perfect opening number in a satisfying collection that serves not only to entertain the reader with a diverse selection of horror fiction and verse, but to benefit a worthy and relatable cause.
Tales of the Lost: Volume II is a collection of dark creative work: short fiction, poetry, and black and white artwork dedicated to the essential workers and victims of the Covid-19 pandemic. Editors Eugene Johnson (Where Nightmares Come From) and Steve Dillon (Things in the Well) set the dinner table with a potluck of eighteen entrees cooked up by established speculative genre scribes. All but four stories are original to the anthology, but the reprints include those from powerhouses Joe Hill and Neil Gaiman. Unlike some of the other Covid-linked collections released over the past year, the stories are free of even the tiniest jab of political soapboxing. There appears to be no fixed theme except that all of the pieces fall somewhere on the horror spectrum, ensuring there is something for every reader. Six of the offerings stood out for me in their originality, prose style, and impact.
Rock and metal music often hoard a lion’s share of tragic storylines in their lyrics, and the music of Our Tragic Heroine, the band on which Matthew R. Davis’ story is named, is no different. In one of the quieter horror pieces in the book, four members at the height of their band’s career gather in their guitarist’s dressing room to discuss news of a sudden tragedy, the death of their dark muse, a woman whose personal torments they used to fuel their most successful songs. In his biography, Davis reveals that he is a musician himself, and his inside knowledge works to his advantage, as the subtle details with which he imbues the tale ring true, rendering an engrossingly sad and heartfelt story of the darkness that exists behind a concert’s curtain.
Lisa Morton offers another compelling psychological portrait; “The Deals We Make” opens with “There’s a man who comes through my window at night. Sometimes he crawls into my bed. Sometimes he sleeps in a dresser drawer. I made a deal with him.” After learning of her aging, divorced mother’s medical diagnosis—vascular dementia— the unnamed narrator is instantly saddled with the weight of caring for her infirm parent until a fortuitous encounter with a mysterious figure offers her respite. Unfortunately, nothing that comes easy is ever really free. Sprinkled with Morton’s whip-smart prose, her story might be the best twist on the Faustian tale I’ve ever encountered.
Christina Sng’s poem “Little Lost Girl” is a creepily fun little ditty about a serial killer, a hostage, her daughter…and a question of which of the three is truly the most dangerous. “Lady of Styx” by Stephanie M. Wytovich is only four stanzas in length, but each of them drip with thickly dark imagery, like a hypnotist luring his patient into a trance. Perhaps the most delightfully disturbing of the eighteen pieces is John Palisano’s “The Revival of Stephen Tell,” a story akin to ingesting a powerful psychogenic drug that produces a nearly immediate effect, one that skirts the boundary of diving headlong into a bad trip in the very best way. Oscar and his wife Martha attend an unusual show: according to the latter, they have been invited to witness a magician die, then return from the dead. Oscar is dubious, but sure enough, when Stephen Tell first appears, the magician is bound to a metal frame and promises the audience “a glimpse into the great beyond.” What follows is one of the most strangely terrifying acts of body disarticulation that makes any sawing a woman in half act seem like child’s play.
Hands-down, my favorite in the collection was Tim Waggoner’s ghost story “Forever.” I returned to the tale after I finished the anthology because of its loveliness. A narrator returning to her hometown recalls a childhood friendship with an abused girl who found a way to escape her torment: she went missing and never returned. Though the narrator’s explanation to police in her youth was far from truthful, the adult she became questions the accuracy of what she actually witnessed, and it beckons her to investigate further. Waggoner’s writing is melodious; his story, haunting. “There’s a light breeze blowing, and the leaves on the trees above us rustle softly, making a sound like a rushing river. I imagine I hear voices as well, whispering words that I can’t quite make out. These voices aren’t sinister, though. Their tone is soothing, comforting, a balm for the spirit.” “Forever” is the perfect opening number in a satisfying collection that serves not only to entertain the reader with a diverse selection of horror fiction and verse, but to benefit a worthy and relatable cause.
November 6, 2020
The second volume of Tales of the Lost was released October 30 of 2020 which was perfect timing since it is a genuine Halloween treat for any horror fan. It contains works by such popular authors as Neil Gaiman and Joe Hill as well as a multitude of other award-winning writers, and as the first publication from the newly formed Plaid Dragon Publishing Company, it strikes me as being a good omen for more scary things to come.
All of the stories and poems provided excellent scares, but among my favorites were Joe Hill's "20th Century Ghost," a tale of a haunted movie theater (always a beloved spooky setting for me) and Gaiman's short tale, "Don't Ask Jack," which demonstrates definitively that a story doesn't have to be long to be scary.
One would expect stories of lost loved ones in this collection, an expectation met in Tim Waggoner's bittersweet story of the loss of a childhood friend in "Forever" and Chris Mason's thriller "Cracks" in which the MC searches for his abducted brother only to find more than he had bargained for. Heather Graham's "Someone Lost and Someone Saved" about a woman who sits in the hospital with her dying father-in-law and Alexis Kirkpatrick's debut story, "Mr. Forget-Me-Not," the tale of a gaunt dark figure who haunts the protagonist's photographs throughout her life, both successfully incorporated traditional treatments of death with just enough horror to be creepy while also creating characters that play on the reader's sympathies.
In that same vein of lost loved ones, Lisa Morton's main character who must cope with her mother's developing dementia in "The Deals We Make" causes the reader to be reminded of deals we all make, conscious and otherwise, as we confront challenges offered by life and death. Matthew R. Davis' characters are a bit more raw in "Our Tragic Heroine," the story of a rock band that must face the loss of its drug-addicted muse, but they remind us that no one, regardless of their station in life, escapes the pain of losing someone you love.
As I said, I expected (and received) great stories from Joe Hill and Neil Gaiman, but there were several other stories I'd count as favorites in this collection which delivered a slightly different slant on the theme. Among those is John Palisono's chilling tale "The Revival of Stephen Tell" in which a magician promises to reveal secrets from "the other side" as he offers his audience the opportunity to witness his death and revival. Vince A. Liaguno and Kaaren Warren each took us to a not-too-distant future, the former to experience a delightfully wicked home video system where the horrors are a bit too real, and the latter to find a woman enduring extreme solitude in a story called "Three Rooms, With a Heliotrope' that recalls the best tales Rod Serling served up in The Twilight Zone.
Blending humor and horror is a tricky business, but Tracy Cross skillfully met the challenge with her delightfully well-drawn characters and use of urban dialog in "The Case of the Wendigo." I'm not sure if humor was intended in Greg Chapman's story "Unforeseen," but he shows us a man whose losses are so exaggerated (no character since Job of the Old Testament has suffered to this extent) that once I reached the surprising ending I expected to hear the familiar cackle of the Cryptkeeper. Whether intended or not, I enjoyed the tale.
Mixed among the stories in Tales of the Lost were the poems of Christina Sng, Stephanie M. Wytovich, and Lucy Snyder which all served to break up the cadence of the storytelling at just the right times. For me they were like haunting melodies that hang in the air after the actors have left the stage. To comment further on them would spoil their effect.
The anthology ends successfully with its longest story, "A Hole in the World," an unsettling account of a Russian military squad that assumes the task of rescuing a team of scientists who disappear after investigating a sinkhole that occurs in the melting permafrost in Siberia. Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon tell a tale that conjures up images of Lovecraftian demons, but with characterization and depth that, to be honest, I find lacking in Lovecraft's original stories.
I have not read Volume I of Tales from the Lost, but I now definitely intend to do so. I also eagerly anticipate the next volumes, which editors Eugene Johnson and Steve Dillon assure us are on the way.
(Note: The author of this review received a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.)
All of the stories and poems provided excellent scares, but among my favorites were Joe Hill's "20th Century Ghost," a tale of a haunted movie theater (always a beloved spooky setting for me) and Gaiman's short tale, "Don't Ask Jack," which demonstrates definitively that a story doesn't have to be long to be scary.
One would expect stories of lost loved ones in this collection, an expectation met in Tim Waggoner's bittersweet story of the loss of a childhood friend in "Forever" and Chris Mason's thriller "Cracks" in which the MC searches for his abducted brother only to find more than he had bargained for. Heather Graham's "Someone Lost and Someone Saved" about a woman who sits in the hospital with her dying father-in-law and Alexis Kirkpatrick's debut story, "Mr. Forget-Me-Not," the tale of a gaunt dark figure who haunts the protagonist's photographs throughout her life, both successfully incorporated traditional treatments of death with just enough horror to be creepy while also creating characters that play on the reader's sympathies.
In that same vein of lost loved ones, Lisa Morton's main character who must cope with her mother's developing dementia in "The Deals We Make" causes the reader to be reminded of deals we all make, conscious and otherwise, as we confront challenges offered by life and death. Matthew R. Davis' characters are a bit more raw in "Our Tragic Heroine," the story of a rock band that must face the loss of its drug-addicted muse, but they remind us that no one, regardless of their station in life, escapes the pain of losing someone you love.
As I said, I expected (and received) great stories from Joe Hill and Neil Gaiman, but there were several other stories I'd count as favorites in this collection which delivered a slightly different slant on the theme. Among those is John Palisono's chilling tale "The Revival of Stephen Tell" in which a magician promises to reveal secrets from "the other side" as he offers his audience the opportunity to witness his death and revival. Vince A. Liaguno and Kaaren Warren each took us to a not-too-distant future, the former to experience a delightfully wicked home video system where the horrors are a bit too real, and the latter to find a woman enduring extreme solitude in a story called "Three Rooms, With a Heliotrope' that recalls the best tales Rod Serling served up in The Twilight Zone.
Blending humor and horror is a tricky business, but Tracy Cross skillfully met the challenge with her delightfully well-drawn characters and use of urban dialog in "The Case of the Wendigo." I'm not sure if humor was intended in Greg Chapman's story "Unforeseen," but he shows us a man whose losses are so exaggerated (no character since Job of the Old Testament has suffered to this extent) that once I reached the surprising ending I expected to hear the familiar cackle of the Cryptkeeper. Whether intended or not, I enjoyed the tale.
Mixed among the stories in Tales of the Lost were the poems of Christina Sng, Stephanie M. Wytovich, and Lucy Snyder which all served to break up the cadence of the storytelling at just the right times. For me they were like haunting melodies that hang in the air after the actors have left the stage. To comment further on them would spoil their effect.
The anthology ends successfully with its longest story, "A Hole in the World," an unsettling account of a Russian military squad that assumes the task of rescuing a team of scientists who disappear after investigating a sinkhole that occurs in the melting permafrost in Siberia. Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon tell a tale that conjures up images of Lovecraftian demons, but with characterization and depth that, to be honest, I find lacking in Lovecraft's original stories.
I have not read Volume I of Tales from the Lost, but I now definitely intend to do so. I also eagerly anticipate the next volumes, which editors Eugene Johnson and Steve Dillon assure us are on the way.
(Note: The author of this review received a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.)
November 11, 2020
I was given a free copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
Not only is 'Tales of the Lost: Volume 2' donating all it's proceeds to a good cause (a COVID-19 relief fund) but it is also a stellar collection. Including stories from the likes of Neil Gaiman, Joe Hill, and Tim Lebbon, this anthology explores the theme of loss. Lost time, lost memories, and even loss of self. Thoroughly enjoyed the stories in this, as well as the few poems scattered throughout. Heart-breaking, bittersweet, and at times chilling, would definitely recommend.
A couple of favourite were 'Cracks' by Chris Mason; the story of a young boy who enlists the help of a mysterious stranger to find the hours he lost when his brother went missing a fantastical and bitter story. 'Mr. Forget Me Not' by Alex Kirkpatrick follows a young woman story of love, marriage, and children and the dark figure that only she can see who knows more than she does, a heartbreaking tale of lost memories. And also 'The Case of the Wendigo' by Tracy Cross; a Wendigo' stalked a small black community, forcing the local children to go on the hunt - funny, modern, and brutal.
Not only is 'Tales of the Lost: Volume 2' donating all it's proceeds to a good cause (a COVID-19 relief fund) but it is also a stellar collection. Including stories from the likes of Neil Gaiman, Joe Hill, and Tim Lebbon, this anthology explores the theme of loss. Lost time, lost memories, and even loss of self. Thoroughly enjoyed the stories in this, as well as the few poems scattered throughout. Heart-breaking, bittersweet, and at times chilling, would definitely recommend.
A couple of favourite were 'Cracks' by Chris Mason; the story of a young boy who enlists the help of a mysterious stranger to find the hours he lost when his brother went missing a fantastical and bitter story. 'Mr. Forget Me Not' by Alex Kirkpatrick follows a young woman story of love, marriage, and children and the dark figure that only she can see who knows more than she does, a heartbreaking tale of lost memories. And also 'The Case of the Wendigo' by Tracy Cross; a Wendigo' stalked a small black community, forcing the local children to go on the hunt - funny, modern, and brutal.
May 31, 2023
Fantastic stories and though it may sound strange, not a sequel. There is no volume one at least as far as I can tell.
Normally. anthologies take me a while to read, guess it's the difference between the authors and their writing, but this on was so good that even with stopping to check out a new to me author's book (and yeah, buy it) I kept going right back to it. There were just a couple of dud stories to me, the actual breakdown for my rating was like. 4.75. Wha-a-at?
Great authors, great stories, the editors said at the end they were working on another book. Whoo hoo!
Normally. anthologies take me a while to read, guess it's the difference between the authors and their writing, but this on was so good that even with stopping to check out a new to me author's book (and yeah, buy it) I kept going right back to it. There were just a couple of dud stories to me, the actual breakdown for my rating was like. 4.75. Wha-a-at?
Great authors, great stories, the editors said at the end they were working on another book. Whoo hoo!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews