What do you think?
Rate this book
Nox Pareidolia
From the Bram Stoker Award-nominated editor of the 2018 This is Horror Anthology of the Year, ASHES AND ENTROPY, comes a new vision of weird and horrific ambiguity. Nox Pareidolia includes tales by Laird Barron, S.P. Miskowski, Brian Evenson, Gwendolyn Kiste, Micheal Wehunt, Kristi DeMeester, Christopher Ropes, Zin E. Rocklyn, Paul Jessup, Doungjai Gam, Don Webb and Duane Pesice, K.H. Vaughan, Alvaro Zinos-Amaro, and more yet to be announced!
383 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 31, 2019
197 people are currently reading
407 people want to read
About the author
Robert S. Wilson
45 books167 followersRobert S. Wilson was an author once. Now he spends every day trying to swim out of an unending slush pile and back into the dark moneyless void of being a writer. He continues to fail. He’s also the editor of Nox Pareidolia and Ashes and Entropy.
Robert's short fiction has appeared in numerous publications including Vastarien: A Literary Journal, Nature Futures, Daily Science Fiction, Factor Four Magazine, Dark Moon Digest, Test Patterns: Creature Features, 32 White Horses on a Vermillion Hill: Volume One, Cosmic Scream, Darkfuse Magazine, Gothic Lovecraft, and more.
Robert's short fiction has appeared in numerous publications including Vastarien: A Literary Journal, Nature Futures, Daily Science Fiction, Factor Four Magazine, Dark Moon Digest, Test Patterns: Creature Features, 32 White Horses on a Vermillion Hill: Volume One, Cosmic Scream, Darkfuse Magazine, Gothic Lovecraft, and more.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
April 24, 2020
3.5 Stars
Review to come, sending this one to SCREAM Mag.
Review to come, sending this one to SCREAM Mag.
November 19, 2023
New artistry from great voices, perceptions old and new, interjecting the reader into new zones, taking you to the precipice of fears, perplexities, and realms colliding, a phenomenon of weirdness and horrification before you with pareidolia.
These tales that follow are the ones that worked for me and reviewed of the many in the collection.
Watch Me Burn with the Light of Ghosts
by Paul Jessup
Starts with rabbit masked killers, there be no run rabbit, instead rabbit coming to folks of a town in masks bent on mayhem and destruction end of world stuff on a mission said to have a calling from a special one.
Blood flows and scene dynamic don’t get be in their vicinity when they decide its end of the world.
Immolation by Kristi DeMeester
Darkness calling mother whispering, abuse and the forgotten goddess, a void and terribleness awaits.
“What will you become when I am gone?”
I spoke my mother’s words back to the darkness. “What will you become?”
Venom by S.P. Miskowski
In silent moments of the night or day, that sense of invasion of the crawling kind, this tale may induce one into kaleidoscopic journeying of arachnophobia kind.
Artistry with what creeps with stupefaction and nightmarish states of self.
Patient and doctor twirling and descending, control lost, into other unfathomable domains.
A superlative tale.
Strident Caller by Laird Barron
Laird with his lyrical third eye potent tellings, transmutation of words, archaic and contemporary fused juxtapositioning the reader in realms colliding surreal and real, transfiguring the scene to a conjuring of Laird Barrons calling.
I hear your echo Laird that cosmic horror one to chill your blood that, “voice into the dark, waiting for an echo.”
The Strident caller and skull candle transcending the scene and then on ….like a scene out of Mandy ( 2018 Film).
Resistance had been present and swaying away from getting to reading Laird Barron’s work but the echoes getting through and hear his calling and will take upon the road of dissecting his ballads.
Gander at these words strung together that follow, characters evoked within this tale with craftsmanship of the author ones to interlope your fleeting precious minutes of immersive reading.
Craven is..”Unlike many of his friends and fellow travelers, he hadn’t gotten hooked on liquor or addicted to dope or caught an embarrassing, career-ending disease. Jack of a dozen trades and possessed of not half-bad looks, his mutably convivial personality proved sufficient to excel at the job of survival.”
Andy, “Andy was a late career Boris Karloff-looking sonofab***h who stalked the grounds while wearing the scowl of an ax-murderer on vacation.”
There is Deborah the temptress, “Seventy-fifth birthday coming next month, she possessed the florid sumptuousness of an aged yet ageless Italian scream queen.”
The possible star character, Artemis, one whom “Craven rescued the brindle pit bull.”
When you have time check out my Laird Barron interview on writing.
When the Nightingale Devours the Stars
by Gwendolyn
Do you see birds gathering in the trees and ground and is there a girl with “a tragic smile that could break a heart in two.”
Unfathomable things may arise.
This is a tale of Ella Jane, the one who came back home to small town, not from war, and unwillingly, a survivor of a kind of a cult in a remote oasis desert, one of death and sacrifice.
Her only friend invites us in elaborating on her life before leaving the town and the dilemma of now with the mystery of Ella, the terrible things she has seen and back from with the town folk feeling she owes gratitude in them returning her home safely.
The mystery of Ella Jane with the great expectations and disquietness, carefully crafted storytelling immersing you till the end.
The Room Above by Brian Evenson
Once again the reader is interjected into The Brian Evenson zone with a perplexing crucible, a character in a state of alienation with a first person short narrative, divulging on fears of sleep, dreams, and a room.
Memorable haunting brevity treat that may ruminate for a time.
Hello by Michael Wehunt
A few words and lines..
“Hello”
“Clay head. I just had to let you know”
The author of the essay will elaborate in the mystery of these words and the author of them.
Beware an Uncanny zone you are entering!
There is analysis of a few horror stories from an anthology, A Thing Behind All Things, published by P.A.R. Press.
Tales inspired by lyrics of Lionel Richie’s hit 1984 single “Hello,” amongst other things discussed in this work.
He does get you hooked into the whole puzzle.
There is mention of the known horror author John Lagan and a tale of his and appearance at a Shirley Jackson Award Ceremony.
There is praise and gratitude of John Lagan’s efforts.
All this talk of “Hello” may have you another tale to search out and read by Kirsten Mester.
I wish I didn’t sell my vinyl record collection, Lionel Richie was in there.
Unnerving peculiarities, are they coincidences or a conspiracy?
I do feel for the authors dilemma, too long in this obsession and association with “hello,” for the reader and author a hard one to undo.
Searching..so far no trace of P.A.R, The Pine Arch Collection….
Since there was plenty mention of Hello I now say…Goodbye!
Excerpts
“Rhythms are borrowed and bent from “Hello,” the words from the song are corrupted like some creepy remix—all devices that are not used much in the Mester story, which of course is concerned with the likeness of Richie on a surface level, however bizarre that surface is.”
“It’s not often that life is weirder than weird fiction, but here I am, poised to claim that it is.”
“-And horror lives on. Doesn’t it? In us. We pull it from all around us. We think about it all the time even when we’re smiling. We think about it when despair has its fingers twisted in our guts. When we’re a heartbeat from a restful sleep. When a noise creeps in from the hallway. We think about it when we’re shaking the hand of a stranger.”
Bag and baggage by Greg Sisco
Stepping into a train with announcer frustratingly announcing repetitively to our main character whilst a sense of things coming to an end with feelings of regret in life and then the uninvited, a surprise baggage left behind steers ones direction with some promise of hope and undoing.
Visceral strangeness with first person narration of a musician, once a saxophone player, with loss as a heavy weight and a little trouble with life.
A dilemma the main character reaches, Is he stepping up out of emptiness or trading in a far worser fate?
Short immersive reading descending into strangeness that will have you hoping you don’t find yourself in the same predicament as the protagonist and seeing and retaining certain lost baggage.
These tales that follow are the ones that worked for me and reviewed of the many in the collection.
Watch Me Burn with the Light of Ghosts
by Paul Jessup
Starts with rabbit masked killers, there be no run rabbit, instead rabbit coming to folks of a town in masks bent on mayhem and destruction end of world stuff on a mission said to have a calling from a special one.
Blood flows and scene dynamic don’t get be in their vicinity when they decide its end of the world.
Immolation by Kristi DeMeester
Darkness calling mother whispering, abuse and the forgotten goddess, a void and terribleness awaits.
“What will you become when I am gone?”
I spoke my mother’s words back to the darkness. “What will you become?”
Venom by S.P. Miskowski
In silent moments of the night or day, that sense of invasion of the crawling kind, this tale may induce one into kaleidoscopic journeying of arachnophobia kind.
Artistry with what creeps with stupefaction and nightmarish states of self.
Patient and doctor twirling and descending, control lost, into other unfathomable domains.
A superlative tale.
Strident Caller by Laird Barron
Laird with his lyrical third eye potent tellings, transmutation of words, archaic and contemporary fused juxtapositioning the reader in realms colliding surreal and real, transfiguring the scene to a conjuring of Laird Barrons calling.
I hear your echo Laird that cosmic horror one to chill your blood that, “voice into the dark, waiting for an echo.”
The Strident caller and skull candle transcending the scene and then on ….like a scene out of Mandy ( 2018 Film).
Resistance had been present and swaying away from getting to reading Laird Barron’s work but the echoes getting through and hear his calling and will take upon the road of dissecting his ballads.
Gander at these words strung together that follow, characters evoked within this tale with craftsmanship of the author ones to interlope your fleeting precious minutes of immersive reading.
Craven is..”Unlike many of his friends and fellow travelers, he hadn’t gotten hooked on liquor or addicted to dope or caught an embarrassing, career-ending disease. Jack of a dozen trades and possessed of not half-bad looks, his mutably convivial personality proved sufficient to excel at the job of survival.”
Andy, “Andy was a late career Boris Karloff-looking sonofab***h who stalked the grounds while wearing the scowl of an ax-murderer on vacation.”
There is Deborah the temptress, “Seventy-fifth birthday coming next month, she possessed the florid sumptuousness of an aged yet ageless Italian scream queen.”
The possible star character, Artemis, one whom “Craven rescued the brindle pit bull.”
When you have time check out my Laird Barron interview on writing.
When the Nightingale Devours the Stars
by Gwendolyn
Do you see birds gathering in the trees and ground and is there a girl with “a tragic smile that could break a heart in two.”
Unfathomable things may arise.
This is a tale of Ella Jane, the one who came back home to small town, not from war, and unwillingly, a survivor of a kind of a cult in a remote oasis desert, one of death and sacrifice.
Her only friend invites us in elaborating on her life before leaving the town and the dilemma of now with the mystery of Ella, the terrible things she has seen and back from with the town folk feeling she owes gratitude in them returning her home safely.
The mystery of Ella Jane with the great expectations and disquietness, carefully crafted storytelling immersing you till the end.
The Room Above by Brian Evenson
Once again the reader is interjected into The Brian Evenson zone with a perplexing crucible, a character in a state of alienation with a first person short narrative, divulging on fears of sleep, dreams, and a room.
Memorable haunting brevity treat that may ruminate for a time.
Hello by Michael Wehunt
A few words and lines..
“Hello”
“Clay head. I just had to let you know”
The author of the essay will elaborate in the mystery of these words and the author of them.
Beware an Uncanny zone you are entering!
There is analysis of a few horror stories from an anthology, A Thing Behind All Things, published by P.A.R. Press.
Tales inspired by lyrics of Lionel Richie’s hit 1984 single “Hello,” amongst other things discussed in this work.
He does get you hooked into the whole puzzle.
There is mention of the known horror author John Lagan and a tale of his and appearance at a Shirley Jackson Award Ceremony.
There is praise and gratitude of John Lagan’s efforts.
All this talk of “Hello” may have you another tale to search out and read by Kirsten Mester.
I wish I didn’t sell my vinyl record collection, Lionel Richie was in there.
Unnerving peculiarities, are they coincidences or a conspiracy?
I do feel for the authors dilemma, too long in this obsession and association with “hello,” for the reader and author a hard one to undo.
Searching..so far no trace of P.A.R, The Pine Arch Collection….
Since there was plenty mention of Hello I now say…Goodbye!
Excerpts
“Rhythms are borrowed and bent from “Hello,” the words from the song are corrupted like some creepy remix—all devices that are not used much in the Mester story, which of course is concerned with the likeness of Richie on a surface level, however bizarre that surface is.”
“It’s not often that life is weirder than weird fiction, but here I am, poised to claim that it is.”
“-And horror lives on. Doesn’t it? In us. We pull it from all around us. We think about it all the time even when we’re smiling. We think about it when despair has its fingers twisted in our guts. When we’re a heartbeat from a restful sleep. When a noise creeps in from the hallway. We think about it when we’re shaking the hand of a stranger.”
Bag and baggage by Greg Sisco
Stepping into a train with announcer frustratingly announcing repetitively to our main character whilst a sense of things coming to an end with feelings of regret in life and then the uninvited, a surprise baggage left behind steers ones direction with some promise of hope and undoing.
Visceral strangeness with first person narration of a musician, once a saxophone player, with loss as a heavy weight and a little trouble with life.
A dilemma the main character reaches, Is he stepping up out of emptiness or trading in a far worser fate?
Short immersive reading descending into strangeness that will have you hoping you don’t find yourself in the same predicament as the protagonist and seeing and retaining certain lost baggage.
October 31, 2019
*** Review copy purchased online from Nightscape Press ***
With stunning artwork from Luke Spooner, this horror anthology from Nightscape Press features such a wide swathe of talented and diverse authors, and it is definitely not the same old parade of the “usual suspects.” It deviates from relying on the formula of using a few “big names” to sell the anthology, mixed in with mostly less widely-known authors. Readers with their pulse on who is doing some of the best work in the genre right now on the small press scene will recognize and cherish the stories by Gwendolyn Kiste, Kristi DeMeester, Michael Wehunt, S.P. Miskowski, Brian Evenson, and so many more, as I did.
Nightscape Press has consistently been releasing some of the most cutting edge horror fiction out there for the past several years, and Nox Pareidolia is a strong continuation of that tradition.
Although I was not expecting Michael Wehunt’s story “Hello” to have anything to do with the 1984 Lionel Richie song, it was an absolute trip to read this metafiction story, which breaks the fourth wall, so to speak, and blurs the lines between the author’s life and the protagonist’s. I should also note that Michael has a forthcoming book through Nightscape called Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Bad Can Ever Happen Here, and that $10 from each sale of this chapbook will go to the Southern Poverty Law Center. (Once sold out, a total of $2,500 will be donated to this charity).
“Herr Scheintod” by LC Von Hessen had a cool Edgar Allan Poe vibe to it while those looking for more existentialism in their horror will enjoy both “The Room Above” by Brian Evenson and “Sincerely Eden” by Amelia Gorman among others.
Other highlights for me included “When We Were Trespassers” by Doungjai Gam. A young couple breaks into an abandoned house at great risk to themselves because the someone close to one of them, John, passed away here specific circumstances. It goes into the perils of drug use, of obsessiveness, and of need. That’s all I can say without veering into spoiler territory. The author has a forthcoming book through Nightscape, Watch the Whole Goddamned Thing Burn, which I am eagerly anticipating.
“The Little Drawer Full of Chaos” by Annie Neugebauer is also another notable entry. I admit my bias as a librarian upfront for this story. Seeing protagonists who work in libraries is always a delight for me, as it was here. Librarians will understand the obsessiveness with that one book and not being satisfied until we put it in its correct spot on the shelf. May, the protagonist, is dealing with that, but it morphs into obsessiveness at home, which gets progressively worse. Her partner, June, also goes topsy turvy. It builds toward an explosive climax.
Meanwhile, one of my perennial favourites, Gwendolyn Kiste also has an entry here. Her spectacular novella, The Invention of Ghosts, releases at the end of November, and I recommend that you buy it while you still can, especially if you want a print copy. Her story here, “While the Nightingale Devours the Stars,” which has one of the most stunning titles ever, tells the tale of a girl, Ella Jane. She is the sole survivor of a fire caused by a death cult. There’s a fundraiser to bring her back home, and the townsfolk are all trying to pitch in, but the protagonist doesn’t really know what to make of Ella Jane’s return and finds her a very tragic character. Gwendolyn Kiste does bird horror very well and this story is no exception. I found it creepy, disturbing, and reminiscent of another Shirley Jackson tale, The Lottery not necessarily in terms of the plot per se, but the overall darkness that looms in the atmosphere. And again, I know, I know, another “obvious” comparison, but it rings true.
Saving the best for last: my favourite story was undoubtedly “The Moody Rooms of Agatha Tate” by Wendy Nikel. This story of a person going into the house of an old woman who has recently passed away (the Agatha Tate of the title) called to mind The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson strongly. While I realize that’s a very mainstream/well-known comparison, I stand by it because it’s difficult to evoke that sense of dread and tension and pull it off as well as Nikel does here. We soon find out that Agatha was into some dark things, and that’s all I can say without spoiling the rest of the story. It builds suspense in an exhilarating way and presents a phenomenal story. This story is also a wonderful addition to “unreliable narrator” territory. I also found it a testament to the author’s skill that they managed to build such a tense narrative with the possibility of more glaring or obvious terrors, but did it so simply and yet so effectively. I can’t sing the praises of this story enough.
Nox Pareidolia is meatier fare than most horror anthologies, and although I would not classify it in “doorstopper” territory, it is incredibly substantial. Readers should take their time to absorb this anthology and savour it. This volume is a slow burn, not something that readers can “tear through” and devour. It requires a bit more patience, but overall, it is another very strong offering that packs some hefty punches for horror readers who want darker and more challenging fare.
With stunning artwork from Luke Spooner, this horror anthology from Nightscape Press features such a wide swathe of talented and diverse authors, and it is definitely not the same old parade of the “usual suspects.” It deviates from relying on the formula of using a few “big names” to sell the anthology, mixed in with mostly less widely-known authors. Readers with their pulse on who is doing some of the best work in the genre right now on the small press scene will recognize and cherish the stories by Gwendolyn Kiste, Kristi DeMeester, Michael Wehunt, S.P. Miskowski, Brian Evenson, and so many more, as I did.
Nightscape Press has consistently been releasing some of the most cutting edge horror fiction out there for the past several years, and Nox Pareidolia is a strong continuation of that tradition.
Although I was not expecting Michael Wehunt’s story “Hello” to have anything to do with the 1984 Lionel Richie song, it was an absolute trip to read this metafiction story, which breaks the fourth wall, so to speak, and blurs the lines between the author’s life and the protagonist’s. I should also note that Michael has a forthcoming book through Nightscape called Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Bad Can Ever Happen Here, and that $10 from each sale of this chapbook will go to the Southern Poverty Law Center. (Once sold out, a total of $2,500 will be donated to this charity).
“Herr Scheintod” by LC Von Hessen had a cool Edgar Allan Poe vibe to it while those looking for more existentialism in their horror will enjoy both “The Room Above” by Brian Evenson and “Sincerely Eden” by Amelia Gorman among others.
Other highlights for me included “When We Were Trespassers” by Doungjai Gam. A young couple breaks into an abandoned house at great risk to themselves because the someone close to one of them, John, passed away here specific circumstances. It goes into the perils of drug use, of obsessiveness, and of need. That’s all I can say without veering into spoiler territory. The author has a forthcoming book through Nightscape, Watch the Whole Goddamned Thing Burn, which I am eagerly anticipating.
“The Little Drawer Full of Chaos” by Annie Neugebauer is also another notable entry. I admit my bias as a librarian upfront for this story. Seeing protagonists who work in libraries is always a delight for me, as it was here. Librarians will understand the obsessiveness with that one book and not being satisfied until we put it in its correct spot on the shelf. May, the protagonist, is dealing with that, but it morphs into obsessiveness at home, which gets progressively worse. Her partner, June, also goes topsy turvy. It builds toward an explosive climax.
Meanwhile, one of my perennial favourites, Gwendolyn Kiste also has an entry here. Her spectacular novella, The Invention of Ghosts, releases at the end of November, and I recommend that you buy it while you still can, especially if you want a print copy. Her story here, “While the Nightingale Devours the Stars,” which has one of the most stunning titles ever, tells the tale of a girl, Ella Jane. She is the sole survivor of a fire caused by a death cult. There’s a fundraiser to bring her back home, and the townsfolk are all trying to pitch in, but the protagonist doesn’t really know what to make of Ella Jane’s return and finds her a very tragic character. Gwendolyn Kiste does bird horror very well and this story is no exception. I found it creepy, disturbing, and reminiscent of another Shirley Jackson tale, The Lottery not necessarily in terms of the plot per se, but the overall darkness that looms in the atmosphere. And again, I know, I know, another “obvious” comparison, but it rings true.
Saving the best for last: my favourite story was undoubtedly “The Moody Rooms of Agatha Tate” by Wendy Nikel. This story of a person going into the house of an old woman who has recently passed away (the Agatha Tate of the title) called to mind The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson strongly. While I realize that’s a very mainstream/well-known comparison, I stand by it because it’s difficult to evoke that sense of dread and tension and pull it off as well as Nikel does here. We soon find out that Agatha was into some dark things, and that’s all I can say without spoiling the rest of the story. It builds suspense in an exhilarating way and presents a phenomenal story. This story is also a wonderful addition to “unreliable narrator” territory. I also found it a testament to the author’s skill that they managed to build such a tense narrative with the possibility of more glaring or obvious terrors, but did it so simply and yet so effectively. I can’t sing the praises of this story enough.
Nox Pareidolia is meatier fare than most horror anthologies, and although I would not classify it in “doorstopper” territory, it is incredibly substantial. Readers should take their time to absorb this anthology and savour it. This volume is a slow burn, not something that readers can “tear through” and devour. It requires a bit more patience, but overall, it is another very strong offering that packs some hefty punches for horror readers who want darker and more challenging fare.
June 21, 2020
Several stand-out stories here:
8x10 by Duane Pesice & Don Webb
Hello by Michael Wehunt (never thought I'd read a horror story about a Lionel Richie song – and that it would actually be creepy)
The Little Drawer Full of Chaos by Annie Neugebauer
When the Nightingale Devours the Stars by Gwendolyn Kiste
8x10 by Duane Pesice & Don Webb
Hello by Michael Wehunt (never thought I'd read a horror story about a Lionel Richie song – and that it would actually be creepy)
The Little Drawer Full of Chaos by Annie Neugebauer
When the Nightingale Devours the Stars by Gwendolyn Kiste
February 8, 2020
A very full and enjoyable anthology. Some of my favorite stories were “Hello” by Michael Wehunt, “Gardening Activities for Couples” by Alvaro Zinos-Amaro, “Sincerely Eden” by Amelia Gorman, “Merge Now” by Kurt Fawver, “The Little Drawer Full of Chaos” by Annie Neugebauer, and “8 X 10” by Duane Pesice and Don Webb.
June 10, 2020
I admit, I skipped around a bit in this anthology. I specifically picked it up for Zin E. Rocklyn's contribution, after reading her gorgeous story "The Night Sun" on tor.com, but since the stories are specifically not attributed to authors (only titles are given in the table of contents), I started at the beginning. I'm glad that I did, because otherwise I would've missed some real gems.
The strongest story in this collection is, by far, Michael Wehunt's "Hello." To say much more about it would be to spoil the pure pleasure of wandering into it blind. It's been awhile since I've come across such a distinct voice. I have immediately procured a copy of "Greener Pastures," his collection of stories, as a direct result of reading his story here, and have already become enthralled by it. If you enjoyed House of Leaves, you'll be immediately sucked into this uncanny vortex of a story.
Zin E. Rocklyn's story "Birds" did not disappoint. I really cannot wait for her to put out more work. Her stories that I've read so far have been a weird dichotomy - I want to say that they are ruthless and savage, bloody and febrile, but that would be to deny that there also seems to be a fragility to them, something wondrous and hushed, like the space between the beating of huge wings.
There is also Brian Evenson, with "The Room Above," which, though sparse in his prose, never fails to elicit terror, and does so here again. My first experience reading Gwendolyn Kiste, with "When The Nightingale Devours the Stars", will surely not be my last. On the strength of these few stories alone, I'll be returning to this anthology again, to see what other gems are hiding in the graveyard dirt of Nox Pareidolia.
The strongest story in this collection is, by far, Michael Wehunt's "Hello." To say much more about it would be to spoil the pure pleasure of wandering into it blind. It's been awhile since I've come across such a distinct voice. I have immediately procured a copy of "Greener Pastures," his collection of stories, as a direct result of reading his story here, and have already become enthralled by it. If you enjoyed House of Leaves, you'll be immediately sucked into this uncanny vortex of a story.
Zin E. Rocklyn's story "Birds" did not disappoint. I really cannot wait for her to put out more work. Her stories that I've read so far have been a weird dichotomy - I want to say that they are ruthless and savage, bloody and febrile, but that would be to deny that there also seems to be a fragility to them, something wondrous and hushed, like the space between the beating of huge wings.
There is also Brian Evenson, with "The Room Above," which, though sparse in his prose, never fails to elicit terror, and does so here again. My first experience reading Gwendolyn Kiste, with "When The Nightingale Devours the Stars", will surely not be my last. On the strength of these few stories alone, I'll be returning to this anthology again, to see what other gems are hiding in the graveyard dirt of Nox Pareidolia.
August 14, 2020
I'm not going to lie but a few stories in and I was only feeling a little ho-hum about this anthology. Don't get me wrong, the writing was strong, the art excellent, and the stories creative, but I just wasn't connecting. Then comes Michael Wehunt's excellent, "Hello," and everything seemed to click.
This is a very wide-ranging collection. The horrors within each story taking us on their own unique path. But I assure you, there is a lot in here to love. And a lot of new authors to discover.
Standouts for me include: "Hello," "Gardening Activities for Couples," "Merge Now," "Herr Scheintod," "Salmon Run," "The Little Drawer Full of Chaos," "When the Nightingale Devours the Stars," "The Taste of Rot," and "In the Vastness of the Sovereign Sky."
This is a very wide-ranging collection. The horrors within each story taking us on their own unique path. But I assure you, there is a lot in here to love. And a lot of new authors to discover.
Standouts for me include: "Hello," "Gardening Activities for Couples," "Merge Now," "Herr Scheintod," "Salmon Run," "The Little Drawer Full of Chaos," "When the Nightingale Devours the Stars," "The Taste of Rot," and "In the Vastness of the Sovereign Sky."
March 6, 2020
Great anthology!
This collection has a lot of awesome short stories. My favorite one is The Nightinggale Devours the Stars. although every tale is a great part of this book. I look forward to reading more collections like this in the future!
This collection has a lot of awesome short stories. My favorite one is The Nightinggale Devours the Stars. although every tale is a great part of this book. I look forward to reading more collections like this in the future!
August 12, 2024
This is another one of my all time favorite horror anthologies. I have read and re-read most of the stories in this book. Definitely at the top of my list of favorites.
March 31, 2020
I liked this collection a lot.
One of my favorite things about it was how much the stories required me to think. Within the timespan of just a few pages I'd get lost in these elaborate and abstract worlds. The downside of that was that I tended to get lost in my own head as much as in the stories, and when I finally put the book down they had all blended together into a single sort of conceptual nightmarish dreamscape.
It wasn't until after I finished that I had the notion maybe I should have read the stories one a time, so I could have some space to mull each one over properly. I've been tearing through ebooks so quickly that I hadn't considered that some collections really are meant to be savored and reflected on, as I believe may have been the case here.
One of the things I hope to do in the future (not the near future, probably, because I still have a giant TBR pile for things I should be reviewing) is to re-read this one, one story at a time.
One of my favorite things about it was how much the stories required me to think. Within the timespan of just a few pages I'd get lost in these elaborate and abstract worlds. The downside of that was that I tended to get lost in my own head as much as in the stories, and when I finally put the book down they had all blended together into a single sort of conceptual nightmarish dreamscape.
It wasn't until after I finished that I had the notion maybe I should have read the stories one a time, so I could have some space to mull each one over properly. I've been tearing through ebooks so quickly that I hadn't considered that some collections really are meant to be savored and reflected on, as I believe may have been the case here.
One of the things I hope to do in the future (not the near future, probably, because I still have a giant TBR pile for things I should be reviewing) is to re-read this one, one story at a time.
August 15, 2020
An absolutely stunning collection of literary horror. This anthology blew me away. I generally shy away from anthologies because they can be so hit or miss. A single story in an anthology that I dislike can make me feel uninspired to keep on reading. Not the case for this one!
Every story here was quality, with several stand out selections. My favorites were the stories from Gwendolyn Kiste, S.P. Miskowski, Annie Neugebauer, and Kristi DeMeester.
If this collection has a theme, it’s “ambiguity.” These are stories that are going to make you think, and several deal with big concepts. A good handful of these stories will stay with me for a very long time. Highly recommend!
Every story here was quality, with several stand out selections. My favorites were the stories from Gwendolyn Kiste, S.P. Miskowski, Annie Neugebauer, and Kristi DeMeester.
If this collection has a theme, it’s “ambiguity.” These are stories that are going to make you think, and several deal with big concepts. A good handful of these stories will stay with me for a very long time. Highly recommend!
August 15, 2020
They oscillate.
The good ones in here are excellent, hence the four stars. If you like weird fiction or horror, I'd definitely recommend this one, just be aware that some of the shorts in here are a bit...bland. Not bad, just "meh," so to speak. If nothing else there's some great art in here.
The greatest weakness that keeps cropping up consistently is that quite a few of these have weak endings. That being said, the good ones are interesting and weird and have some excellent imagery. This was fun. :)
The good ones in here are excellent, hence the four stars. If you like weird fiction or horror, I'd definitely recommend this one, just be aware that some of the shorts in here are a bit...bland. Not bad, just "meh," so to speak. If nothing else there's some great art in here.
The greatest weakness that keeps cropping up consistently is that quite a few of these have weak endings. That being said, the good ones are interesting and weird and have some excellent imagery. This was fun. :)
February 15, 2020
An excellent group of short horror stories! There wasn't a single story here I didn't like and some blew me away, especially Laird Barron's and Gwendolin Kriste's. I only wish I knew how to pronounce the title!
Read
March 3, 2020On my DNF list. I honestly didn't make it through more than two stories. Just not my cup of tea.
August 24, 2021
After several months, I’ve finished reading Nox Pareidolia, an anthology of strange tales edited by Robert S. Wilson. The tales in this collection explore perception and what lies just beyond our understanding, ranging from the surreal and unsettling to the outright terrifying. On the whole, I enjoyed the vast majority of the stories presented, with a few of those I particularly loved noted below:
“When the Nightingale Devours the Stars” by Gwendolyn Kiste is about a small town that helps bring a young woman home after she survives the burning of a death cult. The story is beautiful, unsettling, and oddly hopeful.
“The Little Drawer Full of Chaos” by Annie Neugebauer is a heartbreaking and terrifying story about how life can suddenly and rapidly slip sideways into disarray and utter destruction.
“Just Beyond the Shore” by Elizabeth Beechwood is a lovely and strange tale about selkies that explores grief and longing.
“Lies I Told Myself” by Lynne Jamneck is an epistolary story about people getting lost and seeing strange things in the Paris catacombs
“Gardening Activities for Couples” by Alvaro Zinos-Amaro was stunning in the way it expresses the complexities and little hostilities present within the central relationship of the story.
“8×10” by Duane Pesice and Don Webb explores perception and identity, when a photo contest takes on a weird life of its own.
“Immolation” by Kristi DeMeester is a powerful tale of female power and desire. The opening line reads, “The first lesson my mother taught me was how to wash my hair in the silver of moon-rinsed rainwater so a man may never kneel between my legs for inspection rather than prayer.”
“When the Nightingale Devours the Stars” by Gwendolyn Kiste is about a small town that helps bring a young woman home after she survives the burning of a death cult. The story is beautiful, unsettling, and oddly hopeful.
“The Little Drawer Full of Chaos” by Annie Neugebauer is a heartbreaking and terrifying story about how life can suddenly and rapidly slip sideways into disarray and utter destruction.
“Just Beyond the Shore” by Elizabeth Beechwood is a lovely and strange tale about selkies that explores grief and longing.
“Lies I Told Myself” by Lynne Jamneck is an epistolary story about people getting lost and seeing strange things in the Paris catacombs
“Gardening Activities for Couples” by Alvaro Zinos-Amaro was stunning in the way it expresses the complexities and little hostilities present within the central relationship of the story.
“8×10” by Duane Pesice and Don Webb explores perception and identity, when a photo contest takes on a weird life of its own.
“Immolation” by Kristi DeMeester is a powerful tale of female power and desire. The opening line reads, “The first lesson my mother taught me was how to wash my hair in the silver of moon-rinsed rainwater so a man may never kneel between my legs for inspection rather than prayer.”
January 8, 2021
And I continue to study this Edwards story itself as well as the whole of this important anthology in a similar open-minded way as ‘you’, fathoming whether I shall ever get to the bottom here of the aesthetic, religious, political, historical and literary-noxious mythos of pareidolia, ‘NOXious’ being the word that has now suddenly, as I write this in real-time, been derived from reading the Toase above, earlier today. And — by dint of this massive book in particular, as assisted by a shorter Pareidolia anthology simultaneously by chance arriving within my purview — I have understood for the first time what I have been doing for the last 11 years (Gestalt real-time-time reviewing) is only made possible by the alchemy of something called pareidolia as assisted by my own perhaps pathetic apophenia.
The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too long to post here.
Above is its conclusion.
The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too long to post here.
Above is its conclusion.
March 1, 2021
Pareidolia is defined by Merriam-Webster as being “the tendency to perceive a specific, often meaningful image in a random or ambiguous visual pattern…the human ability to see shapes or make pictures out of randomness." The authors assembled here all presented a wide range of different takes on this theme... each with horrifying undercurrents.
The stories that stood out to me explored the quiet horror in the liminal spaces surrounding...
the ocean in “Just Beyond the Shore” by Elizabeth Beechwood,
a peculiar hospital ward in “Herr Scheintod” by LC von Hessen,
mold in "The Taste of Rot" by Steve Toase,
a religious town in “When the Nightingale Devours the Stars” by Gwendolyn Kiste,
and film and competition in “Gardening Activities for Couples” by Alvaro Zinos-Amaro.
Many of the others ranged from 'quite good' to 'just okay' in my opinion, but there was only one story that I didn't have the desire to finish ('Hello') so I can justify 5 starts for the whole anthology.
The stories that stood out to me explored the quiet horror in the liminal spaces surrounding...
the ocean in “Just Beyond the Shore” by Elizabeth Beechwood,
a peculiar hospital ward in “Herr Scheintod” by LC von Hessen,
mold in "The Taste of Rot" by Steve Toase,
a religious town in “When the Nightingale Devours the Stars” by Gwendolyn Kiste,
and film and competition in “Gardening Activities for Couples” by Alvaro Zinos-Amaro.
Many of the others ranged from 'quite good' to 'just okay' in my opinion, but there was only one story that I didn't have the desire to finish ('Hello') so I can justify 5 starts for the whole anthology.
November 28, 2021
An anthology of the perceived images, masked otherness, sadness and ghosts. Packed with well recognized writers for horror fans.
My favorites:
Watch Me Burn with The Light of Ghosts -
Paul Jessup
Immolation - Kristi DeMeester
Lies I Told Myself - Lynne Jamneck
Unmoored - Sean M. Thompson
The Past You Have, The Future You Deserve -
K.H. Vaughn
The Room Above - Brian Evenson
Salmon Run - Andrew Kozma
When The Nightingale Devours The Stars-
Gwendolyn Kiste
In The Vastness of Sovereign Sky -
S.L. Edwards
My favorites:
Watch Me Burn with The Light of Ghosts -
Paul Jessup
Immolation - Kristi DeMeester
Lies I Told Myself - Lynne Jamneck
Unmoored - Sean M. Thompson
The Past You Have, The Future You Deserve -
K.H. Vaughn
The Room Above - Brian Evenson
Salmon Run - Andrew Kozma
When The Nightingale Devours The Stars-
Gwendolyn Kiste
In The Vastness of Sovereign Sky -
S.L. Edwards
August 23, 2021
Some unique and intriguing weird fiction
I wasn’t familiar with most of the authors in this anthology, but they and the editor have made a standout collection of short stories. They were memorable enough that I looked up several of the writers’ other works (ex., S. P. Mitkowski), planning to read them soon. As “weird fiction” tends to do, the plots and story endings are often enigmatic—you’re not quite sure what is going on. Par for the course.
I wasn’t familiar with most of the authors in this anthology, but they and the editor have made a standout collection of short stories. They were memorable enough that I looked up several of the writers’ other works (ex., S. P. Mitkowski), planning to read them soon. As “weird fiction” tends to do, the plots and story endings are often enigmatic—you’re not quite sure what is going on. Par for the course.
October 17, 2022
Excellent weird fiction collection with color graphics
Almost all of the stories here are excellent, thought-provoking flashes into bizarre circumstances of dodgy and grotesque characters.
Dystopian weird future seems one of the most prominent themes in this collection.
A solid addition to the golden pantheon of weird fiction collections.
Almost all of the stories here are excellent, thought-provoking flashes into bizarre circumstances of dodgy and grotesque characters.
Dystopian weird future seems one of the most prominent themes in this collection.
A solid addition to the golden pantheon of weird fiction collections.
November 26, 2023
I picked this up as I've developed an interest in reading more short fiction of various types. It did take me a while to finish, as I found I had to be in the right mood and, as it's a physical copy, I had to have the book with me. I found I generally picked it up from October to early December.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews