Nightmares: A New Decade Of Modern Horror edited by Ellen Datlow, Part 2
The Shallows
In an Old Ones apocalypse, a man natters and has lost track of objective reality. What is the point of this? Okay.
Little Pig
An okay tale of memory, apprehension and resentful despair.
Omphalos
A bizarre senseless tale of a freakish family and no narrative continuity.
How We Escaped Our Certain Fate
A good tale of zombies and a man wonders if the zombies’ ominous silence has intentionality.
That Tiny Flutter Of The Heart I Used To Call Love
This has a family of psychos, dolls, romantic disaster and a tiresomely complicated plot.
Interstate Love Song (Murder Ballad No.8)
By Caitlin R Kiernan. 2 murderous sisters with no ethical framework stalk the backroads. They’re irredeemable and the inevitable happens.
Best Lines:
“Can’t you smell victim?”
“Cut out for nothing much but stripping and whoring.”
Shay Corsham Worsted
A forgotten living weapon starts acting oddly. Excellent.
The Atlas Of Hell
An excellent terrifying tale of people searching for the title artefact.
Ambitious Boys Like You
Two thieves rob an old man’s house and like ‘Don’t Breathe’, it goes badly for them. The owner is in a thunderous mood and the ill-advised thieves find out what goes on in the basement. This was very good.
Best Line:
“Each more mean and joyless than the last.”