Shivers VI by Richard Chizmar

Shivers VI Reviews

• 
  Mike Kazmierczak

  I've been having a hard time getting through some of my short story collections lately. In fact there's one that I've been reading for over a year now; I think I'm averaging about one story per month. I'm not sure why I'm so against short stories right now. I'm still enjoying novellas; it's just the short form. Maybe I'm looking for stronger character development or more reason to care. Something that is easier to find in novels and novellas. Even the SHIVERS series which is always strong with its short stories didn't really do it for me this time. There were five different stories that I flagged as being memorable but that was it. Nothing against the other authors. As I mentioned, it's all me. I hope it's just a phase that will end as unexpectedly as it began.
  
  "Serial" by Blake Crouch and Jack Kilborn - Two serial killers run across each other's paths and try to make the other a victim.
  
  "The Crate" by Stephen King - Maybe a mini-cheat since I've seen the segment in the movie Creepshow and I've read the comic of the same name. The story is still fun to read, especially hearing each character with their corresponding actor's voice.
  
  "The Last Beautiful Day" by Brian James Freeman - A photographer tries to help with building some memories a couple's newborn babies. A short but very sad tale.
  
  "In The Raw" by Briand Hodge - A man tries to avoid jail while dealing with troubles from his uncle.
  
  "Bits and Pieces" by Lisa Tuttle - A woman uses her past relationships to build a perfect man.
• 
  wally

  1st: serial, by blake crouch & jack kilborn.
  heh! 'bout some serial killers. some nasty business in this story, the means of one...something you may not have read elsewhere. i believe it (the method) has reached a national audience. they get theirs
  
  2nd: the crate, stephen king.
  a crate is found by the janitor, a crate from june 19, 1843, if i remember rightly. and inside? heh! this story kinda goes along w/at least one, or more, of the 4 stories in full dark no stars, the theme of...misguided revenge? revenge, period? squat and mute.
  
  3rd: the last beautiful day, brian james freeman
  so this guy whose wife delivered (had to deliver) a dead baby visits the hospital to take photos of the dead babies of other people. short piece.
  
  4th: cobwebs, kealan patrick burke
  creepy story about old folk home...and you can't trust what you read early on...nice, hey? eye-narrator.
  
  5th: the old ways, norman prentiss
  since i'm a carpenter, i liked this one...old folks home, yes, but the story takes place across the street, old house, new couple, woman takes on repairs, hubby at work...and things happen...the old from the home get involved.
  
  6th: waiting for darkness, brian keene
  a one-page story...short & sweet or maybe not sweet...
  
  7th:like lick 'em sticks, like tina fey, glen hirshberg
  weird story...part of that coming from the telling...or like the sailor in chekhov's story w/his eye to the hole in the wall, not seeing all or hearing all, but enough. there's other stories like this, the technique...character says a piece and the other knows what's what, but you need to keep reading to catch on...like tina fey...
  
  8th: ghost writer in my eye, wayne allen sallee
  reminds me of umney's last case by stephen king...this, where the writer is involved, somehow...just exactly how, isn't clear...
  
  9th: palisado, alan peter ryan
  single character, his horse in a barn, he is in a cabin, winter storm. this story is a hoot. has a kind of fantasy-element, never explained, this mystery that develops and departs...i enjoyed this one
  
  10th: stillness, richard thomas
  this one seems like a post-end-of-the-world as-we-know-it story...short too...these stories play off each other?
  
  11th: in the raw, brian hodge
  ex-prison works at a rendering plant...playing off the last seems like...this one....you read it and have to ask...well, was that okay, then?
  
  12th i found a little hole, nate southard
  kid finds a hole in the yard w/qqc in it.
  
  13th fallow, scott nicholson
  end-of-the-world story...dontcha hate that...defining qqc w/a word? but it gets a pt across. good end of world story.
  
  14th mole, jay bonansinga
  a holy story. this one is creepy. something about guys in collars, demons, big and small, etc.
  
  15th the shoes, melanie tem
  yes....heh heh!
  but...it does leave me wondering...
  
  16th bits & pieces, lisa tuttle
  what the title says...bits and pieces...reminded of donald barthelme w/this one...'my father, concerned about his liver...'.....
  
  17th trouble follows, david b silva
  neato...nice idea...the idea seems like it must have been "done" before, but for the life of me, i don't recall
  
  18th keeping it in the family, robert morrish
  after war story ... lot of unexplained phenomena
  
  19th it is the tale, bev vincent
  telling tales....remember that? if you do...who are you?
  
  20th a special place: the heart of a dark matter, peter straub
  read this one in its stand-alone piece....great story.
  
  marvelous...simply marvelous...i enjoyed all the various takes on situations.
  
• 
  John W

  Excellent collection of short stories. Contains:
  "Serial" by Blake Crouch & Jack Kilborn
  "The Crate" a novella by Stephen King
  "The Last Beautiful Day" by Brian James Freeman
  "Cobwebs" by Kealan Patrick Burke
  "The Old Ways" by Norman Prentiss
  "Waiting for Darkness" by Brian Keene
  "Like Lick 'Em Sticks, Like Tina Fey" by Glen Hirshberg
  "Ghost Writer in My Eye" by Wayne Allen Sallee
  "Palisado" by Alan Peter Ryan
  "Stillness" by Richard Thomas
  "In the Raw" by Brian Hodge
  "I Found a Little Hole" by Nate Southard
  "Fallow" by Scott Nicholson
  "Last" by Al Sarrantonio
  "Mole" by Jay Bonansinga
  "The Shoes" by Melanie Tem
  "Bits and Pieces" by Lisa Tuttle
  "Trouble Follows" by David B. Silva
  "Keeping It in the Family" by Robert Morrish
  "It Is the Tale" by Bev Vincent
  "A Special Place: The Heart of a Dark Matter" a novella by Peter Straub
• 
  Alison C

  Richard Chizmar is the editor of Cemetery Dance, both a quarterly magazine and a publishing house that specializes in horror/dark fantasy. As is obvious by the title, Shivers VI is the sixth entry in a series of horror/dark fantasy anthologies featuring original (i.e., not previously published) stories from a number of writers, including Brian Keene, Al Sarrantonio, Lisa Tuttle, Melanie Tem, David Silva, Peter Straub and Stephen King, among others. As always, some stories struck me more forcefully than others. The anthology got off to a great start with "Serial," a collaboration between authors Blake Crouch and Jack Kilborn in which they ponder what might happen if a serial killer of hitch-hikers picked up a serial-killer hitch-hiker, nicely conflating two strong urban legends; and I also enjoyed Stephen King's "Crate," about what might be lurking in long-untouched university storage rooms; Norman Prentiss' "The Old Ways" in which a modern young woman comes across some very old-fashioned values in the small town to which she and her husband have moved; "Like Lick 'Em Sticks, Like Tina Fey," the cleverly titled vampire story by Glen Hirshberg; Al Sarrantonio's "Last," which is more science fiction than horror; and Lisa Tuttle's "Bits and Pieces," a delightful dark fantasy about what our lovers leave behind when they leave our lives. The volume ends with Peter Straub's novella, "A Special Place: The Heart of a Dark Matter," which details the childhood and adolescent development of a serial killer; I found it well-done, if gory, up until the end and then I felt quite disappointed because the story just stopped, and I wanted more. Which I suppose can be seen as a positive response, when you think about it....Obviously this anthology will not be to everyone's taste, but if you have the stomach for it, the writing is of a very high caliber throughout and you may find a new favourite author or three between its covers; recommended for those who can stand it!
• 
  Brad

  Pretty good anthology for Halloween, and several stories gave me the willies. I started with mini-reviews for each of the stories, but then got lazy. Aside from the ones below, I liked "Palisado", "Ghost Writer in My Eye", "I Found a Little Hole", and "Mole."
  
  A couple of stories got a little squicky, but I suppose that is to be expected in the horror genre.
  
  Rating: each story varies in the type and intensity of the content, throughout the book there is a range from PG to R, for strong language (f-words), violence, gore, some sexuality (strong in one or two stories).
  
  Serial (4/5): Super creepy little story about two sketchy folks who happen to encounter each other and trouble ensues. He's a serial killer who picks up hitchhikers, and she's a serial killer who is a hitchhiker. He tortures his victims, she drugs hers and drags them naked behind their car. He picks her up, they altercate, both end up being chained to the car as it rolls down the steep grade and die miserable deaths.
  
  The Crate (4/5): Pretty good story from King. Monster in an old box, kills a couple of people when the box is opened. Guy who escaped tells his friend, who drugs our guy to sleep. While he sleeps, friend lures his own shrewish wife to the box so that she gets eaten. He then dumps the box, destroys the evidence, and tells our guy what happened when he wakes in the morning. They decide to keep it quiet, and so it goes.
  
  The Last Beautiful Day (3/5): Pretty sad story that hits a little too close to home due to the recent sad experience of a friend. I have to admit, I did wonder what was in the bag. Man and woman lose their child in utero. He takes pictures at the hospital for recently deceased kids to help him cope with the grief, but it doesn't seem to be working. He is sad, and so is his wife.
  
• 
  Metagion

  This anthology I thought was well done. Without being too spoiley, some of the stories were very "out of the box," which is what I enjoy. One story, (for me), stood out: "Trouble Follows," by David B. Silva was one of those masterpieces that is SO rare these days. Stephen King also had, for the first time in print, "The Crate," which was made into a short for the movie "Creepshow" in the 80s. If you like top-notch writing (and don't mind reading 410 pages, since some are novella stories) you WILL enjoy this book. Happy reading!
• 
  Shawna

  I received this book through GoodReads giveaway and I'm so glad I did because it contains a short story by Stephen King called "The Crate", which is a previously unpublished story. The first story in the collection called "Serial." This short story is about what might happen when two serial killers meet. All the stories were well written and each had its own unique plot line. I would definitely recommend this book.
• 
  Rachel

  I received this book through GoodReads giveaway program and I'm so glad I did! If you like those spine-tingling tales, this is definitely the book for you! All the stories were well written and each had its own unique plot line. I would definitely recommend this book.
• 
  Sandy

  I wanted to read the Blake Crouch story but then I saw that Stephen King had a story as well. I read both of those, and they were great stories. Blake Crouch's story was a bit gruesome and Stephen King's story, well, of course, it was 40 pages of great King. Happy Halloween, indeed.
• 
  [on hiatus, probably forever] The rockabilly werewolf from Mars

  On the whole, I enjoyed this anthology. Although not all the stories were to my taste (I mostly prefer supernatural horror; non-supernatural stories need to be especially atmospheric to hold my attention), there is a fine piece by Peter Straub, and a Stephen King story that is rarely anthologized. Also worth noting is Palisado, a neat atmospheric piece by one of the major figures in the 80s "quiet horror" movement. One piece that disappointed me was The Old Ways. From the name, I was expecting some rad Wicker Man-style folk horror, but it turned out to be about the generation gap. I will also mention Serial; although it was not really my type of horror (I think serial killers are overdone), I thought that the premise was rather amusing. Still worth reading, even if just for the King story.
• 
  Isidore

  On the whole a resolutely mediocre anthology, containing (despite the cover) surprisingly little supernatural fiction. Two crime stories (by Peter Straub and Brian Hodge) are among its best entries; there are also nifty exercises in unclassifiable bizarrarie by Nate Southard, a writer new to me, and the late, very much lamented Alan Ryan, returning all too briefly to a field in which he was once a dominant figure.
• 
  DJMikeG

  Extremely varied collection of short fiction, ranging from excellent to really bad stories. My favorite was the opener, Blake Crouch and Jack Kilborn's "Serial". From there, the stories go up and down in quality. And Brian Keene's contribution is one page long. Okay overall, but I wouldn't spend money on a book like this. Glad it was at my local library!
• 
  Tom Mueller

  I'll read more of Scott Nicholson's work. His short piece in this collection is set in a post nuclear fallout world. The Dystopian theme is one of my favorites.
• 
  Tony

  One of the most solid horror anthologies I have ever read.