Rotten Requiems II Compiled by James Oliver

3.5 stars

I haven’t read the first volume of Rotten Requiems but I’m definitely adding it to my list. While I did think overall that the theme got to be a little same-y in places, this was a really fun set of stories to read with a fantastic introduction by Klaus Kinion (I mean, really…..could it be any more perfect than that???)

Let’s talk stories

First is Impaler by J. Tarmac. I was immediately charmed by the Bronx accent of our main character. The whole story felt very old grindhouse in the best way

The Secret Chord by John Baltisberger. Yay, Bethany! Good for her for getting some of her own back. We love a good vengeful queen out to prove herself

Orobos by Stephanie E. Jensen. This one is probably tied for my favourite in the book. It felt so much more real and scary and I loved that it went in an entirely different direction than any of the other stories. Ultra religious nuts are horrifying….

For Their Worm Shall Never Rot by Matthew Jon Smith. I would love to see more of Agent Stanhope and the weird situations he deals with. He was sucu a fun character and I love a good detective story

The Perpetuity Clause by Dicey Grenor. This story is just plain terrifying to think about. Welcome to the age of AI, where everyone is replaceable and no one is what they seem

The Lord of All That Shames Us by Jonathan Butcher. The other tie for my favourite story! I loved the narrative style and I now have a healthy suspicion of street drains as I understand them to be actual portals to hell

Is This What Passes for Music Nowadays? by Harrison Phillips. Jeez, Adrian……bit off the rails there, bud. And now I wonder if this was what it was like for my parents when I was learning to play trumpet in my school band 😬

Carrion Crown Sound Check by Dan Shrader reminded me exactly how much bugs horrify me and I shall spend the rest of my days giving the ground suspicious looks whenever I play music. Thank you for also poking at my latent trypophobia lol

All in all, Rotten Requiems II was a fun read. I enjoyed the commentary sprinkled in by James; I’ve never read that in an anthology before so it brought some new spice to this one. I did think the overall theme started to blend the stories together a bit too much at times but I’d read another volume!