Finished 8 in December with one DNF.
1. You Like It Darker by Stephen King was probably the best collection I’ve read this year. 12 stories and not really a loser in the mix. Favorites were ‘Willie the Weirdo’, ‘Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream’, ‘On Slide Inn Road’, ‘The Dreamers’ and ‘The Answer Man’. 4.2 / 5
2. Beyond the Bounds of Infinity. I’ve been piece-mealing this anthology over the last month or so, reading a story every now and then. When I got to the half point and I hadn’t liked anything I read up to that point, I realized I was never going to finish it, so…….. DNF
3. Gone South by Robert McCammon was another favorite read for the year. A southern gothic tale of redemption (on multiple fronts), with a cast of quirky characters told in McCammon’s smooth story-telling style. Why McCammon doesn’t get more media tie-ins (movies, television) is beyond me. 5 / 5
4. Trapped by Stephen King & Richard Chizmar was an entertaining, if preposterous, story about a young woman who steps in bear trap while hiking in the woods. 3 / 5
5. Bound in Blood edited by Johnny Mains was an anthology about cursed books. The second half didn’t live up to the promise of the first half. My favorite story was ‘Bell, Book and Lamp’ by Angela Slatter, were a young man’s inheritance comes with strings attached. There were also pretty good ghost stories by A. K. Benedict (‘Footnotes’) and Lucy McKnight Hardy (‘Broken Back Man’), both authors that were unfamiliar to me before reading this anthology. 3 / 5
6. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. A Christmas classic that still retains its spirit to this day. 5 / 5
7. Bruises on a Butterfly was the second thing I’ve read by Chad Lutzke, the first being Of Foster Homes and Flies. Both were similar in that they were well paced coming of age tales with somewhat anticlimactic conclusions. Lutzke can definitely write juvenile characters (especially boys), and his style of short chapters keeps the story moving along. Still, I was expecting more from the ending of Bruises, though the finish didn’t completely undermine the rest of the story. 4 / 5
8. Ghostly Tales was a collection of classic Victorian ghost stories perfect for a winter night. At only seven stories, this short anthology was the perfect length - the stories were all great and the anthology was short enough that the old time writing style didn’t become a drag. 5 / 5
9. The Witching Tree by Philip Fracassi. Finished the year last night with a quick chapbook story from Fracassi. I liked this quick read a lot. Ties into his latest novel Sarafina (which I have not read yet), and unless my mind deceives me, there was also a tie in to A Child Alone With Strangers. 5 / 5
B
1. You Like It Darker by Stephen King was probably the best collection I’ve read this year. 12 stories and not really a loser in the mix. Favorites were ‘Willie the Weirdo’, ‘Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream’, ‘On Slide Inn Road’, ‘The Dreamers’ and ‘The Answer Man’. 4.2 / 5
2. Beyond the Bounds of Infinity. I’ve been piece-mealing this anthology over the last month or so, reading a story every now and then. When I got to the half point and I hadn’t liked anything I read up to that point, I realized I was never going to finish it, so…….. DNF
3. Gone South by Robert McCammon was another favorite read for the year. A southern gothic tale of redemption (on multiple fronts), with a cast of quirky characters told in McCammon’s smooth story-telling style. Why McCammon doesn’t get more media tie-ins (movies, television) is beyond me. 5 / 5
4. Trapped by Stephen King & Richard Chizmar was an entertaining, if preposterous, story about a young woman who steps in bear trap while hiking in the woods. 3 / 5
5. Bound in Blood edited by Johnny Mains was an anthology about cursed books. The second half didn’t live up to the promise of the first half. My favorite story was ‘Bell, Book and Lamp’ by Angela Slatter, were a young man’s inheritance comes with strings attached. There were also pretty good ghost stories by A. K. Benedict (‘Footnotes’) and Lucy McKnight Hardy (‘Broken Back Man’), both authors that were unfamiliar to me before reading this anthology. 3 / 5
6. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. A Christmas classic that still retains its spirit to this day. 5 / 5
7. Bruises on a Butterfly was the second thing I’ve read by Chad Lutzke, the first being Of Foster Homes and Flies. Both were similar in that they were well paced coming of age tales with somewhat anticlimactic conclusions. Lutzke can definitely write juvenile characters (especially boys), and his style of short chapters keeps the story moving along. Still, I was expecting more from the ending of Bruises, though the finish didn’t completely undermine the rest of the story. 4 / 5
8. Ghostly Tales was a collection of classic Victorian ghost stories perfect for a winter night. At only seven stories, this short anthology was the perfect length - the stories were all great and the anthology was short enough that the old time writing style didn’t become a drag. 5 / 5
9. The Witching Tree by Philip Fracassi. Finished the year last night with a quick chapbook story from Fracassi. I liked this quick read a lot. Ties into his latest novel Sarafina (which I have not read yet), and unless my mind deceives me, there was also a tie in to A Child Alone With Strangers. 5 / 5
B