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The Poorly Made and Other Things by Sam Rebelein

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I was sent this book for review by the publisher much earlier in the year just as I was heading to visit my parents. It got lost in a drawer there and I just found it when I came back for the holidays. Ooops and my apologies. I have not read the novel Edenville or was familiar with the Renfield universe but after this I'd like to read the novel. As the blurb says, this is an anthology all set in that verse with a cool through line of a sister trying to contact her estranged brother about 'the stain' which links all the other stories together.

The Stain was left behind by a family annihilator who in three minutes killed his entire family and was trying to 'transform' into something better by sacrificing to 'the giant in the barn.' The detective on the case became obsessed and over the decades the house, its contents and all the barn wood were pulled apart and reused or kept as trophies. That is the stain, everyone who has something from the murder site ends up cursed.

The reality of this anthology is rather obvious that these were short stories written for other anthologies (or at least some of them which is noted in the notes later) and Rebelein wanted to reuse for his own universe and as such there isn't that much connection between any of them. It would have been nice if when they were reedited that something clearly from the murder scene was in there. That said, it's just a minor quibble and much of it is addressed by the sister, Rachel as she keeps emailing/texting her brother.

The stories are well written, nicely paced for the most part and most were interesting to me. As with any anthology you have a variety in quality. I liked several, especially the one at the diner. There is a tendency toward body horror so if that's not your thing don't read this. I suppose content warnings should be given: body horror, eyeball horror, blood and violence.

I thought Rachel's desperation to reach her brother and how she gives out little dollops of what was going on in their lives was very well done. This is definitely a solid horror anthology worth the read.



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GASPS: A Quiet Horror Anthology by Judith Sonnet

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a fun horror anthology. Like all anthologies, some stories will work better for you than others. I didn't find any that were bad and made me wonder how they got included. As the title suggests, this isn't particularly gory or filled with tons of viscera and grossness. It's quieter but no less scary (in fact for me this is much scarier than the gross-out sort of horror).

Some of the stand outs include Sonnet's Cold Spot (having swum in lakes to creepy destinations in my time), Evans' Her Strength Remains, and Colavito's I Cried Out to the Darkness. It's an anthology worth picking up (and isn't that a fun cover?)



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