Sunday, September 9, 2018

Honest Reviews of Corporate Cthulhu and Digital Horror Fiction Anthology

Since Amazon doesn't allow authors to review anthologies that include their work, I've made a habit of posting my reviews here on my blog.


Title: Corporate Cthulhu
Theme: Cosmic and Lovecraftian horror in bureaucratic and business settings.
Publisher: Pickman's Press (now Stasheff Literary Enterprises
Editor: Edward Stasheff
Number of stories: 25
Pages: 418
Price: $19.99 paperback, $4.99 Kindle, $34.99 hardcover

Favorite stories: "Shadow Charts" by Marcus Johnston, "Career Zombie" by John Taloni, "MaryAnne's Equations" by Harry Pauff, "Forced Labor" by Peter Rawlik, "The Shadows Lengthen in the Close" by Ethan Gibney, and "Retraction" by Marie Michaels.

My story: "Corporate Cthulhu Inc." I collaborated with a very talented author named Evan Dicken on this story. Honestly, Evan wrote at least two thirds of this story, probably more. I contributed certain scenes and helped with line edits and fine-tuning the final manuscript. Overall, I am very happy with how the story turned out.

Final thoughts: I will be honest and admit I dreaded reading this anthology. It's 418 pages of what seems like a very limited theme. Credit to the authors for turning in excellent stories and to the editor for putting this anthology together with variety in mind. Each story is different; some are funny, some grim. Some seem very cutting edge and modern, while others hearken back to older times. Some are short, others are rather lengthy, in some you see the protagonists, in others they are only hinted at. Some of the authors employed clever formatting tactics (like a series of emails, for instance) to tell their stories. I was astonished to find myself breezing through this anthology at a very fast clip. Thinking back there's not really a dud story in the bunch. I give it an A.

You can order a copy of Corporate Cthulhu here.

Title: Digital Horror Fiction Anthology
Theme: non-themed horror story showcase
Publisher: Digital Fiction Publishing Corp.
Editor: Michael Wills
Number of stories: 25
Pages: 390
Price: $12.99 paperback, $4.99 Kindle

Favorite stories: 2:51, Behind the Caterpillar by Gregory L. Norris (what an abrupt, heartbreaking ending!), A Pocket of Madness by Samuel Marzioli (very interesting), Aces and Kings by David M. Koenig (excellent weird western-meets-King in Yellow mythos), Democracy by Larry Hinkle (had a feeling about the ending and I was right, but well worth reading), and Intermediary by Jason A. Wyckoff (classic jungle exploration gone horribly wrong vibe.)

My story: "Building Condemned (Seeking Asylum)"
A man finds himself in a mental asylum and immediately begins making much-needed improvements, even after learning the structure will soon be demolished.

The concept of chirality is explored. I wrote the story for another anthology. That editor short listed the story but ultimately passed on it. Soon after, it found a home in Alessandro Manzetti's Bram Stoker award-nominated "The Beauty of Death" anthology. Since then, I polished up the story and made a few revisions, and Mr. Wills kindly reprinted it in this new anthology.

Final thoughts: I would have chosen a more creative title, but story-wise there are some real gems here. (A previous anthology, Memento Mori, is also a very worthwhile read.) I am also glad that, despite their name, Digital Fiction Publishing publishes not just for Kindle but in paperback, which I prefer.

The only bad news is that two of the stories are absolutely dreadful for all the wrong reasons. I counted nineteen (19) typos and mistakes in the second story and several typos in one of the last stories.

I give it a B. You can order a copy of Digital Horror Fiction Volume 1 by clicking this link.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Followers