| Title | : | It Was All a Dream 2: Another Anthology of Bad Horror Tropes Done Right |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9798986920276 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 360 |
| Publication | : | Published August 13, 2024 |
Featuring original fiction from:
Joe Koch, D. Matthew Urban, Tom Coombe, Rebecca Harrison, Edward Lodi, Liam Hogan, Yelena Crane, Najua Ismail, Cassandra Daucus, Briar Ripley Page, Amanda Cecelia Lang, Tiffany Michelle Brown, Angelique Fawns, Sydney Paige Guerrero, David J. Thirteen, Michael Pearson, Steve Loiaconi, Mark Silcox, Angela Sylvaine, Dana McKay, Ria Hill, Cynthia Gómez, Avra Margariti, J.L. Foux, Red Lagoe, Francis J. Matozzo, Gwendolyn Kiste, Nadia Bulkin, and Rena Mason
Foreword by Matthew M. Bartlett
Interior illustrations by Christopher Castillo Díaz
And a full-wrap cover by Trevor Henderson
It Was All a Dream 2: Another Anthology of Bad Horror Tropes Done Right Reviews
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Got this book for review on booksirens.
3.5 stars rounded up. It was a decent collection of short horror stories based on "bad tropes" in horror. Some of them I really enjoyed while others didn't made an impact. My favorite on was the kne inspired by the teeth trope. -
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
This collection is filled with truly unique stories… (I mean we literally kick things off with a sharp little story that's told from the point of view of the very words on the pages of the haunted book that's being messed with) This is one of the best short story collections. Genius! This is impressive stuff here.
Hilarious, surprising, scary…. These stories have some serious tropes to undo, and they subvert expectations marvelously.
These are scary situations where there is no waking up safe or sound; that bump in the night was something… and no, it's not just the cat!
Eating, drinking, and breathing horror the way I do makes it quite difficult for me to feel surprised…. and one story after the other…. this book has me constantly surprised. I was so entertained, and will be HIGHLY recommending this collection to others!
4.5 / 5
Top 10 personal favorites:
- The Long People
- The American Dream
- Emily's Teeth
- The Things I Miss
- The Mortal Gods
- Birth of A Sucker
- Track 9
- Be Kind, Please Rewind
(The illustrations before the stories are incredible as well!) -
I love Brandon Applegate's anthologies. They always have a blend of diverse authors who understand the assignment and while not all stories are up my alley, I don't think I've ever read one I actually hated. This one is no different. Although I have to admit I preferred the first part, It Was All a Dream 2 brings the reader even more short horror stories based on the "overused" tropes. This premise ensures that people applying are fans of horror and have a solid understanding of how it's written.
But off to the book. Although I haven't had as many stand-out stories as in the first part, many gems still caught my attention. "When the Motherf***er Just Won't Die" and "Be Kind, Please Rewind" play on slasher and final girl tropes which are very close to my heart and I always want to see more of them. "Track 9" was perfectly haunting and I appreciated the nod to my country's history. "Birth of the Sucker" connected vampires and chronic illness. "The Mortal Gods" was extremely my vibe because of the way it connected gods and fairytales and I loved the twist in "Restless". I honestly don't think any of the stories were badly written, some of them were just more up my alley than others, so there isn't much criticism to offer. I have a hard time reading anthologies and often get bored with them but the fact that this is my third edited by this author puts him very high on my list of must-read stuff.
If you love horror, do yourself a favor and check out this book (as well as the first part). It's truly a love letter to horror and its tropes and it has some truly unique and fresh ideas. I can't wait to see more anthologies like this. -
This was such a great horror anthology, I was hooked from the tagline, bad horror tropes done right. Each story had that horror element that I was looking for and enjoyed going from story to story. It took the bad trope and worked overall in this and hope to read more anthologies from this publisher.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. -
This was fun. I love almost all horror tropes there is (except for clowns) and this anthology contained a lot of different tropes. With this many short stories you can't love them all but the stories are all of good quality and enjoyable.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. -
Thank you, Brandon Applegate
This collection of spooky tropes covers a wide variety of horrors. I enjoyed the stories some more the others.
The wind through the chimneys and bad vibrations were two of my top favorite stories in this collection.
I really like the art work before each story.
The cover art is very creepy. -
3.5 for me
An interesting collection of horror stories, some of them were really good but quite a few were a miss for me. -
This is the second volume of an anthology series which, thanks to Brandon Applegate, is even better than the first. The wide-ranging stories are consistently well-written, the authors never stray from the assigned theme, and truly attempt to draw the reader in and make the best of their alloted length. I personally find these kinds of anthologies pure candy for the horror fan, and try to recommend them to everyone.
