Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Boo: Volume Two / Various


Reviewed by: BigAl

Genre: Short Story Anthology

Approximate word count: 30-35,000 words

Availability    
Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: YES  Smashwords: YES  Paper: NO
Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

Twelve different authors, many we’ve reviewed here before, many we haven’t.

Description:

“A dozen dark tales (and one rather sweet) make up this sugar-free Halloween treat.”

Revenge of the Remora – Lynne Cantwell
Crayfish – JD Mader
Accidents Will Happen – Erin McGowan
The Greengrass Legacy – Jen Daniele
Rites of the Heart – Ann Cathey
Toynbee's Folly – Rich Meyer
Under the Moon – LB Clark
Houdini Night – Laurie Boris
Beauty is Only Skin Deep – Asher Cathey
Greenlight – David Antrobus
When Ghosts Want to Play – Kristina Jackson
The Procedure – Christopher O’Banion
Blood of Christ – Rich Meyer

Appraisal:

The thing that struck me about Boo: Volume Two is that, while aiming to frighten, spook, and creep-out the reader, they aren’t all stories I’d classify as horror. Genre-wise they read like fantasy, science fiction, and others (usually whatever genre the author specializes in) with a horror-like element. For example, Lynne Cantwell’s Revenge of the Remora is a Contemporary or Urban Fantasy about two girls who are friends, but both after the same guy, a high school friend who is now a big time musician. The fantasy element of the story turns out to be where the spooky or frightening part of the story comes from. I enjoyed most of the stories with Cantwell’s, Rich Meyer’s Toynbee’s Folly, LB Clark’s Under the Moon, and The Procedure by Christopher O’Banion as those that stood out for me. But, with a wide variety of stories, none of them bad, your list will surely be different.

FYI:

From the book’s description:

“Attention—the stories in this collection may contain one or more of the following: violence, dark or disturbing themes, profanity, humor, wit, sappiness, and flashes of genius. The stories may induce nausea, creepy-crawly sensations, random bursts of laughter, or twisted dreams. Do not attempt to drive or operate machinery while consuming Boo! Volume Two. For external use only. Use only as directed.”

Format/Typo Issues:

A small number of typos and other proofing misses.


Rating: **** Four stars

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Loved the FYI notes, Al!

BooksAndPals said...

I wish I could take credit for them, Pete. Very clever, but as I said, they're stolen from the book's description.