Status Updates From The Spectral Book of Horror...

Average score 3.55, rounded to 4. Not great but some fine highlights.

5/67.5:19. Newspaper Heart. Stephen Volk is fluent writer and this highly readable tale is a great example. Feels a bit like Ramsey Campbell with muffled minds, tendeness and bitterness and a shattering ending. Evokes 1970 very well without over-citing specific cultural references.

3.5/62.5:18. This Video Does not Exist. I can’t work out what’s going on here. A very strange premise and a gruesome prelude to a conclusion, but what has been resolved, and how? Re-reading may make things clearer - or may confirm the emptiness of the story. Nice details though. It feels real.

4/59:17. Sinister In Sunlight. Feels like a better story as it percolates barely three minutes after reading it. Misdirection upon misdirection upon misdirection and an unexpected ending even after you think you’ve reached resolution. Disappointment and anxiety are just two of the many complex ingredients to creating a monster.

4/55:15. Life Inspector. Lighthearted but somewhat vitriolic. No real horror other than of the “how would I fare in this situation” variety, but surely we’re better people than Franklin … aren’t we?

4/51:14. Outside Heavenly. I really enjoyed reading this but the premise isn’t so grand. More supernatural thriller than unsettling horror.

1.5/47:13. The Slista. Nothing new. Bunch of illiterate inbreds/mutants/cannibals in cellar and home under threat when leader dies. Nothing substantial and definitely not a novel approach to style.

4/45.5:12. October Widow. Interesting theme, season cycle, sacrificial bonfires, and a spanner in the works setting the “earth mother”’s mission back who knows how long. Nicely told and just manages to avoid descending into a fantasy/fable atmosphere.

4/41.5:12. Cures for a Sickened World. This could have been torture porn, given the core of the plot, but it’s intelligently written, has no on-screen nastiness, and makes some good points about attention-seeking pseudo criticism. Very pertinent to this world a decade on from the story.

3.5/37.5:11. Stolen Kisses. Shirt and easy read, interesting discourse, somewhat predictable ending, but still imparts a slight kick.

2. 34:10. Devil’s Interval. Too obscure, and the music star references quickly become tiresome and feel forced. Feels incomplete, unsatisfying.

2.5/32:9. Small Sliver of me. Convincingly written from a child’s viewpoint, it’s initially an intriguing story. But loses its way and the final scenes stretch credulity too far and the lingering impression after reading is of a cold and unpleasant story.

4.5/29.5:8. Eastmouth. I *think* I got this book for this story, which I *think* was praised by Ramsey Campbell. Anyway it’s a good one, short and very sour. Powerlessness, being trapped, the banal horror of a squalid little seaside town. The horror of disgust and disappointment, subtle and pervasive.

4/25:7. Book & Ring. Infernal bargains in the 16th Century. Regarding plot, nothing new, and a bit of a triumph of style over content. But what style! And good atmosphere.

4/21.6. Dull Fire. Succinct, bizarre and with points to make. Not quite as meaty as it could have been, but a good little read.

4/17:5. Night Doctor. Decently strange story, satisfying if a little impenetrable in places.

2/13:4. Slape. Intriguing and decently written, but inconsequential. Also decided Dog’s Home only merited 2 as well, hence total is NOT 13.5.

4.5/11.5:3 Funeral Rites. Beautifully written with plenty of hidden subtexts, and a delightfully absurd yet dark conclusion. Do

2.5 / 7:2. Dog’s Home. I was a bit more positive last time I read this (in Quieter Paths) but on second reading it just feels pointless and unpleasant.

On The Tour. 4.5. Previously read in “By The Light of My Skull.” Very familiar (and well-executed) RC territory. A descent into madness, with characteristic humour, as a minor pop musician despairs of getting the recognition he thinks he deserves.

Eastmouth - Rubbish! I don't like giving up on books but this is pushing me. A girl goes to her boyfriend's house and some woman tells her that she's now part of the family THAT'S IT.

The book and the ring - this one wasn't too bad, the older English was annoying at times but not a bad story, until the end. Like every other story so far this built up to something and then just ends.

Dull fire - bloke sees his dead dad, his Mrs sees her dead mum. They batter each other in the back of their car . end

The night doctor - this started off really good and was building up a crap, painful world of old age that Sam was living in. Then it went weird , Sam started to see the night doctor more and more then his friend choked and it ended. Is it just me or are horror stories turning into some literary version of modern art (crap).

Slape - a milkman fell over. That's it! I thought that was at least going somewhere. A milkman is delivering milk to a bloke called bacon and slips in his garden.

Funeral rights - An old woman gets a young girl to get in a coffin. Can't remember a lot of it. Pretty boring so far.

The dogs home. A girl kills a dog that befriends her. Didn't like it.

Just finished the first story "on the tour" its a good read but nothing special. A bloke who used to be in a band went a bit mental and thought he was still famous . Interesting but not horror .