Captured: An Inky Bones Press Dark Decades Anthology (Inky Bones Press Dark Decades Anthology Collection Book 4) by Robin Knabel

Captured: An Inky Bones Press Dark Decades Anthology (Inky Bones Press Dark Decades Anthology Collection Book 4) Reviews

• 
  Milt Theo

  Inky Bones Press Dark Decades Anthologies keep going strong, and this time, with "Captured", the series focuses on the 1980s. The stories revolve around the video rental stores, home videos, VHS and Betamax tapes, rewind penalty fees, and the slasher film craziness of that decade. Horror movies, video nasties, the urban legend of snuff films, and the very idea of employment in a video rental store also come up with some welcome frequency. Still, the stories differ widely from each other, some of them darkly humorous, others rather disturbing, all of them decent and unique attempts to express the 1980s nostalgia for the hallowed days of Blockbuster and VHS tapes.
  
  The opening story, "Video Nasty” by Joseph J. Dowling, is the perfect introduction to the video renting craziness of that decade: it takes the video rental store as the setting for a wild adventure through snuff, "please be kind rewind", bizarre VHS tapes, and police movies of the 1980s. Dowling's style, however, gradually approaches the modern kind of storytelling, attacking many different fronts at once and trying to pick the best twist with which to close the story; the ending suffers as a result, or so it felt to me. This approach to storytelling goes double for the second story, gaast's “Skin Flicks”: an excellent tale of queer horror that did not convey the 1980s mood convincingly to me. It felt more like a 2000s tale, with concerns prevalent in that decade. That said, the ending was amazing and I loved gaast's story for it. The third story, "An Expert in Slasher Film” by David Hagerty, was a really good attempt to bring out the rumors of snuff films that were going around in the 1980s video stores. I would have liked it more if the characterization and the dialogue sounded more natural. “The Bucket List” by Robin Knabel, the volume's editor, is the best story in the anthology in my opinion, though it's not entirely easy to see how it connects with the 1980s theme: mentioning Shark Week documentaries and Jaws, and the securing of footage of interactions with sharks up close, was enjoyable but ultimately not compelling. Perhaps the point of the story is summed up by the fact that it ends with a nod to the Faces of Death movie. “Raising Hell at Blockbuster" by Phoenix McDonald reads as a video nasty-slash-Hellraiser spoof; “Vehicular Crash Report” by Jonathan Reddoch is a nicely done ghost story; Marc Sorondo's “Cinema Vérité” was a terrific tale of the "cursed object" trope: a reality-bending camcorder destroys a woman's life - though the premise could be said to work equally well for any recording device. “Sirens” by Matthew Wignall was a rather obscure ghost(?) tale, whose central idea was wonderfully creepy but whose point I did not get at all.
  
  In sum, as you can probably tell, I was a bit underwhelmed by the anthology: the stories are interesting and well-written, but other than the authors covering all the proper bases per the requirements of the anthology's theme, they seldom hit the nail on the head in reference to the 1980s mood; the stories simply did not feel immersive enough. Still, they all stand quite well on their own - there's definitely at least one story in there that every horror fan will enjoy and love.
• 
  Megan Diedericks

  Right off the bat, I L O V E the introduction. I mean: “Did anyone unleash an unspeakable evil hiding on those tapes that did—or didn’t—want to be found?” – WOW!
  
  My thoughts on each story:
  • “Video Nasty” by Joseph J. Dowling
  The 80s and slasher film vibes are strong with this one. It also, oddly enough, reminded me of the few Alex Delaware novels by Jonathan Kellerman I've read. Incredible story, and seeing my own name was one of the bigger jumpscares (just kidding!)
  • “Skin Flicks” by gaast
  Oh. My. God. Words cannot describe how absolutely perfect the title is. This story is so visceral and horrifying, but at its core it felt like a love story (or maybe that's just me. All I know is I LOVED it.)
  • “An Expert in Slasher Film” by David Hagertry
  I can't say too much in fear of revealing the whole story... But DAMN. Excellent storytelling!!
  • “The Bucket List” by Robin Knabel
  A whirlwind of emotions in this one, and the title is so fitting in several ways. Robin's first-person narration is always masterful!!!
  • “Raising Hell at Blockbuster” by Phoenix McDonald
  BONE-CHILLING!!!! I loved the isolated feel of this story, and the ensuing madness – just, WOW! Also, I need a sequel (this may or may not be a reference to the story, and also a very real need 😭)
  • “Vehicular Crash Report” by Jonathan Reddoch
  This story is so karmic and I'm HERE for it!! Once again, a fitting title, and when the reason for it clicked... I was in awe. AND – the ending sentence was perfect!
  • “Cinema Vérité” by Marc Sorondo
  The concept of this story is absolute genius and so perfectly executed. I can imagine this as a horror film, or maybe even a series!!
  • “Sirens” by Matthew Wignall
  The grief in this story is very corporeal – the ominous and horrifying feel of it is no different. I was absolutely enthralled!
  
  So many of these stories stood out to me, but the final two are definitely among my favourites.
  
  The flow of this collection is also excellent, which is something I always love to see when it comes anthologies.
  
  Insanely scary and I would definitely recommend this to a fellow horror fan!
  
  P.S. A few of these stories made me think of the “Mark me down as scared AND horny!”-meme (if that's of import to anybody 😂)