‘Beyond the Veil’ is the second volume in an annual, non-themed horror series of entirely original stories, showcasing the very best short fiction that the genre has to offer, and edited by Mark Morris. 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.
I haven’t read the first volume of this series but, knowing it was from Flame Tree Press was enough for me. One of my go-to publishers for horror or creepy stories so I knew I had to check this book out.
This collection of short horror stories just about covers every type of horror, so there should be something for everyone. I have a number of favourites out of the full collection, I shall briefly tell you about two of them.
The God Bag by Christopher Golden which is the first story in the collection and what a story to begin with. It is about a man and his mother, who is dying and in the grips of dementia. She refuses to let go of her God bag and her son decides to find out what’s in the bag, when he does, well this is a creepy and heartbreaking tale. What a start to the collection. I loved the fact what this author has managed to create a story that satisfies in so little pages.
The Girl in the Pool by Bracken MacLeod. A thief breaks into a house with a plan to Rob it. Instead he finds a young girl drowning in the pool and decides to attempt to save her, the question is does she need saving?
I really can list every single story in this book, everyone is different to the last and just as creepy, scary or entertaining. A collection I can recommend if you enjoy variety and shocking stories that have the power to creep you out!
Thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours and Flame Tree Press for the copy of this fabulous collection of short horror stories
sharonbeyondthebooks.uk 