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.
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