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Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Next Door in Books
Jun 10, 2021
82 of 250
Kindle
Next Door
Compiled by Matt Shaw
Once read a review will be written via Smashbomb and link posted in comments
From the mind behind "MASTERS OF HORROR" comes a new horror anthology to keep you up at night!
Whilst Matt Shaw is busy producing, writing and directing the feature film NEXT DOOR he decided to put together a horror anthology of the same name, and with the same theme as the motion picture. None of the stories in this collection feature in the film; the two products are completely separate other than the central concept of exploring who does live NEXT DOOR to us?
Given the fact these are some of the biggest names in horror, you can bet that whomever is living next door probably won't be the friendliest of characters...
The year is 2019 and technology has come so far that we spend more time staring at our mobile devices, and screens in general, than getting to know our next door neighbour. Gone are the days of knowing everyone who lives on the same street, or in the same village. Instead we leave our houses, avoid eye-contact or give the bare minimum of grunts to those we see and go about our daily lives without a care for anyone else. No more street parties, no more kindly neighbours checking in on you, no more Christmas cards from the little old lady who lives across the street. There's only "us" and our technology.
This anthology takes a look at who lives NEXT DOOR and what secrets they may be keeping. And who knows, maybe it will serve as warning to you that, really, you should be paying attention to those living close-by. After all, Fred West was someone's neighbour once...
Featuring stories by:
Tim Lebbon
Shaun Hutson
Ryan C. Thomas
Jeremy Bates
David Moody
Guy N. Smith
Matthew Stokoe
Justin Woodward
Gary McMahon
Rich Hawkins
Jim Goforth
Matt Shaw
1. A Family-Friendly Neighbourhood by Ryan C Thomas
This was actually quite funny and sweet in a gruesome clever way. All the toys turning into little knife wielding creepy thing only to find out they are their kids souls! They just want to be together 😂
2. Final Feast by Guy N. Smith
Quick little story of the cannibal next door! I loved it!
3. Insurgents by Rich Hawkins
A story of a war ruined mind, a soldier dealing with his demons. Well written just not my normal read.
4. Mirror Image by David Moody
A couple move into a new house with an extra handy neighbour. I enjoyed this one funny how my husband is so crap at DIY too 😂😂
5. Neighbour Hood by Tim Lebbon
Omg this has to be the creepiest one so far and the whole reason I never use my attics’!!!
6. Dinner Date by Jeremy Bates
A bit slower than the others think I just got a little bored. Never accept dinner invitations before getting to know the guy no matter how hot he is! Silly girl!
7. Why Does Randolph Draw by Matthew Stokeoe
Got to be honest I didn’t finish it I just got so bored after page 5! Just wasn’t catching me.
8. Saturday Night Whiskey by Justin M.Woodward
This was really god and well put together a kids last cry for help from his dodgy uncle!
9. Sixteen by Jim Goforth
This felt so rushed even for a short story! Although it’s a good lesson of don’t get involved with swinging neighbours 😂
10. Pornography by Matt Saw
Haha she didn’t see that coming
11. Somewhere in Here by Gary McMahon
This was one creepy ass story and for one so short I’m throughly creeped out!!
12 By Darkness Hidden by Shaun Hutson
This was pretty good a urban legend type story. Villages can be super strange places.
I really enjoyed this compilation got some great new authors added to my list too.
Kindle
Next Door
Compiled by Matt Shaw
Once read a review will be written via Smashbomb and link posted in comments
From the mind behind "MASTERS OF HORROR" comes a new horror anthology to keep you up at night!
Whilst Matt Shaw is busy producing, writing and directing the feature film NEXT DOOR he decided to put together a horror anthology of the same name, and with the same theme as the motion picture. None of the stories in this collection feature in the film; the two products are completely separate other than the central concept of exploring who does live NEXT DOOR to us?
Given the fact these are some of the biggest names in horror, you can bet that whomever is living next door probably won't be the friendliest of characters...
The year is 2019 and technology has come so far that we spend more time staring at our mobile devices, and screens in general, than getting to know our next door neighbour. Gone are the days of knowing everyone who lives on the same street, or in the same village. Instead we leave our houses, avoid eye-contact or give the bare minimum of grunts to those we see and go about our daily lives without a care for anyone else. No more street parties, no more kindly neighbours checking in on you, no more Christmas cards from the little old lady who lives across the street. There's only "us" and our technology.
This anthology takes a look at who lives NEXT DOOR and what secrets they may be keeping. And who knows, maybe it will serve as warning to you that, really, you should be paying attention to those living close-by. After all, Fred West was someone's neighbour once...
Featuring stories by:
Tim Lebbon
Shaun Hutson
Ryan C. Thomas
Jeremy Bates
David Moody
Guy N. Smith
Matthew Stokoe
Justin Woodward
Gary McMahon
Rich Hawkins
Jim Goforth
Matt Shaw
1. A Family-Friendly Neighbourhood by Ryan C Thomas
This was actually quite funny and sweet in a gruesome clever way. All the toys turning into little knife wielding creepy thing only to find out they are their kids souls! They just want to be together 😂
2. Final Feast by Guy N. Smith
Quick little story of the cannibal next door! I loved it!
3. Insurgents by Rich Hawkins
A story of a war ruined mind, a soldier dealing with his demons. Well written just not my normal read.
4. Mirror Image by David Moody
A couple move into a new house with an extra handy neighbour. I enjoyed this one funny how my husband is so crap at DIY too 😂😂
5. Neighbour Hood by Tim Lebbon
Omg this has to be the creepiest one so far and the whole reason I never use my attics’!!!
6. Dinner Date by Jeremy Bates
A bit slower than the others think I just got a little bored. Never accept dinner invitations before getting to know the guy no matter how hot he is! Silly girl!
7. Why Does Randolph Draw by Matthew Stokeoe
Got to be honest I didn’t finish it I just got so bored after page 5! Just wasn’t catching me.
8. Saturday Night Whiskey by Justin M.Woodward
This was really god and well put together a kids last cry for help from his dodgy uncle!
9. Sixteen by Jim Goforth
This felt so rushed even for a short story! Although it’s a good lesson of don’t get involved with swinging neighbours 😂
10. Pornography by Matt Saw
Haha she didn’t see that coming
11. Somewhere in Here by Gary McMahon
This was one creepy ass story and for one so short I’m throughly creeped out!!
12 By Darkness Hidden by Shaun Hutson
This was pretty good a urban legend type story. Villages can be super strange places.
I really enjoyed this compilation got some great new authors added to my list too.
Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft in Books
Dec 22, 2018
Toil & Trouble was a much-hyped anthology of YA stories, and I think it lived up to that hype. I really enjoyed almost every story in this book - only one or two of them were less than awesome. And they still weren't bad! Anthologies like this keep introducing me to yet more authors that I want to read, and just keep growing my TBR list! Some of the authors in this book I was familiar with; while I hadn't read her work yet, I met Zoraida Córdova at the Baltimore Book Festival, and she was amazing. I'm familiar with Brandy Colbert's work, and have not yet read Anna-Marie McLemore but desperately want to, and her story in this work (Love Spell) only increases that need.
I read this book just before Halloween, and it was a perfect choice. I'm not a fan of actual horror novels, which seem to be what everyone else is reading this time of year. Give me my strong witchy women! The stories in this book are all young women - teens to early adulthood - learning to rely on themselves. They embrace what family traditions mean to them, or break free of them entirely if they're the wrong path. They break social taboos and fall in love where they will. They FIGHT for what they want.
I think my favorite story in this book involved a woman whose powers had been bound by her coven until she was old enough to use them wisely, but had to watch her father die in an accident when she could have healed him if she'd had access to her magic. She went to an ancient place of power in the mountains and broke the binding, horrifying her coven. The story is actually about her defying them further in refusing her destined soul mate for the girl she's been in love with since she was a child, and Fate's punishment for that. The two girls fighting for each other and for their own magic was amazing. (The Heart in Her Hands, Tess Sharpe.) Unfortunately it doesn't look like it's part of a larger story, I was hoping for more in that world!
As far as I can tell, only one of the stories is part of something larger - I'm pretty sure Zoraida Córdova's story is part of her Brooklyn Brujas world. Other than that, they all appear to be standalones, which is a little sad as I'd like to see more of many of these worlds!
Toil & Trouble is an outstanding anthology of magical women, and I loved it.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
I read this book just before Halloween, and it was a perfect choice. I'm not a fan of actual horror novels, which seem to be what everyone else is reading this time of year. Give me my strong witchy women! The stories in this book are all young women - teens to early adulthood - learning to rely on themselves. They embrace what family traditions mean to them, or break free of them entirely if they're the wrong path. They break social taboos and fall in love where they will. They FIGHT for what they want.
I think my favorite story in this book involved a woman whose powers had been bound by her coven until she was old enough to use them wisely, but had to watch her father die in an accident when she could have healed him if she'd had access to her magic. She went to an ancient place of power in the mountains and broke the binding, horrifying her coven. The story is actually about her defying them further in refusing her destined soul mate for the girl she's been in love with since she was a child, and Fate's punishment for that. The two girls fighting for each other and for their own magic was amazing. (The Heart in Her Hands, Tess Sharpe.) Unfortunately it doesn't look like it's part of a larger story, I was hoping for more in that world!
As far as I can tell, only one of the stories is part of something larger - I'm pretty sure Zoraida Córdova's story is part of her Brooklyn Brujas world. Other than that, they all appear to be standalones, which is a little sad as I'd like to see more of many of these worlds!
Toil & Trouble is an outstanding anthology of magical women, and I loved it.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
Cynthia Armistead (17 KP) rated Unfettered in Books
Mar 1, 2018
What a wonderful anthology! I have fallen off on reading collections lately, but I am such a total Kevin Hearne fangirl that I started looking for this one as soon as he mentioned it on Facebook. I bought it as soon as I heard of its release, and womanfully resisted skipping straight to the Iron Druid story.
I truly enjoyed most of the stories included. I did just stop reading the baseball story when I realized that it was horror, and skipped over "Dogs" for the same reason. Terry Brooks' piece did nothing for me, but that probably had more to do with the fact that I haven't read anything of the novels that seem to be vital to having it truly make sense. I haven't read any of The Wheel of Time, either, but the Sanderson/Jordan contribution was a good enough story that it stood on its own. I will definitely be seeking out more of some authors' works, like Speakman and O'Roullian. Getting leads on more good reading is always exciting!
All in all, the book is more than worth its cover price. There is absolutely no question of it being worth the time spent reading it.
I truly enjoyed most of the stories included. I did just stop reading the baseball story when I realized that it was horror, and skipped over "Dogs" for the same reason. Terry Brooks' piece did nothing for me, but that probably had more to do with the fact that I haven't read anything of the novels that seem to be vital to having it truly make sense. I haven't read any of The Wheel of Time, either, but the Sanderson/Jordan contribution was a good enough story that it stood on its own. I will definitely be seeking out more of some authors' works, like Speakman and O'Roullian. Getting leads on more good reading is always exciting!
All in all, the book is more than worth its cover price. There is absolutely no question of it being worth the time spent reading it.
Awix (3310 KP) rated The Uncanny (1977) in Movies
Mar 7, 2020 (Updated Mar 7, 2020)
So-so horror anthology would almost certainly be totally unwatchable without the presence of fine actors like Peter Cushing, Ray Milland and Donald Pleasence doing their damnedest to lift some rather dubious material. The frame story concerns a conspiracy by cats to secretly run the world, but the different segments are all about vengeance-by-cat: various people get their comeuppances at the paws of our whiskered friends.
First story (maid murders her employer over an amended will) is okay but nothing special; second one (orphan with witchy tendencies finds her cat is not welcome in her new home) is let down by iffy special effects and iffier child acting; third (rum goings-on in 30s Hollywood) is the best, being a rather tongue-in-cheek look at the horror film industry (the suspiciously-named company 'Hemorrhage Films' is involved). None of them are honestly what you'd call great, though, and there is perhaps too much reliance on actors standing around while stage-hands throw stuffed cats at them. A bit more graphic and nasty than you tend to find in films from this genre, but only relatively speaking. Passes the time decently enough if low-budget horror portmanteaus from the 70s are your thing.
First story (maid murders her employer over an amended will) is okay but nothing special; second one (orphan with witchy tendencies finds her cat is not welcome in her new home) is let down by iffy special effects and iffier child acting; third (rum goings-on in 30s Hollywood) is the best, being a rather tongue-in-cheek look at the horror film industry (the suspiciously-named company 'Hemorrhage Films' is involved). None of them are honestly what you'd call great, though, and there is perhaps too much reliance on actors standing around while stage-hands throw stuffed cats at them. A bit more graphic and nasty than you tend to find in films from this genre, but only relatively speaking. Passes the time decently enough if low-budget horror portmanteaus from the 70s are your thing.
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