Something Bad Happened: An Anthology of Horror

by Jennifer Bernardini

Something Bad An Anthology of Horror is based on the prompts in Something Bad A Horror Journal. Writers, illustrators, photographers, and graphic artists have created pieces in this collection that will have you gripping the edge of your seat. From angels to demons, creatures and humans, there's a story inside for everyone. Featuring new, unreleased work from Elford Alley, Wayne Fenlon, Jennifer Bernardini, Angel Krause, Bill Davidson, Cindy O'Quinn, Rayne King, Yolanda Sfetsos, Adam Hulse, Ross Jeffery, Bdyer, Laurel Hightower, Brian Bowyer, J.B. Taylor, Kyle Summerall, Steve Stred, Jaime Hernandez, and R. Reyes. With Images from Wayne Fenlon, J.B. Taylor, Holly Rae Garcia, and David Bowman.

Genres: Horror

Paperback

Published June 9, 2022

Reviews

[Elford Alley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jennifer Bernardini created a book of one sentence prompts to inspire horror writers. With this anthology, she hands those prompts to some of the best in indie horror. Seriously, Ross Jeffrey, Wayne Fenlon, Steve Stred, Laurel Hightower, Rayne King, Brian Bowyer, Adam Hulse, R Reyes, and Holly Rae Garcia are some of the awesome voices in this book. Each one takes an opening sentence to strange, twisted, and wholly unexpected directions. No matter what arena of horror of you enjoy, there is at least one story in this collection that will feel tailored to you.

[Mark Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has got to be my favourite anthology of 2022 so far.

19 different tales from such talented indie horror writers as Ross Jeffery, Laurel Hightower, Bill Davidson, JB Taylor plus some exciting newcomers.

Anyone who follows me on Twitter will see I posted real time reviews of every story & I have to say, there was not a bad one in here. Hat’s off to Jennifer Bernardini for putting this fantastic anthology together.

[Coy Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stellar anthology with a diverse roster of voices and styles. Bernardini gave a satisfying rhythm to the arrangement, mixing drabbles, poetry, images, and longer stories. Standouts include tales by Adam Hulse, Brian Bowyer, Wayne Fenlon, and Steve Stred.

[Andrés Menéndez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Something Bad Happened is an awesome horror anthology with contributions by different artists that make for a creepy, shocking, sometimes sad, and always entertaining experience. I knew this book was going to be great from the TOC, but it surpassed my expectations with the creativity of each piece and artwork, the diversity of the characters and themes, and the twists the majority of the stories had. It's one of my favorite reads from this year and I think it's an awesome anthology everyone should read. I loved it

[Adam Hulse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full disclosure - I have a story in this anthology but I'm not including it in this review.
The concept is a fantastic one. A selection of writers use one of Jennifer Bernardini's prompts to write a horror short story. With such a selection of quality writer's along with an amazing choice of prompts, I was certain this collection would be top notch. Turns out I was right. Every single story was entertaining and with so many styles at play it really is a page turner of an anthology. The standard of writing is incredibly high and will fill you with wonder and dread in equal measure. Add to this the amazing illustrations from the likes of Wayne Fenlon and David Bowman and this really is a successful project which is well worth checking out.

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an anthology with no misses. Every story is fantastic. Many of these authors are new to me, and I intend to dip into some of their other work. Highly recommended!

[Sarah Huntington · Rating 5 out of 5]

In between reading a couple of novels, I decided I should try a couple of these stories and save the rest for break times at work. One tale led to two, to three, four and so on until I finished the whole book.
There are lots of different stories in this collection, a huge amount and not one was boring or slow. There were six or seven familiar names, authors I already like and admire, and some brand new ones too. Each tale was compelling enough to keep the reader hooked and all of them were vastly different.
This is easily one of the best anthologies I've come across and it reminded me of the reason I love them so very much

[Joe Ortlieb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes short stories are nice just for when you don't want to get into anything too deep. Not the case with this anthology each story pulls you in. It's hard to catch your breath before the next one lands a sucker punch. From front to back this is filled with win after win. Trust me some bad things happen inside of this one.

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't personally enjoy the stories - I'm sure some people would but to me they almost read like they were written by AI and only edited for author credit (hopefully not the case).
Side note: choosing an (I presume novice) American voice actor to narrate an anthology from the UK was an interesting choice.