Peter Giglio

I want to start this review by saying that it may not be entirely fair. I started reading this while a bunch of other stuff was going on, so it took me a long while to get through this book, which may have taken away some of my overall satisfaction.

I seem to be on a short story kick lately. After reading Attic Toys, rel="nofollow" target="_top">Christmas on Crack, and Eyeballs Growing All Over Me, I've tackled Evil Jester Digest Volume One, edited by Peter Giglio. This book is a collection of mostly short horror stories, with a fantasy novelette mixed in at the end and marked “Best in Volume.” Most of these stories are quite good, but the mix of stories is much more eclectic than I'm used to. While books like Eyeballs Growing All Over Me is a collection written by one author, giving it a fairly consistent style, and Attic Toys and Christmas on Crack followed a theme, these stories have little to connect each other and have drastically different styles and themes.

Here, you have stories about a demonically possessed girl, a biblical Cain in the modern world, Lovecraftian horrors rising on the “Mayan Doomsday,” and a possessed GPS, among others. Most of the stories in this collection are of the horror variety, but there is one story that stands out in particular, both in style and tone, not to mention length. There are some stories that, while they're not bad, are very predictable and didn't quite work for me. For example, “The Girl Who Drowned” and “Dust at the Center of All Things” left me feeling a little cold. They were too obvious, which took away some of the horror element. “Lone Wolf” was a little better, but while it's mostly a zombie story, the surprise doesn't come from the horror at all, and makes it a better story.

At the end of this collection is the aforementioned novelette rather than a short story. “The End of Autumn” by Aric Sundquist (who also wrote “The White Knight,” one of the better stories in Attic Toys) is actually a very charming little fairy tale, following children as they attempt to stop the Timekeeper from reversing death and disrupting the natural order. There are strong shades of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to this story, and I dare anyone who has read that book to not draw the same parallel. This is not a bad thing, but it is something that immediately comes to mind. But, as I mentioned, the story is really rather touching. At the same time, it not only stands out from this volume because of its length, but also the tone and theme. Drastically different. As in “I'm not sure it really belongs in this volume” different. I would go so far as saying that I could see this expanded and published as a standalone novella.

Evil Jester Digest Volume One is a decent collection, and everyone should read “The End of Autumn.” I'm going to be watching Aric Sundquist's career closely. He is definitely an author to keep your eye on, and has the definite standout story in this collection. But the collection as a whole is not without its issues. The quality, while good, is also a little too varied and unpredictable, detracting slightly from the overall quality of the volume.

Evil Jester Digest Volume One earns three and a half grains of hourglass sand out of five. However, since we can't give half scores here, I feel comfortable giving it a four out of five.… (más)

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 very much enjoyed this anthology, only two stories that I did not connect with and several gems. Of course, that is just me, tastes will differ, my experience may not be typical, all the usual disclaimers apply. Anyway, here goes:

GPS by Rick Hautala--great story by a master. Life-time Bram Stoker winner does not disappoint. 5 stars.
DUST DEVIL by Gary Brandner--well written story by a seasoned veteran. Slightly predictable but still well done. 4 stars.
SHARPE IS EXTRAORDINARY by David Dunwoody--I thought that this one was clever but a bit forced. Guaranteed to rile up anyone who is easily offended by blasphemy---although I personally found the book of Job to be much more disturbing and that IS in the Bible. 4 stars.
THE GIRL WHO DROWNED by Tracy L. Carbone---first story in the collection and it really starts things going with a bang. Very creepy and original. Absolutely fantastic story. 5 stars.
DUST AT THE CENTER OF ALL THINGS by John F.D. Taff---sad, deep, and very moving as well as disturbing. The closing scenes are burned in my brain. Great story. 5 stars.
LOOK BEHIND YOU by Eric Shapiro---delightfully creepy ambiguous tale that leaves us the connect the dots. It is probably different for each reader---after all, don't we all get the devil that we deserve?
LONE WOLF by Gregory L. Norris---didn't like this one. It was like a Harlequin Romance in Zombietown. Odd. 3 stars and I am being nice.
WIDDERSHINS by Hollie Snider--this one was a dud for me also. I think that there is a good idea in there and this might appeal to the Lovecraft faithful. 3 stars.
A GENTLEMAN'S FOLLY by Phil Hickes---nice Gothic story that reminded me a bit of M.R.James. I am a big fan of stories like this. Gave this collection a nice diversity. 5 stars.
And the novelette THE END OF SUMMER by Aric Sundquist--this one is sort of a YA fantasy/fairy tale rather than horror and not really to my taste but that is just me since it is well written and would probably appeal to those who like stories like this. 3 stars.

Average it out and I will call it 4 stars. I will buy the second in the series also and have hopes that it will be as good as this fine collection.… (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)