Mae Empson

Pediophobia: The morbid fear of children or dolls.

If you suffer from this, you shouldn't read this book.

However, if you have a demented inner child that needs to be entertained, then this book is definitely for you.

Attic Toys, edited by Jeremy C. Shipp, is a collection of short stories, all based around the idea of killer toys or killer children or killer attic spaces, mostly from the horror variety, with some noticeable exceptions being the stories from Piers Anthony and Mae Empson, which are more like grown-up fairytales.

There's not a stinker among these stories, and all entertain in some form or another. While I enjoyed a couple of stories a little less than some others, this was more according to taste rather than any actual problems with those stories. And that's not to say that I didn't enjoy all of them. In different ways, they all satisfied the need to entertain my own demented inner child. A personal favorite was “The White Knight” by Aric Sundquist, which follows the adventures of a young boy and his rival/companion, a stuffed cat.

As I mentioned, noticeable exceptions to the horror theme were “Living Doll” by Piers Anthony and “The Tea-Serving Doll” by Mae Empson. These were interesting changes of pace that were curious additions to this collection. While they stuck with the “toys and attics” theme quite well, the tone of these stories was different enough to change the pace and almost give the reader a short breather from the other more twisted stories. In addition, the quality of the writing is so high that I can understand why exceptions were made.

I can find no significant flaws with this short story collection. All these stories are fun and disturbing in their own ways. If killer teddy bears, psychotic children, and haunted attic spaces appeal to you, then you will love this book, and the styles and stories are different enough that everyone will come away with a favorite among them. However, if you are a sufferer of pediophobia, you might have trouble sleeping at night.

Attic Toys earns five childish screams out of five.… (más)

I picked this collection up during a free promotion on Amazon.
I was drawn to it mostly because of Jeff Strand who is one of the authors featured within. I think this collection is a step above most others due to the quality of the authors involved.
My favorite stories were:
Jeff Strand's "Inside the Boxes". The ten in one box of fun!

Emily Skaftun's "Down in the Woods Today". Watch out for those teddy bears!

Kate Jonez-"Poor me and Ted". Man aboard a train with bad thoughts.

Joe McKinney's "A Little Crimson Stain". Totally freaky!

Cate Gardner's "Dreams of a Ragged Doll". I love creepy doll stories.

Lisa Morton's "When Harry Killed Sally". This story ROCKED!

Jeremy Shipp's "Googly". Watch out for the horns.

Dorian Dawes' "A Brightly-Colored Box Filled with Stars". This was a poignant tale and it was quite different from the other stories in this collection. LOVED it.

All in all, I thought this was a very good collection!
… (más)

I guess this had been hanging around on my Kindle for over two years when I accidentally stumbled across it, opened it, and started reading. I was struck at first by the extreme nastiness of the stories, but also by how well done they were. And as I read on, the sheer consistent quality of the book amazed me. I guess if you tell horror writers to tell a story related in some way to an attic and the lost or abandoned toys within it, it strikes a really dark chord. This is one of the best horror collections I have read--but not for the squeamish. Perhaps two-thirds of the stories are really excellent. None are less than highly readable. Recommended.… (más)