A Head Full of Horror

Ambiguity in horror fiction must be handled deftly to be effective. If not, the narrative dissatisfies and frustrates. Something in the Walls by Daisy Pearce mixes folk horror with a dollop of the supernatural in what is predominantly a character study. Mina, the novel’s first-person narrator, is a conflicted woman. She’s soon to marry to a man with whom she is not compatible. In contrast to her, he is highly organized and science oriented. When Mina expresses her belief that a person standing behind her in one of their vacation photos is her long dead brother, her fiancé strongly encourages her to resume attending grief counseling sessions. At the venue…

What would the horror genre do without Ellen Datlow? Her wealth of experience as an editor and anthologist gives her unique access to a plethora of material. In addition to producing a multitude of themed anthologies, for over a decade and a half she has edited The Best Horror of the Year compilations. It never ceases to astound me that the “summation” section in the annual volumes encompasses so much about the writing in the field. The attributed publications run the gamut from the well-known to indie publishers. I had to smile at the mention of a small press compilation titled No Trouble at All, published by Cursed Morsels Press edited by Alexis…

Joe R. Lansdale is a treasure. His writing in and out of the horror field is a delight to read. He is quite a chameleon, not only in his ability to shift from genre to genre, but in terms of style and literary voice. His abundant talent is on full display in In the Mad Mountains: Stories Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft, published by Tachyon. The handsome trade paperback features eye-catching cover art by Mike Mignola and cover design by Elizabeth Story, along with interior design by John Coulthart that has a nice geometric Lovecraftian feel. All eight stories in the collection were previously published, the oldest in 2009 and the…

I’ll Be Waiting (St. Martin’s Press) by Kelley Armstrong is problematic. Like many other novels I’ve recently read, it rivets in its first half. Then comes the inevitable letdown. Labored twists and turns of plot. Characters whose actions become contrived. A protagonist, who veers from appearing shrewdly analytical and self-aware, to being a possibly unreliable first-person narrator whose evolving paranoia may have merit. Sigh. To accentuate the positives, the protagonist has a warped sense of humor that most horror readers will find accessible. Nicola Laughton is a 38-year-old survivor. She’s lived beyond the predicted lifespan of someone who was diagnosed at a young age with cystic fibrosis. She had adapted to…

The supernatural is a mainstay of horror fiction. Yet in the reality of the darkest recesses of our hearts, we know that lots of fears stem from the potential of human perpetrated horrors. Be it the concern of our chances of being gunned down by an anonymous shooter at a public venue or awareness of horrific genocides, fear of dangerous human beings quietly lurks in our subconscious. Editor Ellen Datlow explores this in the aptly named Fears: Tales of Psychological Horror. The anthology contains 21 previously published stories that focus on deadly aberrations of character. Serial killers are well represented, and revenge is a thematic staple in some of the yarns. The…