Selected Stories: Horror and Dark Fantasy

by Kevin J. Anderson

Though best-known for his science fiction novels, #1 bestseller Kevin J. Anderson has also written dozens of darker stories, ranging from eerie suspense, to surprise shockers, to monster encounters, to atmospheric Bradbury-esque tales, ranging in length from flash fiction to novellas.
In these 29 stories, you will read about a nightmarish Wisconsin small town, rock stars raised from the dead, vampires, werewolves, zombies, murderers and sorcerers…and the heroes who battle them.

Genres: Horror

381 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 15, 2018

About the author

Yes, I have a lot of books, and if this is your first visit to my amazon author page, it can be a little overwhelming. If you are new to my work, let me recommend a few titles as good places to start. I love my Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. series, humorous horror/mysteries, which begin with DEATH WARMED OVER. My steampunk fantasy adventures, CLOCKWORK ANGELS and CLOCKWORK LIVES, written with Neil Peart, legendary drummer from Rush, are two of my very favorite novels ever. And my magnum opus, the science fiction epic The Saga of Seven Suns, begins with HIDDEN EMPIRE. After you've tried those, I hope you'll check out some of my other series.

I have written spin-off novels for Star Wars, StarCraft, Titan A.E., and The X-Files, and I'm the co-author of the Dune prequels. My original works include the Saga of Seven Suns series and the Nebula Award-nominated Assemblers of Infinity. I have also written several comic books including the Dark Horse Star Wars collection Tales of the Jedi written in collaboration with Tom Veitch, Predator titles (also for Dark Horse), and X-Files titles for Topps.

I serve as a judge in the Writers of the Future contest.

My wife is author Rebecca Moesta. We currently reside near Monument, Colorado.

Reviews

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s a handful of stories in here that are humorous, and while I definitely agree with Anderson’s assertion in the introductions to these stories that horror can also be funny, some of them were just so silly that they disrupted the feel of the book. When I settle in to read something described as horror and dark fantasy, I’m definitely looking for a certain feel. Humor can leaven that, but I prefer that it not get too silly. There are also a few stories that are a little cartoonish or ham-handed in one way or another. That said, there’s plenty of delightful, spine-tingling, downright chilling material in here as well, so the book as a whole is well worth the read. Just a content warning for you: there is one brief, frank rape scene in here. It’s handled well (i.e. it isn’t lurid or prurient), but it might be a tough scene for some readers.

I enjoy the Tucker’s Grove stories, but some are definitely better than others. There’s a humor piece about a man who goes to great lengths to track down Dracula for entertaining reasons. There are several werewolf stories, including a nicely chilling one set in the middle of nowhere and a rather silly one set in Hollywood. The humorous story about resurrecting a one-hit wonder metal singer starts out well but gets over-the-top goofy at the end. There’s a fabulous story about an antique camera inhabited by an incubus, which delightfully manages to include the phrase “psychic moebius strip.” There’s a Dan Shamble, P.I. story set at a cosplay convention that is just a bit of silly fun.

I think my favorite stories were some of Anderson’s very short flash fictions. “Age Rings” was the first story in this book to truly make my jaw drop. It’s short enough that I can’t really say anything about it without giving too much away. The same can be said about a chilling Christmas story later in the book.

There’s a delightful piece that explores the origins of the pieces of Frankenstein’s monster, deftly interweaving the tales. There’s also a story about a drummer who bikes through Africa, only to discover a mysterious little town that is the source of some truly unusual drums. A few chilling ghost stories round things out, mostly set in various historical periods.

On the whole I recommend Anderson’s collection of dark fantasy and horror tales. Maybe if you’re expecting the bits of silliness they won’t break the mood for you quite as much as they did for me, and there’s plenty of good, chilling material in here.


Original review posted on my blog: http://www.errantdreams.com/2018/10/r...

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the fact that it took me nearly 2 months to get through this collection says a lot. It isn't a bad collection at all, but it felt about twice as long as it needed to be. I started out really enjoying the stories, particularly the ones set in Tucker's Grove, but after the first handful, they really started to blend together. There are two zombie stories near the beginning that are only a story or two apart; the two stories are so similar that they could have been companion pieces, it's basically the same story in a different setting.

That said, there are some fun stories in this collection. The author clearly leans more towards horror humour rather than straight horror, and some of the stories are hilarious. I enjoyed the Dan Shambles one, and there were a couple short, punchy stories as well.

I enjoyed the author's writing a lot, and I'm not opposed to reading more of his work, but this collection wasn't a favorite for me. If it had been shorter and maybe did away with a few of the too-similar stories, it would have been a much stronger collection.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kevin J. Anderson's stories collected here, show a growth in his style, imagination and ability to tell a tale. By the last story, he has you hooked and wanting more.
I have read his collaboration with Brian Herbert, the prequels to Frank Herbert's and the sequels and I see where he put a major part of the work together. You should do more of those types of collaborations or out right extensions of the Dune Universe. The backstory of the Honored Matres has not been told...
The performance of the stories by Bryan and Sonya Anderson was professionally done though I will agree with another reviewer that the paucity of female character voices could have been handled by one narrator. I would like to have Sonya perform an offering solo. Emphasis on perform.
Overall, I think anyone enjoying a good horror story would like this work and any writing student could benefit by charting the growth of the Anderson's mastering his trade shown throughout this work.
"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK, I am having a difficult time figuring out what to say about this one. I liked most of the tales, I never expect to like them all when reading a bunch of short stories. There were a bunch that had me glued to the headset. I didn't like the narration and that is where I got stuck. I tried speeding it up and slowing it down, nothing helped. It was just not my style of reading. The way some of the legendary creatures were portrayed and retold was nice. I find myself smiling more when characters have an unusual end or revelation in a short story than in longer novels or novellas. That happened here, but I think I need to revisit it on my own so that I can focus more on the narrative than the narration.

This story was given to me for free at my request for my voluntary and unbiased review.

[Isaak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely a great story collection, whilst showing evident signs of writing outside of his genre, the author manages to capture some great dark moments. Sometimes he did trail off and take a more comedic approach, which whilst i didn’t like the inclusion of, i definitely appreciate due to the life and the uniqueness it provides to the collection, which sets it apart from the competition.

I liked the short and sweet approach to some of the stories, they really impacted me and the punchiness of the stories really stood out. One of the few comedic stories i enjoyed was about the man who tried to track down Dracula. Just coming off the back end of Bram Stokers vampire novel, i really appreciated the light nods to the original.

I would definitely recommend this short story collection to somebody that has a hard time keeping serious throughout a dark tale, as the humorous stories really lift the mood. The author nailed it with this collection and whilst some stories were a bit rough around the edges, i really did enjoy this book and am looking forward to reading more of the writers material in the future.

[timj26 · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great mix of dark and lighthearted story’s
Some standouts for me were the two stories written with Neil Peart and the story of how victor Frankenstein got the parts to make his monster
The narrators and production are top notch highly recommended
I received a free review audiobook and voluntarily left this review

[Breane Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

Received an arc from netgalley. Most of these horror stories rock! Definitely get this when it comes out!

[Ranger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of wonderfully funny horror stories, along with plays on classic monsters.

[Al Burke · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun selection of horror shorts. Full review here - https://www.alwroteabook.com/2019/05/...

[Erin Penn]

Bonus from the Dan Shamble Kickstarter.

[Danae · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know if I would call these stories horror. Dark? Yes. However, it is one of those books that is full of dark humor, so it eliminates any presence of terror. I devoured these short stories, and I don't like scary stories. It is one for the bookshelves.
5/5 stars.
For the full review see my blog at https://bookgirlreviewsbooks.blogspot...