Dark Screams is the eighth book in the Dark Screams series written by different authors. 

These short stories include:

WALPUSKI’S TYPEWRITER by Frank Darabont: ****

THE BOY by Bentley Little: ****

TUMOR by Benjamin Percy: ***

TWISTED AND GNARLED by Billie Sue Mosiman: ****

THE PALAVER by Kealan Patrick Burke: ***

INDIA BLUE by Glen Hirshberg: **

This is a collection of bizarre stories that I found interesting. Each author has a unique style which added to my enjoyment. I found this collection to be a quick and fun read. 

I received a copy from Hydra through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

Dark Screams: Volume Seven is obviously the 7th edition of the Dark Screams anthology. Containing six stories, the first and the last story made the collection for me.

LIZARDMAN by Robert McCammon
The hunter or the hunted? Tonight is the night-- he can feel it -- and it ends one way or another. My second favorite story in this collection.

 

A MONSTER COMES TO ASHDOWN FOREST (IN WHICH CHRISTOPHER ROBIN SAYS GOODBYE) by James Renner

Fascinating premise. I think this one could have been a lot better, it gets a little bogged down and then just bizarre at the end.

 

FURTHEREST by Kaaron Warren

A beach trip on acid, this one will have you rethinking just how far is too far.

 

WEST OF MATAMOROS, NORTH OF HELL by Brian Hodge

This was an odd story that was well written. I wanted to like it more than I did.

 

THE EXPEDITION by Bill Schweigart

I DNF this one.

 

SNOW SHADOWS by Mick Garris
My absolute favorite story in this collection. Beautiful and tragic, this story will haunt you--it did me.

 

This collection is totally worth the $3.99 on Amazon to buy it. I received mine as an e-ARC from Random House and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

 

© 2017 by Andi Rawson of Andreya's Asylum

 

This is volume 7 in the Dark Screams series. The more of this series I read the more I love it. The book is a volume of 6 short stories by 6 authors, Robert McCammon, James Renner, Kaaron Warren, Brian Hodge, Bill Schweigart, and Mick Garris. If I had to choose my favorite I think it would have to be Kaaron Warren's Furtherest. It is a very creepy story, but I loved it. All the stories in this book are great though. This is an awesome series.

Release Date: 04.25.17

 

This was my first Dark Screams collection, but it certainly won't be my last. Color me impressed!

 

While I wasn't particularly scared by any of these stories, most of them do deal with dark themes and toe the line between natural and unnatural. They range in voice and style, obviously, as the six stories were written by different authors.

 

I think my personal favorite is 'The Manicure,' by Nell Quinn-Gibney, a brief and haunting story about childhood traumas and phobias that come back in adulthood. Another standout is Norman Prentiss' 'The Comforting Voice,' which might have made me tear up a little.

 

The stories here are sublime, for the most part. I felt my attention wandering during 'The Corpse King' and I wasn't impressed with Stephen King's 'The Old Dude's Ticker' — an old Poe pastiche that should have stayed in the drawer. My favorite author contributed my least favorite story in Dark Screams. Bummer.

 

I am very impressed with this collection, and will certainly check out past editions of this series.

 

Thanks to Netgalley and Hydra for the ARC, which was given in exchange for an honest review.

Chizmar and Freeman put together another good collection of shorts in the latest volume of the Dark Screams series. Volume 6.

My favorite story (and by far the longest in the collection) was THE CORPSE KING by Tim Curran. Couldn’t ask for a much better theme for Curran to let loose on than grave robbing ghoulies. Strangely enough, he may have even restrained himself a bit. A Curran classic.

The other story that really caught my eye was THE MANICURE by Nell Quinn-Gibney, an author that I have not heard of before. Unique, weird and very well written. The ending left me a bit wanting, but I think this author has promise and am looking forward to checking out more of her work.

Really the only one that didn’t work for me was THE SITUATIONS by Joyce Carol Oates. It was technically written very well, but the story wasn’t realized at all and left me scratching my head wondering wtf.

Oh yeah. There was a Stephen King in here to. Always good to have the King in these collections and I really enjoyed this earlier work of his. Prentiss and Morton also turned in solid efforts and I liked both of their entries as well. Overall, a nice collection from Dark Screams. 3.5+ Stars rounded up to 4.

*I received an advance review copy of this release from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.