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Part 1: The Part About The Critics

An occasionally fun, sometimes engagingly dull, descent from academic parody into darker recesses, as four scholars go looking for the mysterious author they obsess over.

The prose here strong-arms the narrative, egging it on, though allowing for the occasional diversion to seemingly random asides that no doubt serve the novel’s wider storyline, thematically or foreshadowing.

Early days, but I feel I’m definitely going to enjoy this one.

Branch Line, Paul Finch

A pacy taste of 1970s England as one man is interviewed over the disappearance of his friend back in 1973. Brings a nice sense of place and time, and ends with a little twist that you sort of see coming, but then don’t, because you’re hoping for something else.

A Hotel in Germany, Catriona Ward

A deliciously odd study in love and servitude told through the relationship of Cara and the movie star. The ambiguity of Cara - petlike, sentient, obedient, and almost ageless - brings a whole layer of mystery to this seemingly symbiotic couple, and the world beyond the hotel, fleetingly glimpsed - is tantalisingly speculative.

The Naughty Step, Stephen Volk

Definitely on e if the best offerings in this anthology. In the aftermath of a domestic murder, a social worker tries to break bread with a young traumatised boy. Devastating stuff and very well observed and characterised.

The Mirror House, Jonathan Robbins Leon

A story of an unhappy marriage as a woman comes to realise that she’s something of a box-ticking exercise to her older husband. Its secondary element feels underdone, even though it leads to the inevitable conclusion.

Alice’s Rebellion, John Langan

This riffs on Lewis Carroll’s Alice and Wonderland, with an encroachment into the real world where Tweedle Dee and Dum are Trump and Johnson. About martyrdom, and what rises up from that sacrifice to make the world sensible again, but, despite all the blood, is more dark fantasy than horror.

Murder Board, Grady Hendrix

The use of an ouija board leads to disaster when a threatening phrase is revealed. What feels specific is instead ambiguous and leads to a farce more than a horror. It’s a fast-paced enough story, though it all feels done before. Surface level stuff and likely forgettable.

Bokeh, Thana Niveau

A child processing the split between her parents, but acting strange with her new imaginary friends. Finds an unusual representation of the fae in the shapeless unfocused regions of a photograph. Not a particularly interesting story but a great idea.

The Importance of Oral Hygiene, Robert Shearman

This is a great piece of body horror centred around a visit to the dentist. Told as a letter from one woman to another, first as a warning, it soon becomes something else; an attempt to hold on to one’s identity. Somewhat comic too, as per other Shearman stories I’ve read.

We All Come Home, Simon Bestwick

A look at one man revisiting his childhood trauma in search of answers as to why he survived an incident while his friends were never found. Solid writing, though it arguably slips too quickly into its supernatural elements. Ending reminds me of a story from the Tales from the Darkside movie.

Last Rites for the Fourth World, Rick Cross

A matryoshka of vignettes, in the Cloud Atlas style, that span the world and the death of folkloric creatures in the wrong places. Concerned with climate change and an unknown future. However, as a whole I found it quite a dull tale.

Creeping Ivy, Laura Purcell

Something of a Gothic short, featuring a dilapidated manner, a dead wife, uncanny botanics, and more than a hint of madness. It’s got a nice line to sew up the story, but the delivery via a historical journal seems superfluous.

It Doesn’t Feel Right, Michael Marshall Smith

Horror that grows out of the most mundane of situations can often be fun. This one just deals with a guy trying to get his kid ready for school each day, and the kid fighting back against having to put on socks. Escalates well from the domestically bamal to all out madness.