Eye Witness Zombie Anthology

For a debut anthology for this now well established publisher/editor/author, its Amazing (yes, with a capital A!) to be able to bring all these wonderful authors together, with such differing styles and then lay them out in such a great order! Brilliant!

And THEN to add this line in the prologue "if you find an error, please feel free to email the mistake" I think shows the strength, dignity, courage and grounding this team has.... They still carry this on, several series and anthologies later. Another Amazing quality!

Why am I just getting round to writing this review now, two years after it was published and over a year (March 2012) since I bought and read it? Well, I guess I forgot! I got so excited I just marched my way through all the other anthologies, the Dead: The Ugly Beginning series and now my favourite That Ghoul Ava: Her First Adventures (Unabridged).

Love the little author bios before each story. The drawings are wonderfully intricate and the tickertape news is inspired!

Doomsday Ramblings by Tonia Brown: The gentle undertones of barbed comments, low expectation, love of a still over his wife and general disdain that this author describes shows what is obviously a terribly sad marriage in a strangely wonderful way.

Littered with humour you are lulled into the backwoods of stupidity before Ms Brown slams you with blood, gore, alcohol and general eeew.

A Soldiers Lament by Patrick D'Orazio: Told in the first person, this army lad is fed up with saving civvies rumps! 

So much action occurs in such a small space of time its hard to keep up, however, this worn out cynical solider manages to ramble on for another few blocks and pages....it always ends up the same. Did not grip me, but well written.

Childish Things by William Wood: As if a ZomPoc is not bad enough, you get trapped inside a cartoon whale! 

Or maybe you are the person who meets the whale... which has eyebrows! Funny, but sad. Great idea for a little story.

Mere Symptoms of Living by Kris Ashton: What would happen if during the ZomPoc you got locked in the bathroom.... Well now you are about to find out! 

Smirk inducing humour throughout, the inevitable ending but so well written I felt a little tear in the corner of my eye.

All in your head by Stephanie Kincaid: If you spot a zombie on the way home are you going bats? 

Should you up your medication? 

Write a reflection on the issue! 

Or just go grab a bite to eat.... Some great humour mixed with the gore.

The Nightmare by William Lederman: Great story, hated the ending... what a blinking waste of ink. Thought it was a cope out, sorry.

Run Through The Jungle by Tony Monchinski: So far the saddest tale, a great group dynamic tale.

I felt a little shaken after this one, the constant sad endings are a bit much to take after awhile.... What the heck am I saying this is a ZomPoc anthology!!! 

Does what it says on the cover!

Dredge by Nikki Sedlock: My absolute favourite story, because it's basically what I day dream about, well this was pretty much my plan! 

Im hoping for less gore and more showers tho! Will definitely be looking this author up!

One Nation Undead by Mike Harrison: OMG what a start!! Talk about gripped. 

Two believable characters which could easily flesh out a whole novel, great writing, fast but not furious, nothing in the emotion is lost. 

The ending was, well you will have to read it!

Eye in the Sky by John McCuaig: A personal favourite as set in my own country! And unique in this anthology as set in the future. Loved the little interspersed song titles, very clever.

Embedded by Andrew Black: First person writing, with some great explanations of what is going on. Lots of different tortures going on in this little story, hard to pinpoint which is the worst.

Baby Killer by Ron Harris: Brave subject, not enjoyable to read, had a hard time with this one; but nothing wrong with the writing.

Eye-Witness-Zombie

At Hell's Gates Vol 2 - Anthology

Another AMAZING anthology! a real varied mix of authors.

Pulse by Mark Tufo:

Sam has invented a bug zapper with a difference. Julie, his wife and Arni the lawyer are seeing dollar signs, large ones, little ones and portable ones.

However, the Gov’ is never far behind once you apply for a patent, neither is a certain Hit Man; Emery.  However, unlike Monty Python's Spanish Inquisition, I have learnt with this author to always expect the unexpected and Julie is my hero.

The humour in the story made it a brilliant read and what a fantastic start to this anthology, which has a reputation to upkeep after book 1.

Cookies for the Gentleman by C.T. Phipps:

The narrator describes the worst monster which has followed him through life with various unspeakable torments.

He is placated finally by, of all things, the perfect cookie.   However, the author manages to make cookie baking a terror all its own.

Short and sharp, I loved how this progressed, the writing style was easy even if the subject matter was not.

By Any Means Necessary by Evin Ager:

Sargent Jason Burrows is on guard duty and he hates it. On some god forsaken island in the middle of nowhere he sees this as a total kick in the teeth from the Army.

Then the dreams start, then the goo, the disappearances and finally a climatic end that had me both riveted and disgusted; fantastic.

An author for me to put on my TBR list – these anthologies must have it up to a mile long by now.

History’s End by Frank Tayall:

Dr Marcus Holloway made a video, he also made a virus.

Following a series of breath holding moments, some clever skulduggery and the odd bit of espionage the world ends, but of course!

Would love to have read more, had the story extended into a novella etc. another TBR author, see what I mean!

A Mother’s Nightmare by J. Rudolph

A woman finds a suicide note whilst scavenging post apocalypse.

It is a sad story and I was getting upset myself until the dogs, then I couldn’t have cared less about this loving pre apocalyptic family, but that’s me, animals will always be equal in my eyes.

I liked the overall idea and the plotline was a good one, the characters and emotion they evoked was very real.

Patient 63 by Stevie Jonas:

Fabulous story of an infected who falls in love, yup you read that right!  Not all goes well of course but the love story was great, the outline and surrounding characters were well thought and fleshed out.

Tyrannical Ascension by Shana Festa:

Always and easy and fascinating read from SF, trouble is I always want a bit more.

Basically a tale of how sneaky, nasty and calculating humans can be, this just happens to be post-apocalyptic. Not forgetting the twits that follow them.

Ink by James Crawford:

A fast paced descriptive read. A much sort after and solitary tattooist is sort out by a client who is unsure what he is searching for.  However, the tattooist muse is all too aware.

The drawn out fight and torment scenes are yucky but weirdly intoxicating. I liked the fullness of the story and how well it was structured.

The Man with Four Scars by Stephen Koziekski:

I found lots of contradictions in this story eg. Not able to name items as language skills so primitive but able to tell night time, fireside stories?

At first it distracted me but I was soon enveloped in the story of this self-made town hero falling a fallen star and the strange green goop it emits; green goop is never a good thing!

Whilst I enjoyed the overall story and its unique take and twist on an often tired zombie genre I was annoyed at the author for keep changing the parameters of his characters.

Daddy’s Girl by Ian Mclellan:

What are the worst things you can do? Kill? Maim? Torture? Ignore?

Loved the lure in, the character fill out and then the thrusting twist in the tale. A well written story and a funny bio of the author.

Operation Devil Walk by David Mikolas:

Set in WW2 with the Nazi occult obsession as it main force a group of academics, drafted by the military is set to infiltrate a far flung island to find proof of strange goings on.

The ensuing story is both sad, horrifying and totally captivating.

The Infected by S.G. Lee:

Too many names to keep track of at first but then the little feuds amongst the Medics fighting for a faculty position start to focus their individuality.

A task is set to weed out the weak applicants and of course, this is the perfect back drop for a spot of wild research.

I liked the way the story was told in dialogue as it gave a great emotional feel to the story.

Forget Me Never by Sharon Stevenson:

Just what is the true price for fame? What lengths will people go to too get it?  A fabulous narrated story of murder, decay and fame.

Mileage by Sean T. Smith:

A surrealist tale of humanity trying to survive and a dying man’s hallucinogenic dreams.  A bit too weird for my liking but then that’s why I love anthologies so much, I’m sure some people will adore this story.

The Milestone by Lesa Kinney Anders:

Such a sad and chilling story. I’m not sure what was more horrifying the monster or the disease. I really liked the slow unfold of characters and plot line.

Genesis by Kit Power:

A son chases after kidnapped, crook father. The suggestions of torture via dialogue were very clever and made the reveal even more sticky.

This serves as a prequel to the author's new novel God Bomb! which I have recently enjoyed.  Overall I felt this was a little wordy compared to his novel, but it’s a good flavour of his writing style.

Lock Down by T.M. Caldwell:

Apparently this is the author's first published short, she is working on a fantasy novel; judged on this, I can’t wait for that!

I loved her open and caring writing style, I really felt for her characters and squirmed at the dangers they were facing.

The ending was a great crescendo to a well-paced story throughout, like the slow thud of footsteps that follow you on a dark night.

Collect Night by Curran Geist:

A bit more a fantasy tale with an alien flavour which is great after all that undead!

Hank is desperate to get home to save his new family after a terrifying phone call. CG does well to evoke the distress and builds on our fears of family loss going down every possible nasty avenue of thought on the journey home.

The off world critters he describes are both sad and fear evoking and, again, I was found wondering what a longer novella would be like.

Loved the author bio.

The Cold by Devan Sagilini:

Darren is not a likeable guy, a beach bum who thinks he deserves more. A chance letter post a death and he thinks his ship has come in, but hang on this is a horror anthology nothing is THAT nice!  

Great writing and build-up of character, hard to make one so dislikeable yet not cliché.

A Different Cocktail by Claire C. Riley:

The things men will do for a BJ!

A weird gothic night out and the narrator suddenly feels very hungry; an old story retold, but done well.

I liked the way it spiralled me down with the narrator, thankfully I didn’t vomit or slough my skin but I was in need of a ham sandwich post reading.

A Song to Sing in Babylon by Bobby Medvedev & Michael Baugh:

Monster children of SET are awaiting the uprising and doing various things to speed that along; rock concerts, portent watching, disease and dismemberment.

The exchanges between family members was interesting, especially seeing different views of madness.  However, the ending was a bit sharp for me after all the build-up.

The Gouger by Paul Mannering:

Murdering orcas and kicking dogs off boats (albeit accidently by the character) is not my idea of a good read and I declined to fish this story, shame as it was the last story in thus far a great anthology.

Sorry author but I can’t read any form of animal harm/cruelty that is MY taboo subject.

Overall I really enjoyed this second in the Hells Gates and I can’t wait to get stuck into book 3.

ps - sorry if i got anyone's names wrong!!

At Hell's Gates Vol 2

First Time Dead 1 Anthology

Hello Again by Megan Tregler:

I found MT so descriptive I could almost taste the colours she was describing, her style of writing was beautiful.

Jackson is mourning the rapid, recent and strange death of his wife. As he looks out of the pond in which her buried her ripples start to appear and those among us who understand the way the zompoc works knows what is coming up from the depths.

The difference to this beginning of the apocalypse (and those are always my favourite) is that MT puts so much emotion into their previous relationship with little comments or flashbacks that the love and horror combine.

Add to that the final line and it’s shudder worthy. I also really enjoyed Jackson as a character.

Twisted Words by Andrew Stockton:

Antony is an English book dealer and the story starts with him visiting a wealthy collector to purchase some items; I am always bias to love stories that are set in my own country. Although I am at loss as to why if you lived in the Highlands you would “crack open an Irish (whiskey)”.

As his host gives him a guided tour of the estate he lives in they come upon a twisted tree that has an unusual story. A story within a story, hard to pull off but done very well in this instance.

The following description of love, torment and decay is very palpable not to mention heart wrenching.  As the story unfolds and then reaches a climax I was impressed that the ending did not fail the brilliant story.

Everything I know about Zombies I learned from Star Trek by Sam Christopher:

With a title like that I was really interested, however, it turned out to be far to disjointed for my liking. The majority of the time the language was incomprehensible and I finally gave up after three pages of confusion.

BUT that’s the great thing about anthologies, to others this story will be brilliant.

Once Bitten, Twice Shy by Dillon Cox:

Ah, that age old start to the apocalypse; the military and their marvellous experiments, I do love a classic.

Lori and her baby brother, Zack, could be out for a road trip if they were not running from the undead! Nothing really felt strained, hard or dangerous for these two. 

In addition, Lori is stunningly beautiful and the chap they meet happens to be an upstanding, military trained hunk, with a fully functional off the grid hideaway etc etc

I was a bit concerned that Zack was sleeping the whole time and was also waiting for the gore/horror to start. Whilst the writing was good the story IMO was not.

Just Another Day by Chantel Boudreaux:

Margot has a busy job, a needy family and she is trying to become an author or at least plagiarise her currently compromised husbands work.

I love the way that CB writes with such humour, the explanation for her families circumstances are brilliant and almost believable.

CB is always a joy to read.

Inland by Martin Milhomme:

Jake is surving the zompoc on a boat in the Florida Keys  when happens upon a traumatised, nearly eaten Angela. However this initially good story took a nose dive when she went from the screaming abdabs to offering a “fun afternoon” in the space of 24hrs not to mention said “fun” was had post an amputation, medications, a blow torch incident and alcohol!

At that point I gave up, yes zompoc is fictional (currently) but I need to believe they could be true.

He’s not Heavy by Rebecca Snow:

WOW this was my favourite story.

Well thought out with a twist I did not see coming. I really enjoyed the build-up and the characters were spot on with great back stories, really all crammed into a small story.

Bravo – an author I intend to look up.

As I Watch Her Walk Away by Dave Minyard:

So sad but also so funny, at least I hope that’s how it was intended.

A happy young man describes his demise at the start of the zompoc, it all felt very real and very fast.   I really enjoyed this one.

Things Worse Than Death by Bryan Vogt:

Poor Peter has a unique on several survivors as they crash through various rooms trying to escape the oncoming horde.

Cleverly written with a brilliant twist at the end. Another author to look out for (for me!)

Death by Dad by Lisa Conger:

Not sure how I felt about this story as it sorted flitted about a bit.

Whilst the writing was clear there was just something wrong; lack of character in the characters and the story kind of went nowhere IMO.

Forgive me Father for I have a ….. Burp by Michael J Evans:

A zombie yet to lose all his brain power is over wrought by the desire to confess post eating his wife.

Whilst the writing was and the story a good one it really lacked some humour, this could have been a gigglefest with some extra input to make it lip smackingly good, which is a shame.

The Overpass by John Lemut:

I was totally engrossed in this story, the characters felt rounded and the timeline jogged along really well and then just as it got really intense it stopped!

I do hope this is part of a larger novel elsewhere, otherwise I’m stumped.

At the end are some footnotes regarding the authors, personally I would have liked these at the end of each chapter.

Overall I liked this anthology as a couple of stories were fantastic and others I would have chucked, but that’s the joy of them, it’s like a mixed bag of sweets!

First Time Dead 1

Undead Tales antholgy

Resurrecting Mind by Joe McKinney: Poor Kevin the last man alive after the world ended three years ago, its Xmas eve but he still believes.

But maybe he is not truly alone, whilst out foraging for decorations, he spots an ex-girlfriend and with some very corny jokes tries to nourish her back to life from the world of the zombie “faker”.

The twist at the end is heart breaking. Such wonderful writing and a superb way to start this anthology.

Louis by Carole Gill: Louis has decided to become a necromancer after his best friend dies. eeeew at the practice mouse.

A great tongue in cheek feel to this story, yet another interesting author I must seek out and try a longer piece of work from.

Breaking Out by Eric S. Brown: Bio toxins, the military and naughty, unethical Drs; what could possibly go wrong!

Loved the telling of this notsooriginal story. Blindingly fast, it was a super read.

Hard Choices by Todd Sprague: The juxtaposition of some of the Hard Choices and comments from the narrator would have been funny had they not rung the sad bell of truth a little too loud.

The Hard Choices only get worse as survival becomes the utmost driving force to this man.

I am curious to know if this is a standalone brief flash of a story, or if it is part of a greater story.

So far, every single author and story has been spot on!

Until Hell calls our names by WD Gagliani: Loved the approach to telling this story.

Set in the Old Wild West it brought a new tinge to an old story.

In between tales of confederacy and submarines (!) is the most awful tale of relationship abuse.

The wronged woman, along with her Mother, cast zombie spells to avenge they abuse. The story which follows is complex and I found it to be too harrowing to “enjoy” but it was thoroughly entertaining and caused a different sort of shudder in terror.

Amazing writing to make me feel so uncomfortable.

Till death do us part by Scott M. Goriscak: Poor Tim, the mortician, he finally finds the love of his life only to lose her in a freak accident.

Of all the horror in this book, the reading of the embalming made me actually gag.

When a rogue bolt of lightning reanimates his love all sorts of strange things start to occur.

I had to giggle at certain body parts coming apart as she decomposes. The ending, for me, was hilarious.

I forgot my own name by JD Gillam: A sad story from the zombies PoV.

This was obviously hard to write due to the decomposing brain, but well accomplished and interesting to read.

Zombie Camp by Lawrence R. Dagstein: Day care camp for zombie children, now that’s a thought! As the world has changed, apparently parental love and social ambition has not.

Very well-articulated to bring forth all the trappings of rich families and the dilemmas obviously faced when picking your child’s education and play mates.

A cracking concept with some outstanding dry humour.

The Zombie with the Dragon tattoo by Armand Rosamilia: Another rip roaring giggle a minute story.

Gary is in lust with Roxy the stripper, even if she is now one of the undead and all the hassle that brings.

When he decides to break into the Cheaters strip bar for one last lap dance he meets the bouncer and DJ who are not what they seem.

The normal sex focused zombie humour from this author, a really fun little story with some clever character twists.

Feast of the Dead by P. David Puffinburger: The first story with editing errors? Or not? I am not sure if this was an attempt at first person writing with intentional errors, but as it went on it did not feel right in its prose

.

This story was neither funny nor sad but degenerated into a deliverance type rape scene that was poorly written. 

Really felt this story was out of context for this anthology so far, or maybe I just didn’t “get it”.

Mick’s Rules by Zach Brunner: A weird little tale of a 50’s circa zombie frequenting a bar owned by Mick and boy does he like to pick a fight!

Lots of dialogue and some nifty left hooks make for a fun showdown between the pair.

What walks in afterwards makes me want to visit and order some nachos and beer for some “people” watching.

Yet another fabulous author, who plays well on stereo types.

Written during rapture by Scott Nicholson: A love note vs a suicide note. Very brief story but oh so poignant.

Carriers by Ian DG Sandusky: A new take on what causes the zompoc. Kind of put me off my dinner!

Some great explanations, funny? Not so sure but definitely a sad indictment on our current way of life and destruction of the planet.

What’s a man gotta do by Chantal Boudreaux: An old ranch hand is trying to eke out a living by foraging and trading in the zompoc world.

However, he has an addiction, his Drink.  He risks life and limb for this special taste.

Whilst serious throughout the story the final lines really leave you on a giggle.

Always brilliant writing from Chantal.        

My name is Riley by Mark Tufo: Told from a dogs PoV this is a unique take on the zompoc.

Riley’s little pack must survive the start and ongoing zompoc, a teenage girl, a baby, a runt dog, Riley and a naughty cat – sounds like the start of a good joke – it’s actually a fabulous series that I encourage everyone to seek out.

How do you kill what’s already dead? By Jeremiah Coe: The Germanic barbarians are facing off the invading Roman Hordes, only these turn out to be zombies, an unfair advantage.

With a lot of chatter about the ancient military style  I found it hard going as not my favourite topic to read about. But the author gave me characters that I really started to care about to follow and become involved with.

The sad little twist at the end made the read very worthwhile.

Of the Dead by Ian Woodhead: As if zombies aren’t bad enough IW thinks up spider mutated zombies!

Just what is going on in that food factory, you can probably figure it out, but this author just loves taking you for a ride of terror.

The world presented in this short story is complex and hints at a larger set of stories, but IW does have extensive zombie writing experience, well worth a seek out.

I loved the humour, dark and slapstick, mixed with all the horror. Some really original stories mixed in this anthology with some original telling’s of old stories.

The contributors are well picked and well placed, so credit to the editor, himself an accomplished author.  Rich Orth has amazing little poems scattered throughout, which makes for some light relief and is an inspired thought.

One of my favourite anthologies to date.

Undead Tales

At Hells Gates: Volume 1 - anthology

The forward is thought provoking and heart felt; I adored the reason the charity was chosen.

At the end of each story is a little comment on the story, bio and a few words from the authors. Personally I would have preferred the comment pre the story with the bio and word after, but that is editor’s choice.

Apart from one story which was a little too gothic for my tastes this really is a top notch collection and what a great charity to be assisting. The editors did very well to place the stories in such a fabulous order.

Black Crow by Devan Sagliani:

Poor Tyler, and his girlfriend Emily, he has literally run through Hell to be with her and now they are stuck in the woodshed. They are also surrounded by what seems to be hundreds of crows.

As he flits in and out of a dream state in his exhaustion the reality and dream world mix to give a strange foray into a well known burger bar!

I loved the personality the author gives his characters and those around them, the perfect pre-undead world that DS paints; I really cared about these characters, felt I knew them.

Whilst there is no definitive ending, only mere suggestion at what might happen, which I usually really dislike in stories, I really enjoyed this opening tale.

Exploding Shit Zombies by Stephen Kozeniewski:

Jake likes to call the zombies “sheeple”, their gatherings often turning into clusterfucks!  His weird and wild descriptions of the zombie horde continue as Jake brings his motley survival crew together.

Jake is an interesting person with some grand illusions and intentions, which makes for some grin inducing reading; until the explosions start to occur.  Vera and Chloe are witness the “atomic” explosions and the dead pan writing gives its own shudders as you think you know the death that awaits these two calm sisters who are enjoying a beer in their beach chairs.

When a swollen zombie explodes all over Chloe, Vera tries to explain the digestive system of a zombie, then lots more zombies start to explode and the mental vision just made me start to giggle – try explaining that to your non-zombie reading Hubby!

When they make a run for it and end up at The House with the Senate in session, you can imagine the comment that ends this story!

No Shelter by Lesa Kinney Anders & Matthew Kinney:

Derek is begging for money and food at the traffic lights when the zompoc starts.

Bikers Hawk and Snake are helping out at the shelter when Derek, freshly bitten, stumbles in. As more Bikers arrive to help and Derek “turns” it’s not long before bedlam occurs within the Shelter.

When Snake finally manages to get hold of his policeman brother he gets the full low down on what is occurring. The story continues but felt more like the opening chapters to a longer book.

Whilst I was interested in the story it felt a little cliché for me but the writing was faultless, just a lot of characters to try and keep up with in the melee of an apocalypse.

Ollie Ollie Oxen Free by Shana Festa:

Poor Nursing students Ollie and Emma experience their first patient death. After returning home and having a relaxing night, the morning news blasts at Ollie about “the living dead, cannibalisation and attacks”; she laughs this off as a mid-October scare prank.

However when Muffin the cat brings home a zombie she changes her mind; soon she is fighting for her life, minus some hair.

The descriptions of the zombies were suitably gross and the emotions and terror that SF has Ollie expressing all had a touch of reality to them.

As the slaughter carries on around her, the current storm protects her from the more horrific happenings, but not us the reader as SF continues to describe in lurid details all those horrors.

Reaching her boyfriends office she comes to face to face with the dilemma of the bitten person that is still alive and the fear of those around them; mob reaction seems to rule, but Karma is a bitch.

To say I really enjoyed the ending would be perverse but I would be very interested in reading more from this author and the world she creates.

Nefarious by Stevie Kopas:

Moira and Samson have locked their dead, but screaming, children in their bedroom. Moira’s mind has yet to catch up to the reality of the situation as she tries desperately to care for them, feed them, but she needs her husband’s help to really fulfil this task.

The disgusting disintegration of her mind, the feeding sessions and the final spousal conversation make for riveting reading.

Home Defense by James Crawford:

The zombies in this story have a sense of mischief and as Shawn and the narrator explain how they are shooting the invading party I could not help but giggle at the insanity of it.

When the zombies actually started verbally taunting back them I was totally gobsmacked! A great short, short story packed with fun and mayhem.

Stories from the Apocalypse by J. Rudolph:

Excerpts from a journal; Cali it seems is guilt ridden from ex patients to families she has failed to help.

There were lots of fly by names which made for complex reading and as I never got the chance to get to know them it was hard to care, but for Cali I had some sympathy.

The writing was concise and I should imagine the longer book version would be quite a read as the emotions wrought were quite raw.

Journal of the Undead: The Beginning by S.G. Lee:

Lt George Mitchell is on a “top-secret” army base hospital and is literally thrown in at the deep end tending to wounded soldiers.

When one of his patients sits up after he has pronounced them dead he starts to suspect where he is and what the soldiers are fighting beyond those high walls. Things get more hinky when he not allowed to administer a “special” shot to a bitten soldier.

When the Major finally clues him on the situation Lt Mitchell can only gawp. As weeks then months go by the situation, inevitably, worsens and soon they are over run.

A mix between military, guerrilla warfare, zombies and a personal diary it’s all a rush of action until the end when a little secret is revealed.

Princess and the Flea by Paul Mannering:

At first I could not continue reading this as the animal cruelty described in the first paragraph made me feel sick, not from fiction but fact.

As I flicked through I noticed that not all is what it seems. We are far in the future in this book and strange things are occurring. The final few paragraphs spell it all out.

Well written, thought out and graphic glad I continued.

Hour of the Beast by J.M. Martin:

Vera is struggling with her pregnancy and at odds with her husband.

I did not really connect with the characters or the story as I found the world she lives in a little hard to follow in such a short story. It was all a bit haunting and gothic, not my cup of tea at all.

The author does explain at the end it is a fantasy world but I felt it was too hard to enter in such a condensed way, also not really all that fitting for this anthology so far. Shame really as it was well written just not the genre of story I would usually pick up.

The Err Apparent by Tim Marquitz:

Thrust straight into the middle of some Goth ritual involving chants, sacrifices and lots of black capes and make up, Frank is surprised when this group of wanna-be teenagers manages to conjure up a demon.

When “Calvin Hobbes” from the “FBI” aka Frank from DRAC goes to investigate body no.3 he is set upon by the local Reverend to ensure they snare that local cult Satanist!

Frank is all there with his usual sense of humour and gung ho attitude, until he is made aware that the demon is actually a Manitou, and it’s on a deadly mission.

Lots of action, fun, killings, religious goings on and a few monsters, brilliant little short set in the Demon Squad series world.

Cracked: A Deadland Saga short story by Rachel Aukes:

A little snippet of a zombie infested world from a military unit leaders PoV. There is a lot of militarised speak and if you don’t know the lingo its hard going.

Maz is trying to keep the final three of his thirty five original unit alive and get back to base. The two final paragraphs are so sad.

This is a tiny section of a much larger series and whilst it gives you a great flavour of the writer’s style of itself it’s not really much of a story. However, if you love the military aspect of Zompoc then you will love this.

Undead Britain by Frank Tayell:

A year into the zompoc and Charlotte is a scout for the larger group looking to hide out in the Castle; in the undead world every noise is panic stations and the tension is palpable from the first sentence.

Flashback to the start of the zompoc and Charlotte, her husband and children are trying to prepare for the mayhem that ensues at the beginning. News excerpts give us information on what is going on in the rest of the world, the horrors to come.

Week by week they slowly realise that life has changed and they are struggling to merely survive. Eventually they make the decision to evacuate.

Told in minute detail the pain and trauma faced are excruciating, when the final kill comes it left me feeling bereft; brilliant writing from this author, such skill in building emotion and tension.

The Weight of Darkness by Sean T. Smith:

Sonja and her team, a post-apocalyptic commando team called the Foxes, are hiding out in the Vatican. The apocalypse was over twenty five years ago but the nuclear war was just starting.

Stuck in Europe having travelled by foot from Africa they are trying to reach home in Wyoming, USA. The plague that surrounds them is a new twist on the zombie theme, highly interesting concept.

Having only known survival and not living Sonja is an interesting character that I look forward to following up in this authors series of novels.

The Husband by Jacqueline Druga:

Miriam’s husband seems to have deteriorated and she wants to kill him. She has focus, she has reasons, she has ideas and she has a best friend!

Short, snappy, funny and brilliantly written. Fabulously wicked.

Seth by Jacqueline Druga:

Jena has a sort of second sight gift, not strong and not enough to earn a living by but enough. Whilst waiting to read a local medic in a coffee shop she meets Seth.

With an enigmatic invite she is hooked. During their discussion many strange things are said and done. When Mrs Williams comes for a reading and she is told to hand over the envelope the story truly starts to unfold.

A sad happy ending with a little spooky feel.

The Fertile by Jacqueline Druga:

A strange little story that seemed to have no purpose other than to confuse and amuse, which it did very well! I really like this author and hope to find more of her work.

Welcome to Hell by Sharon Stevenson:

Vampire hunters on Halloween! Shaun and Sarah, siblings that are chosen ones.

With all the normal vamp killing clichés in a supernatural nightclub called Haven, this was like a good Buffy episode.

I love this world the author has created and will be seeking this series out.

At Hells Gates: Vol 1