Beyond the Veil edited by Mark Morris

 

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Flame Tree Press in exchange for an honest review.

It's somewhat rare for me to enjoy the majority of a horror anthology, despite my love for horror short stories. I am pleased to report that Beyond the Veil is one of the best ones I have read in a while. There is no strong theme or link between the stories but most are supernatural and all have the same kind of 'feel' to them, which makes for a great reading experience. I also appreciated the distinct lack of erotic horror as it's a genre I find often isn't done well (or maybe doesn't mesh with me personally) and can dominate anthologies without any warning that it's there. 

There are tons of stories included and I can't talk about them all without a super long review, so I'll just mention some of my favourites.

The God Bag by Christopher Golden-A man discovers his dying mother has a secret prayer bag with a dark twist. This is the first story in the anthology and it really set such a strong precedent for the others. I was completely absorbed by this one and, though it wasn't surprising, it was a fantastic short story.

Caker's Man by Matthew Holness-A creepy neighbour obsessed with feeding the narrator cake fuels this story. I wasn't super keen on how it ended, but the atmosphere was great and it's one of the most unique horror stories I've read in a while so I definitely appreciated that.

A Mystery for Julie Chu by Stephen Gallagher-A woman buys a strange object at a car bootsale with spooky results. This was one I really wished was a full-length story as I was desperate to read more. Great characters and a setup which made for a nice break from the darker stories in this collection.

Overall, I couldn't recommend this more. This really is a solid collection of horror stories and there is something here for most tastes. It would serve well as an introduction for someone looking to branch into reading horror, or just as Halloween reading for a longterm horror fan.

Overall Rating:

The Therapist by B A Paris

 I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher HarperCollins UK Audio in exchange for an honest review.

The Therapist is the story of Alice, a woman who moves into a new home and becomes obsessed with the woman who lived there before her. Convinced by a visitor to investigate, she starts to suspect that her new neighbours aren't all what they seem.

This was a decent, well-crafted thriller if a bit basic. I read it two months ago and don't remember a ton of the details now, but I enjoyed it quite a bit as an audiobook experience. I remember confusing two of the characters/not being quite sure what was going on at certain points, but the ending was satisfying enough and it had a decent amount of tension. Sadly I can't remember much more detail than that but I've definitely read worse thrillers.

Overall Rating:

Whispers and Screams by Kerri Lapierre and Nadia Teoli

 

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher BooksGoSocial in exchange for an honest review.

This collection was short and sweet. The stories are very short which might put some people off, but I appreciated the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark vibes. The stories felt similar to those ones but a bit more sophisticated: still for children but not quite as basic. This definitely isn't a collection for older readers but I found it had a lot of charm and I really enjoyed it as an adult reader knowing what I was getting in for. I can see this being a nice change of pace to read to kids before bed to introduce them to the horror genre without them being too scared by it. Some of the stories are a bit basic but others have nice touches to them. Given it was co-authored by a 12 year old, this is a decent anthology for sure.

Overall Rating:

.5

Midsummer Mysteries by Agatha Christie

 

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher HarperCollins UK in exchange for an honest review.

Having enjoyed Midwinter Murder, I was intrigued to see how this summer collection compared. I think on the whole it is a decent collection of stories, albeit it with less strong theming than the previous collection. There are certainly stronger summer stories which could have been included to rectify this but I actually think the way the collection ended up is better this way. It is clear that sacrifices have been made in terms of theme in order to present a more unique and varied collection, and I do appreciate that. Instead of 12 Poirot stories, every detective gets an outing and there were plenty of stories I'd not read before as a seasoned Christie fan which was nice.

If you enjoyed the previous book in this collection or else you just want a chance to read more of Christie's short stories, you can't go wrong here. The cover is beautiful as always and I really enjoyed the selection of stories here. It's the perfect gift for the Christie fan in your life, or for you to take away on holiday with you.

Overall Rating:

.5

Autumnal by Daniel Kraus

 

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher Independent Publishers Group, Vault Comics in exchange for an honest review.

It's rare for me to dislike a graphic novel but trust me when I say Autumnal truly blew me away. Focused on a single woman and her daughter, the story begins when she inherits a house from her mother and returns to her childhood home. Upon returning though, it quickly becomes apparent that something weird is happening with the leaves, and an old rhyme from her childhood might have more than a kernel of truth to it.

The atmosphere of this graphic novel is astounding. The art, the characters, the general story all come together in a wonderful way. There are strong Stephen King vibes here in terms of story and tone, but it also manages to be much more unique than that and bring an atmosphere all its own. The characterisation is so strong and this really helped drive the horror. I was so completely absorbed by the story, I read it all in one sitting and I know I will be thinking about this for a long while.

If you want a new creepy graphic novel for the spooky season, you can't go wrong here. It's perfect for getting you in the mood for Halloween, but also more generally is just a solid tale of horror. I would love to read more stuff like this and I can't wait to see what the artists/authors do next.

Overall Rating: