Rhiannon
- Samantha Whitmore
- H.T. Waite
- Blair Daniels
- Jacob Early
- René Rehn
- Kajetan Kwiatkowski
- Kyle Harrison
- Victor Sweetser
- C.M. Robinson
- H.R. Welch
- T.W. Vesperbelle
- Jesse Pullins
- Ashley Watson
- Jamie Polizzi
The liminal space concept is explored here with 15 short stories. The cover confusingly (or purposefully?) says there are 13 tales... a clever joke or just a poor last minute editing job?Anyway, some of these tales did an excellent job of exploring the liminal space idea very well, creating just the right amount of ambiguity, confusion and disorienting dread of spaces. Highlights for me were [a:Samantha Whitmore 60164456 Samantha Whitmore https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]'s ‘Greenhouse', [a:Blair Daniels 7434157 Blair Daniels https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1565119631p2/7434157.jpg]' ‘Suburbs' and ‘Playground' and [a:H.T. Waite 52519811 H.T. Waite https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]'s excellent ‘Office'.A few missed the mark for me in that all-too-crucial atmosphere that is absolutely necessary for a liminal space tale to be truly terrifying and unsettling. A few were somewhat predictable, or repetitive, which I think is usually the author's attempt to create that disorientation but sometimes just comes off as exasperating or monotony without the constraint.I think liminal space stories can be a tricky place to navigate for authors. For me they require a very balanced and sophisticated narrative and if it's not found it becomes a basic horror story. Not necessarily a bad story, but not a strong liminal horror one. All in all, this collection averaged out with a handful of really good mixed with the ‘just ok'. It's probably a good introduction for anyone dipping their toes into this rather metaphysical sub-genre of horror and weird fiction.
The liminal space concept is explored here with 15 short stories. The cover confusingly (or purposefully?) says there are 13 tales... a clever joke or just a poor last minute editing job?Anyway, some of these tales did an excellent job of exploring the liminal space idea very well, creating just the right amount of ambiguity, confusion and disorienting dread of spaces. Highlights for me were [a:Samantha Whitmore 60164456 Samantha Whitmore https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]'s ‘Greenhouse', [a:Blair Daniels 7434157 Blair Daniels https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1565119631p2/7434157.jpg]' ‘Suburbs' and ‘Playground' and [a:H.T. Waite 52519811 H.T. Waite https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]'s excellent ‘Office'.A few missed the mark for me in that all-too-crucial atmosphere that is absolutely necessary for a liminal space tale to be truly terrifying and unsettling. A few were somewhat predictable, or repetitive, which I think is usually the author's attempt to create that disorientation but sometimes just comes off as exasperating or monotony without the constraint.I think liminal space stories can be a tricky place to navigate for authors. For me they require a very balanced and sophisticated narrative and if it's not found it becomes a basic horror story. Not necessarily a bad story, but not a strong liminal horror one. All in all, this collection averaged out with a handful of really good mixed with the ‘just ok'. It's probably a good introduction for anyone dipping their toes into this rather metaphysical sub-genre of horror and weird fiction.