DarkFuse #1 edited by Shane Staley

Title: DarkFuse #1

Editor: Shane Staley

Authors: William Meikle, Michael Penkas, William R. Eakin, E. G. Smith, Gary McMahon, & Christopher Fulbright

Publisher: DarkFuse

Publication date: March 25th, 2014

My rating: 4 of 5

(Book read from March 29th to March 30th, 2014,  from a review copy received from the publisher through NetGalley, in exchange of an honest review.)  

 

Summary & My Thoughts on the Stories:

The premier volume of DarkFuse's anthology series, featuring 6 original tales of dark fiction.
  

 

"She Sleeps in the Depths" by William Meikle

  

In this first story, we meet Fallon (and later Val), and they both have been hearing this weird song over & over again, and felt drawn to a particular place in search of the song & it's meaning, in hope to stop it. I quite liked this story, the idea was so good, and I loved the ending.

 

 My rating: 3 of 5

 

 

"Better Heard and Not Seen" by Michael Penkas

Better Heard and Not Seen was my most favorite story in this anthology. It was so eerie (I got chills all over), and so hearbreaking, and plain scary, and it packed quite a punch for such a short story. In it we meet the 7-year old Kevin, who lives in a new house, and is scared from the thing living in his closet. As I said, this story was just plain scary, which I didn't expected, and it was practically perfect, from the beginning to the very end.

  

My rating: 5 of 5

  
 

"Carrion Fowl" by William R. Eakin

  

Carrion Fowl was something else. It's set in an apocalyptic world, where people had started to mutate, or maybe I should say to evolve in something else - half birds, half lizards, and still a tiny part men. The world-building in this story was quite brilliant, and almost scary (I wouldn't want to leave in it). And the story, it was just so heartbreaking, though I wish it was a tiny bit shorter, but still, so good!

  

My rating: 4 of 5

 
 

"Jaws of Life" by E. G. Smith

In Jaws of Life, we meet Chandler, who just had a car accident, and now he's stuck in his car, and waiting - hoping - for help. Some weird children find him, but they don't want to help him, at least Fisher seems like he doesn't want to help him, and orders the others not to tell the grown ups about him. I had a pretty good feeling why, and even though I wasn't surprised, I was still sad when it happened.

  

My rating: 3.5 of 5

  
  

"Netherview" by Gary McMahon

  

I really don't want to go into details about this story, but I loved it. We follow the young married couple Ria & Roy, and one eerie place they come across on the road. This story was eeire & sad, and to be honest, it was over too soon. I wanted more, and I was sad when it was over. Still, it was really good.

  

My rating: 4 of 5

 

"Children of the Horned God" by Christopher Fulbright

Ok, so overall I wasn't a fan of this story. I loved the beginning, and how the story developed, it was really good, but near the end, I just didn't like it. It was too weird for me (and I never thought I'd say this, ever). The ending wasn't bad, just too weird. And it was imaginative, and dark, and sad, but not quite my cup of tea.

My rating: 3 of 5

Overall, the DarkFuse #1 anthology is a great collection of dark & eerie & mysterious stories, and if you're a fan of them, I highly recommend it!

 

 

 

Challenges:

 

 2014 Review Pile Reading Challenge