Tales from Between: Anthology Review
Howdy reader!
We are back to my regularly scheduled reviews! Today I’ll be reviewing the recent anthology, Tales from Between. Before I do, I’m going to go ahead and hype Ahh! That’s What I Call Horror! — the anthology of 90s horror I’m in, with my Blockbuster horror tale: “Return to Gray Springs: Blockbuster Blues.”
Pre-orders are available now and, if you order a signed copy, you’ll get tons of goodies too!
Also, I have appeared on yet another podcast! Check me out on the H.P. Podcast podcast today!
Onto the review!
The Editor
Tales From Between: Words & Pictures is a collection of horror & fantasy stories, art, and comic strips. It features a range of the most vital authors around, from award-winners, to the next big names. — Tales from Between Barnes and Noble description
Published on Nov 29, 2022, Tales from Between is an unthemed horror anthology featured both established and newer writers. Its table of contents includes:
“A Housewife's Eldritch Guide to Hosting the Perfect Dinner Party” by Gwendolyn Kiste
“Excursion” by Elin Olausson
“Devil’s Den” by Rowan MacColl
“He Was Different After The Surgery” by Eric LaRocca
“Unexcused Absence” by Mona Kabbani
“Happy Memories” by Matthew Stott
“Listen to the Teeth” by Ross Jeffery
“Don't Scratch” by Ai Jiang
“Bee Face Man” by Trevor Henderson
“She Turns Into a Monster” by Matthew Stott
“White River” by Joanna Koch
“When the Guillotine Came” by Matthew Stott
“Give Me Your Fingers” by Laurel Hightower
“Unravelling” by Patrick Barb
“Stick” by Gavin Fullerton
“An Engine of Pain” by Hailey Piper
The Review
This small anthology has a unique mix of prose and illustrated entries, which makes it a pretty interesting read. Due to its length, I finished it in a few hours and due to its lack of theme, I never knew what to expect in each story (which is a good thing!)
Opening with Gwendolyn Kiste’s bizarre tale of a housewife’s harrowing dinner party, the anthology runs the gambit of haunted watch towers, the unintended consequences of corporate America, and plastic surgery transformations.
My personal favourites were:
“Listen to the Teeth” by Ross Jeffrey, which was a grim tale about a black magic detective who solves crimes by communicating with the dead. I loved the unique idea of the main character’s keyboard and what it was made of. The ending was quite chilling too.
“When the Guillotine Came” by Matthew Stott, art by Noah Bailey. This little illustrated piece was efficiently ominous in such a short piece.
“Give Me Your Fingers” by Laurel Hightower, a cleverly dark little story about repercussions to your actions. The main character just wants to land a dream job and does some dirty business to get it done. Hightower offers us a delicious karma-rich ending.
“Unravelling” by Patrick Barb is as bizarre as it is beautifully bittersweet. Barb manages to pack in a lot of layers into this short story. There’s a lot to unpack (or to unravel? bahdumtsh)!
“An Engine of Pain” by Hailey Piper. Oh lord, what a story to end on. Brutal, gripping, poetic, and just the right amount of gory. This sci-fi horror follows the main character into the aperture of a UFO, as she searches for her missing partner. Absolutely loved this tale.
Overall, I enjoyed this anthology and found the illustrated entries a refreshing addition to the prose. Again, this anthology didn’t have a theme but I enjoyed that because then you never knew what to expect — not in story topic or even subgenre. There were some stories that didn’t quite resonate with me, but not due to story quality (all the stories were well polished, paced, and structured), more just personal preference — which I think is to be expected in any anthology.
6/10
x PLM
