Rhiannon

I mean, I wouldn’t do it for any amount of money because I absolutely suck at these kinds of puzzles and I’d be done for before I finished walking in the front door, but reading about them is absolutely my jam!

This is kinda like a mashup of elements of the movies Saw and Cabin In The Woods and Cube and Agatha Christie locked-room whodunnits (but where you already kinda know the murderer) all set in a crazy escape room - no HOUSE - with a big fat reward at the end of it all – if you survive.

It’s a load of fun and I was thoroughly entertained by the fast-paced action and creativeness of the house and I really liked a lot of the main characters – although I’d have been happier with more detail and backstories from some of the other Six. I enjoyed what the plot evolved into as well, and so I'm thoroughly invested in where this is going.

I’d already bought the second book before I even started this one, so convinced I was that Duncan wouldn’t disappoint, and he didn’t let me down. I’m heading straight into the next one right away, which looks to amp up the action even more (why am I getting Hardcore Henry vibes now?)

Go Henry GO!

A decent collection of 10 short horror stories. I’d say these lean more to a moderate level of horror, so if you’re not into anything too squeamish then these stories should be right up your alley. A lot of the themes seem to centre around comeuppance and karma. There are a few stories involving animals that might worry you — I’m an animal person and this had me worried a few times but overall, they weren’t over the top or cause for concern. A couple of other stories edging on taboo topics but again, nothing extreme.

There’s some botanical horror in The Sprouting (whose only two characters were horrible so I wasn’t really invested in them as people but karma and all that…), a bit of ancient almost cosmic horror in Dead Trees; some childhood trauma horror (watch your triggers here) in Battel The Monstur with an imaginative and tragic boy who fights back (this one was quite emotional and effective)…

I think it was a respectable mix of horror topics with nothing pushing boundaries 𝙩𝙤𝙤 much – reminding me a bit of the style of Stephen King’s early short collections that edged around horror without overt explicitness while still having characters that were despicable doing despicable things. As a collection of horror, I would have preferred the shorts to have a bit more punch/intensity to them, but I can also see this author probably doing well with a longer form expansion of some of these stories as there are some great, imaginative ideas here that cry out for more exploration.

𝑴𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒔 𝒕𝒐 A.F. Cosentino 𝒂𝒏𝒅 BookSirens 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝑹𝑪. 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘 𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒐𝒘𝒏.

Solid and wonderfully varied collection of stories centring on addiction, hunger, desperation, desire and all its various permutations… this offering of quick and dirty short horrors will satisfy that craving and leave you wanting more.

Standouts for me were:

Agreeable Grey by Tyler Downs – he’s fast becoming a favourite for me. I find I’m absolutely mesmerized by his characters, including this one of a quick glimpse into the life of a deteriorating addict and his apathetic existence… but for that one thing…

A Need for Skin by Henry Penrose was just ick and creepy and gruesome and I loved it.

Evergreen Terrace by Mark Towse which took an unexpected and perfectly wild swing that I didn’t see coming.

Inspiration by Matthew Jon Smith is brilliantly meta, clever and hysterical to boot. This one also took some wild turns that I absolutely wasn’t expecting, making it all the better for its surprises.

We Do Without by Judith Sonnet was an emotional tale of two brothers in a post-apocalyptic world and the need for expression, communication and connection… the grounded characters were an emotional gut-punch.

Sunflower by R.S. Mot was equally heartbreaking and horrifying, from the incredibly creative perspective of fauna.

Vitreous Abyssal by M.G. Phillips was absolutely horrifying in how far a son will go to keep his father alive. Also, super ick.

Evans sets the bar high in the quality and creativity of the stories on offer here. This collection will scratch that horror itch.

𝑴𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝑹𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝑨𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝑬𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝑹𝑪. 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘 𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒐𝒘𝒏.