Picnic in the Graveyard: An Anthology of Cemetery Horrors

by John Brhel (Editor), Joe Sullivan (Editor), Tom Deady

Of time spent in cemeteries, finding your way in the world by way of the graveyards and churchyards, picnicking with loved ones beside mausoleums and beneath ornamental obelisks. New horror fiction from some of the genre's most exciting names, like Tom Deady, Samantha Kolesnik, Nick Kolakowski, Nuzo Onoh, Stephanie Ellis, J.A.W. McCarthy, Bev Vincent, and JG Faherty. This anthology contains weird and wonderful tales that take place in burial places. Stories both frightening and fun; come picnic with us!

Also featuring stories from such talents as Tim Meyer, Nicole Willson, Michael Harris Cohen, Mark Allan Gunnells, L. Marie Wood, R.J. Joseph, Catherine McCarthy, Mark Towse, LP Hernandez, Alex Ebenstein, Alex Woodroe, Michael Kelly, Kenneth W. Cain, and a poem from Shane Douglas Keene.

Paperback

Published April 23, 2022

About the author

I'm the co-author of Tales From Valleyview Cemetery, Marvelry's Curiosity Shop, At The Cemetery Gates: Year One and Carol for a Haunted Man, Corpse Cold: New American Folklore, Her Mourning Portrait and Other Paranormal Oddities, Resurrection High , At The Cemetery Gates: Volume 2 and The Thrumming Stone with my long-time friend Joe Sullivan.

I work full-time as a marketing/PR professional at Binghamton University. I enjoy writing, reading, watching movies, playing music, and spending time with my family.

Reviews

[Mark Towse · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wouldn't expect anything less than brilliant from such a line-up—an absolutely fantastic collection of stories.

[Austrian Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Anthology is pretty strong, I have to say, straight up, there are some great names on the TOC, most of which deliver great shorts, and the representation for LGTBQ in the book is fantastic (I do look), and also there are enough strong female leads. I am probably going to be the only one that says this, given the reaction to the cover from Twitter upon its release, but I actually didn’t like the cover. At all. That’s personal preference, but yeah, It isn’t a cover that makes me want to read what’s inside. The TOC however, well, that’s a total enticement.

The stand-out short, for me, I’ll say straight up front, was Nick Kolakowski’s “Why Bob Lee came back”, just fantastic, that’s the second time I’ve read an anthology and his story has leapt to the fore, I’ll be buying more of his stuff this summer. Everything about his short – from voice to presentation, to the killer first line – Nick, you nailed it. Great stuff.

Most of the shorts were good, another noteworthy addition was from Catherine McCarthy, again bringing her distinctive touch to the party (the queen of atmosphere, you can almost touch and smell the chapel, the light dappling through the windows…), and I discovered some new (for me) authors I’ll be checking out in the coming weeks. There were a couple of shorts that didn't resound with me, but the writing, on the whole, was good, very little to find fault with here.

Overall I think this was a strong anthology, I’m giving it 4 out of 5 ⭐ ‘s, and have some more names to invest my money in.

[Catherine McCarthy]

N.B. I do not rate on Goodreads.
As a contributing author, my words here reflect how I feel about the other stories, not my own.

I really enjoyed this anthology. Although the title brief was met in all stories, each and every one of them had a different take on it which provided variety.
Some authors I'd read before and therefore knew I was in for a quality read. Others were new to me, and this is what I like best about anthologies. They're a great tool for discovering authors you're not familiar with. I love it when a new voice really resonates, and there were a few in here. I'll be watching out for those in future.

[Sarah Huntington · Rating 4 out of 5]

I put 4 stars but more of a 4.5 I think.
A few of my favourite authors are in this book and a good few more I really enjoy reading. Each story was different and I loved the theme too. There were two or three tales that didn't grab me as much as the rest but that's personal taste, and not bad writing or anything. This was completely enjoyable, dark, scary and fun at times. Very much worth getting. Anthologies are my favourite and this one is great