Status Updates From Hellhole: An Anthology of S...

Found the majority of stories to be unworthy of comment, but Ginormous Hell Snake by Jake Bible and especially He Who Fights by Sean Ellis are very fun little adventures. The latter is more complete than most of the seemingly episodic vignettes that make up the greater part of the collection, with its only glaring weakness being a less-than-satisfying ending.

Pit of Ghosts by Kirsten Cross: 3/5 - The Tommyknockers meets The Descent meets Congo. Not bad for what it was.

"A Plague of Locusts" by Michael McBride: 3/5 - starting to get worried. This one should have been a particularly fun read because this summer was a cicada season, and because other reviewers indicate that this is a standout in the collection. It's certainly more interesting and well crafted in the beginning passages, but it devolves into a gory shooting spree indistinguishable from the previous stories pretty fast

The Devil's Throat by Rena Mason: 2/5 - I never want to read the word "cukes" that many times in a story ever again. Imaginative and vivid, but too juvenile for the gimmicky ending to work.

"All the Devils Are Here" by Jonathan Maberry: 3/5 - soldiers sent to retrieve religious artifact from desert cave. Very appropriate opener.

The first story is an action thriller scifi horror by Jonathan Maberry. Not a huge fan of action thrillers, but it was decent, and the subject matter was interesting to me. Definitely weird. 3 stars.

Ghosts of Hyperia - Jessica Mchugh - DNF - The writing was fine but not a single likeable character so I can't be bothered.

Ginormous Hell Snake - Jack Bible - 2.5 stars. Fun banter between the main characters but a wee bit predictable and cliched. I'm pretty sure not all native peoples of South American jungles are monster-worshipping cannibals.

Black Lung - Aaron Sterns - 3 stars. I loved the Lovecraftian ideas in here, I just wish the editing of this one was better. Too many 'clunky' sentences and tense changes within paragraphs kept pulling me out of the narrative.

Too tired, bed beckons....

The Offspring - J.H Moncrieff - 2 stars. I was a bit disappointed with this one, it felt too rushed and didn't really flow or make much sense.

Guard Duty, S.D. Perry - 4 stars, Lovecraftian Elder Gods breaking through the to wreck havoc - I love it.