Howls from the Dark Ages

I received a complimentary eARC of Howls from the Dark Ages edited by P.L. McMillian and Solomon Forse from HOWL Society Press, and provided feedback on formatting and typos. I am also a member of the HOWL Society, but I am not published in this anthology of medieval horror and am not personally profiting from its sale. All opinions are my own.

Howls from the Dark Ages is the second anthology of short horror fiction from HOWL Society Press, following their debut anthology Howls from Hell in 2021. This book, like the prior volume, is largely an effort of emerging horror authors from the writers channel in the HOWL Society Discord, an online book club which clawed its way into existence out of the /r/horrorlit subreddit in the early months of the COVID pandemic. Unlike the prior book, which featured a variety of different stories spanning sub-genres, this collection features stories specifically set in the medieval period from both HOWLS members and other authors.

HftDA begins with an introduction from Christopher Buehlman, who lends insight from the process of writing his own novel of medieval horror (Between Two Fires) to illuminate the challenge of writing period horror and contextualize the tales that follow.

The book begins with a short note from a “curator,” establishing a recurring framework in which the reader is cast in the role of a visitor to a mysterious museum. Before each story the reader reads a short note about and views an object (created by a litany of artists) which features prominently in the story that follows. This was a fascinating idea, even if this concept did seem slightly confusing as I read the first curatorial note.

The stories are all set during the medieval period, most in Europe though the Americas and China are also represented. The protagonists come from a variety of backgrounds, though as might be expected a great many are monks, nuns, knights, etc. One of the strengths of a common time period setting is the ability to explore similar themes, tropes, and other elements across multiple authors, styles, and points of view. Yet this also resulted in a lot of repetition in themes, character types, etc. This isn't a bad thing, just know going in that you're going to read a lot of stories exploring some common ground. For example, a lot of the stories dealt with medieval Christianity (and attitudes about it ranged from critical to creative!)

Overall I found the stories to range from “good” to “great.” While a few left me with unanswered questions or a bit confused, many were totally immersive in the medieval world and combined excellent storytelling with horrifying and engaging plots and imagery. My favorite stories in the anthologies included Angelus by Philippa Evans, Brother Cornelius by Peter Ong Cook, Deus Vult by Ethan Yoder, The Final Book of Sainte Foy's Miracles by M.E. Bronstein, The Fourth Scene by Brian Evenson, White Owl Stevie Edwards, A Dark Quadrivium by David Worn, and the story-in-verse The Lai of the Danse Macabre by Jessica Peter.

I enjoyed HftDA. Fans of medieval horror (or just medieval stories) will likely love it too. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️