The Horror Collection: Monster Edition

4/5 stars

This was my first of Kevin’s anthologies, and I wasn’t disappointed at all! He brought together a great cast of authors in the Monster Edition, and each story brought something new and interesting to the collection.

My favourite story was Brennan LaFaro’s ‘Salvia Sunset.’ There’s something extremely disconcerting about a regular creature that’s been super-sized, and Brennan really captured that here. You can’t really fault it for doing what’s in its nature, but it’s still absolutely terrifying to think about. I really liked Nola a lot, too. She was a woman with a steel spine in a time where women were mostly background characters, and I loved her fire.

My runner-up was ‘Opportunity’ by Christina Bergling. I love Norse mythology and culture, Christina’s take on an asynjur was a really cool idea! I loved the thought of a more bloodthirsty asynjur, but not quite a Valkyrie, and she delivered perfectly. I really liked Lamont and Lina together also. I’d love to see more of them and how their story shapes up over the years.

Veronica Smith’s ‘Kill It with Fire’ was horrifying. I loathe spiders; they’re creepy and gross and give me anxiety. The whole thing with the egg sac….foul. I’d have been gone as soon as I noticed the first web. Time to sell the house and find somewhere else across the country to be!

Honestly, all the stories here were so fun to read! Kevin has a great eye for what works well together, and each of these stories blended together nicely for an exciting new collection. I can’t wait to read more of what he compiles! Thanks a bunch for the review copy!