Deadman's Tome: Campfire Tales #2

by Deadman (Editor), Amy Grech, James H. Longmore

While there is hardly anything that delivers like a good scary story told during the pitch of night, they don't quite compare to the stories that go straight for the jugular. What do I mean? I mean tales that deliver a powerful message, a daunting reminder by effectively reflect aspects of culture without needing to exaggerate a thing. I mean stories that showcase the struggle that the young in a war torn city go through. I mean, stories of demented little psychopaths raising Hell on school grounds, stories that seem to real to be fiction, but so extreme you wish it was.

This volume of Deadman's Tome Campfire Tales includes a handful of powerful, emotionally charged, demented stories. As mentioned before, dear reader, please do not read these stories in the dark.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories

104 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2017

Reviews

[Kevin Ansbro · Rating 5 out of 5]

“It’s as much fun to scare as to be scared.”
—Vincent Price

A windfall of writers from around the globe have collaborated to bring us a cross-genre anthology of short stories, evoking memories of the creepy tales told over the sound of a crackling campfire.
The writers approach the task with great gusto, each stirring a cauldron of ghoulish accounts that are sure to unnerve and enchant.
The capriciousness of life and death is deftly realised by the participants. And it’s all here: the naivety of a boy trained to kill in one story, set against the born-to-kill detachment of a serial killer in another. Furthermore, we are introduced to a mélange of dystopian metaphors and terrifying doppelgängers, which in turn leads us to nightmarish relationships, flesh-eating monsters and a contingent of extra-terrestrials.
Our very own Richard Van Holst pitches in with a scholarly and delightfully quirky homage to Flaubert’s Parrot that, for me, outshines Lincoln in the Bardo in the posthumous bickering department.
I spent a wonderful time in the company of these talented writers, many of whom are able to channel their dark side with worrying ease. Great stuff!

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume (actually the second of two) contains a collection of campfire tales designed to scare the reader out of his or her skin. Psychotic humans, driven to bizarre acts of cruelty, stalk the innocent, striking with breathtaking ferocity. Parasites seek out unwilling or unsuspecting hosts with terrifying results. Cryptids hide in the shadows at the edges of seemingly idyllic villages, turning rose-coloured dreams a more disturbing shade of red. Paranormal creatures strike up alliances with humans but not without enormous cost to the latter. The contributors to this issue of Deadman's Tome take some familiar motifs of horror and rework them in unusual ways, with verve, originality and dark humour. The cover illustration by Marc (a.k.a. "Monkeelino") adds a final chilling touch.

Thanks are due to my GR friends and fellow authors, Christopher Conlon and Leo X. Robertson, whose writings and suggestions inspired my own contribution to this issue of Deadman's Tome.

[Leo Robertson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay I guess you're gonna get mad at me if my reviews between books one and two don't differ slightly. Does THIS count??

Edited by Mr Deadman, cover art by Monkeelino, features a story by Josh Schlossberg, and another by me! ("Cool Kids", it's called. One of my favourites.) Synergy-tastic!!

Here it is on Amazon—awesome stories by up-and-coming new voices in horror. Check it out.

[Rebecca Gransden · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fine short anthology of creepy tales. Having not read Vol.1 I can’t comment on how this one compliments its evil twin, but the volume has a nicely balanced mix of stories. A cool variety of writing styles and themes keeps interest, and the brevity of the collection works to its advantage. The practice of stories being read around a campfire is pleasingly nostalgic, and the tales chosen here fit well with that whilst at the same time having enough chutzpah to inject something new and surprising. An enjoyable horror collection with an eye-catching cover design.

[Marc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vol. 2 of this collection picks up right where Vol. 1 left off with an eclectic and entertaining mix of stories. I don't tend to read a lot of horror, but I appreciated the mix of styles/approaches in this collection. Vol. 2 feels like humans take center stage as the monster. My favorites: "Viremia" by Josh Schlossberg (great pace, fun twist, and just plain creepy); "Cool Kids" by Leo X. Robertson (revenge makes for some truly disturbing horror--all I can say, is you better hope the classmates you mistreated in school don't read this one for inspiration); and "The Posthumous Parrot: A French Provincial Ghost Story" by Richard Van Holst (not so much scary as utterly charming).

Full disclosure: I worked on the cover for these two volumes, which means every review garners me $25,748.36 in royalties.