The first collection of short stories by a number of DarkFuse authors and edited by Shane Ryan Stanley sure looks good on paper. But then just about everything form DarkFuse does. So the critical question becomes: Does the collection deliver the goods?

It starts reasonably well. Genre veteran William Meikle contributes SHE SLEEPS IN THE DEPTHS, a Lovecraftian-pastiche that takes a good amount of its page count to get going, but ends with a very satisfying conclusion. 3 stars.

The second tale by Michael Penkas was BETTER SEEN AND NOT HEARD. The author was completely new to me so I had no idea what to expect, and was therefore pleasantly surprised by this tale of a child caught between an abusive mother and the thing living in his closet. Penkas vividly conjures up the types of nightmares that I certainly indulged in during my younger days. 4 stars.

DarkFuse #1 then hits its most significant lull with an overly descriptive and extremely odd version of the apocalypse, courtesy of William R. Eakin. Entitled CARRION FOUL, the story details some kind of plague that turns human kind into a bird hybrid, but I found nothing horrific or even engaging about this one and just wanted it to end pages before it did. 1.5 stars.

JAWS OF LIFE by E.G. Smith was a fairly straight forward thriller that the reader will have no trouble picking what is going to happen well before it does. However, it also happens to be well-written with a decent central character. 3 stars.

NETHERVIEW by Gary McMahon was shaping to be the pick of the bunch as a couple go off plan to check out a remote housing development. They soon find themselves trapped with something stalking them, and then ... Nothing. The story just ends. Cruelly. So, 2.5 stars.

But DarkFuse #1 saves its best for last with the excellent CHILDREN OF THE HORNED GOD by Christopher Fullbright. The story of a man who loses his wife to some kind of devil-like beast not far from their home and then sets out for revenge a year later is a great premise, but where Fullbright goes with this one is truly memorable. 4 stars.

So, in the end, DarkFuse #1 is a bit of a mixed bag. But averaging out the individual stories makes for a logical and easily derived final tally of ...

3 Reasons to Pull The Covers Over Your Head for DarkFuse #1.

The third book in the aptly titled Andrew MAYHEM (capitals added for emphasis) series sees Andrew taking an almost-earned holiday with his family, best bud and his new girlfriend though the backwoods area of the Unites States. Now, I don't live in the US, and I'm certainly not the smartest guy in the world, but I've now read enough novels and seen enough films to have convinced me that a visit to the Gaza Strip is safer than visiting anywhere with more trees than people across the entire North America continent.

Casket For Sale (Only Used Once) does nothing to dissuade me of said conviction.

Of course, Mayehm and co meet some unsavoury types. And of course those unsavoury types have nasty and death-filled plans for them. What I did not see coming was what those plans would specifically entail, and how integral to the plot both Mrs Mayhem and the Mayhem kids would become.

I criticised the first book for using the kids as convenient plot device, but they're definitely not that here. I was a bit down on the second book because it seemed ridiculous that people could trade witty banter whilst almost being killed every second minute (at least outside of any buddy cop action film), but Strand must have worn me down because the same type of thing failed to irk me here.

So, in my usual slightly long-winded way, what I'm trying to say is: I liked Casket For Sale (Only Used Once) just fine. In fact, I liked it the most of the series thus far. It's end may have been a little too convenient - and seems destined to cause more mayhem for Mayehm - but otherwise any fan of Strand won't go wrong with this one.

Onto the next (and so far) last sequel ...

3.5 Extremely Well-Funded Baddies for Casket For Sale (Only Used Once).

Take one pinch of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, several dashes of Deliverance add in a whole stock cube of THE LONESOME DEATH OF JODY VERRILL from Creepshow, mix well, and you come out with Asher Ellis' debut novel, The Remedy. And, for the most part, it's a wholly satisfying meal.

Starring a fairly typical cast of college-aged kids who make a number of dumb decisions that put them in the wrong part of the world at a particularly bad time, The Remedy at first glance, seems fairly by-the-numbers. But as the novel progresses, Ellis challenges a number of established genre tropes and forages a path that is different enough to stand out from the pack of similar reads.

Like many stories of this ilk, Ellis has his group of friends meet up with a mysterious stranger who guides them off the beaten path and into a part of the world where a nasty moss begins to cover and transform anything that comes into contact with it. The locals have worked out how to keep said moss at bay, and of course, it's not the kind of remedy our cast of characters is going to pay willingly... The "B" plot of The Remedy follows a park ranger and his two colleagues as they wander around the periphery of proceedings, until the last act of the novel, when they are dragged kicking and screaming into the "A" plot. And it's at this point that things truly get interesting. Ellis holds a couple of genuine aces up his sleeve that I, for one, did not see coming, and these elevated proceedings in notable ways. The Remedy is worth reading for these developments alone.

All of that said, this remains a first published novel and it has a few of the issues that normally exist in such a beast. For example, superfluous characters who raise some kind of hidden past issue that goes absolutely nowhere in a shoehorned attempt to make the reader care before they are dispatched; while another was the extremely predictable "final girl" who I was therefore never too concerned about since it was obvious she was going to make at least the final few chapters. Also, there were a few too many typos to be ignored, but that said, I did read an ARC, so perhaps they'll be caught before the final printing.

Long story short, if you're in the mood for a mash up of several horror sub-genres with a high body count and moments of gross-out gore, then look no further than . It may not knock your socks off, but there's every chance you'll have as good a time as I did, and really, what more can you ask for from a book about a killer fungus?

3.5 to 4 Ill-Advised Dips in the Lake for The Remedy.

The preceding was based on an eARC obtained through Netgalley as made available by Full Fathom Five Digital.