Dead Souls

by Mark S. Deniz (Editor), Elizabeth Barrette (Contributor), Ramsey Campbell (Contributor)

Dead Souls contains twenty five stories that will only ensure the darkness without enfolds you in its cold embrace. Within these pages, you will find a man so affected by the horrors he witnessed at war, he believes another is guiding his actions; a small boy with enough malevolence to shake a young girl to her very core; a tattoo artist with a hidden agenda. You will read about a future not as bright as we might have imagined or hoped; a puppet show with a damning message; a new twist on the theory of Beethoven's Immortal Beloved; Adolf Hitler in a new guise, and something terrible that approaches us in the desert. All this, plus many, many more, tales of darkness and human suffering.

Genres: Horror, Anthologies, Short Stories, Dark Fantasy

276 pages, Paperback

First published September 19, 2009

Reviews

[KV Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew I'd like this book, as I know my taste very often aligns with this particular editor's. But I honestly didn't expect to like it quite as much as I did. It's an anthology--the point is that there's a sampling of treatments of a particular theme, and there's no way one can ever like everything. You get an ice cream sampler, you love ice cream, but butter pecan is just better than pistachio to me.

I did like some better than others, but I'm giving this an almost unheard of five star rating for an antho (I've only done it one other time) because of the sheer number of stories in it that left a lasting impression on my mind. I thought of several of these tales for days after reading them. The ones I can think of off the top of my head now are:

Licwiglunga by TA Moore
The Unbedreamed by Christopher Johnstone
Mercy Hathaway is a Witch by Ken Goldman
The Migrant by Mike Stone
Sandcrawlers by Robert Hood
Tatsu by Reece Notley

And they weren't all, but just a sampling of how many of these left me with something I couldn't shake off. It was always dark and uncomfortable in the best way, too--the sort of thing where you're watching a movie and some visual in it suddenly reminds you of a story you read last week, and you give a little shiver.

This is my idea of a good time.

[Lisa Kessler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great stories lurk inside of this cover!!!

I'm very proud to have two of my vampire tales included too...

[SHES4 AMWF]

Lisa Kessler's stories were amazing!

[A.C. Wise · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with any collection, it's somewhat hit or miss. Some stories are standouts, others are just not doing it for me.

[Robert Holt]

Great book. I am proud to have a story in it.