This ninth entry in the Dark Screams series offers up six short stories of horror that vary from serial killers to a werewolf war against a small town, offering a little something for everyone.
Kelley Armstrong, Stewart O’Nan, Taylor Grant, Jonathan Moore, Peter Straub, and Lee Thomas share tales of lost love, bad job offers, corpses that won’t stay dead, and creatures of the night in this collection assembled by renowned horror editors Brian James Freeman and Richard Chizmar.
My favorite story is the book’s closer, “Torn” by Lee Thomas. A hunt for a missing girl turns into all-out warfare then gets worse from there when the inhuman assailants learn the lore about them isn’t true.
I also enjoyed “Invitation to the Game” by Kelley Armstrong about a company that won’t take no for an answer when they offer a promotion (this one would make a great Black Mirror episode!), and “The Blackout” by Jonathan Moore that tells the tale of a missing body from the morgue that takes a supernatural turn.
I liked all the stories save “Variations on a Theme From Seinfeld” by Peter Straub. It wasn’t horrible, but I didn’t connect with it at all.
However, it’s rare to like all stories in an anthology , and Dark Screams: Volume Nine hits way more than it misses for me. Definitely check this one out if you like horror stories.
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Disclaimer: I received a ebook copy of Dark Screams: Volume Nine for review purposes from NetGalley. I was not compensated in any other way. My opinion is honest, and as always, my own.
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