Sinister Landscapes by Alan Draven (Editor)

Spine tingling myriad of wickedly good talesby Kasia_S

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October 27, 2008: Sometimes I forget how good a nice, short story collection can be. Anthologies such as this one are perfect for a satisfying fix for horror fans without having to read hundreds of pages to see a scary resolution. These were so entertaining and interesting that I would read a few at a time, marveling at what each author brought to the table. There are eighteen scrumptious Gothic horror tales that range in style and content but each is brilliant and satisfying, sometimes making me wish they could have been turned into full books or that the story would never end.

Gothic fiction is generally thought of as a mixture of horror and romance but what I like about it is the fusion of psychical and mental anguish combined with ancient places and costumes and old-fashioned and deeply rooted primordial terrors, there are no modern marvels to save the stars of the stories, they are often on their own armed with nothing more than their wits and muscles. Keeping with the traditional characters of the Gothic genre there were witches and an evil baroness, plenty of maniacs, maidens in distress, ghosts and monsters and some regular folks who simply went down the wrong path.

Each tale here is suave, dark and chillingly terrifying as it entangles the reader into the whirlpool of curiosity that carries a hefty price for sticking around to see the ending. I had a blast getting to meet new authors, some all ready well known such as Jeani Rector and Alan Draven and some new to me as the left me hungry for more of their work. Overall I loved all the tales but there were a few favorites, and even though I read this a few days ago I still think about the tales fondly, recalling how they made me feel as I read them. When reading this anthology I was always looking for spare time when I could sneak a few stories in and when the book actually ended I felt like someone took the rug from under my feet, so I hope that next year we get to see a whole new set and even more great reading.

Some of my favorites were : "The Widows Curse" by Jessica Lynne Gardener, a really spine tingling terror mixed with ancient traditions that grabbed a hold of a young widow and took something from her, very visually stirring and rich story. "My Elf" by R. Vance was a really interesting read, something I would love to have read as a full novel, it reminded me of some good teen horror I used to read, mixing all kinds of emotions as the reader feel sorry for the poor girl and the "bad" guy. "The Spirit of Death" by Jeani Rector was amazing, a really brilliant and gripping tale with an intense ending, I was blown away at the conclusion. "Beyond the Doomed Cave" by Alan Draven himself was just another fine example of his skill; the tale was short but immensely packed with great character development, eerie and dangerous places and some really witty moments. "Visions of Merlot" by Jeff Ezell was another stunning Hitchcock like tale that found a spot in my heart with every page. "Proof" by Stephanie J. was also excellent and masterfully written, it was not only very creative but also very easily absorbed by my imagination. I can go on and on and probably list the rest as my favorites too, they were really all good tales and I hope that all the authors involved will have a bright literary future ahead of them. The ideas are all there, they just need to reach the reader and thanks to Alan Draven, gothic delicacies s