Dark Things II: A Horror Anthology

Dark Things #2

by Ty Schwamberger (Editor), Derek Muk (Contributor), Indy McDaniel (Contributor)

Embrace your dark side with this eclectic collection of horror stories. Murderers, haunted houses and a dabbling of the occult; devilish creatures, scuttling spiders and evil incarnate. Giddy doses of dark terror are spilled onto each page.

Drenched in the dark and dreary, this volume contains the following short stories:

You're Gonna Die by Derek Muk
Death Twitches by Indy McDaniel
The Weeper by Tim Lewis
The Devil's Footprints by Jack Horne
Polarity by David W. Landrum
R.F. by Mel Clayton
The Old Man of Weevil Creek by Adrian Ludens
Doll's House by Lisa J. Mercado
A Strange Turn of Events by John Grover
The Chevalier Sisters: A Tale of Voodoo by C.J. Sully
ROT-ROT-ROT by A.J. French
Now Playing by George Wilhite
Bug Boy by Matt Kurtz
Dummies by Sean Graham
The Interview Nobody Wants by Scott M. Sandridge
Delicious Morsels by Piper Morgan
The Welcoming by Shane McKenzie
Doubt by Matthue Roth
J.P. Gilman by Adam P. Lewis
Cutting Class by Thomas A. Erb
Yesterday's Sins by Joseph Mulak
Pale in the Night by Kurt M. Criscione

Genres: Horror

246 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 2010

About the author

Ty Schwamberger is an award-winning author & editor in the horror genre. He is the author of a novel, multiple novellas, collections and editor on several anthologies. In addition, he’s had many short stories published online and in print. Three stories, “Cake Batter” (released in 2010), “House Call” (released in June 2013) and DININ’ (optioned in July 2013), have been optioned for film adaptation. He is an Active Member of the International Thriller Writers. Learn more at http://tyschwamberger.com or follow on Twitter @SchwambergerTy.

Reviews

[Weldon Burge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pill Hill Press—a small publisher in Nebraska—has been publishing excellent speculative fiction anthologies since 2007, extending into a wide range of genres from epic fantasy to science fiction to erotica. But, Pill Hill’s superb horror anthologies are, in my opinion, the best in its growing catalog.

A fine example is “Dark Things II,” edited by Ty Schwamberger. As with most anthologies, some of the stories are stronger than others, but the twenty-two tales included provide something for anyone who loves horror fiction. Here you will find a smorgasbord of terror, everything from the slightly creepy to the profoundly disturbing.

A number of stories stand out for me. I particularly enjoyed the “creature feature” tone of A.J. French’s ROT—ROT—ROT as well as the dark humor at the end of Scott Sandridge’s The Interview Nobody Wants. I also savored the historical settings of The Devil’s Footprints by Jack Horne and The Chevalier Sisters: A Tale of Voodoo. And who wouldn’t enjoy the subtle creepiness of Piper Morgan’s Delicious Morsels, a different take on the thing in the closet, or the not-so-subtle creepiness of Matt Kurtz’s Bug Boy, which is about . . . well . . . a boy who loves bugs (and his sweet revenge)?

The diversity of writing styles in this eclectic collection of dark and strange tales makes me want to rush out and buy the other four anthologies (so far) in the “Dark Things” series!

(Review originally appeared in Suspense Magazine.)

[Joshua Gage · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall, Dark Things II is a decent anthology of horror stories, some aiming to be terrifying, some aiming to be disgusting, and some aiming simply to be silly with elements of horror. In spite of some iffy production values, the anthology is well put together and the stories make for a quick read, with something included for every horror fan to enjoy. Full review here: http://shroudmagazinebookreviews.blog...