Bringing back the feeling of a Charles L. Grant anthology of the 80s, Doors of Darkness presents 27 tales of terror written by new and seasoned horror authors. Take a stroll down FERN STREET where things lurk beneath the gardens, blind and hungry; where a priest finds a direct line to the wrong God; Where a baby screams, hungry and alone, for the cooling corpse of her mother; Where the kitchens have teeth… Yes, don’t be shy… go ahead and knock on the DOORS OF DARKNESS.
Contains:
- An Introduction by Cameron Chaney
- 101 – Time in My Wake – E. P. Clement
- 102 – The Rabbit’s Foot Inn – Laura E. Mangi
- 103 – On the Dotted Line – Caleb J. Pecue
- 104 – What Lies Behind the Fence – A. L. Davidson
- 105 – People to Deal with Such Things – Jackson Robinson
- 106 – Giving Up the Ghost – Tobin Elliott
- 107 – Know Thyself – Lennox Rex
- 108 – There’s Something Wrong with Barbara – Reece G. Donnell
- 109 – Totally Ruined the Evening – Mallory
- 110 – Gilded Reflections – Danielle Robertson
- 111 – The Cult from Down the Road – Emily Holman
- 112 – This Could be Your Home, You Know – C. Mae Thomas
- 113 – Destroy Me – Kaos Emslie
- 114 – The Red Lady – Jason A. Jones
- 115 – Told You So – Torrence Bryan
- 116 – Diminishing Returns – Derek Heath
- 117 – The Missing Gold Ribbon – Nadine Stewart
- 118 – Invert House – Louie Sullivan
- 119 – Mounds – Dr. Stuart Knott
- 120 – They Come When You Sleep – Jack Finn
- 121 – Bump – Billie Karras
- 122 – Dinner on Fern Street – Julie Aaron
- 123 – Fun and Games – Alex James Donne
- 124 – The Grande Dame Still Lives Here – Sirius
- 125 – Old Dead-Eyed John – Todd Condit
- 126 – The Friend – Loki DeWitt
- 127 – The Bones of Mildred Mellows – Jennifer Montgomery
Okay kids, let’s get the disclaimer out right up front, shall we? Yes, I have a story in this collection. I am (counting the intro) 1/28th of the book.
Now for my review of everything I didn’t write…
You’ll likely read this in every review, but what’s cool about this anthology is that there’s more than just a central theme. Instead, it’s a collection of stories that all take place on a single street in an unnamed town. Fern Street is not a place you want to live, but it’s a fun visit. Hell, even the table of contents is amazing. Check it out:
I started reading the hard copy of this collection, but switched over to the audiobook version more for the novelty of hearing someone else read the story I’d written. Gotta give it to the narrator, Michael T. Bradley, he did an excellent job throughout (including my story). Really well done.
As for the stories, I will admit I was a little worried after the first three or four as they all seemed to come down to someone getting someone else with a knife. And, it’s just a personal preference, but I’m not a fan of slasher stuff. Not in movies, not in my horror fiction. So, while the stories weren’t bad, they weren’t necessarily my cup of tea.
However, as the stories progressed, they also became much more varied. So, as I worked my way farther down the Fern Street neighbourhood, I found myself drawn more and more by the stories. For me, the collection really seemed to hit its stride around addresses 115 to 120, though there were other good ones spread out through the collection.
The writing was uniformly good which, quite frankly, is a shock, as usually anthologies tend to have their really well written stories and some that are not so much. Not this one. All well done, which was a pleasant surprise.
If there was any disappointment for me, it came right up front with the introduction by Cameron Chaney who I’d never heard of prior to being in this collection. Apparently he’s a horror YouTube personality. Anyway, while I know a lot of my peers were excited that he was writing an introduction, the one thing I really expect is for that person elected to introduce the book…to have at least read the book. To me, at least, it felt like Chaney didn’t. His intro seems to have very little to do with anything other than Cameron Chaney up until the last couple of paragraphs. Though, having said that, the editor, Caleb J. Pecue did tell me Cameron structured his introduction the way Pecue had requested. Pecue specifically asked him to not to single out the individual stories and write broadly on the cover and theme. So, it comes down to personal preference, I guess, and while I didn’t expect a summary of the stories, I would have liked the intro to be more about the collection. Just my take.
Regardless, that’s a minor niggling concern, as it’s not one of the stories, nor does it impact what’s to come. This collection works to harken back to the 70s/80s horror paperbacks that proliferated in the wake of Stephen King and his more successful peers, such as Koontz and Masterton and Herbert and, most especially the underappreciated Charles L. Grant.
And I think Pecue did a great job of making that happen. This is a really good collection of excellent indie authors.
You should read it.
