All three were published in 2017 and easily found on Amazon and other online booksellers.
Publisher: Grinning Skull Press
Editor: Michael Evans
Number of stories: 3 (novelettes)
Pages: 163
Price: $11.99 for paperback. All three novelettes available for Kindle individually at 99 cents each.
Theme: historical horror stories, two weird westerns, and the third is hard to pin down (it's never really specified.)
Favorite: Dominic Stabile's story is a quick, fun read about an outlaw gang who are in fact, all supernatural creatures. (I won't spoil the surprise though.)
My story: "Bottled Spirits," in which Truman Bonner and his son Isaac embark on a harrowing series of adventures in a quest to find Helena Bonner, who's gone missing after a drunken argument. One of my favorite stories I've ever written, and deeply personal.
I give it a B+ overall. If you are cost conscious, I'd recommend getting the Kindle versions of Full Moon in the West and Bottled Spirits for 99 cents each. I love having the actual books, though, so I'm glad I paid extra. Here is the link to the paperback.
Editor: Michael Evans
Number of stories: 21
Pages: 266
Price: $15.95 for paperback. $3.99 Kindle.
Theme: non-themed horror stories
Favorites: "Snowbound" by Damir Salkovic has a classic Weird Tales style and setting and was an early standout. "Slashes of Joy" by Chris Phillips, "Darwin's Ravens" by Jonah Buck and "The Night Auction" by Catherine Grant were all strong, memorable stories. My favorite of them all was "The Anteater" by Robert Stava. It was like something Bentley Little would write, only funnier.
My story: "Another Mouth to Feed" is a body horror story that was partially inspired by real events.
I give this anthology an A. Great cover, nice story selection, no duds, several highlights. Ordering link is right here!
Editor: Xtina Marie
Number of Stories: 26
Pages: 354
Cost: $12.96 paperback, $4.99 Kindle
Theme: Dark Erotica (or Erotic Horror)
Favorites: "Show Off City" by Shaun Avery, "Dark Desires" by Dusty Davis, and the superb "Small Town Vampire" by Brandon Cracraft.
My story: "Twenty-Six Photographs" in which a man coerces his wife to indulge in his vices. I don't feel like my story was as good as it could have been. The first reason is that in the book, there are hard returns creating new paragraphs where there shouldn't be (not my doing). The second reason IS my fault. I let the author read between the lines to get to the true horror of the story and I think maybe I should have been more obvious, or gave better clues. The main character doesn't worry about his wife after their "exploit" is finished. He is only focused on himself. That, to me, is the Horror of the story, but readers might miss that.
I give this anthology a B. There are a few stories I didn't care for, but the overall quality of the stories is quite good--almost unexpectedly so. If you like horror and erotica mixed, I think you'll enjoy this anthology. Order it here.
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