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The Oxford Book of English Short Stories
Book
The Oxford Book of English Short Stories , edited by A. S. Byatt, herself the author of several...
Charlie Cobra Reviews (1840 KP) rated Love, Death & Robots in TV
Jul 7, 2020
Unique And Visceral Experience
Love, Death, & Robots is an adult animated anthology tv series on Netflix. The series is produced by Joshua Donen, David Fincher, Jennifer Miller, and Tim Miller. Each of the 18 episodes released on the first season was animated by different crews from a range of countries. It's also a re-imagining of 1981 animated sci-fi film Heavy Metal. Starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Topher Grace, Gary Cole, Samira Wiley, and Stefan Kapicic.
Produced by different casts and crews, and consisting of 18 stand-alone episodes, each under 20 minutes, the title of the series refers to the recurring themes of love, death, and robots in each episode. Full of terrifying creatures, wicked surprises and dark comedy, it's a collection of animated short stories spanning several genres like horror, comedy, fantasy, and science fiction. Captivating stories come to life with world-class animation in a plethora of tales unlike anything else.
This series was wicked awesome. Reminded me of some of the other animated anthologies I've seen such as The Animatrix and Batman: Gotham Knight, except quite a bit more NSFW. This series also gave me a Twilight Zone vibe but bit darker. More blood and guts and highly sexual. Even though it's pretty graphic, I really liked a lot of the stories they told and the twists that most had in the end as well. Some are kind of hit or miss or just better than others but I think that there is definitely something for everyone despite the gore and nudity and language. I especially enjoyed the following episodes, 1. Sonnie's Edge, 8. Good Hunting, 10. Shape-Shifters, 13. Lucky 13, and 18. Secret War. The way they went about the story telling and world building in each episode was phenomenal. I really feel that some of these episodes deserve their own individual films or series to do them better justice. I mean some were just so good and less than 20 minutes felt like not enough or that they could have been even better. I give the entire series overall a 9/10.
Produced by different casts and crews, and consisting of 18 stand-alone episodes, each under 20 minutes, the title of the series refers to the recurring themes of love, death, and robots in each episode. Full of terrifying creatures, wicked surprises and dark comedy, it's a collection of animated short stories spanning several genres like horror, comedy, fantasy, and science fiction. Captivating stories come to life with world-class animation in a plethora of tales unlike anything else.
This series was wicked awesome. Reminded me of some of the other animated anthologies I've seen such as The Animatrix and Batman: Gotham Knight, except quite a bit more NSFW. This series also gave me a Twilight Zone vibe but bit darker. More blood and guts and highly sexual. Even though it's pretty graphic, I really liked a lot of the stories they told and the twists that most had in the end as well. Some are kind of hit or miss or just better than others but I think that there is definitely something for everyone despite the gore and nudity and language. I especially enjoyed the following episodes, 1. Sonnie's Edge, 8. Good Hunting, 10. Shape-Shifters, 13. Lucky 13, and 18. Secret War. The way they went about the story telling and world building in each episode was phenomenal. I really feel that some of these episodes deserve their own individual films or series to do them better justice. I mean some were just so good and less than 20 minutes felt like not enough or that they could have been even better. I give the entire series overall a 9/10.
Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post
Oct 26, 2020
LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated A Christmas Horror Story (2015) in Movies
Dec 24, 2020
As far as anthology horrors go, A Christmas Horror Story is so-so. It tells four seperate tales, all connected to each other in someway, not to dissimilar to Trick R' Treat in terms of structure.
They vary in quality of course. One of them is a ghost story, as three students go about exploring the abandoned crime scene of two people murdered in ritual sacrifice on Christmas the year before. This one was plain boring. It was creepy in places, and is presented occasionally in a found footage style. The characters here are pretty unlikable, and doesn't really offer much to the overall film bar a couple of predictable jump scares.
Another revolves around a couple who's child goes missing whilst chopping down a Christmas tree for their home. They find the child, but eventually find out that he is in fact a shapeshifting troll. Chaos ensues. This one was ok, some good performances by Adrian Holmes and Olunike Adeliyi certainly help it carry more gravitas.
A third story revolves around Krampus preying on a family trying to make amends with some long lost relatives. Again, this one was ok. It's quite visually pleasing in its setting, but it's a pretty standard short revolving around a story we've already heard a hundred times. Krampus looks good enough considering it's a dude in make up.
And the the fourth story is easily the best of the bunch. It revolves around Santa fending off his elves in Christmas Eve when they succumb to a zombie style virus. Santa stomping around decapitating zombie elves by the bucket load is exactly what I signed up for. It also has the films best twist, which is pretty damn bleak, and features a Santa vs Krampus showdown. The film's worth watching for this segment alone!
Overall, A Christmas Horror Story is entertaining enough to justify a Yuletide watch. It has half decent production values (if you ignore the occasional piss poor CGI), some passable gore, and all the stories are inter cut by mother fucking William Shatner of all people, who actually seems to be having a good time here. Don't go in expecting a masterpiece and I'm sure you'll find something to enjoy.
They vary in quality of course. One of them is a ghost story, as three students go about exploring the abandoned crime scene of two people murdered in ritual sacrifice on Christmas the year before. This one was plain boring. It was creepy in places, and is presented occasionally in a found footage style. The characters here are pretty unlikable, and doesn't really offer much to the overall film bar a couple of predictable jump scares.
Another revolves around a couple who's child goes missing whilst chopping down a Christmas tree for their home. They find the child, but eventually find out that he is in fact a shapeshifting troll. Chaos ensues. This one was ok, some good performances by Adrian Holmes and Olunike Adeliyi certainly help it carry more gravitas.
A third story revolves around Krampus preying on a family trying to make amends with some long lost relatives. Again, this one was ok. It's quite visually pleasing in its setting, but it's a pretty standard short revolving around a story we've already heard a hundred times. Krampus looks good enough considering it's a dude in make up.
And the the fourth story is easily the best of the bunch. It revolves around Santa fending off his elves in Christmas Eve when they succumb to a zombie style virus. Santa stomping around decapitating zombie elves by the bucket load is exactly what I signed up for. It also has the films best twist, which is pretty damn bleak, and features a Santa vs Krampus showdown. The film's worth watching for this segment alone!
Overall, A Christmas Horror Story is entertaining enough to justify a Yuletide watch. It has half decent production values (if you ignore the occasional piss poor CGI), some passable gore, and all the stories are inter cut by mother fucking William Shatner of all people, who actually seems to be having a good time here. Don't go in expecting a masterpiece and I'm sure you'll find something to enjoy.
Sonnets for an Old Century
Book
“Now we have a SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY to call our own, a work whose scope and insights begin to...
Kiss Me Deadly
6.0
Rate It
Book
You never see the claws until you feel them… 5 spine chilling stories where revenge is the only...
Horror Paranormal Romance Short Stories
Debbiereadsbook (1370 KP) rated O Deadly Night: A Dark MM Charity Anthology in Books
Nov 25, 2022
please heed trigger warnings!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.
This box charity anthology comes with a warning of triggers and dark subjects. I strongly suggest you heed them. I have no such triggers, but these books are truly dark and deadly and most I was unable to read. I apologise for that, but they are just the wrong side of dark for me.
I did read and finish 2 of them though, and one I enjoyed immensely and the other was. . different. . .still on the very edge of my limits but I did finish it.
Slay Ride, by Davidson King.
Mason is saved from an attack but his saviours are not all they appear to be. Gabe and his brothers have rather ambiguous morals, but when you find out WHY they have these morals, you get it, totally. And when Gabe and Mason really talk, about their past, and things are revealed, it makes you go. .OH!!
And then. . . we are left hanging! Because this ends on a cliff hanger and I need some closure for these two, for ALL the brothers, so I hope this short story spawns a series.
4 stars for Slay Ride.
The other book I finished, was Little Tree, by Taylor J Gray.
Now, this one pushed my limits, right to the end.
It carries a lot of pain for Mattie but he IS a pleaser and he wants to please Kellan. HOW he does that, really surprised me, and the end surprised me too! I would have loved to hear from Mattie cos only Kellan gets a voice but I might not have liked to hear what he had to say, when he was all trussed up.
This also ends on a bit of a cliff hanger and I really want to, but not sure I can, read more of this couple.
I gave this story 3 stars, because I wanted Mattie.
Overall, because I only finished 2 stories, but started them all, I will give this set 3 stars. It really does push boundaries, and if you can read them, please do. I'm sorry I couldn't.
3 stars
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
This box charity anthology comes with a warning of triggers and dark subjects. I strongly suggest you heed them. I have no such triggers, but these books are truly dark and deadly and most I was unable to read. I apologise for that, but they are just the wrong side of dark for me.
I did read and finish 2 of them though, and one I enjoyed immensely and the other was. . different. . .still on the very edge of my limits but I did finish it.
Slay Ride, by Davidson King.
Mason is saved from an attack but his saviours are not all they appear to be. Gabe and his brothers have rather ambiguous morals, but when you find out WHY they have these morals, you get it, totally. And when Gabe and Mason really talk, about their past, and things are revealed, it makes you go. .OH!!
And then. . . we are left hanging! Because this ends on a cliff hanger and I need some closure for these two, for ALL the brothers, so I hope this short story spawns a series.
4 stars for Slay Ride.
The other book I finished, was Little Tree, by Taylor J Gray.
Now, this one pushed my limits, right to the end.
It carries a lot of pain for Mattie but he IS a pleaser and he wants to please Kellan. HOW he does that, really surprised me, and the end surprised me too! I would have loved to hear from Mattie cos only Kellan gets a voice but I might not have liked to hear what he had to say, when he was all trussed up.
This also ends on a bit of a cliff hanger and I really want to, but not sure I can, read more of this couple.
I gave this story 3 stars, because I wanted Mattie.
Overall, because I only finished 2 stories, but started them all, I will give this set 3 stars. It really does push boundaries, and if you can read them, please do. I'm sorry I couldn't.
3 stars
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
The Very Merry Omega
8.0
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Zachary: I wasn’t one for big crowds, or any social situation really. That’s one of the reasons...
Contemporary Omegaverse MM Romance Seasonal
Annie Chanse (15 KP) rated Lovecraft's Monsters in Books
Dec 19, 2017
I received an ARC copy of this anthology in exchange for my honest opinion, and regrettably, I wasn't overly impressed with it. I made notes as I read, and those notes are what I will be posting here now:
Well, I'm about to start the third story, but I thought I'd keep a running commentary on each story so that when it came time to review it, I wouldn't forget how I felt about each individual one.
"Only the End of the World Again" by Neil Gaiman was good. Probably 4 stars. It wasn't the typical greatness that I USUALLY associate with Gaiman, but it was still a quick and enjoyable read. I read it aloud to my eight year old son (editing out the few naughty words, of course) and even he really loved it. There were a few places where he didn't understand what was going on, but overall, he thought it was a great story.
"Bulldozer" by Laird Barron was terrible. I couldn't make it through the story. The writing style was AWFUL. I know that it was supposed to be written -- in parts -- in a stream of consciousness style, but it was awful. I stopped about halfway through and just said screw it. I wouldn't even give this story a star at all.
Finished "Red Goat Black Goat" by Nadia Bulkin. While it had some nice creepy vibes, it was, overall, a 2 star story. I realize, as a short story, it is limited by length and time constraints, but the story just starts in the middle of a world about which the reader has no idea whatsoever. It's not what I would call a good story, although, as I said, there were a couple of moments when I had to look up from my completely dark bedroom and make sure I didn't hear bumps in the night, so it gets one extra star for that.
"The Same Deep Waters As You" was actually fantastic. It's been the best story in the anthology so far. I know, I know... me saying something is better than a Gaiman story is almost unheard of, but this story by Hodge was truly good from beginning to end. It was completely unique, and even though it was a short story, it was completely self-contained. It didn't leave me wondering what happened before the story started to get us to this place, and it ended perfectly, not in a 'to be continued' style. Also, just wow. The ending was a killer. I did NOT see it coming AT ALL. Five stars.
"A Quarter to Three" gets 2.5 stars simply because of Newman's writing style. She is very articulate, and I loved the tone of this story. The content of the story, however, wasn't that great. However, I feel compelled to give it an extra half a star -- bumping it up to 3 stars -- for this one, perfect line:
"It was easy to see what she had seen in him; it left a thin damp trail between his scuffed footprints." Ha. Loved it
"The Dappled Things" was a total bust. 1 star, and that is being generous. So boring I nearly fell asleep twice trying to get through the first two pages. Not worth the time it took to read it.
"Inelastic Collisions" was decent. I have nothing really bad to say about it, but I have nothing super great to say about it either. Three stars.
"Remnants" deserves about 3.5 stars. It's pretty decent. I like the story and the way the plot developed. However, I dislike how abruptly it ended. If the ending had been a little more well-rounded, it could have easily been a 4.5 star story.
"Love is Forbidden We Croak and Howl" -- eh. Two stars. Didn't really hold my interest that much. I kept drifting off...
"The Sect of the Idiot" was a solid three stars. Overall the story wasn't super, but I really, really, REALLY did love the detail paid to the dream sequence. It was beautiful and creepy and dark. Lovely bit of storytelling, that was.
"Jar of Salts" is easily 4.5 stars. Short little Lovecraftian poem, but such a pleasure to read.
Well, I'm finally finished with Lovecraft's Monsters, but honestly, after the last update I made, none of the other stories were really worth reading. I was, overall, a bit disappointed with the book. :-/
Well, I'm about to start the third story, but I thought I'd keep a running commentary on each story so that when it came time to review it, I wouldn't forget how I felt about each individual one.
"Only the End of the World Again" by Neil Gaiman was good. Probably 4 stars. It wasn't the typical greatness that I USUALLY associate with Gaiman, but it was still a quick and enjoyable read. I read it aloud to my eight year old son (editing out the few naughty words, of course) and even he really loved it. There were a few places where he didn't understand what was going on, but overall, he thought it was a great story.
"Bulldozer" by Laird Barron was terrible. I couldn't make it through the story. The writing style was AWFUL. I know that it was supposed to be written -- in parts -- in a stream of consciousness style, but it was awful. I stopped about halfway through and just said screw it. I wouldn't even give this story a star at all.
Finished "Red Goat Black Goat" by Nadia Bulkin. While it had some nice creepy vibes, it was, overall, a 2 star story. I realize, as a short story, it is limited by length and time constraints, but the story just starts in the middle of a world about which the reader has no idea whatsoever. It's not what I would call a good story, although, as I said, there were a couple of moments when I had to look up from my completely dark bedroom and make sure I didn't hear bumps in the night, so it gets one extra star for that.
"The Same Deep Waters As You" was actually fantastic. It's been the best story in the anthology so far. I know, I know... me saying something is better than a Gaiman story is almost unheard of, but this story by Hodge was truly good from beginning to end. It was completely unique, and even though it was a short story, it was completely self-contained. It didn't leave me wondering what happened before the story started to get us to this place, and it ended perfectly, not in a 'to be continued' style. Also, just wow. The ending was a killer. I did NOT see it coming AT ALL. Five stars.
"A Quarter to Three" gets 2.5 stars simply because of Newman's writing style. She is very articulate, and I loved the tone of this story. The content of the story, however, wasn't that great. However, I feel compelled to give it an extra half a star -- bumping it up to 3 stars -- for this one, perfect line:
"It was easy to see what she had seen in him; it left a thin damp trail between his scuffed footprints." Ha. Loved it
"The Dappled Things" was a total bust. 1 star, and that is being generous. So boring I nearly fell asleep twice trying to get through the first two pages. Not worth the time it took to read it.
"Inelastic Collisions" was decent. I have nothing really bad to say about it, but I have nothing super great to say about it either. Three stars.
"Remnants" deserves about 3.5 stars. It's pretty decent. I like the story and the way the plot developed. However, I dislike how abruptly it ended. If the ending had been a little more well-rounded, it could have easily been a 4.5 star story.
"Love is Forbidden We Croak and Howl" -- eh. Two stars. Didn't really hold my interest that much. I kept drifting off...
"The Sect of the Idiot" was a solid three stars. Overall the story wasn't super, but I really, really, REALLY did love the detail paid to the dream sequence. It was beautiful and creepy and dark. Lovely bit of storytelling, that was.
"Jar of Salts" is easily 4.5 stars. Short little Lovecraftian poem, but such a pleasure to read.
Well, I'm finally finished with Lovecraft's Monsters, but honestly, after the last update I made, none of the other stories were really worth reading. I was, overall, a bit disappointed with the book. :-/
graveyardgremlin (7194 KP) rated Zombies Vs. Unicorns in Books
Feb 15, 2019
<b>Book Review</b>
I had heard about this feud soon after it started, so when news that a book was coming out I had to read it. C'mon, zombies and unicorns, this is a combination I couldn't miss out on. After a lackluster and disappointing start, with many stories I didn't like at all, I was starting to think I'd have a hard time finishing the book, even with the different authors. It wasn't until The Children of the Revolution by Maureen Johnson on page 147 that the stories picked up and I ended up enjoying the rest, though my enjoyment deviated from okay to great. The "arguments" between editors Holly Black (Team Unicorn) and Justine Larbalestier (Team Zombie) were usually quite amusing, though they themselves don't contribute to the book. I, for one, would have liked to have read their takes on their chosen teams.
I'm not going to review each story individually, but list them with my (very) basic impression of the story. The book has varying degrees of gore, cursing, sexual innuendo and references, bestiality (you read that right, but it's more referred to than shown, thank goodness), suicide, and other violent acts.
<u>Stories</u> (in order of appearance):
*The Highest Justice by Garth Nix (Marked as a unicorn story, this is actually both unicorn and zombie. A decent story.)
*Love Will Tear Us Apart by Alaya Dawn Johnson (Zombie. Did not care for this at all)
*Purity Test by Naomi Novik (Unicorn. Didn't hate this story, but wasn't fond of it either)
*Bougainvillea by Carrie Ryan (Zombie. Didn't like.)
*A Thousand Flowers by Margo Lanagan (Unicorn. Also wasn't fond of.)
*The Children of the Revolution by Maureen Johnson (Zombie. Rather twisted, but so am I, so I enjoyed it.)
*The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn by Diana Peterfreund (Unicorn. My favorite story in the anthology.)
*Inoculata by Scott Westerfield (Zombie. Pretty good.)
*Princess Prettypants by Meg Cabot (Unicorn. Very tongue-in-cheek, I liked this story a lot.)
*Cold Hands by Cassandra Clare (Zombie. Interesting world created here. Definitely passed my likability test.)
*The Third Virgin by Kathleen Duey (Unicorn. An okay story.)
*Prom Night by Libba Bray (Zombie. Second favorite of the book and very close to a tie with Peterfreund's tale.)
The unicorn stories went in many different directions, with all sorts of unicorns, while most of the zombie stories stayed where you would expect them and had typical zombies, though there were a few surprises still in store. I went into this as Team Zombie, and while my favorite was a unicorn story, I still firmly remain with the shamblers. Overall, I ended up enjoying the majority of the book, so if you're interested in zombies, unicorns, or especially both, pick this up for an interesting assortment of stories.
3.5 stars for the print version
<b>Audio Review</b>
This unabridged CD set includes ten discs, which average a little over one story each, though generally there is one whole story bookended by the end of one preceding it and the start of another afterward that will continue onto the next disc. They have very short chapters, generally less than a minute and I could tell when each chapter ended and the next began, which didn't make for totally smooth listening but it also wasn't too bad either. I would have rather have had longer chapters that had a clearer starting and stopping point to make it easier to find my place again. Most of the readers, both male and female, sound fairly young, which makes sense since this is a YA anthology, but the majority also sounded as if they were reading to school children, which makes for annoying listening. I found most of the voices grating and unfortunately none of them are named for me to be more specific. However, the one male was fine and the woman who did Diana Peterfreund was good and I believe she also narrated one or two others in the book. The use of sound effects break up stories, a groan that also says "brains" for zombies and trumpets and a horse whinny for unicorns. Immediately after is the intro from the editors with their ongoing debate that became increasingly irritating as I read on; this may have to do with how they performed those discussions. As written word, these exchanges are far more entertaining. For the most part, I really didn't enjoy listening to this and much prefer reading it in print.
2 stars for audio
I had heard about this feud soon after it started, so when news that a book was coming out I had to read it. C'mon, zombies and unicorns, this is a combination I couldn't miss out on. After a lackluster and disappointing start, with many stories I didn't like at all, I was starting to think I'd have a hard time finishing the book, even with the different authors. It wasn't until The Children of the Revolution by Maureen Johnson on page 147 that the stories picked up and I ended up enjoying the rest, though my enjoyment deviated from okay to great. The "arguments" between editors Holly Black (Team Unicorn) and Justine Larbalestier (Team Zombie) were usually quite amusing, though they themselves don't contribute to the book. I, for one, would have liked to have read their takes on their chosen teams.
I'm not going to review each story individually, but list them with my (very) basic impression of the story. The book has varying degrees of gore, cursing, sexual innuendo and references, bestiality (you read that right, but it's more referred to than shown, thank goodness), suicide, and other violent acts.
<u>Stories</u> (in order of appearance):
*The Highest Justice by Garth Nix (Marked as a unicorn story, this is actually both unicorn and zombie. A decent story.)
*Love Will Tear Us Apart by Alaya Dawn Johnson (Zombie. Did not care for this at all)
*Purity Test by Naomi Novik (Unicorn. Didn't hate this story, but wasn't fond of it either)
*Bougainvillea by Carrie Ryan (Zombie. Didn't like.)
*A Thousand Flowers by Margo Lanagan (Unicorn. Also wasn't fond of.)
*The Children of the Revolution by Maureen Johnson (Zombie. Rather twisted, but so am I, so I enjoyed it.)
*The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn by Diana Peterfreund (Unicorn. My favorite story in the anthology.)
*Inoculata by Scott Westerfield (Zombie. Pretty good.)
*Princess Prettypants by Meg Cabot (Unicorn. Very tongue-in-cheek, I liked this story a lot.)
*Cold Hands by Cassandra Clare (Zombie. Interesting world created here. Definitely passed my likability test.)
*The Third Virgin by Kathleen Duey (Unicorn. An okay story.)
*Prom Night by Libba Bray (Zombie. Second favorite of the book and very close to a tie with Peterfreund's tale.)
The unicorn stories went in many different directions, with all sorts of unicorns, while most of the zombie stories stayed where you would expect them and had typical zombies, though there were a few surprises still in store. I went into this as Team Zombie, and while my favorite was a unicorn story, I still firmly remain with the shamblers. Overall, I ended up enjoying the majority of the book, so if you're interested in zombies, unicorns, or especially both, pick this up for an interesting assortment of stories.
3.5 stars for the print version
<b>Audio Review</b>
This unabridged CD set includes ten discs, which average a little over one story each, though generally there is one whole story bookended by the end of one preceding it and the start of another afterward that will continue onto the next disc. They have very short chapters, generally less than a minute and I could tell when each chapter ended and the next began, which didn't make for totally smooth listening but it also wasn't too bad either. I would have rather have had longer chapters that had a clearer starting and stopping point to make it easier to find my place again. Most of the readers, both male and female, sound fairly young, which makes sense since this is a YA anthology, but the majority also sounded as if they were reading to school children, which makes for annoying listening. I found most of the voices grating and unfortunately none of them are named for me to be more specific. However, the one male was fine and the woman who did Diana Peterfreund was good and I believe she also narrated one or two others in the book. The use of sound effects break up stories, a groan that also says "brains" for zombies and trumpets and a horse whinny for unicorns. Immediately after is the intro from the editors with their ongoing debate that became increasingly irritating as I read on; this may have to do with how they performed those discussions. As written word, these exchanges are far more entertaining. For the most part, I really didn't enjoy listening to this and much prefer reading it in print.
2 stars for audio