Attic Toys by Jeremy C. Shipp

Attic Toys Reviews

• 
  Cobwebby Eldritch Reading Reindeer

  The announcement of a new volume or new story collection by Jeremy C. Shipp resonates with the alarum to readers: GET THIS BOOK NOW! Such is true of collections edited by Author Shipp-and with the addition of the adjective “Attic” in the title, we know we’re in for a fun-house horror ride of epic proportions. Readers who’ve enjoyed the incredible selection of Mr. Shipp’s four volumes of “Attic Clowns” will be pleased as pitch to know that his editorial eye never fails here. 19 stories from divergent accomplished authors, all with that exquisitely horrifying theme: The Attic. How much easier life would be if houses were built differently-no attic, no root cellar, no basement-and especially no closets!
  
  Dare I pick favourites? The very down-home flavor of Emily C. Skaftun’s “Down in the Woods Today” scared the living be-jabbers out of me! I doubt I shall sleep tonight! Joe McKinney’s “A Little Crimson Stain” ran shivers up and down my limbs from the very beginning. These are just two of my personal favourite chillers-but nowhere is there a story not worth the price of admission. Take a cue from this reviewer-you want to be scared-you know you really, really do-so hop on over to your nearest bookselling outlet-and make this a top priority buy. Go on, do it-then curl up and read, while you keep one ear perked for the creaking in your attic, and a sharp eye cocked toward your bedroom door…
  
• 
  Sheldon

  Pediophobia: The morbid fear of children or dolls.
  
  If you suffer from this, you shouldn't read this book.
  
  However, if you have a demented inner child that needs to be entertained, then this book is definitely for you.
  
  Attic Toys, edited by
  Jeremy C. Shipp, is a collection of short stories, all based around the idea of killer toys or killer children or killer attic spaces, mostly from the horror variety, with some noticeable exceptions being the stories from Piers Anthony and Mae Empson, which are more like grown-up fairytales.
  
  There's not a stinker among these stories, and all entertain in some form or another. While I enjoyed a couple of stories a little less than some others, this was more according to taste rather than any actual problems with those stories. And that's not to say that I didn't enjoy all of them. In different ways, they all satisfied the need to entertain my own demented inner child. A personal favorite was “The White Knight” by
  Aric Sundquist, which follows the adventures of a young boy and his rival/companion, a stuffed cat.
  
  As I mentioned, noticeable exceptions to the horror theme were “Living Doll” by
  Piers Anthony and “The Tea-Serving Doll” by
  Mae Empson. These were interesting changes of pace that were curious additions to this collection. While they stuck with the “toys and attics” theme quite well, the tone of these stories was different enough to change the pace and almost give the reader a short breather from the other more twisted stories. In addition, the quality of the writing is so high that I can understand why exceptions were made.
  
  I can find no significant flaws with this short story collection. All these stories are fun and disturbing in their own ways. If killer teddy bears, psychotic children, and haunted attic spaces appeal to you, then you will love this book, and the styles and stories are different enough that everyone will come away with a favorite among them. However, if you are a sufferer of pediophobia, you might have trouble sleeping at night.
  
  Attic Toys earns five childish screams out of five.
• 
  Char

  I picked this collection up during a free promotion on Amazon.
  I was drawn to it mostly because of Jeff Strand who is one of the authors featured within. I think this collection is a step above most others due to the quality of the authors involved.
  My favorite stories were:
  Jeff Strand's "Inside the Boxes". The ten in one box of fun!
  
  Emily Skaftun's "Down in the Woods Today". Watch out for those teddy bears!
  
  Kate Jonez-"Poor me and Ted". Man aboard a train with bad thoughts.
  
  Joe McKinney's "A Little Crimson Stain". Totally freaky!
  
  Cate Gardner's "Dreams of a Ragged Doll". I love creepy doll stories.
  
  Lisa Morton's "When Harry Killed Sally". This story ROCKED!
  
  Jeremy Shipp's "Googly". Watch out for the horns.
  
  Dorian Dawes' "A Brightly-Colored Box Filled with Stars". This was a poignant tale and it was quite different from the other stories in this collection. LOVED it.
  
  All in all, I thought this was a very good collection!
  
• 
  Christopher Irvin

  I met Peter Giglio and Charles Day last Fall at Anthocon. Their passion and enthusiasm for Evil Jester Press was instantly infectious and I picked up their first book, 'Help! Wanted: Tales of On-the-job Terror' (great book).
  
  ATTIC TOYS stays on prompt (you guessed it...toys and/or attic is present in all of the tales) but I was pleasantly surprised at the range of the work. It starts off on a comedic horror note with Jeff Strand's, 'Inside the Boxes,' and Emily C. Skaftun's, 'Down in the Woods Today.' I loved both and there are some great lines from Strand that made my laugh. Then I was shocked by the intensity of, 'Poor Me And Ted,' by Kate Jonez.
  
  'I Heard it Through the Grape Vine' by S.S. Michaels had me chuckling. 'Attic Dog' by David Raffin was a very unexpected gem.
  
  'The Doll Tree' by Amelia Mangan (incredible imagery) and 'Googly' by Jeremy C. Shipp (totally bizarre) round out my personal favorites.
  
  ATTIC TOYS is a great read - solid selection of stories with something for everyone - even some fantasy ('Living Doll by Piers Anthony and 'White Knight' by Eric Sundquist.)
  
  
• 
  Kimberly

  A great collection of dark/horror stories! Obviously, as in any collection, certain stories will appeal more to certain people. In this collection, some of my personal favorites were: "Inside the Boxes" (Jeff Strand), "A Little Crimson Stain" (Joe McKinney), "Down in the Woods Today (Emily Skafton), "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" (S.S. Michaels), "When Harry Killed Sally" (Lisa Morton), and "Googly" (Jeremy Shipp)
• 
  Ricardo Jasso Moedano

  I hesitated to vent my thoughts on this collection because I couldn't bring myself to burst these guys' bubble by pointing out what bothered me about their work. It was not their style, no. That's great, as is the atmosphere too. Yet, all the stories (save for Living Doll perhaps, which, however, due to its moral tone doesn't fit among the rest in my opinion); all the stories, I'm afraid, feel more like an exercise than a tale proper, a plain account that, although rich in detail, is barren of a concrete point. Sorry mates, but my guess is that, if provided with some smart plot, you shall emerge from the shadows.
• 
  Jason Brawn

  Very, very creepy and funny. Can't wait for the next volume.
• 
  Angela Verdenius

  One of those anthologies where there's something for everyone. Really enjoyed it.
• 
  Eric Townsend

  Singing purple raisins, teddy bears that come alive and robotic dogs that once could flip are just a few of the wonderful, yet quite creepy characters you will discover in the short stories of Attic Toys. Similar to the Attic Clowns stories that Jeremy C. Shipp writes, Attic Toys takes different objects, in this case obviously toys of some sort, and twists them into something that we might fear. It does something else quite interesting as well, Attic Toys takes mundane objects around the house, not just the toys themselves, and forces the reader to imagine them as if they were alive. An example of this is a lightbulb hanging in the attic in A Little Terror by Phil Hickes saying “In the attic, a solitary bulb flickers feebly, its life slowly ebbing away as it dangles from its black wire noose.” The thoughts you start having once you go down that line of thinking, well you might end up just as twisted as some of the characters in Attic Toys!
  
  I would recommend this for any horror lover that, pardon the similarities to The Adams Family, are creepy, spooky and a little bit cooky. You will be forced to reexamine things you took for granted, things you might even have cherished in your childhood and see just how frightening they can become when they set their minds to it. I loved Attic Toys and I think you will too.
  
  Rating 5/5
• 
  Julie Baker

  Some of the stories were pretty good. Couple of them were extraordinarily creepy. Then there were some that were lame or just didn't feel finished when they were over. All in all not a waste of time and that's about all you can ask for.
• 
  Steven

  Creepy Fun!! This collection of short creep stories was a blast to read. My favorite story had to be Down In The Woods Today by Emily C. Skaftun. All the stories were fun but that one just stood out to me. My hopes are that maybe this title could have a part 2 to it :O)
• 
  Jenx

  Attic Toys was a very enjoyable read. There will be an upcoming review on my blog!
• 
  Bill Borre

  "Rubik’s Cube" by Melanie Mascio - The protagonist obsesses over completing the puzzle.
• 
  Kay Glass

  All of the tales were well-written. I'm a huge fan of horror, and I love a good scare. Since I have major issues with dolls I expected to be terrified by this series of short stories. I was not. While some of them were interesting, several of them bored me. I wanted to set the book aside multiple times during the read- all that kept me reading was knowing there were other short stories from other authors in there, and I didn't want to miss out on a great one. The only one I fell in love with was The Living Doll by Piers Anthony- the rest just didn't hold my interest. Several, like Rubik's Cube and Googly just made me roll my eyes- they were a complete miss for me.
  
  As I said, this series just did nothing for me, but all were well-written, properly formatted, and there were no glaring typos. An entertaining way to pass the afternoon, but I won't be rereading this one.
• 
  Roxanne Bland

  This collection of macabre short stories featuring the toys we knew and loved as children is a winner. I'll never look at teddy bears the same way again. Better check up on those action figures you stored in the attic...
• 
  Cheryl Anne Gardner

  Generally creepy and fun, but it takes a lot to terrify me.