inulro | [books 2008] horror collection

I should probably wait till next week to post this, as everyone who is likely to be interested is at Eastercon, but I'll have forgotten about it by then:

17. Shrouded by Darkness: Tales of Terror edited by Alison LR Davies

A big (and I do mean big) collection of short stories, with contributions from a number of A-listers such as Ramsey Campbell, Michael Marshall Smith, Neil Gaiman, Christopher Fowler, Poppy Z Brite, and a lot more. Like most compilations, there's a few really outstanding stories, a whole bunch that are pretty good, and a couple that did nothing for me at all.

The ones that stood out for me are: "Hell Came Down" by Tim Lebon, a future world where Britain is a desert and a self-appointed rainmaker is making things far worse. I also loved "Making a Noise in this World" by Charles de Lint, which was a bit unexpected. I have read one of de Lint's novels and it was OK, but I wasn't inspired to read any more. This story doesn't have a huge horror element (unless you count a ghost), but is an excellent story about being a native American and trying to get by on and off the Rez. Neil Gaiman's "Feeders and Eaters" is included here - it's probably the only thing he's written that I find actually horrific. Viscerally effective.

The Ramsey Campbell offering, "One Copy Only" is serviceable, but not amongst his best; and the Michael Marshall Smith number, "Walking Wounded" strangely did nothing for me. I did enjoy Poppy Z Brite's "The Heart of New Orleans", and even the Storm Constantine story wasn't too painful.

Honorable mentions go to "Of the Wild and Berserk Prince Dracula" by Paul Finch, "Blackfriars" by David J Howe and Simon Clark's "The Extraordinary Limits of Darkness" (a continuation of Heart of Darkness).

There are far more hits than misses in this collection; in fact only two stories left me going "huh?" and both of those were mercifully short. Heartily recommended.