Edited by Mark Morris
SYNOPSIS
This new anthology contains 20 original horror stories, 16 of which have been commissioned from some of the top names in the genre, and 4 of which have been selected from the 100s of stories sent to Flame Tree during a 2-week open submissions window. It is the first of what will hopefully become an annual, non-themed horror anthology of entirely original stories,
showcasing the very best short fiction that the genre has to offer.
REVIEW When I first read the press information about After Sundown I saw that one of my favourite authors, Laura Purcell had written one of the twenty short stories and I knew straight away that I had to read it.
This was the first story that I chose to read and 'Creeping Ivy' had the same gothic, creepy atmosphere that you would expect from Laura Purcell's other novels. The story focused on one main character and the setting and the events that took place gave it a claustrophobic feel, making it more uncomfortable to read.
Another story I would like to highlight is 'Murder Board' by Grady Hendrix. This was a really fun but dark tale which starts with an innocent game on a Ouija Board and quickly spirals out of control. What was so entertaining about this story was that every time something happened, it would trigger another event and so on, until there was no going back.
The last story I would like to mention is 'Butterfly Island' by C J Tudor and this was actually my favourite of the selection. C J Tudor is an author I only discovered last year but I have really enjoyed all of her books so far. This particular story is very different to her other work - set in a kind of post-apocalyptic world, some sort of disaster has taken place and a group of people decide to go over to Butterfly Island and investigate. We are pretty much told that this is a bad decision right from the start and most of the group do regret their choice to go along. Of all of the stories, this is the one that I was most disappointed when it ended, I could quite happily have carried on reading a full length novel based on this idea.
This is a collection of short stories, and because of this, I can't say too much about the storylines without just giving away the plots. What I can say is that it's a fantastic choice for Halloween and a really interesting mix of ideas and themes. I picked After Sundown up because I am a big fan of one of the authors. After reading it, I have now added a handful of new authors to my TBR, and will definitely be looking into their other work so it's been a great opportunity to discover new writers in a genre I love to read.
ABOUT THE EDITOR
Mark Morris has written and edited almost forty novels, novellas, short story collections and anthologies. His recent work includes the official movie tie-in novelisations of The Great Wall and (co-written with Christopher Golden) The Predator, the Obsidian Heart trilogy (The Wolves of London, The Society of Blood and The Wraiths of War), the anthologies New Fears (winner of the British Fantasy Award for Best Anthology) and New Fears 2 and many more.
Thanks to @RandomTTours and Flame Tree Press for the opportunity to read and review.
Fiction: Fiction / Horror / Short Stories
Product format: Hardback
ISBN: 978-1-78758-457-0
Pages: 256 pp
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