Stuart’s Reviews > Quieter Paths > Status Update

Cold White Fields. 5. Lovely story to round off the collection. A sense of wonder with a touch of sentiment. More spiritual than supernatural (if that makes sense). Basically an ideal Christmas story. Quite moving in the end. 61:15

Escapology. 4.5. Nice story, quite subtle but sinister undertones. Reminds me of Ray Bradbury. In a good way. 56:14

About the Dark. 3.5. OK, well told and interesting premise, but I didn’t feel very invested in Adam’s fate - or apprehensive about the others. 51.5:13

In on the Tide. 3.5. All right but a bit inconsequential. More of a statement than a story. 48:12

Sally’s Wishes. 4.5. Quite intricate, really, outlining in my eyes the ruination of the girl by parents’ insistence on conformity, leading to an unpleasant character who brings on her own ruination. Liked the fate and reappearance of Martin, too. 44.5:11

4am. 4.5. Convincing prison tale and a possibly gruesomely failed supernatural escape. Quite mysterious. Builds to a great sense of apprehension and dread. 35.5:9

Empty Spaces. 4. Short and actually quite sweet. Engaging take on a familiar trope. 31:8

Raveloe. 2.5.sci-fi fantasy Silas Marner. Nice enough but not particularly engaging, not sure of the point. 27:7

Eyes of Water. 3.5. As so often in this book, a finely-written story, very engaging, but a bit flat in terms of conclusion. Just a pact / sacrifice thing ultimately. But an engaging read. 24.5:6

Offering. 5. Stories suddenly taking flight. Much better. After a confusing introduction that I had to read twice, this unravels as a tense edge-of-seat story of a cursed/haunted ambulance with a sickening case of possession to top it all. Great stuff. 21:5