| Title | : | Midnight Shadows: Tales From the River Volume One |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1777275083 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781777275082 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 352 |
| Publication | : | First published February 3, 2021 |
Midnight Shadows: Tales From the River Volume One Reviews
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If you like creepy and original horror stories, this is a book for you. I've also read "It Calls From The Forest" and "It Calls From The Sky" by Eerie River Publishing. While those stories were good, this book is by far my favorite. There are some really great stories within this novel. All cover a vast array of subjects and seem pretty normal until you get to the twists. I will look forward to reading anything Eerie River Publishing publishes in the future and will go back to look for anything they already have out there.
Great group of 24 stories that will leave you thinking. -
This is a brilliant read.
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believable.
Great suspense and action with wonderful world building.
Can't wait to read what the author brings out next.
Recommend reading. -
What a fun read. This anthology has everything you could ask for, from the bizarre to the downright scary. Each and every story was unique and interesting.
So many wonderful new authors to discover. -
Midnight Shadows delivered everything I could hope for in an anthology. Eerie River Publishing consistently delivers a strong roster of authors. It has some of my favourites, Tim Mendees, David Green and Chris Hewitt and some new ones like K.T. Tate and Austin Shirey, and several others. The stories go from nail biting to hopeful and downright apocalyptic. I loved the variety and the quality. I have no problem giving this a 5 star rating.
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Score: 3.75/5 round-up for 4/5
Midnight Shadows is a book that contains 24 horror short stories, written by 24 authors. Eerie River Publisher, a fairly new publisher, published this book. I could not recall how I came across this novel or the publisher. However, I remember I wanted to read anything from this fresh imprint, so I chose Midnight Shadows! The reason is it is not one type of sub-genre book. It combines zombie, possession, and a bunch more. Plus, the price was too attractive to ignore!
I decided to pick 3 of my favorite stories and review them here. It would be way too long if I review every single story. In the end, I will summarize the overall book.
Tasty Treat by Tim Mendees is one of my favorite short stories from this book. It is located in the first chapter. The story is about two best friends, Simon and John, who were planning to see the circus held in the city they lived in. Since they lived in a small town, there were not many things to do. Therefore, the coming of the circus made town people very excited. Most importantly, the cotton candy of this circus was very famous! For those of you who have Coulrophobia and do not like the circus, this will be very daunting because the author did a splendid job describing all the uncanny details of the clowns. There were two particularly disturbing scenes I could not get past by. I will not tell you which and which, however, I can guarantee you that there were really disgusting. I salute this author for the fact that within a limited amount of pages, he managed to scare the bejesus of me. All I can say is I will NOT eat any cotton candy without checking the source. That is it! I could not wait to read whatever he wrote next!
Hush by Kimberly Rei is another brilliant story I experienced. It was placed right after Tasty Treat which is double the fun! The plot is about a woman living in a psychiatric hospital. She always heard whispers in her ears. It wanted her to hurt people. All this happened after she went shopping at an antique store. In Thailand, antique stuff is one of the things Thai consider “suspicious” because the previous owner might “come back” for their belongings. I am not sure if Western has a similar idea but because I am Thai, this story scared me to the core. I legitimately had a bad dream after I finished reading it. The author clarified the lady's behavior very well, specifically when she started to act abnormally. I could imagine her actions in my head crystal clear. Love it!
The last one is The Mirror That Tells Truths and Lies by McKenzie Richardson. This involves body (and beauty) horror. The synopsis is Kelsey, a lady who has a perfect body and perfect face, just got a mirror from her friend as a gift. She fell in love with it and decided to hang it in her room. Every time when Kelsey used this mirror, she always found flaws in her body. For example, her arms were too big, or her chin had too much fat. With all those ugly things that appeared in her eyes, she must do something about the issues! This one got me a little ill. I only hope that such a mirror will never ever exist on this planet. Otherwise, it will be very bad. I like the idea of this story so much. The author was creative. The description of Kelsey's odd behavior was excellent. 5 Stars read no doubt.
It is quite difficult to leave another good story like Dottie by Austin Shirey behind. The synopsis is what happens if the Smart Home had feelings. I loved his idea. You guys should check it out. Most of the rest of the stories were alright. I mean, they were enjoyable but nothing to be memorable. However, I could see the efforts of all the authors, so I want to support them. Before finishing this review, I'd like to post my favorite quote from The Mirror That Tells Truths and Lies here.
“Beauty was pain, and she would do anything to unleash her true self, the perfect specimen she knew lay buried within”
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What could be even more awesome than 'It Calls From The Forest vol 1 & 2' and even 'It Calls From The Sky' horror anthology?
The truly lovely people of Eerie River Publishing sent me 'Midnight Shadows :Tales from the River Vol 1' anthology and once again left me in awe.
24 tales from both new and familiar authors come to haunt your nights as the chilling winter nights roll in.
Well written, exceptionally terrifying and deliciously put together with a beautifully creepy cover this anthology will satisfy your horror needs.
Throw in the mix some zombies, carnivals from hell, haunted houses, cursed objects, witches seeking revenge, Gothic horror and well... body horror and basically everything that could be considered as the perfect ingredient for one hell of a fun ride.
Mackenzie Richardson's 'The Mirror That Tells Truths and Lies' was my absolute favorite from this fantastic anthology. Bloody body horror at its finest with all the right elements to make you feel pain while reading 😉
All authors do a fantastic job with each story exploring a variety of themes all having as main ingredients great storyline and lots of memorable horrors, ideal to keep you up at night reading.... for things do hide in the shadows and lurk in the dark.
Get it at:
https://www.eerieriverpublishing.com/...
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/177727... -
Also reviewed on
www.curiosityboughtthebook.com
Rounded up from 3.5 stars.
I was really excited when I was offered to review this collection. The cover is haunting and really sets the tone for this book. I have to be honest and say I didn’t love every single story, but most of them were rather amazing. Some of them just weren’t for me, but that is to be expected in a book with a large number of different authors.
Here is some I really enjoyed:
Tasty Treats by Tim Mendees, which is the story of a mysterious traveling clown circus coming to town. It also has the best candy floss in Europe, so get ready!
The Unconsumables by Joel R. Hunt, which might be the coolest take on the old zombie trope I’ve read in a while. Such a good one!
And last we have The Mirror That Tells Truth and Lies by McKenzie Richardson. Now, this might actually be my favorite out of the bunch. It is such a deliciously gory story, even I found myself cringing. And that means a lot coming from me.
A big thanks to the publisher for the review copy. -
This is an excellent collection of short stories - one of my favourite collections. Each story is well-crafted and delightfully scary. The stories are cultivated from Eerie River's monthly contest winners, which adds variety to the anthology. The topics range from circuses, sci-fi, video games, the sea, and many more. While I have enjoyed Eerie River's other anthologies such as It Calls from the Sky and It Calls from the Forest, I think I enjoyed this one the most.
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Such a great read these were . I was originally pulled in by the author Brandon ebinger as I have read all his books thus far. He was fantastic as per usual, and I found so many talented authors! I can’t wait to continue reading all their work!
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Another good collection from Eerie River Publishing. My favourites this time around included Blood Sisters by Brandon Ebinger, The Other Sunny by William A. Wellman, Inside Your Mind by Elizabeth Nettleton, and NPC by V.A. Vazquez.
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If you like things that go bump in the night you will love this book! It has it all, evil, horror, thrills and chills. I loved it!
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Not all horror is created equal. I saw Midsommar in the movie theater and I absolutely loved it. I also saw Jason X in the movie theater, and I loved that, too, but for very different reasons. Sometimes I enjoy a slow-burning, three-hour mindfuck that's so permeated with dread that I'm physically uncomfortable for its entire duration. And sometimes I just want to see Jason Voorhees beat a topless coed to death with the torso of another topless coed. There's a time and a place for all of it.
Midnight Shadows, an anthology released by Ontario's Eerie River Press, is more Blair Witch 2 than The VVitch, more Pumpkinhead than Paimon. And that's okay, because Blair Witch 2 is underrated and Pumpkinhead is fucking awesome. Midnight Shadows' 24 vignette-length stories are perfect for readers who are just beginning to explore the vast world of horror fiction, or for more seasoned fans who are looking for some quick hitting scares that don't require an excessive amount of unpacking. None of the stories contained in this collection delve so far into selected subgenres as to make the stories inaccessible to casual readers. And while you may not find the vivid, layered imagery or the elevated, cinematic language that you'd get from current genre heavyweights like John Langan, Steven Graham Jones, and Laird Barron, the writing isn't bland, either. There are enough unreliable narrators, deftly crafted plot twists, and homages both subtle and overt to all mediums of genre classics to engage veteran readers and neophytes alike. And while I won't SparkNotes all 24 stories for you, here's an overview to give you some idea:
- The collection opens with the Bradburian "Tasty Treats," (Tim Mendees) and revisits the dark carnival theme a half dozen tales later with David Green's "An Invitation."
- Joel R. Hunt's "The Unconsumables" adds a unique wrinkle into the post-Walking Dead zombie apocalypse genre, while Austin Shirey's dystopian "Dottie" couldn't help conjure images of The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror episode where a sentient house with the voice of Pierce Brosnan tries to eliminate Homer so it can have Marge all to itself.
- In "Curse of the Grootslang," Chris Hewitt introduces us to a bit of South African folklore; it's a cool story that channels a little bit of Aliens (you may not see it at first, but think of the narrator as Paul Reiser.)
There are supernatural revenge stories, doppelgangers, cursed objects, skeletal cat armies… something for everyone.
Most of the stories in Midnight Shadows occupy the vast, grey middle ground between killer and filler, but there are a couple of standout offerings. Brandon Ebinger's "Blood Sisters" is a creepy gothic ghost story that will appeal particularly to readers looking to expand their horror horizons after enjoying Netflix's The Haunting of Bly Manor. "The Mirror That Tells Truths and Lies" by Mackenzie Richardson is a nasty piece of body horror that more than once made me protectively clutch at pieces of my anatomy. It could be read as an allegory for toxic beauty standards, but I could also sort of see it being adapted into a direct-to-streaming gorefest for IFC Midnight.
I'm a firm believer in appreciating things forwhat they are instead of criticizing them for what they aren't. Is Jason X an essential, canonical work of horror cinema? No. But it's a super fun way to spend 90 minutes while crushing a tub of popcorn and reveling in the absurdity. Midnight Shadows is not an Ellen Datlow-curated volume of horror heavyweights; it is, however, a fast, fun read that should provide newer fans of the genre with some strong stepping stones and provide a quick fix for more experienced readers looking to kill a night without adding 500 pages to their TBR lists. ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
